TicketsOct. 21, 2010
By Garrett Sabelhaus
GoBEARCATS.com
Logical thinking would say the less an individual weighs the faster said person will run.
That train of thought may actually be true but when someone's well being becomes uncertain just to shave a few seconds off of a time, it becomes not worth it.
Jill Glassmeyer is a fourth-year University of Cincinnati cross country and track runner who at one point was shaving seconds off her times and pounds off her body at an alarming rate.
But becoming one of the best runners in the BIG EAST was coming at a cost to Glassmeyer's health.
The 5-foot-3 distance runner weighed a stunning 95 pounds at one point after developing an eating disorder prior to coming to UC in 2007.
"I thought the thinner the faster," Glassmeyer said. "I was really nervous if I was going to be able to keep up with the Division I girls. I actually came in freshman year and they wouldn't let me go to camp because my blood work was showing I was burning protein instead of fat which is kind of a scary deal."
Glassmeyer had to sign a contract saying she would gain weight and, with the support of sports psychiatrists and nutritionists at UC, she gained the weight.
"It took a whole year (to overcome)," Glassmeyer said. "I was pretty stubborn too. Most girls with eating disorders and those things are stubborn and don't want to face the facts. You get wrapped up in it and that's all you can think about."
The McAuley High School product and Cincinnati native would know too. Not only did she experience an eating disorder but she now studies them as a Dietetics and Nutrition major set to graduate at the end of Summer Quarter 2011.
At 120 pounds, Glassmeyer claims she's let herself go but track season should help her get back to 115 pounds where she needs to be. Her ideal running weight is 107 pounds.
But running wasn't always her sport until it had to be. A bad knee injury her sophomore year of high school ended her soccer and basketball careers.
Doctors recommended she not return to the field or court again because of the twisting and pivoting nature of the sport.
But cross country and track were allowed and Glassmeyer loved it despite never thinking she could compete in Division I.
One of her main goals was to run in college so she assumed she would have to go to a small school.
When UC became an option she jumped at the chance and never looked back.