WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Healthy as a Horse: Episode 13 - Sarah Chapelle

Episode Date: March 6, 2026

Track athlete Sarah Chapelle joins Ella to discuss her experience as a Hillsdale Charger. She opens up about how her faith is the foundation of her life as an athlete. She also shares how to deal with sports anxiety. 

Welcome to Healthy as a Horse. My name is Ella Malone. And today I am here with Sarah Chappelle. Sarah is a sophomore at Hillsdale studying exercise science and biology. She is a member of the women's track team, a photographer for charged athletics, and a member of Countryside Bible Church. Welcome to this show, Sarah. Thank you. I'm happy to be here. So I interviewed your teammate Yolly two weeks ago, but you're the first runner I am interviewing on the show. If you could describe what your season looks like for Hillsdale and then kind of get into your weekly and day-to-day schedule as well. Yeah. So if you interviewed Yolly a few weeks ago, you'd probably know that we have two seasons. So indoor starts in December and we end, well, we just ended that last week and outdoor begins now.

And we'll be competing until, well, it depends, but probably till early May or late May if you make nationals. Oh my goodness. Yeah. So it's a year-round, semester-round sport. How long did you get off between the indoor season and the outdoor training? So us sprinters are in a recovery week right now, which is really nice. We're at this place where we've all kind of pushed our bodies to the limit. A few of us are kind of pampering some hamstring injuries here and there. So we get this week very chill. lot of hit mobility. Next week, we start picking it up again, just kind of light workouts. And the week after that, we hit it hard. And we condition and we sprint for the next two weeks to kind of get that base before we move into a taper. Outdoor season is super short. Training year-round,

we really only get like a week or two breaks after each season. So of course, we're in that right now. And then after outdoor, it'll be similar. And then we get into summer training, which is, in my opinion, super fun. It's sad because you're not with your teammates, but you're kind of in that gritty part of the season or your training. And you come back for fall and then it's the same kind of grittiness, but then it's with your teammates. And so it's even better. Towards December, we start a little taper. We peak usually in the first week of December for our one meet.

and then we start another training cycle for indoor track in which we peak late February for conference. Okay. That makes sense. And so for swimming, I know personally we have in season 20 hour weeks and that is 20 hours between a meet or in the pool or in the weight room working out. I know you guys with running kind of have some on your own stuff. What does that look like? Usually our on your own things are things we don't really necessarily do alone, but we do them as a team just without a coach. Okay. Often can look like curved treadmill workouts using the new curved treadmill room above the jam.

We do those at like certain time slots with our captains and a lot of active recoveries on our own. So that's kind of the majority of what we're doing on our own in season. Okay. That makes sense. Yeah. How is your experience at Hillsdale different from your running experience in high school or hurtling mostly, right? So how did that adjustment go for you as a freshman last year?

Yeah, it was very complex. So in high school, most of my training was actually on my own. I was a part of a really great program and a really great team. And some of the best friends I ever made are on that high school team. I mean, we made podium for state a few years. years four by four as a team all of it but I was the only hurdler okay and I had a coach who he was great we have a great relationship to this day but I was again it was very one-on-one and so coming to Hillsdale I had other hurdlers with me and that was such a blessing yeah I mean I can't say

anything negative about having a training group because you just have more eyes on you and you can have more eyes on others. And so it's kind of helping you in your technique and in your motivation, just being there for one another day and day out. It was wonderful. So that was the biggest difference for sure. Yeah, being a teammate, I was just talking about this with my coaches, is a reciprocal relationship. You are a good example to them, and that calls them higher, but they call you higher as well. So, yeah, that's huge. You've mentioned to me before you became a Christian, your senior year of high school. And, And how did this affect your approach to sports, especially since it was so close to coming in as a freshman to Hillsdale?

So my testimony briefly is really just my recognition of my own pride, that I was self-reliant for so long and really thought that my good works and my good standings just in my community was my salvation. And I realized that I was so broken and I needed Christ to save me. and I couldn't do it on my own. It gave my life to him. Before my salvation, I entirely was doing track for the recognition. Okay. And I love the accolades. And I was good at it.

I won state all four years. I loved the praise that came with that. But my senior year of high school, once I was saved, it really became more fun. That's awesome. Yeah, it was great because I was just back. in this joy of knowing that it's not my salvation is not on me and so running track became just a way to glorify God like wow God thank you you gave me this gift I'm going to glorify you by using it and I'm going to focus so much more on my teammates because I realized my priorities were more in check well and that's

hard when you are training so much on your own you're taking pride in what you're doing because you are doing it very independently but that is a really heavy weight. to carry at the same time. Yeah, and we're, I mean, kind of like the reading in our sports leadership class, I think it was last week. Like, we have to focus on our teammates. You know, the true gospel purpose of sports, if nothing else, is to point people to Christ. And I think a lot of times people can't just only focus on my teammates because I do have to do well for their sake to be a good teammate and I don't I do not think that those are exclude each other you being the best athlete you can be is part of being a good teammate but it's not doing it's not being a good athlete for the

sake of yourself it's just such a reciprocal relationship like I said so being a Christian doesn't make everything magically super easy in sports and I know you kind of experience some like would you call it sport induced anxiety yeah okay your freshman year How has this challenged you to grow as an athlete and in your faith? Yeah, so in high school, I would get these breathing attacks. Okay. Usually after some sort of conditioning reps or after races. And I never really knew why.

And I talked to a doctor about it and they called it sports-induced asthma. I experienced the same thing. Yeah. And then last year, it only happened after bad races. Bad races specifically? Okay. Or races that, like, I wasn't happy with the outcome of it, not necessarily that they had to be objectively bad.

My boyfriend had struggled with anxiety and his whole family really had throughout their lives. And they had gone to counselors and therapists and really knew some good tactics about anxiety and so he was able to gently point out to me he's like I don't think that this is just asthma because it's only happening in these scenarios and I hear the way you're talking to yourself and it sounds like anxiety and that was kind of hard for me to deal with because at first I was like I don't do mental illness like that's I I would I would respond the same way yeah I know you mean like no I'm fine um but

But after talking with him about it, also talking with some of my teammates who had experienced anxiety, and also talking to Becky, one of the therapists on campus, was able to realize what was happening and take some steps to kind of put things in perspective, a lot of prayer. These hyperventilating episodes, you could call them. I was able to remedy them with some breathing exercises. Every time I felt my physical responses starting, like the heart rate, the short of breath, all of that. I knew what to do physically.

The mental part was harder. I had to take a lot of time realizing the reason that I was running and put time into just kind of prioritizing things. And I leaned into my teammates a lot. because they knew what was going on, and they were very loving and gentle with me, and they were also experienced in this. So it took a lot of dependence on others and dependence on God. But I've really, I've been delivered from that type of anxiety now.

That's awesome. I think it's such a beautiful story because so many people realize that they're dealing with anxiety or something, and then it just becomes a diagnosis and nothing else. I think you putting in a lot of effort and work into not only the practical breathing exercises that helped you, but looking inwardly and examining your motivation at the core of why you do your sport, that is probably the two most constructive things you could have done and just not getting stuck in a place where you're like, nope, I have anxiety now. And this is just going to be something I deal with, obviously something you deal with, but it's something you're actively dealing with

and constructively dealing with. So I think that's really beautiful story. Thank you for sharing. Yeah, one thing Jesse's mom said, my boyfriend's mom said, is that even though you're dealing with anxiety, you don't need to put that label on yourself. Exactly. To make yourself think you're an anxious person and that this is just always how it's going to be. Everyone's going to deal with some level of anxiety in some point of their life. Yes. You just have to figure out how to deal with it. And you don't let yourself sit in it. And that really helped me. I think that's the best way to look at it because so many people label themselves and then think it's not something they can kind of overcome or work through. So that's a really good way to look at it. You're listening to Healthy as a Horse.

My name is Ellen Malone and I'm here with Sarah Chappelle and we're talking about her experience as a Hillsdale College athlete. You mentioned to me you're interested in life balance. So for people listening, the seven aspects are physical, intellectual, environmental, vocational, social, emotional, and spiritual health. And this is a health and wellness podcast. And I've never really read those aloud and kind of define them for people who are listening. So I think it's awesome that you mentioned you're into this stuff so that I could kind of define it for myself. How do you avoid like the culture of sickness surrounding these areas? One of the podcasters I listen to Alex Clark, she says that like our culture is spiritually sick and physically sick. But I think,

You could argue it's in all seven of these areas. So how do you actively fight that? Would you repeat the, like the seven? Yeah. Physical, intellectual, environmental, vocational, social, emotional, and spiritual health. I'd say spiritual health is at the root of all of it. You got to be right with God. You have to understand that he is your savior and being in him should be the root of your life.

As I know you, like you understand this. So that's definitely the biggest thing because you can count everything else's joy once you are in Christ. Every ounce of suffering, every ounce of sickness that comes your way, any sort of trial, you can have so much comfort knowing that you are in Christ and knowing where you're going. But physically, especially in America, we are just not doing very well, as you can agree. I would agree, yes. I think that, especially at Hillsdale, like, that's kind of just a known fact. You're like, yeah, well, most of what we eat is just poison. My brother, he just went to this Navy SEAL training sort of camp.

And the guy he was training with is this super crunchy, like, drink raw milk and eat all this beef. And he gave them, like, 31 of the thorn supplements. Yes. Oh, my gosh. I have to show you a picture. I remember Caleb telling me about like stuff he would say is poison. Like he would literally call just like regular Greek yogurt poison. He would call like this stuff that you would consider healthy.

Like he would say it was poison just because of all the just added junk. Yeah. One of the things that drives me crazy is the marketing behind it. There are so many things in the grocery store that they'll just put a healthy looking graphic on it and then people buy it. And then you flip it over to the back and you're like, well, what? I can't say I haven't done that. me. Oh, I do it too. I'm like, this label looks healthy. Like bloom. Yeah, pretty much. Yeah. No, it looks so healthy. There's like fruits on it. It's pastel.

There's a few things that like that guy recommended. Like there's a coconut based, um, yogurt. It's called Coco June. This is not a paid ad. But it's actually really good and it's not a poison yogurt. A way I kind of combat this is, uh, just trying to eat whole. foods. It's as close as we can do. As college kids, like, we're on a meal plan. We're, and they, you know, they say they don't use seed oils and that is great. And truthfully, the food has gotten a lot better, even just in like taste. But there's only so much we can do. And we can control our controllables is what I like to say. So I've kind of made, I'm on a very small meal plan and I cook a lot of my food. What I've done is I eat up the hill.

on weekday lunch and dinners and then for breakfast i do that on my own i get these pasture raised eggs from aldi super cheap those are good yes and they're good for you um i use european style better and some fruits sourdough like simple three ingredients sourdough which i'm going to start making it next year i will it's so good i will i used to oh really i think i'll try again this summer i might get tips from you when i get to it is so easy really it is so easy once you build a habit of feeding it and knowing what it is supposed to look like it's super easy and the actual act of making the bread is beyond simple if you know remotely anything about how to bake okay people on their little blogs these really sourdough crazy people will get on there and they have

these super specific instructions of how to make the absolutely best sourdough it is like a four-step process okay it's just doing it a couple times to figure out how you like to do it you know what, that's actually really encouraging. Thank you. It's so much fun. Because I've been really scared to start and I've really wanted to because it's so healthy. It is very fun. It's not super scary. What is your favorite niche health tip? I have asked a couple people this question and they said sauna or like ice rolling was Molly Kennedy's little tip on her shin splints. So anything like it can be super random. Oh gosh. Okay. This seems so basic. But so. So many people miss it.

Okay. And I was getting injured for like four years in a row because of this. Drink enough water. I don't think 90% of athletes on campus drink enough water. I probably don't. No, like you need to be drinking almost your body weight in ounces. And then of course, pounding electrolytes. I use mineral salt.

It's from the Baja gold brand. Okay. Every morning have that with like half a lemon and some water and it helps, you know. And that is so much better for you than a liquid IV. Yes, it is. Awesome. That's a great tip. Yeah.

Drink enough water. You will have a lot more energy and probably a lot more muscle injuries. A lot less muscle energy. Sorry. Yeah. A lot less. Yes. You will have a lot less muscle injuries if you drink enough water.

Yes, that's good. Yeah. Especially if you're taking any sort of creatine supplement. Yes, creteam will dehydrate you. Extra water. So I like to ask everyone who comes on the show this question. Like I've heard people make this statement around campus. But do you believe being an athlete at this level comes at the sacrifice of your health?

Because some people say like very affirmatively yes. And I think it's more complicated than that. What do you think? It's kind of funny. I've been thinking about that this week. And I like never have. Off the bat, say no. As a track athlete, I am so particular about the things that I eat and obviously my hydration, like I just said.

And I'm conditioning and sprinting and lifting at a very high intense level. Part of me looks forward to the day when I don't have to sport specific train just because it does put a strain on your body. Because you're doing something so specific so much. Yeah, my hips, like my hips are out of alignment. My shins hurt. You know, I've got two muscles or hamstring strains right now. But those things are temporary. And the base that you're building as an athlete in this age, as a woman especially, where, like with your bone strength, it is crucial to really preventing.

again, this is for women, like preventing osteoporosis in old age, athletes are in a much better place to do that because you're building bone density and people who aren't lifting, aren't working out hard, aren't staying fit in this young age will have bone decay. Well, injuries like you're saying you're experiencing now, I think people let those scare them about when they're older. But because they just have this image in their head that they're going to end up experiencing these injuries someday when they're 80 years old and they're not going to be able to walk. And I'm like, that is way blown out of proportion.

Yeah. These little injuries you're experiencing now, even if they're a little bit bigger, if you recover from them and still choose to be a good athlete, that's like setting you up for success, not to have all these extra aches and pains when you're older. Yeah. And even mentally, like coming back from. stuff. I mean, it's just so much better. And this little tweak, like, I'm going to get over it in two weeks. Yep. It's going to be fine. And also, for those of you who aren't athletes and

aren't working at it and don't work out, you're not going to get bulky from working out. I am training at a really high intensity at a crazy level. And I would not consider myself nearly close to bulky. I would say the same thing. Yeah, you're like the daintiest. We still look like ladies. Yeah. That's nice. You have to really try to look like a muscle mommy to look like a muscle mommy. Probably take some testosterone. Just a little. And I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that either. Well, thank you so much for coming on this show today, Sarah. I had a great time with you. Yeah, this was awesome. I'm Ellen Malone, and this has been Healthy is a horse for Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM.