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I grew up in northern California, where it was consistently in the hundreds in the summertime. My dad didn't think he should have to turn on the air conditioning when we had a swimming pool in our backyard; it was our built-in air conditioner.
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I worked at this place called Water World; it was a waterslide park. My brother and my dad framed my first paycheck from this place - which was for $0.00 dollars - because I didn't even make enough to cover the cost of my uniform!
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If there's any indirect way I can motivate or inspire Olympic athletes... that is one of the greatest honors. Even Natalie Coughlin saying that I inspired her. I'm so humbled by that. I think that's amazing.
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Indoor pools just don't seem as inviting to me.
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'They Don't Care About Us' by Michael Jackson - This song makes me want to dance, and I fell in love with it watching 'This Is It' with my kids.
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The kids know what I'm doing when I exercise, and that's powerful. So don't just tell your kids to go play outside. Take a moment off your computer, put on your tennis shoes, hop outside and help them start their game and run off some energy.
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Preparing mentally takes more out of you than the physical aspect of it.
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As a woman, you need to take control of your health. There's no harm in going in and getting checked out. Eventually, you have to ask yourself: 'Do I want to live at 100% or 80%?'
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Make sure that when you look at your plate, it's a beautiful blank canvas to start with, and you want lots of color on there. You want to make sure you have whole grains and protein. It should not be beige in color; it should be green and bright red, and orange and yellow.
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Don't just tell your kids to be active and to get outside and play. Lead by example.
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I enjoyed every bit of my swimming career. I think that's the most important advice - to enjoy what you do.
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It's hard to go out and practice every single day, and you get really tired. But you have to believe in yourself.
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I lead by example. My kids know what sweat is. They've seen me come home from so many runs and asked, 'What's on your skin? How did you get it?' And I tell them, 'It's from exercise!' So now my son will come home from a bike ride, take off his helmet and say, 'Look, Mom. I'm sweating! I just worked out!'
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There is nothing in this world that I love more than my family. To be able to share the joy of running with them at the Runner's World Half Marathon and Running Festival where we can all participate together is as close as you can get to a perfect weekend.
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I think some parents fall into a trap, teaching their kids that everything is always perfect and everyone is always a winner.
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The first mile is mental. The rest are all heart.
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My parents wanted us to be pool-safe, so I had lessons when I was 18 months old. I would like to share with all the parents out there that I was that kid who cried during every one of my lessons. But it wasn't an option for my parents; we had a backyard pool, so I needed to learn how to swim.
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Tennis is interesting because the women are almost more popular than the men. In the U.S. Open, women even get exactly the same money as the men.
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If you write something down on paper, it becomes an actual goal. Before you write it down, it's a thought, a dream that may or may not get done.
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I started swimming when I was four because my brother wanted to join a swim team, and I wanted to do what he did. They said I had to be six, but if I could swim a lap, then I could participate. So I swam a lap, and the rest is history.
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I have so much to learn when it comes to running. I just don't ever want it to feel like a chore. When I choose to sign up for a race or go out for a run, it's to make myself feel good, and I almost always do.
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I don't care how much you're working out; when you go to put on that bikini, you're like, 'Oh no!'
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It's not really about the competition. Your biggest challenge in a race is yourself. You're often racing against time. You're frequently running everything through your mind. You're always competing against preconceived ideas. It's not really the person next to you that you worry about.
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Swimming is great because there are levels of goals. First, when I was four, it was making it to the other end and overcoming the fear of standing up in front of everybody at a swim meet because I was such a shy kid.