Seidel has also openly discussed her choices to step back from Strava and Instagram in the past year, and in sharing bravely about tough topics that are often hidden from view has undoubtedly given hope and courage to others facing similar personal challenges. While Seidel felt pressure to be ‘cured’, eating disorder recovery is far from linear, and the athlete described an intense struggle after the 2022 Boston Marathon (where she was forced to drop out due to hip pain). In October, Seidel went into further detail about the hurdles she was facing in an interview for Runner’s World, explaining that she had been dealing with a sense of shame after struggling throughout the summer with bulimia, a disease that she had first sought treatment for post-university and that she describes as “coming in waves.” In February, the athlete was diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and after having found some relief from the medication Adderall, dropped out of the NYC 10K Mini while waiting for a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) for the medication. After pressing pause on competition pre-World championships in July due to a sacral stress reaction (later diagnosed as a full fracture), Seidel has courageously and candidly shared the ongoing mental health challenges she has been facing, discussing her eating disorder recovery on social media and stressing the importance of reaching out for help.

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