U.S. fencing star Nzingha Prescod gets pretty weird looks when she gets on a train with her gear. Its not every day that people see a woman traveling with a sword.But it takes a lot more than her sword for this Olympian to win matches. Prescod, the first African-American woman to win an individual fencing medal at the senior world championships, sat down with ESPN The Magazine for the 2016 Body Issue to talk about her training as she gears up for Rio.Her workoutAccording to Prescod, years of ballet and gymnastics made her very flexible and helped her throughout her career, but she still trains other parts of her body.Interval work: The best type of endurance training would be really high-intensity intervals -- take a couple seconds off and go again. For some of the fencing conditioning, well go really fast-paced for 30 seconds, and then take 10 seconds and do another 30 seconds and then 10 seconds out.Cardio exercises: I really like doing agility stuff with ladders. I actually really hate cardio but I would say its my most favorite thing to do, because I know if I hate it, Ill make myself do it more.Legs, legs, legs: When you fence you are primarily using the front of your legs, so anytime Im working out I try to hit the back to even it out and balance it. Thats why I do a lot of deadlifts because its for your glutes and your hamstrings.Staying prepared and focusedBefore her matches, Prescod tries to pump herself up with a snack.I go on Pinterest and I look up recipes for competition snacks or energy balls and these peanut butter balls are like my favorite recipe. Flax seed, peanut butter, coconut, vanilla essence, cocoa powder, oats and you just mix it all up and you squish it into balls.During her matches, Prescod focuses on positive thoughts.This summer, espnW is running stories, essays and letters on body image as part of a series called Love, My Body. Read more from the series ? Cheap NFL Jerseys . Sgt. 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The Celtics closed out their first preseason under Stevens on Wednesday night with a 101-97 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, who rested a lot of their lineup including former Celtics Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. RIO DE JANEIRO -- Those stars and stripes get her every time.Any time I talk about representing my country, and what it would mean to hold the medal for our country and hear our national anthem ... Im just so proud to be an American and I think our country is the best, U.S. golfer Gerena Piller said after the first round of the Olympic womens golf tournament Wednesday.Piller finished the day at 2-under 69 and in an eight-way tie for 11th, 4 strokes behind the leader Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand and sandwiched between Americans Lexi Thompson (3-under 68, tied for seventh) and Stacy Lewis (1-under 70 and tied for 19th).Piller, 31, had six birdies -- including a run on holes 9, 10 and 11, and another to finish at 18 -- to offset four bogeys. Ranked 28th at the start of the year with five U.S. golfers between her and a top 15 finish and spot on the Olympic team, it did not seem particularly likely that she would even be in Rio.In the end, nine-hundreths of a point separated her 15th ranking from the next golfer, secured by Pillers eighth-place finish that week in Julys U.S. Womens Open.To squeak in at the end, thats pretty cool, she said. And it wasnt like I finished 40th. I top-10d in the U.S. Open. So thats an accomplishment in itself.That achievement and the prospect that she might be standing on the medal podium Saturday, brought Piller to tears in a Tuesday team media conference.Growing up, thats not something that was ever in my mind, she said as she covered her eyes.For her mother Rita Stevenson, who walked the course Wednesday, it was difficult speaking of her daughters accomplishment without also tearing up.Gerina is my idol, shes my hero, Rita said. She has taken it to the next level. She had the opportunity and Im so proud of her.An elementary school P.E. teacher, Stevenson said she gives the same speech to her students every four years.Ive been doing this for 10 years and every times the Olympics come around, it just moves me, and I tell my kids at school, You know what, guys, you can be an Olympian. All you have to do is have a dream and put it in your heart, and it can happen. You just have to work hard and yes, its not going to be easy, but you can do it. And then ...And then she pauses, said Piller, and is like, Wow, my daughter is an Olympian. Its pretty cool to hear her say that.An all-around athlete growing up in Roswell, New Mexico, Piller played basketball, soccer, volleyball and Little League baseball because she didnt find softball competitive enough. She didnt take up golf until she was 15.Her stepfather, Alan Stevenson, whom Piller calls Dad, talked about hearing of some 200 womens golf scholarships that went unused for smaller schools.I said to Rita, This is an opportunity, something we may want to think about, said Alan Stevenson, who is also in Rio this week. Rita was a new teacher and I was a rookie police officer and we talked about it as maybe a way for her to go to school someday.He laughed about taking her to play nine holes with her brother Michael and Gerina shooting a 72.Some days later, she said, Dad, Im pretty good at golf. And I said, Yeah, youre OK. And she said, Well, I shot a 72 and those guys are shooting a 72 on TV, and I said, Yes Gerina, but you did it in nine holes. She fell in love with the challenge, her parents saiid.ddddddddddddBut more than that was the motivation that has driven her to consistently improve throughout her nine-year career.It comes from her early childhood and the sacrifices her mother made when she was a single mother raising our three oldest kids, Alan Stevenson said. Thats the foundation for Gerina -- where she came from -- that gave her the strength and character, the courage to go do stuff a lot of people may not have ever thought of doing.Its significant to her because she doesnt take for granted people who sacrificed their lives to protect us and our freedoms. She gets that. She gets it to her heart and to her core.Brian Dilley, Pillers caddie of the past year and a half, called Gerina one of the most patriotic people Ive ever been around and she lets it show whenever shes wearing the stars and stripes.Pillers latest and most notable accomplishment playing for her country came in September, when her 8-foot putt proved pivotal in the U.S. comeback victory in the Solheim Cup.It means more to her than anything to be an American and represent her country, her mother said.At 11, Piller recalled watching the 96 Olympics and the womens gymnastics team, the Magnificent Seven, that won the first gold for the U.S. in team competition. She rattled off the names of each team member.Shannon Miller, Dominique Moceanu, Dominique Dawes, Kerri Strug being carried off by Bela Karolyi, she said. Obviously I thought that would be pretty awesome to be in the Olympics, but its gymnastics. I cant even touch my toes, so that dream kind of went out the window ...I never thought I would be standing here giving an interview about being in the Olympics. Its just a dream come true.Married to PGA Tour golfer Martin Piller -- the only husband-wife combo on their respective tours -- Gerinas thoughts are also with her husband this week as he fights to keep his PGA Tour card at the Wyndham Championship, the final regular-season event in which to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs.I know I would love to be there supporting him, Piller said. I know he would love to be here. I think Im more concerned with me not being there for him because its a big week for him and hes had his card before and hasnt kept it. Im just praying that he has a good week and hes just content with whatever comes at him and he just plays to his best ability. If he does that, I think the good results will come.As for Piller, she has eight top-10 finishes this year, tied for sixth on tour, but hasnt broken through for that first career victory.I dont think there are any limits for her, said Dilley, a longtime caddie on the LPGA Tour. Its all between her ears and shes just gaining confidence. She knows she should be in that last group, she knows she should win tournaments. Before, it was I just want to get a top-10 or a top-15 or be in contention but now she knows she belongs in that last group every Sunday. And its only a matter of time.If the time should come this week, dont expect Piller to be dry-eyed.I couldnt be more proud and more blessed to be an American, she said. So any time that I can represent our country and succeed and stand on the podium, it just gets me every time. 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