Always an Athlete

Always an Athlete is a comprehensive study of the ways in which athletes climb what author Jenne Blackburn terms "e;The Mountain"e;-the journey from youth sports, through high school and college sports, to, finally, professional, and Olympic sports. This steady climb and success over a long period of time, however, sets up athletes for an inevitable fall off "e;The Cliff"e; upon their retirement from competition.To help athletes in transition, Blackburn identifies "e;Three Pillars of the Cliff"e;-Mental Health, Physical Health, and Athlete Identity-and describes the issues that athletes have in each of these areas after they retire. After training, sacrificing, and devoting years, even decades, to a sport, athletes at every level will struggle within these three pillars. Blackburn believes that athletes must evolve from a competition mindset to a wellness mindset and match their new lifestyles in order to soften this transition into the real world. Fortunately, the "e;Inner Athlete"e; honed over many years of training and competition can show up as a "e;Parachute"e; as athletics recede, and other priorities rise to the forefront of their new life.Ultimately, Blackburn proposes cycling as a foundation and universal tool to help retired athletes resolve a lingering loss of identity, mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression, and complications due to unchanged diet and exercise habits when they transition out of a performance-purposed existence. She advocates for fun community bike rides adjacent to sporting events and franchises to bring sports communities together around this critical yet overlooked topic for all athletes: life after competitive sports.