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Speaker 1: You have to be comfortable with not knowing what the

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Speaker 1: outcome is going to be.

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Speaker 2: You can't go into it thinking, oh, you know, I

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Speaker 2: might not be good enough, so it's not worth it. Right,

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Speaker 2: the juice isn't worth this squeece. You can't go into

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Speaker 2: it with that mindset.

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Speaker 3: What's going on? Everyone? Happy New Year.

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Speaker 4: You are kicking off twenty twenty six with Hurdle, a

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Speaker 4: podcast featuring the mindset, secrets, and true stories of the

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Speaker 4: most inspiring women in sports and wellness, empowering you to

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Speaker 4: live a healthier, happier, more motivated life and of course,

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Speaker 4: conquer your own hurdles.

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Speaker 3: Today's guest is the one the.

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Speaker 4: Only three time Olympic gold medalist and world class sprinter,

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Speaker 4: Gabby Thomas. Since her breakup performance in Tokyo, Gabby's become

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Speaker 4: one of the most recognizable faces in track and field.

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Speaker 4: But what makes her truly remarkable and why she's topped

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Speaker 4: My Dream Guest list for so long is the intentionality

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Speaker 4: she brings to her life both on and off the track.

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Speaker 4: In today's conversation, Gabby opens up about the hurdle moments

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Speaker 4: that defined her recent season, including a challenging achilles injury

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Speaker 4: that forced her to make the difficult decision to withdraw

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Speaker 4: from the World Championships. We also chat about her holistic identity,

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Speaker 4: how she balances being an elite athlete with her passion

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Speaker 4: for public health and her work in volunteer clinics, the

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Speaker 4: power of boundaries, and why she's learned that's saying no

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Speaker 4: and protecting her piece is essential for long term success.

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Speaker 4: Mental performance, the specific visualization and breathwork she uses to

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Speaker 4: manifest her wins long before she.

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Speaker 3: Ever hits the starting blocks, and so much more. Whether

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Speaker 3: she is discussing.

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Speaker 4: The intensity of the Olympic call room or what she's

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Speaker 4: learned about building her own personal brand, Gabby's perspective on

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Speaker 4: resilience and self worth it's something that every single hurdler

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Speaker 4: needs to hear. Again, Gaby's been on the top of

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Speaker 4: my dream guest list for so long. I'm so happy

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Speaker 4: that we were able to connect irl here in New

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Speaker 4: York when she was recently in the city, and I

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Speaker 4: could not be more writing this high going into the

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Speaker 4: new year.

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Speaker 3: Make sure you are following along with Hurdle over on

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Speaker 3: social Let's over at Hurdle Podcast.

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Speaker 4: You can check out iHeart Woman's Sports over at iHeart

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Speaker 4: women's sports and me over at Emily a Body. Listen

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Speaker 4: to hurdle with Emily a Body on the iHeartRadio app,

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Speaker 4: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last little

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Speaker 4: bit of housekeeping hosting a virtual goal setting workshop tomorrow night.

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Speaker 4: If you're listening to this in real time Wednesday, January seventh,

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Speaker 4: I would love for you to join us. To sign up,

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Speaker 4: click on over to register.

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Speaker 3: In the show notes. As a note, I am.

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Speaker 4: A certified professional coach, which you can like into a

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Speaker 4: life coach.

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Speaker 3: Fun fact for those of you that may not know

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Speaker 3: that about me.

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Speaker 4: And so, in addition to loving all things a woman's

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Speaker 4: sports and wellness, I also peek out over the opportunity

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Speaker 4: to help you chase your big potential. Hence a little

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Speaker 4: beginning of the year goal setting workshop Again. The link

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Speaker 4: to register for tomorrow night's goal setting workshop at seven

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Speaker 4: pm Eastern is in the show notes. With that, let's

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Speaker 4: get to it, let's get It's a hurdling today, I

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Speaker 4: am sitting down with Gabby Thomas. She is a two

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Speaker 4: time Olympian. She's got three gold medals. She's got some

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Speaker 4: other medals too. She is a pro runner for New

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Speaker 4: Balance Gabby Thomas, Welcome to Hurdle.

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Speaker 3: How are you.

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Speaker 1: Thank you thanks for having me. I am happy to

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Speaker 1: be here.

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Speaker 3: I am so happy that you're here.

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Speaker 4: This has been like I was trying to think about

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Speaker 4: the first time before you and I actually knew each other.

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Speaker 4: I think I messaged you in like August of twenty

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Speaker 4: twenty one. Yeah, at some point, and I was like, Gabby,

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Speaker 4: let's make this happen, like sweetie, I am busy.

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Speaker 1: Oh my back in the Tokyo days, Oh my god,

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Speaker 1: oh Mike, I was.

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Speaker 2: It's so funny because it's like I I did want

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Speaker 2: to talk and because I had so much to say,

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Speaker 2: especially on Hurdle podcast.

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Speaker 1: But that was such an overwhelming time for me.

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Speaker 2: And when I even look back on like the post

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Speaker 2: Tokyo experience, like way different from post Paris. Yeah, I

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Speaker 2: was in such a dark place, like I felt like

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Speaker 2: I was catapulted.

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Speaker 1: Into this world so suddenly. Yeah, and I just did

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Speaker 1: not know how to handle it.

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Speaker 2: So thank you for having great being patient and then

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Speaker 2: here we are what for years.

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Speaker 3: Lays later patients patients works to be clear.

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Speaker 4: Also, I am so impressed by you because I've heard

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Speaker 4: you say that the medal that you got in those

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Speaker 4: Olympics is actually your favorite and it's a bronze?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, why is that that's my favorite metal? That's my baby.

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Speaker 2: I mean, that was my first Olympic medal. That was

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Speaker 2: my first medal on honestly any world stage at this level.

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Speaker 2: So it just it meant so much to me. Like

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Speaker 2: I never would have imagined that I would be an

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Speaker 2: Olympian in the sport of track and field. It was

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Speaker 2: not something that was like on my vision board growing up.

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Speaker 2: It just I fell in love with the sport of

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Speaker 2: track and field and I kept working at it, and

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Speaker 2: then I found myself at the Olympic Trials with the

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Speaker 2: shot at making the team, and I found myself at

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Speaker 2: the Olympics, and then I found myself a medalist, and

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Speaker 2: I was like, oh, I'll just never forget that moment

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Speaker 2: of realizing that I was an Olympic medalist and I'll

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Speaker 2: never take that for granted.

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Speaker 4: Someone hears you say it wasn't on my vision board

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Speaker 4: and I found myself at the trials, and they're like,

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Speaker 4: how does someone just find themselves at the trials? Obviously

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Speaker 4: hard work goes into that, and that you had been

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Speaker 4: putting in while you were at Harvard. But I think

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Speaker 4: what the everyday person doesn't understand is truly anyone can

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Speaker 4: train to qualify to Okay Olympic trials.

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Speaker 1: Yes, I say that all the time.

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Speaker 2: Give us some like you introduced me as a professional runner, right,

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Speaker 2: And I think that is it's so funny to hear

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Speaker 2: that term because technically, like anyone can be a professional runner.

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Speaker 2: I guess it is defined by getting paid. But if

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Speaker 2: you are someone who just likes to run and you

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Speaker 2: want to go for it, and you have the stream

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Speaker 2: of making a USA team, you can train, and you

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Speaker 2: can enter and meet, you can meet the qualifying standard

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Speaker 2: and show up and try, and then if you go,

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Speaker 2: when you win a little bit of prize money, suddenly

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Speaker 2: you are a professional runner. But I think there's this

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Speaker 2: idea that as professional athletes or professional track runners, we

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Speaker 2: have you know, this setup in this official league and

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Speaker 2: all of this stuff. I train at a local high

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Speaker 2: school like or a local park, you know, in Austin, Texas.

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Speaker 2: We don't have an Olympic training center. We don't have

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Speaker 2: you know, this insane setup. It's really just a humble situation.

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Speaker 2: We go, we show up every day, we train together.

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Speaker 2: We choose to train together. We don't have teams or

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Speaker 2: a league currently, and we just make it happen.

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Speaker 4: Is she foreshadowing currently we don't have teams or a

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Speaker 4: league currently, which is just it's so cool. And I

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Speaker 4: also believe that it showcases your really beautiful sense of

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Speaker 4: relentless self belief because you have to show up day

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Speaker 4: in and day out and put in that work just

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Speaker 4: like you did at the beginning.

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Speaker 3: You're still doing it now. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think what like really sets athletes that at

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Speaker 2: my level apart when I think about my other you know,

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Speaker 2: Olympic medalist colleagues, we all are not afraid to put

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Speaker 2: ourselves out there.

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Speaker 1: You have to be.

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Speaker 2: Comfortable with not knowing what the outcome is going to be.

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Speaker 2: Like you, you can't go into it thinking, oh, you know,

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Speaker 2: I might not be good enough, so it's not worth it, right,

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Speaker 2: the juice isn't worth this squaze. You can't go into

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Speaker 2: it with that mindset. It has to be Okay, I

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Speaker 2: actually might not make this team. I actually I might

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Speaker 2: lose this race, but I'm still going to put everything

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Speaker 2: I have into this day in and day out. Because

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Speaker 2: you're right, we show up every day at this high

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Speaker 2: school track, not knowing if we're gonna have success that season,

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Speaker 2: if we're gonna have success that year.

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Speaker 1: We have a bunch of young girls who come in.

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Speaker 2: They got doate college, they want to go pro, they

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Speaker 2: want to sign a contract, and they want to make

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Speaker 2: a team. They don't know if that's going to happen,

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Speaker 2: but they still show up every single day for hours

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Speaker 2: and even off the track. They're putting in the work right,

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Speaker 2: they're getting their rest, they're getting their recovery, they're sleeping

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Speaker 2: while they're not They're saying no to friends and family

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Speaker 2: outings all the time, and you have to do all

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Speaker 2: of those little things just for a chance, just to

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Speaker 2: have a chance at being successful and maybe making it.

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Speaker 1: And that's what it is.

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Speaker 4: Are you saying that literally anyone could show up.

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Speaker 1: Yeah to the practice that literally and do.

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Speaker 4: So that's the next question is like, what's the most

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Speaker 4: bizarre thing that's happened at a practice for you? Oh

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Speaker 4: my gosh, you just fans come and watch like how that.

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Speaker 2: That definitely has happened. I wouldn't say no one has

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Speaker 2: ever crossed a line that I've been uncomfortable with, but

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Speaker 2: definitely we were. We don't train at the park quite

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Speaker 2: as often. But we you know, we have a public

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Speaker 2: park that we train at, and yeah, anyone can show up,

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Speaker 2: and people do show up and they'll say, hey, it's

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Speaker 2: Gobby Thomas training here, and they'll come chat for a bit,

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Speaker 2: take a picture, and it's it's cool, right because it's

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Speaker 2: you know, it's part of the community. And yeah, but

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Speaker 2: if it ever gets crazy, obviously we'd have to do something.

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Speaker 2: But yeah, very relaxed.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, Yeah, I also really appreciate you saying we show

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Speaker 4: up and we put everything into it, right, But the

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Speaker 4: thing is is that you have this really impressive capacity

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Speaker 4: to put quote unquote everything into it and still have

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Speaker 4: so many other interests and pursuits beyond track and field.

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Speaker 4: Before we started recording, you were saying, and we'll get

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Speaker 4: into this, but it's kind of been a little bit

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Speaker 4: of a gift to take a step back from track

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Speaker 4: this year, to have more time to invest in both

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Speaker 4: your excitement around public health and then obviously your relationships.

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Speaker 4: And so the question is how do you do both

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Speaker 4: and what is it about you that you believe empowers

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Speaker 4: and makes you good at executing in that way?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's because the way that I got

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Speaker 2: to this level is by doing everything that I loved.

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Speaker 1: It's how I got here.

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Speaker 2: When I started running, I was in high school and

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Speaker 2: I wasn't a track you know, specialist. I did tons

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Speaker 2: of sports and academics were my priority. And then when

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Speaker 2: I got to Harvard, obviously there are just so many

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Speaker 2: opportunities and so many things that you can explore. I

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Speaker 2: was doing different clubs, like women in business, I was,

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Speaker 2: I had my.

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Speaker 1: Pre med major.

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Speaker 2: I had all of these different people that different types

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Speaker 2: of people and relationships that I was building, and so

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Speaker 2: so many different opportunities and dreams and aspirations that I

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Speaker 2: could have pursued. I felt like the world was my oyster,

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Speaker 2: and track and field is one of them. It's something

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Speaker 2: that I truly loved and enjoyed doing. I loved spending

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Speaker 2: my time there, I loved getting better. And what really

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Speaker 2: set me apart, I think at that time, was not

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Speaker 2: being too goal oriented and not over identifying with my sport.

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Speaker 2: And it works for some people. I will say that

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Speaker 2: some people really really specialize from a young age and

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Speaker 2: they just are all in on track and field, and

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Speaker 2: some of them are pros now some of them aren't,

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Speaker 2: and some of them are. But for me, It was

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Speaker 2: not over identifying with the sport. It was a very

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Speaker 2: healthy relationship. And the whole point for me was just

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Speaker 2: becoming a better athlete and seeing what I could do

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Speaker 2: and taking it day by day. And I think I'm

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Speaker 2: also just I'm someone who I like the lifestyle. I

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Speaker 2: love the routine of it. And that's half the battle.

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Speaker 2: You have to really you have to want that. You

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Speaker 2: can't just want Olympic medals. You can't just want to

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Speaker 2: be a professional runner, right. You have to want that

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Speaker 2: lifestyle and all that comes with it. And it's so

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Speaker 2: easy to look at us and say, oh, well I

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Speaker 2: want to do that, Like I want that, But I

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Speaker 2: don't think about that every day. I don't think about

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Speaker 2: the medals. I don't think about making the team. I

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Speaker 2: think about what am I going to do today that

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Speaker 2: will set me up right? How many hours of sleep

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Speaker 2: did I get last night? What am I going to

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Speaker 2: eat to feel my body? How am I going to feel,

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Speaker 2: you know, rested and recovered? How am I going to

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Speaker 2: feel holistically like I'm being a better athlete?

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Speaker 1: And I just I like that. Yeah, I love it,

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Speaker 1: you know. So that's that's really what goes into it.

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Speaker 4: And yeah, what I'm hearing you say, is that the

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Speaker 4: lifestyle actually puts you in a better place for all

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Speaker 4: the other things that excite you beyond excelling within your sport.

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Speaker 1: Exactly, It's true.

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Speaker 2: And I even when hearing that, like the idea of

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Speaker 2: getting medals doesn't excite me, Like it's really it's fun wild,

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Speaker 2: It's really fun. And I look, I love the external validation.

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Speaker 3: I love it.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, keep calling me a medalist. It's awesome.

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Speaker 2: Like I love I love that people are so supportive

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Speaker 2: of what I do and they're so proud of me,

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Speaker 2: and it's so great. But when I really think about

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Speaker 2: my career, you know, retrospectively, and as I move forward,

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Speaker 2: I get excited about going to the track every day

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Speaker 2: with my coach and my teammates. Like, I love my life.

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Speaker 2: I love being in Austin, Texas. I love waking up

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Speaker 2: and training every day. I love learning from a mistake

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Speaker 2: that I made the week prior. I love not being

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Speaker 2: able to do a rap or getting the time that

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Speaker 2: I want and then a few weeks later getting to

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Speaker 2: do it. I just that's what I love about it.

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Speaker 2: And like going to metal ceremonies, I like, I don't

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Speaker 2: like that that's not fun for me. It's not a

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Speaker 2: joy and it's not and I'm also it was like

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Speaker 2: I'm also a naturally introverted person, so like being the

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Speaker 2: center of attention is just like.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, not my jam.

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Speaker 2: So if I could, like I don't know, go run

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Speaker 2: and win the races and you know, have my medals

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Speaker 2: like privately sent to me, that'd be great and like

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Speaker 2: no one really has to know about it.

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Speaker 1: But yeah, it's like I don't know.

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Speaker 4: That can't be like my goal not my goal understandable

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Speaker 4: and being an introvert. Let's go back to after the

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Speaker 4: Tokyo Games, because you're saying it was equally wow, I

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Speaker 4: can't believe I hear and holy, oh my god, everyone

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Speaker 4: wants something from me.

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Speaker 3: How do I navigate this?

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Speaker 4: Talk to me about the onboarding of learning how to navigate?

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Speaker 2: Oh my god. I wish Tokyo. I wish there was

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Speaker 2: some type of onboarding. I wish there was some type

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Speaker 2: of something where you know what you're getting into. That's

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Speaker 2: what shocked me the most. You just don't know what

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Speaker 2: you're getting into. And when I made the team, that

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Speaker 2: was really exciting. I had done something. I think I

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Speaker 2: shocked myself and I shocked the world like I had

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Speaker 2: run the second fastest time since flow jo at that time,

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Speaker 2: and suddenly was a gold medal favorite, and.

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Speaker 1: Everybody was watching me.

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Speaker 2: The whole country was watching and it was so much

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Speaker 2: fun because everybody was really supportive. It was a weird

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Speaker 2: Olympics because nobody was there. And I think in retrospect

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Speaker 2: for me, that actually worked out in my favor because

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Speaker 2: I'm not sure how I would have been able to

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Speaker 2: handle all of the media and all of the people

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Speaker 2: and everyone wanting me. So I look back on that

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Speaker 2: and I think, Okay, that was like kind of a

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Speaker 2: good little ease into like Olympic life. But then when

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Speaker 2: I came back, like suddenly I didn't know what to do.

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Speaker 2: We don't get media training, We don't get any type

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Speaker 2: of training. You hire your own team, like you hire

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Speaker 2: your own agents, your own publicist and all of that.

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Speaker 2: But that's, you know, that's up to us to there's

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Speaker 2: no one holding your hand and saying this is what

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Speaker 2: you need to do, this is who you have to

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Speaker 2: have around you. And I'm grateful that I did have

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Speaker 2: a really good college coach mentor who you know. He

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Speaker 2: set me up as best he could for that time,

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Speaker 2: and that kept me a little bit sane.

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Speaker 1: But you don't know what you're getting into. Yeah, I

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Speaker 1: had to learn as I went.

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Speaker 4: And in acquiring all of those pieces to the puzzle,

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Speaker 4: so to speak, how did you know what to look for?

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Speaker 1: Trial and error? Yeah, trial and error. Truly. A lot

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Speaker 1: of the people who are with me then are not

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Speaker 1: with me now. A lot of them are.

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Speaker 2: But it really just you live and you learn, and

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Speaker 2: you fail and you try again, and that's really what

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Speaker 2: it is. And that's why I look at a lot

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Speaker 2: of athletes and track athletes now and I really just

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Speaker 2: I feel for every one of them. I'm like, we

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Speaker 2: are all just truly winging it in an amateur sport.

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Speaker 2: And when the Olympics comes around, everyone's watching us and

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Speaker 2: watching what we say and what we do, and I

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Speaker 2: think they really do expect that there is a whole

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Speaker 2: team behind every athlete, like telling us what to do

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Speaker 2: and that there's a rule book and that we should

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Speaker 2: be media trained or that we should know how to

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Speaker 2: manage our careers and our social media and all that,

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Speaker 2: but like we don't, like it's just a bunch of

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Speaker 2: kids who worked hard and are talented and are figuring

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Speaker 2: it out and you're just kind of thrust it into

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Speaker 2: the limelight.

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Speaker 3: So still figuring it out.

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Speaker 4: And you've clearly hit a bit of a stride with

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Speaker 4: this in that you now two Olympics down, paris very

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Speaker 4: different than Tokyo. Oh yeah, you are in this place

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Speaker 4: now where you've got not only new balance as a sponsor,

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Speaker 4: but so many of these fruitful relationships, speaking opportunities like

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Speaker 4: Gabby Thomas is everywhere. How does Gabby Thomas feel about

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Speaker 4: being everywhere?

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Speaker 3: Now?

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Speaker 1: It's been a great opportunity. I'll start there.

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Speaker 2: I've been so grateful because you're right, I have incredible

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Speaker 2: sponsors and partnerships, and I have the luxury of being

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Speaker 2: able to partner with brands and companies that I truly

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Speaker 2: believe in that are authentic to me, and we work

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Speaker 2: together and there's such good partnerships, and that's something that's

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Speaker 2: really special in sports and to be a public figure.

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Speaker 2: It's also like it's a second job. No one tells

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Speaker 2: you that either you figure it out. It's just that's

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Speaker 2: probably the theme of this. You just have to figure

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Speaker 2: it out. I have running, and that takes up a

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Speaker 2: huge chunk of my life, a huge chunk of my day,

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Speaker 2: and that's the reason why I have my partnerships, right,

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Speaker 2: and that's you have to focus on that.

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Speaker 1: But at the same time, you have to be a

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Speaker 1: good partner.

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Speaker 2: So a lot of my life is, you know, finding partnership,

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Speaker 2: setting myself up so that I can find them and

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Speaker 2: navigate those relationships, and also showing up for them. So

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Speaker 2: it's you know, traveling, making appearances, and it's just managing

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Speaker 2: that brand portfolio. So very time consuming. Second job. I

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Speaker 2: love it, I love it, but it's definitely managing. Both

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Speaker 2: jobs can be stressful at times, yeah, right, because you

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Speaker 2: want to capitalize on the opportunity that you have. Right

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Speaker 2: by running fast, I have given myself great opportunities and

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Speaker 2: I can do so much like a Vogue cover, right,

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Speaker 2: like just really really fun thing sports illustrated, but also

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Speaker 2: remembering that people want me to do that stuff because

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Speaker 2: I'm fast. Yeah, And you can't be fast if you're

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Speaker 2: not on the track every single day doing what you're

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Speaker 2: supposed to be doing. Yeah, So it's really it's tough,

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Speaker 2: and track is one of those sports where it's cutthroat

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Speaker 2: and it's physical, like you have to be on the track,

383
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Speaker 2: you have to be there. There is no taking days

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Speaker 2: off and getting back to it and getting away with

385
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Speaker 2: it because you have teammates who can cover for you,

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Speaker 2: and your team can cover for you. Or there's no like, oh,

387
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Speaker 2: I already know how to dribble, so like you no

388
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Speaker 2: like it. You have to be fit, and you can't

389
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Speaker 2: take days off because you're risking like drop in performance

390
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Speaker 2: and you're risking injuries. So it's track is a tough one.

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Speaker 2: It's a tough one to say the least.

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Speaker 3: You mentioned the I words, So we're going to talk

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Speaker 3: about it. Injury. Gabby.

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Speaker 4: It's been a year for you navigating your achilles. Where

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Speaker 4: were you when you came to terms with Okay, something

396
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Speaker 4: really abnormal is happening here.

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Speaker 2: I was definitely on the track we where I was

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Speaker 2: doing a track workout. We were using the ten eighty

399
00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:24,360
Speaker 2: like overspeed machine that everyone's using now, and I did

400
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Speaker 2: a rep and I mean I when I tell you,

401
00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:31,479
Speaker 2: I took a step and I pushed out and it

402
00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:32,960
Speaker 2: hurt so bad.

403
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Speaker 1: I was not sure if I had ruptured it or something.

404
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Speaker 1: I something. It just terrified me.

405
00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:42,800
Speaker 2: And you know, my teammate Ta Jones, who ran so

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Speaker 2: fast at the beginning of the season, she broke the

407
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Speaker 2: American record in the hundred hurdles, but then Beside broke

408
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Speaker 2: it even more in that same race. But she ruptured

409
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Speaker 2: hers very shortly after that, and we had been training

410
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Speaker 2: together and we both had these like Achilles pain, like

411
00:19:56,200 --> 00:20:00,520
Speaker 2: achilles pendonitis basically for the entire season, and I just

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Speaker 2: my mind immediately went to her, and I'm thinking, oh

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Speaker 2: my gosh, I was just so scared, and then took

414
00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:10,560
Speaker 2: that training session off. But every subsequent session it's just

415
00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:14,000
Speaker 2: in the back of my head that each step could

416
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Speaker 2: be a rupture or leading towards that. And the thing

417
00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:20,080
Speaker 2: about rupturing the Achilles is you just you don't know.

418
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Speaker 2: You don't know if it's going to happen or not.

419
00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:24,760
Speaker 2: There's no way to know. When she ruptured hers, I mean,

420
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Speaker 2: they looked at it, they looked at imaging. There was

421
00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:29,800
Speaker 2: no indication that it was going to other than chronic inflammation,

422
00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:32,359
Speaker 2: and it just happened. So I have that in the

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Speaker 2: back of my mind. But I also have trials coming up,

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Speaker 2: and I had a great season so far. It was

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Speaker 2: one of my best seasons to date. When you look

426
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Speaker 2: back on the times I was running at what point

427
00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:44,439
Speaker 2: in the season I was running very fast, and I

428
00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:47,520
Speaker 2: was looking very good. So I thought, well, I've put

429
00:20:47,560 --> 00:20:51,000
Speaker 2: in all of this work all season. I am, you know,

430
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Speaker 2: the raining Olympic gold medalists. People want to see me run,

431
00:20:54,040 --> 00:20:56,720
Speaker 2: and this is my job, right My job is to run,

432
00:20:56,880 --> 00:20:59,240
Speaker 2: and my partners expect me to run.

433
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Speaker 1: The fans expect me to run.

434
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Speaker 2: The whole track community expects me to run, and I

435
00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:05,680
Speaker 2: expect myself to run. I mean, when you are doing

436
00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:09,160
Speaker 2: something every single day and working so hard, literally putting

437
00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:11,080
Speaker 2: bloodspot and tears on the track every single day, you

438
00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:12,760
Speaker 2: want something to show for that.

439
00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:13,320
Speaker 3: Yep.

440
00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:14,919
Speaker 2: So you know, I was like, We're going to go

441
00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:17,440
Speaker 2: to trials and we're just gonna see what happens. And

442
00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:20,639
Speaker 2: my goal coming out of the US Trials this past

443
00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:23,040
Speaker 2: season was to make the World's team. I wanted to

444
00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:25,520
Speaker 2: give myself an opportunity to go compete at Worlds and

445
00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:28,240
Speaker 2: like we were talking about before, make it then and

446
00:21:28,400 --> 00:21:30,840
Speaker 2: see see if I can feel better, see if we

447
00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:34,520
Speaker 2: can throw everything at it and just get there. And

448
00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:38,680
Speaker 2: I did ultimately make the team by a margin, and

449
00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:43,119
Speaker 2: just pure like willpower, pure like just gotta get on

450
00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:47,720
Speaker 2: that Tokyo team. I remember it being so close and

451
00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:51,040
Speaker 2: it was I think a tie between me and Britney

452
00:21:51,080 --> 00:21:53,720
Speaker 2: Brown over who was going, and I may have won

453
00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:56,040
Speaker 2: by a thousand seve a second, maybe a photo finish,

454
00:21:56,240 --> 00:21:58,879
Speaker 2: basically a tie race. But I made the team, and

455
00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:02,240
Speaker 2: I remember the cameras being on me, and it was

456
00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:04,520
Speaker 2: it felt like an eternity, like waiting to see if

457
00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:07,120
Speaker 2: I had made that Tokyo team. I was laying there

458
00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:11,320
Speaker 2: on the track and I remember everyone like watching my

459
00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:14,040
Speaker 2: face and I was like, oh, I have to look

460
00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:17,639
Speaker 2: like I really really want to go, right. I remember

461
00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:21,199
Speaker 2: thinking like being so indifferent because I was in so

462
00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:23,200
Speaker 2: much pain, and I was like, am I going to

463
00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:24,320
Speaker 2: be able to go compete?

464
00:22:24,359 --> 00:22:27,359
Speaker 1: Should I go compete? Do I want to go compete?

465
00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:30,000
Speaker 2: Not feeling like Gabby Thomas And that was all going

466
00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:34,800
Speaker 2: through my head. But I couldn't, like, I couldn't look

467
00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:37,120
Speaker 2: like that. I had to look like, oh my gosh,

468
00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:39,160
Speaker 2: I'm so excited to be going to Tokyo, like because

469
00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:40,800
Speaker 2: that's my job and I should be and like everyone

470
00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:43,119
Speaker 2: expects Gabby Thomas to want to go do that, but

471
00:22:43,119 --> 00:22:45,800
Speaker 2: that just wasn't the case. That wasn't the case, and

472
00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:48,720
Speaker 2: I they you know, I didn't feel the relief that

473
00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:50,840
Speaker 2: everyone wanted me to feel. It almost was like, oh,

474
00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:53,359
Speaker 2: I wish it was just over. Yeah, Like I, you know,

475
00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:57,160
Speaker 2: I wish that I didn't have this choice to make

476
00:22:57,200 --> 00:22:59,480
Speaker 2: now because I didn't know what choice to make, and

477
00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:02,520
Speaker 2: so I went back to Austin and went back to training, and.

478
00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:24,439
Speaker 4: You know, I just I knew, Yeah, the journey is

479
00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:29,399
Speaker 4: such an important part, especially in your line of work,

480
00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:35,879
Speaker 4: because if you aren't enjoying the journey, then those twenty

481
00:23:35,920 --> 00:23:38,520
Speaker 4: somethings seconds on the track, they aren't going to make

482
00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:42,840
Speaker 4: up for it. And when you got to the point

483
00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:45,880
Speaker 4: where not only you knew inside, but then you knew

484
00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:49,640
Speaker 4: you had to tell everyone talk to me about how

485
00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:55,520
Speaker 4: you felt after. You know the citious mag Instagram host

486
00:23:55,560 --> 00:23:57,760
Speaker 4: ghost Live that says injured.

487
00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:01,080
Speaker 1: Out out.

488
00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:05,920
Speaker 4: I don't remember exactly what the big bold words that

489
00:24:06,119 --> 00:24:08,160
Speaker 4: used are, but they've used some funny ones this year.

490
00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:12,880
Speaker 4: And when it happens and it's in the world, how

491
00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:13,879
Speaker 4: does that make you feel?

492
00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:15,680
Speaker 1: Oh?

493
00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:18,560
Speaker 2: I remember when I made the decision. I had spoken

494
00:24:18,640 --> 00:24:21,800
Speaker 2: to my partner's new balance being one of them who

495
00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:24,160
Speaker 2: was obviously just so supportive with it, and then my

496
00:24:24,560 --> 00:24:27,720
Speaker 2: track agent, Mark Wetmore and my coach when I when

497
00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:31,680
Speaker 2: I came to the final decision, I felt really good.

498
00:24:31,280 --> 00:24:33,600
Speaker 1: I felt just relief.

499
00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:36,480
Speaker 2: And so that's how I knew I could rest easy

500
00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:39,120
Speaker 2: knowing that I made the right call for me when

501
00:24:39,119 --> 00:24:44,199
Speaker 2: it went live to the world. I mean, I had

502
00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:50,160
Speaker 2: gotten to a point where, thankfully, I wasn't worried about

503
00:24:50,320 --> 00:24:54,080
Speaker 2: what anyone was going to think about it. Didn't care

504
00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:55,879
Speaker 2: because I knew that I was doing what was right

505
00:24:55,920 --> 00:25:00,520
Speaker 2: for me. I think, like we were talking about before,

506
00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:05,000
Speaker 2: I was more so worried about this expectation that everyone

507
00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:08,399
Speaker 2: had in me, Like everyone expected me to feel so

508
00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:13,320
Speaker 2: just heartbroken and so sad and so like, oh my god,

509
00:25:13,359 --> 00:25:15,400
Speaker 2: I can't believe you're going to the World Championship track

510
00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:16,960
Speaker 2: and Field, Like how could you not be going?

511
00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:22,440
Speaker 1: This is the biggest deal. Like that was everyone else's reaction.

512
00:25:22,280 --> 00:25:24,879
Speaker 2: Like, oh my, gosh, poor Gabby, Oh my, like how

513
00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:25,879
Speaker 2: is is she gonna be okay?

514
00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:31,080
Speaker 1: And the truth is like, yes, I was more than okay.

515
00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:34,840
Speaker 2: And it's because I don't tie so much of my

516
00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:38,440
Speaker 2: identity into track and field, and I understand from other

517
00:25:38,440 --> 00:25:42,040
Speaker 2: people's perspective why that would be their reaction, because to them,

518
00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:44,399
Speaker 2: my identity is track and field, Like Gabby Thomas is

519
00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:47,280
Speaker 2: track and field, and as it should be because that's

520
00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:49,439
Speaker 2: how sports work and that's why people love sports, and

521
00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:52,040
Speaker 2: you know they're so invested. But for me it's gabby,

522
00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:56,560
Speaker 2: like as an own person, that's that's not who I am.

523
00:25:56,640 --> 00:26:00,840
Speaker 2: So missing World Championships because I needed to was It's

524
00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:03,440
Speaker 2: like it's a natural thing. Yeah, just like every day

525
00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:06,640
Speaker 2: people miss work if they feel sick, or they miss

526
00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:08,800
Speaker 2: out on certain things because they just they can't make it.

527
00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:12,840
Speaker 2: That that is my equivalent, and it is disappointing because

528
00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:14,639
Speaker 2: I worked hard all year and you want to show that.

529
00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:20,240
Speaker 2: But it's also track and field, and I have a

530
00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:22,399
Speaker 2: full life ahead of me. I have a full Olympic

531
00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:23,880
Speaker 2: cycle ahead of me that I really want to feel

532
00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:25,280
Speaker 2: healthy for and feel good about.

533
00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:28,480
Speaker 1: So no, I was just relieved.

534
00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:29,560
Speaker 3: Yeah, relief.

535
00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:35,520
Speaker 4: It's so impressive to be able to say I am

536
00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:39,720
Speaker 4: a whole person without this, and it's completely understandable that

537
00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:43,480
Speaker 4: without it things do feel some kind of way. Before

538
00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:47,679
Speaker 4: we started recording, you mentioned that you did feel like

539
00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:50,920
Speaker 4: you had some other opportunities this year to step into

540
00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:54,040
Speaker 4: because you did take a step back from the track.

541
00:26:54,119 --> 00:26:55,159
Speaker 3: Talk to me a little bit about that.

542
00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:59,240
Speaker 2: Yeah, So I mean I with a decision to withdraw

543
00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:02,200
Speaker 2: from Worlds that maybe like a week before I was

544
00:27:02,240 --> 00:27:05,200
Speaker 2: supposed to go, so I had already completed so much

545
00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:09,080
Speaker 2: of the season. But what was really nice was just

546
00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:11,440
Speaker 2: the reset that I've had. I mean that was I

547
00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:13,200
Speaker 2: don't know how many months ago now like maybe three

548
00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:13,720
Speaker 2: months ago.

549
00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:15,560
Speaker 1: And since then, I.

550
00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:19,680
Speaker 2: Mean, I have poured so much of my time and

551
00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:23,240
Speaker 2: like friends and family, and that's something I did not

552
00:27:23,359 --> 00:27:26,080
Speaker 2: realize these last couple of years that I have just

553
00:27:26,119 --> 00:27:27,480
Speaker 2: not been able to do. You have to be so

554
00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:30,840
Speaker 2: selfish to compete at this level and say no to

555
00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:31,640
Speaker 2: almost everything.

556
00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:35,440
Speaker 1: God, it's so sad.

557
00:27:35,240 --> 00:27:39,080
Speaker 2: To think about, but I just I constantly have I

558
00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:43,040
Speaker 2: think this feeling of like guilt over me how little

559
00:27:43,119 --> 00:27:47,000
Speaker 2: I am or have been pouring into those relationships, like

560
00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:49,719
Speaker 2: my friendships, like showing up to weddings, like showing up

561
00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:52,800
Speaker 2: to birthday events, girls trips, showing up to family gatherings,

562
00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:55,360
Speaker 2: being able to spend extended time, and like things giving

563
00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:57,919
Speaker 2: our Christmas with family and just all of these small

564
00:27:57,960 --> 00:28:00,399
Speaker 2: things that add up over the course of years. Because

565
00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:04,000
Speaker 2: I am so I'm just I was so invested and

566
00:28:04,040 --> 00:28:06,639
Speaker 2: dialed into track and training, and I'm like No, I

567
00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:08,640
Speaker 2: can't miss these training days.

568
00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:09,159
Speaker 1: I have to be here.

569
00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:11,880
Speaker 2: I can't travel because travel is such a big stressor.

570
00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:16,000
Speaker 2: And this off season that I've had these last few months,

571
00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:19,040
Speaker 2: I've spent so much of it making up for that

572
00:28:19,080 --> 00:28:23,239
Speaker 2: lost time, and I've just realized like how much like

573
00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:26,080
Speaker 2: I've missed, And not that I have any regrets, but

574
00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:31,000
Speaker 2: I've realized exactly what it took, right, like what the

575
00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:34,560
Speaker 2: cost of those metals were. And I think I'm really

576
00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:38,160
Speaker 2: excited about this season of my life before we enter

577
00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:42,120
Speaker 2: this you know, twenty seven twenty eight cycle of like

578
00:28:42,280 --> 00:28:44,520
Speaker 2: how much of myself I can just get back, Yeah,

579
00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:48,520
Speaker 2: of like diving into those relationships and even with my partnerships,

580
00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:50,520
Speaker 2: like diving even a little bit deeper into that and

581
00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:52,720
Speaker 2: figuring out what we can build together. Like one of

582
00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:55,640
Speaker 2: the partnerships I'm really excited about is with Better Way

583
00:28:55,760 --> 00:28:59,160
Speaker 2: BABS in Health, which is a blood diagnostic partnership that

584
00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:03,640
Speaker 2: I'm doing that brings diagnostic testing to communities.

585
00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:05,480
Speaker 1: It actually bring like physically brings it.

586
00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:07,520
Speaker 2: And it's one of those things that I'm really passionate

587
00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:12,200
Speaker 2: about because it's solving health and equity issues and it's

588
00:29:12,240 --> 00:29:13,960
Speaker 2: going to be such a meaningful partnership, and I have

589
00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:15,959
Speaker 2: so much more time now to dive into that and

590
00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:18,440
Speaker 2: give my thoughts and actually be in the community with it.

591
00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:20,840
Speaker 2: So like it's these little things where I feel like

592
00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:24,560
Speaker 2: again back to this being a whole person, I can

593
00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:29,320
Speaker 2: really be like a whole Gabby and fulfill myself in

594
00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:32,600
Speaker 2: that way. And I've already started feeling that just in

595
00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:35,320
Speaker 2: these few months of just resting, you know, being away

596
00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:36,360
Speaker 2: from the track for a little.

597
00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:38,080
Speaker 3: Bit and doing the Girls' nights.

598
00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:40,400
Speaker 1: Yes, and doing the girls nights. Oh yeah.

599
00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:42,920
Speaker 2: I just you don't realize it when you're in it,

600
00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:44,720
Speaker 2: or at least I didn't, I think, because I just

601
00:29:44,760 --> 00:29:46,720
Speaker 2: loved it so much. But yeah, as you look back,

602
00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:50,440
Speaker 2: it's like, oys, that's how I got here, right, I mean,

603
00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:52,320
Speaker 2: you just have to do that. You have to do

604
00:29:52,360 --> 00:29:54,320
Speaker 2: that hard stuff that a lot of people aren't willing

605
00:29:54,360 --> 00:29:57,680
Speaker 2: to do, and you know, nor should they, right, But totally.

606
00:29:57,760 --> 00:29:59,960
Speaker 4: Yeah, you mentioned a lot of life to live before

607
00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:03,320
Speaker 4: that twenty seven twenty eight season really comes around wedding

608
00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:04,400
Speaker 4: being one of those things.

609
00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:06,080
Speaker 3: Next year in twenty six.

610
00:30:06,720 --> 00:30:11,800
Speaker 4: Something that really impresses me is that this has all

611
00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:15,440
Speaker 4: taken so much of yourself and you've been able to

612
00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:20,640
Speaker 4: build this like really meaningful and strong relationship with your partner, Spencer.

613
00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:25,960
Speaker 4: Why do you think those two things were able to

614
00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:27,240
Speaker 4: go in tandem.

615
00:30:27,400 --> 00:30:28,840
Speaker 3: I am amazed by that.

616
00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:32,440
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I mean it doesn't work a lot of

617
00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:36,000
Speaker 1: the time. Yeah's for sure. Spencer is such an incredible partner.

618
00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:40,480
Speaker 2: He is I mean, that's what he's a partner. He

619
00:30:40,760 --> 00:30:45,640
Speaker 2: is so supportive, He is my rock. He's there. He

620
00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:50,520
Speaker 2: does not let like any type of ego get in

621
00:30:50,560 --> 00:30:54,000
Speaker 2: the way. He also inspires me in his own way.

622
00:30:54,400 --> 00:31:01,840
Speaker 2: He loves life so much, and like having that around

623
00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:04,960
Speaker 2: me when I'm so dialed in, when I'm so like

624
00:31:05,040 --> 00:31:09,280
Speaker 2: in this competitive mode, when I'm just constantly like feeling

625
00:31:09,440 --> 00:31:14,440
Speaker 2: like stress or just so diligent, having just something to

626
00:31:14,520 --> 00:31:16,520
Speaker 2: kind of counter that a little bit and a reminder

627
00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:19,960
Speaker 2: that I am a person, like a whole person, like

628
00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:22,320
Speaker 2: you keep saying, and this reminder that it's okay to

629
00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:27,000
Speaker 2: just love life, to be around friends and family that

630
00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:29,320
Speaker 2: is so big for him, like community and friends and family.

631
00:31:30,360 --> 00:31:32,600
Speaker 2: Having that is really really important. It's just one of

632
00:31:32,640 --> 00:31:38,120
Speaker 2: those things that it keeps you, like I said, from

633
00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:43,720
Speaker 2: just over identifying with track. It's very grounding and being

634
00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:49,040
Speaker 2: grounded is so important at this level. It is so

635
00:31:49,080 --> 00:31:54,080
Speaker 2: important being grounded with your relationships, being grounded with your

636
00:31:54,320 --> 00:31:57,560
Speaker 2: your training, just all of it. Just making sure that

637
00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:01,400
Speaker 2: you just remember what's important. Yeah, and he does such

638
00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:03,600
Speaker 2: a great job with that for me, He's been able

639
00:32:03,680 --> 00:32:05,240
Speaker 2: to bring you back down to earth a little bit.

640
00:32:05,280 --> 00:32:06,680
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, oh yeah, definitely.

641
00:32:07,240 --> 00:32:10,160
Speaker 2: I mean when we're like at these meats and overseas

642
00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:13,479
Speaker 2: and ah, it's so easy to just get roped up

643
00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:15,080
Speaker 2: in it and like you have to come back to

644
00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:15,760
Speaker 2: the room and.

645
00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:17,280
Speaker 3: Just yeah, relax.

646
00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:20,280
Speaker 4: I want to double click on you were talking about

647
00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:24,000
Speaker 4: the partnership that you have being able to bring this

648
00:32:24,120 --> 00:32:27,360
Speaker 4: blood testing into maybe areas that it wouldn't be there otherwise.

649
00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:32,040
Speaker 4: I know this is a huge component of your interests

650
00:32:32,360 --> 00:32:36,560
Speaker 4: working within public health. What do you see your future

651
00:32:36,640 --> 00:32:39,400
Speaker 4: looking like when it comes to involving that.

652
00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:43,920
Speaker 2: I think more or less things like this partnerships where

653
00:32:43,960 --> 00:32:46,120
Speaker 2: I can really make a difference and use my platform

654
00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:48,960
Speaker 2: to help doing a lot of activations in the community

655
00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:52,680
Speaker 2: raising awareness. This partnership is really really cool. It's something

656
00:32:52,720 --> 00:32:57,320
Speaker 2: that's it's so innovative and it's so simple. Blood testing

657
00:32:57,440 --> 00:32:59,400
Speaker 2: it can be really intimidating for people, and I know

658
00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:03,000
Speaker 2: from experience just working in the volunteer clinic in downtown

659
00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:06,760
Speaker 2: Austin what that's like, like getting patients to actively like

660
00:33:06,880 --> 00:33:10,040
Speaker 2: go get their blood tested because we didn't do it

661
00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:13,760
Speaker 2: in clinic, it was just a volunteer clinic. It takes time,

662
00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:17,560
Speaker 2: time that they don't have energy, and people.

663
00:33:17,280 --> 00:33:19,960
Speaker 1: Are scared, but yeah, this cleans up. So just projects

664
00:33:19,960 --> 00:33:20,160
Speaker 1: like this.

665
00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:22,480
Speaker 2: I'm also partnering with Eli Lilly, which is another one,

666
00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:25,280
Speaker 2: and being in their think tank and thinking what can

667
00:33:25,320 --> 00:33:27,720
Speaker 2: they actually do. I mean, a huge corporation like Eli

668
00:33:27,760 --> 00:33:30,320
Speaker 2: Lilly cares about what they can do and I'm a

669
00:33:30,400 --> 00:33:32,840
Speaker 2: voice that they value. So being able to leverage my

670
00:33:32,840 --> 00:33:35,400
Speaker 2: platform and be in those rooms makes a big difference.

671
00:33:35,440 --> 00:33:37,960
Speaker 2: But also just being in the community. That's why I

672
00:33:37,960 --> 00:33:41,280
Speaker 2: love the clinic so much. I'm like, when you actually

673
00:33:41,280 --> 00:33:43,560
Speaker 2: are there and you see the problems in real life

674
00:33:43,560 --> 00:33:45,680
Speaker 2: and you're talking to real humans and you see the

675
00:33:45,720 --> 00:33:48,200
Speaker 2: impact that you can make on their lives at the

676
00:33:48,240 --> 00:33:49,160
Speaker 2: individual level.

677
00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:50,320
Speaker 1: I mean, that's what I love.

678
00:33:50,640 --> 00:33:53,800
Speaker 2: So I can see myself running a nonprofit, being in

679
00:33:53,840 --> 00:33:57,920
Speaker 2: a nonprofit, yeah, because that's what's really fulfilling, Like seeing

680
00:33:57,920 --> 00:34:00,680
Speaker 2: the actual change in the communities at that level, it.

681
00:34:00,640 --> 00:34:02,800
Speaker 3: Would be so easy for you to do none of this.

682
00:34:03,720 --> 00:34:06,000
Speaker 4: Like I sit here and I'm listening to you and

683
00:34:06,040 --> 00:34:08,120
Speaker 4: you're talking about making the time to go to the clinic,

684
00:34:08,160 --> 00:34:10,320
Speaker 4: and then you're traveling and you're speaking and you're running,

685
00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:12,600
Speaker 4: and it's like, it would be so easy just to

686
00:34:12,600 --> 00:34:17,919
Speaker 4: be in one lane. Yeah, And it is so impressive

687
00:34:18,640 --> 00:34:20,839
Speaker 4: to see you say.

688
00:34:20,640 --> 00:34:23,360
Speaker 3: But I know that this lane also brings me joy.

689
00:34:23,440 --> 00:34:25,799
Speaker 2: It does, And you know what, I think it's so

690
00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:28,680
Speaker 2: easy to reflect on seasons after the fact, but this

691
00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:31,400
Speaker 2: last season, like coming off of my Olympic gold medals

692
00:34:31,600 --> 00:34:34,960
Speaker 2: and how preoccupied I was with that metal, Like that

693
00:34:35,239 --> 00:34:37,880
Speaker 2: metal really became like my world and my identifier and

694
00:34:37,920 --> 00:34:40,879
Speaker 2: I didn't want it to, but it was inevitable. And

695
00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:42,920
Speaker 2: I think about what that did to me, Like on

696
00:34:42,960 --> 00:34:46,040
Speaker 2: the track, I look back and I think how intense

697
00:34:46,120 --> 00:34:48,799
Speaker 2: I was, like how intense my life was, and when

698
00:34:48,800 --> 00:34:50,880
Speaker 2: I was on the track, I was trying to overcompensate

699
00:34:51,239 --> 00:34:54,160
Speaker 2: for having spent so much time away like promoting this

700
00:34:54,239 --> 00:34:58,799
Speaker 2: metal and where my headspace was, and I, you know,

701
00:34:58,880 --> 00:35:01,640
Speaker 2: I have to think that that is a contributor to

702
00:35:02,080 --> 00:35:04,960
Speaker 2: why my season wasn't, you know, as successful as I

703
00:35:04,960 --> 00:35:07,400
Speaker 2: would have wanted it to be. Then I put that

704
00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:11,840
Speaker 2: in air quotes because you know, success is whatever. It's interpretive, right,

705
00:35:11,920 --> 00:35:13,520
Speaker 2: And I'll look back and I'm sure I'll appreciate this

706
00:35:13,560 --> 00:35:16,719
Speaker 2: season of life. But I mean that's where I was

707
00:35:16,760 --> 00:35:20,240
Speaker 2: when you have I mean, I typically am a runner

708
00:35:20,320 --> 00:35:22,800
Speaker 2: that I love being there. I'm there because it's a

709
00:35:22,920 --> 00:35:25,480
Speaker 2: choice and I'm loving running and I'm training and you're

710
00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:27,440
Speaker 2: going to get better that way. But when you're like

711
00:35:27,520 --> 00:35:29,759
Speaker 2: a runner because you have to be there, and you're

712
00:35:29,840 --> 00:35:32,000
Speaker 2: getting through the workouts because you have to, and you're

713
00:35:32,040 --> 00:35:34,000
Speaker 2: telling yourself you just have to do it, and you're

714
00:35:34,040 --> 00:35:36,560
Speaker 2: stressed and you're courticils high, like you're not going to

715
00:35:36,640 --> 00:35:37,000
Speaker 2: get better.

716
00:35:37,040 --> 00:35:38,400
Speaker 1: It's the journey.

717
00:35:38,120 --> 00:35:40,839
Speaker 2: You're talking to the journey, and your brain's not going

718
00:35:40,880 --> 00:35:43,160
Speaker 2: to be able to decipher if you're stressed from a

719
00:35:43,200 --> 00:35:45,120
Speaker 2: workout or if you're stressed from life. Your brain's just

720
00:35:45,160 --> 00:35:46,680
Speaker 2: like you're stressed right now and you're trying to push

721
00:35:46,680 --> 00:35:49,959
Speaker 2: through it in training. And that was me all year. Yeah,

722
00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:53,239
Speaker 2: And obviously that will have mental, emotional and physical repercussions.

723
00:35:53,280 --> 00:35:56,760
Speaker 4: And it did You mentioned even before saying like travel

724
00:35:56,800 --> 00:35:59,520
Speaker 4: as a stressor, you would know a lot about stress.

725
00:35:59,560 --> 00:36:03,160
Speaker 4: Being in real biology major in college, how would you

726
00:36:03,239 --> 00:36:08,200
Speaker 4: say that the awareness that you have over your own

727
00:36:08,320 --> 00:36:13,239
Speaker 4: physiology and your own just mental game has helped you

728
00:36:13,400 --> 00:36:15,120
Speaker 4: in a way that maybe other athletes don't.

729
00:36:14,920 --> 00:36:17,480
Speaker 1: Expl Oh my gosh so much. I really think, like,

730
00:36:17,520 --> 00:36:18,120
Speaker 1: am I cheating?

731
00:36:18,239 --> 00:36:18,440
Speaker 2: I know?

732
00:36:18,520 --> 00:36:20,719
Speaker 1: I know, right, Like I'm like, oh, I have such

733
00:36:20,719 --> 00:36:21,880
Speaker 1: an appreciation for it.

734
00:36:21,920 --> 00:36:25,279
Speaker 2: I think because of my background in neuro and just

735
00:36:25,320 --> 00:36:27,520
Speaker 2: in college, the coach that I had was he was

736
00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:30,880
Speaker 2: very into like neuro and psychology in the intersection of

737
00:36:30,920 --> 00:36:34,960
Speaker 2: that with sports, and first and foremost, like, my appreciation

738
00:36:35,239 --> 00:36:41,680
Speaker 2: for rest and sleep cannot be understated truly, and it

739
00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:43,319
Speaker 2: is a difference maker for me.

740
00:36:43,880 --> 00:36:45,239
Speaker 1: I truly believe that.

741
00:36:45,320 --> 00:36:48,880
Speaker 2: I think sleep is like the biggest performance enhancer like

742
00:36:48,920 --> 00:36:54,040
Speaker 2: you can have. And also like regulating your stress at

743
00:36:54,080 --> 00:36:57,440
Speaker 2: a holistic level, like your lifestyle has to be conducive

744
00:36:57,440 --> 00:37:00,520
Speaker 2: to running. You have to be able to to just

745
00:37:00,840 --> 00:37:02,960
Speaker 2: feel calm at the end of the day when it's

746
00:37:02,960 --> 00:37:05,439
Speaker 2: all said and done, like your life cannot be stressing about.

747
00:37:05,440 --> 00:37:06,880
Speaker 2: And that's part of why having a great partner is

748
00:37:06,880 --> 00:37:10,640
Speaker 2: so important, like someone who is grounding you, making sure

749
00:37:10,640 --> 00:37:13,800
Speaker 2: that when all said and done, like you are feeling

750
00:37:13,960 --> 00:37:16,960
Speaker 2: good and ready for practice. I mean that's the key

751
00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:21,120
Speaker 2: for it. And also just on the track, how do

752
00:37:21,160 --> 00:37:24,359
Speaker 2: you regulate your stress levels? For me, I do a

753
00:37:24,440 --> 00:37:28,560
Speaker 2: lot of breathwork, like breathing meditation. I do it during

754
00:37:28,560 --> 00:37:30,319
Speaker 2: warm ups, I do it when I wake up in

755
00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:33,480
Speaker 2: the morning. I do it for pre me for a competition,

756
00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:35,799
Speaker 2: and it just it really works for me.

757
00:37:35,960 --> 00:37:36,640
Speaker 3: Yeah.

758
00:37:37,280 --> 00:37:41,560
Speaker 4: On that note, how would you say that your understanding

759
00:37:41,800 --> 00:37:48,000
Speaker 4: of neuroplasticity influences how you visualize because that visualization component

760
00:37:48,320 --> 00:37:51,680
Speaker 4: is such a massive part of the success that you

761
00:37:51,760 --> 00:37:52,359
Speaker 4: see on the truck.

762
00:37:52,440 --> 00:37:54,760
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's so big.

763
00:37:55,000 --> 00:38:01,040
Speaker 2: I mean when you're visualizing, you're actually creating these neural pathways,

764
00:38:01,320 --> 00:38:06,959
Speaker 2: like your brain cannot fully understand when you're visualizing something

765
00:38:07,040 --> 00:38:10,600
Speaker 2: versus it actually happening, Like those synaptic connections are still happening.

766
00:38:10,960 --> 00:38:15,120
Speaker 2: And I also think to that point, the visualization is

767
00:38:15,200 --> 00:38:20,240
Speaker 2: more about if you're emotionally invested, right, If you're emotionally

768
00:38:20,239 --> 00:38:22,279
Speaker 2: invested and you can get really specific in your head.

769
00:38:22,360 --> 00:38:24,320
Speaker 2: So like let's go back to my Paris race for example,

770
00:38:24,360 --> 00:38:26,640
Speaker 2: when I imagined winning that gold medal, I was very

771
00:38:26,680 --> 00:38:29,239
Speaker 2: emotionally invested and I knew what the track looked like

772
00:38:29,280 --> 00:38:31,520
Speaker 2: I knew who my competitors were, So I had this

773
00:38:31,719 --> 00:38:35,200
Speaker 2: very specific image in my head that I could repeat

774
00:38:35,239 --> 00:38:37,120
Speaker 2: over and over and over again that I was very

775
00:38:37,160 --> 00:38:40,600
Speaker 2: passionate about. And it's the quality of that visualization that

776
00:38:40,640 --> 00:38:43,960
Speaker 2: I think helped so much. It's not just about repeating

777
00:38:43,960 --> 00:38:46,440
Speaker 2: it to yourself over and over again and not really

778
00:38:46,480 --> 00:38:50,120
Speaker 2: believing it or being into it. It's about actually giving

779
00:38:50,120 --> 00:38:53,080
Speaker 2: your brain those reps, because, like I said, your brain

780
00:38:53,160 --> 00:38:56,320
Speaker 2: is not going It cannot fully understand that it's not happening.

781
00:38:56,360 --> 00:38:58,520
Speaker 2: All it knows is that it's learning something over and

782
00:38:58,520 --> 00:39:02,200
Speaker 2: over again. Of course, actually doing it helps more. But

783
00:39:03,320 --> 00:39:06,040
Speaker 2: once you've or once you've made those synaptic connections in

784
00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:08,840
Speaker 2: your brain, actually doing it becomes so much easier.

785
00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:12,320
Speaker 4: Yeah, And what I'm hearing you say is that the specificity,

786
00:39:13,239 --> 00:39:18,680
Speaker 4: the specificity specificity makes a really big difference. So you're

787
00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:22,040
Speaker 4: not only thinking, Okay, I know that the track is purple.

788
00:39:22,719 --> 00:39:24,959
Speaker 4: You're thinking, I know who's going to be on my left,

789
00:39:24,960 --> 00:39:26,319
Speaker 4: and I know who's going to be on that right,

790
00:39:26,360 --> 00:39:27,919
Speaker 4: and I know what spikes I'm going to be wearing,

791
00:39:27,920 --> 00:39:29,480
Speaker 4: and I know that's sure it I'm going to be wearing.

792
00:39:29,280 --> 00:39:31,600
Speaker 2: You're imagining every line, like every cue that I'll take

793
00:39:31,600 --> 00:39:32,879
Speaker 2: on the track, I'm going to get to this point

794
00:39:32,920 --> 00:39:34,319
Speaker 2: in the track, and I'm going to do this. You're

795
00:39:34,360 --> 00:39:36,879
Speaker 2: thinking of all those little things over and over again,

796
00:39:36,920 --> 00:39:37,840
Speaker 2: like it's an exercise.

797
00:39:37,920 --> 00:39:38,600
Speaker 1: Yeah, and it is.

798
00:39:38,920 --> 00:39:41,959
Speaker 2: And that's how it was a really powerful visualization tool.

799
00:39:42,480 --> 00:39:44,200
Speaker 2: I also did the you know, of course, you're writing

800
00:39:44,239 --> 00:39:46,359
Speaker 2: it down over and over again, but I think that

801
00:39:46,480 --> 00:39:49,840
Speaker 2: really really trains like the emotional part of it too, Yeah,

802
00:39:50,080 --> 00:39:52,120
Speaker 2: Like you get really deep into it. And when I

803
00:39:52,120 --> 00:39:54,520
Speaker 2: wrote it down over and over and over again, I

804
00:39:54,680 --> 00:39:57,480
Speaker 2: was so emotional and so passionate about it, and then

805
00:39:57,480 --> 00:40:00,520
Speaker 2: the actual visualization became even more powerful and star and.

806
00:40:00,480 --> 00:40:04,360
Speaker 4: When you're on the track, you're not even thinking about

807
00:40:04,400 --> 00:40:07,640
Speaker 4: what you're doing, Yeah, because you've spent so much time

808
00:40:08,040 --> 00:40:11,759
Speaker 4: visualizing and practicing so that when you get there you

809
00:40:11,800 --> 00:40:12,399
Speaker 4: can turn off.

810
00:40:12,440 --> 00:40:12,879
Speaker 3: Is that right?

811
00:40:12,920 --> 00:40:16,319
Speaker 2: Exactly exactly? And that's that's the beauty of neuroplasticity. And

812
00:40:16,320 --> 00:40:20,279
Speaker 2: and of course muscle memory is like we train so

813
00:40:20,480 --> 00:40:23,440
Speaker 2: much for that moment that it just it has to

814
00:40:23,480 --> 00:40:25,160
Speaker 2: be there, and you have to be able to enter

815
00:40:25,239 --> 00:40:26,759
Speaker 2: that flow state. You have to be able to not

816
00:40:26,880 --> 00:40:29,719
Speaker 2: worry about what you're going to do, you just you

817
00:40:29,800 --> 00:40:30,319
Speaker 2: just do it.

818
00:40:30,600 --> 00:40:33,600
Speaker 1: You've trained your your mind to do it. The brain,

819
00:40:33,680 --> 00:40:36,440
Speaker 1: the nervous system is just so powerful. It's it's a

820
00:40:36,480 --> 00:40:37,160
Speaker 1: beautiful thing.

821
00:40:37,280 --> 00:40:38,759
Speaker 2: But if you can figure out how to train it

822
00:40:38,760 --> 00:40:41,000
Speaker 2: to your advantage, you definitely have a lug up.

823
00:40:41,120 --> 00:40:42,000
Speaker 3: Isn't it wild though?

824
00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:44,000
Speaker 4: Because everyone asks like, what are you thinking on the

825
00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:44,640
Speaker 4: starting box?

826
00:40:46,160 --> 00:40:48,120
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean they do ask that a lot. So

827
00:40:48,719 --> 00:40:51,399
Speaker 2: for me, bring me through. I'm ready before I get there.

828
00:40:51,480 --> 00:40:53,680
Speaker 2: You know, there's so many like intense moments. You're in

829
00:40:53,680 --> 00:40:55,440
Speaker 2: the call room, and the call room is like, yo,

830
00:40:55,520 --> 00:40:57,400
Speaker 2: can we talk about the clicks? The call room is

831
00:40:57,520 --> 00:41:01,719
Speaker 2: like the most intense place. It's it's like my personal hell.

832
00:41:02,120 --> 00:41:05,879
Speaker 2: Like you're in a enclosed environment with all of your competitors.

833
00:41:05,960 --> 00:41:08,600
Speaker 1: Yeah, like all of them. You're like literally like shoulders

834
00:41:08,600 --> 00:41:09,239
Speaker 1: to shoulder with them.

835
00:41:09,320 --> 00:41:11,040
Speaker 4: And for those that don't know, so the call room

836
00:41:11,080 --> 00:41:12,440
Speaker 4: is essentially a holding pen.

837
00:41:12,560 --> 00:41:12,759
Speaker 3: Yeah.

838
00:41:12,760 --> 00:41:14,919
Speaker 4: They put the athletes in before they go out onto

839
00:41:14,960 --> 00:41:16,640
Speaker 4: the truck. Yes, so this is your personal this.

840
00:41:16,600 --> 00:41:19,120
Speaker 2: Is and of course it is right and like you

841
00:41:19,200 --> 00:41:21,120
Speaker 2: might even be friends with these people, but you're like,

842
00:41:21,200 --> 00:41:23,560
Speaker 2: if you're trying to win an important race, like the Olympics.

843
00:41:23,560 --> 00:41:25,640
Speaker 2: You don't want to just be like talking and hanging

844
00:41:25,680 --> 00:41:27,680
Speaker 2: out with them like I was in the call room

845
00:41:27,800 --> 00:41:30,480
Speaker 2: just shoulder to shoulder with Julian Alfred. We're just sitting

846
00:41:30,480 --> 00:41:32,719
Speaker 2: there and it's between the two of us for that

847
00:41:32,760 --> 00:41:35,279
Speaker 2: metal And a lot of people will use it as

848
00:41:35,280 --> 00:41:37,400
Speaker 2: a time to get really amped up, like there's some

849
00:41:37,400 --> 00:41:40,319
Speaker 2: athletes who are like shouting, yelling, some are doing warm ups.

850
00:41:40,640 --> 00:41:42,440
Speaker 2: I use it as a time to be really meditative,

851
00:41:42,480 --> 00:41:44,520
Speaker 2: and I'm like doing the breath work and I'm I'm

852
00:41:44,520 --> 00:41:48,319
Speaker 2: calling calming my nervous system. And then you they tell

853
00:41:48,360 --> 00:41:50,359
Speaker 2: you to get up, you start walking out to the track.

854
00:41:50,440 --> 00:41:53,040
Speaker 2: I'm still kind of in that calming mode. It's not

855
00:41:53,160 --> 00:41:58,399
Speaker 2: until I think I actually set my blocks, come back

856
00:41:58,480 --> 00:42:01,760
Speaker 2: and stand behind them that I am like getting myself

857
00:42:01,800 --> 00:42:05,160
Speaker 2: a little more amped up. I just like it's a

858
00:42:05,200 --> 00:42:08,120
Speaker 2: preservation of energy thing. But the first thing I think

859
00:42:08,160 --> 00:42:11,040
Speaker 2: about is one queue. I think about one queue that

860
00:42:11,040 --> 00:42:13,360
Speaker 2: I'm going to focus on, and depending on where I

861
00:42:13,400 --> 00:42:15,359
Speaker 2: am in my season, what I've been doing, well, that's

862
00:42:15,400 --> 00:42:19,400
Speaker 2: what I choose. Sometimes it's push really hard to that

863
00:42:19,440 --> 00:42:21,840
Speaker 2: point on the track, and at Paris Olympics, that's what

864
00:42:21,840 --> 00:42:25,239
Speaker 2: it was I had visualized over and over again this

865
00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:27,799
Speaker 2: certain mark on the track. It was about twenty meters out,

866
00:42:28,160 --> 00:42:30,399
Speaker 2: and I imagined over and over again, how hard I'm

867
00:42:30,400 --> 00:42:32,640
Speaker 2: going to push to that point? Because I knew who

868
00:42:32,640 --> 00:42:34,800
Speaker 2: my competitors, and I knew they had really good starts

869
00:42:34,800 --> 00:42:37,239
Speaker 2: and they were powerful runners. They were more like one

870
00:42:37,320 --> 00:42:39,800
Speaker 2: hundred two hundred people and less two hundred four hundred people.

871
00:42:40,400 --> 00:42:42,160
Speaker 1: So that was it.

872
00:42:42,239 --> 00:42:43,920
Speaker 2: But then when I get in the block, I'm not

873
00:42:44,000 --> 00:42:46,560
Speaker 2: thinking that. When I'm in the block, all I'm thinking

874
00:42:46,680 --> 00:42:49,760
Speaker 2: is react to the gun, and I've already told myself

875
00:42:49,800 --> 00:42:51,719
Speaker 2: what I'm going to do, so that's yeah, you know,

876
00:42:51,760 --> 00:42:54,040
Speaker 2: that's all you focus on, and then from there just

877
00:42:54,040 --> 00:42:55,480
Speaker 2: flow state and run do it you know how to

878
00:42:55,520 --> 00:43:13,759
Speaker 2: do and compete.

879
00:43:14,160 --> 00:43:17,960
Speaker 4: We talked earlier about how it felt for you to

880
00:43:18,160 --> 00:43:22,319
Speaker 4: manage maybe the expectations of others. How have you been

881
00:43:22,400 --> 00:43:27,399
Speaker 4: able to really claim the joy that is in your

882
00:43:27,520 --> 00:43:31,799
Speaker 4: process in getting maybe a bronze or a silver when

883
00:43:31,840 --> 00:43:34,879
Speaker 4: others expected you to get gold. How have you been

884
00:43:34,960 --> 00:43:38,360
Speaker 4: able to really claim your joy as your own and

885
00:43:38,400 --> 00:43:40,400
Speaker 4: step forward in your own path instead of being so

886
00:43:40,480 --> 00:43:42,040
Speaker 4: worried about what everybody else has going on.

887
00:43:42,120 --> 00:43:45,440
Speaker 2: That's such a good question. I think for me, it

888
00:43:45,480 --> 00:43:52,200
Speaker 2: comes down to being innately adaptable, like being okay with

889
00:43:52,400 --> 00:43:56,200
Speaker 2: whatever this track and field career throws at me. I'm

890
00:43:56,360 --> 00:43:59,040
Speaker 2: okay with it, like the Sun's going to come up

891
00:43:59,080 --> 00:44:01,600
Speaker 2: tomorrow and I'm going to continue to do what I

892
00:44:01,640 --> 00:44:04,520
Speaker 2: love and it's going to be fine. And that that

893
00:44:04,680 --> 00:44:09,279
Speaker 2: is truly the root of it. When I think about Tokyo. Yeah,

894
00:44:09,320 --> 00:44:12,280
Speaker 2: and everyone wanted me to win gold, or they expected

895
00:44:12,320 --> 00:44:16,720
Speaker 2: me to win gold, and I came out with the bronze.

896
00:44:16,960 --> 00:44:18,480
Speaker 1: I was just happy to get bronze.

897
00:44:18,520 --> 00:44:21,200
Speaker 2: I said, I that's what I accomplished something, and I

898
00:44:21,320 --> 00:44:24,360
Speaker 2: was so happy with it. And with our relay we

899
00:44:24,440 --> 00:44:26,920
Speaker 2: got silver. I'm sure a lot of people expected the

900
00:44:26,960 --> 00:44:32,840
Speaker 2: four by one to get gold. Accept you accept the

901
00:44:32,880 --> 00:44:36,640
Speaker 2: outcome and you move forward and you you hopefully just

902
00:44:36,719 --> 00:44:39,399
Speaker 2: do better or not, and that's okay. But as long

903
00:44:39,440 --> 00:44:41,759
Speaker 2: as you are becoming a better athlete, as long as

904
00:44:41,800 --> 00:44:45,799
Speaker 2: you're having fun with it, that's that's it. But it's

905
00:44:45,800 --> 00:44:51,399
Speaker 2: like we were talking about before, like if if you're

906
00:44:51,440 --> 00:45:05,160
Speaker 2: so focused on the outcome and what everybody else wants.

907
00:45:01,600 --> 00:45:04,000
Speaker 1: You're in for a really long career. You're just in

908
00:45:04,040 --> 00:45:05,280
Speaker 1: for a really long, hard career.

909
00:45:05,600 --> 00:45:07,239
Speaker 3: What does Gabby want now?

910
00:45:08,600 --> 00:45:10,960
Speaker 2: Of course you want to say, you know, you want

911
00:45:10,960 --> 00:45:15,799
Speaker 2: more metals. I will say this, I really really do

912
00:45:16,120 --> 00:45:17,160
Speaker 2: want to be a.

913
00:45:17,120 --> 00:45:18,720
Speaker 1: Part of the LA twenty eighteen.

914
00:45:19,640 --> 00:45:24,000
Speaker 2: And that might be the first time that I have

915
00:45:24,160 --> 00:45:28,680
Speaker 2: actually wanted something that I can't fully control, right, Like,

916
00:45:28,719 --> 00:45:30,319
Speaker 2: I really do want to be a part of that.

917
00:45:30,440 --> 00:45:34,360
Speaker 2: So I'm going to have to manage that dream and

918
00:45:34,400 --> 00:45:36,319
Speaker 2: expectation to keep that in bay and remember like what

919
00:45:36,320 --> 00:45:38,719
Speaker 2: I've been doing to get myself to this point, which

920
00:45:38,760 --> 00:45:42,000
Speaker 2: is not focusing on that. I can't focus on being

921
00:45:42,040 --> 00:45:44,040
Speaker 2: on the Olympic team because that's out of my control.

922
00:45:44,280 --> 00:45:46,080
Speaker 2: I don't know what my other competitors are going to do.

923
00:45:46,440 --> 00:45:48,600
Speaker 2: I don't know if they're all going to run world records,

924
00:45:48,600 --> 00:45:49,640
Speaker 2: that Olympic trials that to year.

925
00:45:49,680 --> 00:45:52,479
Speaker 1: I don't know. So what I want.

926
00:45:54,600 --> 00:45:57,200
Speaker 4: When you think about being happy, and you like close

927
00:45:57,239 --> 00:45:59,120
Speaker 4: your eyes and you're like thinking about, like, what is

928
00:45:59,160 --> 00:46:03,400
Speaker 4: my happiest life look like in the next two years,

929
00:46:04,120 --> 00:46:05,719
Speaker 4: what comes to the forefront of.

930
00:46:05,680 --> 00:46:10,480
Speaker 2: That, Well, forefront becomes my wedding in my marriage. I'm

931
00:46:10,520 --> 00:46:15,400
Speaker 2: so excited about that. I think about being on the

932
00:46:15,440 --> 00:46:18,160
Speaker 2: track every day with my friends and my teammates whom

933
00:46:18,160 --> 00:46:21,120
Speaker 2: I love and making memories. We're in the trenches together

934
00:46:21,200 --> 00:46:23,040
Speaker 2: and we have so much fun every day at practice,

935
00:46:23,080 --> 00:46:26,719
Speaker 2: and those relationships, I mean, I really really treasure it's

936
00:46:26,719 --> 00:46:29,160
Speaker 2: like spending time with them and my coach. I think

937
00:46:29,200 --> 00:46:31,240
Speaker 2: about so many things that I conquer on the track.

938
00:46:31,640 --> 00:46:36,319
Speaker 2: Track and field is so beautiful because it is such

939
00:46:36,360 --> 00:46:39,120
Speaker 2: a vulnerable sport and you put yourself out there on

940
00:46:39,160 --> 00:46:41,520
Speaker 2: the track and you fail over and over again, and

941
00:46:41,560 --> 00:46:44,480
Speaker 2: you overcome that and you get better every day, and

942
00:46:45,040 --> 00:46:47,400
Speaker 2: it's so objective. You can truly see it over the

943
00:46:47,440 --> 00:46:50,440
Speaker 2: course of a season, over the course of days, weeks, months, years,

944
00:46:50,920 --> 00:46:54,160
Speaker 2: and I just I'm in love with that. And I

945
00:46:54,280 --> 00:46:56,160
Speaker 2: used to not care about it when I was younger,

946
00:46:56,200 --> 00:46:57,759
Speaker 2: and I was like, oh my god, track is so hard.

947
00:46:57,800 --> 00:47:02,000
Speaker 2: But now I've really come to appreciate that so much.

948
00:47:02,719 --> 00:47:04,879
Speaker 2: I want to learn more about the sport. I want

949
00:47:04,880 --> 00:47:07,880
Speaker 2: to learn more about how I can get better, all

950
00:47:07,880 --> 00:47:12,480
Speaker 2: of the small little details about training. I just want

951
00:47:12,480 --> 00:47:15,520
Speaker 2: to be such a master of the sport, and I

952
00:47:15,560 --> 00:47:17,560
Speaker 2: want to continue to see what I can do to

953
00:47:17,560 --> 00:47:20,000
Speaker 2: make an impact off the track. Like I'm really excited

954
00:47:20,000 --> 00:47:23,000
Speaker 2: about that. I'm kind of a vet in the sport.

955
00:47:23,040 --> 00:47:25,319
Speaker 2: Now I'm twenty nine, which is not old at all,

956
00:47:25,360 --> 00:47:27,160
Speaker 2: but in track and field, I mean everyone calls me

957
00:47:27,200 --> 00:47:30,520
Speaker 2: like elder gappy. Now, oh my gosh, I know I

958
00:47:30,560 --> 00:47:33,080
Speaker 2: just turned twenty nine. I'm like, oh my gosh. Even

959
00:47:33,120 --> 00:47:36,520
Speaker 2: just thinking ahead about like how I can impact people

960
00:47:36,560 --> 00:47:38,600
Speaker 2: off the track too, and how I can mentor like

961
00:47:38,640 --> 00:47:41,359
Speaker 2: the athletes, the young girls who are coming up now,

962
00:47:41,760 --> 00:47:45,920
Speaker 2: and just create like this blueprint for them, like creating

963
00:47:45,960 --> 00:47:48,399
Speaker 2: a career. We go into the sport, like we talked

964
00:47:48,400 --> 00:47:50,759
Speaker 2: about at the beginning of the podcast, like not knowing

965
00:47:50,760 --> 00:47:53,000
Speaker 2: what we're getting into. You're just on the track. People

966
00:47:53,000 --> 00:47:55,000
Speaker 2: are telling you go run, go run, go run fast.

967
00:47:55,239 --> 00:47:57,640
Speaker 2: If you don't run fast, you're done. If you do

968
00:47:57,719 --> 00:48:02,640
Speaker 2: run faster, that's all you hear. It's about, Okay, how

969
00:48:02,640 --> 00:48:04,839
Speaker 2: can we change that. It's about running fast, of course,

970
00:48:04,880 --> 00:48:07,120
Speaker 2: It's about being a great athlete, of course, but it's

971
00:48:07,160 --> 00:48:10,840
Speaker 2: about capitalizing on opportunities, creating your own business, your own brand,

972
00:48:10,960 --> 00:48:13,040
Speaker 2: leaving the sport better than you found it. I'm really

973
00:48:13,040 --> 00:48:16,279
Speaker 2: excited to see what I can do with that too.

974
00:48:16,680 --> 00:48:21,040
Speaker 4: So special to say I am down to be the blueprint,

975
00:48:21,600 --> 00:48:23,760
Speaker 4: Like I am down to do the work and delay

976
00:48:23,800 --> 00:48:27,360
Speaker 4: the foundation so that when the next generation of athletes

977
00:48:27,440 --> 00:48:31,239
Speaker 4: get into this place, they have an idea of maybe

978
00:48:31,239 --> 00:48:32,240
Speaker 4: what it could look.

979
00:48:32,120 --> 00:48:34,160
Speaker 1: Yes, what it could and what it should look like.

980
00:48:34,320 --> 00:48:36,239
Speaker 2: And we are business owners at the end of the day,

981
00:48:36,280 --> 00:48:39,879
Speaker 2: athletes are We own our own business. We are running it.

982
00:48:39,920 --> 00:48:41,960
Speaker 2: A lot of times people get it twisted, but that's

983
00:48:42,040 --> 00:48:44,719
Speaker 2: what it is. And now we have such an opportunity,

984
00:48:44,760 --> 00:48:47,320
Speaker 2: and we have so many other athletes, especially female athletes

985
00:48:47,360 --> 00:48:49,799
Speaker 2: to look up to, who are doing that currently in

986
00:48:49,840 --> 00:48:52,360
Speaker 2: their own sports. We see them everywhere, especially with the

987
00:48:52,440 --> 00:48:56,080
Speaker 2: rise of social media. Like, the possibilities are endless. Now

988
00:48:56,600 --> 00:49:01,239
Speaker 2: you can do so much with your career and you

989
00:49:01,280 --> 00:49:04,919
Speaker 2: don't have to just kind of be pigeonholed and made

990
00:49:04,920 --> 00:49:07,560
Speaker 2: to feel like if you're not winning every single race,

991
00:49:07,640 --> 00:49:11,400
Speaker 2: like you're worthless, because that's that's just what we're told,

992
00:49:11,800 --> 00:49:12,239
Speaker 2: you know it is.

993
00:49:12,280 --> 00:49:14,880
Speaker 4: It's what we're told. So yeah, it's wild to say.

994
00:49:15,080 --> 00:49:18,280
Speaker 4: You know, I'm twenty nine now, Yeah, birthday cake of choice,

995
00:49:18,920 --> 00:49:21,239
Speaker 4: chocolate period. Yeah, I'm a chocolate girl.

996
00:49:21,440 --> 00:49:22,000
Speaker 1: I love it.

997
00:49:23,360 --> 00:49:25,640
Speaker 4: I know that when your birthday just passed at the

998
00:49:25,680 --> 00:49:28,960
Speaker 4: top of December, you shared a photo of you running again.

999
00:49:29,800 --> 00:49:32,640
Speaker 3: Does that excite you to be able to bring this back.

1000
00:49:32,840 --> 00:49:35,759
Speaker 4: And I think it was like, wasn't it like you

1001
00:49:35,800 --> 00:49:37,080
Speaker 4: were doing a stride or something.

1002
00:49:37,160 --> 00:49:39,279
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, that was my birth Yeah.

1003
00:49:39,400 --> 00:49:43,319
Speaker 4: I'm like, I'm an avid follower of Dabby Thomas and

1004
00:49:43,560 --> 00:49:45,319
Speaker 4: it's like you're like, hey, I'm still here.

1005
00:49:45,520 --> 00:49:48,160
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm still running on I think it's really I

1006
00:49:48,520 --> 00:49:49,880
Speaker 2: was really happy to take a little bit of a

1007
00:49:49,880 --> 00:49:51,759
Speaker 2: social media break. I will say I was having a

1008
00:49:51,760 --> 00:49:54,319
Speaker 2: lot of fun on it for a while, but oh

1009
00:49:54,360 --> 00:49:55,960
Speaker 2: my gosh, you don't realize how much it.

1010
00:49:55,920 --> 00:49:59,120
Speaker 1: Creeps in on your life. Dude. It's crazy. We can

1011
00:49:59,160 --> 00:49:59,920
Speaker 1: talk about that forever.

1012
00:50:00,040 --> 00:50:02,839
Speaker 2: But yeah, I had a nice break and where and

1013
00:50:02,880 --> 00:50:05,000
Speaker 2: now I'm just even still kind of like post and go,

1014
00:50:05,400 --> 00:50:07,600
Speaker 2: which is it's just reminding you know, I'm still here.

1015
00:50:07,640 --> 00:50:10,240
Speaker 2: It's all good, you know, keeping And I have actually

1016
00:50:10,280 --> 00:50:11,440
Speaker 2: really loved being on Strava.

1017
00:50:11,600 --> 00:50:13,879
Speaker 1: Not gonna lie. I'm on like my Strava game now,

1018
00:50:14,239 --> 00:50:15,360
Speaker 1: so hopefully.

1019
00:50:15,160 --> 00:50:16,680
Speaker 3: Well that's because you're running more than a mile.

1020
00:50:18,280 --> 00:50:19,120
Speaker 1: Well I cut that out.

1021
00:50:19,200 --> 00:50:21,880
Speaker 3: That was like, You're like, that was just like I

1022
00:50:21,920 --> 00:50:22,440
Speaker 3: was dabbling.

1023
00:50:22,520 --> 00:50:23,759
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was like dabbling a little bit.

1024
00:50:23,840 --> 00:50:24,960
Speaker 3: I just wanted to see out.

1025
00:50:25,800 --> 00:50:30,040
Speaker 1: Okay, two miles. It once crazy world, that was I

1026
00:50:30,120 --> 00:50:31,759
Speaker 1: have to go run a mile. Actually right after this,

1027
00:50:31,840 --> 00:50:32,400
Speaker 1: I'll let you know how.

1028
00:50:32,400 --> 00:50:34,040
Speaker 3: It's just a mile. She's just.

1029
00:50:35,520 --> 00:50:38,640
Speaker 2: Heart is already getting up thinking about it. But yeah, no,

1030
00:50:38,760 --> 00:50:41,400
Speaker 2: it's I Yeah, I'm back in the training mode.

1031
00:50:41,640 --> 00:50:43,440
Speaker 1: It's fun. Yeah posting about it.

1032
00:50:43,640 --> 00:50:44,160
Speaker 3: Yeah.

1033
00:50:44,480 --> 00:50:48,920
Speaker 4: You mentioned being a business owner, each individual athlete really

1034
00:50:48,960 --> 00:50:53,120
Speaker 4: controlling that. You yourself very involved in athlos as an athlete

1035
00:50:53,200 --> 00:50:56,479
Speaker 4: part owner right now. How has it felt for you

1036
00:50:56,840 --> 00:51:01,359
Speaker 4: to really dive into that side of yourself something that

1037
00:51:01,480 --> 00:51:04,520
Speaker 4: I'm sure when you started in this industry you never

1038
00:51:04,600 --> 00:51:08,040
Speaker 4: expected to be part owner of not only an event,

1039
00:51:08,120 --> 00:51:09,560
Speaker 4: but soon to be a league.

1040
00:51:09,719 --> 00:51:11,840
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, it is. It's surreal.

1041
00:51:12,080 --> 00:51:16,279
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's surreal, and I'm so inspired by everyone who

1042
00:51:16,360 --> 00:51:18,920
Speaker 2: has done it before me. I'm inspired by even the

1043
00:51:19,000 --> 00:51:21,560
Speaker 2: ladies that I work with, Tara and Shakerri and working

1044
00:51:21,560 --> 00:51:26,520
Speaker 2: with Alexis. It's just it's so special and we have

1045
00:51:26,560 --> 00:51:31,319
Speaker 2: a clear path forward. The sport is in such a

1046
00:51:31,320 --> 00:51:34,799
Speaker 2: good place right now, and I really think it will

1047
00:51:34,800 --> 00:51:38,560
Speaker 2: be successful and make a difference and give people in

1048
00:51:38,640 --> 00:51:39,640
Speaker 2: our sport something.

1049
00:51:39,360 --> 00:51:40,080
Speaker 1: To look forward to.

1050
00:51:40,920 --> 00:51:44,600
Speaker 2: I like going back to how I got my start

1051
00:51:45,440 --> 00:51:47,760
Speaker 2: in track and field. I remember even being in college

1052
00:51:47,760 --> 00:51:50,000
Speaker 2: at Harvard and people asking about would you run after

1053
00:51:50,040 --> 00:51:53,120
Speaker 2: college and my response was, you can't be a professional athlete,

1054
00:51:53,160 --> 00:51:54,040
Speaker 2: Like you can't do it.

1055
00:51:54,080 --> 00:51:54,640
Speaker 1: There's no money.

1056
00:51:54,640 --> 00:51:56,360
Speaker 2: You might get twenty thousand dollars a year like that

1057
00:51:56,400 --> 00:51:58,840
Speaker 2: would be max And I was like, that's ridiculous, Like

1058
00:51:58,880 --> 00:52:02,600
Speaker 2: I'm not doing that, And I just I didn't see it.

1059
00:52:03,080 --> 00:52:06,480
Speaker 2: You know, people the athletes would run at the Olympics,

1060
00:52:06,480 --> 00:52:08,960
Speaker 2: and that's all I would see of them, And I

1061
00:52:09,040 --> 00:52:11,719
Speaker 2: knew who Alison Felix was, I knew who Sonya Richards was,

1062
00:52:12,160 --> 00:52:15,680
Speaker 2: crimely to Jetter, but I just had this understanding that

1063
00:52:15,800 --> 00:52:17,680
Speaker 2: you know, they were just different, right, they were just

1064
00:52:17,719 --> 00:52:20,760
Speaker 2: like those were the Olympic stars. And there's no place

1065
00:52:20,840 --> 00:52:24,640
Speaker 2: for professional track runners to have a career, and athlos

1066
00:52:24,680 --> 00:52:27,920
Speaker 2: will really really change that you don't have. I want

1067
00:52:27,920 --> 00:52:30,120
Speaker 2: it to be a situation where you don't have to

1068
00:52:30,160 --> 00:52:34,160
Speaker 2: be this avid like person in the track and field

1069
00:52:34,239 --> 00:52:36,799
Speaker 2: world to understand that there is a career in track

1070
00:52:36,800 --> 00:52:39,080
Speaker 2: and field and you can be a professional runner. Because

1071
00:52:39,160 --> 00:52:41,360
Speaker 2: running is also just one of the most successible sports

1072
00:52:41,400 --> 00:52:43,960
Speaker 2: out there. It provides so many opportunities for people who

1073
00:52:44,000 --> 00:52:47,400
Speaker 2: otherwise would not have opportunities to get scholarship. It's not

1074
00:52:47,400 --> 00:52:49,840
Speaker 2: an expensive sport to get into. So it's so important

1075
00:52:49,880 --> 00:52:52,000
Speaker 2: that there is a path forward for people who want

1076
00:52:52,000 --> 00:52:56,040
Speaker 2: to run and athlos is that like they'll see it.

1077
00:52:56,040 --> 00:52:57,880
Speaker 2: It's in your face. You can you can do it.

1078
00:52:58,000 --> 00:53:00,680
Speaker 2: You see us doing it. We're doing it, we're successful,

1079
00:53:01,120 --> 00:53:03,839
Speaker 2: we're having a good time. And that's what it is.

1080
00:53:04,200 --> 00:53:06,239
Speaker 2: And that makes me so happy. Like if I were

1081
00:53:06,320 --> 00:53:09,120
Speaker 2: getting into track and field and I saw that, I

1082
00:53:09,120 --> 00:53:12,160
Speaker 2: would aspire to be that, especially as a little girl.

1083
00:53:12,200 --> 00:53:14,640
Speaker 2: I don't know, Like I like little boys. They have

1084
00:53:14,760 --> 00:53:17,520
Speaker 2: that they all of them. They want to grow up

1085
00:53:17,560 --> 00:53:19,440
Speaker 2: in the NFL or be in the NBA or in

1086
00:53:19,480 --> 00:53:22,560
Speaker 2: the MLB, and that's what that's that's normal and I

1087
00:53:22,600 --> 00:53:24,560
Speaker 2: want that to be normal for girls too, because sports

1088
00:53:24,560 --> 00:53:26,520
Speaker 2: are so powerful and they're so good for us.

1089
00:53:27,000 --> 00:53:31,200
Speaker 4: Sports really help contribute to the person that you've become.

1090
00:53:31,719 --> 00:53:34,600
Speaker 4: And so on that note, what would you say has

1091
00:53:34,680 --> 00:53:39,920
Speaker 4: been the most crucial transferable skill that you've gained from

1092
00:53:39,960 --> 00:53:43,560
Speaker 4: this hyper focused, goal oriented world.

1093
00:53:43,719 --> 00:53:46,640
Speaker 1: Resilience of elite track resilience. Yeah, resilience.

1094
00:53:47,040 --> 00:53:49,920
Speaker 2: It's it's incredible to be able to fall and get

1095
00:53:49,960 --> 00:53:55,400
Speaker 2: back up again. Like no pun intended is just invaluable.

1096
00:53:56,360 --> 00:54:00,680
Speaker 2: Like to be able to put yourself out there vulnerable,

1097
00:54:01,040 --> 00:54:04,880
Speaker 2: try fail and come back and do it again and

1098
00:54:04,920 --> 00:54:09,960
Speaker 2: do it better is transferable to anything in life. The

1099
00:54:10,040 --> 00:54:12,399
Speaker 2: most successful people are able to do that. Not letting

1100
00:54:12,440 --> 00:54:14,440
Speaker 2: your ego get in the way, not letting it get

1101
00:54:14,480 --> 00:54:16,840
Speaker 2: you down for too long, just accepting that that is

1102
00:54:16,880 --> 00:54:18,600
Speaker 2: part of a process and part of a journey is

1103
00:54:18,640 --> 00:54:19,280
Speaker 2: so important.

1104
00:54:19,320 --> 00:54:22,920
Speaker 1: And you learn that so early from sports, so early.

1105
00:54:23,200 --> 00:54:25,680
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it sets you up for life and at

1106
00:54:25,719 --> 00:54:28,440
Speaker 2: our level at this scale, like being able to fail

1107
00:54:28,560 --> 00:54:31,279
Speaker 2: in front of the entire world, being able to fail

1108
00:54:31,320 --> 00:54:33,920
Speaker 2: in front of millions of people, Like I can do anything.

1109
00:54:34,560 --> 00:54:35,840
Speaker 1: I can do anything.

1110
00:54:35,960 --> 00:54:38,080
Speaker 2: Yeah, Like I just got my ass kicked in London

1111
00:54:38,080 --> 00:54:40,279
Speaker 2: in front of sixty thousand people. I can do anything now,

1112
00:54:40,640 --> 00:54:43,080
Speaker 2: Like nothing will get me down or stop me.

1113
00:54:43,239 --> 00:54:43,440
Speaker 3: You know.

1114
00:54:43,520 --> 00:54:47,399
Speaker 4: Do you say that you are more resilient than some

1115
00:54:47,480 --> 00:54:53,040
Speaker 4: of your competitions and that's what helps you come back

1116
00:54:53,040 --> 00:54:53,600
Speaker 4: and be so good?

1117
00:54:53,880 --> 00:54:54,040
Speaker 2: I do.

1118
00:54:54,280 --> 00:54:55,640
Speaker 1: I definitely think so.

1119
00:54:55,760 --> 00:54:57,840
Speaker 2: I mean, there are probably some people who are a

1120
00:54:57,880 --> 00:55:01,640
Speaker 2: little more resilient than me totally, but I'm definitely like

1121
00:55:01,760 --> 00:55:05,120
Speaker 2: top point one percent for sure. There's nothing there's nothing

1122
00:55:05,160 --> 00:55:06,680
Speaker 2: that could happen to me in the sport where I'm

1123
00:55:06,719 --> 00:55:08,800
Speaker 2: not going to come back and be okay, like I'll.

1124
00:55:08,600 --> 00:55:12,239
Speaker 3: Be back, I'll be back, to be back. That was like,

1125
00:55:12,360 --> 00:55:14,959
Speaker 3: I have a message for you. I'll be back. Yes,

1126
00:55:15,120 --> 00:55:17,640
Speaker 3: I will be back, but she'll be back as a missus.

1127
00:55:17,760 --> 00:55:23,239
Speaker 4: Yes, yes, looking forward, We've talked about so many sponsors

1128
00:55:23,239 --> 00:55:25,560
Speaker 4: that are in the mix. I'd be super curious to

1129
00:55:25,680 --> 00:55:30,000
Speaker 4: hear a little bit about where you were when you

1130
00:55:30,200 --> 00:55:32,040
Speaker 4: first decided that you were going to be a new

1131
00:55:32,040 --> 00:55:32,800
Speaker 4: balance athlete.

1132
00:55:33,000 --> 00:55:35,880
Speaker 2: Oh, I was still in college and I was I

1133
00:55:35,960 --> 00:55:38,960
Speaker 2: was such a baby. I did not know about how

1134
00:55:39,080 --> 00:55:41,759
Speaker 2: this track stuff work. I did not know that you

1135
00:55:41,760 --> 00:55:44,360
Speaker 2: could sign a professional contract. So when I was a

1136
00:55:44,400 --> 00:55:47,680
Speaker 2: junior in college, I ran really fast, I won NCAA's,

1137
00:55:47,719 --> 00:55:49,879
Speaker 2: I had this great season, but I would just head

1138
00:55:49,960 --> 00:55:54,440
Speaker 2: down focused, didn't go to parties, didn't do stuff. Truthfully,

1139
00:55:54,719 --> 00:55:56,680
Speaker 2: I was going through like a really bad breakup and

1140
00:55:56,719 --> 00:55:58,600
Speaker 2: I was like I don't want to do anything anymore.

1141
00:55:58,640 --> 00:56:00,600
Speaker 2: So I was like just all in on track and

1142
00:56:00,640 --> 00:56:02,799
Speaker 2: I just had this amazing breakout year.

1143
00:56:03,360 --> 00:56:08,000
Speaker 1: And thank you, man, I know, thank you, yeah, thank you.

1144
00:56:08,920 --> 00:56:11,879
Speaker 2: And I guess all these agents were like reaching out

1145
00:56:11,920 --> 00:56:13,919
Speaker 2: to my college coach and I was like, oh, what

1146
00:56:14,000 --> 00:56:15,480
Speaker 2: you can That's when I realized. I was like, you

1147
00:56:15,560 --> 00:56:19,120
Speaker 2: can actually run professionally and make money. This is I

1148
00:56:19,120 --> 00:56:21,880
Speaker 2: couldn't believe it. Yeah, And so I had a couple

1149
00:56:21,880 --> 00:56:26,040
Speaker 2: of offers, and I was so close to signing with

1150
00:56:26,080 --> 00:56:29,000
Speaker 2: the Didos actually because my agent had a relationship with

1151
00:56:29,040 --> 00:56:31,880
Speaker 2: that guy. And then he left for a trip I

1152
00:56:31,880 --> 00:56:34,640
Speaker 2: think to South Africa, and when he came back, New

1153
00:56:34,640 --> 00:56:37,520
Speaker 2: Balance had swooped in and made an offer, and I

1154
00:56:37,640 --> 00:56:41,160
Speaker 2: was so excited because it was just a perfect fit.

1155
00:56:41,239 --> 00:56:43,600
Speaker 2: I was wearing New Balance all through college. I am

1156
00:56:43,600 --> 00:56:45,560
Speaker 2: a Massachusetts native. I was going to say Boston. It

1157
00:56:45,600 --> 00:56:49,719
Speaker 2: was Yeah, it was perfect. And moreover, I love just

1158
00:56:49,719 --> 00:56:53,399
Speaker 2: how they do partnerships. It is a family company and

1159
00:56:53,600 --> 00:56:56,320
Speaker 2: all of their partnerships are based on their own values.

1160
00:56:56,440 --> 00:56:59,520
Speaker 2: They partner with people who they genuinely believe in. Like

1161
00:56:59,560 --> 00:57:02,719
Speaker 2: it's not just a transactional agreement where you know, you

1162
00:57:02,719 --> 00:57:05,279
Speaker 2: go run fast and we pay you. It's like a no,

1163
00:57:05,400 --> 00:57:08,279
Speaker 2: we are partners and we stand for the same thing.

1164
00:57:08,840 --> 00:57:10,000
Speaker 1: And I just really love it.

1165
00:57:10,040 --> 00:57:12,440
Speaker 2: And I am inspired by the other athletes that they

1166
00:57:12,440 --> 00:57:14,120
Speaker 2: signed to, Like, you know, they have Sydney. They have

1167
00:57:14,200 --> 00:57:17,080
Speaker 2: they have Trayvon Vernon, they have Cocoa Goff, Josh Allen,

1168
00:57:17,160 --> 00:57:20,360
Speaker 2: like this, this great roster of athletes who are truly

1169
00:57:20,440 --> 00:57:23,440
Speaker 2: good people, like good humans in their sport and outside

1170
00:57:23,480 --> 00:57:25,480
Speaker 2: of their sport, and that mattered a lot to me.

1171
00:57:26,000 --> 00:57:28,400
Speaker 2: So it was truly a no brainer. Yeah, it was

1172
00:57:28,400 --> 00:57:30,560
Speaker 2: a no brainer. It just was such a perfect fit.

1173
00:57:31,080 --> 00:57:34,680
Speaker 2: And I'm so grateful. I'm just so grateful that that's

1174
00:57:34,680 --> 00:57:36,880
Speaker 2: how it played out. They've been such an incredible partner

1175
00:57:36,960 --> 00:57:40,160
Speaker 2: throughout my entire career. I just can't even imagine it

1176
00:57:40,200 --> 00:57:40,840
Speaker 2: any other way.

1177
00:57:41,040 --> 00:57:43,360
Speaker 4: And it's so special because even going back to before

1178
00:57:43,360 --> 00:57:46,080
Speaker 4: when you were like I wasn't sure what I was

1179
00:57:46,120 --> 00:57:48,160
Speaker 4: going to do with worlds like I had a gut feeling,

1180
00:57:48,160 --> 00:57:50,520
Speaker 4: and you said that, they called and they said you

1181
00:57:50,560 --> 00:57:51,600
Speaker 4: need to do what's good for you.

1182
00:57:51,760 --> 00:57:52,680
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly.

1183
00:57:52,760 --> 00:57:55,040
Speaker 2: That was the first and foremost what was most important.

1184
00:57:55,280 --> 00:57:57,080
Speaker 2: And you were not just a metal count to them, right,

1185
00:57:57,120 --> 00:58:00,360
Speaker 2: We're actual people, were actual partners, and they look headed

1186
00:58:00,400 --> 00:58:03,120
Speaker 2: our just who we are at our What are your

1187
00:58:03,120 --> 00:58:06,040
Speaker 2: long term goals? You know, what does Gabby want? Gabby

1188
00:58:06,040 --> 00:58:07,640
Speaker 2: wants to be in the LA Olympics. So how can

1189
00:58:07,680 --> 00:58:09,920
Speaker 2: we support her there. Yeah, you don't have to run

1190
00:58:09,960 --> 00:58:11,720
Speaker 2: at World Championships, right, and that's what it is. Or

1191
00:58:11,840 --> 00:58:15,720
Speaker 2: just you're a person. We don't want you running through pain.

1192
00:58:15,800 --> 00:58:17,560
Speaker 2: We don't want you to come out of this with

1193
00:58:17,560 --> 00:58:20,320
Speaker 2: the ruptured achilles and being just heartbroken.

1194
00:58:20,400 --> 00:58:21,440
Speaker 1: Like they don't want that.

1195
00:58:21,560 --> 00:58:24,360
Speaker 4: So yeah, so we're back on the track now, we're

1196
00:58:24,440 --> 00:58:26,919
Speaker 4: running or feeling good question mark.

1197
00:58:27,240 --> 00:58:30,160
Speaker 1: Yeah, we feel good. We're pain free, which is the rest.

1198
00:58:30,200 --> 00:58:32,160
Speaker 3: But you still have like the like, are you still

1199
00:58:32,160 --> 00:58:33,240
Speaker 3: a little skittish about it?

1200
00:58:33,880 --> 00:58:36,120
Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, I probably always will be, but to

1201
00:58:36,160 --> 00:58:38,320
Speaker 2: an extent, I think all of us at this level

1202
00:58:38,360 --> 00:58:40,600
Speaker 2: are a little skittish about injuries. Yeah, we've all been

1203
00:58:40,640 --> 00:58:43,240
Speaker 2: through something or felt something because you're constantly pushing your

1204
00:58:43,240 --> 00:58:46,840
Speaker 2: body like to an insane level. But no pain free

1205
00:58:47,320 --> 00:58:50,640
Speaker 2: Ultimately achille that needs rest. There's no like working your

1206
00:58:50,640 --> 00:58:53,160
Speaker 2: way through that type of injury. They're like, you can't

1207
00:58:53,200 --> 00:58:54,800
Speaker 2: push your way through it. I just needed to sit

1208
00:58:54,840 --> 00:58:57,160
Speaker 2: down and not run, And that's what I did.

1209
00:58:57,280 --> 00:58:59,960
Speaker 4: For someone that may be dealing with their own sech

1210
00:59:00,000 --> 00:59:02,040
Speaker 4: go of injury right now, what would you say is

1211
00:59:02,080 --> 00:59:05,560
Speaker 4: the best advice you can offer to them about navigating

1212
00:59:05,720 --> 00:59:07,320
Speaker 4: the frustrations that go hand in hand.

1213
00:59:07,120 --> 00:59:08,160
Speaker 1: With that patience.

1214
00:59:08,720 --> 00:59:11,320
Speaker 2: Patience, I mean, the worst thing about is an injury

1215
00:59:11,400 --> 00:59:13,920
Speaker 2: is that you can't outwork it. And if you have

1216
00:59:13,960 --> 00:59:15,840
Speaker 2: put yourself in a position to get an injury, I'm

1217
00:59:15,880 --> 00:59:18,840
Speaker 2: sure you're just like a very hard working person, someone

1218
00:59:18,840 --> 00:59:21,360
Speaker 2: who likes to push yourself, someone who likes to challenge yourself,

1219
00:59:21,840 --> 00:59:25,760
Speaker 2: and that's that's that's a joy and how you get better.

1220
00:59:25,840 --> 00:59:28,000
Speaker 2: But unfortunately sometimes you push it a little too far

1221
00:59:28,360 --> 00:59:30,800
Speaker 2: and that's part of the journey. But it's about patience

1222
00:59:30,840 --> 00:59:33,440
Speaker 2: and being kind to yourself. You cannot outwork an injury.

1223
00:59:33,800 --> 00:59:36,320
Speaker 2: You have to just follow your protocol. It might be

1224
00:59:36,440 --> 00:59:38,480
Speaker 2: rehab and maybe you are working hard at that or

1225
00:59:38,480 --> 00:59:40,000
Speaker 2: maybe it's working hard to just resting.

1226
00:59:40,240 --> 00:59:41,560
Speaker 1: Yeah, but it's about patience.

1227
00:59:41,840 --> 00:59:44,480
Speaker 4: Was yours more rooted in rest or where they are

1228
00:59:44,520 --> 00:59:47,800
Speaker 4: like cycles of different exercises.

1229
00:59:47,160 --> 00:59:49,400
Speaker 3: That you're making yourself do a lot of rehabs.

1230
00:59:49,400 --> 00:59:51,640
Speaker 2: So a lot of rehab is being done and still

1231
00:59:51,640 --> 00:59:53,000
Speaker 2: incorporating it into my training.

1232
00:59:53,400 --> 00:59:56,440
Speaker 1: But rest yeah, just like getting off of it.

1233
00:59:56,880 --> 00:59:58,720
Speaker 2: I just had to do it, which is so hard

1234
00:59:58,720 --> 01:00:00,360
Speaker 2: to do because like you know, I loverunning and I

1235
01:00:00,400 --> 01:00:05,120
Speaker 2: got mine comes in yeah, right, TV, But yeah, it

1236
01:00:05,200 --> 01:00:07,520
Speaker 2: was it was really just not running on it.

1237
01:00:08,080 --> 01:00:10,919
Speaker 4: Someone comes to your Instagram page right now, they see

1238
01:00:10,960 --> 01:00:13,400
Speaker 4: that not only do you have something over a million

1239
01:00:13,440 --> 01:00:17,000
Speaker 4: people following you, but they see an Olympic gold medalist,

1240
01:00:17,040 --> 01:00:19,840
Speaker 4: a pro runner again, a public health advocate. But when

1241
01:00:19,880 --> 01:00:22,360
Speaker 4: you look in the mirror, Gabby, what is it that

1242
01:00:22,440 --> 01:00:23,840
Speaker 4: you see looking back at you?

1243
01:00:25,160 --> 01:00:28,800
Speaker 2: Honestly, I I still see like a young girl chasing

1244
01:00:28,800 --> 01:00:31,880
Speaker 2: her dreams. Yeah, I feel like I'm still in the

1245
01:00:31,920 --> 01:00:33,680
Speaker 2: middle of it. I'm still in the midst of it.

1246
01:00:33,800 --> 01:00:37,040
Speaker 2: I'm living the dream and I'm still pushing myself and

1247
01:00:37,120 --> 01:00:41,160
Speaker 2: challenging myself and figuring out just what I'm capable of,

1248
01:00:41,960 --> 01:00:45,600
Speaker 2: like pushing my own limits. And I mean, that's what

1249
01:00:45,640 --> 01:00:47,880
Speaker 2: I see. I'm just I'm still in that. I want

1250
01:00:47,880 --> 01:00:50,720
Speaker 2: to look back on my career and even just my

1251
01:00:50,800 --> 01:00:54,280
Speaker 2: life and be so proud. I want to one day

1252
01:00:54,320 --> 01:00:56,720
Speaker 2: have a family and have kids, and I want them

1253
01:00:56,840 --> 01:00:58,840
Speaker 2: to look at what I'm doing and what I've done

1254
01:00:59,040 --> 01:01:02,000
Speaker 2: and be proud and feeling inspired. When I look at

1255
01:01:02,040 --> 01:01:05,760
Speaker 2: my mom, that's what I think. I watched her chase

1256
01:01:05,760 --> 01:01:09,520
Speaker 2: her dreams day after day, like in real time, and

1257
01:01:09,560 --> 01:01:12,280
Speaker 2: that set the blueprint for me. That's why I am

1258
01:01:12,320 --> 01:01:14,080
Speaker 2: the way I am and why I do what I do.

1259
01:01:14,520 --> 01:01:17,000
Speaker 2: But that's what I see. I see someone who's just

1260
01:01:18,200 --> 01:01:22,760
Speaker 2: inspired and motivated and hungry and I love it.

1261
01:01:23,000 --> 01:01:25,160
Speaker 3: I love it. In order to be her, you need

1262
01:01:25,160 --> 01:01:25,640
Speaker 3: to see her.

1263
01:01:25,680 --> 01:01:28,200
Speaker 4: And you watched your mom work very hard to do

1264
01:01:28,360 --> 01:01:32,280
Speaker 4: a number of different things. Now a professor herself, that's

1265
01:01:32,360 --> 01:01:36,200
Speaker 4: really awesome to watch her step into this chapter right now.

1266
01:01:36,360 --> 01:01:39,120
Speaker 2: It is so special to see I like just being

1267
01:01:39,160 --> 01:01:42,959
Speaker 2: a single mom of twins and being a high school

1268
01:01:43,080 --> 01:01:45,240
Speaker 2: a preschool teacher, then a high school teacher, then going

1269
01:01:45,280 --> 01:01:47,200
Speaker 2: back to school. I remember being in classes with her,

1270
01:01:47,280 --> 01:01:49,680
Speaker 2: not knowing what was going on, but you like when

1271
01:01:49,680 --> 01:01:51,680
Speaker 2: you're a child, you pick up on things like you know,

1272
01:01:51,760 --> 01:01:55,640
Speaker 2: I'm like, Okay, she's working like she's working hard and

1273
01:01:55,800 --> 01:01:58,480
Speaker 2: she loves it. And to see it come to fruition

1274
01:01:58,880 --> 01:02:02,480
Speaker 2: and even now she's continuing to just be such a

1275
01:02:02,520 --> 01:02:03,800
Speaker 2: dominant force in her field.

1276
01:02:04,800 --> 01:02:07,840
Speaker 3: It's so cool in Michigan, right, Yeah, she's at Michigan.

1277
01:02:07,880 --> 01:02:10,320
Speaker 1: Now, Yeah, she's at Michigan. It's so cool.

1278
01:02:10,400 --> 01:02:14,080
Speaker 2: She has a nonprofit Center for Measurement Justice, and she

1279
01:02:14,120 --> 01:02:16,880
Speaker 2: works in the field of education and making it more

1280
01:02:16,880 --> 01:02:21,960
Speaker 2: equitable she works with standardized testing and just measurement Justice,

1281
01:02:22,000 --> 01:02:27,040
Speaker 2: which is basically kind of introducing anti racism into education,

1282
01:02:27,880 --> 01:02:32,400
Speaker 2: and she loves it. She loves what she does, and

1283
01:02:32,440 --> 01:02:34,360
Speaker 2: it's so cool to see that and to see how

1284
01:02:34,360 --> 01:02:37,280
Speaker 2: hard she worked for that, and she didn't quit or

1285
01:02:37,320 --> 01:02:39,240
Speaker 2: give up, and I saw the hardship of it. I

1286
01:02:39,240 --> 01:02:41,560
Speaker 2: think that's also really important, is seeing how hard things

1287
01:02:41,560 --> 01:02:44,160
Speaker 2: can be and being okay with that. And I was

1288
01:02:44,200 --> 01:02:46,640
Speaker 2: comfortable seeing it because I grew up seeing it every

1289
01:02:46,720 --> 01:02:49,960
Speaker 2: day and so I know, I know it's okay to

1290
01:02:50,440 --> 01:02:54,280
Speaker 2: have hard days and just get back up and do it.

1291
01:02:54,320 --> 01:02:56,320
Speaker 2: So maybe a lot of the resilience comes from that too.

1292
01:02:57,040 --> 01:02:59,760
Speaker 2: But that's you know, that's what I want. I want

1293
01:02:59,760 --> 01:03:01,919
Speaker 2: that for myself and want I want my future kids

1294
01:03:01,960 --> 01:03:05,320
Speaker 2: to see that. I want even just young fans who

1295
01:03:05,320 --> 01:03:07,200
Speaker 2: watched me to see that, Yeah, like it's okay to

1296
01:03:07,240 --> 01:03:09,959
Speaker 2: have like this year's okay, Like we're gonna come bounce

1297
01:03:09,960 --> 01:03:12,240
Speaker 2: back from the twenty twenty sixth season, and I am

1298
01:03:12,520 --> 01:03:15,160
Speaker 2: more than okay. It's part of the process, it's part

1299
01:03:15,160 --> 01:03:16,919
Speaker 2: of the journey for me, and I'll be back.

1300
01:03:17,000 --> 01:03:18,920
Speaker 4: I'll be back, Gabby, before I let you go today,

1301
01:03:18,960 --> 01:03:21,520
Speaker 4: right now, you have an opportunity to offer yourself a

1302
01:03:21,560 --> 01:03:24,840
Speaker 4: piece of advice. Let's go back to when you were

1303
01:03:24,840 --> 01:03:31,120
Speaker 4: dealing with becoming thrust into the public eye after Tokyo,

1304
01:03:31,320 --> 01:03:33,440
Speaker 4: the hurdle moment that you said you were at a

1305
01:03:33,480 --> 01:03:37,640
Speaker 4: really low point despite accomplishing such an exciting thing earning

1306
01:03:37,680 --> 01:03:41,240
Speaker 4: that bronze that today is one of your most meaningful medals.

1307
01:03:41,640 --> 01:03:44,960
Speaker 4: Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give

1308
01:03:45,120 --> 01:03:48,040
Speaker 4: to your younger self going through that hurdle moment.

1309
01:03:49,680 --> 01:03:55,160
Speaker 2: Be comfortable setting boundaries. Be comfortable setting boundaries with other

1310
01:03:55,200 --> 01:04:01,440
Speaker 2: people and just for yourself, like, have that commonfidence, don't

1311
01:04:01,440 --> 01:04:06,480
Speaker 2: be afraid to hurt feelings, have people around you that

1312
01:04:06,600 --> 01:04:10,960
Speaker 2: are good for you, and that's really it. I mean,

1313
01:04:11,160 --> 01:04:14,440
Speaker 2: it is your life, especially in our sport. You know

1314
01:04:14,480 --> 01:04:17,720
Speaker 2: you only have a certain amount of time. Just be

1315
01:04:17,800 --> 01:04:22,360
Speaker 2: comfortable setting those boundaries and do what's best for you,

1316
01:04:22,480 --> 01:04:25,080
Speaker 2: That's what I would say. Yeah, and just be confident in.

1317
01:04:25,000 --> 01:04:30,240
Speaker 4: That boundary setting can be so difficult, and once you

1318
01:04:30,320 --> 01:04:34,120
Speaker 4: do it and you have a genuine understanding of your intentions,

1319
01:04:34,760 --> 01:04:39,080
Speaker 4: that's the most important part, because I think that oftentimes

1320
01:04:39,280 --> 01:04:42,120
Speaker 4: that's the worry when it comes to saying this is

1321
01:04:42,160 --> 01:04:45,480
Speaker 4: what I need. You don't want to be perceived in

1322
01:04:45,560 --> 01:04:48,040
Speaker 4: such a way because you're trying to be strong with

1323
01:04:48,080 --> 01:04:50,440
Speaker 4: your boundaries. But if you know your intention and the

1324
01:04:50,480 --> 01:04:53,600
Speaker 4: people that no one love you know your intentions as well,

1325
01:04:53,960 --> 01:04:55,480
Speaker 4: then fact only okay, things are.

1326
01:04:55,440 --> 01:04:55,760
Speaker 3: Going to come.

1327
01:04:55,920 --> 01:04:58,560
Speaker 2: Only thinks okay, things are going to happen exactly, and

1328
01:04:58,120 --> 01:05:01,760
Speaker 2: people appreciate boundaries. I've also come to realize that, like,

1329
01:05:01,840 --> 01:05:04,560
Speaker 2: I love being around people who have clear boundaries and

1330
01:05:04,680 --> 01:05:08,040
Speaker 2: expectations and I know what to give them or like

1331
01:05:08,080 --> 01:05:10,840
Speaker 2: how to approach them, right, I like that and people

1332
01:05:10,880 --> 01:05:11,680
Speaker 2: appreciate that too.

1333
01:05:11,800 --> 01:05:15,120
Speaker 1: So yeah, well I afraid to set those boundaries.

1334
01:05:15,200 --> 01:05:18,160
Speaker 4: I'm happy that I respectries for four years and now

1335
01:05:18,160 --> 01:05:19,960
Speaker 4: we're here exactly.

1336
01:05:19,960 --> 01:05:20,640
Speaker 1: It's all love.

1337
01:05:21,080 --> 01:05:24,440
Speaker 3: It's all love, Gabby Thomas.

1338
01:05:24,480 --> 01:05:26,600
Speaker 4: Like I said, a million people already keeping up with

1339
01:05:26,640 --> 01:05:28,240
Speaker 4: you on Instagram. But if they don't follow you, just

1340
01:05:28,320 --> 01:05:29,880
Speaker 4: yet give us the info. Where do we find you?

1341
01:05:30,120 --> 01:05:33,240
Speaker 2: Yeah, Gabby Thomas on Instagram. I'm on TikTok too. Sometimes

1342
01:05:33,240 --> 01:05:36,880
Speaker 2: I dance It's Gabby Thomas and then occasionally I'm a

1343
01:05:36,920 --> 01:05:37,600
Speaker 2: troll on Twitter.

1344
01:05:38,920 --> 01:05:41,720
Speaker 4: I'm over at Hurdle podcast and at Emily Abadi.

1345
01:05:41,800 --> 01:05:44,439
Speaker 3: Another hurdle conquered. Catch you guys next time.