In SELF’s franchise, The Meal I Eat When I’m Feeling…, we talk with chefs, celebs, athletes, and people in the culinary space about the specific foods or meals they turn to amid certain emotions—and how eating their favorites plays a vital role in their self-care.
As heptathlete Anna Hall prepared for the US Olympic Track and Field Trials in late June, she couldn’t help but wonder if her knee—she had undergone surgery back in January—would hold up. “The whole time I was like, ‘Can I do this?’” Hall tells SELF.
She ended up answering that question by winning the final event, the 800-meters, securing her first-place finish overall and a trip to the Paris Games. But afterward, her overarching emotion wasn’t exactly “thrilled” or “ecstatic,” as you might expect.
“I think the biggest word I can use right now is relieved,” Hall says. “I just finally feel like I can take a breath and relax.”
It’s been a twisty road to the Olympics for Hall, a 23-year-old Colorado native who lives in Gainesville, Florida. Going into the Olympic Trials held in 2021 ahead of the Tokyo Games, Hall was considered a rising star in the heptathlon, a two-day athletic competition that consists of seven different track-and-field events. But during the opener, she stumbled over a hurdle and broke a bone in her foot, putting her out of the running. Since then, however, she’s worked to climb back to the top, winning national titles in 2022 and 2023, and taking home medals at the world championships both those years as well.
Satisfying as those victories were, competing at the Olympics has been a lifelong ambition of Hall’s since she was seven years old, so she had her sights set on the Paris Games after her Tokyo hopes were dashed. Everything “has been leading towards this moment,” she says. “So many big life decisions were made with this in mind.”
That’s why, coming off her surgery, “it was just so stressful and so much pressure, just knowing that my dream was right there and it might not happen,” Hall says. But crushing the Trials helped restore her confidence, allowing her to focus more on the task at hand: Maximizing her potential and becoming the most formidable competitor she can.
As you might expect, the hours are long—“My team calls me Nine-to-Five because they’re like, ‘You are out there training from nine to five every day,” Hall says—and the intense prep inevitably requires sacrifice, especially when she’s on the road. “I miss so much family time,” she says, including big moments like weddings and bachelorette parties. (Not her sisters’, though.)
But a certain food can soothe the FOMO (or, in Hall’s case, the actual MO). When Hall, a self-described homebody, is feeling especially lonely or homesick, homemade pizza can help fill the void, making her nostalgic for some “really good memories,” she says. In particular, the meal makes her think of her days at the University of Georgia, when she and her older sister Julia started making pizza together at the end of every week as a way to celebrate powering through another round of classes and practices. Since then, the pizza has become a staple for both siblings: Even today, they’ll whip it up together over FaceTime.
“Making that,” Hall says, “I always just feel close to family.” Almost, she adds, “like I had a meal at my home home.”
Now, she pays it forward, too, inviting friends over to share in the experience. If one is going through a rough patch, “I’m like, ‘Oh, do you want to come over and let’s make pizza and talk about it?’” And considering that Hall estimates she makes pizza about once a week, she must have the process down to a science by now. Read on to learn how she makes the most of every pie.
1. Play around with the toppings.
Once you’ve assembled your basics —the dough, the tomato sauce, the cheese—the fun can start. Hall likes to top her pizza with both shredded mozzarella and circular slices of the stuff, even though her sister Julia isn’t a fan. “She’s like, ‘That’s too much cheese,’ but I like it that way,” Hall says. Besides the additional mozz, Hall’s standard pizza toppings include basil and pepperoni—the “basic” version of the recipe. But if she’s feeling a little extra that day, she’ll sometimes take it to the next level and toss on some sausage—or even, controversially, pineapple.
2. Perfect your crust.
Hall prefers her pizza crust on the thin side (rather than deep-dish-style), so she makes sure to stretch it thoroughly. That step is “always something we have fun struggling with,” she says. Once you’ve reached your desired thickness, pop the final product in the oven at 450 degrees Fahrenheit and check on it as necessary while it cooks, just to see “if the crust is as soft or crispy” as you like, Hall says.
3. Fire up a soundtrack.
Hall usually listens to music while she’s cooking to make the prep process a little more fun. “A lot of times, it’s Taylor Swift or something like that,” she says. That said, she’s also “obsessed” with Noah Kahan, a singer-songwriter known for working in the folk-pop genre. In fact, seeing Kahan in concert is on her bucket list this year.
4. Chow down in a relaxing environment.
When Hall’s pizza is finally ready to eat, she finds a cozy spot so she can dive in. Usually, she says, she and her cooking buddy (or buddies) will “plate it and then go sit on the couch and turn on whatever show we’re watching that week.”
Recently, Hall has been hooked on Suits, the USA Network drama that introduced the world to Meghan Markle: It served as her “emotional support surgery show” while she was recovering after the January procedure, she says. In fact, she’s “cranked through” the seasons so quickly that even her roommate commented on the pace. Once, “she was like, ‘I left for two days and I came back and all the characters looked, like, three years older. How many episodes have you watched?’” Hall says.
And the long-running reality competition show Survivor is another fave. Every single week, Hall says, she and her friends will watch it together. And they’re committed: Even if they’re traveling, she says, they’ll gather in someone’s hotel room to get it done. (We’re guessing any accompanying pizza might be takeout, though).
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