In our weekly Q&A segment we asked Phoebe Wright a few questions about life on and off the track. We caught up with her before she paced the 1500m at the Diamond League final in Zurich. 

Describe your childhood dream

I vividly remember being 11 and just winning both the arbitrary-yard sprint and the standing long jump competitions at field day. I had a slumber party that night with my only friend at the time (my 11yr old cousin) and of course bragged about it. Probably in some sing songy annoying kid brag voice. I told her that I was the fastest in the school and beat all the boys. And I have hops! And that I would probably run in the Olympics one day. Being an economically savvy 11 yr old, I knew that the road to the Olympics wasn’t lucrative, and that you only become a millionaire after you win the Olympics. That’s why I was going to pick up a part time job at McDonald’s to make sure I’d survive until I got to the Olympics. Why McDonald’s? Because it was my favorite restaurant at the time, and they have those sweet tunnel play gyms, duh!

Jennifer Cocker (cousin) will vouch for this

What is your fondest race memory? 

My PR (1.58.22): Prefontaine 2010 800m. My PR before the race: 2.00.44. I was a field filler and the slowest one by over a second, and I was JAZZED about it. You know you are going to PR big when you are the slowest in the field. Otherwise you look like an idiot getting pity clapped down the home stretch. Plus I was really fit. The gun went off and after the break I did something I hadn’t done all year—I didn’t take the lead. I was sitting mid pack. I remember 3 things from that race (in this order):

1. Holy S*** I’m hitting my hypothetical splits and I feel really F****G good! 
2. Holy S***! I’m behind Pamela Jelimo, and Pamela Jelimo is only fit on Olympic years. I’ve got to get out of here! 
3. Holy S*** I can win this! 

Which I didn’t win, but I closed mighty hard that last 100m. Then I did the thing where you see the winning time and you try to recall from your hazy race memory how far back (in 10ths of seconds) you were. When 1.58.2 came up, I ran to my coach and tackled him.

If you weren't running, what would you be doing and why?

If I could do anything regardless of talent—because let me assure you, I have whatever the opposite of talent is in this line of work—I would 100% be a singer. Probably of some indie band that straddles the pop boarder. Or maybe like Gwen Stefani. And I would wear a wig on stage because 1. wigs are awesome and 2. Because I wouldn’t want people to recognize me not on stage.

What is your worst habit ?

I do this annoying thing where when I come into the house I black out for a minute to hide my keys. So that way, before I want to leave again, I have to do a 10 minute hide and seek game with them. I don’t know why I can’t remember where I put them. Or why I can’t put them in the same place every time. I have a hook right by the door for this problem exactly. It has gotten so bad that I now allot 10 extra minutes when getting ready specifically for this. I get very pissed at my past-self for being so mean and/or negligent. I also get very pissed at the keys (which would not be the only inanimate object I get pissed at regularly). And I even get pissed at people around who are not actively helping me look for said keys.

What kind of kid you were in high school? 

I fluctuated between the hippie crowd and the nerds. Well actually, I was a nerd who dressed like a hippie. Except I always wore a jacket because I had an armpit sweating problem, and I was severely self conscious of my mammoth pit stains. This was back when I was dumb and thought that because I was a teen, I could only use Teen Sprit (Aka: The crappiest deodorant. Ever.)

If you had a day off from your everyday responsibilities, describe how you would spend it

Assumptions: I only have one day and unlimited money and could start the day anywhere.

I would do a hike and camp in Glacier National Park. The day would be a beautiful 75 degrees, and in this dream day, my stuff wouldn’t weigh anything. So that way I could transport my current favorite beer, Duvel, to drink with my cooked-over-the-fire canned chili and smores. There would be swimming involved. Except I’m not a good swimmer and don’t like cold water, so it would be more of jumping in and frantically making it back to land where I sun bath on an exposed rock like some weird cold blooded animal. Also, all my favorite people would not have responsibilities and would be joining me.

What is your most embarrassing moment as an athlete?

It was NCAAs 2009. Our team was STACKED. I had just made the finals for the 800m. Everyone knows that making the finals is the hardest part about winning the finals. So I had convinced myself that I had pretty much already won the finals. I had 45 minutes between the prelim and the finals of the DMR, where I was running a 1200m leg. I did what any good athlete would do in the 45 min of down time between the races—drank lots of protein shakes and Gatorades. You know when you can’t pee right after you finish a race and then you drink way too much liquid and then after about 45 minutes needing a bathroom goes from I-can-hold-it status to EMERGENCY status in 10.3 seconds? Yeah, that’s exactly what happened. And the EMERGENCY happened in the last 400m of my 1200m leg. I peed everywhere. I thought I had flooded the building. We went on to break the DMR world record and all the photographers wanted to get a piece of the Tennessee women. So there are a lot of pictures of my pee pee pants from that day.

Who is your celebrity crush and why?

Lady Gaga. She’s too cool.

Describe your perfect post-race meal in detail.

Steak, broccoli casserole, sweet potato casserole, and hashbrowns. Followed by a chocolate mousse. Then a coffee. OH! And celebratory wine (because I won the race).

What is your favorite workout?

(Only when I’m fit!) 5x300m at 41-42 with 5 minutes in between. And then a 150m sprint for bonus. I can master it, be controlled, and still feel like I accomplished something.

When I’m not fit, it’d be an easy jog and hills.

If you could be another track and field athlete who would you be and why?

Blanka Vlasic. I’d want to do the victory dance!

Where is your dream place to run?

I like getting lost in new places, so a dream run would be in a forest I’ve never been. The trails would be good footing and 2 person wide so I could chat it up with my running bud. It would end at a destination. Like a cliff or a lake.

Oh and it would be at sea level.

Who is your childhood hero?

Either Dominique Moceanu or Capitan Planet. Dominque because I would play gymnastics in my room with my beanie babies, and I would always pretend to be her.

Capitan Planet because he was cool--unlike the Power Rangers. I wasn’t allowed to watch it until I finished my homework. I turned in shoddy homework that year.

What is your guilty pleasure? 

Margaritas. Top shelf.

If you had to listen to one song in your head every time you ran for the rest of you life, what would it be?

Is this some kind of torture question? ONE song!? I’ll pass and take a chance listening to my thoughts.

If you could have dinner with three people, living or dead, who would you go with? 

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, because they are besties and hilarious, and my best friend Emily Lea, because she and I are besties and hilarious. It’d be a good dynamic. Plus we’d all probably become best friends and do dinner all the time. That would be my in to meeting Will Ferrell.

Describe your pre-race ritual.

Lots of Netflix. And I shave my legs the day before. It works for swimmers, so I’m thinking it probably works for runners too.

What was the first blog post you made and why did you start the blog?

Chris Derrick one day said, “Hey. You should start a blog.” And I said, “Nah. No one reads blogs.” Then a few weeks later I sent an email to my coach describing my first long run experience. I thought to myself: this is too good not to share. And then “Stop Phe” was created.

What does running/racing look like for you in the next six months?

I race Rieti in September. And then its nada besides the local Turkey Trot until indoors where I’ll hopefully do some of the bigger East Coast meets and USAs.