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Speaker 1: My first silver medal I was eighteen, but the second

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Speaker 1: one four years later, the weight of it felt different.

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Speaker 1: Two silver medals back to back. The biggest doubt was, like, can.

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Speaker 2: I ever do this? Alistin Felix is the most decorated

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Speaker 2: track and filled athlete of full time, eleven Olympic medals,

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Speaker 2: A torn ligament before the Olympic Trials, a Nike policy

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Speaker 2: she forced to change.

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Speaker 3: This episode is your blueprint for resilience, identity and fighting

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Speaker 3: for what's right. While you were going through this pregnancy

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Speaker 3: and deciding to talk about maternity publicly. Was that when

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Speaker 3: you found your voice.

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Speaker 2: I didn't find my voice until I became a mother.

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Speaker 1: Once you have the success and you have this bulls

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Speaker 1: eye on your back and everybody comes for you, it

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Speaker 1: is hard to stay at that level.

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Speaker 3: You wrote a ap ed for The New York Times

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Speaker 3: calling out Nike's maternity policy.

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Speaker 1: I was terrified because I knew Nike controlled. I was

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Speaker 1: blowing that up. Women would become pregnant, start families, and

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Speaker 1: they would be pushed out of the sport.

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Speaker 3: How did you hide the fact that you're pregnant.

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Speaker 1: I literally would go out to the track when it

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Speaker 1: was still dark. I know At some points I thought

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Speaker 1: it was about metals, and then it's been about impact.

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Speaker 2: Be disappointed, be angry. That is what makes you great.

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Speaker 3: Hi guys, Kate here. Thank you so much for tuning

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Speaker 3: in to today's conversation with Alison Felix. Your support helps

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Speaker 3: us continue growing the show. If you've been enjoying post

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Speaker 3: run high, please be sure to hit that follow button

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Speaker 3: and we will be right back after this short break.

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Speaker 3: Today we're sitting down with Alison Felix. She is the

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Speaker 3: most decorated track and field athlete of all time, as

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Speaker 3: well as powerhouse business woman and entrepreneur. Alison, I'm so

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Speaker 3: grateful to have you here today. You've done so much,

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Speaker 3: as I said on the run, not just to inspire

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Speaker 3: women and men, but you've really been a face of

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Speaker 3: female empowerment for women in and outside of the sport

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Speaker 3: of running. And now that you've had a little bit

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Speaker 3: of time off from being a professional athlete, how have

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Speaker 3: you navigated this new identity?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, well, thank you so much for having me so

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Speaker 1: much fun to run with you. It's been interesting. You know,

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Speaker 1: I feel like I've had to do a lot of

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Speaker 1: identity work because you know, I've been an athlete all

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Speaker 1: my life, you know, I have been a runner for

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Speaker 1: you know, so much of it and so thinking about

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Speaker 1: who I am away from that it was really challenging.

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Speaker 1: And I heard it was, you know hard to retire,

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Speaker 1: and I always imagine that it was hard because of

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Speaker 1: you know, finding out your next thing, like career wise,

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Speaker 1: but I didn't think about, you know, the emotional side

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Speaker 1: of it and just the grief and the loss of

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Speaker 1: this thing that you've loved for so long. And so

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Speaker 1: I've had to you know, find my way and really

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Speaker 1: just take my time and work through it.

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Speaker 3: Let's talk about the grief aspect.

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Speaker 2: That's interesting.

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Speaker 1: I you know, I don't really remember hearing from any

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Speaker 1: of my friends on this side of it. You know,

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Speaker 1: I had heard a lot about the other parts of

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Speaker 1: it that were hard, you know, just you know, work

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Speaker 1: or figuring out, you know, your next kind of passion move,

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Speaker 1: but I don't really remember having a conversation with anyone

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Speaker 1: around loss or grief.

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Speaker 2: And I think that's truly what it was.

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Speaker 1: It was waking up and no longer having you know,

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Speaker 1: the structure of training and this big, ambitious goal to

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Speaker 1: go after every single day, and everything looked different. I

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Speaker 1: loved what I was doing in the work I was doing,

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Speaker 1: but it did not have that same fulfillment that you know,

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Speaker 1: reaching a goal as you know, concrete, as running and

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Speaker 1: as track and field gave me.

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Speaker 3: Right, And it's like, you don't have this added pressure

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Speaker 3: in your life, right, It's like kind of like now

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Speaker 3: when you're training, you're obviously training to feel your best

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Speaker 3: and look your best, but it's a different type of pressure.

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Speaker 2: It's so weird, you know.

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Speaker 1: It's It's interesting though, because I also was so ready.

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Speaker 2: You know, I.

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Speaker 1: Felt very blessed to have such a long career and

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Speaker 1: I didn't have regrets, Like I felt really excited for

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Speaker 1: the next chapter. So I think that was also more

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Speaker 1: unexpected to feel this loss, and I knew I was

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Speaker 1: ready and excited for what was to come as well.

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Speaker 3: I give you so much credit for being a professional

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Speaker 3: athlete for so many years, because I feel like that's

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Speaker 3: equally as hard on the psyche, right, because you're constantly,

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Speaker 3: especially as you get older, you have to set new

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Speaker 3: goals for yourself. You have to put in like infiltrating,

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Speaker 3: there's new structures, right, there's new recovery practices that you

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Speaker 3: have to implement.

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Speaker 2: It is.

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Speaker 1: I mean, I think it's it's so much fun when

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Speaker 1: you're new and you're fresh and there are no expectations

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Speaker 1: and you're coming in, you're taking names. You know, that

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Speaker 1: side of it is very exciting. But once you have

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Speaker 1: the success and you have this you know, bulls eye

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Speaker 1: on your back and everybody you know comes for you,

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Speaker 1: it is hard to stay at that level and you

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Speaker 1: know not to have any fall off and of course

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Speaker 1: everyone is navigating you know, injuries and things like that.

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Speaker 1: But I do as you know, athletes who are able

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Speaker 1: to stay in the game for so long, I think

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Speaker 1: it's it's really special and also, you know, really fortunate

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Speaker 1: as well. A lot of times we're not able to

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Speaker 1: make those choices just dealing with health.

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Speaker 2: So I think it's, yeah, it's.

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Speaker 3: Rare, and it's nice knowing too that, you know, guys,

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Speaker 3: we just went on a run right before this, right

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Speaker 3: before sitting down. We you know, did a little warm

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Speaker 3: up jog a couple of blocks or a couple laps

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Speaker 3: around the block. And I loved finding out that running

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Speaker 3: is still a big thing in your life and you

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Speaker 3: still are training, you know, you do track workouts, which

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Speaker 3: is the most impressive thing to me. I think that's

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Speaker 3: the first thing I would give up. I'd be like,

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Speaker 3: no more track workouts.

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Speaker 1: See, I only do track workouts. I have no long run.

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Speaker 2: So it's all about intervals for me. And I don't know.

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Speaker 1: I to me like being on a track by myself,

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Speaker 1: like when it's quiet, there's something that just makes me,

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Speaker 1: that just makes me happy, and something about the solitude

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Speaker 1: and pushing my body. I love to just you know,

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Speaker 1: see what it can do. And so yeah, I hope

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Speaker 1: that I'll always hold on to that.

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Speaker 3: I think you will. I think you will, because you know,

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Speaker 3: there are so many cases of professional athletes once they're

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Speaker 3: done with a sport nite and have found it with

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Speaker 3: you know, maybe not professional athletes, but a lot of

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Speaker 3: my friends played college sports, and after you know, ending

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Speaker 3: that sport, whether it be in college or maybe professionally,

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Speaker 3: a lot of people like step away from activity for

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Speaker 3: a little bit and have to find their way back.

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Speaker 3: Did you have a moment post retiring where you were like,

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Speaker 3: I'm going to take a little break from training so

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Speaker 3: hard and a break from running.

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Speaker 2: I definitely did.

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Speaker 1: I definitely felt like I needed some space from just

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Speaker 1: track and field as a whole, and I felt like

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Speaker 1: I needed to just take a breath, and I did

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Speaker 1: different things, like I started like playing tennis and doing

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Speaker 1: some pilates and and then I just found that, you know,

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Speaker 1: I wasn't.

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Speaker 3: You know that like hurt so good, you know, like, yeah,

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Speaker 3: I was gonna say, I'm like, I cannot imagine going

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Speaker 3: from being a professional track and field athlete to then

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Speaker 3: doing a pilates class. You're probably like, what is this?

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Speaker 2: It just doesn't hit the same.

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Speaker 1: So I had to get back to what I know

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Speaker 1: and and also that it's okay, like it's unusual, you know,

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Speaker 1: to go to a track and to do track workouts

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Speaker 1: you know, runs or you know, much more of the thing.

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Speaker 1: But knowing like, oh no, this is what makes me

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Speaker 1: feel good. And you know, that's what I'm gonna stick with.

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Speaker 3: What itch is tennis scratching for you.

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Speaker 1: You know, it's super humbling, and I love that you

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Speaker 1: run for a long time and you don't realize it.

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Speaker 1: And I think that's the only way I'm going to

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Speaker 1: like keep going at that phase.

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Speaker 2: So that's been enjoyable.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I feel like it's also fun to keep that

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Speaker 3: competitive spirit alive a little bit.

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Speaker 2: Yes, yes, I do love that part.

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Speaker 1: Of it, but I'm not quite good enough to, like,

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Speaker 1: you know, really go after it, so I gotta keep practicing.

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Speaker 3: Tennis is hard, it's very hard.

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Speaker 2: It's deceiving. Yeah.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, my mom started playing tennis in her adult life

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Speaker 3: and she's so into it now. She plays like every

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Speaker 3: paddle sport and it's been so fun to see her,

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Speaker 3: you know, stay competitive at that level and also like

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Speaker 3: get her cardio workouts in literally through tennis, because she's

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Speaker 3: not somebody that will go do a track worker or

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Speaker 3: work out or go for a run. But yeah, it's

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Speaker 3: it's great. It's also a good way to stay social

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Speaker 3: and like play with other ladies exactly.

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Speaker 1: And I want to my daughter to play, and so

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Speaker 1: I figured like, okay, I need to know how to

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Speaker 1: play this game.

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Speaker 3: No, seriously, I feel the same. We're having a girl,

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Speaker 3: and I'm like, she's gonna be a little tennis player

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Speaker 3: because that's such a fun sport. It's like my favorite,

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Speaker 3: one of my favorite sports to watch.

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Speaker 2: Professionally, I love it as well.

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Speaker 1: And then one day, you know, be able to play

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Speaker 1: together and I think that's just a beautiful thing.

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Speaker 3: Okay, So we are currently in Los Angeles. You're a

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Speaker 3: Angela's native. Right you grew up here?

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Speaker 2: Yes?

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Speaker 3: Okay, So I want you to take us back to

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Speaker 3: the environment that shaped you. Who was young Allison? And

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Speaker 3: when did you find track and field? So?

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Speaker 2: Yes, I'm an Angelino.

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Speaker 1: I grew up in my neighborhood so right here, just

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Speaker 1: doing pretty regular things, playing with our neighbors, up and

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Speaker 1: down the street, playing basketball, just a very normal childhood.

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Speaker 1: And then when I was in high school, I was

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Speaker 1: at a new school and I didn't really know anyone,

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Speaker 1: and my family encouraged me to go out for the

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Speaker 1: track team. My brother, he was at another high school,

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Speaker 1: and he was already run. He's two years older than me,

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Speaker 1: and he was doing really well. So it made sense

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Speaker 1: for them to, you know, to push me in that direction,

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Speaker 1: and I did, and I just I fell in love

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Speaker 1: with it, and I also found those friends.

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Speaker 2: Also.

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Speaker 3: I like that you said you're an Angelino. Yes? Is

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Speaker 3: that what people call themselves in Los Angeles? Ye?

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Speaker 2: That before? Yeah, I'm like, okay, we.

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Speaker 3: Are with the true native guys. I'm learning the slangy

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Speaker 3: so funny. How quickly did you realize you were good?

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Speaker 1: I always knew that I was like an athletic, you know,

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Speaker 1: because from growing up in my neighborhood, you know of

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Speaker 1: race the boys, and you know, I my brother was

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Speaker 1: just like had no mercy on me, and so he

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Speaker 1: just never let me win in anything.

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Speaker 2: So I always like felt that.

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Speaker 1: But I would say, like, you know, early once I started,

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Speaker 1: then I saw like the potential. That first year I

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Speaker 1: started doing really well, and I was like, Okay, maybe

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Speaker 1: this could be my thing.

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Speaker 3: Were there any events that you tried out in high

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Speaker 3: school that you immediately were like, that's not for me.

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Speaker 1: I already knew that I was like a sprinter, so

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Speaker 1: there was like no question in my mind. I don't

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Speaker 1: ever remember like having to run a longer distance, but

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Speaker 1: that was just like what was fun to me. And

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Speaker 1: I do remember like during cross country season, they would

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Speaker 1: have all the track kids run across country, and I

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Speaker 1: was so against it that I actually did the stats

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Speaker 1: for the cross country team just to like not have

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Speaker 1: to run.

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Speaker 3: So that's a thing I remember even in you know,

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Speaker 3: I did cross country for a couple of years when

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Speaker 3: I was in high school. But I remember even in college,

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Speaker 3: I like walked onto the cross country team for a year,

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Speaker 3: which maybe it lasted maybe like three weeks. Don't look

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Speaker 3: at to my stats. Guys, it was. But I remember

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Speaker 3: like knowing that the kids not only did cross country,

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Speaker 3: but they also did winter track and spring track.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so it's it. Yeah, it's it's a thing. Yeah

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Speaker 2: for sure.

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Speaker 3: What mistakes in the sports did you have to make

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Speaker 3: before finding your groove?

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Speaker 1: Oh gosh, I think really just like understand understanding training,

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Speaker 1: you know, was one thing. I remember, like, you know,

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Speaker 1: just sprinting everything and then realizing, oh, there's like you

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Speaker 1: have to pace and you have to kind of do

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Speaker 1: things like that, and just some of the things that

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Speaker 1: you know when you start running track and you've never

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Speaker 1: done it before, like how to use the blocks, like

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Speaker 1: just very basic things. Everything was new to me and

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Speaker 1: I was starting a bit later, so I had to

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Speaker 1: kind of figure out all that stuff.

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Speaker 3: Would you credit your high school coach with a lot

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Speaker 3: of that early success?

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, I mean he was awesome. He was, you know,

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Speaker 1: essentially a volunteer coach who was not an expert by

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Speaker 1: any means, but he had a passion.

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Speaker 2: He was always.

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Speaker 1: You know, reading, wanting to learn, and so he really

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Speaker 1: you know, went above and beyond for me. And yeah,

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Speaker 1: I'm really grateful that he laid that foundation and.

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Speaker 3: It was did you start out with winter track or

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Speaker 3: spring track?

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Speaker 2: I guess it was springtrack.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and within four years, you you know, weren't just

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Speaker 3: one of the best in high school, but you were

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Speaker 3: basically the best on a world level, right, like one

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Speaker 3: of the top runners. Yeah, So what do you remember

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Speaker 3: what that experience was like for your peers?

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Speaker 1: You know, it was all such a whirlwind, because it's like,

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Speaker 1: you know, I from coming out, you know, and then

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Speaker 1: to making my first Olympic team, it all happened so fast.

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Speaker 3: You know.

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Speaker 1: People were really kind to me, and when I look back,

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Speaker 1: I'm like, that was probably really hard to see this

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Speaker 1: high school girl and just the different dynamics. You know,

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Speaker 1: you have professional runners, you know, people who are it's

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Speaker 1: their livelihood. And so I'm really grateful for to have

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Speaker 1: a lot of amazing friends that I've had, you know,

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Speaker 1: throughout my entire career who were really patient with me,

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Speaker 1: like took me under their wing and were just really

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Speaker 1: nice when I was this, you know, really shy girl

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Speaker 1: who was jumping into a professional sport where people were

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Speaker 1: significantly older than me.

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Speaker 3: So you were seventeen years old, you made the decision

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Speaker 3: to go professional rather than competing at the NCAA level.

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Speaker 3: What was that decision like for you?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I mean it was a really hard decision

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Speaker 1: and it was one that we made as a family.

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Speaker 1: I had already signed at USC and I was really

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Speaker 1: excited to compete there. My brother was there, but then

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Speaker 1: you know, when I had like so much success in

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Speaker 1: the Olympics, we're going to be the next year. It

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Speaker 1: was really my brother kind of shedding a light on

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Speaker 1: the collegiate system and just saying like it was really

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Speaker 1: just like blunt with me, like you know, if you

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Speaker 1: come to SC you you know you're n Cuba's comes

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Speaker 1: first and you're gonna have to do you know, all

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Speaker 1: the events, get all the points, and if you want

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Speaker 1: to make the Olympic team, you know it's probably going

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Speaker 1: to be easier to go pro and just focus on that.

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Speaker 1: And so yeah, it was we made it because of

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Speaker 1: that essentially, and my family everybody was really supportive. My

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Speaker 1: parents just had like one rules like you're still going

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Speaker 1: to school and you're still going to graduate, but but yeah,

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Speaker 1: they you know, they were on the journey with me.

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Speaker 3: And when you go pro with that age and specifically

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Speaker 3: in running, what is the process for it, Like does

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Speaker 3: it mean that you're just you know, at the level

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Speaker 3: where you're competing in certain tournaments, or did you sign

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Speaker 3: with a specific brand.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so at that time, I signed with Adidas, and

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Speaker 1: I was the first in the US. No one had

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Speaker 1: ever gone pro before in track and field from high

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Speaker 1: school and so it was kind of like uncharted territory.

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Speaker 1: But yeah, I signed with Ididas, and basically, you know,

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Speaker 1: I had to forego my collegiate eligibility and then I

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Speaker 1: went to the pro circuit and you know, the races

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Speaker 1: were overseas, and yeah, I started to do that while

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Speaker 1: also being a college student.

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Speaker 3: What was that mentally like for you? Knowing that you

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Speaker 3: were the first person to do that?

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Speaker 1: You know what, I think I just underestimated it, I think.

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Speaker 1: And I chalked that up to being seventeen, because I

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Speaker 1: think I thought it was going to be like high school.

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Speaker 1: You go to school, then you go to practice and

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Speaker 1: like it's all great, and just you know, being on

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Speaker 1: that level and the travel and also just getting to

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Speaker 1: USC and realizing, wow, this is really difficult and not

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Speaker 1: having the resources as a student athlete, and so the

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Speaker 1: first year was extremely rocky and I was trying to

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Speaker 1: figure it out. And it was you know, it showed

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Speaker 1: and then eventually I you know, I found my groove

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Speaker 1: and I was able to excel. But it was really

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Speaker 1: hard at the beginning.

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Speaker 3: Because you were managing classes all while being a pro

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Speaker 3: athlete exactly. Oh wow, So you didn't take like a

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Speaker 3: gap year or anything.

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Speaker 2: I didn't.

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Speaker 1: I just power through, and you know, I would go

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Speaker 1: compete and then I would you know, be on the

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Speaker 1: road and maybe not be able to take a final

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Speaker 1: or something, and trying to explain to my professor as

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Speaker 1: you know, well, I'm I'm going to race, but they're like,

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Speaker 1: but You're not on the team, and it didn't quite

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Speaker 1: make sense. And so there wasn't you know, there wasn't

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Speaker 1: really that support there until we really tried to figure

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Speaker 1: it out later on.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and then I'm sure it's also like that community

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Speaker 3: aspect when you're at school. It is kind of nice

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Speaker 3: to have your teammates that are also on the track

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Speaker 3: and field team kind of banding behind you. Did you

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Speaker 3: feel like were you able to connect with some of

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Speaker 3: the girls on the ENDC on the USC team.

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Speaker 1: I think that was another thing that was really challenging

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Speaker 1: for me, is that, you know, I was going to

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Speaker 1: sc you know, as you know, I was going to

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Speaker 1: be on the team, and so when I made the

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Speaker 1: decision to go pro, I went from you know, gonna

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Speaker 1: be in the dorms, you know, with you know, these people,

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Speaker 1: these friends that I was coming in with, to then

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Speaker 1: all of a sudden having a different situation, you know,

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Speaker 1: not having that camaraderie and not having you know, that

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Speaker 1: team atmosphere going. And then I was training by myself,

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Speaker 1: and so it went from you know, just the excitement

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Speaker 1: to being a part of something then to being like

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Speaker 1: really lonely and also navigating all these new things. So

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Speaker 1: when I look back, that's probably the one thing that

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Speaker 1: I still get a little bit sad about, is like

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Speaker 1: just not having been on the team.

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Speaker 3: Right, It's almost like you will always wonder a little

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Speaker 3: bit like what would it have been?

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Speaker 1: Like yeah, yeah, I mean I'm so grateful I was

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Speaker 1: able to do, you know, what I wanted to do

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Speaker 1: as far as my goal in the Olympics, But then

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Speaker 1: I for sure you know that was on the other

379
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Speaker 1: side of it, is missing out in that part.

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Speaker 3: Right, So paint the picture for us, because you're living

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Speaker 3: on campus in the dorms.

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Speaker 1: Well, I wasn't I was supposed to, and then when

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Speaker 1: I went pro, I couldn't live, you know, I couldn't

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Speaker 1: live you know, I was in the athlete dorm before

385
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Speaker 1: and then so then I got an apartment with my brother,

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Speaker 1: like off campus.

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Speaker 3: Okay, so you and your brother are really close.

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Speaker 2: We are. What's the age difference, he's two and a

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Speaker 2: half years older.

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Speaker 3: Okay, I love that. I'm also super close with my brothers.

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Speaker 3: And having a supportive brother is a game changer, it is. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: especially somebody like your brother that seems like he believed

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Speaker 3: in your career so early on.

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00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:38,080
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's always been just an ally, you know, and

395
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Speaker 1: a supporter, and he's that classic big brother who has

396
00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:44,160
Speaker 1: always really taken care of me. And so then became

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Speaker 1: business partners and yeah, it's just a joy to get to,

398
00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:50,360
Speaker 1: you know, build together and do a lot of fun

399
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Speaker 1: things together.

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Speaker 3: How did you deal with the instant global expectations that

401
00:18:03,720 --> 00:18:05,440
Speaker 3: you had at seventeen years old?

402
00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:09,720
Speaker 1: You know, I put a lot of big expectations on myself,

403
00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:13,719
Speaker 1: but I definitely felt that way and I didn't always

404
00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:16,600
Speaker 1: deal with it great. I remember, you know, my second Olympics,

405
00:18:17,920 --> 00:18:22,440
Speaker 1: really feeling the pressure of it and really being disappointed

406
00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:24,439
Speaker 1: that it didn't go the way that I wanted to.

407
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Speaker 1: I was a favorite, I didn't win, and it was

408
00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:31,080
Speaker 1: I was embarrassed. I was It was just it was

409
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Speaker 1: really hard and so I think it took some like

410
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Speaker 1: trial and error to figure out, you know, how do

411
00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:40,440
Speaker 1: I manage pressure? And eventually I was able to, you know,

412
00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:44,440
Speaker 1: to understand how to kind of focus on my own

413
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Speaker 1: goals and not what everybody else expects and the sponsors

414
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Speaker 1: and all these things, but really stay in the zone

415
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Speaker 1: of my training and my circle and who I'm listening

416
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Speaker 1: to as well.

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00:18:55,119 --> 00:18:57,199
Speaker 3: And how do you do that, Like, how do you

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00:18:57,400 --> 00:18:59,639
Speaker 3: manage that outside pressure? What were some of the tactics

419
00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:00,320
Speaker 3: that you learn earned?

420
00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:03,280
Speaker 1: Yeah, I started to just try to listen to my team,

421
00:19:03,720 --> 00:19:06,359
Speaker 1: so you know, the people that I trust and respected,

422
00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:12,600
Speaker 1: so my coach, my family, my friends, you know, all

423
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Speaker 1: of the people who if they had something to say,

424
00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:18,040
Speaker 1: I knew it had my best interests in mind, and

425
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Speaker 1: block out like, you know, the noise of whether it's

426
00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:23,560
Speaker 1: a commentator or you know, people who are doing their jobs,

427
00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:26,679
Speaker 1: but their job is also to be critical and not

428
00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:30,560
Speaker 1: listening to that and it's really challenging and especially you

429
00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:32,600
Speaker 1: know in this day and age with social media and

430
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Speaker 1: all of those things, but really being firm on my boundaries.

431
00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:38,600
Speaker 3: Yea. I mean I mentioned that I had had Gabby

432
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Speaker 3: Thomas on and actually when we were on a run together,

433
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Speaker 3: she was like in this fiery kind of Twitter situation.

434
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Speaker 3: It wasn't I mean, fiery is an exaggeration, Like it

435
00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:48,800
Speaker 3: was something was going on on Twitter where she was

436
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Speaker 3: getting kind of chirped and just like, how are you

437
00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:53,240
Speaker 3: chirping this gold medalist? It's like, these people that will

438
00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:55,480
Speaker 3: never achieve the same level of success that you have

439
00:19:55,560 --> 00:20:00,879
Speaker 3: achieved are criticizing you exactly. How do you deal with

440
00:20:00,920 --> 00:20:01,800
Speaker 3: that as an athlete?

441
00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:06,040
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it is really hard because the accessibility

442
00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:08,480
Speaker 1: that people have to you, you know, it's like never before.

443
00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:11,000
Speaker 2: And I think it's easy.

444
00:20:11,080 --> 00:20:14,480
Speaker 1: I think it's human, you know, to for those things

445
00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:16,399
Speaker 1: to get to you sometimes, you know, and it's just

446
00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:18,800
Speaker 1: like it's just natural. But I think it is, like,

447
00:20:19,040 --> 00:20:22,280
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's realizing putting the boundaries up if

448
00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:24,760
Speaker 1: and everyone's different. You know, some people thrive off of

449
00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:27,320
Speaker 1: that and it helps them like go harder, and some

450
00:20:27,359 --> 00:20:29,399
Speaker 1: people it's best for them not to see that. And

451
00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:32,600
Speaker 1: so I think it's like being understanding to what works

452
00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:35,159
Speaker 1: for you and if it's not reading comments or you know,

453
00:20:35,480 --> 00:20:37,639
Speaker 1: not having an app on your phone or whatever, it

454
00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:40,840
Speaker 1: is making those changes so that you can perform your

455
00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:41,680
Speaker 1: best right.

456
00:20:42,200 --> 00:20:44,800
Speaker 3: And your first Olympics was two thousand and four, right

457
00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:49,199
Speaker 3: in Athens, So I'm curious, like, what was commentary and

458
00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:51,840
Speaker 3: criticism like then, and then how did it compare to

459
00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:53,680
Speaker 3: fast forward to twenty twenty y're in Tokyo.

460
00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:57,800
Speaker 1: Yeah, A criticism like at the very beginning was very

461
00:20:57,880 --> 00:21:02,920
Speaker 1: much so like on TV, like you know, a commentator,

462
00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:06,320
Speaker 1: you know, having an opinion or a buzz around. I

463
00:21:06,359 --> 00:21:09,440
Speaker 1: remember like chat rooms were a thing and like message

464
00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:13,280
Speaker 1: boards and you know, that's how people were communicating. And then,

465
00:21:14,880 --> 00:21:18,959
Speaker 1: you know, around my next Olympics, social media was very

466
00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:21,440
Speaker 1: much so a thing and obviously not what it is today,

467
00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:25,359
Speaker 1: but it was. It was prevalent and people had opinions

468
00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:29,719
Speaker 1: and everyone could have access them and everyone could say,

469
00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:32,520
Speaker 1: you know something and you could see it and that

470
00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:34,439
Speaker 1: would have an effect, you know, and so it was

471
00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:37,879
Speaker 1: making sure like Okay, who am I going to listen

472
00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:39,439
Speaker 1: to and whose voice really matters?

473
00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:42,960
Speaker 3: Yeah, And when you were you know, seventeen eighteen, were

474
00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:46,440
Speaker 3: there any older women that maybe were teammates or people

475
00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:48,639
Speaker 3: that you competed against that were mentors for you.

476
00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:50,240
Speaker 2: Yeah.

477
00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:53,160
Speaker 1: I mean I consider her one of my closest friends,

478
00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:57,280
Speaker 1: Joanna Hayes, and but she's also been that person in

479
00:21:57,320 --> 00:21:59,879
Speaker 1: my life who has done everything before.

480
00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:00,359
Speaker 3: You know.

481
00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:03,080
Speaker 1: She in two thousand and four, she won a gold

482
00:22:03,119 --> 00:22:06,879
Speaker 1: medal in the in the hundred hurdles, and I was

483
00:22:06,920 --> 00:22:09,480
Speaker 1: competing that night as well. I got my silver medal,

484
00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:13,679
Speaker 1: and I remember like watching her compete, and I remember

485
00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:15,639
Speaker 1: her getting her gold medal, and I was like, I

486
00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:18,800
Speaker 1: want to do that. And you know, we eventually went

487
00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:22,000
Speaker 1: on to train together and become friends and just kind

488
00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:23,320
Speaker 1: of go through life together.

489
00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:24,200
Speaker 2: And she had her.

490
00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:26,720
Speaker 1: Kids before me, and she's just that constant in my

491
00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:30,600
Speaker 1: life where you know, I can ask her things, but

492
00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:34,840
Speaker 1: also we support each other and it's a really special friendship.

493
00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:38,000
Speaker 1: And I'm grateful that she was willing to kind of

494
00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:40,439
Speaker 1: take me under her wing and yeah, and be my

495
00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:41,440
Speaker 1: friend from the beginning.

496
00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:44,600
Speaker 3: And it's important because I feel like, also the reputation

497
00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:47,000
Speaker 3: that track and field gets right at any level is

498
00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:49,919
Speaker 3: that it's an individual sport. But I think what's so

499
00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:53,600
Speaker 3: refreshing to hear from somebody like yourself, a professional athlete,

500
00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:56,800
Speaker 3: is that you know, it really is a community sport

501
00:22:56,800 --> 00:22:59,320
Speaker 3: and it's all about surrounding yourself with the right team members,

502
00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:02,119
Speaker 3: the right coaches, and then the right people that can

503
00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:03,800
Speaker 3: also serve as mentors in your life.

504
00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:05,280
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree so much.

505
00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:07,919
Speaker 1: I think when I look at you know, when I

506
00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:10,159
Speaker 1: was in my peak and my training group, it was

507
00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:14,000
Speaker 1: such a big part of my success and just the

508
00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:15,320
Speaker 1: way that we supported each other.

509
00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:16,400
Speaker 2: And it is a team.

510
00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:18,359
Speaker 1: You have a coach and you have you know, all

511
00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:20,680
Speaker 1: these people who allow you to be able to get

512
00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:23,679
Speaker 1: to the line where yes, you're there by yourself, but

513
00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:25,879
Speaker 1: when you go back and look at the training you know,

514
00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:28,199
Speaker 1: there's there's literally a team around you.

515
00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:34,000
Speaker 3: So you mentioned earlier that when you I don't know

516
00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:36,199
Speaker 3: exactly which Olympics you were referring to, but you know,

517
00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:38,840
Speaker 3: there's been a couple Olympics where you've gotten silver rather

518
00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:41,879
Speaker 3: than that gold. And I had interviewed Grant Holloway before

519
00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:44,800
Speaker 3: the Paris Olympics and he was talking about coming back

520
00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:47,200
Speaker 3: to Paris wanting that gold because he had gotten silver

521
00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:51,320
Speaker 3: in the last Olympics. And I was so shocked to

522
00:23:51,359 --> 00:23:56,440
Speaker 3: hear that getting silver as an athlete is a big disappointment.

523
00:23:56,640 --> 00:23:58,000
Speaker 2: Yeah.

524
00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:01,399
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's something that can be hard to understand, you know,

525
00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:06,200
Speaker 1: as if you're not an athlete, or it's just because

526
00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:08,960
Speaker 1: you also want to be you are. You are grateful,

527
00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:13,360
Speaker 1: you know, it's this huge accomplishment, but when you are

528
00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:16,359
Speaker 1: elite and when you are going after a gold medal,

529
00:24:17,119 --> 00:24:18,960
Speaker 1: that is what you're thinking about every single day, and

530
00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:22,440
Speaker 1: that's what you're working towards. And to miss that mark

531
00:24:22,560 --> 00:24:25,639
Speaker 1: and have to wait four years, you know again for

532
00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:29,359
Speaker 1: the opportunity that's not guaranteed, it's really hard.

533
00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:32,360
Speaker 2: And I remember, you know, my first.

534
00:24:32,119 --> 00:24:35,200
Speaker 1: Silver medal, I was eighteen, but the second one four

535
00:24:35,320 --> 00:24:39,160
Speaker 1: years later, the weight of it felt different because it

536
00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:42,760
Speaker 1: was like, there are the expectations, you know, people, you know,

537
00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:44,600
Speaker 1: I was supposed to be this phenom and you know

538
00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:47,120
Speaker 1: it was supposed to just be a given that this happened,

539
00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:50,480
Speaker 1: and when it didn't, it felt like everything was falling apart.

540
00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:52,800
Speaker 1: And I also think as an athlete at that level,

541
00:24:54,080 --> 00:24:57,359
Speaker 1: you are so that is your world and so you're

542
00:24:57,520 --> 00:25:00,479
Speaker 1: unable to step out of that. And now, you know,

543
00:25:00,600 --> 00:25:03,760
Speaker 1: being retired, I'm able to really kind of put things

544
00:25:03,760 --> 00:25:06,960
Speaker 1: in perspective. But I wasn't able to do that when

545
00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:09,600
Speaker 1: I was competing, and it just felt like I'm not

546
00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:14,960
Speaker 1: okay in life without you know, when when everything doesn't

547
00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:17,160
Speaker 1: go the way that I had hoped right.

548
00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:19,879
Speaker 3: And I feel like we're even witnessing this now with

549
00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:21,840
Speaker 3: the Winter Olympics going on, and I think a lot

550
00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:23,879
Speaker 3: of people have really closely been following some of the

551
00:25:23,920 --> 00:25:27,359
Speaker 3: snowboarders and some of the figure skaters. Again these more

552
00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:31,160
Speaker 3: individual individual sports where they're getting silver and not gold,

553
00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:33,920
Speaker 3: and there is all that disappointment around it. So can

554
00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:36,000
Speaker 3: you almost paint the picture for us of when you're

555
00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:39,600
Speaker 3: in that arena, surrounded by thousands of people watching you race,

556
00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:41,879
Speaker 3: and you get a silver you know, you know you

557
00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:44,480
Speaker 3: just came in second place. What are the emotions going

558
00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:47,159
Speaker 3: through your mind? What are like the sounds that you're hearing?

559
00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:48,120
Speaker 3: Like where are you at?

560
00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:54,000
Speaker 1: For me, it was just like this devastation. You know,

561
00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:56,480
Speaker 1: it's you cross the line and you know, you know

562
00:25:56,600 --> 00:25:59,560
Speaker 1: immediately you know you didn't do it. You know you

563
00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:03,120
Speaker 1: did not this moment that there has been so much

564
00:26:03,119 --> 00:26:06,040
Speaker 1: attention around and also you know, not only from like

565
00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:08,639
Speaker 1: an athletic point of view, but like business wise, like

566
00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:11,840
Speaker 1: these two weeks. This is where you earn, this is

567
00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:14,359
Speaker 1: where you know your career is set up. And I

568
00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:20,800
Speaker 1: just remember feeling crushed and then you know, physically figuring

569
00:26:20,840 --> 00:26:23,560
Speaker 1: out like how do I even get off of the track?

570
00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:26,240
Speaker 1: You know you have to do a victory lap? And

571
00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:28,560
Speaker 1: I remember, you know, going to do my victory lap

572
00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:32,080
Speaker 1: and spotting my family and going over to them and

573
00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:35,000
Speaker 1: just falling in their arms and just feeling like I

574
00:26:35,040 --> 00:26:37,600
Speaker 1: almost couldn't even stand, like they were holding me up.

575
00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:40,560
Speaker 1: And then you know, making my way off and finding

576
00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:42,960
Speaker 1: my coach and kind of the process like of falling

577
00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:46,400
Speaker 1: apart over and over and then realizing, you know, this

578
00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:48,480
Speaker 1: is going to take some time to work through this,

579
00:26:49,359 --> 00:26:52,160
Speaker 1: and then you get to the point where it's like, Okay,

580
00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:53,760
Speaker 1: how do I pick up the pieces?

581
00:26:53,840 --> 00:26:54,720
Speaker 2: How do I rebuild?

582
00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:54,879
Speaker 3: Like?

583
00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:58,120
Speaker 1: Is this something that I want to continue to go after?

584
00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:02,639
Speaker 3: And when you got silver, there's another athlete that stands

585
00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:05,320
Speaker 3: out to me, Veronica Campbell. Brown's who you lost to

586
00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:08,480
Speaker 3: in some of those instances, right, So I would imagine

587
00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:10,520
Speaker 3: that the amount of mutual respect that you guys have

588
00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:13,200
Speaker 3: for each other is massive. Yeah, what did you learn

589
00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:15,760
Speaker 3: from her in that moment that you took with you

590
00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:20,159
Speaker 3: as maybe your inspiration into like the next the next Olympics.

591
00:27:20,359 --> 00:27:23,199
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, she's such a she was such a

592
00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:26,200
Speaker 1: fierce competitor, and I knew, you know, when we raced,

593
00:27:26,600 --> 00:27:29,480
Speaker 1: you know, I would have to push myself beyond my best.

594
00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:32,480
Speaker 2: And I think what I took away.

595
00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:38,239
Speaker 1: Just from those losses was that, you know, I have

596
00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:40,640
Speaker 1: to continue to work, you know, I have to continue

597
00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:44,720
Speaker 1: to push myself. And I think it also just made

598
00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:48,159
Speaker 1: me understand that, you know, maybe I wasn't ready in

599
00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:51,320
Speaker 1: that moment, and you know, how can I look at

600
00:27:51,359 --> 00:27:53,760
Speaker 1: the situation and how can I get better and how

601
00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:56,239
Speaker 1: can I come back and you know, try again. And

602
00:27:56,680 --> 00:27:59,639
Speaker 1: you know, sometimes also it's life that things are not

603
00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:02,200
Speaker 1: going to come together. You know, you can do everything

604
00:28:02,280 --> 00:28:05,199
Speaker 1: possible and it may not you know, work out for you.

605
00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:08,160
Speaker 1: And I think it's also that understanding of saying, if

606
00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:10,639
Speaker 1: I give my all, if I've done all the things,

607
00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:14,879
Speaker 1: like that is enough. And I think sometimes, especially for me,

608
00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:17,399
Speaker 1: I think I really tied up my worth and my

609
00:28:17,560 --> 00:28:22,000
Speaker 1: value in the result of the race. And that's where

610
00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:24,320
Speaker 1: I really struggled. And it wasn't until I was able

611
00:28:24,359 --> 00:28:27,000
Speaker 1: to really you know, separate those two things where I

612
00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:29,520
Speaker 1: was able to understand that I can have you know,

613
00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:32,800
Speaker 1: I can put it all out there and be disappointed,

614
00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:35,760
Speaker 1: but I still am enough and I still, you know,

615
00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:38,080
Speaker 1: have that value in that those two things are not

616
00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:38,520
Speaker 1: the same.

617
00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:41,960
Speaker 3: And it's also anyone's race on that day. Yeah, which

618
00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:44,040
Speaker 3: is the hardest thing. It's like that's one race, but

619
00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:45,720
Speaker 3: it's like, give me another race and who knows the

620
00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:46,640
Speaker 3: results could be different.

621
00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:47,160
Speaker 2: Yeah.

622
00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:50,320
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's it's the sport and it's I think it's

623
00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:53,840
Speaker 1: what we love about racing, and you know, competition and

624
00:28:54,400 --> 00:28:56,600
Speaker 1: you know, who can perform under the pressure, it's part

625
00:28:56,640 --> 00:28:59,720
Speaker 1: of it, but it is you know, you never know

626
00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:01,280
Speaker 1: what day is going to hold.

627
00:29:01,880 --> 00:29:04,440
Speaker 3: And as Olympic athletes, you guys do get so good

628
00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:07,640
Speaker 3: at performing under pressure. Like how do you get so

629
00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:12,000
Speaker 3: good at it? Is? Their compartmentalization involved visualization, like how

630
00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:14,360
Speaker 3: are you preparing to step up onto those blocks?

631
00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:16,160
Speaker 1: Yeah, for me, it was a combination of things. I

632
00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:18,720
Speaker 1: think it was failing, you know, it was figuring it out.

633
00:29:18,840 --> 00:29:20,960
Speaker 1: It was like, Okay, I think this works for me,

634
00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:23,440
Speaker 1: and then I get there and it doesn't, and then

635
00:29:23,480 --> 00:29:27,239
Speaker 1: it was I was very much so into visualization. It

636
00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:30,320
Speaker 1: was just the reps, like putting in the reps and

637
00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:33,040
Speaker 1: I would log all my workouts, I would write it

638
00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:35,400
Speaker 1: all down, and you know, before the big race, I

639
00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:38,600
Speaker 1: would go and review, you know, look at everything I've done.

640
00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:41,480
Speaker 1: It was like, I haven't cut any corners. I'm I

641
00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:44,320
Speaker 1: find my confidence in the preparation and I've done it.

642
00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:47,880
Speaker 1: So now this should be the fun part to execute it.

643
00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:51,440
Speaker 1: And yes, execution is hard, but it's way harder to

644
00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:53,800
Speaker 1: do the training day in and day out, and so

645
00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:56,520
Speaker 1: it's about really just okay, now it's time to put

646
00:29:56,520 --> 00:29:56,920
Speaker 1: it together.

647
00:29:57,760 --> 00:30:01,280
Speaker 3: The discipline in knowing that you didn't cut any corners,

648
00:30:01,320 --> 00:30:03,280
Speaker 3: because how many of us, you know, set up, set

649
00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:05,600
Speaker 3: out for a goal, right whether it's running a marathon

650
00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:07,480
Speaker 3: or settying for a test, And we're like, you know,

651
00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:09,160
Speaker 3: if we just do all of these things, if we

652
00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:11,160
Speaker 3: hit all of these you know, smaller goals that then

653
00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:13,880
Speaker 3: lead up to that bigger goal, we'll be great on

654
00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:15,840
Speaker 3: you know, game day, test day, whatever it may be.

655
00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:20,200
Speaker 3: But it's so human for us to cut corners. But

656
00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:22,880
Speaker 3: when you're competing at that level, there are no corners

657
00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:23,600
Speaker 3: that can be cut.

658
00:30:24,160 --> 00:30:26,400
Speaker 1: There aren't any corners that can be cut. But I

659
00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:29,800
Speaker 1: think there also is there's rest and there's recovery. And

660
00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:33,719
Speaker 1: I think that's really important because I don't know, our

661
00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:37,520
Speaker 1: culture really celebrates this grind and you know, this mentality

662
00:30:37,560 --> 00:30:39,600
Speaker 1: of no days off, and I think it is the

663
00:30:39,680 --> 00:30:42,360
Speaker 1: understanding of like no rest is built into the program

664
00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:44,760
Speaker 1: and so I had to learn that as well. I

665
00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:47,400
Speaker 1: used to, like early on, my coach would give me

666
00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:49,360
Speaker 1: like an off day and I would sneak and like

667
00:30:49,520 --> 00:30:52,640
Speaker 1: go do like hills or like go do some extra training.

668
00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:55,400
Speaker 1: And then I was like, oh wait, I'm actually like

669
00:30:56,040 --> 00:30:58,479
Speaker 1: hurting myself in the long run, like I'm not setting

670
00:30:58,520 --> 00:31:02,360
Speaker 1: myself up to, you know, to be successful in doing this.

671
00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:05,200
Speaker 1: And it's really saying, Okay, I need to buy into

672
00:31:05,240 --> 00:31:08,920
Speaker 1: this plan completely, and there's the days where you're not

673
00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:11,680
Speaker 1: going to feel it and you give yourself grace and yes,

674
00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:14,000
Speaker 1: you might go through the motions and still get it done,

675
00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:16,920
Speaker 1: but I think it's understanding that you know, it's not

676
00:31:16,960 --> 00:31:18,080
Speaker 1: all going to be perfect training.

677
00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:22,360
Speaker 3: Yeah, And I completely agree, And I think that's why

678
00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:25,080
Speaker 3: like training regimens are so important to follow and those

679
00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:27,520
Speaker 3: rest days are so key, and even cross training, right,

680
00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:29,720
Speaker 3: like how big was cross training for you guys?

681
00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:31,040
Speaker 2: You know what, It's so funny.

682
00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:35,720
Speaker 1: We would take about, you know, six weeks off after season,

683
00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:39,840
Speaker 1: and I didn't really do cross training. I you know,

684
00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:41,560
Speaker 1: now that I look back, I'm like, why didn't I

685
00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:45,400
Speaker 1: do that? But we I would, you know, just go

686
00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:47,840
Speaker 1: completely away from the track. And it was really great

687
00:31:47,840 --> 00:31:49,720
Speaker 1: for my mind and I felt refreshed. And I was

688
00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:52,440
Speaker 1: also very young and you know, all of those things.

689
00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:54,960
Speaker 1: But you know, as I've gotten older, I think it's

690
00:31:55,120 --> 00:32:00,400
Speaker 1: much more important and just yeah, crucial to longevity as well.

691
00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:02,760
Speaker 3: Yeah, taking time away. It's so funny that you say that. Sweet.

692
00:32:02,760 --> 00:32:05,600
Speaker 3: Interviewed Channon Loketty this year right before the New York

693
00:32:05,640 --> 00:32:08,520
Speaker 3: City Marathon and I was asking her, and Channon Lookketty

694
00:32:08,520 --> 00:32:11,240
Speaker 3: for anybody that doesn't know, she won the Boston Marathon

695
00:32:11,240 --> 00:32:14,400
Speaker 3: in twenty twenty five, so incredible long distance runner. And

696
00:32:14,440 --> 00:32:15,280
Speaker 3: I said to her, I was like, what are you

697
00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:17,280
Speaker 3: most excited for after this race? And she was like,

698
00:32:17,320 --> 00:32:19,280
Speaker 3: I'm just so excited to like go on vacation and

699
00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:22,520
Speaker 3: watch watch shows. Yeah, like, I'm so excited to like

700
00:32:22,560 --> 00:32:24,560
Speaker 3: bind this new TV show. And I loved it so

701
00:32:24,680 --> 00:32:27,040
Speaker 3: much because one of my favorite quotes I ask everybody

702
00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:29,200
Speaker 3: on runs, you know, what is a quoter model that

703
00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:32,760
Speaker 3: you live by. And I had this not professional runner,

704
00:32:32,800 --> 00:32:34,760
Speaker 3: but great runner on my show, and she said to me,

705
00:32:35,120 --> 00:32:37,000
Speaker 3: in the context of running, but it can be applied

706
00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:38,800
Speaker 3: to anything. Is you can't be one hundred percent all

707
00:32:38,840 --> 00:32:41,320
Speaker 3: the time. And I just loved that so much because

708
00:32:41,360 --> 00:32:44,040
Speaker 3: I feel like when you're we're younger, especially if we

709
00:32:44,160 --> 00:32:45,880
Speaker 3: like to run, it's like you just want to be

710
00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:48,200
Speaker 3: your fastest all the time. You know, feel your best,

711
00:32:48,240 --> 00:32:51,000
Speaker 3: perform your best, get the fastest, have the fastest pace, whatever.

712
00:32:52,280 --> 00:32:54,120
Speaker 3: But it is just such a cool quote to live by.

713
00:32:54,360 --> 00:32:56,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, I love that too. Yeah, it was my favorite thing.

714
00:32:56,960 --> 00:32:59,680
Speaker 1: Like every season I would I would spend the season

715
00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:02,120
Speaker 1: like thinking about where my vacation was going to be

716
00:33:02,160 --> 00:33:04,000
Speaker 1: and like planning it and then you know, you get

717
00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:06,479
Speaker 1: to that moment and yes, it is like eating the

718
00:33:06,520 --> 00:33:08,840
Speaker 1: things you want and yeah, watching the show is not

719
00:33:08,880 --> 00:33:10,360
Speaker 1: having to follow this like regiment.

720
00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:12,480
Speaker 2: I think it's really important to like be refreshed.

721
00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:16,120
Speaker 3: How nice is it going on that vacation though, knowing

722
00:33:16,120 --> 00:33:16,840
Speaker 3: that you won gold.

723
00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:20,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's way better. It's way better, way better.

724
00:33:29,840 --> 00:33:33,560
Speaker 3: Did you ever feel like you weren't ready for a race? Oh?

725
00:33:33,600 --> 00:33:34,240
Speaker 2: Absolutely?

726
00:33:34,480 --> 00:33:37,480
Speaker 1: Yeah, it comes to mine in twenty sixteen, I had

727
00:33:37,520 --> 00:33:40,640
Speaker 1: some injuries and I had a really bad ankle injury

728
00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:44,640
Speaker 1: and it happened two months before the Olympic trials, and

729
00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:50,920
Speaker 1: I tore the ligaments in my ankle and I immediately

730
00:33:50,960 --> 00:33:53,040
Speaker 1: after I couldn't even walk, And so I was like

731
00:33:53,080 --> 00:33:56,480
Speaker 1: in the pool on the bike and did what I could.

732
00:33:56,760 --> 00:33:57,680
Speaker 2: Olympic trials came.

733
00:33:57,720 --> 00:34:00,920
Speaker 1: I had no professional races under my belt and kind

734
00:34:00,960 --> 00:34:03,800
Speaker 1: of just went out there extremely like taped up and.

735
00:34:04,600 --> 00:34:05,880
Speaker 2: Was able to get it done.

736
00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:09,040
Speaker 1: But I absolutely wasn't ready, Like you know, I talked

737
00:34:09,080 --> 00:34:12,000
Speaker 1: about my training log and doing the work and when

738
00:34:12,200 --> 00:34:15,799
Speaker 1: you don't have the work, and also you don't have

739
00:34:15,880 --> 00:34:19,240
Speaker 1: the confidence and so it's it's not the ideal situation.

740
00:34:19,400 --> 00:34:23,080
Speaker 1: And so I've definitely had those races where I wasn't ready.

741
00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:26,640
Speaker 3: And how did your pace compare to maybe pre injury.

742
00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:30,200
Speaker 1: I wasn't one hundred percent for sure, but it was enough,

743
00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:34,000
Speaker 1: Like it was enough, you know, I made the team.

744
00:34:34,200 --> 00:34:36,720
Speaker 2: I did well. I of course I would have loved

745
00:34:36,719 --> 00:34:37,920
Speaker 2: to have felt better.

746
00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:40,560
Speaker 1: And I didn't make the team in the two hundred

747
00:34:40,600 --> 00:34:44,799
Speaker 1: meters and that was like really disappointing for me. But

748
00:34:45,120 --> 00:34:47,160
Speaker 1: in the grand scheme of what I was able to

749
00:34:47,160 --> 00:34:48,680
Speaker 1: do essentially on one leg.

750
00:34:49,600 --> 00:34:51,799
Speaker 2: You know, I made the most of it.

751
00:34:51,920 --> 00:34:53,759
Speaker 3: Oh my god. The other girls that are like not

752
00:34:53,880 --> 00:34:56,799
Speaker 3: injured are probably like this woman comes in kicks our

753
00:34:56,880 --> 00:35:00,840
Speaker 3: butts with like literally with one ankle. That's out so impressive.

754
00:35:01,560 --> 00:35:02,960
Speaker 2: You know, it was a lot of therapy.

755
00:35:03,040 --> 00:35:06,160
Speaker 3: But yeah, and what race was that? What Olympic Trials

756
00:35:06,200 --> 00:35:06,320
Speaker 3: was that?

757
00:35:06,400 --> 00:35:09,880
Speaker 1: Leading up to twenty sixteen? Okay, yeah, Lou leading up

758
00:35:09,920 --> 00:35:11,240
Speaker 1: to Rio? The Rio Games?

759
00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:12,719
Speaker 3: And how did you end up performing at Rio?

760
00:35:13,080 --> 00:35:14,120
Speaker 2: I got a silver medal.

761
00:35:14,360 --> 00:35:16,640
Speaker 1: And it's funny because now you know, I've talked to

762
00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:18,600
Speaker 1: my coach about it and he's like, you know, I

763
00:35:18,640 --> 00:35:21,120
Speaker 1: really think it's one of your most impressive races. He

764
00:35:21,200 --> 00:35:23,280
Speaker 1: was like, you know, no one would know that because

765
00:35:23,840 --> 00:35:25,880
Speaker 1: they didn't know the ins and outs of, you know,

766
00:35:26,239 --> 00:35:30,239
Speaker 1: of what we had to do to get there. But

767
00:35:30,520 --> 00:35:33,480
Speaker 1: all things considered, he was really impressed with, you know,

768
00:35:33,560 --> 00:35:37,160
Speaker 1: how we how we were able to recovery, how we

769
00:35:37,160 --> 00:35:39,799
Speaker 1: were able to recover. And he talks about a lot,

770
00:35:39,840 --> 00:35:42,200
Speaker 1: you know, like it's easy to do it when everything

771
00:35:42,320 --> 00:35:44,600
Speaker 1: is perfect, but you know, can you do it when

772
00:35:44,680 --> 00:35:46,560
Speaker 1: the circumstances are less than ideal?

773
00:35:46,920 --> 00:35:49,360
Speaker 3: Right? And oftentimes they're going to be less than ideal.

774
00:35:49,560 --> 00:35:51,640
Speaker 2: That's just the way it goes, right. Yeah.

775
00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:54,319
Speaker 3: I think it's so impressive the discipline that you guys have,

776
00:35:54,800 --> 00:35:56,919
Speaker 3: you know, like, and it's really the cool thing about

777
00:35:57,000 --> 00:36:00,239
Speaker 3: running is you have to be so disciplined in the

778
00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:02,680
Speaker 3: sport to be able to achieve the level of success

779
00:36:02,719 --> 00:36:05,200
Speaker 3: that you guys achieve, and that just applies so well

780
00:36:05,239 --> 00:36:07,040
Speaker 3: to so many different areas of your life.

781
00:36:07,680 --> 00:36:08,040
Speaker 2: It does.

782
00:36:08,200 --> 00:36:11,080
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's that's why I really love and

783
00:36:11,160 --> 00:36:14,400
Speaker 1: I love for you know, I always encourage kids to

784
00:36:14,719 --> 00:36:17,919
Speaker 1: play sports because I think it really teaches that discipline

785
00:36:18,040 --> 00:36:20,120
Speaker 1: and it does. It doesn't matter, you know, what you

786
00:36:20,200 --> 00:36:23,480
Speaker 1: go on to do in life, it applies. I can't

787
00:36:24,080 --> 00:36:26,319
Speaker 1: think of how many times I go back to just

788
00:36:26,360 --> 00:36:29,719
Speaker 1: the athletic background and pushing through and not giving up

789
00:36:29,760 --> 00:36:33,840
Speaker 1: and dealing with setbacks like that's just you know, as

790
00:36:33,880 --> 00:36:36,759
Speaker 1: as athletes, as runners, like, that's a part of the game,

791
00:36:36,840 --> 00:36:39,160
Speaker 1: right and when you take that, you know, to life,

792
00:36:39,160 --> 00:36:42,279
Speaker 1: to business to work, that's you know, it's really a

793
00:36:42,320 --> 00:36:43,080
Speaker 1: benefit for you.

794
00:36:43,520 --> 00:36:46,279
Speaker 3: Yeah, and you know, I'm curious, you know, for your

795
00:36:46,320 --> 00:36:49,240
Speaker 3: advice to other young athletes right now that are maybe

796
00:36:49,280 --> 00:36:51,840
Speaker 3: dealing with their first Olympic trials or they're you know,

797
00:36:51,880 --> 00:36:54,000
Speaker 3: they're in the Winter Olympics and it didn't go as planned, Like,

798
00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:55,040
Speaker 3: what is your advice to them?

799
00:36:55,600 --> 00:36:59,320
Speaker 1: My advice is to first let yourself feel all the things,

800
00:36:59,400 --> 00:37:01,840
Speaker 1: like be disip point and be angry, like that is

801
00:37:01,880 --> 00:37:04,399
Speaker 1: what makes you great, that's what makes you special, and

802
00:37:04,880 --> 00:37:07,799
Speaker 1: those emotions are valid. It means that you care. And

803
00:37:07,880 --> 00:37:11,000
Speaker 1: then once you have your moment, and once you've done that,

804
00:37:12,480 --> 00:37:17,000
Speaker 1: be motivated, like you can absolutely do whatever the big

805
00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:20,279
Speaker 1: goal is. Learn from, you know, from how it went,

806
00:37:20,400 --> 00:37:23,640
Speaker 1: you know, take the positives away and keep building and

807
00:37:23,640 --> 00:37:24,640
Speaker 1: then go after it again.

808
00:37:25,080 --> 00:37:27,640
Speaker 3: So we've talked about preparation and reading over the training

809
00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:31,160
Speaker 3: that you've done before entering the Olympic arena. What does

810
00:37:31,280 --> 00:37:36,200
Speaker 3: visualization look like like, what are you visualizing before a race?

811
00:37:36,719 --> 00:37:39,000
Speaker 3: And maybe also if you could talk about what people

812
00:37:39,080 --> 00:37:40,360
Speaker 3: get wrong about visualization.

813
00:37:41,760 --> 00:37:44,799
Speaker 1: For me, my visualization is all about the perfect race

814
00:37:44,880 --> 00:37:48,600
Speaker 1: and so it is literally running through that race in

815
00:37:48,600 --> 00:37:52,120
Speaker 1: my mind. Everything from how I'm feeling standing in front

816
00:37:52,120 --> 00:37:55,960
Speaker 1: of the blocks, my position in the blocks, you know,

817
00:37:56,160 --> 00:37:58,359
Speaker 1: how I'm coming out of them, what I'm doing at

818
00:37:58,440 --> 00:38:01,640
Speaker 1: every point in race at ten meters at twenty meters

819
00:38:01,680 --> 00:38:04,120
Speaker 1: and it's really slowing the race down in my mind

820
00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:08,160
Speaker 1: and playing it over and doing that over and over again.

821
00:38:08,239 --> 00:38:11,200
Speaker 1: And I think, you know, what people might get wrong

822
00:38:11,400 --> 00:38:15,080
Speaker 1: is like just thinking it's not effective or just not

823
00:38:15,800 --> 00:38:17,799
Speaker 1: taking the time to really do it. And I think

824
00:38:17,840 --> 00:38:20,480
Speaker 1: it's I look at it almost as like practice. It's

825
00:38:20,520 --> 00:38:23,120
Speaker 1: like getting those reps in and if I'm able to

826
00:38:23,239 --> 00:38:26,040
Speaker 1: like see it, it's going to be easier to do it.

827
00:38:26,080 --> 00:38:27,759
Speaker 1: And I think it's one of those things you kind

828
00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:30,640
Speaker 1: of just have to you have to do, and you

829
00:38:30,719 --> 00:38:33,920
Speaker 1: have to also be disciplined to continue to do it

830
00:38:33,960 --> 00:38:34,840
Speaker 1: to see the results.

831
00:38:35,040 --> 00:38:37,000
Speaker 3: And how early does visualization start?

832
00:38:37,680 --> 00:38:39,400
Speaker 2: And you know, I think you can start it at

833
00:38:39,440 --> 00:38:40,480
Speaker 2: any point. Yeah, you know.

834
00:38:40,600 --> 00:38:43,920
Speaker 1: I found it, you know, early on in my career

835
00:38:44,120 --> 00:38:46,319
Speaker 1: where it was like a part of my routine, like

836
00:38:46,360 --> 00:38:48,359
Speaker 1: a part of my training. Like, you know, if I

837
00:38:48,400 --> 00:38:50,400
Speaker 1: was gonna whatever the workout was that day, I was

838
00:38:50,480 --> 00:38:54,200
Speaker 1: making sure that at least one point in that workout,

839
00:38:54,280 --> 00:38:56,680
Speaker 1: I'm going to visualize my actual race and what it

840
00:38:56,680 --> 00:38:57,080
Speaker 1: looks like.

841
00:38:57,920 --> 00:38:59,719
Speaker 3: And then when it comes to like the technical things

842
00:38:59,719 --> 00:39:02,000
Speaker 3: that you're doing. I've talked to long distance runners about this,

843
00:39:02,080 --> 00:39:04,719
Speaker 3: but I've never talked to sprinters about this, and when

844
00:39:04,760 --> 00:39:07,960
Speaker 3: it comes to long distance running. I talked to you know,

845
00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:10,359
Speaker 3: a great marathon or ultra marathon or that said, he's,

846
00:39:10,400 --> 00:39:13,520
Speaker 3: you know, he's like what I guess it's called like

847
00:39:14,080 --> 00:39:16,000
Speaker 3: drifting or draft Yeah, is that the word?

848
00:39:16,080 --> 00:39:16,520
Speaker 2: I don't know.

849
00:39:16,640 --> 00:39:17,800
Speaker 3: He's like drafting.

850
00:39:17,840 --> 00:39:18,640
Speaker 2: I know what you mean.

851
00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:21,440
Speaker 3: Right, he's like behind somebody else running, he's kind of

852
00:39:21,480 --> 00:39:23,680
Speaker 3: like focused on who's the fastest person during the race

853
00:39:23,680 --> 00:39:25,680
Speaker 3: that he can kind of pace himself with. So there's

854
00:39:25,719 --> 00:39:28,480
Speaker 3: strategies that we've heard before with long distance running, but

855
00:39:28,560 --> 00:39:30,880
Speaker 3: what are the strategies in a race with sprinting? Like,

856
00:39:30,880 --> 00:39:32,120
Speaker 3: what are the things that you're thinking about?

857
00:39:32,440 --> 00:39:35,960
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean the shorter that you're going, You're not

858
00:39:36,040 --> 00:39:38,399
Speaker 1: really going to have a strategy based on anyone else.

859
00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:41,839
Speaker 1: You know, it is about you, and it's about your mechanics,

860
00:39:41,960 --> 00:39:45,400
Speaker 1: and that's really more where your mind is. It's about

861
00:39:45,600 --> 00:39:47,520
Speaker 1: your you know, how am I coming out of the blocks?

862
00:39:47,600 --> 00:39:49,680
Speaker 1: You know, what are my angles? What are my positions?

863
00:39:49,719 --> 00:39:52,279
Speaker 1: And what am I doing? Because you're not going to

864
00:39:52,320 --> 00:39:55,200
Speaker 1: be able to adjust, you know, based on someone else.

865
00:39:55,280 --> 00:39:58,000
Speaker 1: You need to be running your top speed and you're

866
00:39:58,120 --> 00:39:58,719
Speaker 1: going to need to be.

867
00:39:58,760 --> 00:39:59,680
Speaker 2: Able to hold that.

868
00:40:00,600 --> 00:40:02,560
Speaker 1: Your mind might tell you to do something, you know,

869
00:40:02,880 --> 00:40:05,280
Speaker 1: I need to reach another gear, but if your body

870
00:40:05,320 --> 00:40:08,080
Speaker 1: can't do that, it doesn't matter. Once you get to

871
00:40:08,160 --> 00:40:10,360
Speaker 1: races like the four hundred, it is different because it

872
00:40:10,440 --> 00:40:13,840
Speaker 1: is a more strategic race, and you might be thinking about,

873
00:40:14,040 --> 00:40:16,759
Speaker 1: you know, your pace through two hundred meters and then

874
00:40:16,840 --> 00:40:19,200
Speaker 1: what you're going to do from that point forward, and

875
00:40:19,280 --> 00:40:22,120
Speaker 1: that might you know, you might have markers based on,

876
00:40:22,200 --> 00:40:25,880
Speaker 1: you know, what other athletes typical times are. It's something

877
00:40:25,960 --> 00:40:28,399
Speaker 1: like that, but pretty much it's about you and it's

878
00:40:28,440 --> 00:40:32,359
Speaker 1: about being able to execute your race, and more times

879
00:40:32,360 --> 00:40:33,920
Speaker 1: than not, it's mechanics based.

880
00:40:34,120 --> 00:40:38,160
Speaker 3: Right, would you say that going into your races you

881
00:40:38,200 --> 00:40:40,640
Speaker 3: were very very familiar with the other athletes competing.

882
00:40:40,880 --> 00:40:41,080
Speaker 2: Yes.

883
00:40:41,160 --> 00:40:43,759
Speaker 1: I was always very familiar with the athletes I was

884
00:40:43,800 --> 00:40:46,799
Speaker 1: competing against because for a lot of us, we grew

885
00:40:46,840 --> 00:40:49,319
Speaker 1: up in the sport, We grew up racing against each other,

886
00:40:49,400 --> 00:40:53,319
Speaker 1: and you always knew each other's strengths and weaknesses a lot,

887
00:40:53,440 --> 00:40:55,759
Speaker 1: or if someone was doing really well and you know,

888
00:40:56,680 --> 00:40:59,280
Speaker 1: having really fast times. So yeah, you're pretty you're generally

889
00:40:59,360 --> 00:41:00,960
Speaker 1: familiar with who you're racing against.

890
00:41:01,760 --> 00:41:03,440
Speaker 3: What would you say was the perfect race for you.

891
00:41:04,520 --> 00:41:09,280
Speaker 1: My best race was in twenty twelve the Olympic Trials

892
00:41:09,800 --> 00:41:12,719
Speaker 1: in Eugene. I ran my pr there and it was

893
00:41:12,800 --> 00:41:15,239
Speaker 1: just for me. It was a race I was really

894
00:41:15,280 --> 00:41:17,759
Speaker 1: proud of and felt just really beautiful.

895
00:41:17,840 --> 00:41:19,480
Speaker 3: And set the scene for us, like what made it

896
00:41:19,480 --> 00:41:20,239
Speaker 3: a perfect race?

897
00:41:21,320 --> 00:41:23,360
Speaker 1: The thing that made it a perfect race is probably

898
00:41:24,040 --> 00:41:26,720
Speaker 1: all the drama that was the twenty twelve Olympic Trials

899
00:41:26,719 --> 00:41:30,040
Speaker 1: For me. I ended up tying with my teammate in

900
00:41:30,080 --> 00:41:33,360
Speaker 1: the one hundred meters and then the two hundred meters

901
00:41:33,440 --> 00:41:37,560
Speaker 1: was at the end, and I was so like stressed,

902
00:41:37,600 --> 00:41:40,360
Speaker 1: I was so angry about the situation.

903
00:41:40,680 --> 00:41:41,000
Speaker 2: It was.

904
00:41:41,320 --> 00:41:44,040
Speaker 1: It was a hard Olympic Trials and I was so

905
00:41:44,200 --> 00:41:46,400
Speaker 1: determined when I got to that two hundred meters, I

906
00:41:46,480 --> 00:41:48,520
Speaker 1: was like, I am going to make this team. And

907
00:41:48,560 --> 00:41:51,600
Speaker 1: so I think it was the sheer just like, you know,

908
00:41:51,800 --> 00:41:55,359
Speaker 1: the sheer determination to get it done that really made

909
00:41:55,400 --> 00:41:58,560
Speaker 1: it like it was a you know, really commanding race.

910
00:41:58,560 --> 00:42:00,040
Speaker 3: I'd say, because what happens when.

911
00:42:00,080 --> 00:42:04,359
Speaker 1: You tie, what happens is in that instance, there there

912
00:42:04,360 --> 00:42:07,960
Speaker 1: were no rules. So because the top three make the

913
00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:11,480
Speaker 1: Olympic team, we tied at third place all the way

914
00:42:11,520 --> 00:42:15,520
Speaker 1: down where they couldn't separate it. They had no rules

915
00:42:15,520 --> 00:42:18,400
Speaker 1: in place, and they ended up giving us like options

916
00:42:18,480 --> 00:42:24,840
Speaker 1: like flipping a coin, one person conceding, or doing a rerun,

917
00:42:24,920 --> 00:42:27,880
Speaker 1: and so it was just not ideal and like, nobody

918
00:42:27,920 --> 00:42:30,839
Speaker 1: wants to make the Olympic team with you know, those

919
00:42:30,880 --> 00:42:33,799
Speaker 1: options on the table, and so it just became a

920
00:42:33,960 --> 00:42:35,360
Speaker 1: really stressful two weeks.

921
00:42:35,400 --> 00:42:36,640
Speaker 2: And what did.

922
00:42:36,480 --> 00:42:37,440
Speaker 3: You guys end up doing?

923
00:42:37,800 --> 00:42:38,719
Speaker 2: We agreed to.

924
00:42:38,719 --> 00:42:42,120
Speaker 1: Do a runoff, but then my teammate she at the

925
00:42:42,239 --> 00:42:45,319
Speaker 1: end she didn't feel right about it or she didn't

926
00:42:45,320 --> 00:42:46,919
Speaker 1: feel like her heart was in it, and she ended

927
00:42:47,000 --> 00:42:50,080
Speaker 1: up going home before the runoff, and so I ended

928
00:42:50,160 --> 00:42:50,840
Speaker 1: up with the spot.

929
00:42:50,880 --> 00:42:53,279
Speaker 3: But it was, oh my god, They're like you could

930
00:42:53,360 --> 00:42:54,640
Speaker 3: rock paper scissor at this point.

931
00:42:54,719 --> 00:42:56,640
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was. It was crazy.

932
00:42:56,680 --> 00:42:59,520
Speaker 1: They literally told us week at flip a coin. But

933
00:42:59,600 --> 00:43:02,920
Speaker 1: it was really sad for me because we were also

934
00:43:03,000 --> 00:43:05,840
Speaker 1: training partners, and so I saw how much work she

935
00:43:05,920 --> 00:43:08,520
Speaker 1: put in day in and day out, and I just

936
00:43:08,520 --> 00:43:09,880
Speaker 1: didn't want it to end like that.

937
00:43:10,280 --> 00:43:12,279
Speaker 3: And what is it like for somebody that you know,

938
00:43:12,360 --> 00:43:14,520
Speaker 3: gets the Olympic trials. It's like for four years, you

939
00:43:14,600 --> 00:43:16,640
Speaker 3: guys are training for that big moment, right because in

940
00:43:16,680 --> 00:43:19,600
Speaker 3: track and field. It's like the Olympics are your gold stage.

941
00:43:19,600 --> 00:43:21,759
Speaker 3: They're they're the big that's the biggest stage, right And

942
00:43:21,800 --> 00:43:24,680
Speaker 3: there's other very big tournaments that like the world that

943
00:43:24,719 --> 00:43:26,960
Speaker 3: people compete in, but it's really the Olympics is like

944
00:43:27,000 --> 00:43:28,120
Speaker 3: that gold standard.

945
00:43:28,280 --> 00:43:29,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, so what is it.

946
00:43:29,600 --> 00:43:32,560
Speaker 3: Like if you're you know, an athlete that's training for

947
00:43:32,600 --> 00:43:34,839
Speaker 3: the Olympic Trials, training for the Olympics, then you don't

948
00:43:34,880 --> 00:43:35,600
Speaker 3: get it.

949
00:43:35,600 --> 00:43:39,280
Speaker 1: It's heartbreaking, you know, I when I watched the Olympic Trials.

950
00:43:40,520 --> 00:43:44,600
Speaker 1: You know, even now, it's like this mix of emotions

951
00:43:44,600 --> 00:43:47,520
Speaker 1: because for some people, their dreams are absolutely coming true

952
00:43:47,560 --> 00:43:50,200
Speaker 1: and it's the best day. And then if you look,

953
00:43:50,360 --> 00:43:54,400
Speaker 1: you know at fourth place every single race, you know,

954
00:43:54,600 --> 00:43:58,040
Speaker 1: usually someone is going to be in tears because that's

955
00:43:58,120 --> 00:44:00,320
Speaker 1: the place that doesn't make it. That's the first spot

956
00:44:00,360 --> 00:44:02,640
Speaker 1: where you're so close, and so it's hard. You know,

957
00:44:02,719 --> 00:44:06,279
Speaker 1: you've given in most cases, you've you've probably dedicated your

958
00:44:06,280 --> 00:44:09,440
Speaker 1: life to trying to reach this, and then it's the

959
00:44:09,480 --> 00:44:12,480
Speaker 1: reality hitting of you know, you came up short, and

960
00:44:12,520 --> 00:44:13,200
Speaker 1: now what do you do?

961
00:44:13,280 --> 00:44:15,319
Speaker 2: You know, are you going to go back or you're

962
00:44:15,320 --> 00:44:16,040
Speaker 2: going to keep training?

963
00:44:16,040 --> 00:44:18,360
Speaker 1: In For For a lot of people, you may not

964
00:44:18,480 --> 00:44:22,680
Speaker 1: have that possibility to continue on, and so it's it's

965
00:44:22,719 --> 00:44:24,240
Speaker 1: a it's a really tough spot.

966
00:44:24,400 --> 00:44:26,560
Speaker 3: And the possibility to continue on is a literal thing

967
00:44:26,600 --> 00:44:30,279
Speaker 3: because it's like your contracts come down to your performance.

968
00:44:29,800 --> 00:44:33,040
Speaker 1: Right, yes, yeah, your livelihood and so maybe this was

969
00:44:33,040 --> 00:44:35,640
Speaker 1: your last shot, or maybe you know you you have

970
00:44:35,719 --> 00:44:39,319
Speaker 1: to go and you're gonna get you know, a different job.

971
00:44:39,440 --> 00:44:42,000
Speaker 1: You know you you life goes on, and so it's

972
00:44:42,040 --> 00:44:45,120
Speaker 1: not like you have these endless possibilities and opportunities. So

973
00:44:45,239 --> 00:44:47,960
Speaker 1: it's it's a really yeah, it's a really hard thing

974
00:44:48,000 --> 00:44:48,880
Speaker 1: to go through, really.

975
00:44:48,760 --> 00:44:49,880
Speaker 3: Hard thing to go through. And I think that's the

976
00:44:49,880 --> 00:44:51,960
Speaker 3: beautiful thing about social media now as you see so

977
00:44:52,000 --> 00:44:54,560
Speaker 3: many runners that maybe don't make it to that Olympic level,

978
00:44:55,040 --> 00:44:58,880
Speaker 3: but they're still able to compete be kind of running

979
00:44:58,920 --> 00:45:02,359
Speaker 3: content creators in like a in a more professional way,

980
00:45:02,480 --> 00:45:04,719
Speaker 3: right where they're really training and showing you there's regimens

981
00:45:04,719 --> 00:45:05,160
Speaker 3: and whatever.

982
00:45:05,400 --> 00:45:05,640
Speaker 2: Yeah.

983
00:45:05,680 --> 00:45:09,280
Speaker 1: I love that about running that you don't there's competition

984
00:45:09,360 --> 00:45:12,360
Speaker 1: at every single level, and I think the most beautiful

985
00:45:12,400 --> 00:45:15,000
Speaker 1: part of it is just community. You know, I get

986
00:45:15,040 --> 00:45:17,520
Speaker 1: to see that day in and day out, when you know,

987
00:45:17,840 --> 00:45:20,960
Speaker 1: based on the places I'm running and I think that's

988
00:45:21,000 --> 00:45:22,319
Speaker 1: always what brings.

989
00:45:22,080 --> 00:45:23,200
Speaker 2: Runners most joy.

990
00:45:23,320 --> 00:45:25,880
Speaker 1: You know. I love like all the different goals that

991
00:45:25,920 --> 00:45:30,040
Speaker 1: people have, everything from marathons to people competing in Masters

992
00:45:30,080 --> 00:45:33,040
Speaker 1: and to little kids. Like it's that's what really what

993
00:45:33,120 --> 00:45:33,840
Speaker 1: brings us together.

994
00:45:33,840 --> 00:45:36,000
Speaker 3: Hey, to people like myself that are running well, pregnant

995
00:45:36,000 --> 00:45:36,920
Speaker 3: and interviewing.

996
00:45:36,520 --> 00:45:38,680
Speaker 1: People that come on though, and that's a whole new

997
00:45:38,719 --> 00:45:40,240
Speaker 1: category category.

998
00:45:40,560 --> 00:45:44,960
Speaker 3: It's not easy a lifestyle runners. Okay, when was the

999
00:45:45,000 --> 00:45:47,160
Speaker 3: time you doubted yourself the most in the sport?

1000
00:45:48,920 --> 00:45:50,040
Speaker 2: Oh, that's a good question.

1001
00:45:51,280 --> 00:45:54,560
Speaker 1: I've it would probably have been after my second Olympics,

1002
00:45:54,600 --> 00:45:58,040
Speaker 1: you know, two silver medals back to back. I think

1003
00:45:58,080 --> 00:45:59,960
Speaker 1: the biggest doubt was like can I ever do that?

1004
00:46:00,480 --> 00:46:02,720
Speaker 1: Like will this ever be for me? Like I feel

1005
00:46:02,719 --> 00:46:05,319
Speaker 1: like I'm doing all the right things, like I'm doing

1006
00:46:05,400 --> 00:46:08,040
Speaker 1: the training, but like maybe I don't have the ability,

1007
00:46:08,120 --> 00:46:11,560
Speaker 1: Maybe this isn't going to be for me, and and

1008
00:46:11,640 --> 00:46:15,520
Speaker 1: so I definitely had that running through my mind. And

1009
00:46:15,520 --> 00:46:18,319
Speaker 1: then I think that's where it's important to just be

1010
00:46:18,400 --> 00:46:21,480
Speaker 1: conscious of how we talk to ourselves and what thoughts

1011
00:46:21,520 --> 00:46:24,080
Speaker 1: were allowing we're giving energy to.

1012
00:46:24,480 --> 00:46:26,320
Speaker 2: You know, Yeah, I found that.

1013
00:46:26,320 --> 00:46:28,520
Speaker 3: It is so important and how do you get yourself

1014
00:46:28,520 --> 00:46:29,720
Speaker 3: out of that negative mindset.

1015
00:46:30,120 --> 00:46:32,200
Speaker 1: It's really for me, it was about the people I

1016
00:46:32,200 --> 00:46:34,879
Speaker 1: had around me, you know, because I could, I could

1017
00:46:34,960 --> 00:46:38,440
Speaker 1: stay in a place where with negativity and you know,

1018
00:46:38,560 --> 00:46:42,160
Speaker 1: poor self talk. But the people around me, you know,

1019
00:46:42,360 --> 00:46:44,840
Speaker 1: they spoke life into me and they saw the vision

1020
00:46:44,880 --> 00:46:47,520
Speaker 1: and they uplifted me when they saw that I needed it.

1021
00:46:47,960 --> 00:46:51,000
Speaker 1: And to me, that's key, Like who who's around you?

1022
00:46:51,080 --> 00:46:52,440
Speaker 1: And who are your people?

1023
00:46:52,680 --> 00:46:55,239
Speaker 3: Yeah, and looking back now you know, now you're the

1024
00:46:55,280 --> 00:46:57,400
Speaker 3: most decorated track and field athlete of all time. Like

1025
00:46:57,480 --> 00:47:00,120
Speaker 3: to be able to tell your younger self one thing,

1026
00:47:00,160 --> 00:47:01,400
Speaker 3: like what would you say to that girl?

1027
00:47:02,560 --> 00:47:05,040
Speaker 2: Like embrace the failure, like it is a part of it.

1028
00:47:05,120 --> 00:47:07,440
Speaker 1: And you know, everybody wants to win all the time,

1029
00:47:07,520 --> 00:47:10,279
Speaker 1: but more times than not, that's not going to be

1030
00:47:10,320 --> 00:47:13,799
Speaker 1: your experience. And for me, I'm grateful, like I have

1031
00:47:13,920 --> 00:47:16,920
Speaker 1: learned so much from the losses, from the defeats, Like

1032
00:47:17,480 --> 00:47:19,759
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm a better person because I had

1033
00:47:19,800 --> 00:47:23,480
Speaker 1: adversity and I had challenges. And it's not easy for everybody.

1034
00:47:23,560 --> 00:47:25,560
Speaker 1: You know, it's you're not going to just have you

1035
00:47:25,560 --> 00:47:29,120
Speaker 1: know that path, you know that easy path, and you

1036
00:47:29,160 --> 00:47:31,680
Speaker 1: know that's what makes it, you know, a beautiful struggle,

1037
00:47:31,719 --> 00:47:33,120
Speaker 1: and that's what adds to your story.

1038
00:47:33,320 --> 00:47:35,359
Speaker 3: Is there any athlete in the sport that has had

1039
00:47:35,360 --> 00:47:38,719
Speaker 3: an easy path? Like did he have an easy path?

1040
00:47:38,800 --> 00:47:39,560
Speaker 2: I don't even mean.

1041
00:47:40,160 --> 00:47:41,360
Speaker 3: Or did he pay adversity?

1042
00:47:41,400 --> 00:47:42,440
Speaker 2: I'm sure he did.

1043
00:47:42,480 --> 00:47:44,759
Speaker 1: It looked, you know, he made it look easy, he

1044
00:47:44,840 --> 00:47:46,600
Speaker 1: really did, and he made it look really fun.

1045
00:47:46,800 --> 00:47:50,359
Speaker 3: Yeah, the fast man. Is he still the tastest man

1046
00:47:50,360 --> 00:48:03,759
Speaker 3: in the world. Yeah, let's go. I want to talk

1047
00:48:03,760 --> 00:48:08,880
Speaker 3: about your final Olympics, the twenty twenty Olympics in Tokyo.

1048
00:48:09,360 --> 00:48:12,360
Speaker 3: That was a monumental Olympics for you, right because you

1049
00:48:12,400 --> 00:48:15,920
Speaker 3: were just coming off of pregnancy and getting back into

1050
00:48:16,000 --> 00:48:17,719
Speaker 3: the sport. Talk to us about that.

1051
00:48:18,239 --> 00:48:20,160
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was. It was really challenging.

1052
00:48:20,239 --> 00:48:23,880
Speaker 1: You know, I had gone through so much before that Olympics.

1053
00:48:23,960 --> 00:48:26,560
Speaker 1: You know, I had been in this battle around maternal rights.

1054
00:48:26,680 --> 00:48:30,040
Speaker 1: You know, I left Nike, I started my shoes, my

1055
00:48:30,239 --> 00:48:34,200
Speaker 1: shoe company, Seish, and I was a new mother and

1056
00:48:34,280 --> 00:48:37,320
Speaker 1: so it was literally the pandemic, Like it was literally

1057
00:48:37,360 --> 00:48:39,680
Speaker 1: like are you serious? Like there were so many things

1058
00:48:39,680 --> 00:48:43,560
Speaker 1: that were going on, and I felt like, you know,

1059
00:48:44,120 --> 00:48:47,440
Speaker 1: I had been told that I was too old and

1060
00:48:47,480 --> 00:48:49,720
Speaker 1: that like now I was a mother and you couldn't

1061
00:48:49,719 --> 00:48:52,120
Speaker 1: do both things, and so it was the constant like

1062
00:48:53,200 --> 00:48:55,799
Speaker 1: fighting against all those things. And so to make that

1063
00:48:55,920 --> 00:48:59,719
Speaker 1: team it was huge. And also for the first time,

1064
00:48:59,760 --> 00:49:02,920
Speaker 1: I felt like it was less about the performance and

1065
00:49:03,000 --> 00:49:06,839
Speaker 1: it was more about, Okay, I am showing women and

1066
00:49:06,960 --> 00:49:10,080
Speaker 1: mothers and essentially people who had been told they couldn't

1067
00:49:10,120 --> 00:49:13,480
Speaker 1: do something like that they can do it. And that

1068
00:49:13,520 --> 00:49:16,719
Speaker 1: felt like such an honor and a privilege to be

1069
00:49:16,800 --> 00:49:19,000
Speaker 1: that representation. And so it was for me it was

1070
00:49:19,040 --> 00:49:20,520
Speaker 1: really like a full circle moment.

1071
00:49:20,640 --> 00:49:22,160
Speaker 3: I mean, it is a full circle moment. And this

1072
00:49:22,239 --> 00:49:23,960
Speaker 3: is why, Like in the interro of this episode, I said,

1073
00:49:23,960 --> 00:49:27,359
Speaker 3: you've really been a voice of empowerment for women specifically

1074
00:49:27,360 --> 00:49:29,719
Speaker 3: because of this. And I feel like there's this term

1075
00:49:29,760 --> 00:49:31,799
Speaker 3: in track and field and with running that people call

1076
00:49:31,800 --> 00:49:33,560
Speaker 3: it the kiss of death, right when you become when

1077
00:49:33,600 --> 00:49:35,279
Speaker 3: you get pregnant. Yeah, let's talk about that.

1078
00:49:35,640 --> 00:49:38,120
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that had been the case for a

1079
00:49:38,320 --> 00:49:43,160
Speaker 1: very long time. And you know, before my experience, there

1080
00:49:43,160 --> 00:49:47,280
Speaker 1: are so many female athletes who struggled, you know, whose

1081
00:49:47,280 --> 00:49:51,000
Speaker 1: stories were not told, who were under NDA's and for

1082
00:49:51,120 --> 00:49:53,080
Speaker 1: a lot of women in the sport, like we knew

1083
00:49:53,080 --> 00:49:56,120
Speaker 1: about this, like it was this thing that nobody was

1084
00:49:56,160 --> 00:49:58,759
Speaker 1: talking about, you know, out in the open. But we

1085
00:49:58,840 --> 00:50:01,359
Speaker 1: saw it like I had friends, I had teammates who

1086
00:50:02,120 --> 00:50:04,520
Speaker 1: who went through things they should not have had to

1087
00:50:04,560 --> 00:50:08,040
Speaker 1: go through. And so when it came to my situation,

1088
00:50:08,680 --> 00:50:11,400
Speaker 1: I felt like I had the opportunity to say something.

1089
00:50:11,520 --> 00:50:14,320
Speaker 1: And I didn't want to say anything, you know, I'm

1090
00:50:14,480 --> 00:50:18,120
Speaker 1: that's not really my comfort zone. But I felt like

1091
00:50:18,160 --> 00:50:20,680
Speaker 1: I had to. You know, there was women who have

1092
00:50:20,800 --> 00:50:22,880
Speaker 1: paved the way for me to have the opportunity, and

1093
00:50:22,920 --> 00:50:25,680
Speaker 1: now it was like, Okay, I stand on their shoulders,

1094
00:50:25,680 --> 00:50:27,640
Speaker 1: and now it's time for me to do my part.

1095
00:50:28,239 --> 00:50:31,040
Speaker 1: And it was really scary and I wasn't sure what

1096
00:50:31,120 --> 00:50:33,920
Speaker 1: was on the other side of that. But in speaking up,

1097
00:50:34,000 --> 00:50:37,040
Speaker 1: you know, and other you know, teammates speaking up as well,

1098
00:50:37,440 --> 00:50:38,280
Speaker 1: we were able.

1099
00:50:38,080 --> 00:50:39,040
Speaker 2: To bring about change.

1100
00:50:39,080 --> 00:50:42,839
Speaker 1: And I look at the culture now, and I look at,

1101
00:50:43,000 --> 00:50:45,520
Speaker 1: you know, the women who are in the sport and

1102
00:50:45,560 --> 00:50:48,040
Speaker 1: who are having children in the peak and prime of

1103
00:50:48,080 --> 00:50:51,919
Speaker 1: their career, and for so many of us, like that's

1104
00:50:51,960 --> 00:50:54,440
Speaker 1: our wildest dreams, Like that's what it's all about. And

1105
00:50:54,480 --> 00:50:58,120
Speaker 1: I absolutely love across sports that we have seen the

1106
00:50:58,160 --> 00:51:01,239
Speaker 1: culture shift and there's still more to go, but you know,

1107
00:51:01,360 --> 00:51:05,239
Speaker 1: women are doing it. They are having their careers and

1108
00:51:05,280 --> 00:51:09,160
Speaker 1: they are becoming mothers, and it's it's beautiful to see.

1109
00:51:09,560 --> 00:51:11,480
Speaker 3: It is beautiful to see, and it's so unfair to

1110
00:51:11,480 --> 00:51:13,799
Speaker 3: say to a woman that you need to put your

1111
00:51:13,800 --> 00:51:15,800
Speaker 3: personal life on hold for your career.

1112
00:51:16,280 --> 00:51:20,200
Speaker 1: Absolutely, it's it should not happen, and it's happened for

1113
00:51:20,360 --> 00:51:24,200
Speaker 1: far too long. And now you know, we're seeing these

1114
00:51:24,239 --> 00:51:27,319
Speaker 1: amazing examples of women who are doing it like and

1115
00:51:27,360 --> 00:51:30,720
Speaker 1: they're doing it exceptionally well. And that was always the case,

1116
00:51:30,880 --> 00:51:34,200
Speaker 1: like they were always they always had the ability. But

1117
00:51:34,239 --> 00:51:37,200
Speaker 1: when you're not supported through it, and when you had

1118
00:51:37,239 --> 00:51:39,440
Speaker 1: to do like I hit my pregnancy, I trained at

1119
00:51:39,480 --> 00:51:42,279
Speaker 1: four o'clock in the morning, you can't do it. It's

1120
00:51:42,320 --> 00:51:45,200
Speaker 1: to the best of your ability when those are your circumstances.

1121
00:51:45,520 --> 00:51:48,520
Speaker 1: But now to say like, okay, we are going to

1122
00:51:48,600 --> 00:51:50,719
Speaker 1: tell these stories and we are going to support you

1123
00:51:50,800 --> 00:51:53,600
Speaker 1: and you can have your best performances after having children.

1124
00:51:54,200 --> 00:51:56,640
Speaker 1: I love that that's where we're at right now, and.

1125
00:51:56,600 --> 00:51:59,000
Speaker 3: I love that that's possible. Yeah, you know, and it

1126
00:51:59,040 --> 00:52:02,160
Speaker 3: really shows that childbirth is a phase of your life,

1127
00:52:02,440 --> 00:52:04,960
Speaker 3: but it doesn't have to be your entire identity. And

1128
00:52:05,880 --> 00:52:07,640
Speaker 3: the biggest thing that I'm focused on right now is

1129
00:52:07,719 --> 00:52:10,600
Speaker 3: running through pregnancy, right and not just physically running, but

1130
00:52:10,680 --> 00:52:13,480
Speaker 3: really mentally running and knowing that, like I'm setting goals

1131
00:52:13,520 --> 00:52:17,120
Speaker 3: for myself while I'm postpartum, you know, And we talked

1132
00:52:17,160 --> 00:52:18,359
Speaker 3: about this on the run, but it's like, I really

1133
00:52:18,360 --> 00:52:20,200
Speaker 3: want to run the New York City Marathon this year

1134
00:52:20,520 --> 00:52:22,520
Speaker 3: and that's going to be really freaking hard to do.

1135
00:52:22,800 --> 00:52:24,680
Speaker 3: But how cool will be to show women that you

1136
00:52:24,719 --> 00:52:25,160
Speaker 3: can do that?

1137
00:52:25,360 --> 00:52:29,120
Speaker 1: Yes, and even if you know, whatever happens and if

1138
00:52:29,160 --> 00:52:30,920
Speaker 1: you don't, it's about trying.

1139
00:52:30,680 --> 00:52:32,360
Speaker 3: To No, I'm going to do it. You are going

1140
00:52:32,400 --> 00:52:34,040
Speaker 3: to do it, Alison. I can't tell you I'm going

1141
00:52:34,080 --> 00:52:35,000
Speaker 3: to do it and then not do it.

1142
00:52:35,320 --> 00:52:36,279
Speaker 2: You're gonna do it.

1143
00:52:36,360 --> 00:52:39,719
Speaker 1: But also I think it's important for women to see

1144
00:52:39,880 --> 00:52:42,360
Speaker 1: that it's about going for it. You know, it's about

1145
00:52:42,360 --> 00:52:44,759
Speaker 1: trying and we don't always know the answer of what's

1146
00:52:44,800 --> 00:52:47,200
Speaker 1: on the other end of that, but it's about saying

1147
00:52:47,239 --> 00:52:49,759
Speaker 1: like I, yeah, I'm going to take ownership of that

1148
00:52:49,840 --> 00:52:51,920
Speaker 1: and I'm going to go after this thing that's important

1149
00:52:51,920 --> 00:52:54,600
Speaker 1: to me and we're going to see it through.

1150
00:52:55,000 --> 00:52:57,000
Speaker 3: How did you hide your training? Like, how did you

1151
00:52:57,080 --> 00:52:58,320
Speaker 3: hide the fact that you're pregnant.

1152
00:52:59,480 --> 00:53:02,920
Speaker 1: It was like a really dark time. So I literally

1153
00:53:03,200 --> 00:53:04,919
Speaker 1: would go out to the track when it was still dark.

1154
00:53:05,040 --> 00:53:07,680
Speaker 1: And so that's how I did it. I I trained

1155
00:53:07,680 --> 00:53:10,480
Speaker 1: when no one was out there. I wore baggy clothes.

1156
00:53:10,640 --> 00:53:13,400
Speaker 1: I rarely ever left the house. The only time I

1157
00:53:13,400 --> 00:53:17,120
Speaker 1: would leave the house was really to go train, you know.

1158
00:53:17,520 --> 00:53:22,600
Speaker 1: And and yeah, and I just kind of pushed my

1159
00:53:22,640 --> 00:53:24,839
Speaker 1: way through it. And it was sad because I I

1160
00:53:24,880 --> 00:53:28,040
Speaker 1: wanted so badly to be a mother and I wanted

1161
00:53:28,080 --> 00:53:30,239
Speaker 1: to do all the things like I wanted to, you know,

1162
00:53:30,600 --> 00:53:32,680
Speaker 1: to show off the bump and to you know, have

1163
00:53:32,800 --> 00:53:35,920
Speaker 1: the baby showers and you know, do all the celebrating

1164
00:53:36,239 --> 00:53:38,920
Speaker 1: of it, and that wasn't my reality.

1165
00:53:39,239 --> 00:53:41,840
Speaker 3: It is hard because it's like having your first baby.

1166
00:53:41,880 --> 00:53:43,440
Speaker 3: You don't get to do it again, yeah, you know,

1167
00:53:43,480 --> 00:53:46,279
Speaker 3: when it really should be a time of celebration. And

1168
00:53:46,520 --> 00:53:49,680
Speaker 3: also like again another empowerment moment, because it's like the

1169
00:53:49,680 --> 00:53:54,240
Speaker 3: fact that you were training while pregnant is also so badass,

1170
00:53:54,719 --> 00:53:56,480
Speaker 3: Like I like wish you could have showed that off

1171
00:53:56,520 --> 00:53:57,040
Speaker 3: even more.

1172
00:53:57,239 --> 00:53:59,799
Speaker 1: I know, I when I look back at it does

1173
00:53:59,840 --> 00:54:01,960
Speaker 1: make me sad because it's exactly what you said. You

1174
00:54:01,960 --> 00:54:05,520
Speaker 1: don't get to do it again, and you know, to

1175
00:54:05,680 --> 00:54:08,359
Speaker 1: have to do that to be able to secure a contract,

1176
00:54:09,160 --> 00:54:11,040
Speaker 1: it just seems so silly.

1177
00:54:11,320 --> 00:54:13,080
Speaker 3: You wrote a op ed for The New York Times

1178
00:54:13,160 --> 00:54:15,640
Speaker 3: calling out Nike's maternity policy. Let's talk about it.

1179
00:54:16,000 --> 00:54:17,880
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was really scared to do it.

1180
00:54:17,960 --> 00:54:21,080
Speaker 1: I was actually terrified because I'd always just been the athlete,

1181
00:54:21,080 --> 00:54:23,040
Speaker 1: you know, head down, I did the work. I didn't

1182
00:54:23,040 --> 00:54:25,440
Speaker 1: want to ruffle feathers. And so when I started to

1183
00:54:25,800 --> 00:54:29,600
Speaker 1: go through this really difficult time, you know, with Nike

1184
00:54:29,719 --> 00:54:32,799
Speaker 1: and asking for essentially, what I was asking for was

1185
00:54:33,160 --> 00:54:36,040
Speaker 1: time to be able to recover from childbirth. So the

1186
00:54:36,080 --> 00:54:38,640
Speaker 1: way track and field contracts are set up is their

1187
00:54:38,719 --> 00:54:41,160
Speaker 1: performance bace. And so you go to the Olympics, you

1188
00:54:41,200 --> 00:54:43,960
Speaker 1: go to World Championships, you get a bonus, you don't,

1189
00:54:44,080 --> 00:54:46,280
Speaker 1: you get a reduction, but if you have a baby,

1190
00:54:47,160 --> 00:54:49,680
Speaker 1: or if you're pregnant, there was nothing in place to

1191
00:54:49,719 --> 00:54:52,680
Speaker 1: protect you. So essentially what was happening was women would

1192
00:54:52,680 --> 00:54:55,640
Speaker 1: become pregnant, start families, and they would be pushed out

1193
00:54:55,680 --> 00:54:58,160
Speaker 1: of the sport. They would eventually their salary would be

1194
00:54:58,200 --> 00:55:00,880
Speaker 1: reduced to nothing and they would no longer you know,

1195
00:55:00,960 --> 00:55:03,440
Speaker 1: be able to stay in it and so I asked

1196
00:55:03,520 --> 00:55:05,880
Speaker 1: for you know, before writing this app op ED, I

1197
00:55:05,920 --> 00:55:09,640
Speaker 1: asked for time to be able to recover, and eventually,

1198
00:55:10,040 --> 00:55:11,720
Speaker 1: you know, I was told I could have the time,

1199
00:55:11,880 --> 00:55:14,160
Speaker 1: and so I was like, oh, okay, great. But then

1200
00:55:14,200 --> 00:55:16,840
Speaker 1: when the contract came back, there was no mention to

1201
00:55:16,880 --> 00:55:19,279
Speaker 1: tie it to pregnancy, nothing about maternity. It was just

1202
00:55:19,680 --> 00:55:22,279
Speaker 1: time granted to me. And so I learned that they

1203
00:55:22,280 --> 00:55:24,480
Speaker 1: were not willing to set the precedent for all their

1204
00:55:24,480 --> 00:55:27,880
Speaker 1: female athletes, and to me, that just you know, to

1205
00:55:27,960 --> 00:55:30,759
Speaker 1: be such a large company and at the forefront, it

1206
00:55:30,920 --> 00:55:35,080
Speaker 1: just didn't feel right. And so myself and other colleagues

1207
00:55:35,120 --> 00:55:37,080
Speaker 1: started to talk about it, and I wrote that op

1208
00:55:37,200 --> 00:55:41,080
Speaker 1: ED and and just shared you know, the battle that

1209
00:55:41,120 --> 00:55:44,400
Speaker 1: we were having, you know, internally. And it was about

1210
00:55:44,400 --> 00:55:46,799
Speaker 1: two and a half weeks after that op ED came

1211
00:55:46,800 --> 00:55:50,040
Speaker 1: out that Nike and other companies as well, they changed

1212
00:55:50,080 --> 00:55:53,480
Speaker 1: their policy and so today they offer eighteen months a

1213
00:55:53,560 --> 00:55:55,080
Speaker 1: protection for their female athletes.

1214
00:55:55,239 --> 00:55:59,040
Speaker 3: That's amazing. It's so cool that you have such a

1215
00:55:59,120 --> 00:56:01,560
Speaker 3: voice in this and you're such a voice for women.

1216
00:56:01,600 --> 00:56:03,279
Speaker 3: And I said this before we started filming, but I

1217
00:56:03,360 --> 00:56:05,120
Speaker 3: was listening to your ted talk earlier and I was

1218
00:56:05,160 --> 00:56:07,160
Speaker 3: just so impressed by you and how well spoken you are.

1219
00:56:07,880 --> 00:56:10,600
Speaker 3: Was it while you were going through this pregnancy and

1220
00:56:10,680 --> 00:56:14,640
Speaker 3: postpartum and deciding to talk about maternity publicly, Was that

1221
00:56:14,680 --> 00:56:15,840
Speaker 3: when you found your voice?

1222
00:56:16,400 --> 00:56:17,160
Speaker 2: Yeah, I did not.

1223
00:56:17,640 --> 00:56:19,960
Speaker 1: I feel like I didn't find my voice until I

1224
00:56:20,000 --> 00:56:23,360
Speaker 1: became a mother and I had a traumatic birth experience.

1225
00:56:23,440 --> 00:56:27,200
Speaker 1: I had severe preclampsia and I gave birth to my

1226
00:56:27,280 --> 00:56:31,040
Speaker 1: daughter two months early. And I think only because I

1227
00:56:31,080 --> 00:56:35,319
Speaker 1: went through both of these things simultaneously, this such a

1228
00:56:35,360 --> 00:56:41,279
Speaker 1: hard battle around the maternal protections and then watching my

1229
00:56:41,360 --> 00:56:44,520
Speaker 1: daughter fight in the NICU, I think seeing both of

1230
00:56:44,560 --> 00:56:47,840
Speaker 1: those things happen together, it just pushed me to say, like,

1231
00:56:48,480 --> 00:56:51,719
Speaker 1: I will not let my daughter's generation go through this fight,

1232
00:56:51,840 --> 00:56:55,320
Speaker 1: like if I can talk about it. And I didn't

1233
00:56:55,320 --> 00:56:58,120
Speaker 1: even expect anything to happen. It was just like I

1234
00:56:58,160 --> 00:57:02,080
Speaker 1: can't stand by, and so yeah, that's what really led

1235
00:57:02,120 --> 00:57:03,760
Speaker 1: me to finding my voice.

1236
00:57:03,960 --> 00:57:08,200
Speaker 3: Were you nervous at all about maybe something positive not happening,

1237
00:57:08,239 --> 00:57:10,319
Speaker 3: but something negative happening to you for speaking out?

1238
00:57:10,520 --> 00:57:13,600
Speaker 1: Yes, I was terrified because I knew, you know, Nike

1239
00:57:13,680 --> 00:57:17,320
Speaker 1: controlled so much of everything, and I knew like I

1240
00:57:17,560 --> 00:57:21,000
Speaker 1: was blowing that up, and so I wasn't sure what

1241
00:57:21,040 --> 00:57:23,439
Speaker 1: the consequences were, but I knew that they were real,

1242
00:57:24,000 --> 00:57:25,800
Speaker 1: and I knew that I would face them.

1243
00:57:25,640 --> 00:57:27,120
Speaker 3: Like, really, hopefully this goes well.

1244
00:57:27,640 --> 00:57:31,280
Speaker 2: Literally, I was like, I yeah, I'm just I'm doing it.

1245
00:57:31,920 --> 00:57:33,680
Speaker 3: No, but it is so important and it's so cool

1246
00:57:33,680 --> 00:57:35,520
Speaker 3: that you were able to say, like, Okay, this is

1247
00:57:35,560 --> 00:57:38,080
Speaker 3: great for me that like on a personal level, they're

1248
00:57:38,120 --> 00:57:39,800
Speaker 3: not taking x Y and Zu away from me because

1249
00:57:39,840 --> 00:57:40,080
Speaker 3: of this.

1250
00:57:40,080 --> 00:57:42,080
Speaker 1: But like what about all the other girls exactly and

1251
00:57:42,160 --> 00:57:46,040
Speaker 1: all the other you know, they were real women to

1252
00:57:46,120 --> 00:57:48,880
Speaker 1: me because I had I knew them, like I knew

1253
00:57:48,920 --> 00:57:51,600
Speaker 1: women who struggled, and I knew it wasn't right, and

1254
00:57:51,600 --> 00:57:53,600
Speaker 1: I knew it had been happening for as long as

1255
00:57:53,640 --> 00:57:56,040
Speaker 1: I enter the sport. And so if I didn't take

1256
00:57:56,040 --> 00:57:57,960
Speaker 1: this moment, like how long is this going to go on?

1257
00:57:58,960 --> 00:58:03,040
Speaker 3: How soon after your pregnancy did the twenty twenty Olympics

1258
00:58:03,040 --> 00:58:03,520
Speaker 3: come around?

1259
00:58:04,480 --> 00:58:08,040
Speaker 1: So it eventually it got postponed to twenty twenty one.

1260
00:58:08,120 --> 00:58:11,880
Speaker 1: So I had my daughter in the end of twenty eighteen,

1261
00:58:12,400 --> 00:58:15,320
Speaker 1: and then yeah, and then we moved to twenty twenty one.

1262
00:58:15,480 --> 00:58:18,040
Speaker 3: What was it like training post having a baby?

1263
00:58:18,680 --> 00:58:23,280
Speaker 1: It was very humbling, especially just because of the c

1264
00:58:23,480 --> 00:58:27,400
Speaker 1: section and also our time in the NICU. I I

1265
00:58:27,480 --> 00:58:29,440
Speaker 1: did the thing that you're not supposed to do. I

1266
00:58:29,480 --> 00:58:32,120
Speaker 1: compared myself to everyone else who you know, had a

1267
00:58:32,120 --> 00:58:33,760
Speaker 1: baby and had been a runner, and I was like,

1268
00:58:33,960 --> 00:58:36,720
Speaker 1: I am going to have this baby and four weeks later,

1269
00:58:36,760 --> 00:58:38,160
Speaker 1: I'm going to come back and I'm going to be

1270
00:58:38,200 --> 00:58:38,800
Speaker 1: back to training.

1271
00:58:39,160 --> 00:58:40,880
Speaker 2: And that just wasn't my experience, you know.

1272
00:58:41,160 --> 00:58:44,160
Speaker 1: I was still I was in the hospital for you know,

1273
00:58:44,280 --> 00:58:46,480
Speaker 1: over a week after I gave birth. My daughter was

1274
00:58:46,480 --> 00:58:48,760
Speaker 1: in the hospital for a month. We were we were

1275
00:58:48,800 --> 00:58:51,520
Speaker 1: living at the hospital, and so track was like the

1276
00:58:51,560 --> 00:58:55,320
Speaker 1: furthest thing from my mind. It became you know, will

1277
00:58:55,360 --> 00:58:58,760
Speaker 1: we live, you know, not will I you know, get

1278
00:58:58,840 --> 00:59:01,440
Speaker 1: back to training, And so my mindset, you know, shifted,

1279
00:59:01,480 --> 00:59:05,120
Speaker 1: and then eventually I slowly found my way back and

1280
00:59:05,600 --> 00:59:08,320
Speaker 1: it was just rebuilding, you know, it was rebuilding from

1281
00:59:08,640 --> 00:59:10,480
Speaker 1: you know, the ground up. I was also older, and

1282
00:59:10,520 --> 00:59:13,479
Speaker 1: so it was you know, it just it wasn't as

1283
00:59:13,960 --> 00:59:16,040
Speaker 1: easy as I thought it was going to be, and

1284
00:59:16,080 --> 00:59:18,560
Speaker 1: it was a process where I really had to give

1285
00:59:18,600 --> 00:59:20,760
Speaker 1: myself grace and time to get back.

1286
00:59:21,120 --> 00:59:23,400
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I really do feel like pregnancy. I mean,

1287
00:59:23,520 --> 00:59:25,320
Speaker 3: as somebody like I'm going through it right now. I'm

1288
00:59:25,360 --> 00:59:27,320
Speaker 3: six months in and you know, I've been running as

1289
00:59:27,360 --> 00:59:29,120
Speaker 3: much as I can because obviously I have this show

1290
00:59:29,160 --> 00:59:31,040
Speaker 3: and like, this is my livelihood and this is my job,

1291
00:59:31,080 --> 00:59:32,600
Speaker 3: and I run with people and then we sit down

1292
00:59:32,640 --> 00:59:34,520
Speaker 3: we have conversations, right And we were kind of talking

1293
00:59:34,520 --> 00:59:39,440
Speaker 3: about this earlier, But it is interesting how humbling a

1294
00:59:39,680 --> 00:59:43,360
Speaker 3: pregnancy is, but then be how much your mindset does shift,

1295
00:59:43,560 --> 00:59:45,600
Speaker 3: you know, in obviously ways where obviously it's like you're

1296
00:59:45,600 --> 00:59:47,440
Speaker 3: still focused on your job, but then at the same

1297
00:59:47,480 --> 00:59:49,520
Speaker 3: time it's like, well, now you're protecting this child.

1298
00:59:49,680 --> 00:59:52,600
Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's a beautiful thing, you know, to be

1299
00:59:52,720 --> 00:59:55,480
Speaker 1: growing a life. And I think one thing that really

1300
00:59:55,480 --> 00:59:57,280
Speaker 1: helped me and that I had to also kind of

1301
00:59:57,320 --> 00:59:59,840
Speaker 1: fight in the beginning, was, you know, trying to get

1302
01:00:00,160 --> 01:00:03,080
Speaker 1: to myself and that's really not what you're trying to do.

1303
01:00:03,360 --> 01:00:06,760
Speaker 1: You are someone new now, you know, and you're building

1304
01:00:06,960 --> 01:00:09,600
Speaker 1: a different version of yourself. And I think that is

1305
01:00:10,280 --> 01:00:12,280
Speaker 1: amazing and it's incredible, and I think we have to

1306
01:00:12,360 --> 01:00:15,520
Speaker 1: lean into that more than saying, Okay, this is what

1307
01:00:15,560 --> 01:00:18,480
Speaker 1: I did before, how can I you know, how can

1308
01:00:18,520 --> 01:00:21,240
Speaker 1: I do that again? And it's just like a little mindset,

1309
01:00:21,440 --> 01:00:22,360
Speaker 1: mindset shift.

1310
01:00:23,200 --> 01:00:25,520
Speaker 3: And I do love that you had a girl too,

1311
01:00:26,040 --> 01:00:28,520
Speaker 3: because I feel like, I don't know, just the topic

1312
01:00:28,560 --> 01:00:31,320
Speaker 3: of like female empowerment and like inspiring the next generation.

1313
01:00:31,480 --> 01:00:34,320
Speaker 3: It must have been so cool for you and such

1314
01:00:34,360 --> 01:00:36,439
Speaker 3: a source of pride for her to not only watch

1315
01:00:36,440 --> 01:00:38,720
Speaker 3: you at the Olympic Trials, but then to watch you

1316
01:00:38,960 --> 01:00:40,680
Speaker 3: meddle in the twenty twenty Olympics.

1317
01:00:40,920 --> 01:00:45,960
Speaker 1: Absolutely, I mean I think, you know, having a girl

1318
01:00:46,560 --> 01:00:48,840
Speaker 1: and going through everything I went through, I mean, it

1319
01:00:48,880 --> 01:00:51,520
Speaker 1: was just such a motivation. And then you know, being

1320
01:00:51,560 --> 01:00:54,280
Speaker 1: able to tell her about all of these things that

1321
01:00:54,360 --> 01:00:56,800
Speaker 1: happened and that you know, she was my reason why,

1322
01:00:57,040 --> 01:00:59,160
Speaker 1: like you know it was it was because of her.

1323
01:00:59,240 --> 01:01:01,360
Speaker 2: And yeah, and I love that.

1324
01:01:01,880 --> 01:01:04,880
Speaker 3: What would your advice be to the pregnant moms out

1325
01:01:04,920 --> 01:01:07,000
Speaker 3: there that are currently trying to train through their pregnancy

1326
01:01:07,200 --> 01:01:09,040
Speaker 3: and then you know, want to get back as quickly

1327
01:01:09,040 --> 01:01:10,120
Speaker 3: as they can postpartum.

1328
01:01:10,280 --> 01:01:12,920
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think my encouragement would be, you know, give

1329
01:01:12,960 --> 01:01:15,400
Speaker 1: yourself grace and more than anything, listen to your body.

1330
01:01:15,600 --> 01:01:16,280
Speaker 2: I think it's.

1331
01:01:16,200 --> 01:01:20,480
Speaker 1: Great like that you have goals and that you're pushing yourself.

1332
01:01:20,520 --> 01:01:24,080
Speaker 1: I think that's completely healthy and you should and I

1333
01:01:24,080 --> 01:01:26,120
Speaker 1: would just say like, yeah, when your body feels good,

1334
01:01:26,160 --> 01:01:28,440
Speaker 1: go for it. When you need to give yourself grace,

1335
01:01:28,640 --> 01:01:31,440
Speaker 1: do that, and yeah, honor all those things.

1336
01:01:31,600 --> 01:01:34,480
Speaker 3: We've talked a decent bit about mindset throughout this interview

1337
01:01:34,520 --> 01:01:38,800
Speaker 3: so far. But I love talking about mindset, and especially

1338
01:01:38,840 --> 01:01:41,200
Speaker 3: with people that get to the top of their performance

1339
01:01:41,240 --> 01:01:43,720
Speaker 3: and their whatever it is, whether it's you know, their

1340
01:01:43,760 --> 01:01:46,400
Speaker 3: career and finance or tech. You know, for you as

1341
01:01:46,440 --> 01:01:49,320
Speaker 3: an athlete and now as an entrepreneur. So I'm curious,

1342
01:01:49,360 --> 01:01:52,240
Speaker 3: what is the biggest thing that you had to overcome?

1343
01:01:52,560 --> 01:01:55,080
Speaker 1: I think, you know, one thing that was really different

1344
01:01:55,120 --> 01:01:58,640
Speaker 1: when I moved, you know, as an entrepreneur. I was

1345
01:01:58,720 --> 01:02:03,320
Speaker 1: so used to working essentially by myself, you know, and

1346
01:02:03,360 --> 01:02:06,200
Speaker 1: I was so used to just kind of being the

1347
01:02:06,200 --> 01:02:08,600
Speaker 1: one that goes out there, and you know, when I'm racing,

1348
01:02:08,680 --> 01:02:10,600
Speaker 1: it is me, and it's it's on me when it

1349
01:02:10,640 --> 01:02:14,040
Speaker 1: comes down to it. And now, you know, in business,

1350
01:02:14,120 --> 01:02:16,640
Speaker 1: I get to collaborate so much. I get to work

1351
01:02:16,640 --> 01:02:19,560
Speaker 1: with an incredible team, and sometimes I have to remember,

1352
01:02:19,680 --> 01:02:21,280
Speaker 1: like you know, I don't have to be the expert

1353
01:02:21,280 --> 01:02:22,920
Speaker 1: in everything. I don't have to do it all like

1354
01:02:23,400 --> 01:02:25,360
Speaker 1: I have, you know, people that I get to work

1355
01:02:25,400 --> 01:02:31,479
Speaker 1: with and so just really shifting that and yeah, being yeah,

1356
01:02:31,520 --> 01:02:33,320
Speaker 1: having a team dynamic.

1357
01:02:33,040 --> 01:02:35,680
Speaker 3: That must be so like such a nice load off.

1358
01:02:35,920 --> 01:02:36,400
Speaker 2: It is.

1359
01:02:36,520 --> 01:02:40,080
Speaker 1: It's really refreshing to know that I'm not in it alone.

1360
01:02:40,280 --> 01:02:42,360
Speaker 3: When you first started your company, though, in your brand,

1361
01:02:42,680 --> 01:02:44,440
Speaker 3: was it hard for you to delegate tasks?

1362
01:02:44,640 --> 01:02:45,000
Speaker 2: It was?

1363
01:02:45,520 --> 01:02:48,040
Speaker 1: I think, you know, there's something beautiful about having an

1364
01:02:48,080 --> 01:02:50,600
Speaker 1: amazing team, but also, you know, when you're used to

1365
01:02:50,640 --> 01:02:53,040
Speaker 1: being in control of everything, it is hard to like

1366
01:02:53,160 --> 01:02:53,920
Speaker 1: let some things go.

1367
01:02:54,680 --> 01:02:56,840
Speaker 3: Are you wearing your sneakers right now? Yeah? Okay, can

1368
01:02:56,840 --> 01:02:59,880
Speaker 3: I see that? Okay? So, how so you made sneakers

1369
01:03:00,000 --> 01:03:03,880
Speaker 3: pecifically for women, right like they're designed for the female foot,

1370
01:03:03,880 --> 01:03:07,240
Speaker 3: the female anatomy. Yes, what went into creating the perfect sneaker?

1371
01:03:07,480 --> 01:03:07,760
Speaker 2: Yeah?

1372
01:03:07,880 --> 01:03:10,280
Speaker 1: I mean, first it was this realization that you know,

1373
01:03:10,400 --> 01:03:13,800
Speaker 1: most companies are making their shoes made off of a

1374
01:03:13,880 --> 01:03:16,520
Speaker 1: mold of a man's foot, and you know, there are

1375
01:03:16,600 --> 01:03:19,920
Speaker 1: real difference between men's and women's feet, and so we

1376
01:03:20,000 --> 01:03:22,880
Speaker 1: build you know, everything based on a women's glass. And

1377
01:03:22,920 --> 01:03:26,920
Speaker 1: so right now there's just now research being done on

1378
01:03:26,960 --> 01:03:30,560
Speaker 1: female athletes, which is absolutely insane, but we're seeing that,

1379
01:03:30,680 --> 01:03:33,560
Speaker 1: you know, because women have been wearing men's shoes, everything

1380
01:03:33,600 --> 01:03:36,880
Speaker 1: is affected our knees, our backs, you know, there are

1381
01:03:36,920 --> 01:03:40,360
Speaker 1: real consequences from that. And so everything is tailored around

1382
01:03:40,440 --> 01:03:44,040
Speaker 1: a woman's foot and how the women's body is shaped

1383
01:03:44,240 --> 01:03:46,800
Speaker 1: and the feet obviously being the foundation of that. There's

1384
01:03:46,920 --> 01:03:48,360
Speaker 1: a lot of differences there on.

1385
01:03:48,600 --> 01:03:50,120
Speaker 3: What are the fundamental differences.

1386
01:03:50,400 --> 01:03:54,280
Speaker 1: Yeah, so a woman's forefoot is a bit wider, our

1387
01:03:54,520 --> 01:03:59,400
Speaker 1: heel is more nero and women who wear heels, their

1388
01:03:59,400 --> 01:04:03,080
Speaker 1: achilles will even shorten and as sure as like six

1389
01:04:03,160 --> 01:04:05,400
Speaker 1: or seven months. And so those are you know, some

1390
01:04:05,480 --> 01:04:08,520
Speaker 1: of the basic things. But even like the cushion that

1391
01:04:08,640 --> 01:04:11,480
Speaker 1: is in shoes, it's based on the average weight of

1392
01:04:11,520 --> 01:04:13,840
Speaker 1: a man, so even that we're not even able to

1393
01:04:13,880 --> 01:04:16,440
Speaker 1: take advantage of. And so those are all things that

1394
01:04:16,840 --> 01:04:18,040
Speaker 1: our shoes are are different.

1395
01:04:18,280 --> 01:04:20,280
Speaker 3: It must be so cool for you to have gone

1396
01:04:20,360 --> 01:04:24,600
Speaker 3: from obviously working with companies like Adidas Nike that have

1397
01:04:24,720 --> 01:04:27,000
Speaker 3: been known for years to make for making sneakers right,

1398
01:04:27,160 --> 01:04:30,120
Speaker 3: but having to be you know, having to work with

1399
01:04:30,160 --> 01:04:32,320
Speaker 3: a brand that is in your own right and like

1400
01:04:32,320 --> 01:04:34,400
Speaker 3: supporting that sneaker. But now it must be so cool

1401
01:04:34,400 --> 01:04:36,400
Speaker 3: for you to be able to design sneakers a that

1402
01:04:36,520 --> 01:04:38,400
Speaker 3: you love and be that you get to share with

1403
01:04:38,440 --> 01:04:41,400
Speaker 3: other people, but also like it's your brand, you own.

1404
01:04:41,240 --> 01:04:44,200
Speaker 1: It, you know, I mean, it's you know, it's still

1405
01:04:44,400 --> 01:04:46,800
Speaker 1: sometimes I'm like, wow, this is amazing, but it is

1406
01:04:46,840 --> 01:04:48,680
Speaker 1: being able to also say that we want to do

1407
01:04:48,680 --> 01:04:51,760
Speaker 1: things differently. We have a maternity returns policy that says

1408
01:04:51,840 --> 01:04:53,960
Speaker 1: that if you're a lot of people don't know this,

1409
01:04:54,040 --> 01:04:55,560
Speaker 1: and I don't know if this has happened to.

1410
01:04:55,560 --> 01:04:56,520
Speaker 3: You yet, it's happening.

1411
01:04:56,600 --> 01:04:57,160
Speaker 2: It's happening.

1412
01:04:57,240 --> 01:05:01,360
Speaker 3: I say, well, my I'm not gonna want too.

1413
01:05:02,040 --> 01:05:03,440
Speaker 2: Yeah, women's their feet.

1414
01:05:03,520 --> 01:05:06,080
Speaker 1: They change size, you know, when they're pregnant, and often

1415
01:05:06,920 --> 01:05:08,880
Speaker 1: the size does not go back. And so you know,

1416
01:05:08,880 --> 01:05:10,800
Speaker 1: if you have our shoes, we'll give you a new

1417
01:05:10,840 --> 01:05:13,960
Speaker 1: pair and your new size. But things like that, like

1418
01:05:14,000 --> 01:05:16,400
Speaker 1: you know that we can do at our company and

1419
01:05:16,440 --> 01:05:18,920
Speaker 1: say no, we want to see women, you know, as

1420
01:05:18,960 --> 01:05:21,320
Speaker 1: a whole and we want to celebrate them in all

1421
01:05:21,440 --> 01:05:22,600
Speaker 1: you know, the different ways.

1422
01:05:22,480 --> 01:05:24,440
Speaker 3: Did your feet grow each time you were pregnant?

1423
01:05:24,720 --> 01:05:28,160
Speaker 1: Thankfully I went up a half size, you know, just

1424
01:05:28,480 --> 01:05:31,400
Speaker 1: that was it for both with both pregnancies, just for one.

1425
01:05:31,720 --> 01:05:33,280
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's stay there.

1426
01:05:33,320 --> 01:05:35,240
Speaker 3: Because my biggest fear is like does your foot grow

1427
01:05:35,280 --> 01:05:37,400
Speaker 3: every time you have a baby. It can no, No,

1428
01:05:37,440 --> 01:05:39,080
Speaker 3: that would be marrible. I already have a size nine

1429
01:05:39,080 --> 01:05:42,040
Speaker 3: and a half and I'm five four, Like that's unfair.

1430
01:05:42,200 --> 01:05:44,480
Speaker 3: It's if I I'm like, if I go to a

1431
01:05:44,520 --> 01:05:47,440
Speaker 3: size eleven and I'm like short, Like this is.

1432
01:05:47,160 --> 01:05:49,320
Speaker 2: Not no, it'll It'll be fine.

1433
01:05:49,480 --> 01:05:52,240
Speaker 3: Okay. How did your first pregnancy compared to your second?

1434
01:05:53,320 --> 01:05:57,880
Speaker 1: You know, my second pregnancy, I felt so much more

1435
01:05:57,920 --> 01:06:00,560
Speaker 1: informed because I did have a difficult first pregnancy, and

1436
01:06:00,600 --> 01:06:02,520
Speaker 1: so I knew so much more. But it was an

1437
01:06:02,520 --> 01:06:05,000
Speaker 1: IVF pregnancy, so it was, you know, just a bit

1438
01:06:05,040 --> 01:06:07,720
Speaker 1: more complex and all of those things. But it was

1439
01:06:07,760 --> 01:06:11,080
Speaker 1: beautiful because I was able to push for an unmedicated

1440
01:06:11,200 --> 01:06:13,880
Speaker 1: natural birth that I had really really wanted.

1441
01:06:14,760 --> 01:06:15,400
Speaker 3: Did you do it?

1442
01:06:15,560 --> 01:06:16,720
Speaker 2: I did it, Allison.

1443
01:06:16,800 --> 01:06:18,840
Speaker 3: I need to know details. I when I tell you,

1444
01:06:18,920 --> 01:06:21,240
Speaker 3: I'm on the side of TikTok, that's all. I'm medicated births.

1445
01:06:21,280 --> 01:06:21,600
Speaker 3: I am.

1446
01:06:21,760 --> 01:06:24,400
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. We could like, did you talk forever?

1447
01:06:24,520 --> 01:06:25,320
Speaker 3: It was?

1448
01:06:25,320 --> 01:06:25,760
Speaker 2: It hard?

1449
01:06:26,200 --> 01:06:29,520
Speaker 1: It was hard, but I think being an athlete is

1450
01:06:29,680 --> 01:06:33,720
Speaker 1: to your advantage. I did hypno birthing and it was

1451
01:06:34,240 --> 01:06:36,120
Speaker 1: it was a beautiful experience and people were like, oh,

1452
01:06:36,120 --> 01:06:38,840
Speaker 1: that's crazy, but it really was like to see what

1453
01:06:39,000 --> 01:06:43,880
Speaker 1: your body can do. And and also just we're so

1454
01:06:44,080 --> 01:06:48,120
Speaker 1: conditioned that birth is this scary, awful, painful thing. And

1455
01:06:48,160 --> 01:06:51,840
Speaker 1: when you start to you know, to change your mind

1456
01:06:51,880 --> 01:06:53,520
Speaker 1: around the way that you think about it and the

1457
01:06:53,520 --> 01:06:56,080
Speaker 1: words that you use, it is so powerful and so

1458
01:06:57,280 --> 01:06:59,520
Speaker 1: it's absolutely possible and it can be beautiful.

1459
01:06:59,840 --> 01:07:02,560
Speaker 3: I have to say, I feel like as an athlete,

1460
01:07:02,600 --> 01:07:04,640
Speaker 3: I've been thinking about birth, like I'm so excited to

1461
01:07:04,640 --> 01:07:06,120
Speaker 3: give birth because I feel like it's game day.

1462
01:07:06,240 --> 01:07:06,560
Speaker 2: It is.

1463
01:07:06,640 --> 01:07:08,440
Speaker 3: It's like we've spent nine months prepared for this. The

1464
01:07:08,440 --> 01:07:10,280
Speaker 3: baby's ready, We're ready to go, you know what I mean.

1465
01:07:10,360 --> 01:07:12,440
Speaker 3: It's trade and it's also so hard. Like some people

1466
01:07:12,440 --> 01:07:14,360
Speaker 3: love being pride and I get it, and I, you know,

1467
01:07:14,400 --> 01:07:16,320
Speaker 3: talk to a lot of women that are like mourning

1468
01:07:16,400 --> 01:07:19,600
Speaker 3: kind of the loss of literally being pregnant and feeling

1469
01:07:19,600 --> 01:07:22,160
Speaker 3: that connection. I don't know if I'm gonna be like that,

1470
01:07:22,400 --> 01:07:24,440
Speaker 3: Like I just I can't wait to have the baby

1471
01:07:24,480 --> 01:07:24,880
Speaker 3: be here.

1472
01:07:25,200 --> 01:07:28,680
Speaker 1: It's so amazing once you have your baby in your arms.

1473
01:07:28,720 --> 01:07:31,400
Speaker 1: And I do think like it is like training, like

1474
01:07:31,480 --> 01:07:34,240
Speaker 1: preparing for birth. And I look back at some of

1475
01:07:34,240 --> 01:07:36,439
Speaker 1: the photos when I was in labor.

1476
01:07:36,640 --> 01:07:39,080
Speaker 2: And it's like, oh, this is the same look I.

1477
01:07:39,040 --> 01:07:41,960
Speaker 1: Have on the track, you know, you're focused, had my

1478
01:07:42,000 --> 01:07:45,560
Speaker 1: headphones on, like doing it. And then there's this also

1479
01:07:45,680 --> 01:07:48,680
Speaker 1: this sense of like pride, like once you do it

1480
01:07:48,760 --> 01:07:51,840
Speaker 1: and you know, it's just it's an incredible feeling and

1481
01:07:51,920 --> 01:07:53,240
Speaker 1: I can't wait for you to experience it.

1482
01:07:53,320 --> 01:07:55,640
Speaker 3: I'm so excited. No, I do. See so many people's

1483
01:07:55,720 --> 01:07:58,080
Speaker 3: videos too that are like the female urge to do

1484
01:07:58,120 --> 01:07:59,160
Speaker 3: this over and over again.

1485
01:07:59,440 --> 01:08:03,200
Speaker 1: Yeah, you forget, you forget also like you know how

1486
01:08:03,600 --> 01:08:04,520
Speaker 1: it is challenging.

1487
01:08:04,760 --> 01:08:07,920
Speaker 3: Yeah, oh for sure. I'm I'm like scared but also excited.

1488
01:08:07,960 --> 01:08:08,800
Speaker 3: It really is game day.

1489
01:08:08,800 --> 01:08:09,600
Speaker 2: It's gonna be amazing.

1490
01:08:11,320 --> 01:08:15,120
Speaker 3: So you competed for nearly two decades. What is something

1491
01:08:15,200 --> 01:08:21,440
Speaker 3: that running did for you that nothing else could?

1492
01:08:22,840 --> 01:08:24,960
Speaker 1: I think just like the shape it puts you in,

1493
01:08:25,880 --> 01:08:28,320
Speaker 1: like you know, just the way what it does for

1494
01:08:28,400 --> 01:08:32,800
Speaker 1: your body, like how you feel. You know, I've I've

1495
01:08:32,800 --> 01:08:35,680
Speaker 1: tried other workouts, like there's nothing like running, like the

1496
01:08:35,720 --> 01:08:38,559
Speaker 1: relationship that I have with running in my life, And

1497
01:08:38,800 --> 01:08:42,320
Speaker 1: you know, I think how it's changed through the years,

1498
01:08:42,320 --> 01:08:44,639
Speaker 1: but it's always you know, been at been.

1499
01:08:44,479 --> 01:08:45,600
Speaker 2: Something really important to me.

1500
01:08:45,880 --> 01:08:47,280
Speaker 3: What does it mean to you? Yeah?

1501
01:08:47,680 --> 01:08:51,760
Speaker 1: To me, it's like this beautiful connection, like this ability

1502
01:08:51,840 --> 01:08:58,120
Speaker 1: to like challenge myself, push myself, prove myself, and then

1503
01:08:58,160 --> 01:09:00,679
Speaker 1: I don't have to be in competition with anybody else.

1504
01:09:00,800 --> 01:09:06,280
Speaker 1: Like it is this relationship literally that I have with myself.

1505
01:09:06,320 --> 01:09:09,519
Speaker 1: And I'm a curious person. I like to see what

1506
01:09:09,560 --> 01:09:12,080
Speaker 1: I'm capable of, and so I love that It's it's

1507
01:09:12,120 --> 01:09:14,240
Speaker 1: evolved through the years, and it's you know, there's always

1508
01:09:14,280 --> 01:09:17,479
Speaker 1: different seasons of what it is at at this moment.

1509
01:09:17,720 --> 01:09:19,599
Speaker 3: What would you say the season is that you're currently

1510
01:09:19,600 --> 01:09:20,840
Speaker 3: in as it relates to running.

1511
01:09:21,160 --> 01:09:24,439
Speaker 1: I think I'm back like wondering what my body is

1512
01:09:24,479 --> 01:09:28,559
Speaker 1: capable of now, you know, just because it's I'm older,

1513
01:09:28,680 --> 01:09:32,880
Speaker 1: and yet I'm still like ambitious and yeah, and I

1514
01:09:33,200 --> 01:09:34,839
Speaker 1: still am like pushing myself.

1515
01:09:35,479 --> 01:09:37,599
Speaker 3: Yeah. Running is one of those things too where I've

1516
01:09:37,600 --> 01:09:39,840
Speaker 3: heard that as we get older, especially as women, we

1517
01:09:39,840 --> 01:09:42,439
Speaker 3: actually can get better at running. I mean maybe not

1518
01:09:42,680 --> 01:09:45,439
Speaker 3: on like a professional stage, competing in the Olympics, whatever,

1519
01:09:45,800 --> 01:09:48,720
Speaker 3: but I do hear that a lot for some reasons.

1520
01:09:48,439 --> 01:09:50,840
Speaker 1: Things that you don't have to stop, yeah, you know,

1521
01:09:50,960 --> 01:09:53,200
Speaker 1: And I think that's it's always great when you can

1522
01:09:53,240 --> 01:09:56,360
Speaker 1: have a lifelong relationship with something that gives you so

1523
01:09:56,439 --> 01:09:58,120
Speaker 1: many benefits for sure.

1524
01:09:58,479 --> 01:09:59,720
Speaker 3: Well kind of parent do you think you're gonna be

1525
01:09:59,720 --> 01:10:01,240
Speaker 3: on the side lines of sports games?

1526
01:10:02,360 --> 01:10:07,360
Speaker 1: An involved parent of enthusiastic, but you know, I'm definitely

1527
01:10:07,400 --> 01:10:10,960
Speaker 1: not the So my daughter's seven, and she's like, you know,

1528
01:10:11,040 --> 01:10:13,559
Speaker 1: doing all the sports right now, So I definitely like,

1529
01:10:13,640 --> 01:10:17,479
Speaker 1: let the coaches coach. So I'm like, you know, chill,

1530
01:10:17,680 --> 01:10:21,599
Speaker 1: hands off, but like also fiercely competitive, and I want

1531
01:10:21,640 --> 01:10:24,120
Speaker 1: her to like crush it. Yeah, I want her to

1532
01:10:24,120 --> 01:10:26,080
Speaker 1: do all the things, but I just I try to

1533
01:10:26,080 --> 01:10:26,679
Speaker 1: play it cool.

1534
01:10:26,800 --> 01:10:28,639
Speaker 3: Were your parents competitive with you guys?

1535
01:10:28,960 --> 01:10:29,439
Speaker 2: It's funny.

1536
01:10:29,479 --> 01:10:32,240
Speaker 1: They were not, Like they were not competitive in the

1537
01:10:32,280 --> 01:10:35,880
Speaker 1: sense of, you know, those parents like athletic parents. They

1538
01:10:36,439 --> 01:10:39,839
Speaker 1: are competitive people, but they never pushed us in sports

1539
01:10:39,920 --> 01:10:42,320
Speaker 1: like it was something. They weren't athletes. You know, my

1540
01:10:42,400 --> 01:10:44,559
Speaker 1: dad ran a bit in high school, but that was it.

1541
01:10:45,720 --> 01:10:48,000
Speaker 1: So they were very much still like hands off in

1542
01:10:48,040 --> 01:10:51,000
Speaker 1: that respect, but competitive by nature.

1543
01:10:51,320 --> 01:10:53,400
Speaker 3: Where do you think the running gene came from?

1544
01:10:53,600 --> 01:10:55,840
Speaker 2: I don't know. I mean, yeah, my dad ran a

1545
01:10:55,880 --> 01:10:56,280
Speaker 2: little bit.

1546
01:10:56,439 --> 01:10:59,640
Speaker 1: My mom she always says she walks really fast and like,

1547
01:10:59,800 --> 01:11:02,680
Speaker 1: so how that combination, you know, led me and my

1548
01:11:02,720 --> 01:11:03,799
Speaker 1: brother to be runners?

1549
01:11:04,920 --> 01:11:08,760
Speaker 3: I don't know. Honestly, I love that You're like, oh,

1550
01:11:09,080 --> 01:11:10,360
Speaker 3: that's so funny that she's.

1551
01:11:10,280 --> 01:11:12,439
Speaker 2: Like she probably would have been an amazing runner. I'm like,

1552
01:11:12,760 --> 01:11:15,680
Speaker 2: we don't know, we don't know.

1553
01:11:16,000 --> 01:11:17,960
Speaker 3: That's so great. Okay, well, this has been so fun

1554
01:11:18,000 --> 01:11:20,240
Speaker 3: sitting down with you, Alison. I have one final question.

1555
01:11:20,600 --> 01:11:23,000
Speaker 3: What do you think has been the core theme of

1556
01:11:23,040 --> 01:11:25,920
Speaker 3: your life? If you were to look back, m.

1557
01:11:29,200 --> 01:11:30,120
Speaker 2: That's a deep question.

1558
01:11:30,360 --> 01:11:34,400
Speaker 1: I guess I would say, you know, being able to

1559
01:11:34,520 --> 01:11:37,240
Speaker 1: grow and evolve. You know, I look at my career

1560
01:11:37,320 --> 01:11:42,120
Speaker 1: and I look at the meaningful moments, you know, and

1561
01:11:42,240 --> 01:11:44,880
Speaker 1: I think it's always been about, you know, pushing for

1562
01:11:44,960 --> 01:11:47,800
Speaker 1: more and and just growing. Like I know, at some

1563
01:11:47,840 --> 01:11:50,160
Speaker 1: points I thought it was about metals, and then it's

1564
01:11:50,200 --> 01:11:53,680
Speaker 1: been about impact and and you know, it's about constantly,

1565
01:11:53,960 --> 01:11:57,880
Speaker 1: you know, discovering what's new and and how I can

1566
01:11:58,400 --> 01:12:01,479
Speaker 1: improve in whatever or you know, season of life or

1567
01:12:01,520 --> 01:12:03,080
Speaker 1: whatever journey you know I'm on.

1568
01:12:03,840 --> 01:12:06,040
Speaker 3: And I love how you said, you know, there's different

1569
01:12:06,040 --> 01:12:07,920
Speaker 3: seasons of your life, and I think what's so cool

1570
01:12:07,960 --> 01:12:10,360
Speaker 3: is there's so many different ways that you can have impact.

1571
01:12:10,920 --> 01:12:12,840
Speaker 3: You know, when you had so much fear of impact

1572
01:12:12,880 --> 01:12:15,479
Speaker 3: with your career, but now you're having so much impact

1573
01:12:15,600 --> 01:12:18,960
Speaker 3: as a mom and with your brand, and that I

1574
01:12:19,000 --> 01:12:20,959
Speaker 3: hope to see you at the twenty twenty eight Olympics

1575
01:12:21,160 --> 01:12:22,760
Speaker 3: in LA doing something.

1576
01:12:22,560 --> 01:12:25,600
Speaker 1: I appreciate that I'll absolutely be there in some capacity.

1577
01:12:26,120 --> 01:12:27,800
Speaker 3: Thank you so much for being on Post Run High

1578
01:12:27,800 --> 01:12:29,920
Speaker 3: with me today. This was amazing, So great to talk

1579
01:12:29,960 --> 01:12:35,080
Speaker 3: to you, So great to talk to you. Hi, guys,

1580
01:12:35,200 --> 01:12:37,919
Speaker 3: Kate here, Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode.

1581
01:12:37,960 --> 01:12:39,160
Speaker 3: If you made it all the way to the end

1582
01:12:39,200 --> 01:12:43,080
Speaker 3: of this conversation, you are a real one. Alison Felix

1583
01:12:43,120 --> 01:12:45,439
Speaker 3: is a total powerhouse. I have chills coming out of

1584
01:12:45,439 --> 01:12:48,559
Speaker 3: this conversation. From sprinting on the biggest stages in the

1585
01:12:48,600 --> 01:12:51,320
Speaker 3: world to advocating for mothers and building space for the

1586
01:12:51,360 --> 01:12:55,040
Speaker 3: next generation. Her story really is about using your platform

1587
01:12:55,080 --> 01:12:58,080
Speaker 3: for something bigger than yourself. So if you learn something

1588
01:12:58,120 --> 01:13:01,080
Speaker 3: new from today's episode, please please share it with a

1589
01:13:01,120 --> 01:13:04,400
Speaker 3: friend and make sure you're following Post Run High wherever

1590
01:13:04,439 --> 01:13:08,360
Speaker 3: you are listening. Your support truly helps us continue bringing

1591
01:13:08,400 --> 01:13:12,839
Speaker 3: you inspiring conversations, and we are grateful for every single

1592
01:13:12,920 --> 01:13:15,480
Speaker 3: one of you that tunes in and listens to our episodes.

1593
01:13:15,960 --> 01:13:18,599
Speaker 3: We're posting every Monday, so I will see you guys

1594
01:13:18,760 --> 01:13:19,240
Speaker 3: next week,