Exclusive: Allyson Felix Admits Retiring From Athletics Was 'a Lot Harder Than I Expected': 'I Really Loved What I Got to Do'

Though Allyson Felix retired from the track and field world a few years ago, she admits she's still struggling with not getting up to run every day.

"It's a lot harder than I expected. I thought because I was so confident in my decision, I was like, 'I've heard it's hard, but it will be OK.' It's been challenging not having structure. I was training every day — five to six hours a day and I had a tangible goal. It's been different, but I'm stepping away from that and more into the business side of things. There's been a lot of ups and downs, but I think that means I really loved what I got to do and was so fortunate to be able to do it for so long," the 38-year-old, who is teaming up with Cracker Jack to unveil the Cracker Jill Spotlight Squad, exclusively tells Morning Honey.

The athlete, who shares daughter Camryn, 5, and son Kenneth Maurice Ferguson III, who was born in April, with her husband, Kenneth Ferguson, has always been vocal about women's rights, and she hopes to continue the conversation moving forward.

"A goal of mine with track and field is to have childcare standardized at all the events," she shares. "It's a really big task, but it's something I want to take on. I'm looking forward to kind of branching that out even further."

Felix is also focused on her footwear company, Saysh, which has taken up a big chunk of her day now. "I want to invest in women's anything, as I want to make the world a better place for women. I will continue to do that," she notes of being involved in her business.

Additionally, the mom-of-two is also taking tennis lessons, as she felt like she wanted to try "something new."

"Learning anything as an adult is very humbling," she quips. "But it's been a lot of fun to do something that I've never tried before — and it's a different form of exercise. I was never exposed to tennis or had the opportunity, but looking back I think tennis would have been a good choice for me. I would love my daughter to play, but right now she's not so into it. I'm going to step back and let her come around to it!"

"We've been taking some lessons together, so I'm trying to have her work up to it," she adds.

Since Felix is all about empowering others, especially women, it made sense for her to partner with Cracker Jack to unveil the Cracker Jill Spotlight Squad. Guided by Felix and featuring five female athletes participating in five different sports on the world stage this summer, the Cracker Jill Spotlight Squad aims to raise the visibility of high-achieving female athletes across sports to inspire the next generation of girls.

"I am really excited about this program and what Cracker Jill is doing. These five incredible female athletes are amazing, and it's really about visibility. I think sometimes you just need to see somebody who looks like you or who has something in common with you to be able to envision yourself kind of doing something special," she explains, referring to the five athletes: Lindsey Zurbrugg, Ashleigh Johnson, Noelle Lambert, Jennifer Lozano and Kennedy Blades.

"In fact, a new study from Cracker Jack found that nearly half (45 percent) of U.S. teenagers cannot name a single professional female athlete and about nine out of ten (88 percent) U.S. teenagers are unable to name one female professional athlete competing on the global stage this summer. It's about taking this moment where something special is happening in women's sports and wanting to push that even further and push the visibility of some of the big names that we know and to these incredible five women who are going to be competing very soon."

What's even better is that Cracker Jack is inviting fans to bring the stories of these female athletes to the forefront by participating in the “Cracker Jill Share your Spotlight” sweepstakes – providing fans everywhere with the opportunity to share their spotlight and a chance to benefit an organization that supports the next generation of game-changing female athletes.

Starting June 12, Cracker Jack and its athletes will share content highlighting the Cracker Jill Spotlight Squad on Instagram and give fans the chance the win a $500 cash prize to fuel their own sports endeavors and a $10,000 donation in their name on behalf of Cracker Jack to an eligible non-profit organization.

"It's really just highlighting what these incredible women are doing and trying to support women and girls," Felix says. "It's really giving young girls role models to look up to so that they don't think there's anything strange about being a professional athlete. As a woman, I think about my daughter and how she's going to grow up with these incredible women to look up to in the sports world. For her, it will probably feel pretty normal as an occupation to have this as an option. I hope we can continue that and show that I love this group of women because they're from all different sports and have unique personalities. There's such a wide variety out there."