August 10, 2019
I had a chance yesterday to catch up with my former athlete Keni Harrison, who had a rare day off from training in Austin, TX, where she trains under coach Eldrick Floreal. We talked on the phone for about 45 minutes, and I was able to embed an interview within our conversation. Keni answered questions about her 2019 season, her thoughts on the upcoming World Championships, her past disappointments on the track, her emotional growth as a person and as an athlete, and her thoughts on Sally Pearson’s recent retirement announcement. The interview portion of the conversation is transcribed below:
Steve McGill: When we talked in 2016, you were telling me about how you felt your growth as an athlete had exceeded your growth mentally–that you weren’t ready for the pressure that came with being a celebrity athlete. In what ways, would you say, have you grown from then to now?
Keni Harrison: The experiences that I’ve had have allowed me to grow; I had no choice but to grow. Whether that’s negative or positive, I don’t know. But I try to push aside the negative. And when something works, I just keep doing it. I’m continuing to mature, to take the good with the bad. Knowing that the things I struggle with are mental for the most part, I focus on that aspect of things. I now I see a sports psychologist. I know I’ve had my struggles, but it’s about finding a solution. In that sense, seeing a psych has made an impact on my life.
SM: For how long have you been seeing a sports psychologist?
KH: For years I’ve been talking to a psych, especially before a big championship meet. But those conversations were over the phone. After moving to Austin [last summer], I’ve been going to a sports psych regularly, and I see him in person.
SM: Talk about the transition to Austin, after spending several years in Kentucky.
KH: The weather is wonderful (laughter). That’s the biggest change. There is a lot to do. It’s a young growing city. Other than training, I don’t do much because I’m in season. But I plan to do some of the tourist stuff in the off-season. I’ve been to restaurants, but, being a professional athlete, I don’t really do the nightlife. Living here, I’m a lot happier because of the atmosphere. Everyone is working out, so they have a lot of lakes, trails.
SM: Has the warmer climate helped training?
KH: We don’t have an indoor track, and it does get a little cold in January. So that could affect the indoor season, though I didn’t run indoors this year. But we train on a turf. The college kids have indoor meets, and they do perfectly fine.
SM: Who are your training partners?
KH: There are several professionals in our training group, but Jenna Prandini is the one I train with. She’s a sprinter; all the running reps I do, I do with her. Mondays and Fridays are my hurdle days. Before training with her, I hadn’t lost in practice in a very long time, but I’ve lost this year. We’re also good friends; she’s my neighbor.
SM: How are you feeling about your race at this point of the season, considering you haven’t lost a race, but you haven’t hit your personal best yet either?
KH: The world record year, [2016], I was undefeated until USA’s. I feel like, always, my biggest struggle is championships. This year, there are some things that I wanna work on to get better at, like the start (laughter). But I don’t panic, this year, no matter if I get out [fast] or not. I still feel calm and confident. My attitude is, just do whatever it takes to win, make sure I finish strong. I have to rely on my strength, which is my technique. In the past, if I got beat at the start, I would start hitting hurdles, worry about other lanes instead of my lane. This year, I feel more relaxed during the race. I need to work on my start, but again, it’s anxiety at the beginning; that’s why I talk to a sports psych to relax myself. The training is there; I can execute it at practice. Eventually, I’m gonna be able to transfer that to a race.
Coming out of the blocks, I have an out of body experience. I don’t know how else to describe it; I don’t feel like I’m there. The psych said “that’s your mind blocking; be more conscious about what you’re doing right then and there.” Thing is, once I’m over two [hurdles], I’m good; It’s like “let’s go!”
SM: Talk about Sally Pearson’s retirement. Any thoughts on that?
KH: She ended on a good note–won worlds in 2017, beat me. She had a great career. You taught me that she was the only hurdler who had the form; [as a youth hurdler], she’s the only hurdler I looked up to and enjoyed watching. Her technique was so fluid; great lead leg, great trail leg. I’m glad she didn’t try to fight; I’m glad she ended the way she ended. Everyone is still like “Oh my god, Sally Pearson!” Her name is still really respected.
SM: Were you surprised at the timing of her announcement, with the World Championships being so near?
KH: No, that part didn’t surprise me. I haven’t seen her run all year, so it would’ve surprised me for her to run at World’s when she hasn’t run against the top athletes. She listened to her body and knew she wasn’t prepared for it.
SM: Getting back to the mental side of things, when we talked in 2016, you were saying how much you admired an athlete like Justin Gatlin, who always had cameras in his face and was always being scrutinized, yet could perform at such a high level without letting all the attention get to him. Now that it’s 2019, have you grown more comfortable with being in the spotlight?
KH: I don’t think I’ll ever be comfortable with having the spotlight on me, but I’ve gotten used to it. That’s my personality–I’m shy. But at the end of the day I’m a celebrity, and I chose to run professionally, so I knew coming in all that goes with it. It used to throw me off my game, but it doesn’t throw me off my game anymore.
SM: Let’s talk about the upcoming World Championships. In your event, you have yourself, Brianna McNeal, Nia Ali, the Williams girl from Jamaica who ran 12.32 earlier this year, just to name a few. Your event is arguably the most competitive event in the sport right now. Where are you in your preparation for worlds? Are you and your coach more focused on beating these girls, or are you more focused on doing what you need to work on?
KH: We’re not focused on Worlds yet; we just take it day by day, and think about the meet coming up. The next Diamond League meet. The next one is in Birmingham. The girls there will be the same girls at Worlds. So those [Diamond League races] are my mini-World Champs. So that’s how we prepare for Worlds.
SM: I’m sure, heading into Worlds, that there’ll be snickering that Keni Harrison can’t win the big one. Do you hear the noise or do you tune it out?
KH: I know what people say, but I know what I can do, and I’m getting better at handling the stress of big meets. I won Indoor Worlds, and that’s a very stressful thing with only five hurdles. But yeah, I’m the one they pick on a lot; they say “put pressure on Keni and she folds.” But I’m different now. Now, when you get out on Keni, she’ll come back and get you. All those failures in the past have helped me to grow. Every time I’ve gone to World Outdoors I’ve gotten better. I had the false start in 2015, made the final in ‘17, now, third time’s a charm. It’s all been mental. Physically, I’ve been in great shape every time. They don’t want me to have a strong mind because then it’s game over. That’s why I started seeing the sports psych. I’ve been practicing visualization. I go through a perfect race in my head, fall asleep thinking about it, then go to next practice trying to imitate that perfect race.
SM: Do you care what other people think of you?
KH: Yeah, I do. I‘d be lying if I said I didn’t. I get off social media 48 hours before I run. If people are saying negative things about me, I don’t see it, so I don’t know about it. You gotta fill your mind with positivity, surround yourself with people who care. It’s hard when people talk about you who don’t really know you. When I read something where somebody’s really coming for me, I tell myself it’s all right Keni, they don’t really know you.
SM: In the NBA it is now required that all teams have a sports psychologist on staff. Do you feel that being a professional athlete is particularly demanding mentally, especially in a sport like track and field, where it’s just you against everybody else?
KH: If you’re an introvert [like me] and don’t really like the spotlight on you, to be a professional athlete in track and field, with all eyes on you, and you’re the only one out there, it can be tough. But depending on how bad you want it, you deal with whatever comes with the territory. You gotta use your resources–the people who support you, the people who know you for who you are. Everyone has issues; you gotta find what works for you. I really enjoy running; If I wasn’t enjoying it, I would just be like I don’t want to be doing this, which would make me run slow, and I probably would just not run. So, it’s my love for running that keeps me going and keeps me motivated.
SM: As you look ahead to the rest of the season and to Worlds, are you eager to break the world record again? Is that a goal of yours for 2019?
KH: No, not really. I would love to run a personal best, but my goal is to continue to stay undefeated and go get a gold at Worlds. I’m gonna do whatever it takes to win; maybe it’ll be a world record, maybe not. I just want that hardware.
