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Speaker 1: Life is not linear. If you're gonna take on a

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Speaker 1: really big, a really hairy, a really scary goal, it

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Speaker 1: is going to be uncomfortable. But the process of being vulnerable,

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Speaker 1: of being uncomfortable leads to actually potentially accomplishing it, but

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Speaker 1: also finding meaning in what you're going after.

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Speaker 2: What is going on? Emily A Body Here?

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Speaker 3: You are listening to Hurdle, a Whileness focus podcast where

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Speaker 3: I connect with everyone from your favorite athletes to top

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Speaker 3: experts and industry CEOs about their highest highs, toughest moments,

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Speaker 3: and everything in between. We all go through hurdles in life,

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Speaker 3: and my goal through these discussions is to empower you

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Speaker 3: to better navigate yours and move with intention so that

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Speaker 3: you can stride towards your own big potential and of

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Speaker 3: course have some fun along the way. For today's episode,

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Speaker 3: number two hundred and twenty, I am chatting with Valerie Allmon.

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Speaker 3: She's an ASEX discus athlete. She's also an Olympic champion,

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Speaker 3: and I was so so lit for this conversation. Val

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Speaker 3: and I first crossed paths this year at the World Championships,

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Speaker 3: and we actually have a lengthy discussion about her performance

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Speaker 3: at World. She went into that meet with a goal

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Speaker 3: of snagging the gold, and ultimately it came.

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Speaker 2: Out with a bronze.

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Speaker 3: Now, for Val, that has been something that has been

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Speaker 3: emotionally difficult to work through, and of course we talk

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Speaker 3: about that.

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Speaker 2: We talk about.

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Speaker 3: What it's like to fall short of your goals and

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Speaker 3: the importance that is having greece with yourself when things

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Speaker 3: don't go as planned. I really really loved VAL's perspective

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Speaker 3: on this and her vulnerability and admitting that she aimed

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Speaker 3: high and it didn't go as she'd hoped. She also

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Speaker 3: shares with us how she got into throwing in the

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Speaker 3: first place, not necessarily something she dreamed of doing from

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Speaker 3: a young age. She ties some really interesting parallels between

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Speaker 3: throwing the discus and one of her first loves, which

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Speaker 3: is dance, and we also chat about her journey to

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Speaker 3: body acceptance and learning to love her body and all

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Speaker 3: that it is capable of as such a strong athlete.

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Speaker 3: Val also shed some light on the type of training

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Speaker 3: what she's doing on the regular to be such a

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Speaker 3: stellar discus athlete, and she also gives us some context

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Speaker 3: which is really helpful on what is a quote unquote

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Speaker 3: good distance throw in terms of discus and also maybe

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Speaker 3: dispels some of the myths or preconceived notions you might

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Speaker 3: have about.

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Speaker 2: What it really means to be a discus athlete.

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Speaker 3: I said it before, I'll say it again, the really

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Speaker 3: candid way that Val speaks about her big goals, her aspirations,

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Speaker 3: how she's felt along her journey being the best of

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Speaker 3: the best in her sport. It's a good reminder for me,

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Speaker 3: and I would say it's a good reminder for us

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Speaker 3: all that no matter how.

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Speaker 2: Quote unquote good you are, you're still.

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Speaker 3: Going to have bad days, and it is up to

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Speaker 3: each and every one of us to pick ourselves up

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Speaker 3: and move forward knowing that there is more for us

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Speaker 3: out there. Also got ATASA huge thank you into the

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Speaker 3: mix too, my friends at Asex, VAL's sponsor for helping

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Speaker 3: to set this up. I am so appreciative. Make sure

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Speaker 3: you're following along with Hurdle over on the socials. That's

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Speaker 3: at Curdle Podcast. I am over at Emily a Body

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Speaker 3: and with that, let's get to hurdling.

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Speaker 2: Today.

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Speaker 3: I am sitting down with Valerie Allman that she is

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Speaker 3: a discus athlete. I'm so amped to have you on

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Speaker 3: the show. She's an Olympic gold medalist. She recently won

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Speaker 3: the bronze at the World Championships.

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Speaker 2: How are you doing today, I'm doing good.

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Speaker 1: I'm so so excited to be here with you and

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Speaker 1: excited chat today.

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Speaker 3: I know I'm amped. I know that you don't do

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Speaker 3: many podcasts.

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Speaker 1: You're definitely right about that. This is my second one,

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Speaker 1: so I'm excited.

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Speaker 3: I like hunting for like the rare gems that need

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Speaker 3: their voice in the Apple Podcasts catalogs.

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Speaker 1: Personally, I've been asked to do quite a few, but

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Speaker 1: I always I get kind of nervous. So I'm gonna

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Speaker 1: rely on you today to to help me get my

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Speaker 3: This is my purpose, is to make you more comfortable

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Speaker 3: before we really dive in, just so I have a

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Speaker 3: baseline of where we're at.

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Speaker 2: How are you really doing right now?

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Speaker 3: How do you feel right now coming off of Worlds

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Speaker 3: leaving soon for your final meat of the twenty twenty

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Speaker 3: two season.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I think the answer is a bit complicated.

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Speaker 1: In some ways, I feel happy and content with where

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Speaker 1: I'm at. In some ways, I feel at the moment

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Speaker 1: like I've left some things on the table this past season,

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Speaker 1: which kind of pulls at my heart. But I'm excited

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Speaker 1: to go after these last few competitions and then have

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Speaker 1: some time to reset. I think that that's going to

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Speaker 1: be really nice to kind of to hunker down and

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Speaker 1: also just like kind of shake off some of the

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Speaker 1: stress you feel when you're going after your passion to

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Speaker 3: This is definitely a topic I wanted to talk with

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Speaker 3: you about because from the outside looking in, there was

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Speaker 3: no doubt from both the content that you posted and

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Speaker 3: the content that your coach shared, that the both of

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Speaker 3: you had just like these crazy big goals and dreams

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Speaker 3: for what was going to happen at Worlds. And again,

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Speaker 3: as someone looking in to see you podium at Worlds

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Speaker 3: is so remarkable, notably because you're the first American to

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Speaker 3: podium at Worlds.

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Speaker 1: Ever so to your point, right, I mean, it is

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Speaker 1: so tough to fall fall short of big goals, right,

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Speaker 1: But you know it is after the event kind of

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Speaker 1: has passed that you can see some of the silver

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Speaker 1: linings and the things that you wouldn't expect to find

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Speaker 1: meaning in, you know, And I mean, as I said

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Speaker 1: that a lot, it does feel pretty special. You know,

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Speaker 1: sometimes when you're going for something and you don't get

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Speaker 1: it the first try, and you know it would have

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Speaker 1: been really great to walk away with gold. But we

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Speaker 1: make the joke now the bronze medals just rose gold.

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Speaker 2: But have you always been this hard on yourself?

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Speaker 1: It is my nature, you know, to be definitely self

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Speaker 1: critical and also struggle to like talk about accomplishments, you know.

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Speaker 1: I think like it's so easy to always want more,

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Speaker 1: you know, and I think like as you get close

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Speaker 1: to that, it becomes difficult to be able to focus

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Speaker 1: on like what you've done to get where you are,

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Speaker 1: because there's always just that next thing. And I think

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Speaker 1: that's really like I feel like we're with where I'm

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Speaker 1: at in my career. The number one thing that I'm

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Speaker 1: struggling with is like being able to appreciate the accomplishments

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Speaker 1: and the challenge that's led to being to growing, to

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Speaker 1: maturing to being where I'm at, but also not putting

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Speaker 1: so much pressure that in order to be accomplished. It's

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Speaker 1: really the next thing that matters.

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Speaker 3: Watching you and seeing the strides that you've made in

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Speaker 3: your sport. But I was so excited to have you

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Speaker 3: on the show because a I've never had someone that

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Speaker 3: competes in discus on the show, but b your athleticism

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Speaker 3: really does. It's not summed up but by what we

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Speaker 3: see out there. And that's really where I want to

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Speaker 3: start us off, because in order to succeed and do

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Speaker 3: well in discus, there are so many things that we

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Speaker 3: don't see that you have to work on. So can

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Speaker 3: you talk to us a little bit about what training

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Speaker 3: for your event actually looks like?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely, I mean, thank you so much also for

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Speaker 1: branching out, you know, I mean it is like hard

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Speaker 1: to sometimes know how to talk about discus right when

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Speaker 1: it's like not obviously the most common sport. So thank

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Speaker 1: you for having me. I love to like share about

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Speaker 1: what I do and what it looks like. So much

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Speaker 1: of throwing is like a very technical, rhythmic sport. You know,

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Speaker 1: it takes about a second and a half to throw

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Speaker 1: a discus, but your body is moving through a bunch

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Speaker 1: of different positions where you're trying to build as much

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Speaker 1: power as you can. So the number one way we

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Speaker 1: train discuss is by throwing the discus. We do a

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Speaker 1: lot of that, and we'll use different tools to do it.

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Speaker 1: So some a discuss is one kilogram, So sometimes we'll

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Speaker 1: do underweight stuff or overweight things, and then we do

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Speaker 1: a lot of Olympic lifting. It's actually like one of

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Speaker 1: my favorite parts of training is being in the gym

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Speaker 1: and getting stronger moving a barbell, and then we do

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Speaker 1: a lot of fitness things, a lot of biking, swimming, sprints, plios.

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Speaker 1: My coach has the philosophy that, like, in order to

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Speaker 1: be a really great discusstar, you have to be a

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Speaker 1: really great athlete, So it's really having a well rounded

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Speaker 1: kind of base of training that leads to being able

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Speaker 1: to perform at a high level.

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Speaker 3: Did you think before getting involved in discus that you

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Speaker 3: wanted to get involved in discus?

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Speaker 2: How did this kind of happen for you?

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Speaker 1: No, it was totally by surprise. I think no one

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Speaker 1: plans to be a professional discus star. You know, it's

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Speaker 1: such a like there's like probably I mean there's actually

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Speaker 1: like three women in the US like trying to do

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Speaker 1: it right now, so it is pretty niche For me.

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Speaker 1: My story, it is like still so crazy. I ended

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Speaker 1: up finding such a rewarding passion. Growing up, I was

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Speaker 1: really into dance. There used to be a TV show

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Speaker 1: called So you think you can dance, and when I

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Speaker 1: was going into high school, I actually got invited to

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Speaker 1: travel with them, and it was awesome. I would go

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Speaker 1: to high school during the week and then on the

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Speaker 1: weekends I would go travel and be with the choreographers

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Speaker 1: and it was a really like special time. But my brother,

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Speaker 1: he was a senior on the track team, and he said,

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Speaker 1: you know, Val, I think you should do something that's

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Speaker 1: also like part of the school. And I was like, yeah, actually,

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Speaker 1: like I feel like that would be really great. So

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Speaker 1: he went and talked to the chat coach and she said,

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Speaker 1: you know, just come whenever you can, and you have

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Speaker 1: other commitments. And I tried a bunch of different events,

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Speaker 1: this prince high jump, long jump, and nothing really clicked.

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Speaker 1: And the throwers were getting ready to have their annual

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Speaker 1: spaghetti dinner and they said that anybody that came and

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Speaker 1: tried throwing could come to the dinner, and something about

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Speaker 1: that got me, and I was so excited. I went

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Speaker 1: and tried it and just found that I kind of

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Speaker 1: had a weird knack for discuss right from the start.

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Speaker 1: And I mean, looking back, it's not definitely the best

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Speaker 1: spaghetti I've ever had in my entire.

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Speaker 3: Life, but you know, it's funny to me because even

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Speaker 3: earlier I believe that you described it as rhythmic, so

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Speaker 3: clearly you at some point started to tie parallels between

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Speaker 3: this thing that you were so passionate in dance and

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Speaker 3: then this sport that you were just kind of feeling out.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, no, totally. My brain at first was like, Okay,

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Speaker 1: this is choreography. My left arm goes here and my

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Speaker 1: right leg goes here, and it did feel so much

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Speaker 1: so like a dance when I was learning early on.

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Speaker 3: When you started, do you remember any hesitations you had?

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Speaker 1: They're part of me struggled with, you know, the stereotype

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Speaker 1: of being a thrower. I think I felt aware and honestly,

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Speaker 1: kind of what I had prevented me early on was,

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Speaker 1: you know, there haven't been like there's just not a

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Speaker 1: lot of positive role models that I felt like existed

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Speaker 1: in the sport or that I truthfully really knew about

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Speaker 1: at the time. You know, being a thrower was kind

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Speaker 1: of like you know, I've at least in my high school.

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Speaker 1: You know, it kind of made me feel like I

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Speaker 1: was an athletic just by like doing the sport, and

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Speaker 1: I did think I felt that in the back of

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Speaker 1: my mind.

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Speaker 2: But once I.

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Speaker 1: Started doing it, it was actually like so fun. There

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Speaker 1: was something so great about like how black and white

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Speaker 1: it was. Right, it was like just a distance where

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Speaker 1: it landed. You could tell when you're getting better, right,

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Speaker 1: it was so easy to track that. Once I kind

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Speaker 1: of got bast that notion, it only really ended up

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Speaker 1: being energizing and such a fun competitive outlet.

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Speaker 3: Aside from that stigma of being unathletic, where there are

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Speaker 3: other stigmas that were associated with throwing that we should

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Speaker 3: be in the loupan.

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Speaker 1: I'm not sure there's like other stigmas. You know. There's

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Speaker 1: a movie called Matilda, you know, and I don't know

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Speaker 1: if you know Miss trench Bowl, but she's like, of

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Speaker 1: course I do, yeah, you know. I mean I think like,

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Speaker 1: unfortunately Miss trench Bowl is like the stereotype, you know,

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Speaker 1: and I think that that really like that captures what

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Speaker 1: like when you are a fifteen year old, sixteen year

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Speaker 1: old girl, when that's like what you're kind of being,

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Speaker 1: like think you're you're trending towards it's hard to feel confident,

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Speaker 1: you know. But I mean, I think for me, that

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Speaker 1: was really kind of the biggest hurdle of like what

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Speaker 1: prevented me from wanting to lean into it and let

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Speaker 1: it be part of my identity at first.

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Speaker 3: Right, So, as this becomes part of your identity as

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Speaker 3: you get more involved with discus, do you start to

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Speaker 3: lean away from dance or how does that balance out

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Speaker 3: for you? Yeah?

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Speaker 1: I mean in about a year, I really started to

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Speaker 1: lean way more into track and field than to dance.

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Speaker 1: You know, there is something that was so special about

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Speaker 1: like doing a sport that also could lead to going

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Speaker 1: to college and too university was ended up being something

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Speaker 1: that was really motivating to me. You can go to

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Speaker 1: school and study dance, you know, which is great, but

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Speaker 1: to have an outlet that led to me being able

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Speaker 1: to potentially go to a university where I could study

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Speaker 1: a degree that I was really interested became such a

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Speaker 1: driver for me and really led to me wanting to

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Speaker 1: pursue track and field.

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Speaker 2: Wow.

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Speaker 3: So as you start to realize what doors the discus

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Speaker 3: can open for you, would you say that you excelled

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Speaker 3: at the sport early on?

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Speaker 1: I think there was something that was a really natural fit,

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Speaker 1: especially early on about with discuss and kind of the

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Speaker 1: way my body was and what my previous experiences were.

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Speaker 1: I was so motivated. I mean, you know, me being

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Speaker 1: a competitive person, I loved that because it was such

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Speaker 1: as measurable sport. I could go online and see like

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Speaker 1: what everyone my age was throwing, you know, and being

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Speaker 1: able to track that and wanting to improve on that list.

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Speaker 3: It was.

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Speaker 1: It led to me wanting to like continue to push

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Speaker 1: and want to continue to learn to be able to

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Speaker 1: try to climb up that list so that I could

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Speaker 1: really help my chances by the time I was a

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Speaker 1: senior to go to a school that I was really

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Speaker 1: really excited about.

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Speaker 3: And you mentioned earlier that there are a few women

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Speaker 3: that are trying to come up in the ranks. Now,

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Speaker 3: when you started out, was there a plethora of people

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Speaker 3: to come against or did you feel like the field

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Speaker 3: was really narrow?

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Speaker 1: I mean in high school it's actually I mean, it

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Speaker 1: is such a popular sport and thousands and thousands of girls,

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Speaker 1: you know, throw the discuss around the nation, and I mean,

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Speaker 1: now I'm so aware that thousands more throw it around

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Speaker 1: the world, which is actually really cool, but I mean

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Speaker 1: it kind of it sorts itself out. In order to

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Speaker 1: make it to university, right, you have to be in

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Speaker 1: that top few percent in order to try to make

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Speaker 1: it as a professional. You have to be in the

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Speaker 1: narrowest of margins in order to really be able to

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Speaker 1: make it a living. But I think that's just the

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Speaker 1: nature of right time, and what it takes in order

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Speaker 1: to really be at the top of your craft is

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Speaker 1: just being as devoted as you can to want to

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Speaker 1: make maximize every little bit of potential you have.

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Speaker 2: What did you decide to study in college?

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Speaker 1: I studied mechanical engineering with a focus in product design.

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Speaker 3: Casual Did you foresee this being more than a sport

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Speaker 3: that you played in college, or did you foresee yourself

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Speaker 3: going down a path of utilizing that degree.

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Speaker 1: I totally thought I was going to use my degree.

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Speaker 1: I honestly thought discausse would help me get to college,

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Speaker 1: And I mean I was really excited to compete for

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Speaker 1: Stanford and want to be part of like a team

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Speaker 1: and do well. But I very much so thought that,

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Speaker 1: you know, the degree I would study, you would end

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Speaker 1: up what I would end up using, you know, for

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Speaker 1: my time after university. That it really ended up surprising me,

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Speaker 1: you know now looking back that I'm still throwing the

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Speaker 1: discuss and it's also incredibly rewarding. But it's one of

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Speaker 1: those things where it's kind of sometimes you have to

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Speaker 1: let life guide you and even when it doesn't seem

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Speaker 1: like maybe what you should be doing, you know. Obviously

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Speaker 1: I was super excited to use my degree and had

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Speaker 1: some exciting opportunities, but it just it didn't feel right,

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Speaker 1: And sometimes you have to trust your heart when you

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Speaker 1: pursue a different path.

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Speaker 3: Were you trying to fit your school into your training

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Speaker 3: schedule or your training schedule into your schooling?

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Speaker 2: Gosh, that's such a good question.

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Speaker 1: I think during at the time, I felt like I

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Speaker 1: was more trying to fit my training into school, especially

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Speaker 1: like at first, you know, I mean so much of

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Speaker 1: like how you become influenced, right is just what you're

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Speaker 1: surrounded by. And at Stanford it was incredible to be

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Speaker 1: around so many people that were brilliant and so devoted

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Speaker 1: to their passions, you know, and being in such an

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Speaker 1: academic place right, like the focus was on academia that

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Speaker 1: I think it felt like the thing right to like

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Speaker 1: obviously want to prioritize school and I love learning. It

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Speaker 1: was like incredible, But you know, something about like athletics

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Speaker 1: and particularly discuss for me, always ended up like pulling

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Speaker 1: me more into the sport. And especially like you know,

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Speaker 1: it's so hard to fight the feeling of like not

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Speaker 1: just passion, right, but like results. You know, when you

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Speaker 1: feel like you are getting closer to being who you

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Speaker 1: want to be, your that accolade that like you've seen

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Speaker 1: in the future and want to chase. I think that

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Speaker 1: that is what like discuss has been for me, is

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Speaker 1: because it is such an objective sport, right, like when

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Speaker 1: you do hit big milestones, when you walk away as

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Speaker 1: a champion or a winner or an All American, right

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Speaker 1: doesn't even have to be about winning, you know, it

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Speaker 1: feels so good, and Discuss just always had a way

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Speaker 1: of bringing me back. And I think by the time

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Speaker 1: I graduated, school was always important, but it was definitely

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Speaker 1: a bit more of figuring out how school can fit

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Speaker 1: into training.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and about that about the setting big goals and

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Speaker 3: going after them and envisioning what you're potential could be.

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Speaker 3: I think it's important to note that that ebbs and

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00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:07,119
Speaker 3: flows and those goals shift over time. So to your

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Speaker 3: point about really thinking that you were going to leave

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Speaker 3: and use your mechanical engineering degree versus what your goal

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Speaker 3: shifted to be. That's really powerful to be able to

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Speaker 3: have that honest conversation with yourself, wouldn't you agree.

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Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, totally, you know. And I think sometimes

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Speaker 1: it also takes like, you know, finding a mentor they

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Speaker 1: can also help you realize what you're capable of. It's like,

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Speaker 1: it's so easy to think like on a small scale,

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Speaker 1: you know, of what you think your potential is right,

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Speaker 1: or think too big you know, and not know how

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Speaker 1: to close that gap. But when you find yourself in

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Speaker 1: a situation where you're moving like consistently in the direction

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Speaker 1: you want to go, that's when I think you have

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Speaker 1: to lean into it, you know, but that you are

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Speaker 1: that does totally ebb and flow, and it's about recognizing

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Speaker 1: like if you're consistent in your lifestyle and your choices

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Speaker 1: and what you're prioritizing, it'll always end up coming back

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Speaker 1: to you and you'll keep making traction. But it is

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Speaker 1: it is scary, you know, to lean into something when

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Speaker 1: you know it's not going to be given to you.

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Speaker 3: For granted, it's interesting your point about having to recognize

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Speaker 3: when maybe you're thinking too big. That gave me a

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Speaker 3: moment of pause. It made me wonder, is that a thing? Like, yes,

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Speaker 3: it's a thing, right, But who's to tell anyone what

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Speaker 3: too big really is.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, the truth is I feel like it's human nature, right,

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Speaker 1: Like you end up telling yourself right at some point

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Speaker 1: when you have doubt or fear, right that like you're

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Speaker 1: the one that's streaming too big, you know, and I think,

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Speaker 1: unfortunately that's the voice that like is the scariest to hear.

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Speaker 1: But it doesn't mean it's right. You know, Like being free,

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Speaker 1: being willing to like let yourself think those things is

392
00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:04,520
Speaker 1: so important. It's essential, right if you actually want to

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Speaker 1: get even close. You know, sometimes coming close to like

394
00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:12,639
Speaker 1: a crazy goal is a huge milestone, but it is

395
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Speaker 1: so easy to get in your own way.

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Speaker 3: It seems as though if I was to bring us

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Speaker 3: back to the top of our conversation, that you're in

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Speaker 3: that position right now, not to skip around too much,

399
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Speaker 3: because I do want to talk about the beginning of

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Speaker 3: your career, but to think about this massive accomplishment that

401
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Speaker 3: you just had, like you dared to dream so big.

402
00:22:32,119 --> 00:22:35,160
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, no, I mean you're right.

403
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Speaker 1: I do. I feel really proud of what the accomplishment

404
00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:43,920
Speaker 1: of our our twenty two World Athletic Championships was, But

405
00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:49,760
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's making for a meaningful journey, you know,

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Speaker 1: And at the end of the day, I think that

407
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Speaker 1: is what I hope I feel the end of my career,

408
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Speaker 1: at the end of you know, my life, right is

409
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Speaker 1: that like it's it's been a journey, a special one,

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Speaker 1: and I definitely think my time in Eugene made for

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Speaker 1: some moments that are gonna make it all the more

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Speaker 1: impactful when I look back on my time as a

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Speaker 1: disc starer and my time on dis Planet.

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Speaker 2: It got detail that.

415
00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:21,760
Speaker 3: So back to looking back on the beginning of your career,

416
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Speaker 3: talk to me about what it was like to graduate

417
00:23:24,880 --> 00:23:28,240
Speaker 3: college knowing that this is the basket that you wanted

418
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Speaker 3: to really put your eggs into. What did that look

419
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Speaker 3: like for you and how were you finding financial support

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Speaker 3: stability during that time.

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Speaker 1: So at the time, I had just turned down an

422
00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:44,199
Speaker 1: offer to go work full time at Microsoft and was

423
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Speaker 1: deciding to be a Discus Star. I had a coaching

424
00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:52,000
Speaker 1: change happen before I was going into my senior year, Zebulanzi,

425
00:23:52,040 --> 00:23:54,440
Speaker 1: and he's actually my current coach. He took the job

426
00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:57,040
Speaker 1: at Stanford and it was really worth working together with

427
00:23:57,119 --> 00:24:00,959
Speaker 1: him that I found like one and someone that just

428
00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:03,480
Speaker 1: like saw so much potential in me, which was really exciting,

429
00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:06,520
Speaker 1: but also was helping me like figure out how to

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00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:11,480
Speaker 1: actually like accomplish that, which was awesome. That season, I

431
00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:14,960
Speaker 1: improved by like I think it was like almost fourteen

432
00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:19,280
Speaker 1: feet four meters and earned a spot to make my

433
00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:24,240
Speaker 1: first World Championships, which was like a really big step.

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Speaker 2: And kind of in development.

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Speaker 1: And as I was graduating, I think in my heart

436
00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:32,199
Speaker 1: I found that like the number one thing that I

437
00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:35,440
Speaker 1: still felt like I wanted to accomplish was becoming an Olympian.

438
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Speaker 1: At the time, it was twenty eighteen, so I felt

439
00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:41,399
Speaker 1: like in two more years I would be in a

440
00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:44,800
Speaker 1: really good spot to be able to earn that title.

441
00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:50,520
Speaker 1: But then everything went crazy. Zebulan ended up getting offered

442
00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:53,440
Speaker 1: a job at the University of Texas, So within like

443
00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:57,960
Speaker 1: a week of graduation, I was moving down south, and

444
00:24:58,240 --> 00:25:01,040
Speaker 1: all of the familiarity I knew the Bay Area was

445
00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:07,640
Speaker 1: totally gone. So I found myself like honestly starting from

446
00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:12,239
Speaker 1: a pretty pretty clean slate relative to figuring out what

447
00:25:12,280 --> 00:25:14,679
Speaker 1: life was going to look like as an elite discus thrower,

448
00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:19,560
Speaker 1: And there really was not a lot of financial support,

449
00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:23,480
Speaker 1: you know, so much of it was a huge leap

450
00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:27,240
Speaker 1: of faith to think, like Okay, if I can have

451
00:25:27,280 --> 00:25:29,480
Speaker 1: a good season six months from now, right, I can

452
00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:32,640
Speaker 1: be able to earn money and kind of be able

453
00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:37,320
Speaker 1: to cover my costs. But it was relying on USA

454
00:25:37,359 --> 00:25:39,680
Speaker 1: Track and Field. I was so fortunate to be sponsored

455
00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:44,240
Speaker 1: by a company called Wazel, which really believes in empowering women.

456
00:25:44,359 --> 00:25:48,159
Speaker 1: They have like an incredible bond and culture that they

457
00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:51,639
Speaker 1: call their sisterhood, and they provided some financial support. But

458
00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:54,000
Speaker 1: it really was just trying to come up with the

459
00:25:54,040 --> 00:25:59,439
Speaker 1: lifestyle of training, recovery, nutrition, learning things that like I

460
00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:01,480
Speaker 1: didn't have the time to do when I was at Stanford,

461
00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:05,159
Speaker 1: to just be able to be consistent and healthy, and

462
00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:08,640
Speaker 1: working with my coach to figure out, like, Okay, how

463
00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:11,080
Speaker 1: can we now that this is like all that I'm doing,

464
00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:14,639
Speaker 1: how can we continue to really like make huge strides?

465
00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:18,840
Speaker 1: And it ended up being awesome. I improved another three meters

466
00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:23,520
Speaker 1: that season and felt like I really was actually like

467
00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:27,040
Speaker 1: going to be able to live and survive as a

468
00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:28,840
Speaker 1: professional discuss star of that first year.

469
00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:30,840
Speaker 2: When did asex come into the mix?

470
00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:38,480
Speaker 1: AAIX came into the mix in January of twenty twenty one.

471
00:26:39,280 --> 00:26:42,160
Speaker 1: At the end, well, it was actually kind of truthfully,

472
00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:44,200
Speaker 1: in the middle of the pandemic when the Olympics got

473
00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:47,720
Speaker 1: postponed and we were just training with kind of really

474
00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:52,960
Speaker 1: no objective. One meat ended up materializing. It was a

475
00:26:53,040 --> 00:26:58,560
Speaker 1: super small meat in Idaho, and I went with my coach,

476
00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:01,920
Speaker 1: my mom, and my tiny puppy at the time. Came

477
00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:07,520
Speaker 1: and there was five people in the discs competition and

478
00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:10,000
Speaker 1: I ended up throwing the American record at that meet.

479
00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:13,639
Speaker 1: It was a super small, intimate setting, but it was

480
00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:17,520
Speaker 1: so special to be able to feel like that time

481
00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:21,320
Speaker 1: period of just like putting in the work of like

482
00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:27,240
Speaker 1: renewing my passion ended up materializing in such a special moment.

483
00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:32,040
Speaker 1: A six then came into my life and they wanted

484
00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:35,080
Speaker 1: to sponsor me, and you know, it's been incredible. They've

485
00:27:35,080 --> 00:27:39,080
Speaker 1: been so authentic and genuine. They've really cared about like

486
00:27:39,400 --> 00:27:42,760
Speaker 1: my well being, which has been awesome, and it's been

487
00:27:43,119 --> 00:27:47,960
Speaker 1: such an incredible partnership that's led to some really special moments,

488
00:27:48,119 --> 00:27:50,119
Speaker 1: and I feel so lucky to be with the brand.

489
00:27:50,359 --> 00:27:52,760
Speaker 3: In the exposure that I've had to A six, it

490
00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:55,720
Speaker 3: seems like that's a through line that like they care

491
00:27:55,760 --> 00:28:00,200
Speaker 3: about my whole well being and knowing that their whole

492
00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:04,320
Speaker 3: tagline is sound Mind, Sound body. How would you say

493
00:28:04,480 --> 00:28:08,000
Speaker 3: that you give back to your body when you're off

494
00:28:08,240 --> 00:28:08,800
Speaker 3: the field.

495
00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:13,199
Speaker 1: I wholeheartedly believe that the body follows the mind. Where

496
00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:15,800
Speaker 1: you're at and where your headspace is, like that will

497
00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:18,919
Speaker 1: totally lead your life. I think for me, it's like

498
00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:23,439
Speaker 1: it's just reconnecting with like with your roots, reconnecting with

499
00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:27,440
Speaker 1: the other parts of yourself that for me isn't sports,

500
00:28:27,520 --> 00:28:30,439
Speaker 1: you know, whether that's like my dog or going for

501
00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:33,399
Speaker 1: a walk, or cooking a new recipe or being with

502
00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:38,920
Speaker 1: friends and family. It's like those smaller connecting pieces of

503
00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:41,680
Speaker 1: life that end up giving you such deep meaning. And

504
00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:44,440
Speaker 1: for me, it's that's really how I've tried to find balance.

505
00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:47,440
Speaker 3: Before we go on, I think it could be helpful

506
00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:52,320
Speaker 3: if you give some context as to what your farthest

507
00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:55,200
Speaker 3: throw has been, and maybe if we could kind of

508
00:28:55,520 --> 00:28:59,320
Speaker 3: get an understanding for what an average throw could be.

509
00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:04,880
Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, my personal best I sat in April of

510
00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:09,640
Speaker 1: this year, and it's seventy one meters and forty six centimeters,

511
00:29:09,680 --> 00:29:13,000
Speaker 1: which I think is two hundred and thirty four feet,

512
00:29:14,360 --> 00:29:16,880
Speaker 1: And that was actually the farthest throw in the world

513
00:29:16,960 --> 00:29:19,719
Speaker 1: in the last thirty years, which is pretty crazy.

514
00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:23,240
Speaker 3: Just so to put this into context for the listeners,

515
00:29:23,600 --> 00:29:28,040
Speaker 3: A football field is about three hundred feet, so you

516
00:29:28,080 --> 00:29:30,800
Speaker 3: are throwing two hundred and thirty two feet, which is

517
00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:33,000
Speaker 3: in my eyes, essentially almost a whole football field.

518
00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:40,160
Speaker 2: Like, okay, continue and then an average throw.

519
00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:43,840
Speaker 1: Yeah, in order to be like top ten in the US,

520
00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:48,959
Speaker 1: you probably have to throw like one hundred and ninety

521
00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:51,760
Speaker 1: five feet to two hundred feet. It's probably like what

522
00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:53,600
Speaker 1: would get you to like top ten in the US?

523
00:29:53,800 --> 00:29:54,440
Speaker 1: Is that helpful?

524
00:29:54,480 --> 00:29:55,600
Speaker 2: Wow? Yeah?

525
00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:58,600
Speaker 3: No, I mean you're thirty two feet beyond that. So

526
00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:02,920
Speaker 3: really you are just really impressive, is what I want

527
00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:06,720
Speaker 3: to make sure that we demonstrate here with these numbers.

528
00:30:07,280 --> 00:30:07,600
Speaker 2: Thanks.

529
00:30:09,040 --> 00:30:13,400
Speaker 3: So, in moving down south from the Bay Area, I

530
00:30:13,400 --> 00:30:17,000
Speaker 3: could imagine that that also came with some challenges. I mean,

531
00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:20,120
Speaker 3: being in a new area, what was it like for

532
00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:22,120
Speaker 3: you to try to find community there?

533
00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:23,200
Speaker 2: Did you feel lonely?

534
00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:24,320
Speaker 1: Yeah?

535
00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:25,040
Speaker 2: Definitely.

536
00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:29,120
Speaker 1: I mean I think the loneliness was absolutely like the

537
00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:32,479
Speaker 1: number one thing I felt. It really was like a

538
00:30:32,560 --> 00:30:34,800
Speaker 1: tough way to figure out how to make friends, you know,

539
00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:37,120
Speaker 1: because I think so much of culture now right is

540
00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:40,800
Speaker 1: like going out, and that social aspect wasn't something that

541
00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:44,320
Speaker 1: really was going to like fit in with the lifestyle

542
00:30:44,360 --> 00:30:46,840
Speaker 1: that I was trying to like dive into so much

543
00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:49,760
Speaker 1: so it was honestly kind of like a slow way

544
00:30:49,800 --> 00:30:54,160
Speaker 1: of like making friends of just like at the grocery

545
00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:58,360
Speaker 1: store or friends of friends and trying to connect with them.

546
00:30:58,760 --> 00:31:02,440
Speaker 1: But over time, I've built some really great, meaningful friendships.

547
00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:06,920
Speaker 1: But that first six months was really tough, and I

548
00:31:07,040 --> 00:31:10,400
Speaker 1: facetimed with my family so much friends and just kind

549
00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:12,280
Speaker 1: of was trying to get through it day by day

550
00:31:13,880 --> 00:31:16,240
Speaker 1: when I was in a place with no familiarity.

551
00:31:16,560 --> 00:31:17,640
Speaker 2: How did you cope with that?

552
00:31:18,280 --> 00:31:21,120
Speaker 3: Like what strategies did you implement or was there anything

553
00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:25,160
Speaker 3: that you became aware of that helped you navigate that

554
00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:26,520
Speaker 3: feeling of loneliness.

555
00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:31,520
Speaker 1: Looking back, my mindset was just to like maximize the day.

556
00:31:31,800 --> 00:31:36,560
Speaker 1: You know, maybe I feel pretty unhappy with like aspects

557
00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:38,800
Speaker 1: of my life currently, right, but there's still so many

558
00:31:38,840 --> 00:31:42,800
Speaker 1: things that I can do to find value or to

559
00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:46,000
Speaker 1: create meaning in my life, you know. And I found

560
00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:48,320
Speaker 1: ways to fill time right of like things that I

561
00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:50,960
Speaker 1: just hadn't been doing right, like for going for a

562
00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:53,840
Speaker 1: walk or trying to meditate, or going to the grocery

563
00:31:53,840 --> 00:31:55,440
Speaker 1: store four times a week. You know, so much of

564
00:31:55,480 --> 00:31:58,880
Speaker 1: it at first was kind of like a survival mindset

565
00:31:58,920 --> 00:32:04,120
Speaker 1: to get comfortable with trying to discover and explore this

566
00:32:04,240 --> 00:32:08,080
Speaker 1: new lifestyle. But it was also just like kind of

567
00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:10,440
Speaker 1: like I was saying, of relying on people that knew me,

568
00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:15,320
Speaker 1: that were positive, that could you know, just give some

569
00:32:15,440 --> 00:32:18,320
Speaker 1: optimism right that, like this way of being was going

570
00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:21,680
Speaker 1: to pay off. And it also led to really bonding

571
00:32:21,720 --> 00:32:23,280
Speaker 1: with my coach a lot more. I mean, he was

572
00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:26,080
Speaker 1: the one that was working with me daily, and you know,

573
00:32:26,280 --> 00:32:29,040
Speaker 1: he could see that I was really trying just to

574
00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:32,240
Speaker 1: like figure it out. But when he would give affirmation

575
00:32:32,400 --> 00:32:34,120
Speaker 1: right that, like he could see I was improving or

576
00:32:34,160 --> 00:32:39,920
Speaker 1: getting stronger. I was more rested, powerful, ready for training,

577
00:32:40,400 --> 00:32:43,080
Speaker 1: like all of those tiny little things that I was

578
00:32:43,560 --> 00:32:46,280
Speaker 1: trying to figure out how to work on optimize. Knowing

579
00:32:46,280 --> 00:32:48,960
Speaker 1: that that was yielding result felt good. So I think

580
00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:52,320
Speaker 1: loneliness is such a hard thing to combat, but if

581
00:32:52,360 --> 00:32:56,440
Speaker 1: you can find ways to make yourself feel like you

582
00:32:56,520 --> 00:33:00,320
Speaker 1: have value, it can really help kind of get through

583
00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:03,280
Speaker 1: that until you can find a sense of community.

584
00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:10,120
Speaker 3: Yeah, for me, pre pandemic, I started to really explore

585
00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:13,840
Speaker 3: what it felt like to choose to spend more time

586
00:33:14,160 --> 00:33:18,720
Speaker 3: on my own and in doing that, I created and

587
00:33:18,760 --> 00:33:21,320
Speaker 3: come back to something that is not I'm not the

588
00:33:21,320 --> 00:33:24,240
Speaker 3: first team to do this, but a joy list. So

589
00:33:24,600 --> 00:33:27,480
Speaker 3: when I have time, or when I am feeling a

590
00:33:27,520 --> 00:33:30,720
Speaker 3: little out of sorts and I am spending time by myself,

591
00:33:30,760 --> 00:33:34,280
Speaker 3: maybe by choice or because no one's lot around, I'll

592
00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:37,040
Speaker 3: go to this notebook that I have this list in

593
00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:39,800
Speaker 3: and I'll choose something that I know makes me happy

594
00:33:39,840 --> 00:33:43,280
Speaker 3: to do in that moment. And it's not rocket science,

595
00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:47,000
Speaker 3: but it helps and it works, and it has taught

596
00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:50,920
Speaker 3: me to embrace the time on my own and that

597
00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:52,480
Speaker 3: I can make my own joy.

598
00:33:52,520 --> 00:33:55,600
Speaker 2: I don't need to rely on others to source it.

599
00:33:56,240 --> 00:33:59,240
Speaker 1: I love that, And honestly, yeah, you're so right. You know,

600
00:33:59,360 --> 00:34:02,920
Speaker 1: I think I didn't know myself really well like at

601
00:34:02,920 --> 00:34:07,160
Speaker 1: that time, right, Like all my life experiences were built

602
00:34:07,200 --> 00:34:09,600
Speaker 1: around other people, right, like family and friends, and now

603
00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:12,080
Speaker 1: I had this time period to kind of figure out

604
00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:12,719
Speaker 1: who I was.

605
00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:14,200
Speaker 2: You know, what do I like to read? If I

606
00:34:14,200 --> 00:34:15,560
Speaker 2: have like a whole day in myself, what do I

607
00:34:15,600 --> 00:34:15,960
Speaker 2: want to do?

608
00:34:16,280 --> 00:34:19,560
Speaker 1: You know? And it can be uncomfortable figuring that out,

609
00:34:19,640 --> 00:34:22,800
Speaker 1: but like when you do find those sources of joy,

610
00:34:22,960 --> 00:34:26,799
Speaker 1: it's so powerful, right, it's like, you know, knowing who

611
00:34:26,840 --> 00:34:29,840
Speaker 1: you are, like your heart, your core, your soul. It

612
00:34:29,880 --> 00:34:33,200
Speaker 1: feels good, but it is such a scary process to discover.

613
00:34:34,120 --> 00:34:35,880
Speaker 2: It is a scary process to discover.

614
00:34:36,120 --> 00:34:41,279
Speaker 3: So it would seem as though that time period right

615
00:34:41,320 --> 00:34:44,560
Speaker 3: before the pandemic probably really prepared you for what was

616
00:34:44,600 --> 00:34:45,000
Speaker 3: to come.

617
00:34:46,400 --> 00:34:49,759
Speaker 1: Totally totally. Yeah, you're so right. I mean, I think

618
00:34:50,400 --> 00:34:54,600
Speaker 1: if the timing of it ended up being really great.

619
00:34:55,800 --> 00:34:59,759
Speaker 1: But yeah, I mean, when you're living in right, it's

620
00:34:59,800 --> 00:35:02,799
Speaker 1: so hard to know how your experiences are preparing you

621
00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:05,360
Speaker 1: for what's to come. But I definitely feel grateful that

622
00:35:05,400 --> 00:35:07,360
Speaker 1: I got moved, I got set up, I had that

623
00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:10,279
Speaker 1: time to kind of be able to figure myself out

624
00:35:10,320 --> 00:35:13,720
Speaker 1: before total adversity struck.

625
00:35:14,680 --> 00:35:20,520
Speaker 3: When that struck, where were you and what were your feelings?

626
00:35:21,520 --> 00:35:28,200
Speaker 1: I was in Austin. I was truthfully pretty devastated. I

627
00:35:28,200 --> 00:35:30,319
Speaker 1: think for me, the biggest thing that I felt was

628
00:35:31,280 --> 00:35:35,120
Speaker 1: I was in training really well. I was really excited

629
00:35:35,160 --> 00:35:37,840
Speaker 1: with how things were going. And we were about four

630
00:35:38,640 --> 00:35:43,480
Speaker 1: months away from Olympic trials and like five months away

631
00:35:43,480 --> 00:35:46,000
Speaker 1: from what was supposed to be the twenty twenty Olympics,

632
00:35:46,280 --> 00:35:49,520
Speaker 1: and I was just devastated. You know, I felt like

633
00:35:50,400 --> 00:35:54,000
Speaker 1: it's so hard to become an Olympian. It's so difficult,

634
00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:56,719
Speaker 1: right that, like you know, you can get injured, you

635
00:35:56,760 --> 00:35:59,000
Speaker 1: can get you can just have a bad day, right,

636
00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:02,319
Speaker 1: and like that dream can just like fade away for

637
00:36:02,360 --> 00:36:04,799
Speaker 1: four years, right, you get the chance to do it.

638
00:36:05,280 --> 00:36:07,680
Speaker 1: And I felt that at that point, like I was

639
00:36:08,320 --> 00:36:11,120
Speaker 1: doing all the things that was trending towards earning a

640
00:36:11,160 --> 00:36:17,879
Speaker 1: spot on Team USA. And at first, they they really

641
00:36:17,880 --> 00:36:19,600
Speaker 1: weren't sure if the Olympics were going to be just

642
00:36:19,680 --> 00:36:22,239
Speaker 1: postponed or if they were going to be canceled. And

643
00:36:23,600 --> 00:36:27,520
Speaker 1: I really was struggling of like, gosh, this like dream,

644
00:36:27,560 --> 00:36:29,719
Speaker 1: I feel like I've like put all of my eggs

645
00:36:29,760 --> 00:36:33,239
Speaker 1: into this basket. Is now like is it gone? You know,

646
00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:36,200
Speaker 1: like is it gonna be like four more years? Is

647
00:36:36,239 --> 00:36:38,360
Speaker 1: it gonna just be postponed?

648
00:36:38,440 --> 00:36:38,680
Speaker 2: Is it?

649
00:36:38,800 --> 00:36:43,279
Speaker 1: Like I just was struggling of like, you know, finally

650
00:36:43,560 --> 00:36:45,680
Speaker 1: track it with so many goals, you know, it's like

651
00:36:45,760 --> 00:36:48,200
Speaker 1: such a clear date right of like when you get

652
00:36:48,239 --> 00:36:50,960
Speaker 1: to like do it, and now it was just a

653
00:36:51,040 --> 00:36:53,080
Speaker 1: complete unknown as to what was going to happen.

654
00:36:53,160 --> 00:36:56,920
Speaker 2: And that really really rattled me at first.

655
00:36:57,760 --> 00:37:03,920
Speaker 3: Yeah, and it's understandable that you felt that way. You

656
00:37:04,560 --> 00:37:07,440
Speaker 3: are spending all of your time working toward this goal,

657
00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:10,920
Speaker 3: and when that goal becomes something that's completely out of

658
00:37:10,960 --> 00:37:15,720
Speaker 3: your control, it is scary. On top of the fact

659
00:37:15,960 --> 00:37:21,560
Speaker 3: that the world is in absolute chaos right absolutely, As

660
00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:26,080
Speaker 3: time progresses and it's still feel shaky, things still feel

661
00:37:26,160 --> 00:37:29,359
Speaker 3: still unknown, what are you doing to cope and are

662
00:37:29,360 --> 00:37:30,160
Speaker 3: you still training?

663
00:37:31,080 --> 00:37:34,520
Speaker 1: So the first thing I did, I was like very sad,

664
00:37:34,840 --> 00:37:39,000
Speaker 1: and I started looking at puppies online. I love that,

665
00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:43,200
Speaker 1: and I ended up getting a dog at the beginning

666
00:37:43,719 --> 00:37:47,560
Speaker 1: of April, so just like a month into the pandemic,

667
00:37:47,600 --> 00:37:50,520
Speaker 1: totally got a pandemic puppy. Her name's Allie, and it

668
00:37:50,640 --> 00:37:53,040
Speaker 1: was actually like when we talk about versus of joy,

669
00:37:53,120 --> 00:37:55,360
Speaker 1: she has been one of the best things in my life,

670
00:37:55,400 --> 00:38:00,000
Speaker 1: you know, like having just such a bundle of energy

671
00:38:00,280 --> 00:38:02,359
Speaker 1: to come home to like during that time, it like

672
00:38:02,520 --> 00:38:05,920
Speaker 1: totally helps it with the loneliness. So that wasn't the

673
00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:09,000
Speaker 1: first thing that really like ended up impacting my time

674
00:38:09,080 --> 00:38:13,239
Speaker 1: during the pandemic. But then my coach also we kind

675
00:38:13,239 --> 00:38:16,359
Speaker 1: of like the first couple of weeks were unsure of

676
00:38:16,440 --> 00:38:19,520
Speaker 1: like how to plan training, just with not knowing if

677
00:38:19,560 --> 00:38:21,320
Speaker 1: there's going to be any meats the rest of the season.

678
00:38:22,200 --> 00:38:24,319
Speaker 1: And eventually he was like, you know what, Valerie, Like,

679
00:38:24,640 --> 00:38:26,680
Speaker 1: we're going to get fit, We're going to get strong,

680
00:38:27,120 --> 00:38:29,640
Speaker 1: we are going to like maximize this time and just

681
00:38:29,760 --> 00:38:32,799
Speaker 1: like work on some technical things like we haven't had

682
00:38:32,840 --> 00:38:38,480
Speaker 1: the time to do because of competitions, and we that. Honestly,

683
00:38:38,600 --> 00:38:40,879
Speaker 1: that summer ended up being one of my favorite times

684
00:38:40,880 --> 00:38:44,120
Speaker 1: I've ever had as a discus thrower. It just was

685
00:38:44,160 --> 00:38:47,160
Speaker 1: so great to end up like reconnecting with the sport.

686
00:38:47,239 --> 00:38:50,839
Speaker 1: It wasn't about like that big meat coming up, and

687
00:38:50,880 --> 00:38:54,960
Speaker 1: it wasn't about like really improving distance. It was about

688
00:38:55,000 --> 00:38:58,400
Speaker 1: like becoming connected with my body, feeling things that I

689
00:38:58,440 --> 00:39:02,160
Speaker 1: hadn't had the capacity to feel before, getting strong, getting fit.

690
00:39:02,280 --> 00:39:02,840
Speaker 2: I like that.

691
00:39:03,080 --> 00:39:05,680
Speaker 1: I was so proud of like the sheep that I

692
00:39:05,719 --> 00:39:08,840
Speaker 1: got into that summer that it led to me finding

693
00:39:09,040 --> 00:39:12,120
Speaker 1: a different sense of confidence and composure as an athlete.

694
00:39:12,600 --> 00:39:16,719
Speaker 1: That had those big competitions been what had happened in

695
00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:19,959
Speaker 1: that summer, I never would have been able to find.

696
00:39:24,360 --> 00:39:27,000
Speaker 3: Taking a break from today's episode to talk to you

697
00:39:27,360 --> 00:39:29,440
Speaker 3: about my sponsors.

698
00:39:29,640 --> 00:39:32,799
Speaker 2: First up, my friends at Elements.

699
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Speaker 3: Oh my goodness, I cannot even imagine what my steamy

700
00:39:37,880 --> 00:39:39,319
Speaker 3: summer runs.

701
00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:41,000
Speaker 2: Would be like without Element.

702
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Speaker 3: It is the first thing I look forward to drinking

703
00:39:43,880 --> 00:39:46,880
Speaker 3: in the morning as I'm gearing up for my Saturday

704
00:39:46,920 --> 00:39:50,840
Speaker 3: long run, and also the first thing I run to,

705
00:39:51,600 --> 00:39:54,080
Speaker 3: maybe not as fast as before I tackle the long

706
00:39:54,160 --> 00:39:57,839
Speaker 3: run once I get back inside. For those that may

707
00:39:57,920 --> 00:40:01,279
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708
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709
00:40:05,520 --> 00:40:09,960
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710
00:40:10,080 --> 00:40:14,600
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711
00:40:14,920 --> 00:40:20,359
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712
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713
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Speaker 3: tastes arranging up from citrus and raspberry to orange. My

714
00:40:29,040 --> 00:40:31,640
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715
00:40:31,640 --> 00:40:35,279
Speaker 3: his go to. So many options to choose from, and

716
00:40:35,360 --> 00:40:38,440
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717
00:40:38,719 --> 00:40:41,080
Speaker 2: Head on over to drink Element dot com.

718
00:40:41,120 --> 00:40:45,960
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719
00:40:45,960 --> 00:40:49,640
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720
00:40:49,719 --> 00:40:53,640
Speaker 3: drink Element dot com slash hurdle to get a free

721
00:40:53,680 --> 00:40:57,239
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722
00:40:57,280 --> 00:41:01,960
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723
00:41:02,040 --> 00:41:05,840
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724
00:41:06,320 --> 00:41:09,360
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725
00:41:09,600 --> 00:41:10,960
Speaker 2: They are my.

726
00:41:11,440 --> 00:41:14,440
Speaker 3: Cannot leave the apartment without it when it is sunny

727
00:41:14,560 --> 00:41:18,480
Speaker 3: out pick. I am obsessed with my Gooders, not just

728
00:41:18,520 --> 00:41:22,319
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729
00:41:22,480 --> 00:41:25,479
Speaker 3: sprinting to the subway or around a track, but also

730
00:41:25,520 --> 00:41:30,320
Speaker 3: because they are affordable and they look pretty stylish. Seriously,

731
00:41:30,560 --> 00:41:33,680
Speaker 3: I am reaching for mine not just when I'm active.

732
00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:37,479
Speaker 3: I'm also reaching for them when I'm running errands or

733
00:41:37,719 --> 00:41:40,400
Speaker 3: if I need to choose just one pair to travel with.

734
00:41:40,640 --> 00:41:44,000
Speaker 3: It is my Gooders every single time. They are so

735
00:41:44,400 --> 00:41:48,240
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736
00:41:48,239 --> 00:41:51,400
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737
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738
00:41:56,719 --> 00:42:00,520
Speaker 3: slash hurdle and use hurdle one five at checkout.

739
00:42:00,560 --> 00:42:02,200
Speaker 2: Again, that is Gooder dot com.

740
00:42:02,360 --> 00:42:06,560
Speaker 3: Good R dot com slash hurdle, use code hurdle one

741
00:42:06,719 --> 00:42:17,319
Speaker 3: five at checkout to get fifteen percent off your order today.

742
00:42:18,200 --> 00:42:22,200
Speaker 3: Talk about a silver lining in retrospect you talk about

743
00:42:22,239 --> 00:42:25,680
Speaker 3: feeling really fit and really confident in your body. You

744
00:42:25,800 --> 00:42:28,600
Speaker 3: also earlier at the top of this kind of joked

745
00:42:28,640 --> 00:42:32,400
Speaker 3: about what people think a discus thrower would look like

746
00:42:32,520 --> 00:42:36,160
Speaker 3: or could be like, as you said, a lot of

747
00:42:36,160 --> 00:42:40,439
Speaker 3: Olympic lifting. Way more I would argue than maybe other

748
00:42:40,760 --> 00:42:44,560
Speaker 3: track athletes. Talk to me about what it feels like

749
00:42:44,719 --> 00:42:47,960
Speaker 3: for you to feel at home in your body and

750
00:42:48,000 --> 00:42:52,080
Speaker 3: how it's felt for you maybe to navigate what the

751
00:42:52,120 --> 00:42:55,120
Speaker 3: stereotypes could be as a discus athlete.

752
00:42:55,200 --> 00:42:59,080
Speaker 1: Truthfully, now with where I'm at, I do feel like

753
00:42:59,120 --> 00:43:02,719
Speaker 1: so grateful to be in a spot where I do

754
00:43:02,760 --> 00:43:07,279
Speaker 1: feel like happy and content with like not just how

755
00:43:07,280 --> 00:43:09,480
Speaker 1: my body looks right, but like that it has purpose,

756
00:43:10,120 --> 00:43:14,120
Speaker 1: which has been something that like I've had to learn

757
00:43:14,239 --> 00:43:16,920
Speaker 1: right that that is like something that should give you

758
00:43:16,960 --> 00:43:19,800
Speaker 1: a ton of gratification about how you feel about yourself.

759
00:43:19,960 --> 00:43:23,400
Speaker 1: But I really did struggle just with body image and

760
00:43:23,800 --> 00:43:28,239
Speaker 1: trying to figure out like what the sport was going

761
00:43:28,320 --> 00:43:30,560
Speaker 1: to shape me into. You know, I think it's like

762
00:43:30,680 --> 00:43:33,200
Speaker 1: hard to be told that, like, you know, if you

763
00:43:33,239 --> 00:43:35,040
Speaker 1: want to be a good thrower, you got to be

764
00:43:35,120 --> 00:43:38,399
Speaker 1: like a big, sturdy girl. And I just I never

765
00:43:38,440 --> 00:43:40,279
Speaker 1: believed that that was like how it had to be.

766
00:43:40,440 --> 00:43:45,319
Speaker 1: But you know, it took finding also a coach right

767
00:43:45,400 --> 00:43:47,719
Speaker 1: that like believed that and it could help me like

768
00:43:47,840 --> 00:43:53,080
Speaker 1: train into something that was was strong and powerful. But

769
00:43:53,680 --> 00:43:56,239
Speaker 1: it's been it's been really special to be able to

770
00:43:56,320 --> 00:43:59,160
Speaker 1: kind of reshape the mold of what being in a

771
00:43:59,239 --> 00:44:02,960
Speaker 1: lead discussed throw is that you can be long, you

772
00:44:03,000 --> 00:44:05,320
Speaker 1: can be lean, you can be strong and be able

773
00:44:05,360 --> 00:44:07,799
Speaker 1: to push the boundary of the sport in a way

774
00:44:07,840 --> 00:44:09,600
Speaker 1: that hasn't been seen in a long time.

775
00:44:10,040 --> 00:44:13,160
Speaker 3: I'd love to talk a little bit about coming into

776
00:44:13,200 --> 00:44:18,600
Speaker 3: this place of body acceptance because regardless of what your

777
00:44:18,920 --> 00:44:21,600
Speaker 3: shape is, I feel like this is something that every

778
00:44:21,680 --> 00:44:25,120
Speaker 3: woman deals with at one point or another, and even

779
00:44:25,200 --> 00:44:29,000
Speaker 3: men too. For you, on your journey to this place,

780
00:44:29,600 --> 00:44:32,799
Speaker 3: what would you say was a landmark moment where you

781
00:44:33,920 --> 00:44:36,640
Speaker 3: really started to appreciate your body for what it was

782
00:44:36,719 --> 00:44:39,239
Speaker 3: capable of, regardless of what it looked like.

783
00:44:39,560 --> 00:44:42,040
Speaker 1: There's kind of two things I think when you say that.

784
00:44:42,239 --> 00:44:47,920
Speaker 1: I think for so long I thought that being healthy

785
00:44:48,040 --> 00:44:50,680
Speaker 1: was just about like food, you know what I mean?

786
00:44:51,360 --> 00:44:53,760
Speaker 1: And I do think that is like such a big

787
00:44:53,800 --> 00:44:59,640
Speaker 1: part of health, right, but like there's ten more layers

788
00:45:00,239 --> 00:45:04,440
Speaker 1: just like eating healthy, right, Like I really dove into

789
00:45:05,680 --> 00:45:09,600
Speaker 1: actually like the education part of like understanding what my

790
00:45:09,640 --> 00:45:13,120
Speaker 1: body needs, you know, and when you take a sense

791
00:45:13,160 --> 00:45:18,680
Speaker 1: of like responsibility and accountability for what you can control.

792
00:45:18,880 --> 00:45:21,600
Speaker 1: And for me, so much of that was like understanding

793
00:45:21,880 --> 00:45:24,520
Speaker 1: what protein sources I could have or how much fat

794
00:45:24,600 --> 00:45:28,840
Speaker 1: I need. Did I actually start to like be able

795
00:45:28,880 --> 00:45:31,680
Speaker 1: to kind of shape the way that my body was developing.

796
00:45:32,280 --> 00:45:34,600
Speaker 1: And it felt so good. It felt so good to

797
00:45:34,760 --> 00:45:40,040
Speaker 1: like be able to see change, to feel change. But

798
00:45:40,080 --> 00:45:42,480
Speaker 1: it was only by putting in like that effort and

799
00:45:42,560 --> 00:45:44,000
Speaker 1: awareness to it.

800
00:45:44,280 --> 00:45:44,480
Speaker 2: I think.

801
00:45:44,520 --> 00:45:48,720
Speaker 1: The other thing is like when you are an athlete,

802
00:45:48,920 --> 00:45:52,000
Speaker 1: so much of like what people are going to judge

803
00:45:52,000 --> 00:45:55,640
Speaker 1: you on is like how you look, and that is

804
00:45:55,680 --> 00:46:00,000
Speaker 1: an unfortunate reality of just like I think being a female,

805
00:45:59,719 --> 00:46:05,640
Speaker 1: and I've really wanted to continue for myself to be

806
00:46:05,680 --> 00:46:08,759
Speaker 1: able to to know that like what matters right is

807
00:46:08,800 --> 00:46:12,960
Speaker 1: like not other people's opinions, but truly like when you

808
00:46:13,000 --> 00:46:14,560
Speaker 1: wake up in the morning you're brushing your teeth when

809
00:46:14,560 --> 00:46:16,920
Speaker 1: you see yourself, right, like how do you feel about

810
00:46:16,960 --> 00:46:20,279
Speaker 1: like what you see? And it's been difficult to be

811
00:46:20,360 --> 00:46:24,120
Speaker 1: able to continue to focus more on that, But I

812
00:46:24,120 --> 00:46:27,200
Speaker 1: think I've I've found that it is about like the

813
00:46:27,239 --> 00:46:32,360
Speaker 1: overall lifestyle, right, Like bodies are just like big bags

814
00:46:32,400 --> 00:46:34,960
Speaker 1: of bones, right, but like the care you put into them,

815
00:46:35,400 --> 00:46:37,759
Speaker 1: like it matters, you know, like waking up and like

816
00:46:38,080 --> 00:46:41,440
Speaker 1: just feeling energized, feeling like excited. There was like a

817
00:46:41,480 --> 00:46:43,920
Speaker 1: long time where I just felt like dull, you know.

818
00:46:44,160 --> 00:46:47,719
Speaker 1: And it's been like such a full process to be

819
00:46:47,760 --> 00:46:50,759
Speaker 1: able to get to a point of like wanting to

820
00:46:51,520 --> 00:46:55,720
Speaker 1: take care of your body. And you know, that's something

821
00:46:55,719 --> 00:46:58,400
Speaker 1: that I've really tried to dive into. And there's days

822
00:46:58,400 --> 00:47:00,920
Speaker 1: where like I feel so gross. You know, it's like

823
00:47:01,000 --> 00:47:03,799
Speaker 1: I just you just can't like see the good. But

824
00:47:03,920 --> 00:47:06,879
Speaker 1: it always like fades, you know. It's like it is

825
00:47:08,080 --> 00:47:10,520
Speaker 1: so easy to let your mind kind of play tricks

826
00:47:10,560 --> 00:47:14,480
Speaker 1: on you about you how you feel and what you

827
00:47:14,520 --> 00:47:17,680
Speaker 1: think you see. But it is just about like trying

828
00:47:17,719 --> 00:47:20,440
Speaker 1: to be consistent and put in that extra love and

829
00:47:20,480 --> 00:47:23,560
Speaker 1: care to bond and fall in love with with who

830
00:47:23,600 --> 00:47:25,279
Speaker 1: you are and what you can take care of.

831
00:47:26,400 --> 00:47:31,400
Speaker 3: You said that it can feel harder sometimes, especially maybe

832
00:47:31,440 --> 00:47:36,279
Speaker 3: these days, to base your opinion of yourself on how

833
00:47:36,360 --> 00:47:38,279
Speaker 3: you feel or what you see.

834
00:47:38,160 --> 00:47:38,840
Speaker 2: In the mirror.

835
00:47:39,120 --> 00:47:42,040
Speaker 3: Why now do you think that that goes hand in

836
00:47:42,080 --> 00:47:47,600
Speaker 3: hand with being on this larger stage and finding more

837
00:47:47,640 --> 00:47:48,800
Speaker 3: success in your sport.

838
00:47:50,160 --> 00:47:53,880
Speaker 1: I think so yeah, I mean it is sometimes I

839
00:47:54,320 --> 00:47:59,200
Speaker 1: feel aware of right that, like I feel so fortunate

840
00:47:59,239 --> 00:48:01,719
Speaker 1: for the things I have a call. But sometimes it

841
00:48:01,800 --> 00:48:04,680
Speaker 1: is crazy. You can just be like have such a

842
00:48:04,760 --> 00:48:09,839
Speaker 1: like a delicate critical mindset, you know, sometimes I feel

843
00:48:09,880 --> 00:48:12,880
Speaker 1: like the highs are so high, but then the lows

844
00:48:12,920 --> 00:48:16,319
Speaker 1: feel really low, you know, And when you're when you're

845
00:48:16,360 --> 00:48:19,160
Speaker 1: the underdog, it's so fun to try to be like

846
00:48:19,280 --> 00:48:21,680
Speaker 1: chasing down the people you've that have been ahead of

847
00:48:21,680 --> 00:48:24,680
Speaker 1: you to to earn, you know, take one step up,

848
00:48:24,800 --> 00:48:30,680
Speaker 1: you know, to feel like you're like becoming a master

849
00:48:30,880 --> 00:48:33,279
Speaker 1: and in ways right that like you can control. But

850
00:48:33,760 --> 00:48:36,960
Speaker 1: when you're at the top, like it's hard, it is hard.

851
00:48:37,040 --> 00:48:41,120
Speaker 1: It becomes about perspective, right, Like I want so badly

852
00:48:41,239 --> 00:48:43,880
Speaker 1: to like continue to improve, to continue to win, to

853
00:48:43,920 --> 00:48:47,239
Speaker 1: continue to like feel confident in who I am. But

854
00:48:47,360 --> 00:48:50,720
Speaker 1: like you just can get rattled. You just can get rattled,

855
00:48:50,760 --> 00:48:53,319
Speaker 1: and it happens so quickly. It can be like in

856
00:48:53,360 --> 00:48:56,239
Speaker 1: a comment on an Instagram post, It can be in

857
00:48:56,280 --> 00:48:58,000
Speaker 1: an article that can come comes out.

858
00:48:58,040 --> 00:48:59,880
Speaker 2: It can be.

859
00:48:59,120 --> 00:49:02,840
Speaker 1: Because like you have a bad practice, right, Like the pressure,

860
00:49:02,920 --> 00:49:06,160
Speaker 1: the expectation you feel if you don't manage it, if

861
00:49:06,200 --> 00:49:08,919
Speaker 1: you don't like have ways to deal with it, whether

862
00:49:08,960 --> 00:49:12,080
Speaker 1: that's talking to people, whether that's like being able to

863
00:49:12,200 --> 00:49:17,520
Speaker 1: just like have thick skin. It is scary the impacts

864
00:49:17,520 --> 00:49:19,560
Speaker 1: it can have on you and how it can shape you.

865
00:49:19,960 --> 00:49:21,359
Speaker 1: If you're not.

866
00:49:21,320 --> 00:49:23,879
Speaker 2: Ready for it, how do you navigate it?

867
00:49:24,640 --> 00:49:28,520
Speaker 1: Part of it is like just continuing to know that

868
00:49:28,560 --> 00:49:30,200
Speaker 1: there's going to be a tomorrow and there's going to

869
00:49:30,239 --> 00:49:33,880
Speaker 1: be more experiences that can keep giving you perspective. I

870
00:49:33,880 --> 00:49:35,920
Speaker 1: think for me, the biggest thing I've done is like

871
00:49:36,040 --> 00:49:39,000
Speaker 1: I keep a really tight inner circle. You know, the

872
00:49:39,040 --> 00:49:42,040
Speaker 1: people I'm close with, they really know me. They like

873
00:49:42,120 --> 00:49:44,400
Speaker 1: I know, they've got my back, and they see me

874
00:49:44,440 --> 00:49:48,280
Speaker 1: as more's than just an athlete. And that's been super

875
00:49:48,280 --> 00:49:50,600
Speaker 1: helpful to be able to have my people that I

876
00:49:50,640 --> 00:49:53,959
Speaker 1: can just rely on and connect with. It's it's hard.

877
00:49:54,000 --> 00:49:57,000
Speaker 1: I think I'm honestly still trying to navigate it. And

878
00:49:57,160 --> 00:49:59,839
Speaker 1: I mean we talked about hurdles. This World Championships. It's

879
00:50:00,120 --> 00:50:01,480
Speaker 1: a hurdle, and I don't feel like I've had my

880
00:50:01,600 --> 00:50:06,600
Speaker 1: like time yet to to show my like redemption period. Yet,

881
00:50:06,680 --> 00:50:09,600
Speaker 1: you know, but I'm still trying to figure it out.

882
00:50:09,719 --> 00:50:11,560
Speaker 1: That's I think that's the truth, and I think that

883
00:50:12,719 --> 00:50:14,200
Speaker 1: I'm actually okay with that.

884
00:50:17,200 --> 00:50:22,040
Speaker 3: The question arises you said redemption period. You also, as

885
00:50:22,080 --> 00:50:28,040
Speaker 3: we mentioned earlier, discus Olympic champion, what are you fighting

886
00:50:28,239 --> 00:50:30,400
Speaker 3: for redemption from that?

887
00:50:30,560 --> 00:50:31,560
Speaker 2: Before World championship?

888
00:50:31,640 --> 00:50:34,480
Speaker 1: This article came out and it was kind of doing

889
00:50:34,520 --> 00:50:36,560
Speaker 1: like a discus review. There was a line in there

890
00:50:36,560 --> 00:50:40,120
Speaker 1: that said, like, Valerie almon is the Simone Biles or

891
00:50:40,160 --> 00:50:43,360
Speaker 1: Serena Williams of the discus throw, just like completely dominant.

892
00:50:44,080 --> 00:50:48,760
Speaker 1: And I read that and like it was an extreme compliment,

893
00:50:48,800 --> 00:50:51,560
Speaker 1: but like I didn't, like, I know, something about it

894
00:50:51,600 --> 00:50:53,680
Speaker 1: made me feel like anxious, Like gosh, am I like

895
00:50:53,719 --> 00:50:55,920
Speaker 1: really that person? I don't feel like I'm that person,

896
00:50:56,120 --> 00:50:58,960
Speaker 1: you know, Like winning the Olympics was like an amazing,

897
00:51:00,360 --> 00:51:05,960
Speaker 1: amazing like accomplishment, so exciting, but like I don't know

898
00:51:06,000 --> 00:51:09,960
Speaker 1: how to like embrace that type of persona, you know,

899
00:51:10,239 --> 00:51:13,960
Speaker 1: in this sport. Now it's like, obviously Simone has not

900
00:51:14,000 --> 00:51:16,440
Speaker 1: been undefeated and Serena has not been sported. It has

901
00:51:16,800 --> 00:51:20,120
Speaker 1: not been undefeated, and that is just like part of sport.

902
00:51:20,160 --> 00:51:21,880
Speaker 1: And I think for me, in redemption, right, it's like

903
00:51:22,520 --> 00:51:26,239
Speaker 1: I want to just be like consistently competitive, you know.

904
00:51:26,440 --> 00:51:30,680
Speaker 1: And I think that because discus throw in the last

905
00:51:31,320 --> 00:51:35,360
Speaker 1: thirty years, it's and we call it like the modern area.

906
00:51:36,320 --> 00:51:39,640
Speaker 1: It's been really hard to push boundaries, and I'm excited

907
00:51:39,680 --> 00:51:42,200
Speaker 1: to continue to try to like push those but it's

908
00:51:42,360 --> 00:51:44,400
Speaker 1: just being able to get like back on the horse

909
00:51:44,440 --> 00:51:48,120
Speaker 1: and just compete again. You know. Winning feels really great,

910
00:51:48,160 --> 00:51:50,680
Speaker 1: but so just competing, you know, Like I love being

911
00:51:50,719 --> 00:51:53,640
Speaker 1: in the fight, and like that can feel just as

912
00:51:53,680 --> 00:51:56,600
Speaker 1: good regardless of like what the result is. It's about

913
00:51:56,600 --> 00:52:01,239
Speaker 1: like the preparation, the excitement, the energy, the sometimes a sacrifice,

914
00:52:01,320 --> 00:52:03,600
Speaker 1: you know, but like when you've done those things, then

915
00:52:03,600 --> 00:52:05,080
Speaker 1: you get to a point of getting to see where

916
00:52:05,120 --> 00:52:08,520
Speaker 1: you're at. It's one of the best feelings. And I

917
00:52:08,520 --> 00:52:11,480
Speaker 1: think for me, redemption is like continuing to make those

918
00:52:11,560 --> 00:52:14,040
Speaker 1: choices that like when it's time to fight, I know

919
00:52:14,080 --> 00:52:16,040
Speaker 1: I can put my best effort out there.

920
00:52:16,360 --> 00:52:17,840
Speaker 2: My best effort out there. You know.

921
00:52:18,520 --> 00:52:21,799
Speaker 3: It's interesting to hear you say, like I don't know

922
00:52:21,840 --> 00:52:24,879
Speaker 3: if I'm ready to be at that level, because if

923
00:52:24,880 --> 00:52:28,400
Speaker 3: you weren't ready, then you wouldn't be performing the way

924
00:52:28,800 --> 00:52:33,360
Speaker 3: that you are. And there doesn't need to be a

925
00:52:33,440 --> 00:52:36,560
Speaker 3: Simone Biles in discus or Serena in discus.

926
00:52:36,760 --> 00:52:39,280
Speaker 2: There can just be a vow in discus.

927
00:52:39,320 --> 00:52:42,239
Speaker 3: And what a great opportunity that is for you to

928
00:52:42,360 --> 00:52:45,000
Speaker 3: be the person who pays your own way, who makes

929
00:52:45,040 --> 00:52:45,879
Speaker 3: your own name.

930
00:52:46,360 --> 00:52:47,600
Speaker 2: Yeah. No, I like that.

931
00:52:47,880 --> 00:52:48,759
Speaker 1: I really like that.

932
00:52:49,080 --> 00:52:54,359
Speaker 3: I want to touch briefly on the Olympics and that

933
00:52:54,440 --> 00:52:58,799
Speaker 3: feeling how it felt for you to finally realize a

934
00:52:58,880 --> 00:53:01,759
Speaker 3: dream not only to be come an Olympian, but to

935
00:53:01,840 --> 00:53:05,000
Speaker 3: do it to such fan fare and to such a

936
00:53:05,040 --> 00:53:09,120
Speaker 3: degree of excellence. Talk us through what it felt when

937
00:53:09,160 --> 00:53:11,919
Speaker 3: you realized what you had actually accomplished.

938
00:53:13,160 --> 00:53:17,799
Speaker 1: It was such an incredible feeling. Now looking back, right,

939
00:53:18,440 --> 00:53:21,120
Speaker 1: the path to become an Olympic champion was filled with

940
00:53:21,160 --> 00:53:25,279
Speaker 1: so much adversity, and you know, I thought that my

941
00:53:25,440 --> 00:53:28,960
Speaker 1: dream was going to be like totally deferred. That when

942
00:53:29,000 --> 00:53:33,880
Speaker 1: it ended up materializing, you know that like magic moment happened.

943
00:53:34,600 --> 00:53:41,000
Speaker 1: It was it was like incredibly special, impactful. The pride

944
00:53:41,040 --> 00:53:44,880
Speaker 1: that I felt has been like, honestly, it's been uncompared,

945
00:53:45,000 --> 00:53:47,799
Speaker 1: you know, I think it really has given me such

946
00:53:47,840 --> 00:53:51,920
Speaker 1: a badge of honor that, like I always feel of

947
00:53:52,040 --> 00:53:54,520
Speaker 1: being able to have that magic moment.

948
00:53:54,880 --> 00:53:57,880
Speaker 2: Talk to me about the difference in how you felt

949
00:53:58,440 --> 00:54:01,960
Speaker 2: going into the Olympics versus how you felt going in

950
00:54:02,000 --> 00:54:03,880
Speaker 2: to this summer's World champs.

951
00:54:05,600 --> 00:54:08,360
Speaker 1: I've done a lot of reflection over this, I promise,

952
00:54:08,680 --> 00:54:12,920
Speaker 1: and it's you know, going into Tokyo, I think I

953
00:54:13,040 --> 00:54:16,200
Speaker 1: was like, my coach has come up with this, he said.

954
00:54:16,239 --> 00:54:18,760
Speaker 1: You know, we've said like I was the unproven favorite,

955
00:54:18,840 --> 00:54:21,759
Speaker 1: you know, like going into it, I think there was

956
00:54:21,800 --> 00:54:25,240
Speaker 1: still a sense of like wild and freedom. I felt

957
00:54:25,680 --> 00:54:27,880
Speaker 1: of just like I'm going to go for it, you know,

958
00:54:27,960 --> 00:54:30,040
Speaker 1: and like if I fall short, that's okay, right, Like

959
00:54:30,920 --> 00:54:33,319
Speaker 1: earning an Olympic medal will be like my first time

960
00:54:33,480 --> 00:54:36,520
Speaker 1: ever being on a world podium. That will be incredible.

961
00:54:38,000 --> 00:54:40,760
Speaker 1: That I think I just like I still felt pressure,

962
00:54:40,800 --> 00:54:46,520
Speaker 1: I still felt expectation, but it wasn't like overwhelming.

963
00:54:46,760 --> 00:54:46,960
Speaker 2: You know.

964
00:54:47,040 --> 00:54:50,040
Speaker 1: The Olympics is a it's an animal, you know, like

965
00:54:50,080 --> 00:54:53,200
Speaker 1: when you're in on that stage, it is really intense.

966
00:54:53,480 --> 00:54:57,640
Speaker 1: But I had didn't feel the same expectations that I

967
00:54:57,760 --> 00:55:04,759
Speaker 1: then felt going into World Championship. And I wish now

968
00:55:04,800 --> 00:55:06,919
Speaker 1: looking back that I had taken some more time after

969
00:55:07,000 --> 00:55:10,560
Speaker 1: Tokyo to kind of decompress. When you win an Olympic title,

970
00:55:11,239 --> 00:55:15,759
Speaker 1: like it does make it feel like your identity is

971
00:55:15,800 --> 00:55:19,520
Speaker 1: like being the best you know. And I think I

972
00:55:19,719 --> 00:55:23,759
Speaker 1: dove into hard too quickly of wanting to just like

973
00:55:23,960 --> 00:55:26,520
Speaker 1: training and be better and feel like I could maintain

974
00:55:26,640 --> 00:55:30,960
Speaker 1: that title. And by the time I got to World Championships,

975
00:55:30,960 --> 00:55:34,280
Speaker 1: I think it wasn't as authentic as like I needed

976
00:55:34,320 --> 00:55:36,160
Speaker 1: it to be. You know, I'd been putting up really

977
00:55:36,160 --> 00:55:39,040
Speaker 1: good results all year. I'd been competing up against like

978
00:55:39,560 --> 00:55:42,640
Speaker 1: the best of the best at that point, and ap

979
00:55:42,640 --> 00:55:45,000
Speaker 1: World champions I like I threw what my average was

980
00:55:45,040 --> 00:55:47,319
Speaker 1: like over the last season, Like I competed well, but

981
00:55:47,440 --> 00:55:50,719
Speaker 1: I didn't have that fire to rise up, you know.

982
00:55:51,320 --> 00:55:53,960
Speaker 1: I like I played it too safe, right, I didn't

983
00:55:54,000 --> 00:55:57,520
Speaker 1: have that like wild component that like I needed to

984
00:55:57,520 --> 00:56:00,440
Speaker 1: be able to find that throw that was like three

985
00:56:00,560 --> 00:56:03,800
Speaker 1: feet farther that would have ended up winning. And I

986
00:56:03,840 --> 00:56:07,040
Speaker 1: think I've learned that, like, you know, you can't be comfortable.

987
00:56:07,400 --> 00:56:09,279
Speaker 1: You know, you got to like always figure out how

988
00:56:09,360 --> 00:56:11,839
Speaker 1: to like push the boundaries to be able to figure

989
00:56:11,840 --> 00:56:13,640
Speaker 1: out how to like flirt with that next gear so

990
00:56:13,680 --> 00:56:15,440
Speaker 1: that when you're in that moment, you know you can

991
00:56:15,480 --> 00:56:18,239
Speaker 1: go for it, and I just I don't think I

992
00:56:18,320 --> 00:56:20,160
Speaker 1: tapped into that enough over the last year.

993
00:56:20,880 --> 00:56:26,160
Speaker 3: Your reference earlier of Simone and Serena not always being

994
00:56:26,239 --> 00:56:30,400
Speaker 3: undefeated anymore just because they are Simone and Serena. Just

995
00:56:30,440 --> 00:56:34,280
Speaker 3: because you are val doesn't mean that every single day

996
00:56:34,520 --> 00:56:37,160
Speaker 3: you're going to show up and hit it out of

997
00:56:37,200 --> 00:56:37,680
Speaker 3: the park.

998
00:56:38,040 --> 00:56:39,719
Speaker 2: And that's okay too.

999
00:56:40,120 --> 00:56:44,040
Speaker 3: That goes back to our conversation on the importance of

1000
00:56:44,160 --> 00:56:48,480
Speaker 3: grace and maybe not always being your biggest critic or

1001
00:56:48,560 --> 00:56:52,000
Speaker 3: being a little less harsh on yourself. It's not easy

1002
00:56:52,280 --> 00:56:55,120
Speaker 3: to adopt that attitude because we want the best, but

1003
00:56:56,000 --> 00:56:59,960
Speaker 3: in our experiences and as we overcome these different hurdles,

1004
00:57:00,400 --> 00:57:05,240
Speaker 3: that understanding is absolutely critical to being able to function

1005
00:57:05,320 --> 00:57:09,640
Speaker 3: and keep going as they the hurdles keep coming.

1006
00:57:10,719 --> 00:57:13,000
Speaker 1: No, you're so right. You're so right, And I think

1007
00:57:13,080 --> 00:57:14,680
Speaker 1: it's like exactly what you're saying. You have to be

1008
00:57:14,760 --> 00:57:18,560
Speaker 1: willing to like keep running, you know, like stopping is

1009
00:57:18,600 --> 00:57:22,760
Speaker 1: like actually what prevents you from getting to where you

1010
00:57:22,800 --> 00:57:25,080
Speaker 1: want to go, right, but like figuring out to take

1011
00:57:25,120 --> 00:57:27,480
Speaker 1: that next step, to like work through it, to keep

1012
00:57:27,520 --> 00:57:30,640
Speaker 1: figuring it out, to keep like learning is how you

1013
00:57:30,720 --> 00:57:33,440
Speaker 1: become like that. You don't have to be a Serena

1014
00:57:33,440 --> 00:57:35,240
Speaker 1: and you don't have to be a simoon. You can

1015
00:57:35,240 --> 00:57:37,680
Speaker 1: be whoever you want to be right, But like that

1016
00:57:37,800 --> 00:57:44,360
Speaker 1: journey is only ever found by like continuing to try right.

1017
00:57:44,480 --> 00:57:48,000
Speaker 1: And I think that that is just you said it

1018
00:57:48,000 --> 00:57:50,720
Speaker 1: really well. I'm excited to keep being uncomfortable. I'm excited

1019
00:57:50,760 --> 00:57:53,800
Speaker 1: to keep figuring it out, and you know, I know

1020
00:57:53,840 --> 00:57:56,920
Speaker 1: there's thankfully you know, it's actually pretty great that there's

1021
00:57:56,920 --> 00:58:00,560
Speaker 1: still a lot left to learn, and I'm I'm excited

1022
00:58:00,600 --> 00:58:00,960
Speaker 1: about that.

1023
00:58:01,040 --> 00:58:04,760
Speaker 2: Wart what's that saying? It's like when you're tired, rest,

1024
00:58:04,960 --> 00:58:07,919
Speaker 2: don't stop. Yeah, I like that.

1025
00:58:08,440 --> 00:58:11,680
Speaker 3: When someone comes to your Instagram page, they see a

1026
00:58:11,760 --> 00:58:16,800
Speaker 3: discus Olympic champion, a very fitch athlete with one hundred

1027
00:58:16,800 --> 00:58:19,480
Speaker 3: and eight thousand followers. When you look in the mirror,

1028
00:58:19,520 --> 00:58:21,640
Speaker 3: what is it that you see looking back at you?

1029
00:58:22,640 --> 00:58:28,800
Speaker 1: Oh gosh, I see someone that is proud of who

1030
00:58:28,800 --> 00:58:34,080
Speaker 1: she is and the life that she's like trying to live.

1031
00:58:35,080 --> 00:58:39,680
Speaker 1: I think I see the cracks of like doubt and

1032
00:58:39,720 --> 00:58:43,600
Speaker 1: fear and uncertainty, but I also see like the very

1033
00:58:43,680 --> 00:58:47,680
Speaker 1: like human side, you know, of like wanting to be

1034
00:58:47,800 --> 00:58:50,200
Speaker 1: a good daughter, wanting to be a good friend, wanting

1035
00:58:50,200 --> 00:58:53,160
Speaker 1: to be a good dog mom. You know, the very

1036
00:58:53,240 --> 00:58:55,600
Speaker 1: like humanside things of it.

1037
00:58:57,640 --> 00:59:00,000
Speaker 3: You got into it a little bit, But the next

1038
00:59:00,200 --> 00:59:05,120
Speaker 3: question really is who is Val Outside of discuss.

1039
00:59:07,320 --> 00:59:13,280
Speaker 1: Val is definitely like honestly pretty shy. I think I

1040
00:59:13,320 --> 00:59:19,800
Speaker 1: am someone that's like really genuine, really like kind of nerdy,

1041
00:59:21,520 --> 00:59:25,000
Speaker 1: but really like devoted to the things that she's passionate about.

1042
00:59:26,680 --> 00:59:29,440
Speaker 1: If I'm like the people that are my friends or

1043
00:59:29,440 --> 00:59:33,960
Speaker 1: my family, right like, I would do absolutely anything for them.

1044
00:59:34,280 --> 00:59:41,080
Speaker 1: I love learning, I love cooking, reading, I love being outside,

1045
00:59:41,280 --> 00:59:49,840
Speaker 1: I love like really deep, meaningful conversations, and I love truthfully.

1046
00:59:49,840 --> 00:59:54,520
Speaker 1: I also like love do maximizing like my body, you know,

1047
00:59:54,560 --> 00:59:57,360
Speaker 1: I love working out, I love sweating, I love being

1048
00:59:57,360 --> 00:59:59,760
Speaker 1: in the sun. I love like working towards a purpose.

1049
01:00:00,280 --> 01:00:05,440
Speaker 3: When you think about all that you've accomplished, you've set

1050
01:00:05,520 --> 01:00:09,680
Speaker 3: some big, hairy, audacious goals, as Hlne Flannagan calls them.

1051
01:00:10,120 --> 01:00:13,680
Speaker 3: For anyone else who is trying to go after their

1052
01:00:13,720 --> 01:00:16,840
Speaker 3: potential that's excited to set big goals of their own,

1053
01:00:17,000 --> 01:00:22,360
Speaker 3: what advice do you have for them?

1054
01:00:22,400 --> 01:00:24,720
Speaker 1: I think my biggest piece of advice is, like you

1055
01:00:24,840 --> 01:00:28,400
Speaker 1: have to know going into it that life is not linear.

1056
01:00:28,760 --> 01:00:31,720
Speaker 1: If you're going to take on a really big, a

1057
01:00:31,760 --> 01:00:35,120
Speaker 1: really hairy, a really scary goal, it is going to

1058
01:00:35,160 --> 01:00:40,200
Speaker 1: be uncomfortable and the person that you are like the

1059
01:00:40,240 --> 01:00:44,600
Speaker 1: start of this journey is going to end up like

1060
01:00:44,720 --> 01:00:46,960
Speaker 1: really evolving and changing if you want to get there.

1061
01:00:47,320 --> 01:00:51,120
Speaker 1: But if you can focus on the journey over the outcome,

1062
01:00:51,600 --> 01:00:54,560
Speaker 1: you're going to be so happy and so much more

1063
01:00:54,600 --> 01:00:58,480
Speaker 1: fulfilled no matter what the actual goal is you're going after.

1064
01:00:58,960 --> 01:01:03,040
Speaker 1: But it is really like the process of being vulnerable,

1065
01:01:03,120 --> 01:01:08,280
Speaker 1: of being uncomfortable that leads to actually potentially accomplishing it,

1066
01:01:08,680 --> 01:01:12,720
Speaker 1: but also finding meaning in what you're going after.

1067
01:01:13,280 --> 01:01:16,560
Speaker 3: You said that you are the kind of person who

1068
01:01:16,640 --> 01:01:21,360
Speaker 3: loves deep, meaningful conversations, and I would assume that after

1069
01:01:21,760 --> 01:01:26,840
Speaker 3: the World Championships you had just a few of those.

1070
01:01:26,960 --> 01:01:29,520
Speaker 3: When you think about the advice that was offered to

1071
01:01:29,600 --> 01:01:33,760
Speaker 3: you during that time working through and processing your emotions

1072
01:01:33,800 --> 01:01:36,560
Speaker 3: after being on the world stage, does anything come to mind?

1073
01:01:37,120 --> 01:01:40,000
Speaker 2: The number one thing I felt after.

1074
01:01:41,240 --> 01:01:46,120
Speaker 1: Was like, people who are so excited, you know it

1075
01:01:46,200 --> 01:01:48,480
Speaker 1: is it is hard to fall short of your goals, right,

1076
01:01:48,560 --> 01:01:53,680
Speaker 1: but like sometimes it is so healthy to like go

1077
01:01:53,760 --> 01:01:57,800
Speaker 1: of what you feel and let yourself be impacted by

1078
01:01:57,800 --> 01:02:02,280
Speaker 1: the people around you. Like after twenty four hours after

1079
01:02:02,320 --> 01:02:07,040
Speaker 1: the competition, I was like proud, I was happy. I

1080
01:02:07,240 --> 01:02:11,480
Speaker 1: was feeling excited to celebrate what had happened in Eugene.

1081
01:02:11,560 --> 01:02:14,840
Speaker 1: But it was like hard to let go of what

1082
01:02:14,920 --> 01:02:19,160
Speaker 1: I felt and let it actually feel like such an accomplishment,

1083
01:02:19,320 --> 01:02:22,880
Speaker 1: you know, And it is like, you know, it's okay

1084
01:02:22,920 --> 01:02:24,520
Speaker 1: to come up short of your goals. It is about

1085
01:02:24,520 --> 01:02:26,560
Speaker 1: the process, It's about the journey. It was about like

1086
01:02:27,160 --> 01:02:29,560
Speaker 1: being with like my favorite people, you know. In Tokyo

1087
01:02:29,760 --> 01:02:32,360
Speaker 1: was so hard to be in an empty stadium, you know,

1088
01:02:32,440 --> 01:02:36,080
Speaker 1: but to like have my family there cheering was incredible,

1089
01:02:36,480 --> 01:02:39,520
Speaker 1: right like that, Like it became so much more than

1090
01:02:39,560 --> 01:02:43,240
Speaker 1: about like the place, about the distance, about the competition,

1091
01:02:43,480 --> 01:02:48,560
Speaker 1: and really about like being able to celebrate the con

1092
01:02:49,080 --> 01:02:50,520
Speaker 1: what had happened there with the people.

1093
01:02:50,600 --> 01:02:51,600
Speaker 2: I cared about.

1094
01:02:52,480 --> 01:02:54,960
Speaker 3: What excites you right now? What are you looking forward

1095
01:02:55,000 --> 01:02:56,880
Speaker 3: to once the season is done?

1096
01:02:57,200 --> 01:02:59,560
Speaker 1: Kind of diving into more like those human parts of

1097
01:02:59,600 --> 01:03:04,080
Speaker 1: my life. My brother and his wife, they're expecting and

1098
01:03:04,160 --> 01:03:06,200
Speaker 1: having a baby shower, so I'm so excited to get

1099
01:03:06,240 --> 01:03:09,240
Speaker 1: to spend time with them. I'm so excited to go

1100
01:03:09,280 --> 01:03:13,640
Speaker 1: to Colorado and be with my parents I'm excited to

1101
01:03:13,920 --> 01:03:16,840
Speaker 1: just like eat dessert for three meals a day. If

1102
01:03:16,880 --> 01:03:19,360
Speaker 1: that sounds sounds fun.

1103
01:03:19,360 --> 01:03:20,960
Speaker 2: You love it all right?

1104
01:03:21,520 --> 01:03:24,960
Speaker 3: Right now, you have an opportunity to offer yourself a

1105
01:03:25,000 --> 01:03:30,720
Speaker 3: piece of advice. Looking back on the evening after your

1106
01:03:30,800 --> 01:03:34,240
Speaker 3: third place finish at World Championships, during that hurtle moment,

1107
01:03:34,400 --> 01:03:36,320
Speaker 3: what do you tell yourself?

1108
01:03:36,840 --> 01:03:41,080
Speaker 1: I would tell myself that I'm proud of the way

1109
01:03:41,120 --> 01:03:47,000
Speaker 1: you thought. You know that putting yourself in it is

1110
01:03:47,040 --> 01:03:53,040
Speaker 1: hard to do, and knowing you gave it all, sometimes

1111
01:03:53,760 --> 01:03:56,880
Speaker 1: the best you can do, and you should feel really

1112
01:03:56,880 --> 01:03:57,480
Speaker 1: good about that.

1113
01:03:58,600 --> 01:04:00,800
Speaker 2: You should feel really good about that. You should feel

1114
01:04:00,840 --> 01:04:02,480
Speaker 2: really good about that. Val I'm so.

1115
01:04:03,040 --> 01:04:04,920
Speaker 3: Happy that we were able to make this happen and

1116
01:04:05,000 --> 01:04:07,680
Speaker 3: I really appreciate you for opening up and sharing your

1117
01:04:07,720 --> 01:04:09,520
Speaker 3: story with the hurdlers.

1118
01:04:09,720 --> 01:04:12,560
Speaker 2: Speaking of the hurdlers, how do they follow along with you?

1119
01:04:12,640 --> 01:04:15,959
Speaker 2: How do they keep up with you? Give us your details? Yeah,

1120
01:04:16,000 --> 01:04:16,640
Speaker 2: oh my gosh.

1121
01:04:16,840 --> 01:04:21,240
Speaker 1: I have loved this, Emily, and honestly, I'm so excited

1122
01:04:21,240 --> 01:04:25,160
Speaker 1: to connect with with hurdlers. If you're interested in following along,

1123
01:04:25,320 --> 01:04:27,520
Speaker 1: you can follow me on Instagram. My handle is v

1124
01:04:27,920 --> 01:04:31,320
Speaker 1: Alman one two three, which is b A L M.

1125
01:04:31,360 --> 01:04:33,520
Speaker 1: A N one two three perfect.

1126
01:04:33,720 --> 01:04:37,080
Speaker 3: I am over at Emily, A Body and at Hurdle Podcast.

1127
01:04:37,320 --> 01:04:40,480
Speaker 3: Another hurdle conquered. Catch you guys next time.