Penn State track and field athlete Zoey Goldstein is celebrating a birthday with friends at beautiful Bald Eagle State Park, Pennsylvania. Goldstein shared some very cute pictures of the group celebrating by the water, including ones of herself posing in a white bikini and colorful knit crop top against a background of trees and blue skies. "Kissies for the birthday girl😙💋," she captioned the post for pal Victoria Vanriele. "My favorite people," Vanriele commented. Here's exactly how Goldstein works hard so she can play hard.

Going from high school athletics to college was quite a challenge for Goldstein, who of course rose to the occasion. "Transitioning from virtually no training at all to D1 level training has been quite a challenge," she says. "I'm very out of shape and my body isn't used to these strenuous workouts. From what I've gathered so far, college workouts are similar to high school workouts with one small but significant difference: rest time. While in high school we would do a 200 and then rest for a few minutes, in college, our 'rest time' is a circuit including core exercises and plyometrics. It keeps your heart-rate up and makes your breathing heavier when you start the next set."

Goldstein started lifting weights in college, which was something new to her. "I also never lifted weights in high school, so that has definitely been a learning experience as well," she says. "When I was recruited, I was told this was a good thing, because if I could run those times without weight training, I could improve immensely once I started. It's been a challenging adjustment, but exciting nonetheless!"

Goldstein focuses on the mental as well as physical aspects of her sport. "My high school coach once said something to me that has stuck with me throughout my years of running track," she says. "He said that track is 90% mental, and 10% physical. Something that differentiates track from other competitive sports is the fact that it is mostly an individual sport, aside from relays. This can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how well you perform. When you do well, you know that you did so all on your own. When you do poorly, however, there is no one else to blame but yourself. I 100% agree with my high school coach about the mental aspects of running track. Whether it's blocking out the soreness and pain you feel on your last set of a workout, or suppressing the raging anxiety you get before a race, there is much more to track than running in an oval."df44d9eab23ea271ddde7545ae2c09ec

When Goldstein is not training she allows herself to indulge in food and fun with friends, which is important for her work-life balance. Goldstein shared a social media post of herself enjoying fondue, which actually has health benefits. "Cheese is packed with nutrients like protein, calcium, and phosphorus, and can serve a healthy purpose in the diet," says Lisa Young, RD. "Incorporating cheese into a Mediterranean-style diet where you also include fruits, veggies, whole grains, and other foods known to lower disease risk is going to be the most beneficial to your overall health."

Goldstein is grateful to be doing what she loves. "It still feels surreal to see my name and my face on the 2020-2021 Penn State Track & Field Roster," she wrote. "There was a significant time period where I genuinely thought I lost the opportunity to run in college due to my injury, so I feel so grateful every single day to be where I am now. This picture is a reminder that I made it! I wish I could show it to my last-year self and tell her not to lose hope, and instead to keep her head up and be patient. Her time would come."