Food: A crusty loaf of bread fresh out of the oven! Making it requires a lot of patience. It’s a nice corollary with being an athlete—you put in the time and get a good product. And, it makes the house smell incredible!
Drink: Really good coffee. I love the routine of grinding beans, making a pour-over, and sipping my coffee before a hard training day. I’m a fan of whatever single origin beans Flight Coffee is currently roasting. I like to mix it up.
Guilty pleasure: There are few pleasures greater than a quality dark chocolate (as long as it’s over 75% cacao!). I’ve learned to limit myself to only a square or two at a time, but it’s definitely my favorite little treat after dinner.
City: I get a bit overwhelmed by cities. That said, San Francisco has incredible food and coffee, is visually stunning, and has an active, casual culture. For small towns, Davos, Switzerland is my favorite. It’s hard not to be happy there-—even if it is incredibly expensive!
Quiet place: Any trail in the woods is my happy spot. It’s humbling to be surrounded by trees, and to hear only the sounds of wildlife and your own footsteps. There’s nothing better than exploring trails during the fall in New England.
Musical artist: My musical taste depends on my mood, so it really depends when you’re asking me. Sometimes it’s old-school hip-hop, 90’s alternative, or 80’s pop, if I’m in need of a happy bouncy mood.
Karaoke song: La Bamba. It might not be the hippest choice, but I have some fun memories of singing this song in public. I’m not good, but I’m enthusiastic.
TV show: The Daily Show in the morning, so I can catch up on news and get in a good laugh at the same time. Also, Game of Thrones. Since fast Internet isn’t always an option on the road, it’s the first thing I’ll watch when I get home.
Book: Whatever novel my big sister, Lauren Groff, has published most recently. The latest is Fates and Furies, which is a National Book Award finalist and President Obama’s favorite book of 2015. I can’t believe we’re related.
Movie: I will always have a special place in my heart for The Princess Bride. It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve seen it; it makes me happy without fail.
Quote: “Life is like riding a bicycle; to keep your balance, you must keep moving,” by Albert Einstein. I made note of it in high school and filed it away on the mental back burner.
Charity: I’m an Athlete Ambassador for Right to Play, which is an organization that’s transforming the lives of thousands of kids every day around the world. I help with awareness and fundraising and would love to go to the field with them.
Social media platform: I’m a visual person, so I enjoy Instagram. If I weren’t an athlete, I’d take a photo of my dog Ötzi every day. He’s a mixed breed and looks like a tan fluffy wolf.
App: Strava, which has created a community of endurance athletes who support each other. You can post photos from bike rides so people can see where you’re riding (and you can also see where your friends around the world are riding).
Thing to do with family: Anything—all that matters is that we’re together. My parents just bought a house about 20 minutes away from where my husband and I live. It’s a huge parcel of land, so my sister will build a summer house there. Family reunion!
Thing to conquer boredom: Reading cookbooks by Yokam Ottolenghi. The photos are beautiful, the cookbooks tell a story and there are great recipes! Around the holidays, I also love crafting. For my wedding, I made hundreds of paper flowers. It was insane and wonderful all at the same time.
Career moment: Finishing fourth at the London Olympics. It was a better result than I would have expected and one of the best races that I ever had. It was also a good wake up moment that I was capable of racing at that level, but I came to that realization a little too late. You have to be mentally prepared to fight for a medal.
