Live with Taliyah Brooks
Track and Field Forever featured Taliyah Brooks on Instagram Live on February 15th, 2021. She spoke about her training, track in general, and her life as an athlete.
Taliyah Brooks is an elite track and field heptathlete, long jumper, and hurdler. She competed and graduated from the University of Arkansas. There she was a National Champion in the Indoor pentathlon, 12 time all American, 3 Time SEC Champion, and 4x Arkansas School record Holder. She is currently a professional athlete with Asics, and recently competed in the US Olympic Trials held in Oregon. You can follow her on social media on Instagram and Twitter. Here she will be sporting her tag line phrase #FearTheFro.
Keep reading for Brooks’ advice on track & field training, college, mindset, and her personal experiences.
TRAINING
What is your training schedule like?
I'm a heptathlete, which means I do seven events over two days. We do the 100m hurdles, high jump, shot put, and the 200m on day 1. On day 2, we do the long jump, javelin, and 800m. In a regular track meet, I do the long jump and the hurdles.
So, my training is all over the place. I lift three days a week. I'll have two hard days, and one recovery day when we are in season. I also do a workout called "body building," which is a bunch of supplemental arm lifts to help with my throws: flys, arm raises, pull ups, and things like that.
I'm always doing multiple events per day. Maybe I'll throw the shot put and high jump, then run some tempo. Being a heptathlete, I have to be able to do multiple events in one day, and do them all at a high level. So, we try to hit multiple events in practice at a time.
What suggestions do you have for rest and recovery?
If your coach gives you a rest day, take it. Sometimes I'm not the best with this. My coach will give me a rest day, and I'll still go and do something, like I might do a bike workout or hot yoga.
If your coach is giving you a rest day, take it. You can stretch, roll out, maybe get a massage, so that you are ready to go for the next training that you have. Also make sure that you are drinking a lot of water.
PERSONAL
When did you start doing track?
I started doing track when I was 5. It was just about average at track around my time, but the older I got the better I got.
What is your favorite event?
Long Jump.
MINDSET
What do you think about when you are on the line?
When I'm on the starting line, I try to queue the things I'm normally doing wrong or whatever that we working on in practice. For me in the hurdles, it's get your lead leg down and focus on your lane.
I tell myself stay calm, get that lead leg down, and focus on your lane.
ADVICE
What advice would you give to someone starting to do multi?
If you are starting to do the multi, do not be afraid.
Don’t be afraid of the 800m or the 1500m. A lot of multis do not like these events. Also, don't be afraid of throwing events. A lot of times if you are not good at something, then people tend not to like it or like to practice it as much. Obviously, we are all human, so if we are good at something that's what we want to do all the time.
Even for myself, I like doing hurdles and long jump because I know I'm good at it. But, work on those weakness, and do not be afraid of running that event at the end.
Do you think it's worth it to start running again when one stopped years ago?
It's never to late to start running, especially if it's something that you are passionate about. It might take a little time to get back to were you were or where you want to be.
How do you get a D1 scholarship?
For track, it's pretty basic. Your time is your time. The college coaches can look them up and see them on the Internet. So, the easiest thing is to run fast, jump high, and throw far. But, also don't be afraid to reach out to coaches and send them your times.
There are so many schools, especially here in the US, from JUCO to D1. If your goal is to get a scholarship or to run track in the NCAA, try to get your times down, your jumps far, and reach out to coaches. The faster you run, the more coaches will come to you.
The above was a summary transcript from Taliyah Brooks’s IG Live on @_trackandfieldforever_ on February15, 2021.
