Catching Up With IUFH Alumni Akila O'Grady

Akila O'Grady was a part of the inaugural Indiana Field Hockey team in 2000. Since graduating from IU O'Grady appeared on season two of American Idol and earned the title of an Ironman. IUHoosiers.com received the chance to catch up on all that she has been doing.

What have you been up to since playing?
This is a fun question since I consider myself to be an OG Team member. You have officially dated me and now require me to show my age. LOL. However, age is nothing but a number! I started a career in Human Resources, birthed two amazing humans, Cecilia Rose (14, 8^th grade) and Sadie (11, 6^th grade), went through an ugly divorce which honestly taught me lessons about adversity and strength I didn't know existed. People you are stronger than you know, and family and support are everything. I recovered from a full back fusion of my l4/l5, I serve as the President of the PTA at my kids middle school and coach the 8^th grade basketball team for my kids school, I train for triathlon, sing in an acoustic duo, serve as an active vestry member at my church, and I lead the worship team as well.

How have you been staying active post-playing?
Yes, I have really fallen in love with the sport of triathlon which I find quite funny. For my entire life I loathed cardio. Especially running which is why I played defense… yet I am now an Ironman…which requires a ton of running.

What does training for an Ironman entail?
First and foremost, commitment that you can and will finish along with support from your family. The rest is just details. I am a single mom who does not like to take any time away from my family. Training is about 15 hours a week until about 4-6 weeks before race day when the volume really increases. All my training happens between 4-7am when the children are sleeping. I am very blessed that my gym is within walking distance of my home. I am also blessed that my kids are tougher on me than my coach. On days I want to quit they push me. They are also athletes and will run, swim, and bike with me. I had a 10-mile run this morning and my eldest did 7 miles with me. Honestly, a lot of what I learned at IU transferred to what I do now. I can still hear Amy, Gina, Geoff, and Jason in my ear. Those early morning workouts are nothing different than what I'm doing now if anything they prepared me for IM and everyday life.

How do you go about training for the Ironman leading up to it?
Again, its mental preparation. The IM slogan is "Anything is Possible" or "She believed she could, so she did" and it's true. People have this preconceived notion that in order to be an Ironman you must look a certain way or be a perfect athlete. You see every single age, shape and size on the course. Do you know that a man who walked the entire marathon portion of the course beat me? Yes…read that again. He had a leg injury but is a monster in the water and on the bike. So, he pulled ahead during those portions of the race and then just got his mind right for the marathon and walked the entire thing. The race guide says, walk, crawl, or run…just keep moving forward. I recall back in the day one training session with Gina where we were running, I was of course at the back of the pack because well…remember, I don't run and she said to us, just finish, don't stop, just slow down. 17 years later I still remember that. It's those kinds of things that get you through training. You have a plan yes, but it really is mental. Yes you have a coach, you decide what race you want, you tell your family because support is critical, you get your nutrition in line, ( I eat all the time), make sure I sleep, (sleeping in critical to body repair) along with stretching , rest days and yoga. But mental toughness is key. Frankly I could say I started prepping for my IM my first season at IU. If you look back at the inaugural season everything was in the infancy stages, we were all teaching each other, the program our new coach, look at the record…that was a mentally tough season. But we came together, and we got through it. We showed up every day, we put in the work, there are days we didn't want to but that's what training for an IM looks like.

Talk about what went through your mind during the Ironman.
Oh man, everything from what was I thinking to oh my gosh, I'm an IM, I just did that! IM Maryland is in the Chop Tank river where there are a ton of Jellyfish, I was stung a ton of times, the first time I remember thinking, dang that sucker stung me, the second time I was over it and thought ok its on…time to get out of this water. During the day they put various types of nutrition out, at one point I past buy chicken broth and thought man how do I avoid that smell next time. Then there were other thoughts as you pass by the same people over and over you give out words of encouragement you, stop to help someone who looks like they want to quit. I raise money for Children's hospital and my nephew who passed away. He can't be here and I race in his memory so I spend some time with him away from all of the spectators. It is a beautiful day.

You're also really into biking. Do you want to talk about the Century Bike Ride for Autism Awareness that you did last year? Bike to the Beach is for Autism Awareness and I have compelted it 3 years now. Last year my daughter joined me , it is one day 106 mile ride from Washington DC to Dewey beach. I ride with my former company CARFAX and its an amazing experience. We start at 5am and arrive around 2 pm. We laughed, we cried, we yelled at each other. I was so proud of my daughter words can not express. Bike to the Beach is a very personal ride for me. 1/54 children is diagnosed with Autism which means you more than likely know someone affected. My slogan is that "I ride because others can not". Really, that's how I approach all of my philanthropy and fitness. I do not do a race without tying it to a cause. Otherwise what is the point?

https://www.autismspeaks.org/events/bike-beach-washington-dc?gclid=CjwKCAjw-YT1BRAFEiwAd2WRtklKiDCKS8ZYGJAGKwb7X7i3TfL5_WtvrvN0XY8yPaiffPHAa3NZKRoCBHgQAvD_BwE

Due to the situation going on right now in America, there is a virtual ride that you are doing called Face of America Bike Ride ( DC to Gettysburg) for Veterans. What does that entail and how has the change effected how ride and train?
Face of America (FOA) is a ride through an organization call World T.E.A.M sports. TEAM stands for The Exceptional Athlete Matters. https://wtsevent.org/faceofamerica/ The organization creates athlete challenges for both adaptive and able-bodied participants empowering athletes to overcome physical, emotional, and technical challenges. FOA is a cycling challenge that honors the sacrifices the military vets made in service to our country.   Training hasn't change since we are able to still hit the trails just at a social distance. While the actual ride itself is canceled due to COVID, they will be hosting a virtual ride using a platform called ZWIFT. We will all be able to log in on our personal trainers ( if people have them, this is where you are able to turn your road bike into a stationary bike) and follow a virtual course as if we are still riding the 100 miles. Thank you technology for allowing us to still be able to have these events.

Your birthday is coming up on April 29^th. Do you have a plan for that?
Yup… I'm turning 40 and I'm going to run 40 miles. Because, why not?! There is a wonderful organization call Stand Together Now www.standtogether.org . I will raise funds in partnership with them, all money donated goes towards those affected by COVID 19.

You were on the second season of American Idol and made it to the judges audition round. Explain your experience on such a well-known musical show.
That was quite the experience. I initially started in CA and slept on the ground in the parking lot of the Rosebowl. I was surrounded by some of the most talented vocalist. I really didn't think I should have gone through as I compared myself to the others. The first day you line up and sing for a Producer. Bam I got a call back. Came back the 2, 3, 4, 5 day. It was interesting because I didn't know this process and had only booked my plane ticket for the weekend. Thank God for SW points , I had to keep changing my flight. I got to the round where I finally saw Randy, Paula, and Simon. They called me in , I introduced myself and I know the moment I shot myself in the foot. You see, there is an approved list of songs to sing from. As part of the introductions Paula asked me about myself and the fact that I sing the National Anthem at sporting events ( I should have taken that as God given sign…shut up and sing Akila) because she asked if I was going to sing the Anthem. My response. " I wasn't planning on it, but I can."   You see, I started every FH game singing the Anthem and multiple IU Basketball games…I can sing the Anthem on command…but nope. Paula says, ok just sing what you were planning on sining. Which was " Dancing in the Streets". Her response…"ok , thank you. You're just not what were looking for" No major tongue lashing from Simon, nothing just…thank you, next. As you can imagine. "Dancing in the Streets" is no longer in my repertoire. Morale of the story…listen to your Coach!

When you're not competing in Ironman's or singing on American Idol, you're a mom. Could you talk about that and how they are following in your athletic footsteps? Honestly it's a lifestyle, meaning its all kind of woven in. IM training is really cyclical so I am always training. I am not competing on AI no, but I lead the worship team, I have rehearsals on Tuesday. There is always music playing in our home. My kids help me learn music. They will hear a song and make a suggestion or they love watching the Voice, or AI and say ," Mom, please try out" We never really step away from it. Athletically, we train together, my youngest is working her basketball game and getting her mileage up without stopping so I will run with her and pace her, my eldest wants to run the army 10 miler (if not canceled) so she does some of my long runs with me. Both are basketball players so I coach their teams. A lot of what I do as a mom and what we do as athletes is our lifestyle there is no on and off switch. We just weave it into every day life.

What gives you encouragement and motivation during this time?
What gives me encouragement and motivation my faith , my kids and attempting to stay on a schedule. But some days are certainly harder than others. We do our best to stay as connected as possible with family using daily check in text messages an weekly zoom calls. Also daily exercise is key to both my mental and physical health. I can not stress that enough. In addition to my training I do yoga and meditation 2 times a week. I was also considered essential for church up until Easter since I am on the worship team however the Bishop mandated no more streaming from the church building itself so that was hard as I felt like a piece of me was really taken from me. But we are in this together and we are getting through.
What is something you and your family are doing to pass the time?
We workout together. Races are canceled but training isn't. So, we run and cycle a lot, can't swim for obvious reasons. But I am also running a school at home… that's been fun. Side bar, if you are looking for tips, go check out Morgan Van Gelder's (Albini) page. Her homeschool techniques are so inspiring, so I try to keep up with her

What shows are you catching up on?
I will forever watch Grey's Anatomy, but good old Shonda Rhimes has me watching Station 19 because they overlap. And I just got sucked into Homeland.

What advice do you give to your fellow Hoosiers during this time?
Stay the course. This is certainly a time of adversity but you are prepared for it. Use it as at time to reconnected and reflect. Sure you aren't on campus, or you may not be with your loved ones. Both my mother and father are on the other side of the country. But lean in, lean into those who have seen you through those hard times. Now is not the time to say you can do it on your own. You are part of a team for a reason… lean into your teammate and tell them what you are feeling. Pick up the phone and say hey, I need a friend. So many people need that right now. Its important.

Favorite memory from being part of the Indiana Field Hockey team?
So many! Team dinners! The camaraderie and team building off the field transpires to field play. Rice Crispers treats! I would have the team over to the house and make batches and batches for pregame meals and it was the best! Singing on the bus coming back after long road trips, singing Christmas Carols even though its wasn't Christmas with Erica in our room on road trips! Ryan's dad bringing Krispee Kreme's!   And Kayla's parents with their smiles…her parents would travel day and night to every single game. That right there. That was the best! Summers work outs training with Ginna…also an Ironman… right now even training I can visualize trying to catch her as I run around the stadium and it makes me go faster. It's weird but motivating.

Part you miss most?
All of it. Except the Beep Test. Duh!

A piece of advice for current players?
Take it one day at a time and absorb everything you can. I can say without a shadow of a doubt say that everything I learned on and off the field I transfer to my every day life. Some parents may cringe here but, while the degree is important and yes you are a STUDENT athlete I apply more in my every day life from my FH experience than any other part of my academic career. Why? Because they are real life lessons. The ability to listen, work in a team, collaborate, be flexible, think quick on your feet, coachability, attitude, mental and physical strength. This is what you learn at the D1 level, not every gets that experience. You are in a unique position do not take it for granted.

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