Amber Schulz Shares Her Running Journey With Thousands

Oct 01, 2020

Timber creek junior Amber Schulz is no stranger to the spotlight.

The sub 18-minute cross country state medalist can be found at any meet with several young runners asking to get photos with her and tell her how she's making an impact on their own running story.

See, Schulz is pretty much an Instagram celebrity in the running community.

The 16-year-old has an Instagram following of over 35 thousand runners around the world -- all eager to watch her journey from afar.

From healthy recipes, gym workouts, mental health advocacy and running updates -- Schulz seems to share it all.

The most vulnerable thing she's shared with her ever-growing audience thus far? Her journey fighting an eating disorder.

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looking for the old Amber? • sorry, she can't talk right now...why? Oh. she's dead • in all seriousness, I am a completely different girl than the one on the left. she was never really me. • for so long I believed I needed to change what I looked like to fit into what I thought a fast runner was. I put myself through so much pain and isolation to meet an unrealistic standard that I thought defined who I was. to me my identity no longer was defined by who I was as a person.... but was defined by my performance and body. • In reality, all I was doing was breaking myself down. I lost who I had once been. who I was as a person was gone.... covered up by a weak, lost, scared little girl. • not only did I lose myself, I lost my purpose for one of my biggest passions. my reasons for running began to extend past wanting to race, push myself, and get better. It became an excuse. always forcing myself to do more and rest less. • I became weak. physically and mentally weak. • to all the athletes out there...know this, you can put in all the training and hard work that you want.... but if you're not fueling yourself and taking care of your body you are simply playing yourself. this turns into a vicious cycle of destruction that is much easier to enter than it is to get out of. • the girl on the left is simply lost, weak, scared, and falling apart. the girl on the right has determination, strength, power, resilience, a zest for life and is a straight BADA$$. • ask yourself this, would you rather be the girl remembered for breaking down all to look a certain way? or remembered as the bad a** runner who was confident, strong, determined and had a zest for life? • #gym #fitness #workout #fit #motivation #bodybuilding #fitnessmotivation #training #gymlife #gymmotivation #fitfam #lifestyle #health #muscle #sport #healthy #love #crossfit #flrunners #instagood #foodie #milesplit #strong #healthylifestyle #instafit #fitspo #strongnotskinny #crosscountry

A post shared by Amber Schulz (@amberunz) on Sep 29, 2020 at 4:28pm PDT

"It definitely took me a long time to be able to be open about it," Schulz said after a second place finish at the FLRunners Invitational. "The amount of people that come to me and tell me that I help them, that's what really makes it so amazing, because I can help so many others who go through the same thing."

Bringing attention to fueling your body properly is important for Schulz as she confronts her eating disorder one day at a time.

"In previous years, I've struggled with an eating disorder. It's a really wide issue that isn't talked about enough. I just want to bring attention to that," Schulz said.

While she's sharing the vulnerable details of her running story, she also remembers to highlight the positives of the sport -- spotlighting her Timber Creek's goals of making it to the state championship this year, and learning to enjoy every moment that the sport has to offer.

"We really want to go to state. Every year we are getting closer and closer as a team. I can say this year we are the closest we've ever been and we are having so much fun!" Schulz said post race.

Schulz raced her way to an 18:33 second place finish at the FLRunners.com Invitational on a hot and humid Holloway Park course this weekend. In a few days, she will line up at the Apalachee Regional Park course at the FSU (Pre-State) Invitational. She holds an ARP personal record of 17:56 that she ran last season to finish fourth overall in the 4A cross country state meet.

More Coverage:

Amber Schulz Athlete Profile
Timber Creek Team Page