Latest / Hurdle with Emily Abbate / 371. Dedication Makes The Difference: What It’s Like To Go All In & The Importance Of Running Your Own Race With Josette Andrews

Transcript

371. Dedication Makes The Difference: What It’s Like To Go All In & The Importance Of Running Your Own Race With Josette Andrews · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

0:00
Speaker 1: Yeah. We all have big goals and we want to
0:02
Speaker 1: see how far we can go. And I want to
0:03
Speaker 1: see how far I can go and what I can do.
0:19
Speaker 2: Hey, hey, Emily.
0:20
Speaker 3: Here, you are listening to episode three hundred and seventy
0:25
Speaker 3: one of Hurdle, a wellness focused podcast where we talk
0:28
Speaker 3: to inspirational people about everything from their highest ties and
0:31
Speaker 3: toughest moments to essential tips on how to live a healthier, happier,
0:36
Speaker 3: more motivated life. We all go through our fair share
0:40
Speaker 3: of hurdles. My goal through these discussions is to empower
0:43
Speaker 3: you to better navigate yours and move with intention so
0:46
Speaker 3: that you can stride towards your own big potential and
0:49
Speaker 3: of course have some fun along the way. Happy World
0:55
Speaker 3: Athletics Championships Week to all of those who celebrate talking
1:00
Speaker 3: about this for a minute now, it's the World Championships
1:02
Speaker 3: of Track and Field this week. I'm heading out to
1:04
Speaker 3: Tokyo tomorrow if you're listening to this episode when it
1:07
Speaker 3: went live on Monday, September eighth, and I could not
1:11
Speaker 3: be more amped on this journey. I am going to
1:16
Speaker 3: have the privilege to see today's guest compete, and that
1:20
Speaker 3: is Josette Andrews. She is a pro runner with On
1:24
Speaker 3: Athletics Club. She's going to be running at the five
1:27
Speaker 3: k AT Worlds, and today we get into the nitty gritty.
1:32
Speaker 2: Josette and I talk about just.
1:34
Speaker 3: How excited she is to make her first national outdoor
1:38
Speaker 3: team and of course the journey that it took to
1:41
Speaker 3: get here. We talk about the struggles that she navigated
1:44
Speaker 3: in college and a frightening incident that led to a bone.
1:49
Speaker 2: Injury and down a rough road to recovery.
1:53
Speaker 3: Josette also talks about what it was like to find
1:56
Speaker 3: love in running and how she runs a company with
1:59
Speaker 3: her now husband, plus the highs and lows of navigating
2:04
Speaker 3: that aspect of their relationship. Josette's got such a great
2:07
Speaker 3: perspective on how to navigate life's hurdles as they come,
2:11
Speaker 3: and again I cannot wait to cheer her on in Tokyo.
2:16
Speaker 2: Now, if you two will be in Tokyo for the.
2:19
Speaker 3: World Athletics Championships, so be sure to stop by the
2:22
Speaker 3: on Labs pop up in Shibuyah that's open September thirteenth
2:26
Speaker 3: to twenty first to see their famous light spray robot
2:31
Speaker 3: in action. I saw this for the first time last
2:33
Speaker 3: year and Wow, never have I ever seen a sneaker
2:37
Speaker 3: come to life like this. Make sure you are following
2:41
Speaker 3: along over on social with the show. It's not Hurdle podcast.
2:45
Speaker 3: I am over at Emily a Body and you know
2:49
Speaker 3: the drill. If you have not yet rated and reviewed
2:52
Speaker 3: the podcast, I would love for you to do that
2:55
Speaker 3: wherever you might be listening right now. All of your
2:58
Speaker 3: kind words and your five star reviews, they make a
3:02
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3:05
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Speaker 3: your inbox, absolutely free every single Friday, bringing so much
3:12
Speaker 3: of the same motivation inspiration you love from the show.
3:16
Speaker 2: So get in on that.
3:17
Speaker 3: The link to subscribe is waiting for you in the
3:21
Speaker 3: show notes.
3:22
Speaker 2: With that, let's get to it. Let's get to hurd
3:26
Speaker 2: line today.
3:33
Speaker 3: I am sitting down with Josette Andrews. She is representing
3:37
Speaker 3: at Team USA at the upcoming Tokyo World Athletics Championships
3:42
Speaker 3: in the five kt.
3:43
Speaker 2: Josette, how are we doing today? Welcome to hurdle.
3:45
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for having me doing really great.
3:48
Speaker 1: He had just did a workout this morning, heading off
3:50
Speaker 1: to Europe tomorrow for another race before Tokyo, so in
3:54
Speaker 1: a good spot right now.
3:56
Speaker 2: So what I'm hearing you say is you have some
3:58
Speaker 2: nice travel on deck.
4:02
Speaker 1: Yeah. Always, it's always fun to run in the Diamond
4:04
Speaker 1: League races. So I'm running the Brussels five k on Friday,
4:08
Speaker 1: so flying out tomorrow for that, which is exciting and
4:11
Speaker 1: honestly a perfect race in between this build up right
4:14
Speaker 1: now for Tokyo, so it should set me up. Well.
4:18
Speaker 3: It's so funny because for someone that doesn't know much
4:21
Speaker 3: about track and field, they might hear like, Okay, you
4:23
Speaker 3: have this big race next month. Are you really going
4:26
Speaker 3: to go and keep racing right now? Give us the lowdown.
4:30
Speaker 3: How does that work for someone that might not quite understand.
4:33
Speaker 1: Yeah, it can be a tricky situation because you want
4:36
Speaker 1: to prioritize. Of course you're training and gearing up for
4:39
Speaker 1: the World Championships, but also it is important to race
4:42
Speaker 1: and expose yourself to different competition and the people that
4:45
Speaker 1: you will be facing at Worlds. So really it comes
4:49
Speaker 1: down to your event. In the fifteen hundred, it's a
4:52
Speaker 1: lot easier to race more often. In the eight hundred,
4:54
Speaker 1: you can go back to back, but you need to
4:56
Speaker 1: be a little more calculated on your bigger efforts like
4:59
Speaker 1: a five k, because you can only do so many
5:01
Speaker 1: hard five k's in a season. So at first, after
5:05
Speaker 1: the US champs we weren't going to race. We were
5:07
Speaker 1: just going to train for six weeks. And I think
5:10
Speaker 1: after the relief of making that team and getting there,
5:14
Speaker 1: I was like, I want another race, so I put
5:17
Speaker 1: one on the calendar, and Brussels was a great opportunity.
5:20
Speaker 1: And it's kind of funny too. After the US Championships
5:23
Speaker 1: there's like a scramble of what races can I get
5:26
Speaker 1: into And a lot of the late summer races are
5:28
Speaker 1: in Europe, so you do have to fly across the country,
5:31
Speaker 1: but it's always fun to go to Europe and explore
5:34
Speaker 1: a little bit, so I don't mind it. I'm I
5:36
Speaker 1: would say I'm a pretty good traveler, so getting on
5:39
Speaker 1: the time zone and adjusting. So I'm excited to have
5:42
Speaker 1: another chance to race, and almost like there's no pressure
5:46
Speaker 1: to this race because you made the team and now
5:48
Speaker 1: it's like anything you do is just to prep for Worlds,
5:51
Speaker 1: so you're just viewing it as preparation for the big show.
5:55
Speaker 3: What are some of the other things that you take
5:58
Speaker 3: really diligently and really seriously leading into a big race
6:02
Speaker 3: moment like this. Aside from making sure that you're getting
6:05
Speaker 3: this confidence boosting race over with this Diamond League opportunity,
6:10
Speaker 3: what else do you really take into account before a
6:13
Speaker 3: big moment?
6:14
Speaker 1: Just making sure one going in like your preparation recovery
6:18
Speaker 1: like recovery is huge, and also like the training going in,
6:22
Speaker 1: like you're spending a lot of time visualizing in the
6:25
Speaker 1: workouts and visualizing what you want to happen. And even
6:28
Speaker 1: with Brussels, I'm seeing it as almost like a dress
6:31
Speaker 1: rehearsal of the first round in Tokyo, So it's like, hey,
6:35
Speaker 1: if six people from your heat are going to make
6:37
Speaker 1: the final, you want to be in the top six
6:39
Speaker 1: and Brussels and be competing and kind of have it
6:42
Speaker 1: like a dress rehearsal for that. But definitely just enjoy
6:45
Speaker 1: the moments and make the most of the moments because
6:47
Speaker 1: a lot of this sport is about timing and like
6:50
Speaker 1: making the most of every opportunity, and there's only so
6:54
Speaker 1: few races you can do in a season in the
6:56
Speaker 1: longer distances, so I want to make them all count.
6:59
Speaker 1: And I'm definitely very focused on getting the most out
7:03
Speaker 1: of myself in those races.
7:05
Speaker 3: You know, I'm surprised there were no words like rest
7:09
Speaker 3: or sleep or nutrition.
7:12
Speaker 1: Yes, that is actually important too, but that's also something
7:14
Speaker 1: that I'm doing all year long. Like, nothing changes from
7:19
Speaker 1: races to my daily life. Like in this sport, everything
7:22
Speaker 1: I do outside of training is about recovery and sleep
7:27
Speaker 1: and eating, So that routine honestly doesn't change much going
7:31
Speaker 1: into a race. Yes, your workouts are a little more
7:35
Speaker 1: tapered and you're more rested, but I feel like with
7:38
Speaker 1: this sport, it's my lifestyle of doing those things, so
7:41
Speaker 1: those things come naturally, so then when you're at the race,
7:44
Speaker 1: you're already prepared in those aspects.
7:46
Speaker 3: How does it feel for you to live every day
7:49
Speaker 3: just so dialed into this sport? Obviously it is your career,
7:54
Speaker 3: it's your full time job, but everything you do really
7:58
Speaker 3: does revolve around running.
8:00
Speaker 2: Does it ever get hiring for you?
8:02
Speaker 1: Definitely? It's hard, and it's really easy when it's going
8:05
Speaker 1: well and things are clicking. It's more in those moments
8:09
Speaker 1: when you're going through injuries or having setbacks that it
8:12
Speaker 1: gets really hard because you are dedicating your whole life
8:16
Speaker 1: to this and there are a lot of sacrifices that
8:18
Speaker 1: come with it, and I do see my job as
8:22
Speaker 1: more of it's my lifestyle. So everything I'm doing outside
8:25
Speaker 1: of practice is about getting ready for the next workout.
8:28
Speaker 1: I finish one season, it's like, what's the goal for
8:30
Speaker 1: the next season. You're thinking months ahead, years ahead. So
8:34
Speaker 1: it can be daunting in some senses, but it's also
8:36
Speaker 1: so exciting that I get to live out my dream
8:39
Speaker 1: as my profession, and I'm so grateful for that. And
8:42
Speaker 1: the highs can be so highs and the lows can
8:45
Speaker 1: be low, but I really love being able to do
8:49
Speaker 1: this as my job and like seeing how far I
8:51
Speaker 1: can go in this sport. So I think I just
8:54
Speaker 1: you have to be grateful and make the most of
8:56
Speaker 1: the moments when you are healthy and things are going well,
8:59
Speaker 1: for sure.
9:00
Speaker 2: And things are going well for you right now, for sure.
9:02
Speaker 3: But you did mention the injury buzzwords, something that you're
9:06
Speaker 3: also quite familiar with. I know that you started the
9:09
Speaker 3: twenty twenty four season off with a foot injury. Talk
9:12
Speaker 3: to me about where your headspace goes when something like
9:16
Speaker 3: that pops up, something that really does feel like it
9:19
Speaker 3: was beyond your control.
9:21
Speaker 2: How do you speak to yourself, what's that mental dialogue
9:23
Speaker 2: look like.
9:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, the twenty twenty four season was really hard because
9:27
Speaker 1: I ran the World Championships in the indoor season in
9:30
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four and checked off all the boxes to
9:33
Speaker 1: prep to get ready for the Olympic Trials of getting
9:36
Speaker 1: the world standard running indoor Worlds, and then after that
9:40
Speaker 1: my planner I had a big foot injury in my
9:43
Speaker 1: planner and in my metatarsals, and it, honestly just it
9:46
Speaker 1: was heartbreaking because you're building your whole season and years
9:51
Speaker 1: around the Olympic Trials, like that's the biggest thing in
9:53
Speaker 1: our sport, that in the World Championships, and to then
9:57
Speaker 1: find out in April you're going to stop running when
10:00
Speaker 1: that's one of the biggest months that you're getting ready
10:03
Speaker 1: to potentially start racing again and get ready for June,
10:06
Speaker 1: and it was really scary. And in that moment I
10:10
Speaker 1: kind of just had to with Daithan two just be like, Okay,
10:13
Speaker 1: let's just focus on the recovery, let's grind in the
10:16
Speaker 1: cross training. I just went into like tunnel vision of
10:19
Speaker 1: still training because we wanted the intention to still be, Hey,
10:23
Speaker 1: You're going to still go out and try to make
10:24
Speaker 1: this team, even though it's going to be a lot
10:27
Speaker 1: harder right now with the setup and the build up.
10:30
Speaker 1: I didn't even process the injury right away because I
10:33
Speaker 1: kind of just had to start working out already even
10:36
Speaker 1: harder with the swimming, the biking, the aqua jogging, the elliptical.
10:42
Speaker 1: It was. I was doing everything I can to try
10:44
Speaker 1: to keep the fitness that I had from the fall
10:47
Speaker 1: in the winter, but it was it was really tough.
10:50
Speaker 1: I was running for six weeks and then had to
10:52
Speaker 1: open up my season at the Olympic Trials, when normally
10:55
Speaker 1: that's the race that you're most fit for to try
10:58
Speaker 1: to qualify to make the team, which is so hard
11:00
Speaker 1: to do. But I kind of just had to focus
11:02
Speaker 1: on the week to week and not think about the
11:05
Speaker 1: long term because I was like, am I better today
11:08
Speaker 1: than I was yesterday? And am I seeing improvements? So
11:11
Speaker 1: I had to really break it down in that sense.
11:13
Speaker 1: But it was very hard.
11:15
Speaker 3: So much of your self worth comes into question in
11:19
Speaker 3: these moments, which obviously you are so much more as
11:22
Speaker 3: a woman than just an athlete, right although that's such
11:25
Speaker 3: a big part of your identity. When you are in
11:28
Speaker 3: these difficult times, how do you find confidence when you
11:34
Speaker 3: can't do the thing that otherwise brings you so much peace.
11:36
Speaker 1: Sometimes it's easier to almost look in the past to
11:40
Speaker 1: see what you've done and what you've done in the
11:42
Speaker 1: last few years. And in this sport especially, things build
11:45
Speaker 1: upon each other. Like I knew I had the race
11:48
Speaker 1: experience and the maturity even though I wasn't there physically.
11:52
Speaker 1: I knew I had a lot of strengths mentally, and
11:55
Speaker 1: I kind of hoden in on that during the injury
11:57
Speaker 1: time and focused on that. But it was hard, and
12:02
Speaker 1: I think I was just taking the progress that I
12:06
Speaker 1: was seeing and really holding on to that and holding
12:09
Speaker 1: on to that anything can happen. And at the start line,
12:13
Speaker 1: everyone's coming from a different point. Everyone's going through something,
12:16
Speaker 1: and it's like this is my something right now, but
12:18
Speaker 1: someone else is going through something too, And all that
12:21
Speaker 1: matters is you need to show up on the day
12:23
Speaker 1: and I need to give myself a shot, because I
12:25
Speaker 1: would have regretted just shutting down the season and not
12:29
Speaker 1: going to the Olympic Trials to try. I knew I
12:32
Speaker 1: had a chance to try, and I would have regretted
12:34
Speaker 1: not trying, even though I wasn't as prepared as I
12:38
Speaker 1: would have liked and knew it was going to be
12:40
Speaker 1: really hard.
12:41
Speaker 3: To be in a place where you can have such
12:44
Speaker 3: a relentless amount of self belief. It's like I can
12:47
Speaker 3: be a realist and also I can say I am
12:51
Speaker 3: here to give this everything that I have, and so
12:54
Speaker 3: letting go of the things that you can't change, like
12:56
Speaker 3: you couldn't change what your approach had to be to
12:59
Speaker 3: go in to that moment. So getting to a place
13:01
Speaker 3: where you let that go to be present then and there,
13:05
Speaker 3: it's challenging, but it's a masterclass and self compassion.
13:09
Speaker 1: Definitely, That's totally how it was. Like I had to
13:12
Speaker 1: let go of what happened and accept it and just
13:16
Speaker 1: give it what I could on the day and believe
13:19
Speaker 1: that I was capable. And I feel like I've always
13:22
Speaker 1: had a lot of self belief in myself no matter
13:25
Speaker 1: what I was going through, and I think that's something
13:28
Speaker 1: that's also just been that's helped me throughout my entire
13:31
Speaker 1: career of like always believing in myself and being a dreamer.
13:34
Speaker 1: And I feel like you need to do that in
13:36
Speaker 1: this sport, because yeah, we all have big goals and
13:38
Speaker 1: we want to see how far we can go. And
13:41
Speaker 1: I want to see how far I can go and
13:43
Speaker 1: what I can do.
13:44
Speaker 3: You mentioned Dathan and your coach at ON Athletics Club.
13:47
Speaker 3: You yourself debuted with ON Athletics Club at the beginning
13:50
Speaker 3: of twenty twenty three. And a sport that otherwise can
13:53
Speaker 3: be so individual, right, something that is really based on
13:57
Speaker 3: your performance and yours alone. How does feel to have
14:01
Speaker 3: that team and community aspect and what does it do
14:03
Speaker 3: for you?
14:04
Speaker 1: It's incredible to be part of the On Athletics Club.
14:06
Speaker 1: What ON has built here in Boulder, Colorado is one
14:11
Speaker 1: of a kind, honestly, and to be training with such
14:14
Speaker 1: an elite group and having people from different countries come together,
14:19
Speaker 1: and the men and the women, just the training environment
14:22
Speaker 1: is so elite that it just levels you, just level
14:26
Speaker 1: up being part of this club and the amount of
14:28
Speaker 1: resources that ON provides for you is really incredible. Like
14:33
Speaker 1: we are set up to be able to train and
14:36
Speaker 1: recover and chase fast times and medals like it's They've
14:41
Speaker 1: really built a great culture around this team, and I'm
14:45
Speaker 1: so grateful to be a part of it. And I'm
14:48
Speaker 1: getting better every day by training with this group, and
14:51
Speaker 1: I hope that my teammates feel the same way being
14:54
Speaker 1: able to train with me, Like I think, we just
14:56
Speaker 1: bring each other up. And yes, the sport is in individualized,
15:00
Speaker 1: but we meet six days a week, which I think
15:02
Speaker 1: is a lot for a ProTeam. Some teams only meet
15:05
Speaker 1: on workout days. But we're together a lot of the time,
15:08
Speaker 1: and that also is important because we all need to
15:12
Speaker 1: We're seeing each other every day, running and working out
15:15
Speaker 1: and lifting and racing together, and I just think it
15:20
Speaker 1: allows us to really elevate each other, which is really special.
15:24
Speaker 3: And you said you're given all the tools that are
15:27
Speaker 3: needed to go after things like metals, So what are
15:31
Speaker 3: some of the tools get Let's get specific here on
15:33
Speaker 3: the toolbox.
15:35
Speaker 2: Yeah.
15:35
Speaker 1: So honestly, it's really exciting right now actually because On
15:39
Speaker 1: just we had a new gym in this last year
15:42
Speaker 1: and On actually now is going to rent out the
15:46
Speaker 1: spot right next door which used to be a brewery
15:50
Speaker 1: and they're totally renovating it. I think they're going to
15:52
Speaker 1: start September first, So they were hoping that when everyone
15:55
Speaker 1: was racing in Tokyo they could start the renovations. But
15:58
Speaker 1: they're building out a whole separate side of the gym,
16:02
Speaker 1: so then we can have a locker room, we can
16:04
Speaker 1: have an underwater treadmill, we can have a massage setup,
16:08
Speaker 1: we can have a smoothie bar in the front, and
16:10
Speaker 1: really make it like an on headquarters in the US
16:14
Speaker 1: for athletes and also allow other athletes from on to
16:17
Speaker 1: come in and use the facilities. Maybe that aren't on
16:21
Speaker 1: the team, but like have space for them too. And
16:23
Speaker 1: it's just the amount of equipment we have too. It's
16:26
Speaker 1: just a lot of woodway treadmills and alter g's and
16:32
Speaker 1: recovery tools and just having full time medical. It's just
16:36
Speaker 1: a lot of things are We're very on top of it,
16:39
Speaker 1: and it's going to be really exciting when we have
16:41
Speaker 1: this new space in the gym too to use. But
16:44
Speaker 1: we're all very excited. I think it should be done
16:46
Speaker 1: sometime in December for us to use for next year.
16:49
Speaker 1: But yeah, those are some of just the little things
16:52
Speaker 1: that we have access to that even in the winter months.
16:54
Speaker 1: It's like we get access to using an indoor track
16:58
Speaker 1: that ON provides for us, so then we can do
17:00
Speaker 1: our training inside during the cold weather. Little things like that,
17:03
Speaker 1: or going on training camps to sea level just if
17:06
Speaker 1: we need it. They're here to help us and support
17:09
Speaker 1: us and that's something that Dathan and On has really
17:12
Speaker 1: set up for us to have the most success.
17:15
Speaker 2: So many perks training with the team.
17:17
Speaker 3: Clearly, you just outlined so many of them, but that
17:19
Speaker 3: doesn't mean that there aren't setbacks along the way. We
17:23
Speaker 3: talked about that difficult season you had with your planter,
17:27
Speaker 3: but beyond that, if you had to articulate what was
17:31
Speaker 3: perhaps the most challenging part of your career up until
17:34
Speaker 3: this point, perhaps the biggest hurdle, what comes to mind
17:36
Speaker 3: for you is that.
17:37
Speaker 1: Yeah, I would say the biggest hurdle was honestly my
17:41
Speaker 1: senior year of college. I was out on winter break
17:45
Speaker 1: and I was hoping at this point my college career
17:48
Speaker 1: had been very up and down. Like in high school,
17:51
Speaker 1: I was like heavily recruited, one of the top runners
17:54
Speaker 1: in the country, and in my first four years of
17:57
Speaker 1: college things were just very bumpy, and I transferred schools.
17:59
Speaker 1: I went from UNC to Georgetown and took these risks
18:03
Speaker 1: and to really go after because I believed in myself
18:06
Speaker 1: that I could be better and better with running, and
18:08
Speaker 1: your life in college as a college athlete is about
18:12
Speaker 1: your sport, and I want to see how good I
18:14
Speaker 1: could be, and I remember on winter break senior year,
18:18
Speaker 1: I actually was out for a run and I got
18:21
Speaker 1: attacked by a dog and in the end it was
18:24
Speaker 1: pretty bad because I didn't know how bad it was
18:26
Speaker 1: at the time. But then within the next month, like
18:29
Speaker 1: in that spot that I got attacked by the dog,
18:32
Speaker 1: I ended up getting a femoral stress fracture, my first
18:36
Speaker 1: bone injury actually, and it was like, Okay, senior season
18:40
Speaker 1: now is over, Like that was the end of that
18:43
Speaker 1: was the start of the spring season, and it was like,
18:46
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, like I just lost my senior year
18:48
Speaker 1: of college. I have not done anything I want to
18:51
Speaker 1: do in my college career that I thought and dreamed
18:54
Speaker 1: about when I was in high school and getting recruited,
18:56
Speaker 1: and it just felt like I couldn't catch a break.
19:00
Speaker 1: And that was kind of like the trend in college,
19:01
Speaker 1: like I just little things would pop up, and this
19:04
Speaker 1: was a big one, getting attacked by a dog. But
19:06
Speaker 1: it was like, man, like I just need I just
19:08
Speaker 1: need a chance, Like I just need to be able
19:10
Speaker 1: to run, like let me, let me run. And I
19:14
Speaker 1: decided to take my fifth year, which I had in
19:18
Speaker 1: just the indoor season and the outdoor season, and I
19:21
Speaker 1: was like it was definitely a pivotal moment of like, hey,
19:24
Speaker 1: you don't have the fall cross country, you need to
19:27
Speaker 1: really like spend this time one I was healing my
19:29
Speaker 1: injury from the femur injury, but really spend the fall,
19:33
Speaker 1: like juste, you need to build a base, like you
19:35
Speaker 1: need to we need to start something and like get
19:37
Speaker 1: you going. And I think that was my fifth year
19:41
Speaker 1: ended up being my best season, and that outdoor season.
19:45
Speaker 1: I qualified for my first NCAA outdoors and I chased
19:49
Speaker 1: a pro contract that summer, ran in like usas for
19:52
Speaker 1: the first time in my Georgetown uniform, and I ran
19:55
Speaker 1: that whole summer and like finally had eight months of
19:58
Speaker 1: consistent training and I actually it was the year the
20:02
Speaker 1: season went so late too, all the way till September.
20:05
Speaker 1: How this season's kind of lined up and so I
20:07
Speaker 1: was able to keep running as I chased a contract.
20:10
Speaker 1: And I think just that senior year of it would
20:13
Speaker 1: have been really easy to quit in that moment of like, hey,
20:17
Speaker 1: you might not be able to have the chance to
20:20
Speaker 1: do what you thought you were going to do in
20:22
Speaker 1: college and chase after that running professional career. But I
20:27
Speaker 1: was not gonna, honestly like let that define who I was,
20:31
Speaker 1: and also the people that I was with at the time,
20:35
Speaker 1: like really knew what I wanted to do in this sport,
20:38
Speaker 1: and I think I really surrounded myself with like such
20:40
Speaker 1: a good group of people and coaches, and just like
20:43
Speaker 1: I was way more open about my goals and what
20:46
Speaker 1: I wanted and we're like, Okay, let's try to do this, Like,
20:49
Speaker 1: let's see what you can do with this fifth year
20:52
Speaker 1: a little less classes also on the schedule, so a
20:55
Speaker 1: little more time to act like a professional, and let's
20:58
Speaker 1: see how good you can be in this time. And
21:01
Speaker 1: I would say that was a huge moment because if
21:03
Speaker 1: that didn't happen, then I wouldn't have be in my
21:06
Speaker 1: fifth year as a professional right now and all the
21:08
Speaker 1: steps that I've taken and grown. So yeah, that was
21:11
Speaker 1: definitely a big hurdle. I would say so.
21:14
Speaker 2: Many things to double click on here.
21:15
Speaker 3: The first thing is that concept of like we are
21:18
Speaker 3: some of the people that we surround ourselves with, right,
21:20
Speaker 3: and so for you to consciously make smart choices that
21:24
Speaker 3: helped lift you up during a time that felt so
21:27
Speaker 3: much bigger than you, such a valuable lesson for you
21:31
Speaker 3: to learn then and then continue I'm sure to bring
21:34
Speaker 3: with you now in the moments when you really did
21:37
Speaker 3: just feel so frustrated, So like why is this happening
21:41
Speaker 3: to me? How are you able to flip that victim mindset?
21:45
Speaker 3: How are you speaking to yourself?
21:46
Speaker 1: I think I almost shut down when I wasn't really
21:50
Speaker 1: speaking to myself. And I think that was the biggest
21:52
Speaker 1: thing that surrounding in myself around people that were really
21:56
Speaker 1: lifting me up, because I wanted to shut down and
21:59
Speaker 1: like crawl away, and I wasn't open about what I
22:03
Speaker 1: wanted to do and like expressing my goals. And it
22:06
Speaker 1: really took the people around me to almost like help
22:09
Speaker 1: me bring that out and show me that, like, hey,
22:11
Speaker 1: so you do want to do this, like you do
22:14
Speaker 1: want to try to chase his skull, Like I'm going
22:15
Speaker 1: to help you do that. Or even my boyfriend at
22:18
Speaker 1: the time who's now my husband. He's an olympian and
22:22
Speaker 1: he ran professionally for a das for ten years, and
22:25
Speaker 1: I remember like when he would just ask me, like
22:28
Speaker 1: how are your runs? And I just didn't want to
22:30
Speaker 1: tell him because I was like, these runs are terrible.
22:32
Speaker 1: I'm going on a four mile run. I feel terrible.
22:34
Speaker 1: I'm coming back from this massive injury. I'm like, why
22:37
Speaker 1: does he care how my four mile run was? And
22:40
Speaker 1: I think I just needed to be around people that
22:44
Speaker 1: were also really like, hey, we want to help you
22:46
Speaker 1: and we want to see you progress and surround yourself.
22:49
Speaker 1: And that made me open up more about what I
22:52
Speaker 1: wanted because I knew deep down I did want that,
22:54
Speaker 1: but it was hard to share it in that moment.
22:57
Speaker 1: So they really helped me bring that out and be
23:00
Speaker 1: able to thrive under that situation. It's like, hey, we're
23:03
Speaker 1: going to try to get you here as a team,
23:05
Speaker 1: So yeah, that's really special too.
23:08
Speaker 3: Yeah, sometimes you have to have I always believe that
23:11
Speaker 3: unless you're willing to vocalize what it is then you want,
23:14
Speaker 3: then you don't get to get it. Like, yes, it
23:16
Speaker 3: could happen by chance if you're like one of the
23:18
Speaker 3: quote unquote lucky ones, but I would even argue that
23:21
Speaker 3: I don't want to be one of the lucky ones,
23:23
Speaker 3: because so much more is learned in the adversity, in
23:27
Speaker 3: going through the motions, in putting myself through the paces,
23:31
Speaker 3: whether we're talking about running or we're not talking about running,
23:33
Speaker 3: to get what it is that excites me, and that
23:35
Speaker 3: like really lights me on fire. And so for you
23:38
Speaker 3: to then be able to get to a place where
23:40
Speaker 3: not only you could vocalize what was important to you,
23:43
Speaker 3: but then also open yourself up to the support.
23:46
Speaker 2: And that is something that I think is so challenging.
23:49
Speaker 3: Right because I don't know about you, but I'm someone
23:52
Speaker 3: who's like, well, I just want to do it myself.
23:55
Speaker 1: Definitely. I'm definitely that type too, and I still am.
23:57
Speaker 1: I hate asking for help, and it's it's like, you
24:01
Speaker 1: really can't do it alone in this sport. And that's
24:03
Speaker 1: something I've learned being on multiple teams and just even
24:07
Speaker 1: in college, like it really you do need that support
24:10
Speaker 1: system around you. But as stubborn as you can be
24:13
Speaker 1: and as determined as you can be, it it's not
24:17
Speaker 1: It's not an easy sport. And timing is a lot
24:19
Speaker 1: of things in this sport. So it's really like you
24:22
Speaker 1: need to capitalize on everything that you can take. And
24:25
Speaker 1: I learned to take in more and let that help me.
24:29
Speaker 1: And that was a big key.
24:31
Speaker 3: Someone hears that I learned to take in more and
24:34
Speaker 3: allow them to help me, and they're like, Okay, this
24:36
Speaker 3: sounds really good, right, Like, oh, well it worked for her,
24:38
Speaker 3: then maybe it could work for me, but still like
24:40
Speaker 3: I'm facing some internal resistance to allowing myself to accept
24:44
Speaker 3: the help. Do you have any like practical takeaways or
24:47
Speaker 3: anything that really worked for you that made you feel
24:50
Speaker 3: as though you were more open to allowing that help in.
24:56
Speaker 1: I think, honestly, it was building my confidence through the running,
25:02
Speaker 1: like especially because it was being able to put each
25:06
Speaker 1: piece together and have that consistency of the pieces and
25:11
Speaker 1: seeing it like come to life slowly and surely, like
25:15
Speaker 1: each like the indoor season had a few steps forward
25:18
Speaker 1: and it was like okay, and it was like okay,
25:20
Speaker 1: like let's write down some more goals for the outdoor season.
25:23
Speaker 1: It was like I was taking all those little pieces
25:27
Speaker 1: that I was seeing progress with and then using it
25:31
Speaker 1: to then build confidence because I was taking a lot
25:34
Speaker 1: of confidence from each workout. And I remember, actually I
25:38
Speaker 1: would get so high from like a good workout and
25:41
Speaker 1: then so low from a bad one, and it was like,
25:44
Speaker 1: oh wow, because I was craving that, like I wanted
25:46
Speaker 1: to have that high of a good workout. And then
25:48
Speaker 1: suddenly later in the season it was like it was
25:51
Speaker 1: just mellow, like it didn't matter if it was high
25:53
Speaker 1: or low. I just like kind of calmed down with
25:56
Speaker 1: the workouts because I didn't let it like get high
26:00
Speaker 1: or low. It was just like steady and consistent. And
26:03
Speaker 1: when I was studying consistent, it made me feel calmer,
26:06
Speaker 1: it made me feel confident, and that was also then
26:09
Speaker 1: what allowed me to talk more about the running and
26:12
Speaker 1: be expressive about the running. But it did take me
26:16
Speaker 1: being more consistent with it in my journey. But I
26:18
Speaker 1: think some of the hardest parts is like, oh, when
26:20
Speaker 1: am I going to when am I going to have
26:22
Speaker 1: that breakthrough? Or like the comparison game is really hard too,
26:27
Speaker 1: and I just really had to focus on my journey
26:29
Speaker 1: and that was like a major key too. It's like,
26:31
Speaker 1: this is my running, my journey. It's not going to
26:34
Speaker 1: look like anyone else's. I don't know if anyone else
26:36
Speaker 1: got attacked by a dog six months ago and is
26:39
Speaker 1: doing this. It's just like no one really knows your
26:42
Speaker 1: journey like you do, and you just got to focus
26:44
Speaker 1: on that and then let other people help support that.
26:52
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Speaker 3: slash hurdle. Let's get back to it. So you say
28:58
Speaker 3: that you were to find confidence during your running when
29:03
Speaker 3: you were executing the workouts, even though if some of
29:05
Speaker 3: the help to get there along the way came from others,
29:08
Speaker 3: it was building that confidence within yourself to say, hey,
29:11
Speaker 3: I can combine all of this to get to where
29:15
Speaker 3: I want to be, which is so so powerful for sure.
29:19
Speaker 3: What would you say that you learned about yourself in
29:23
Speaker 3: this process of if I just keep putting in the work,
29:27
Speaker 3: and I also don't let the highs get too higher
29:30
Speaker 3: the lows get too low, better about staying neutral? What
29:33
Speaker 3: did you learn through being better about staying neutral.
29:37
Speaker 1: I learned a lot about myself and how determined I was,
29:41
Speaker 1: Like I was determined to not let my like I
29:46
Speaker 1: wanted to change what my story was from high school
29:49
Speaker 1: to college, Like I was very determined to give myself
29:52
Speaker 1: a shot. And I think I just learned that I
29:55
Speaker 1: had a lot of self belief, always in myself, and
29:58
Speaker 1: I just needed the right opportunity to really show and thrive.
30:02
Speaker 1: And I think it was always easy for me to
30:06
Speaker 1: be able to believe that I could do something, like
30:09
Speaker 1: but it was sometimes you just need the opportunity to
30:13
Speaker 1: show it. And that's why I was so hard in college.
30:15
Speaker 1: I was like, man, I just can't catch a break.
30:17
Speaker 1: But I really still wanted to see what I could
30:22
Speaker 1: do when I was healthy, when I was confident, and
30:25
Speaker 1: when things were clicking. And I've always believed in that,
30:28
Speaker 1: and I think I just learned that I was. I'm
30:31
Speaker 1: very determined, and I am a big dreamer, Like I
30:34
Speaker 1: run with a lot of heart when I'm racing and training,
30:37
Speaker 1: and yeah, I have I'm a big dreamer.
30:40
Speaker 3: I'm a big dreamer, and that's a good thing to be,
30:42
Speaker 3: especially when you've got big dreams to chase after now
30:46
Speaker 3: I know that you also met your husband shortly before
30:49
Speaker 3: you went to do that fifth year of eligibility. Talk
30:53
Speaker 3: to me a little bit about how you were able
30:55
Speaker 3: to make the time to chase your dreams and give
30:59
Speaker 3: breath to your personal life. I think that's a big
31:02
Speaker 3: challenge for a lot of people, whether we're talking about
31:04
Speaker 3: athletic goals, personal goals, or anything in between.
31:09
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was really funny also when we started dating,
31:11
Speaker 1: because it was right honestly, as I was getting that injury,
31:16
Speaker 1: and like we started dating right after that. And I
31:18
Speaker 1: remember a month later, like after we started dating, I
31:21
Speaker 1: was like, oh, by the way, I'm going to spend
31:22
Speaker 1: another year in college, Like I'm not graduating this year,
31:26
Speaker 1: so you're going to have to come visit me more
31:29
Speaker 1: because you're the one that's making the time to come
31:32
Speaker 1: down to visit me in Georgetown from New Jersey. But yeah,
31:35
Speaker 1: we made it work and honestly having the time for
31:39
Speaker 1: each other, Like he had to come see me a lot,
31:41
Speaker 1: and he did have more time like as a professional runner.
31:44
Speaker 1: But also I didn't want to inhibit his training too.
31:47
Speaker 1: It's like, oh, getting on a train every weekend is
31:50
Speaker 1: not the right thing for your training. So we really
31:53
Speaker 1: made it work of It was distance for the first
31:56
Speaker 1: year and even a little bit into COVID, But yeah,
32:00
Speaker 1: I think we just made time for each other in
32:03
Speaker 1: the right time. But also we're both making sure that
32:06
Speaker 1: we were supporting each other on each other's journeys. And
32:09
Speaker 1: his was as a professional runner and mine was to
32:11
Speaker 1: try to qualify for NCAA's at the time, but they
32:14
Speaker 1: were very different goals but also very important to both
32:18
Speaker 1: of us. And so just making time for each other,
32:21
Speaker 1: in space for each other and just supporting each other
32:24
Speaker 1: was like the biggest thing. And yeah, DC was a
32:26
Speaker 1: fun place to go on dates at the time and
32:28
Speaker 1: get away from the running, and yeah, it was an
32:32
Speaker 1: easy We were both on the East Coast, which made
32:35
Speaker 1: it easier and we were both from New Jersey so
32:37
Speaker 1: than anytime we had winter breaks or anything like me
32:39
Speaker 1: coming up to him. So yeah, the biggest thing was
32:42
Speaker 1: just making sure that each of us felt supported in
32:44
Speaker 1: what we were doing as a couple.
32:47
Speaker 3: You highlighted that he also is a professional athlete. When
32:50
Speaker 3: you think now about what life looks like for you
32:53
Speaker 3: as a professional runner, is it what you expected that
32:57
Speaker 3: it would both look like and maybe even more that
33:01
Speaker 3: I'm interested in what it would feel like.
33:04
Speaker 1: Honestly, from dating Robbie, I was able to get a
33:07
Speaker 1: glimpse of what it could look like, and that really
33:10
Speaker 1: opened my eyes to what it was like. And even
33:13
Speaker 1: when he was traveling to Europe in the summer and
33:15
Speaker 1: doing the summer races and prepping for US Championships to
33:19
Speaker 1: qualify for Worlds, that was my first like eye opening
33:22
Speaker 1: experience to what it could look like. And honestly, it
33:24
Speaker 1: looked pretty fun to me because you're getting to do
33:27
Speaker 1: what you love, which is running, and you're getting to
33:29
Speaker 1: chase your goals and travel the world. And I think
33:32
Speaker 1: being able to see it through his eyes first actually
33:36
Speaker 1: then made it way less surprising than when I turned professional.
33:40
Speaker 1: But it was a big adjustment turning professional during COVID
33:44
Speaker 1: because then I signed in the fall of twenty nineteen,
33:48
Speaker 1: and then COVID happened in twenty twenty, so my first
33:50
Speaker 1: year as a professional looked very different than a normal
33:54
Speaker 1: person's first year. So it honestly gave me the space
33:57
Speaker 1: to actually just train and adjust to my coach at
34:01
Speaker 1: the time and get adjusted to the professional life. So
34:04
Speaker 1: in a way, it actually I think COVID year helped
34:08
Speaker 1: me just get get my bearings of a new situation,
34:11
Speaker 1: and it ended up having a breakthrough in twenty twenty one,
34:14
Speaker 1: which was like my big breakout year. And I would
34:17
Speaker 1: say this year, similar to twenty twenty one, is the
34:21
Speaker 1: most healthy I've ever been. And in the years between,
34:24
Speaker 1: there's always just been some setbacks or timing issues of things,
34:28
Speaker 1: and it's like this year's very much reminding me of
34:31
Speaker 1: what like twenty twenty one felt like. And that's kind
34:34
Speaker 1: of special because I was my first year's professional and
34:36
Speaker 1: now I've gone through some hurdles over the last three years,
34:39
Speaker 1: and it's like this year things have been just like
34:43
Speaker 1: clicking really well, and I've been healthy, the most healthy
34:45
Speaker 1: I've ever been as a professional, and I'm stronger and
34:49
Speaker 1: just a lot of things are coming together at the
34:52
Speaker 1: right time. And I think that's what also attributed to
34:55
Speaker 1: making my first outdoor team in twenty twenty five.
34:58
Speaker 2: What do you attribute that to?
34:59
Speaker 3: What do you attribute the being your most healthy self
35:03
Speaker 3: to At this moment.
35:05
Speaker 1: Listening to my body and focusing on the timing of
35:08
Speaker 1: the season too was really important. After the big injury
35:11
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty four, I really we wanted to take
35:14
Speaker 1: things slow, and I think we didn't really put a
35:16
Speaker 1: timeline on what twenty twenty five would look like. I
35:19
Speaker 1: remember we were like, let's not do indoors if it
35:22
Speaker 1: doesn't make sense. And I had run indoors a lot
35:24
Speaker 1: in the past and run it hard, and I'm from
35:27
Speaker 1: the East Coast and I love racing on the East
35:29
Speaker 1: Coast a lot, and a lot of the races are
35:30
Speaker 1: up there. But this year we're like, yeah, let's not
35:33
Speaker 1: put any pressure on it. And I think taking the
35:35
Speaker 1: pressure off and just really building and being in tune
35:38
Speaker 1: with my body, things were just starting to click faster
35:41
Speaker 1: than we even thought. And then when I did run
35:44
Speaker 1: a couple of races indoors, it was like, oh cool,
35:46
Speaker 1: this is like a perk, but it didn't need to happen.
35:49
Speaker 1: And I was very much this season like for every
35:52
Speaker 1: race I did, I wanted to one be excited about
35:55
Speaker 1: and that was a big thing. It's like, Hey, I'm
35:57
Speaker 1: really excited to run this race. Let's do it. And
35:59
Speaker 1: we're really focused on that. And I did a bunch
36:02
Speaker 1: of different events. I did a road five k, I
36:04
Speaker 1: was running a fifteen hundred, I did the Grand Slam
36:07
Speaker 1: three K, and just making the most out of the opportunities,
36:10
Speaker 1: but also being really smart and calculated in like the
36:14
Speaker 1: timing and the recovery of things, and just also being
36:17
Speaker 1: now on the on Athletics club for two and a
36:20
Speaker 1: half years, I'm physically a lot stronger adjusted to altitude.
36:25
Speaker 1: I've been lifting consistently for years, and I think just
36:29
Speaker 1: I'm a lot more. I'm just a lot stronger too,
36:32
Speaker 1: And that was showing and things were just clicking, and yeah,
36:35
Speaker 1: I just felt I kept saying to Dathan, like I
36:37
Speaker 1: feel very in control. Like after a workout, I'm like, yeah,
36:40
Speaker 1: I didn't like take as much ad as me as
36:41
Speaker 1: it used to do. And that's kind of been the
36:43
Speaker 1: trend this season. And yeah, we got to see some
36:45
Speaker 1: really big breakthroughs this season, which is just really exciting.
36:49
Speaker 2: Yeah, super exciting.
36:50
Speaker 3: Now, I'd be remiss if I continued as on without
36:53
Speaker 3: going back to the part where we didn't talk about
36:56
Speaker 3: how you feel being.
36:57
Speaker 2: A pro athlete right now.
36:59
Speaker 3: I know we don't like to talk about our feelings,
37:01
Speaker 3: but does it feel how you hope that it would feel?
37:03
Speaker 2: Is it different? Is it what you expected?
37:05
Speaker 1: I feel like it feels like what I expected it
37:07
Speaker 1: to feel like. I think I never realized how hard
37:11
Speaker 1: it could be, and it took some hard moments of like, man,
37:15
Speaker 1: like you are dedicating so much time for this, but
37:17
Speaker 1: I honestly wouldn't have it any other way because it's
37:21
Speaker 1: such a unique chapter in my life and it's really
37:24
Speaker 1: special that I get to do this and so cool
37:26
Speaker 1: like to tell people too, like when you're explaining what
37:28
Speaker 1: you do, it's like I get to work out and
37:32
Speaker 1: exercise and chase my dreams and travel the world. It's
37:34
Speaker 1: honestly not as surprising as I thought it would be,
37:39
Speaker 1: but it's really special. And I think it's really special
37:41
Speaker 1: too that my partner did it too, and he understands
37:44
Speaker 1: it and he's not a professional anymore. But it's a
37:48
Speaker 1: lot easier being with someone who understands what that lifestyle
37:52
Speaker 1: is like and we're always on the same page with that.
37:55
Speaker 1: So I think that also is just like a nice
37:57
Speaker 1: perk on top of that.
38:00
Speaker 3: Back to when you said that when you were getting together,
38:02
Speaker 3: it was challenging for you because you didn't want to
38:04
Speaker 3: be like I just did this silly little run today
38:06
Speaker 3: and so much different than yours, Like how did you
38:09
Speaker 3: get out of that comparison trap mentality? And open yourself
38:13
Speaker 3: up to sharing this with him, something I'm sure you
38:15
Speaker 3: hadn't had previously in a relationship.
38:18
Speaker 1: Yeah, I started to get excited about it. So then
38:20
Speaker 1: I was like starting to brag and be like, oh,
38:23
Speaker 1: well I did this workout and then this. So I
38:26
Speaker 1: started to see it as a positive of like, oh,
38:28
Speaker 1: like look at my progress. So I saw it as
38:31
Speaker 1: more of a like, oh, we can actually like really
38:34
Speaker 1: connect on this right now, and it's okay, and I'm
38:36
Speaker 1: not like embarrassed by it, even though we're at different
38:40
Speaker 1: points right now, Like it's not no, he he actually
38:43
Speaker 1: just cares and like let him care. So yeah, seeing
38:47
Speaker 1: it as something positive and now I'm still years later
38:51
Speaker 1: bragging about the workouts I'm doing to himself.
38:55
Speaker 3: I want to bring us back to Nationals this year. Obviously,
38:59
Speaker 3: such a mer moment for you coming in third in
39:02
Speaker 3: that five k. I rewatched that race earlier today and
39:05
Speaker 3: I saw the joy on your face. Talk to me
39:08
Speaker 3: about where your head and your heart were in that moment.
39:13
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was. I felt so calm in that race.
39:18
Speaker 1: And in years past, I remember like being in the
39:21
Speaker 1: middle of the five k and there was like a
39:24
Speaker 1: stress to it and it was like, oh, this is
39:26
Speaker 1: harder than it should be. And this was the first
39:28
Speaker 1: US Champs that I've run where at halfway I was
39:31
Speaker 1: like I feel good, Like this is so nice, and
39:34
Speaker 1: I just wanted to I put myself like in the middle,
39:37
Speaker 1: back of the pack, and I just wanted to just
39:39
Speaker 1: like accept like the race is going to be what
39:42
Speaker 1: it is, and you're just going to run what the
39:44
Speaker 1: race is. It's like, it's just a race, and you're
39:46
Speaker 1: gonna you're capable to be in the top three in
39:50
Speaker 1: this race, and let it play out how it's going
39:52
Speaker 1: to play out. So I really accepted in the first
39:54
Speaker 1: half of like, hey, you're just going to hang out,
39:56
Speaker 1: be in the back, and with a k to go,
39:59
Speaker 1: I did make a big move to the front because
40:01
Speaker 1: it got kind of to the point where there was
40:03
Speaker 1: a lot of us still in the race and it
40:05
Speaker 1: was scary going into the front. But I also trusted
40:08
Speaker 1: in my training of like progressing the pace down. We
40:11
Speaker 1: practiced that a lot, and so I took the lead
40:13
Speaker 1: and kind of broke open the race where then it
40:16
Speaker 1: was a smaller pack because at first it was still
40:18
Speaker 1: a lot of people and it's a scary thing to
40:20
Speaker 1: go to the front and be in that spot because
40:23
Speaker 1: everyone's just chasing you down. And in the last lap,
40:26
Speaker 1: I actually do get passed by three people, and I
40:30
Speaker 1: remember with one p fifty to go, I made sure
40:32
Speaker 1: that I had something more gears in the end because
40:34
Speaker 1: I really wanted to save a really great last hundred.
40:37
Speaker 1: And I remember in that moment of people passing me,
40:40
Speaker 1: like it could have been really easy for me to
40:42
Speaker 1: like get tense and be like, oh no, like that's
40:45
Speaker 1: the team I lost it, But all I did was
40:48
Speaker 1: just like no, trust. I really trusted myself in that
40:51
Speaker 1: moment of like, no, you still got this, You're still
40:53
Speaker 1: feeling good, Like let's just keep going. There's still one
40:56
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty meters to the finish line, and I
40:58
Speaker 1: had a great last hundred and got in the third spot,
41:00
Speaker 1: and crossing the line was just it felt like such
41:04
Speaker 1: a like a relief moment because this season has been
41:07
Speaker 1: going so well, and yes, I was a heavy favorite
41:10
Speaker 1: to make the team this season, but it's one thing
41:13
Speaker 1: to be a favorite, but another thing to also like
41:16
Speaker 1: get it done. And it was just such a great
41:19
Speaker 1: feeling of like yes, like you made it, Like you're
41:22
Speaker 1: going to outdoor worlds like you've run on indoor teams before,
41:25
Speaker 1: but you haven't made an outdoor team, and that was
41:27
Speaker 1: like kind of like hanging over my head the last
41:29
Speaker 1: few years. And it was a great feeling of you
41:32
Speaker 1: did it. Yeah. I was just really proud and a
41:35
Speaker 1: lot of relief honestly from it, and just like calmness.
41:39
Speaker 1: I guess yeah, I guess I felt a lot of
41:40
Speaker 1: calmness to it because it was like, yeah, you did it,
41:43
Speaker 1: and you could do it, so yes?
41:46
Speaker 2: So yes?
41:47
Speaker 3: Were you always good at staying calm under pressure? Is
41:51
Speaker 3: this a learned behavior? Where does that come from?
41:53
Speaker 1: It's been hard in the past at US Championships, especially
41:56
Speaker 1: because you're thinking about maybe oh I'm not as prepared
42:00
Speaker 1: I should as I should be, or like in a
42:02
Speaker 1: situation where you're coming back from injury. Those situations have
42:05
Speaker 1: been hard. But I think it just takes a lot
42:07
Speaker 1: of practice, and in the races, like you get to
42:10
Speaker 1: really practice that, and that was something I did practice
42:12
Speaker 1: a lot this season of being calmon. There is something
42:16
Speaker 1: about having calmness in a race. It's like your body's relaxed,
42:20
Speaker 1: your stride is less tense, the shoulders like you're just
42:23
Speaker 1: moving more fluidly. And it's always I always feel faster
42:28
Speaker 1: when I'm in that like flow state, and I wanted
42:30
Speaker 1: to really be in that state. So it's something that
42:33
Speaker 1: you can practice, I guess a lot in practice, but
42:36
Speaker 1: it's another thing to practice it in a race. And
42:40
Speaker 1: it's definitely something that I think people get better at,
42:42
Speaker 1: of course, Like when you see the best runners in
42:44
Speaker 1: the world, like they know how to run well under pressure,
42:47
Speaker 1: and that's something that I want to be able to
42:49
Speaker 1: do too.
42:50
Speaker 3: Well, you're obviously already doing it, but I do think
42:53
Speaker 3: that it takes a certain amount of practice, a certain
42:57
Speaker 3: amount of reps, right, Like, you don't just show up
42:59
Speaker 3: one day and you're entirely confident in all of your abilities.
43:03
Speaker 2: It takes showing up day in and day out and dealing.
43:06
Speaker 3: With those junkie days to remember that, hey, like I
43:09
Speaker 3: can do this when it feels hard, and that then
43:12
Speaker 3: instills your confidence in your strength for the next go around. Now,
43:16
Speaker 3: when you think about the next go around, and I'm
43:19
Speaker 3: not talking about the Diamond League, of course, I'm talking
43:21
Speaker 3: about the main event here, when you think about showing
43:24
Speaker 3: up on that starting line, what do you anticipate that
43:27
Speaker 3: inner dialogue to look like.
43:29
Speaker 1: I'm going to have this sense of calmness and belonging
43:34
Speaker 1: because I've always wanted it and I've always felt like
43:36
Speaker 1: I could be there, and now it's like, hey, you
43:40
Speaker 1: are there, and now you get to show it. So
43:42
Speaker 1: I do feel like always when I'm running on like
43:45
Speaker 1: the biggest stage, it's like I do get this sense
43:48
Speaker 1: of calmness because I feel I'm so happy to be
43:50
Speaker 1: there and I want to be there, and it's like
43:52
Speaker 1: you're doing exactly what you want to do. And I'm
43:55
Speaker 1: going to go into that prelim and do everything to
43:58
Speaker 1: put myself in a position to be in that final
44:02
Speaker 1: because in that final anything can happen, and you got
44:04
Speaker 1: to get through step one to get to the final.
44:06
Speaker 1: But I'm going to put myself in it and know
44:09
Speaker 1: that I belong because when you make the team for
44:11
Speaker 1: Team USA, it's one of the hardest teams to make,
44:13
Speaker 1: it's like you know that you belong in that world
44:16
Speaker 1: stage and you belong with the top competition. So I'm
44:19
Speaker 1: really gonna honestly embrace the moment and yeah, run my
44:23
Speaker 1: heart out.
44:25
Speaker 2: Run my heart out, as you should.
44:26
Speaker 3: We hear this all the time, and for someone that
44:28
Speaker 3: may not be well versed, why do we hear that
44:31
Speaker 3: Team USA is one of the hardest teams to make.
44:33
Speaker 1: The amount of depth there is in the US is
44:36
Speaker 1: really amazing. So that means like, getting top three, you
44:40
Speaker 1: are one of the best in the world. And that's
44:42
Speaker 1: why the system is so tough. It's like you need
44:44
Speaker 1: to be top three on that day. There's no discretionary spots,
44:48
Speaker 1: there's no selection process, and it's just that the US
44:51
Speaker 1: is so deep in its running and yeah, it's really
44:54
Speaker 1: hard to get on Team USA, and once you're there,
44:56
Speaker 1: it's like, oh, you're one of the best in the world. Yeah.
44:59
Speaker 3: I have chills when you say that out loud, and
45:01
Speaker 3: I can't help but wonder if you were to tell
45:03
Speaker 3: your younger self that you would be here in this
45:05
Speaker 3: moment now, being able to represent not only the US
45:08
Speaker 3: but really pursuing one of your biggest dreams, what would
45:12
Speaker 3: she think about this?
45:14
Speaker 1: I think she'd be very excited and also like so proud,
45:18
Speaker 1: so proud that through it all, like you just kept
45:20
Speaker 1: working at it, like I just have honestly worked really
45:24
Speaker 1: hard to get here, and it's really exciting to see
45:28
Speaker 1: it come together at this time and also gets me
45:31
Speaker 1: excited for the future of it, because I do feel
45:33
Speaker 1: like I'm going to be doing this for a long time,
45:36
Speaker 1: and it feels like almost step one. It's like, hey,
45:38
Speaker 1: you got to the outdoor chance, and now let's see
45:41
Speaker 1: how far you can go after this.
45:43
Speaker 3: Now, I know that when you really care about something
45:46
Speaker 3: so passionately like you do about your sport, that the
45:50
Speaker 3: choices that you have to make aren't always labeled as sacrifices.
45:55
Speaker 3: But you do have to make some sacrifices or some
45:58
Speaker 3: difficult choices in pursuit of your profession. What would you
46:03
Speaker 3: say the most difficult choice that you've had to make
46:06
Speaker 3: over the last five years has been.
46:08
Speaker 1: You're very much in your bubble when you're running, and
46:11
Speaker 1: it's hard to turn down, like taking trips home to
46:14
Speaker 1: see family, and you feel like it's you feel guilty,
46:19
Speaker 1: like there's like some guilt involved of like, hey, I'm
46:21
Speaker 1: not coming home for this, I'm actually going to go
46:24
Speaker 1: train at altitude during winter break and Christmas break. So
46:27
Speaker 1: I think it's just like the constant cycle of like
46:30
Speaker 1: in the running cycle, it's like hey, the season ends,
46:33
Speaker 1: and it's like you get two weeks off and then
46:34
Speaker 1: you start to build up again for the next year,
46:36
Speaker 1: and it's the constant training where then the breaks are
46:41
Speaker 1: very limited and sometimes they can it feels hard to
46:47
Speaker 1: like get home and visit family sometimes because of that.
46:50
Speaker 3: Yeah, do you feel like you have like more grace
46:52
Speaker 3: with yourself now over situations like that than maybe you
46:56
Speaker 3: did when it started?
46:57
Speaker 1: I think so, especially because I think our family and
47:01
Speaker 1: friends also understand it at this point so much, and
47:04
Speaker 1: like they understand what it takes and like it's the
47:08
Speaker 1: they want to support me in what I'm doing and
47:11
Speaker 1: being able to chase my dreams and knowing that it's like, hey,
47:14
Speaker 1: this is a very like critical time in my life
47:17
Speaker 1: to do this. It's gotten easier because of more people
47:20
Speaker 1: understanding it and understanding the situation.
47:23
Speaker 3: For sure, someone comes to your Instagram page, they see
47:26
Speaker 3: a woman, a professional for on Athletics club and obviously
47:30
Speaker 3: a runner on her way to world championships. But when
47:33
Speaker 3: you look in the mirror, Josette, what is it that
47:35
Speaker 3: you see looking back at you?
47:38
Speaker 1: I see someone that has never given up even when
47:42
Speaker 1: things have been hard. I see someone that's very determined
47:45
Speaker 1: and goes after what they want even if people don't
47:50
Speaker 1: think she can do it.
47:51
Speaker 3: Do you feel like there's been moments where you've really
47:54
Speaker 3: faced doubt from others.
47:57
Speaker 1: In the professional career, it's like, hey, you've been I
48:00
Speaker 1: think people used to put a limit on, like, oh,
48:03
Speaker 1: you can only do this for so long, and I
48:04
Speaker 1: think that's definitely changed in the culture, especially for female runners.
48:08
Speaker 1: It's like you're seeing women run later than they are
48:12
Speaker 1: in their careers. And I'm twenty nine and I've made
48:15
Speaker 1: my first outdoor team as a twenty nine year old,
48:18
Speaker 1: but you're seeing more and more often women making teams
48:21
Speaker 1: in their thirties, having babies and also coming back from that,
48:25
Speaker 1: and so it's really exciting to see that shift in
48:28
Speaker 1: honestly the story and timeline of female runners, and it's
48:32
Speaker 1: really exciting and I want to be part of that
48:35
Speaker 1: conversation too, like, yes, I'm twenty nine, but also I
48:39
Speaker 1: feel like my best running years are still ahead of me,
48:41
Speaker 1: so I think, yeah, there can be some conversation of like, oh,
48:45
Speaker 1: is this the end or is this no? It's like,
48:48
Speaker 1: I feel like it's just the start.
48:51
Speaker 3: Just the start. What are you excited about right now?
48:54
Speaker 3: What goals do you have both on and off the track.
48:56
Speaker 1: I'm very excited to one go to the world champion
49:00
Speaker 1: chifs and I want a big goal make that final
49:03
Speaker 1: and see what I can do in that final and
49:05
Speaker 1: compete with the best in the world. That's like very
49:08
Speaker 1: immediate and happening right now, and I think got to
49:10
Speaker 1: have tunnel vision with that. But in the future, like
49:13
Speaker 1: goals with running, I just want to see how far
49:16
Speaker 1: I can go in this sport. For sure, I want
49:18
Speaker 1: to see how much I can improve. Even though I'm
49:21
Speaker 1: running the five k, I love running the mile. I
49:23
Speaker 1: want to see how fast I can still run in
49:25
Speaker 1: the mile, and just like keep improving my five k
49:28
Speaker 1: and keep making teams and competing, keep progressing and seeing
49:32
Speaker 1: how far I can go. And off the track, I
49:35
Speaker 1: have a online running business with my husband called Miles
49:38
Speaker 1: to Go, and I would love to keep coaching athletes
49:42
Speaker 1: and growing that side of it. And because I do,
49:44
Speaker 1: I am very passionate about the sport and coaching, and yeah,
49:49
Speaker 1: I want to keep growing that business side of things
49:52
Speaker 1: because that's also in the future.
49:54
Speaker 3: Tell me a little bit about what it's been like
49:56
Speaker 3: working on that while also dialing in on your own training.
50:00
Speaker 3: How is working with your significant other.
50:03
Speaker 1: We make a really good team. It's really exciting and
50:06
Speaker 1: I would say right now, I'm taking a backseat in
50:09
Speaker 1: our miles to go business, but and he's the main
50:12
Speaker 1: guy holding it down with the runners. But I also
50:15
Speaker 1: have a few athletes and want to be setting myself
50:20
Speaker 1: up and like getting better at coaching and working with
50:24
Speaker 1: different people. So we're building something together that we're both
50:27
Speaker 1: passionate about and we're helping people, which is a big thing.
50:30
Speaker 3: There's a very big rise right now within running track
50:35
Speaker 3: and field in female coaching.
50:38
Speaker 2: Is that something that you do see for yourself down
50:40
Speaker 2: the line.
50:41
Speaker 1: I definitely am very interested in coaching, and I think
50:45
Speaker 1: a lot of that also came from my college coach,
50:48
Speaker 1: Julie Cully. She was an Olympian from New Jersey and
50:52
Speaker 1: seeing what she was able to do as a profession
50:55
Speaker 1: and then transition to coaching like she was a great
50:58
Speaker 1: mentor for me to see that, and I was like,
51:00
Speaker 1: I want to be just like her when I was
51:03
Speaker 1: in college. So it's it's definitely hard, and you see
51:06
Speaker 1: that there is so few women in coaching, and I
51:09
Speaker 1: don't know exactly what it would look like, but it
51:12
Speaker 1: is definitely an avenue I want to explore in the
51:15
Speaker 1: future after my running career. But I don't know which
51:18
Speaker 1: way it would look, whether like that was college professional,
51:23
Speaker 1: making your own running group like, but I think there's
51:25
Speaker 1: a lot of possibilities and it's something that I definitely
51:28
Speaker 1: see myself exploring in the future.
51:31
Speaker 2: Open to the possibilities.
51:33
Speaker 3: As we wind down here right now, you have an
51:36
Speaker 3: opportunity to offer yourself a piece of advice looking back
51:40
Speaker 3: when you got that frightening dog bite and so much
51:44
Speaker 3: just felt instantly beyond your control when you dealt with
51:47
Speaker 3: that bone injury. Right now, knowing what you know now,
51:51
Speaker 3: what advice would you give yourself in that hurdle moment.
51:54
Speaker 1: I would definitely give myself some grace and understand that
52:00
Speaker 1: some things are out of your control. But when you
52:03
Speaker 1: also surround yourself with the people that believe in you
52:07
Speaker 1: and want to support your goals, like, really special things
52:10
Speaker 1: can happen. So I would say, really hone in on
52:13
Speaker 1: those people and use their support because it's really special
52:18
Speaker 1: to have and it can really help you grow as
52:21
Speaker 1: an athlete and a person.
52:23
Speaker 3: Josette, so happy that we were able to chat today,
52:26
Speaker 3: and I'm going to be rooting for you in Tokyo
52:28
Speaker 3: for those that aren't following along with you, just yet
52:31
Speaker 3: give us the details. Where can they keep up with
52:33
Speaker 3: you online?
52:36
Speaker 1: They can keep up with me on my Instagram. It's
52:39
Speaker 1: at Josette Norris, but you can follow along on there.
52:42
Speaker 1: I'll hopefully be posting a lot of fun stuff going
52:45
Speaker 1: into Tokyo, especially.
52:46
Speaker 3: Oh my Gosh, I'm Over at Emily Body and at
52:49
Speaker 3: Hurdle Podcast Another Hurdle Conquered.
52:52
Speaker 2: Catch you guys next time.