Amanda Chambers

Full Great Women Great Danes Interview Transcript

UAlbany's Great Women Great Danes is a new series that will be published during Women's History Month. The series will feature Great Danes, past and present, and celebrate the women of UAlbany.

Q: Can you talk about your student-athlete experience so far?
A: I've been here for six years, so I've done my undergrad and now I'm in my master's [program]. I love being a student athlete here. I love my professors, especially in my graduate program - I have really good relationships with them where they are guiding me, not even just in school, but outside of school, too. It's definitely a balance being a student and an athlete, but as you get older you learn how to balance both. It's been a good experience that I think will shape me really well for my future career.
 
Q: Can you bring me through your journey with your injuries that you had in your first couple of years here?
A: My first injury actually started before coming to UAlbany. I got it six months prior to graduating in high school, and I carried through my freshman year. I had ankle surgery on my right ankle after I tore the tendon off the bone. That was about a year and a half of recovery. That was … oh gosh, 2018, I would say. So … in 2018, I had the surgery. By the 2019 fall cross country season, I started competing again. So, I didn't run at all from 2017 until the 2019 fall season. Then COVID hit. So that was a big … you weren't racing. We weren't racing from the spring of 2020 until really like February of 2021. I came back, and still, was not feeling great for the whole year. I ran my senior year through it. Then, last year, I started to feel really, really sick come wintertime. I started to notice I was really having a tough time breathing and my legs felt tired all the time when I was running. So, I went and got tested. I was severely iron deficient anemic. So, I went to Albany Med and got infusions for four weeks. I've been, knock on wood, healthy since. It's been really great - I'm on medication now for it. And honestly, any previous injury issues, I haven't had an issue with [recently].
 
Q: Can you tell me what it felt like to have COVID hit shortly after you came back?
A: You know, it was just kind of like, ‘well, what am I gonna do?’ It felt like there's a roadblock with everything that happens. But you know - you try and look at the bigger picture. Even now, I try and do the same thing when I'm tired and I'm exhausted and I don't want to like, go out and do that run or go and do something. I'm like, ‘there's a bigger picture at the end of the day and you're working towards a bigger goal.’ That's what kept me going was I was just thought, we're gonna get to the other side of this, eventually. I don't know how long it's gonna be, just like I didn't know with my injury - I don't know if it's gonna be a year, I don't know if it's gonna be two weeks, I don't know. I don't know, but I'm gonna keep working for it because you just keep that bigger picture of wanting to achieve whatever that goal is, whether it's a personal best, winning a conference title, whatever it will be. Just keep that bigger goal in mind; that's what kept me motivated. 
 
Q: Do you think you’ve had your iron deficiency your entire life?
A: It's actually very common in a lot of runners. Hannah Reinhardt, who was on our team, had literally almost the exact same issue as me. She actually might have been a level lower than me, and I was very, very low. To put it in perspective, athletes are supposed to be over 30 for their iron level, a normal person's is supposed to be twenty … I was a four. She was … I'm pretty sure a three or something like that. Obviously, she made a huge turnaround when she had the same thing happen. So, I think it is something I've had for a long time. I think being an endurance athlete, you run your body through a lot, like doing a lot of mileage. I'm running anywhere from 50 to 60 miles a week and that's a lot on your body. I had to go see a GI doctor and I got a colonoscopy and endoscopy because they were trying to figure out where I was losing this blood from; sometimes, as a female, they would say it's your menstrual cycle, sometimes they say, it's you not being able to absorb iron correctly, and some people are just born with not being able to absorb iron well and that … that's my case. So, I think I've had it for a long time. I don't think I had it really in high school cause I was running very well up until I got injured in high school. Even now, I'll get up quick sometimes and like, see stars really quick. I see all the symptoms now and it makes sense. 
 
Q: You have said, you regretted coming back last year. Is that still the case?
A: You know, it's really emotional when I think about that. Because, I actually recall having a conversation with two of my teammates. One that's still here, Lejla Hrelja, and Sydney Coddington, who was a stellar athlete here. She was super smart and a great addition to our team. She transferred from Holy Cross. I looked at both of them and I was like … this is when I came off the track of running … At my best in high school, I was a 5.05 mile miler. So, being a fifth-year student, getting on the track and running 5.50 in the mile, I'm like, ‘what the heck am I doing to myself? Like, this is embarrassing. It's hurting my confidence, it's upsetting, and you know, your sport's supposed to be rewarding for you.’ So I looked at them and I was like, ‘why am I still doing this? I'm seeing no reward.’ And, in my head I was thinking, I'm working hard and I'm doing everything right. So, I went and tried to be proactive about my health. Now, looking back on everything, moments like that make everything that's happening now [that much better]. I don't regret [coming back], like I'm so happy, I came back. I'm happy I came back [this year] too, because it keeps being more and more rewarding. These highs mean so much more to me because there were some real lows. I mean, getting out there, and not showing people what you know you can do, it’s embarrassing. And it's frustrating because you are hurt or ill, or whatever the reason is. People don't always get that, they just see how you're performing out there and they're like, ‘what the heck is she doing?’ But to come back now and do what I'm doing, it's like I proved to myself I can do this and I proved it to everybody else, too.
 
Q: Sometimes, the lows in life do help us prove to ourselves what we can accomplish. Getting through it and coming out the other end helps us to improve every day.
A: For sure … and no one knows this but also my mental health, like really plummeted from this because at the same time all this was going on last year, I lost my uncle, who was also my godfather. He passed unexpectedly as a 54-year-old on Father’s Day in 2021. Then, I lost my grandpa six months later to Alzheimer's disease, and that was not fun. Then, I lost my grandma this year that no one knew about, and I just lost my other aunt like last [month]. So, it's been … it hurts. It hurts so bad going through those things, but it puts a lot of life stuff in perspective for you and makes you grow as a human being and mature. I mean, I wish those things didn't happen, but they've changed me as a person for the better and I'm thankful for it in that way. And, even though they're not here, I know they're here still.
 
Q: Now you are back in your sixth year and have been breaking records, both personal and meet records, throughout the indoor season. Can you tell me a little bit more about what that means to you?
A: Like I said, I mean … it means so much because of the lows, that I went through it. It keeps pushing you to wanna be better. Even when you do those things, it's like, ‘okay, well what can I do next?’ … like ‘that's great, but what, what can I do next? What barrier can I tap into next? What level can I hit?’ And that's the point I'm at right now, I want to keep pushing myself farther and farther. [It’s] not that it's never good enough and I'm happy with my accomplishments, but I just … it makes me want to do better, which is awesome. And I have great teammates, Tess [Fitzmaurice], who I train with all the time, and she pushes me to be a lot better, just like I push her.
 
Q: Similar to indoor, earlier this year you improved greatly - from a 63rd finish at the 2021 cross country championships to this year’s 10th place finish and an all-conference nod. What about that? That had to be a little bit more than just ‘what barriers can I break next?’
A: You know, deep down, I always knew I could do these things. Like, I knew the athlete I was in high school, even though that's ancient, like forever ago. I always knew I had it in me to be this type of athlete. But, it just meant a lot. Like, I definitely remember going through the line and even though I was exhausted after running the 5k, I, like, started to tear up a little bit … my dad was there and for my dad being there, being able to see me [finish] and like all of my teammates now too, who have seen me go through my struggles … It just felt rewarding. It was like that breath of fresh air. It's like, ‘okay, I'm being rewarded for what I deserve.’ I never gave up and I kept working through it. So, it was … I don't know the right word to use for it, but it was like that moment like, ‘okay, like this is coming together.’But still though, I know I can [do better]. I have Coach [Matt] Jones always telling me, ‘you can still do more. You can still do better.’ Which is awesome because I wanna keep doing that. That's the runner mindset, you know?
 
Q: So I have heard rumors that you still have a little bit of eligibility left. Do you have any plans to come back?
A: I am coming back in the fall next year for sure, yeah. I still have to finish out my master's. I just started the full MPH. I got a graduate certificate in public health and now I'm in the full MPH program studying health policy and management. So, I am definitely coming back for the fall. It's a question mark for spring. We'll see how much I'll extend that because you know … I'm also getting into my adult age where I'm like, ‘okay, I really should get out into the workforce.’ I definitely have made my mark and I've made good connections and stuff … So yeah, I will be back in full and I have big goals, even bigger than last year.
 
Q: How did the women around you help you to become the athlete and person you are today?
A: If I'm talking specifically from the standpoint of my team, I just remember being in those low moments and like all the girls on my team would always lift me up and were always pushing me to believe in myself when I didn't believe in myself. And, I think that speaks a lot about women in sports and women in general … even outside the sport, like in jobs or life circumstances. Like. I've had my friends and my family, my mother, my grandparents, like my aunts, like all have lifted me up during low moments. And, I just think women in general are always trying to empower each other, which I think is great because we didn't years and years ago. Like my grandma is 91 … so, she's kind of lived through this … she didn't have those types of moments where they could be in the situations where they are now. So, to have the support of other strong women, especially like my former teammates, Sam Rutt and Sydney Coddington, always helped. Sam was so positive and would always lift me up in my work. No matter what she had going on her plate, [and it was usually] a million different things, I knew she'd come help me. And that's what I think about also with women in general, is we inspire one another … [Sam] specifically. She inspired me through all the stuff she's done with running. I've watched her come back from fractures, and not even just her, but my other teammates, Kait Butterfield and Sydney [Coddington]. Sydney last year missed the whole … kind of missed the whole indoor season and then came back and finished in fifth place … finished that conference [race] with one race before that. Like, you just watch these girls - they're just so strong and it's ‘if they're doing that, I can do that.’
 
Q: You've had all this success, especially recently, in your career. What does it mean or how does it feel that young women and girls might look up to you because of it?
A: It means a lot because I want to help anyone I can because of the stuff I've gone through. To show them: Did I know for sure I would be doing this stuff right now? No. And that's like the point I want to make to other girls - that you don't know what you're capable of. You can achieve anything you put your mind to; you think it, you believe it, you can become it. If you want to work hard enough … like at the end of the day, hard work beats talent when talent isn't working hard enough. How I feel for these girls is I wanna show them you can overcome these barriers, whether it's injury, whether it's mental health stuff, or anything else. I want to set that example that you can make it through. And if you look on my social media, that's my message a lot and it's probably irritating for some people to see it all the time. But I'm always just like, you can make it to the other side, and not just in sports. I just want to be that inspiration that shows - I made it out from a dark place to a really good place, I'm now through a lot of adversity.
 
Q: What does Women's History Month mean to you?
A: It means you should be proud to be a female because just everything you're doing means so much more because females in the past haven't been able to do what we're able to do now. The strength we have and what we go through, it's just so empowering and inspiring. It's just awesome being a woman … that's what Women's History Month means to me.
 
For more interviews from the Women's History Month #GreatWomenGreatDanes series, click here.