Javelin thrower Liz Gleadle prevailed on U.S. counterpart to attend Pan Am Games

Canadian javelin record holder Liz Gleadle's concept of thinking big not only means expanding her mind, but expanding the depth in her event at the Pan Am Games.

The 26-year-old Vancouver native has been having a strong summer on the international circuit as she builds up toward the 2016 Olympics, where she aspires to deliver a strong finish in a discipline that has historically not been Canada's strong suit. In keeping with that, Gleadle, a think-it-through athlete whose reading list includes Tim Ferriss' The Four-Hour Work Week and who is practising her Spanish with fellow competitors, actually prevailed upon American record holder Kara Patterson to come throw in Toronto.

"I wouldn't really call it a rivalry with Kara — she's one of my friends, she's great," says Gleadle, who will throw at 11 a.m. on Tuesday at the York University stadium. "Actually she was thinking of not coming to Pan Ams and I told her, 'you should be here, it's going to be great. Great environment, it's going to be in Canada and they're really going to try to put on a show, you'd really enjoy it. Whoever ends up winning, it wouldn't mean as much if you were not here.' It's going to be a really good push."

That might run counter to popular notions of the winning-is-the-only-thing mentality.

"It's a little bit different in throws events because everybody has a turn and you're not literally up against somebody," Gleadle adds. "You do your thing, I'll do my thing, and whoever pulls it out is the winner. There are no hard feelings in throws that way. It's whoever shows up."

At the 2012 London Olympics, Gleadle became the first Canadian woman to reach the javelin final since 1968, ending a drought that encompassed nine Games. Her start this season was inhibited by a shoulder ailment. However, in May she reset her Canadian record with a 64.83-metre toss during an IAAF meet in Kawasaki, Japan.

"I had never pain down my arm," says Gleadle, who also placed fifth at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. "Long story short, I was  stressed out clenching my jaw so tight, it was giving me problems. Once I got the shoulder freed up, I worked out and little and went into my season starting out with a Canadian record without having trained much in the month beforehand. I was really happy with my first meet that it went well... There's a lot of work being done. This is a real stepping stone.

"I've had a nice solid month and a bit of training so I'm feeling like I'm in really good shape," Gleadle adds. "I haven't been able to do that for any of my competitions, so this is probably the best I've been feeling all year." 

Along with keeping her shoulder loose, Gleadle also emphasizes keeping her mind limber. The Lethbridge, Alta., resident, who's a University of British Columbia alumna, works yoga into her daily routine.

"I'll do some downward dog, Warrior One, Warrior Two, stretch out the hips," she says. "It's great to able to meditate, to focus on your body and nothing else. Truly focusing on the here and now and the power your creating, Yoga's a great place to do that and do it safely. I think it's awesome."

That approach also extends to her budding multilingualism. Gleadle, raised speaking French and English, is also learning Spanish. With many of her Pan Am competitors hailing from the Carribean, Central and South America, she has tested it out while prepping for her competition.

"I had someone ask me about coffee machines the other day and was more than happy to talk to him in Spanish," she says. "I've got a friend from Colombia here and I'm eager to work on that.

"Learning a new language, I've heard, really fires up different parts of your brain and really makes you look at different problems and think of solutions in a different way. It really gives you a little more variety to your thought process in whatever you do whether it's training or going about your day-to-day life or questioning what you see and hear in the world. It's important to have to multiple perspectives instead of being one-dimensional."

In London three years ago, Derek Drouin's men's high jump bronze was Canada's only athletics medal. Under coach Peter Eriksson, though, Athletics Canada has a dozen athletes who are ranked top eight in the world in their disciplines, including Gleadle. She relates that there has been a shift in thinking among the athletes.

"I think a lot of the Canadian mentality is wanting to be quiet about how well you're doing," she says. "I think it's important to start thinking bigger, not just think 'I want to go to the Olympics.'

"You have to think big. I think it's changing a lot in the past couple years, Canadians are saying 'we want medals, we want high performances.' Before we were almost ashamed to say 'we want victory.' Definitely, it's been talked about a lot in the track community lately about being more vocal about what we want, our goals and dreams. It's okay to want those big things."

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @naitSAYger.