Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone Takes Her Morning Self-Care Just as Seriously as Her Success on the Track

Here’s how the track star starts her day.

Two days before a trip to Paris (my first since I was a kid!), I beefed it pretty hard on my bike during a gravel bike ride. I had scrapes, bumps, and bruises all down the left side of my body, and by the time I boarded the plane for a nearly 8-hour flight across the Atlantic, my skin was still raw. I had wrapped my left knee, the worst of my injuries, to prevent the tender wounds from rubbing.

By the first evening in France, though, it was clear I had wrapped my knee too tightly: my left ankle was puffy. I figured a day walking around a European city would restore the blood flow and I’d be feeling better, but the opposite happened. My shoes of choice—a reasonable pair of white sneakers designed for traversing a city—betrayed me, leaving me with two swollen feet. By my third afternoon in Paris, I was in my hotel room, on the bed, with my legs up the wall. My ankles were throbbing after walking 19,000 steps on stone and concrete, my pinky toes and the backs of my Achilles were wrapped in bandages, and I wasn’t sure how I was going to go to the Louvre the next day without being in agony. I had to make a decision: keep wearing the white shoes that matched all my outfits but were tortuous on my feet, or switch to a pair of Nikes that were a bright neon green but held the promise of comfort and stretch for my weary dogs.

The next morning I paired white denim with my slime-green Pegasus 41s ($140), and after the first pain-free hour, I knew I wasn’t going back. My raw pinky toes weren’t rubbing; my sore ankles were loving the plush padding. And best of all, the bottoms of my feet were supported by bouncy cushioning. My swelling that night was almost totally gone, and I was still getting 15,000 steps a day.

My last two days in Paris I switched to the Nike Pegasus EasyOns ($155), which I was given as part of a Paralympics immersion trip. These EasyOns were designed to be more inclusive and, well, truly easy to get on; the collapsible heels allow for hands-free entry, while toggles replace traditional laces that can be tightened sans any tying. They’re so convenient that a pair was included in the Team USA athlete bag for all Olympians and Paralympians.