In Too Deep

Striving to do well at everything can leave you feeling like you don't have time for anything

Thomas says you have to balance your sports schedule with other parts of your life. David E. Klutho

Debi Thomas seemed to be on top of the figure skating world in 1988. She had won the national championship and was favored to win it all at the Winter Olympics in Calgary. But a shockingly subpar performance derailed her golden girl run, and she settled for bronze. Today she says her strongest emotion at the time wasn't disappointment but relief that the pressure was off. "I pretty much burned out before the Olympics," says Thomas, who had skated seven hours a day since she was five years old. "I should have taken time off after nationals and let myself come down. Part of me was frustrated with training and not very happy."

Though she took time off from Stanford before and during the Olympics, Thomas says her time and energy were stretched to the limit. "I always felt I could do better," says Thomas, now doing research toward her orthopedic surgical residency, in Little Rock. "I was so stubborn, thinking I just needed to put in more effort. Looking back I realize that was nearly impossible to do."

The Fine Art Of Juggling If you're having difficulty finding time for life and sports, here are a few ways to make it happen. Set goals outside of sports You'll be less likely to obsess about your performance if you have other things going on. "School helped me not stress out about skating as much because I didn't feel like I had all my eggs in one basket," says Thomas. Make a list Organization helps create balance, and writing things down keeps your days in perspective. "I carry a planner, and I have everything in there," says Dixon, who credits a time-management course she took in college for helping her pull things together. Cut back Decrease the amount of time you dedicate to your sport or workout until you feel comfortable. Use the free space in your schedule for you-time or to hang out with friends. Kick back There's no need to try to hit a milestone every minute you are playing or working out. Taking time to enjoy your activity without stress allows the therapeutic benefits to come through.

Balancing sports and the rest of your life can be difficult, particularly for women who set serious goals for themselves. Feelings of inadequacy and burnout, such as Thomas experienced, are not unusual. "It typically gets to the point where things hit bottom," says Kimberly Brooks, a clinical psychologist in Washington, D.C. "Then the person often realizes the problem for herself." Thomas did, and she retired from competitive skating not long after the Olympics to concentrate on medicine.

Tamecka Dixon, 24, who plays for the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks, had trouble balancing her schedule as a junior child psych major and playing Division I hoops at Kansas. "It's easy in college to spend more time playing basketball -- especially right around midterms and finals," she says. Like Thomas, Dixon knew she was in trouble when her grades began slipping. "I stepped back and devoted more time to my studies," says Dixon, who also interns with the NBA's New Jersey Nets.

A declining GPA is just one sign that sports may be taking over your life. Another is finding that you feel good about yourself only when you push harder physically. "In our culture we don't have a lot of opportunities to see ourselves make improvement in what we do," says Linda Bunker, a sports psychologist at the University of Virginia. "If you work out regularly and suddenly you're able to go another five minutes on the bicycle, there's a satisfaction that comes with that."

Other indicators of an unbalanced life include feeling uncomfortable if you take a day off from sports, and exercising when you are under the weather. "Athletes sometimes get addicted to the process of practicing," says Bunker. "They get into a cycle where they're saying, 'I'm in control and more is always better than less.' But at some point, more is not better."

When more becomes too much, it's time to reevaluate. For Thomas, establishing priorities was essential to survival. "Had I devoted my entire life to winning the gold medal, it could have been pretty devastating," she says. "After my long program, though I was terribly disappointed in myself, I still said, 'Well at least I'm going to go back to school and I have a life.'"

-- Joyce E. Davis

Required Reading

Jon Ferrey/Allsport

Motivational Speakers

World-class athletes -- Julie Foudy, Serena Williams, Bonnie Blair and Michelle Kwan among them -- tell their stories of trials and triumphs in their own words in You Go Girl! Winning the Woman's Way, by Kim Doren and Charlie Jones (Andrews McMeel Publishing, $20). You can even record your inspirational thoughts in the companion journal ($11) with the same ubiquitous phrase as its title, which includes prompts ("Who has had a great influence in your life? How?") to get you started.

Words of Wisdom

Let the guys keep John Rocker. In Women's Sports Shorts (Contemporary Books, $15), Glenn Liebman has collected the memorable quotes of such athletes as Chris Evert ("I've dated a lot of guys, I've cursed, I've been rude to my parents. I'm a normal person"), Babe Didrikson ("I could have won a medal in five events if they let me"), Amy Van Dyken ("Now it's cool for a woman to be able to out-bench-press her husband") and many more.

Jon Ferrey/Allsport

A Great Running Partner

Any serious (or fledgling) pavement pounder should have Runner's World Complete Book of Women's Running, by Dagny Scott (Rodale Press, $25), on her training shelf. From shoes to hormonal influences to, of course, sports bras, female runners have different needs than their male counterparts, and this user-friendly primer addresses them all. Need a marathon training schedule, stretching and strength-training exercises, running-while-pregnant advice or information on injury prevention? It's all in here. Peppered throughout with "Smart Tips," FAQs and "Training Log" excerpts, the book more than lives up to its title.

--Liz O'Brien

Check It Out

Marion Jones
Sprinter
The Deep End of the Ocean, by Jacquelyn Mitchard
"I like reading the books in Oprah's Book Club because she does the research -- I don't have time to do that."

Justin Gimelstob
Tennis player
Tuesdays With Morrie, by Mitch Albom
"I absolutely love it. Playing sports for a living, I tend to lose perspective on the most important things in life. This book has helped reinforce the value of family, friends, happiness and the ability to find peace in my life."

Sondra Van Ert
Snowboarder
Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden
"One hundred pages into it, I didn't want it to end. His descriptions and writing are just phenomenal."

 
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