AS ROOKIE PRO seasons go, Addy Wiley’s was an all-over-the-place roller coaster, but it ended in the right place for the 20-year-old whose charging finish to her ’24 began to redeem all the potential her high school and brief college career suggested.
The high point was her 1000 AR of 2:31.49 in Białystok, Poland, on the last day of August. Her season was all about running through the tape. That became important to her after an ill-timed bout of food poisoning and a hamstring injury 3 weeks before the Trials derailed Olympic dreams.
The OT “was very disappointing because I had done so much work; my fitness was the best it’s ever been and I knew I had a chance not just to make the team in one event but two,” says Wiley, who was eliminated in the 800 semis before finishing 11th in the 1500 in Eugene. “Coming out of the Trials I was ready to prove that that was still a true statement.
“Trusting my fitness and knowing I still had a lot left in the season, I was still really motivated, especially after how disappointing the Trials were. It gave me a lot of extra motivation for the last couple of races. The fitness was there.”
Assuredly, Wiley had shown fitness of the highest order as a prep and then NAIA collegian at Huntington University. Her 4:26.16 for 1600 as a North (Huntington, Indiana) senior, a 4:27.71 mile equivalent, to this day is the fastest 4-lap time by a prep. A year ago at the Brussels DL — in the late summer following her frosh, and only, season at Huntington — she raced 3:59.17 for 1500, under Jenny Simpson’s 3:59.90 CR.
Now it was time to chase open-level records.
“The AR in the 1000 was something I had my mind on for a while,” Wiley says. “With the Trials being this year it’s something I thought would come second to competing at the Olympics. When the Olympics didn’t happen, everything in my mind was focused on knowing I could get that record.
“I had a couple of other records in my mind earlier in the year when I was super-fit that I felt like I could go after, but this one fit so well into the schedule. I had a call with my agent, he said there was a 1K opportunity in Poland and he said, ‘You can go after that record,’ and I said, ‘I definitely will.’ We were ready for it.”
That was part of an inspiring close to a season that included an 800 PR of 1:56.83 in Poland 3 days before the AR that advanced Wiley to No. 5 all-time among U.S. 2-lappers.
She’d been building toward that all year, a rookie season that began well enough with a runner-up finish in the 800 at the USATF Indoor. Her training situation at Huntington hasn’t changed. In fact, in the indoor season when she was still going to classes not much changed at all.
“Even when I was in college I had a good setup to train professionally and attend professional meets,” Wiley says. “It definitely made the transition smoother. It got easier [in the summer] not having to work around classes, where I could balance the running world with the academic world a little easier. The transition went well because of the work I did ahead of time to set up for that kind of professional style of training while I was still in college.
“Then coming off the indoor season, training was going well but I was also handling a heavy schedule. Once I got to outdoor when I was finishing my spring classes, I was able to focus on training full time and it was going well, I could really capitalize on doing little things right.”
On that last point, that will carry over into the off-season.
“I’ll be focusing on regrouping for further injury prevention,” Wiley says. “I’ll start whole new isometrics, things I haven’t had to do because I haven’t been full-time, year-round. I haven’t had that kind of stress on my body so now I’m learning to do little things and building up my strength — running, the weightroom, stretching, plyos, everything. I’ll build up to get over 50 miles per week [which she hasn’t done before], doing more mileage.”
Coming off a record-setting season, Wiley’s goals next year will be more big-meet results focused.
“There’s that World Indoor team, I’m super excited to make my second one in a row, hopefully continue that streak,” says Wiley, who competed at the WIC in Glasgow last March. “Then I’m extra motivated for the U.S. Championships, to prove my spot on an outdoor team and earn it. I feel like I should have earned it this year so I’m motivated for next year.”
All of that feeds into the bigger picture of what she wants to prove.
“Honestly, just that I’m capable of being one of the best American middle distance runners,” Wiley says. “I believe that, I believe I’ve started to prove that, and even though not everything has clicked this year, that’s definitely a piece of confidence, a chip I’m carrying on my shoulder: I can be the best and I’m working to be the best.” ◻︎