Episode 70
“Getting into the sport itself was like I keep telling everybody it’s like trying to drink from a fire hose. There’s just so much information and so much to learn. Even though I’m an athlete and I know how to train, it’s a whole new skillset.”
This week’s guest has had a whirlwind of a start into the world of track cycling– she raced her first UCI season with us, podiumed at Elite and Master’s Track Nationals, and went on to race at Master’s Track Worlds. Maura sits down with Emily Schelberg and they discuss everything from Emily’s history with the US Skeleton team to navigating the track cycling world as well as what her support system looks like and what athlete she looks up to.
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Thanks to B Braun Medical Inc. for sponsoring the Talk of the T-Town Podcast. BBraun is a global leader in infusion therapy and pain management, B Braun develops, manufactures and markets innovative medical products to the healthcare community. They are also strong believers in supporting the quality of life in the communities where their employees work and live.
Transcript
Maura Beuttel:
Broadcasting to you from the Valley Preferred Cycling Center. This is the Talk of the T-Town podcast where we discuss all things track cycling.
Hello everyone. Welcome back to this week’s episode of Talk of the T-Town. I am your host Maura Beuttel and super excited to have our guest on this week. She’s a pretty cool lady. She hasn’t been in the sport for super long, but she’s accomplished a hell of a lot. So this week’s guest is Emily Schelberg. Hi Emily. How are you?
Emily Schelberg:
Hey. How’s it going? I’m doing great. How are things with you?
Maura Beuttel:
Good. Good. We’ve been busy getting things ready for the upcoming season.
Emily Schelberg:
Can’t wait. I’m so excited.
Maura Beuttel:
Lots of exciting things coming at T-Town, I promise. Yeah, so I just thought it’d be great to have you come on the pod because you’ve kind of done a little bit of everything in your life so far, which is really cool. So if you want to give us a little bit of background and tell our listeners who you are.
Emily Schelberg:
Sure. Yeah. So I am a lifelong athlete. I started back in high school with track and field and did a little bit of swimming. I got my degree in sports in kinesiology from Penn State University. That’s really right after is where I kind of really dug in and realized sports is kind of where I belong.
So I started out with coaching and learning CrossFit. I did some minor competitions with CrossFit. And then on a dare one of the CrossFit instructors saw an ad on Facebook for a combine, which is like they bring all these athletes from all over the area and you test out for a combine for US skeleton program.
Maura Beuttel:
Okay.
Emily Schelberg:
So I did that and through that one of the athletes on the skeleton program was or had done some track cycling and that’s how I kind of got introduced to track cycling.
Maura Beuttel:
Right. Yeah, I was going to ask because track cycling is just such a super niche sport that nobody knows about.
Emily Schelberg:
Yeah. So Mandy Marquardt actually raced with one of the women on the team and she had raced for an off season. She decided not to race and had done track cycling in the summertime with her and that’s how I found out about it. So I kind of finished my season, really my career with skeleton, from a pretty rough crash up at Lake Placid, and I basically ruined all my gear and realized I just couldn’t, yeah.
Maura Beuttel:
Yeah, it was not good.
Emily Schelberg:
[inaudible 00:02:36]. Yeah, I think it was just time to call it. And so I had a huge gap in terms of my sports career. And I think a lot of athletes realize you identify yourself as an athlete. You got to find some way to let that energy out. And so I kind of found my way into cycling a few months after. So that’s how I got here.
Maura Beuttel:
Nice. Well, yeah, you’re so used to the structure of going to practice and having a coach and doing things. So you get into track cycling and you’re like, “Hey, this thing’s really cool. I like going fast.” How did you go about finding a coach and figuring out what you wanted to do and how you were going to fit into this world?
Emily Schelberg:
So I googled. Google is really the only way, right?
Maura Beuttel:
Lots of Google.
Emily Schelberg:
Lots of Google. And I reached out to a few teams. And at first it was big picture cycling and I got hooked up with Missy that way. So Missy Erickson is my coach, obviously. So that’s how I found her. Yeah, so that’s kind of how I got involved with her as a coach.
But getting into the sport itself was like I keep telling everybody it’s like trying to drink from a fire hose. There’s just so much information and so much to learn. Even though I’m an athlete and I know how to train, it’s a whole new skillset.
I mean, I kind of knew I wanted to do sprinting because, I mean, I’ve been a sprinter since I was 11, 12 years old. I have no endurance or aerobic capacity. You can ask my husband. I can’t. He’s dragged me on plenty of distance runs and I’ve had to just turn around and go home. Yeah. Yeah, it was rough.
Maura Beuttel:
ahhhhhhh gasping for air?
Emily Schelberg:
Yeah, I’m definitely built for something and it’s short distances and really fast and lots of rest and lazy behavior in between.
Maura Beuttel:
Right. Well, track sprinting is perfect for that.
Emily Schelberg:
It was perfect. And as much as Missy would like me to branch out into the Omnium, I don’t have any interest in that right now. So I’ll pass.
Maura Beuttel:
I really don’t blame you.
Emily Schelberg:
[inaudible 00:04:35] all the way, yeah.
Maura Beuttel:
Yeah. I mean that fits in well with your CrossFit and weightlifting background, because I know that’s a super important component to track sprinting-
Emily Schelberg:
Yeah, with the weightlifting.
Maura Beuttel:
… especially seeing all of the lifting the Dutchies here this summer. You see videos of them weightlifting online and I’m like, “Oh, wow.”
Emily Schelberg:
Yeah, they’re massive. Yeah. I really have to say that was part of my early success is just or current success is really just crossing. I’m very good in the weight room. I know how to lift. I’m very comfortable with Olympic lifting and power lifting and I’ve coached it for a while. And so having females get comfortable with lifting heavy weights, I think that kind of just naturally translates into being a more powerful human, and then you just have to work on the speed from there. So it worked well to translate from the weight room to the track.
Maura Beuttel:
What do you think is the most unexpected thing that you’ve learned in track cycling so far? How things work?
Emily Schelberg:
Yeah. Most unexpected thing? That the size of the human really has nothing to do with their speed or their power or their capacity, right? McKenna who I got to train with a couple weeks ago is half my size. She’s tall, but she’s much thinner and more spindly than I am. And her speed is incredible.
So you can’t necessarily just look at an athlete and say, “Oh yeah, that’s a power athlete. That’s a speed athlete. That’s a sprinter.” You really have no idea. So skill, technique, and time on the track really, really pay off. And her depth in terms of being a cyclist has really gotten her to where she is. So never underestimate anybody you get to the line with because you have no idea what they’re capable of. So that was pretty surprising and I think having to get used to the way you turn.
So in skeleton, when you’re coming through on a curve, and this is something that Missy and I are having to work on now is, it’s kind of when you’re driving on a sled, on a skeleton, you’re driving with the opposite weight to slow down on one side to turn you into another direction. And so with cycling obviously you’re trying to lean into the curve and use that centrifugal force to pull you across. And so for a long time when I first started and even now I have difficulty with trying to untrain that kind of mental response when I go through a curve. So totally unexpected for sure.
Maura Beuttel:
Yeah. Okay. Well, so that’s a difference between skeleton and cycling. What are some similarities? Are there similarities that you’ve noticed?
Emily Schelberg:
Oh, there’s definitely similarities, yeah. So maintaining being quiet on the sled is what we used to say. So being quiet on your bike. Everything about your efficiency on the bike has to deal with where that energy is being placed. And so maintaining this kind of stillness in your body except for what’s actually working. You’re trying to stay as aerial as possible. And that quietness on the sled really translates well to maintaining a good aerial position on the bike.
And just being low and down to your center of gravity and being close to where the speed is really helps to keep your center of balance and translates well from the sled to the bike. I find that it’s been very useful, especially going through curves and feeling pressure. When you’re on a sled the G-Force are far more than you would feel on a track even on a 250, but the way it feels on the bike is kind of comparable to that.
Maura Beuttel:
Well, that’s good. I mean, it’s certainly helped you within. So you’ve been in the sport a little over two years now?
Emily Schelberg:
It’ll be two years in April.
Maura Beuttel:
Okay.
Emily Schelberg:
So just hit the two-year mark, yeah.
Maura Beuttel:
Wow. That goes fast, doesn’t it?
Emily Schelberg:
Doesn’t it? Yeah.
Maura Beuttel:
I mean, just this last year alone, I mean, you were on the podium at Elite Track Nats, you raced your first UCI season, which is big in and of itself, you’ve gotten gold at Masters Track Nationals, and you were just at UCI Masters World Nats and medaled there too. That’s insane.
Emily Schelberg:
Yeah, it’s been a meteoric rise for sure. Definitely unexpected. I give all the credit to Missy. I mean, when I showed up, I had one of the women’s introductions with Kim Geist’s group introduction to the track on a Wednesday, April of last year, two years ago. And we were still wearing masks. I mean, that was still, COVID was just coming around the corner there, and I knew nothing.
I didn’t know what I was doing what I was doing on the bike. The first time I came out on the track, I was terrified to even get up on the curb and Missy’s like, “You’re not going to slide. I swear you’re not going to slide.” And I’m like, “I don’t believe you.”
So yeah, the fire hose has just been trying to get comfortable with something new all the time. And there is something every single time I touch my bike or every single time I come to the track there’s something new I have to learn. And case in point, I was out training with the US team, and I showed up with wheels that had the wrong tires on it, and I was like, “I didn’t know there was…”
Maura Beuttel:
Oh no
Emily Schelberg:
Yeah. I’m like, “Oh no.” So there’s definitely a steep learning curve, but it’s just so fun and addictive. And the effort pays off and it’s tangible. And so it’s exciting to continue to learn new things and to get better and to be part of it. I’ve really enjoyed it so far.
Maura Beuttel:
I mean, hey, who doesn’t like to go fast, right?
Emily Schelberg:
Right. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, the UCI definitely stepping from your masters races or your Tuesday night races or things like that and having to gain your points in order to be able to race UCI and then coming up against UCI women and you just realize the level that they’re at.
And you can be a big fish in a small pond and then you step out and you’re racing the Belgian team or the New Zealand team and you’re like, “Holy cow, this is a whole different world.” But also just, I mean, what an experience to race against Olympians. In your second year to just show up and be like, “Oh my gosh, she’s had a medal.” It’s pretty cool.
Every situation’s been a win-win and it’s been an incredible learning experience thus far. So it’s been great.
Maura Beuttel:
Right. Yeah, I think that’s the super cool thing about this sport. And it’s something like, I’ve been working here a little over two years now, and I mean, hey, I’m still learning things and there’s tons more that I’m looking forward to learning and getting to see this summer.
But something I still brag about to my friends is, okay, in this tiny little nowhere town in Pennsylvania is this place where athletes know from all around the world and they come here and they train. It was like the people that we had here this summer and getting to watch it. And it’s so cool because getting to see you all interact down on the infield, you all get to make new friends and learn new…
Emily Schelberg:
Oh yeah.
Maura Beuttel:
It’s like summer camp.
Emily Schelberg:
It really is. I mean, I haven’t met anyone in the community who hasn’t been completely welcoming and smiles on their faces. And you can tell too, the attitude around being at T-Town, you can see that these athletes are truly enjoying their experience at T-Town some reason. Yeah, there’s pressure for sure with competition, but outside of your actual race, they’re all smiles and they want to help. And they’re really engaging and everyone wants to… The community really is kind of a special thing, I think.
Maura Beuttel:
Right. Yeah. No, super lucky to have that here.
So you mentioned that you just finished up training with the US team out for a sprint camp in Carson. We just actually had Travis come on the pod from Carson.
Emily Schelberg:
Oh, cool. Yeah, awesome.
Maura Beuttel:
So how was that training out there with the team and what was that like?
Emily Schelberg:
More fire hose drinking for sure. But definitely, I mean, anytime you get the opportunity to train with other people, whoever it is, right, you’re going to become a better athlete because training naturally by yourself is so difficult to keep the energy up and to find your limits because other people are going to be the ones that push you beyond what you think you’re capable of.
So being invited was incredibly gracious and I was so excited to come. And the other athletes really are… So there was two groups. There was prospects, which I’m on the prospects side, and then there’s the targeted athletes, which who are the athletes who they’re really looking to see if they’re going to bring them to what they call the campaign, which is Jakarta and then Egypt and then Milton.
And so it was enlightening to see how they kind of work through their daily training environment and what that intensity is like, and how much of their lives are sacrificing for it, and how much passion they have for it. And to be a part of that and to share that passion and to be able to dive in and try to chase someone you know is way faster than you or to try to elevate your ability to be part of that team is a great challenge. And I was super excited to be there. And I had nothing but a blast while I was out there.
Maura Beuttel:
Oh, good.
Emily Schelberg:
So it was really, really fun.
Maura Beuttel:
I mean, it helps because that’s where master’s world was. So it wasn’t the first time that you’re out there on that track.
Emily Schelberg:
Correct.
Maura Beuttel:
Because obviously it’s an indoor 250. It’s much different than our outdoor concrete 333 here.
Emily Schelberg:
Oh yeah. I mean, completely different world. And I was lucky. Last year? Yeah. Last year I went to Portugal for a week to do a training camp with Blackline. So I had a little experience on a wood track. But even when I showed up at Worlds for Master’s Worlds, I think my first 200 that, because there were so many people warming up and I’m still trying to get comfortable with working around athletes and being safe and all those major important things that you do on a track. And so I’d never really gotten a chance to do a flying two before my flying two.
Maura Beuttel:
Oh no. Ripping the Band-Aid off.
Emily Schelberg:
Yeah, it was. Who knew, man? Yeah. So it’s that part of it where you’re trying to just maintain some stoicism in the face of your emotions and try to overcome the task when you just don’t have any experiences. It’s a very different training environment, different competing environment than I would’ve been used to.
But I mean similar in that with skeleton sometimes, I mean, most of the time you’ll come to a track that you’ve been on maybe once and it was last year and you did it like three times. And so having to learn it and having to respond immediately to the situation and answer those questions for yourself is a little bit transferable, but still scary. A new experience is always scary.
Maura Beuttel:
It’s a good thing though. It’s a good thing. So you’ve gone through all of these different steps from Women’s Wednesdays, Tuesdays, and Saturdays, and racing UCI and Nationals and Worlds. Big picture ideally where would you like to end up in track cycling? What’s the end goal for you?
Emily Schelberg:
End goal? I used to approach sports and competition with this is my goal and this is the goal up here. And for sure everyone’s goal, right? So if you’re in sports everyone’s goal is to wear that USA across their chest and to represent their country and race for their country. That’s the biggest goal you can have.
And for sure that’s out there. I’m not going to say that that’s not out there for me. I would love for that to happen, but I having been so fresh in this sport my goal is to get as fast as possible in my ability. And if as fast as I could possibly be is equivalent to how US could use that talent to win medals across the world, great. That’s great. But my focus is to be the best athlete I possibly can.
And so for this year, really that means stepping away from the master’s category and starting to push into UCI athlete or at UCI races that are outside the country. And so we’re trying to find two, three, maybe four races where I can go and get my butt kicked honestly and learn from that experience and try to elevate my abilities in comparison to those that are competing around the world.
So it’s definitely not going to be as fun as last year. Going out and racing and winning medals is great. It’s fantastic. It’s a lot of fun. But at some point, if you’re the number one in the room, you got to move on to the next room, right?
Maura Beuttel:
Right.
Emily Schelberg:
So that’s my goal is to find competitions where I can really be pushed and I can progress as an athlete. And we’ll see where it goes from there. But I think point one for a lot of athletes is really just focus on getting better yourself and then everything else will take care of itself.
Maura Beuttel:
No, I think that’s great. Very refreshing to hear, I guess, instead of like, “I’m going to be top level of the sport.” It’s all about the process getting there.
Emily Schelberg:
It is. And, I mean, I’ve got experience to look back on and I’ve been obviously part of different teams that I’ve seen what can happen and really you can’t control outside factors. All I can control is myself. And I feel like at least for me, my career should be focused on what can I do? And if I can get all those factors to be at a 100%, then I can’t control anything outside of that. So it makes for a better personal satisfaction for the sport, right?
Maura Beuttel:
Right.
Emily Schelberg:
Because if you’re trying to always chase these goals that are outside of yourself that you can’t control, you might get disappointed and you might get disappointed to a point where sports isn’t fun anymore. And so if I focus on pushing myself and getting faster, it’s always fun. It’s always fun. It’s always a good time.
Maura Beuttel:
We had a sports psychologist come on the podcast a while ago while Joan was still here and hosting, and it was Dr. Kristin Keim and the title of her episode and her big philosophy is that happy racers go faster.
Emily Schelberg:
It’s true. I think it’s very true, yeah. I mean, there’s tons of times if you put so much pressure on yourself to achieve a certain goal, that really, if you can’t control all the factors that go into that goal and you’re trying to either please someone else or please another team or please another a coach or athlete, those things are you… You’re bound to be disappointed because you can’t control those outside factors.
So yeah, racing happy is definitely when you can go in and you’re having a good time for sure, you’re going to go faster. If you’re stressed out and trying to force the issue and force the speed, that’s not going to work out.
Maura Beuttel:
I mean, what’s the point of coming into a track, coming into a race, and you have two categories of things that you can worry about. You have your controllables, the equipment you have, your emotions going into the race, what you ate the night before, what you ate the morning of, how you slept, whatever, totally under your control. Whereas you walk into a track and you’re like, “Oh my God, I’ve never raced here.” Something you can’t control. What is the point of stressing over something that you physically cannot change?
Emily Schelberg:
Yeah, absolutely. Totally agree, yeah. There’s no reason of wasting energy on that. And I mean, these races can go on for hours or days with things that you can’t control, the riding-
Maura Beuttel:
The weather.
Emily Schelberg:
… the weather, the weather, the weather. I mean, there are so many things. And you learn from it. You learn from every one of those moments. If the race is being delayed because of weather, then you’ve got to control how you’re going to meter out your energy. What are you going to eat? Are you going to rest now? When’s warm up? And focusing on that rather, rather than, when’s this rain going to end? That’s kind of ridiculous.
Maura Beuttel:
Nationals this summer.
Emily Schelberg:
[inaudible 00:20:19]. Right, the entire summer.
Maura Beuttel:
Oh, not starting racing until 11 o’clock at night.
Emily Schelberg:
Oh boy. Yeah, that was entertaining.
Maura Beuttel:
It was a long week, but… Yeah, so in our talk of the T-Town tradition, we’ll take a little pause from the serious questions and we have some fun lightning round lighthearted questions. What’s your favorite music to listen to while training?
Emily Schelberg:
Oh man, depends on… So I really use music as a way to affect my mood, which sounds crazy. But if I need high energy and I need to be up and amped, I’m listening to Pandora’s Beyonce station.
Maura Beuttel:
Nice.
Emily Schelberg:
Love it. So I need that aggression. I need that kind of fire. And it definitely helps to kind of amp up the energy. If I’m trying to stay focused and really in between I’ve got some time to relax and turn off my brain, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats radio is a good one.
Maura Beuttel:
Nice.
Emily Schelberg:
Yeah. So I think it just matters on the mood and what I’m trying to accomplish with listening to music in that moment.
Maura Beuttel:
Nice. Favorite post training snack?
Emily Schelberg:
Oh my gosh, my go-tos were always like I have Fuel for Fire, which is a protein squeeze pouch.
Maura Beuttel:
Okay.
Emily Schelberg:
It’s blended fruit with caffeine and protein in it. And it’s really just to get something in my stomach until I can get to either Chipotle or home and cook. My favorite food is steak, so if I can get home and cook a steak, that’s my jam for sure.
Maura Beuttel:
Nothing better than a good steak.
Emily Schelberg:
Yeah, so satisfying. And it’s like a reward after your race too, for sure.
Maura Beuttel:
Oh, 100%.
Emily Schelberg:
Yeah.
Maura Beuttel:
Who is an athlete, either currently in the sport, not in the sport, that you look up to?
Emily Schelberg:
Nicky Degrendele from Belgium. She’s an incredible human and she’s my idol in the gym. Watching her workouts on Instagram, I’m like, “I just want to be you. You’re so good.”
Maura Beuttel:
That’s how I feel watching your workouts.
Emily Schelberg:
I mean, she’s great, dude. She’s so powerful and she’s so strong. And she is such a positive light and attitude on the track. And she’s got so many talents outside of cycling, so I think she’s probably up there for me.
Maura Beuttel:
Nice. Favorite track race?
Emily Schelberg:
As in event or any races that I’ve done in the past?
Maura Beuttel:
Yes.
Emily Schelberg:
Yes. I love the match sprint. I mean, the match sprint right now is… There’s so many factors to think about in terms of tactics and I am at the base level of understanding those. I mean, all last year my only tactic was just go really, really fast.
Maura Beuttel:
Just go fast.
Emily Schelberg:
That was not really a tactic. And it literally blew up on me at Elite Nationals when I just blasted myself against Jen Wagner. So getting to watch video and learning the tactics for Sprint match has been fun and exciting. So we’ll try to see if we can apply those this year.
Maura Beuttel:
Good things. Favorite bike race to watch professional or here at the track or anywhere?
Emily Schelberg:
The Sprint match will be up there. I mean, watching people try to cat and mouse their way through a race. But the Keirin for sure, I mean, sadly because some of the wipeouts are pretty fantastic.
Maura Beuttel:
It’s always so scary.
Emily Schelberg:
I mean, it’s the one that I really enjoy the skill involved. And it’s one of the races where I feel like if you want to get into racing other people on the track besides one other person, it’s your entryway. It’s your gateway. And also just learning tactics from how you race from the back of the pack or the front of the pack or when do you put on the pressure and how do you meter that pressure? It’s a interesting race to watch, especially at the UCI level.
Maura Beuttel:
Yeah, I always get really nervous watching everyone come around turn four going into the last lap, biting my nails. I’m like, Please, please, everybody stay upright on two wheels.”
Emily Schelberg:
Nail biter for sure, yeah, but a fun one. It’s a great one.
Maura Beuttel:
Yes, yes, very entertaining to watch.
If you could go back and give advice to younger Emily from where you are now, what would you say?
Emily Schelberg:
What would I say? Get into track cycling earlier because it’s a lot of fun. Try not to focus on what you think you should be doing and focus on what makes you happy.
I think that a lot of times we have these presumed ideas of what we should be as an athlete and it can really get in the way of who we are as an athlete. And I think that when you focus on I need to be this or I need to be that, or I want to look like this or I want to feel like that, it gets away from what actually is. And so focusing on what makes you happy? Is it the gym? Is it one specific lift? Is it the race? Is it the time? Whatever it is that makes you happy, I think focusing on that. Just do what makes you happy.
Maura Beuttel:
Good life advice.
Emily Schelberg:
Yeah. Yeah, for sure.
Maura Beuttel:
Speaking of life, my next question for you more back into the more serious questions.
Emily Schelberg:
Sure.
Maura Beuttel:
So you are a mom, you are full-time medical professional, and somehow you still manage to throw this sport and training in there. How do you balance everything?
Emily Schelberg:
I don’t. Balance, yeah. So I would say that getting into cycling, it really has been a very aggressive hobby. And so that means hobbies are things that you invest your free time in. And for me, finding free time to do those things is really important.
I think that when we focus on our job and our family and our child, if you have a child, the assumption is that you have to give up what sets your soul on fire in order to be the responsible adult. And I’ve always felt like my argument is that if my soul’s on fire and I’m passionate about what I’m doing, my son sees that. And he absolutely does. And he enjoys seeing that.
And I want him to learn from that experience that life is not just about your job. It’s not just about being solely focused on your responsibilities, but it’s also about finding what makes you tick and what’s your purpose and what makes you happy. And I think he gets that too.
In terms of balancing all of it, I will say that I actually just dropped down to work part-time at my job in healthcare primarily because I really want to turn this hobby into something a little more. And so I think by doing that, I know what makes me happy. I know what I can safely afford to keep the lifestyle going. We make those trade-offs and it really is a time trade-off.
It’s a balance times August. You’ve seen him. I bring him to the track. [inaudible 00:27:24]
Maura Beuttel:
He’s so cute.
Emily Schelberg:
We’ll bring his bike sometimes to practice and we find time together to spend. And quite honestly, when I was on the skeleton team and even through track cycling, the irony is people sometimes assume because you’re doing track cycling you’re taking away from time with your kid. And in reality, if I wasn’t track cycling or being on the skeleton team, I’d be at work full-time and I wouldn’t have that time with August.
And so there have been times where my job graciously has allowed me unpaid leave for three or four months to go up to Lake Placid to slide. And because of that, the training environment is three, four maybe, five hours total of training in a day at the most, right? With meetings and whatever.
Maura Beuttel:
Right.
Emily Schelberg:
And so I actually have more time to spend with my kid because I’m doing that. And so I think it’s just a matter of how you perceive the world and how you want to interact with it and what you want out of a life.
And Matt and I have figured out how to make it work and he’s just as passionate about supporting me as I am about supporting his ideas outside of his job and being a parent too. So I’d say one, find a spouse that’s going to support you in your dreams and your goals. And so you don’t ever give up on them just because you’re older. Age doesn’t matter, right?
Maura Beuttel:
Right.
Emily Schelberg:
If you have a passion and it sets your soul on fire, go do it. Go do it for sure. But balance, every day it’s a different challenge, but you get done once you get done. And Missy knows. I mean, she’ll tell you, I don’t always get the workouts done. That’s just life, right?
Maura Beuttel:
Right.
Emily Schelberg:
So that’s definitely something we all work on, but it’s worth it in the end.
Maura Beuttel:
Right. 100%. And I think you touched on something really important there is having such a concrete support system like you have with your wonderful husband and your beautiful son. And who else is a part of your support outside of your family?
Emily Schelberg:
There’s an army of people behind. There’s literally an army with people behind me. Missy from being a coach to being a friend to supporting everything. She knows she’s everything, right? She’s literally everything when it comes to track. If I have a question, I’m calling Missy, right?
Maura Beuttel:
Right.
Emily Schelberg:
She knows everything for me.
Emily Schelberg:
My work. I mean, honestly I have a job where I’m honest about what I’m looking for in the world and they’ve been incredibly gracious about allowing me to continue to pursue those goals. And so there’s Karen Pipkin. There’s tons of people back at work that I work with that support that goal and they fight for me when it becomes an issue.
My mother-in-law watches August often. Of course, my dad watches August often for us. So having a close network of family that kind of supports that too. But really it comes down to Matt, honestly. If as a partnership this didn’t work out and this was becoming too stressful, we rely on each other to be like, “Hey man, we got to reevaluate.” So I would say that at the pinnacle of that support network is my husband for sure.
Maura Beuttel
Nice. Yes. Well it’s good to hear that you are well supported from all angles. And I think in any relationship, work, personal, whatever, transparency is important and communication.
Emily Schelberg:
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I would say too finding a team that really is kind of in line with your values. I work with [inaudible 00:30:40] and Christine D’Ercole and her team and because they’re mostly masters, they really do understand what it means in terms of what kind of support you need as a, I won’t say older athlete, but as an athlete that has other things going on outside of the sport. So finding a good team is very helpful.
Maura Beuttel:
Yeah. It’s funny because coming into this job and looking at track cycling as a whole, sort of as an outsider, because I have a swimming background and there are some similarities between the sports, but both sports I never really assumed teams to really be that big of a thing. Sure you’re a part of a team, but ultimately you’re racing as yourself and it’s you against your time or you against a handful of other people. But I mean, seeing I am, I can, I will, I do at the track and how you support each other and other star track and edge and all of these other teams here-
Emily Schelberg:
It’s huge, yeah.
Maura Beuttel:
… it’s completely changed my mindset on that.
Emily Schelberg:
Yeah, I think from an emotional standpoint, literally everybody on the track has been there longer than I have. So being able to go up to Christine and go, “I don’t know what’s happening. This is stressing me out,” whatever. She’s like, “Girl, chill. This is not the end, whatever. She’s so seasoned when it comes to this stuff.
And having that experience to be able to draw from other people on your team who have that experience, but also because they’re adults and they have jobs and they have kids and they have other experience outside of that can affect. I can talk to Christine about the fact like, “Dude, I did not get a single workout done in the last four days. What am I going to do?” And she’s like, “You’re going to be fine. It’s not the end of the world.”
So yeah, I mean the team’s vital. It’s absolutely vital. And even from outside, even the technical support kits and current costs for races and things like that is phenomenal. I mean, just because you’re an older athlete with some financial stability doesn’t mean that this isn’t an incredibly expensive sport and I would say the barrier to entry for this sport. That’s one of the huge barriers to entry is cost. And so when you’re able to find support in that way, especially from such a strong team, it’s very helpful.
Maura Beuttel:
Right. 100%. Last question for you. So we’re now in February of 2023. I’m sure you’ve got big things planned for the upcoming season. So what is next for you this year?
Emily Schelberg:
So finding those UCI races that I can attend, afford, and do well at is kind of big on the list. Lots of time at T-Town. I mean, I’ve cleared my schedule. Like I said, I’ve kind of reorganized my life in a way where I can get down to T-Town, even though it’s a two and a half hour drive to just be on the track. Because that’s what I need now is that.
And I think the bigger hurdle is finding other athletes who are willing and interested in training with me to be able to get faster. So yeah, really just more time, more time, more time and more exposure and more races and more and more and more. So taking that big step forward and trying to see where I can go on the elite UCI side is kind of where we’re at.
Maura Beuttel:
Right. Heck yeah. Putting in the work.
Emily Schelberg:
Get that track open. Let’s go. I want to do this.
Maura Beuttel:
Hey, we’re super excited to actually open on time this year and not have track resurfacing.
Emily Schelberg:
I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it.
Maura Beuttel:
Yes, lots of exciting things in the pipeline for T-Town this summer.
Emily Schelberg:
So can’t wait.
Maura Beuttel:
Yes. Well, thank you so much for taking time out of your day to sit down and chat.
Emily Schelberg:
Yeah, thanks for inviting me. I appreciate it. It’s been a lot of fun.
Maura Beuttel:
Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Looking forward to having you here this season.
Emily Schelberg:
Thank you.
Maura Beuttel:
And that has been this week’s episode of Talk of the T- Town. Please give us like, comment, help us grow the pod and stay tuned to see who we have on next time.
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