From Basketball Star to Triathlete: Owning the Athlete Within

Are you still an athlete if you're not competing anymore?
In this episode of No Former Athlete, I sit down with one of my best friends and former college basketball teammates, Allie Ross, for a raw and honest conversation about what happens after sports end.

We talk about the identity crisis that hits when the season’s over, how external validation shaped our entire self-worth, why we both shoved our "athlete selves" into a box and hid it under the bed — and how we’re slowly learning to reclaim that identity on our own terms.

This conversation is about more than sports — it’s about grief, transition, healing, and the complicated journey of figuring out who you are when the jersey comes off.

👉 Topics We Cover:

• Athlete identity after college

• The emotional fallout of “the last game”

• Compartmentalization and emotional regulation

• The pressure to always have a goal

• Using fitness (like triathlon) to feel “valid” again

• Learning to feel without performance

Whether you’re a former athlete or just someone who’s ever asked, “Who am I now?” — this one’s for you.