Latest / Hurdle with Emily Abbate / 168. Carli Lloyd, Pro Soccer Player

Transcript

168. Carli Lloyd, Pro Soccer Player · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

0:00
Speaker 1: You have to have self belief and it's going to
0:03
Speaker 1: waiver from time to time. But if you don't have
0:06
Speaker 1: self belief, nobody else is going to believe in you.
0:23
Speaker 2: Hey, everyone, Emily Abody here. You are listening to episode
0:27
Speaker 2: one sixty eight of Hurdle, a wellness focused podcast where
0:31
Speaker 2: I sit down with inspiring individuals to talk about big ones,
0:34
Speaker 2: tough moments, and everything in between. On the show, you
0:38
Speaker 2: can expect vulnerability, motivation, and candid discussions with everyone from
0:43
Speaker 2: top athletes and CEOs to aspiring entrepreneurs and what it
0:47
Speaker 2: really takes to follow your passions. My mission is simple
0:51
Speaker 2: to inspire you to be your best self, move with intention,
0:56
Speaker 2: and have some fun along the way. Today I talking
1:00
Speaker 2: with Carly Lloyd. She is a member of the US
1:03
Speaker 2: women's national soccer team, and I was lucky enough to
1:07
Speaker 2: have this conversation with her the day after she was
1:11
Speaker 2: announced as a part of the roster for Tokyo. This
1:14
Speaker 2: was such a cool moment for me because I have
1:17
Speaker 2: literally admired her as an athlete for so so long now.
1:21
Speaker 2: I mean fun fact, growing up I played soccer. I know,
1:26
Speaker 2: I don't know if you knew that about me, but anyway,
1:28
Speaker 2: watching women's soccer, especially when it comes to the US
1:32
Speaker 2: women's national team.
1:33
Speaker 3: It gives me all of the feels. I love it.
1:35
Speaker 3: I love it so much.
1:37
Speaker 2: For episode one sixty eight, Carly and I talk about
1:40
Speaker 2: everything from how she deals with unsolicited feedback and the haters,
1:44
Speaker 2: to the way that she's managed her recovery from a
1:47
Speaker 2: tough knee injury a few years back. She also offers
1:50
Speaker 2: advice on the importance of self belief and talks to
1:53
Speaker 2: me about the reinvigorated relationship that she has with her
1:57
Speaker 2: family and why that means so much to her.
2:00
Speaker 3: Plus we get into her diet.
2:01
Speaker 2: We were actually connected by her sponsor at Gone Rogue
2:04
Speaker 2: Protein Snacks, and I can't forget that she offers some
2:07
Speaker 2: really stellar book and podcast recommendations before I get into
2:12
Speaker 2: it today.
2:12
Speaker 3: I do want to give some.
2:14
Speaker 2: Love to my friends at Beam for sponsoring today's episode.
2:18
Speaker 2: Beam creates the highest quality functional supplements for better balance, performance, recovery,
2:24
Speaker 2: and sleep, from athletes to entrepreneurs, busy parents to weekend warriors.
2:29
Speaker 2: Beam was founded on the spirit of pushing limits and
2:31
Speaker 2: pursuing passions.
2:33
Speaker 3: Say that five times fast.
2:36
Speaker 2: Their motto is experience what better feels like? And that
2:39
Speaker 2: can be from better recovery and sleep to a better
2:42
Speaker 2: state of mind now that my marathon training is really
2:45
Speaker 2: ramping up there. The Fixer CBD topical salve is what
2:50
Speaker 2: I'm leaning into to fight soreness and fatigue from all
2:53
Speaker 2: of those miles. It's third party tested, THHC free and
2:58
Speaker 2: smells delicious like organic eucalyptus oil and lavender. Of course,
3:04
Speaker 2: Beam has a code for the Hurdle listeners. Use code
3:07
Speaker 2: Hurdle at checkout to get fifteen percent off your order today.
3:11
Speaker 2: Head on over to BEAMTLC dot com. That's b e
3:14
Speaker 2: A MTLC dot com and use code Hurdle at checkout
3:18
Speaker 2: for fifteen percent off. I'm really looking forward to the
3:21
Speaker 2: Hurdle book Club tonight. Now I don't say this often,
3:24
Speaker 2: but even if you didn't read the book, I promise
3:27
Speaker 2: that you can come join us hang out and have
3:30
Speaker 2: a good discussion with your fellow hurdlers. The link to
3:34
Speaker 2: sign up for our eight pm Eastern hang is in
3:37
Speaker 2: the show notes. Make sure you're following along over on
3:40
Speaker 2: social it's at Hurdle Podcast. I'm over at Emily a
3:43
Speaker 2: Body and with that, let's get to hurdling.
4:02
Speaker 3: Today. I'm chatting with Carly Lloyd.
4:04
Speaker 2: She is a soccer player, a two time FIFA Women's
4:07
Speaker 2: World Cup champion, two time Olympic gold medalist, two time
4:10
Speaker 2: FIFA Player of the Year. Let me just like throw
4:12
Speaker 2: all the accolades at you.
4:14
Speaker 3: You must be like lit right now. Are you so excited?
4:18
Speaker 1: I am. Yeah, it's you know, it's been a long
4:21
Speaker 1: time coming, and obviously it's been a huge goal of
4:25
Speaker 1: mine to make this roster to head to Tokyo. So
4:31
Speaker 1: it's always just great to get the word that I'm going.
4:37
Speaker 1: The call from Flaco to say congratulations here on the
4:40
Speaker 1: roster never gets old. I'm just incredibly grateful, honored and
4:46
Speaker 1: just want to do everything I possibly can to help
4:48
Speaker 1: this team win a gold medal.
4:51
Speaker 3: I mean, you've done it before. I have faith that
4:53
Speaker 3: you're going to do it again.
4:54
Speaker 2: I feel as though, I mean, a lot of athletes
4:57
Speaker 2: thrive under pressure, but you sp typically like just crush
5:02
Speaker 2: under pressure.
5:04
Speaker 3: Were you? I mean, I'm sure you were a little.
5:06
Speaker 2: Anxious about this decision, but did you have confidence in
5:09
Speaker 2: this decision?
5:11
Speaker 1: I did, but I didn't want to be overly confident
5:14
Speaker 1: about it. And I think that that that is sort
5:18
Speaker 1: of a good thing. Because I didn't. I didn't want
5:20
Speaker 1: to become complacent. I didn't want to just think that
5:23
Speaker 1: I was a shoe in, uh, just because of things
5:26
Speaker 1: that I've done in the past. Of course, you know,
5:29
Speaker 1: Vlacko explained to me obviously my experience and being in
5:34
Speaker 1: big game tournaments and scoring in big moments, and and
5:37
Speaker 1: of course that doesn't just you know, leave leave my side.
5:42
Speaker 1: But I just never wanted to become complacent and think
5:46
Speaker 1: that this was a shoe in. I had to perform,
5:49
Speaker 1: I had to work hard.
5:50
Speaker 3: I had to.
5:52
Speaker 1: Prove that, you know, I can continue to play at
5:55
Speaker 1: this level and continue to make a difference. So it
5:59
Speaker 1: was it was definitely very you know, just a very
6:05
Speaker 1: very good feeling to finally hear the call and now
6:08
Speaker 1: I feel like I can kind of take a deep
6:10
Speaker 1: breath and go and enjoy myself and.
6:14
Speaker 3: Keep performing.
6:16
Speaker 2: Before I ask you a little bit more about your
6:18
Speaker 2: backstory for those that might be unfamiliar with it. How
6:22
Speaker 2: does your training change now that this is official?
6:27
Speaker 1: It doesn't change. I have been full throttle since my
6:31
Speaker 1: knee injury in October of twenty twenty. I was slowly
6:36
Speaker 1: building myself back. I have figured out a great routine
6:43
Speaker 1: where I've been able to maximize all the extra stuff
6:48
Speaker 1: that I do to continue to make myself feel good.
6:52
Speaker 1: I think in the last several years, you know, post
6:56
Speaker 1: twenty fifteen, I was still training hard, I was still
6:59
Speaker 1: working hard, but I've added in all of those things
7:03
Speaker 1: that have made me feel good. You know. I've kept
7:07
Speaker 1: up with my routine and even though I play a
7:11
Speaker 1: game once a week or twice a week, because I'm
7:14
Speaker 1: doing so much, because I'm doing so much more than
7:17
Speaker 1: what the game entails, I'm actually recovering better now than
7:21
Speaker 1: I ever have. And so yeah, it's just been you know,
7:25
Speaker 1: a change or an addition in that department. I've been
7:30
Speaker 1: you know, working with a new you know, individual coach,
7:34
Speaker 1: trainer Sky Danny in New Jersey played professional soccer in Australia,
7:39
Speaker 1: so he's really helped me a lot. And then my
7:41
Speaker 1: strength guy, Chris, who I wouldn't be this fast and
7:45
Speaker 1: explosive without him. So I've kind of coupled all that
7:49
Speaker 1: in with just so many good things and I've never
7:51
Speaker 1: felt better.
7:52
Speaker 3: You've got your support squad.
7:54
Speaker 2: I love like the first name basis reference only coming
7:58
Speaker 2: from you. And I also, I mean you're referencing kind
8:00
Speaker 2: of like a special toolbox that you have when you're
8:03
Speaker 2: talking about all the other stuff that you're doing.
8:05
Speaker 3: What's in that toolbox.
8:07
Speaker 1: It's a once a week, it's a long run anywhere
8:10
Speaker 1: is from forty to sixty minutes if I have time,
8:14
Speaker 1: Like this past week, I didn't. I didn't go in
8:16
Speaker 1: with Gotham f C to give myself kind of a
8:19
Speaker 1: mental and physical break or break to do more training,
8:24
Speaker 1: so I didn't have to taper with games. I go
8:28
Speaker 1: out onto the track, I do eight hundreds. I do
8:30
Speaker 1: four hundreds strength stuff three times this week, but usually
8:36
Speaker 1: one one to two times a week. And then it's
8:40
Speaker 1: like sprint circuits, you know, just short little sprint circuits
8:44
Speaker 1: to help me get ready prior to a game. So
8:48
Speaker 1: I've been working with that routine. Obviously, I was doing
8:51
Speaker 1: it a lot in the off season, but then when
8:53
Speaker 1: I entered the season with Gotham FC and the NWSL
8:57
Speaker 1: starting in April, I believe I had to figure out,
9:01
Speaker 1: you know, Okay, how can I do what I need
9:04
Speaker 1: to do to feel good, be with my team, play games,
9:07
Speaker 1: train with them, but then you know, not have the
9:11
Speaker 1: extra stuff make make me reach a burnout phase. So
9:15
Speaker 1: I toyed a lot with that in the last seven
9:17
Speaker 1: weeks and found what works best. I take one day
9:21
Speaker 1: off a week, and you know, I just kind of
9:24
Speaker 1: start my week out with that, do extra training, extra
9:27
Speaker 1: skill work if I need. But it's it's just more
9:31
Speaker 1: than what a game entails. So when the game comes,
9:34
Speaker 1: you know, I'm not feeling tired during a game.
9:36
Speaker 2: And I think, like what you are talking about here
9:40
Speaker 2: is oftentimes the thing that a lot of people don't
9:43
Speaker 2: focus on, which is the importance of recovery. Like you
9:46
Speaker 2: found that this one rest a is integral for you.
9:49
Speaker 2: I'm sure you have other recovery tactics in your routine
9:53
Speaker 2: that help you be the best player that you can be,
9:55
Speaker 2: whereas a lot of people think it's like just train, train, train, train, train, train,
9:59
Speaker 2: and train. So much bigger than that that time off
10:02
Speaker 2: can be the unlock, which sounds like you found for yourself.
10:06
Speaker 1: Definitely having a ten month hiatus, you know, knee injury
10:10
Speaker 1: and not that I want to be injured. I think
10:11
Speaker 1: it was good. You know, the pause of life gave
10:14
Speaker 1: me a mental physical recharge last year for ten months
10:19
Speaker 1: and it's been really good. I mean, off days are
10:22
Speaker 1: definitely important. Off days are just as important as training days.
10:26
Speaker 1: But it's living a consistent lifestyle every single day, and
10:30
Speaker 1: I've done that for the seventeen year career that I've had.
10:33
Speaker 1: It's daily ice bass, it's routine massages, it's eating well,
10:40
Speaker 1: sleeping well, hydrating, you know, nutrition, making sure I'm eating
10:46
Speaker 1: all the right things, and then my training and my routine.
10:48
Speaker 1: So you know, it's not a switch that you just
10:52
Speaker 1: turn off and turn on when you want. It's something
10:57
Speaker 1: that I've lived and breathed my whole entire career. And
11:01
Speaker 1: maybe a surprised others that I'm still playing into, you know,
11:05
Speaker 1: my late thirties, but it's no surprise to me because
11:08
Speaker 1: I've I've lived this lifestyle to be able to play
11:11
Speaker 1: for this long.
11:12
Speaker 3: I mean, We've got a double click on the term.
11:15
Speaker 3: It may have surprised others. I know. I follow you
11:18
Speaker 3: on Twitter.
11:19
Speaker 2: I see what other people are saying on Twitter, which
11:22
Speaker 2: can be a blessing and a curse. But what I
11:24
Speaker 2: love about you is your tenacity and your like resilient
11:28
Speaker 2: belief in yourself. Even going back to talking about your
11:31
Speaker 2: knee injury, I mean, you have to have a certain
11:34
Speaker 2: level of self belief to experience something like that where
11:38
Speaker 2: you are in your career and know so wholeheartedly that
11:41
Speaker 2: you can come back.
11:42
Speaker 3: So talk to me about, you know, where your.
11:45
Speaker 2: Mental dialogue was at that time, and how you managed
11:49
Speaker 2: to navigate what probably was at times a lot of
11:53
Speaker 2: negative self talk.
11:55
Speaker 1: It's not easy. I can't say that I've been perfect
11:58
Speaker 1: throughout my career because i haven't. And that's what I've
12:00
Speaker 1: told other people is, you know, three hundred and some caps,
12:03
Speaker 1: seventeen years later, a lot of success that I've had.
12:06
Speaker 1: It never gets easier, If anything, it gets harder because
12:11
Speaker 1: the more you keep going, the more you succeed, the
12:14
Speaker 1: more and more people talk about you, and the more
12:17
Speaker 1: and more people want to try to drag you down,
12:19
Speaker 1: and the more noise you hear. And you know, if
12:22
Speaker 1: you're not doing great things, there's nobody talking about you.
12:26
Speaker 1: So I welcome the noise, the haters, the doubters and
12:31
Speaker 1: all of that because it's played a role in my
12:33
Speaker 1: career and it's motivated me extra hard to want to
12:38
Speaker 1: prove everybody wrong. But it's extremely difficult, and you have
12:42
Speaker 1: to being a professional athlete, you have to have self
12:47
Speaker 1: belief and it's going to waiver from time to time.
12:50
Speaker 1: But if you don't have self belief, nobody else is
12:53
Speaker 1: going to believe in you. You know, coaches believe in
12:56
Speaker 1: you to a point, but you know they're wanting to
12:58
Speaker 1: pick the players that are performing well in that moment.
13:01
Speaker 1: You know, they can only do so much. And your
13:04
Speaker 1: support system obviously play play a role as well, but
13:07
Speaker 1: they can only do so much. At the end of
13:09
Speaker 1: the day, it's it's you the one going out into
13:12
Speaker 1: the arena, into the battlefield, fighting and performing and having
13:17
Speaker 1: to be tasked with getting through anything. Yeah, I've I've
13:22
Speaker 1: had to believe in myself because no one else has.
13:25
Speaker 1: And that's that's the way that you've got to train
13:29
Speaker 1: your mind. And it takes work every single day. I mean, I'm,
13:33
Speaker 1: you know, doing stuff on the field and working in
13:35
Speaker 1: that department, but I'm also reading books, self help books,
13:40
Speaker 1: just good reminders and filling my brain and my mind
13:43
Speaker 1: with positive things because our thoughts and our brain can
13:47
Speaker 1: be our own worst enemy and it can have you
13:51
Speaker 1: spiral down a really rough road. So it's important to
13:56
Speaker 1: just be positive and and just try to try to
14:00
Speaker 1: be better every day.
14:01
Speaker 2: That travels from you know, everywhere, from the field. For
14:04
Speaker 2: you to just like every day life for everyone else.
14:07
Speaker 2: It can be anything from like a person that you're
14:10
Speaker 2: interested in being like, eh, I'm not into this anymore,
14:12
Speaker 2: or like your boss having a bad day and like
14:14
Speaker 2: you making you feel like you're like the person that's
14:17
Speaker 2: messing everything up and you have these moments where you're
14:19
Speaker 2: like am I good enough?
14:21
Speaker 3: Am I x y Z?
14:23
Speaker 2: And that term self belief, that term self worth, like
14:27
Speaker 2: you self like you get to decide that. So, I
14:31
Speaker 2: mean you mentioned leaning into books and talking to the
14:34
Speaker 2: right people and surrounding yourself with the right people, anything
14:36
Speaker 2: specific from a book's perspective that we should be checking out.
14:41
Speaker 1: Well, I read Think like a Monk. I'm not going
14:43
Speaker 1: to become a monk by any means, but you know,
14:46
Speaker 1: a good portion of that book we're just really good
14:48
Speaker 1: reminders of, you know, just your thoughts and what to
14:54
Speaker 1: do on daily basis. I just read the Power of
14:56
Speaker 1: Now just being in the moment and you know, not
14:59
Speaker 1: not wearing a the future and not trying to predict
15:01
Speaker 1: the future. So you know, I love I love books
15:05
Speaker 1: like that. I listen to a lot of podcasts as well,
15:10
Speaker 1: Aubrey Marcus podcast too, you know, just to to try
15:14
Speaker 1: to keep keep helping and also my prep My preparation
15:20
Speaker 1: breeds confidence, but it also helps breed self belief as well.
15:26
Speaker 1: You know, if you're prepared for something, you're going to
15:28
Speaker 1: be confident, you're going to believe in yourself. So everything
15:32
Speaker 1: goes hand in hand. Our thoughts are prep just everything.
15:37
Speaker 1: And and it's not an easy thing to deal with,
15:42
Speaker 1: especially with social media. I feel like things go a
15:49
Speaker 1: bit more negative in today's world. You know, we're we're
15:52
Speaker 1: not really trying to uplift people, it's how can we
15:57
Speaker 1: quickly tear them down? So it's different and it's hard
16:01
Speaker 1: to navigate, but it's part of the journey and it's
16:03
Speaker 1: part of what makes the journey that much more special
16:08
Speaker 1: in the.
16:08
Speaker 2: End for those that are unfamiliar with your journey. I mean,
16:12
Speaker 2: talking to you now, you are a confident player, you
16:15
Speaker 2: are a confident woman. Have you always felt this strong
16:20
Speaker 2: sense of self belief in yourself when it came to
16:23
Speaker 2: sport from an early from an early age, I have.
16:28
Speaker 1: Yes, But I think that becoming more fit and getting
16:34
Speaker 1: through challenging situations, trying to turn a negative situation into
16:38
Speaker 1: a positive, and persevering through that, I think that It's
16:42
Speaker 1: helped me become more and more confident. And you know,
16:46
Speaker 1: I think that that I've was kind of misunderstood and
16:49
Speaker 1: maybe still be maybe misunderstood, but I just I say
16:54
Speaker 1: it how it is.
16:54
Speaker 2: You know.
16:55
Speaker 1: I I've been on this mission to want to become
16:58
Speaker 1: the best soccer player that I can be, and that
17:00
Speaker 1: that has been my goal. That isn't me, you know,
17:04
Speaker 1: trying to be cocky and say that you know, I'm
17:08
Speaker 1: better than this person or that person. Like, I've just
17:10
Speaker 1: been on a mission to just try to be the
17:12
Speaker 1: best that I possibly can and help this team win championships.
17:16
Speaker 1: And that has been my mission. And so I have
17:20
Speaker 1: lived an authentic life that is going to enable me
17:25
Speaker 1: to get to that goal. And I've experimented, I've tried
17:30
Speaker 1: different things, and I have figured out what works for me.
17:32
Speaker 1: And I'm a routine person and I know what I
17:35
Speaker 1: need to do, how I need to act, where my
17:38
Speaker 1: focus needs to be, and I've just tried to grind
17:42
Speaker 1: out every single every single day and and focus on
17:45
Speaker 1: the things that I need to do to be at
17:47
Speaker 1: my best.
17:49
Speaker 2: Was there a specific moment on a come up when
17:52
Speaker 2: you realized that soccer wasn't just going to be something
17:55
Speaker 2: that was a passion for you, but it was going
17:57
Speaker 2: to be part of like your life's purpose.
18:01
Speaker 1: I think at an early age, I was always obsessed.
18:03
Speaker 1: I brought a ball with me everywhere I went my parents.
18:06
Speaker 1: At the age of fourteen, I think started to realize
18:09
Speaker 1: that I was, you know, really special others when I
18:13
Speaker 1: was in high school, you know, being man marked and
18:18
Speaker 1: even you know, following me off the field when I'm
18:20
Speaker 1: about to get subbed, you know, not realizing that I'm
18:23
Speaker 1: getting subbed. I've got these two players following me. I think,
18:26
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people realize that I just
18:28
Speaker 1: was was different, and I sort of had that it factor,
18:33
Speaker 1: you know. I was hungry. I was just on a mission,
18:38
Speaker 1: and I had that chip on my shoulder, and I
18:42
Speaker 1: just had to learn how to become a professional, how
18:45
Speaker 1: to turn my weaknesses into my strengths and get myself fit,
18:49
Speaker 1: get myself mentally tough. And I set out on a
18:52
Speaker 1: mission to do those things.
19:02
Speaker 2: Taking a break from today's episode to give some love
19:05
Speaker 2: to my sponsors. First up, Daily Harvest, I honestly could
19:10
Speaker 2: not be more of a Daily Harvest fan these days.
19:13
Speaker 2: I have been loading my freezer up with it by weekly.
19:17
Speaker 2: And that's because all their picks are built on whole
19:20
Speaker 2: organic fruits and vegetables, which makes them the perfect, perfect,
19:24
Speaker 2: perfect thing for when you want to eat well but
19:27
Speaker 2: you are totally pinched for time. Just yesterday I had
19:30
Speaker 2: their spinach and artichoke flatbread. I topped it with a
19:33
Speaker 2: perfect amount of parmesan and some fresh basil. And then
19:37
Speaker 2: last night, after dinner, I indulged in their chocolate and
19:40
Speaker 2: midnight fudge scoops. Trust me, if you haven't had their
19:44
Speaker 2: scoops yet, you are missing out. This flavor is super fudgy, creamy.
19:49
Speaker 2: It's like the perfect dreamy treat to cap off the day.
19:54
Speaker 2: Stay cool, come and collected during the summer heat. Headed
19:58
Speaker 2: over to Dailyharvest dot co and get yourself some goodies.
20:02
Speaker 2: Enter code hurdle two five at checkout to get twenty
20:05
Speaker 2: five dollars off your first box again. Head on over
20:07
Speaker 2: to Daily Harvest dot com. Enter code hurdle two five
20:11
Speaker 2: to get twenty five dollars off your first box today.
20:15
Speaker 2: Also want to give some love to my friends a
20:18
Speaker 2: tracks myth. Tracksmith is a Boston based performance running brand
20:22
Speaker 2: that continues to produce the best in class running gear
20:25
Speaker 2: that makes you look good and feel your best. Because
20:28
Speaker 2: of their dedication to community, Tracksmith has offered to donate
20:32
Speaker 2: five percent of every purchase using the code Hurdle to
20:36
Speaker 2: Girls on the Run to help drive change. Girls on
20:39
Speaker 2: the Run is a nonprofit organization well known in the
20:42
Speaker 2: running community, and they've got a mission to inspire girls
20:45
Speaker 2: to be joyful, healthy and confident using a fun, experience
20:49
Speaker 2: based curriculum which creatively integrates running. I feel so so
20:54
Speaker 2: fortunate to have the opportunity to give back to this
20:57
Speaker 2: organization with the help of Tracksmith and all of you
21:00
Speaker 2: in the hurdle community. Head on over to tracksmith dot
21:03
Speaker 2: com and use the code Hurdle at checkout to receive
21:06
Speaker 2: free shipping and support Curls on the Run. I don't
21:10
Speaker 2: go a week without wearing my Twilight Crop tank and
21:13
Speaker 2: speed Crew socks, two picks that I know you will
21:16
Speaker 2: absolutely love again.
21:17
Speaker 3: That is tracksmith dot com.
21:19
Speaker 2: Use the code Hurdle at checkout to do some good
21:22
Speaker 2: and snag yourself free shipping. What would you say now
21:34
Speaker 2: you mentioned the word weaknesses? What would you say now
21:36
Speaker 2: are your biggest weaknesses?
21:39
Speaker 1: I don't know, because I don't think that I have any.
21:43
Speaker 1: At the moment, I think that I've honed I've honed them.
21:47
Speaker 1: I've I've turned my horrible weaknesses into into the strengths
21:53
Speaker 1: of mine, and that's the reason why I'm still there.
21:55
Speaker 1: But I wouldn't say I have weaknesses. I just have
21:58
Speaker 1: areas within my game that I've been able to just
22:02
Speaker 1: you know, go to training. You know, I'm going to
22:04
Speaker 1: training this afternoon, and I'm working on something specific. I'm
22:08
Speaker 1: working on details, you know, things that are going to
22:11
Speaker 1: help me in the game. I make it one chance
22:14
Speaker 1: and one opportunity of a specific ball coming into me,
22:17
Speaker 1: and I want to make sure that I'm prepared for
22:20
Speaker 1: that moment. So I wouldn't say that I have any weaknesses.
22:23
Speaker 1: I just always have. I think in general, in life,
22:26
Speaker 1: we all have areas where we, you know, can just
22:28
Speaker 1: be a bit better in all aspects.
22:31
Speaker 2: I think, like what you're reflecting on here is a
22:35
Speaker 2: mindset shift, right, Like, you look at these areas that
22:38
Speaker 2: may need improvement instead of calling them weaknesses, we'll call
22:41
Speaker 2: them that, and you look at them as opportunities to
22:45
Speaker 2: become a better player. Whereas someone else may identify a weakness,
22:49
Speaker 2: whether it be in sport or in their personal professional
22:52
Speaker 2: life and like sit and kind of fester in that.
22:55
Speaker 2: But again, this opportunity to go after and improve, so
22:59
Speaker 2: to speak, is like just that.
23:02
Speaker 3: It's an opportunity.
23:03
Speaker 1: Yeah, you nailed it. Opportunity for me is one of
23:07
Speaker 1: probably the most used words I have in my vocabulary,
23:11
Speaker 1: because everything is an opportunity. You know, you step out
23:14
Speaker 1: in the field for ten minutes, it's an opportunity. You
23:16
Speaker 1: start a game, it's an opportunity. You go to training,
23:20
Speaker 1: get to work on things, it's an opportunity. So absolutely
23:23
Speaker 1: for you.
23:24
Speaker 2: Now, aside from we talked about the importance of recovery
23:27
Speaker 2: and strength training, another aspect to this whole stick would
23:31
Speaker 2: obviously be your diet. So talk to us. You said,
23:35
Speaker 2: consistency is key. What does that look like for you?
23:40
Speaker 1: It's huge. In two thousand and nine, I really started
23:42
Speaker 1: to hone in on my diet. It was something that
23:45
Speaker 1: I you know, just mad made a change and I
23:48
Speaker 1: had to make changes, you know. I think it was
23:51
Speaker 1: the right time I was. I was willing and ready
23:54
Speaker 1: for it, and so I sort of turned into the
23:57
Speaker 1: organic lifestyle and cutting out a lot of you know,
24:00
Speaker 1: carbs and breads and sugars and all that. So my
24:05
Speaker 1: journey has all been about, you know, continuing to make adjustments.
24:08
Speaker 1: And I do that off the field as well, you know,
24:12
Speaker 1: aligning myself with brands that speak to me as a
24:15
Speaker 1: person and as a player. And my partnership with Gone
24:19
Speaker 1: Rogue has just been super authentic and you know, very
24:24
Speaker 1: easy to be a part of because obviously you know,
24:28
Speaker 1: they're a unique brand and protein focused snacks. Never snacked
24:33
Speaker 1: down is you know, is the motto. And for me,
24:37
Speaker 1: it's never backed down to a challenge. You know, I
24:39
Speaker 1: never back down from anything. I'm determined, I'm resilient. It's
24:43
Speaker 1: a healthy option for me, helps fuel me. And so
24:46
Speaker 1: after my knee surgery it was great because I was
24:49
Speaker 1: very diligent with making sure that I was having a
24:52
Speaker 1: high protein diet and including all that. I've got to
24:55
Speaker 1: live a healthy lifestyle and the consistency is huge, and
24:59
Speaker 1: I have to continue to fuel my body with all
25:02
Speaker 1: the right things to stay at the top.
25:04
Speaker 2: Would you say that the knee injury was probably the
25:09
Speaker 2: most difficult part in your career so far?
25:13
Speaker 1: I think it was, I do because I had never
25:17
Speaker 1: dealt with something like that. I had never went under
25:19
Speaker 1: the knife, never had surgery, and you know, I didn't
25:25
Speaker 1: have any pain before when I injured my knee for
25:27
Speaker 1: about nine weeks, you know, I just had swelling. So
25:31
Speaker 1: then I go under the knife, I get surgery, and
25:33
Speaker 1: then I'm in pain afterwards, and you're dealing through, you know,
25:36
Speaker 1: moving your knee and sort of getting that back to
25:41
Speaker 1: where it needs to be.
25:42
Speaker 3: And so it was.
25:43
Speaker 1: It was a very tough, slow process, but I think
25:45
Speaker 1: all things happened for a reason. I also had a
25:47
Speaker 1: lot of changes in my life as well. I cut
25:50
Speaker 1: ties with my trainer shortly after my knee surgery, and
25:53
Speaker 1: then rekindled things with my family, and so it was
25:56
Speaker 1: it was like my whole world had just completely changed,
26:00
Speaker 1: and it was it was great. You know, everything's great
26:03
Speaker 1: with my family, and super grateful that they could be
26:05
Speaker 1: part of this as well. And a lot of good
26:09
Speaker 1: things have come from all of this.
26:11
Speaker 2: What a beautiful perspective on that. And for you on
26:15
Speaker 2: the personal relationships front. I can't imagine being able to
26:22
Speaker 2: perform at the level you do having something like that
26:26
Speaker 2: really weighing on you. I would imagine that it would
26:30
Speaker 2: be something that could get in the way of maybe
26:35
Speaker 2: taking that next step in your performance.
26:38
Speaker 1: I think I like to think that things happen for
26:41
Speaker 1: a reason. People come in and out of your life
26:44
Speaker 1: for a reason. You know, my parents and I we
26:47
Speaker 1: spoke about this candidly. You know, if they were in
26:50
Speaker 1: my life, what I have accomplished, all that I've accomplished,
26:53
Speaker 1: we don't know. And you know, I feel that as
26:58
Speaker 1: the years went on, the twelve years that that we
27:00
Speaker 1: really didn't talk, I was sort of numb. You know.
27:03
Speaker 1: I had tunnel vision and I was getting better as
27:06
Speaker 1: a player, but I was really just numb to the situation.
27:09
Speaker 1: And now I feel like I've come out of that
27:12
Speaker 1: numb phase from twenty twenty and just feel so much happier.
27:18
Speaker 1: And that's what's exciting about going to Tokyo is that
27:21
Speaker 1: for the first time of my career. I mean, I
27:23
Speaker 1: felt great going into other tournaments, don't get me wrong,
27:25
Speaker 1: but this is really different. You know, I never felt
27:28
Speaker 1: happier going into a tournament, and I've never felt as
27:32
Speaker 1: good as I feel from a physical and mental standpoint.
27:36
Speaker 1: So maybe it was everything coming full circle and it
27:41
Speaker 1: was the way that things were supposed to align and happen.
27:45
Speaker 1: But I'm savoring it, I'm cherishing it, and I'm still
27:48
Speaker 1: hungry to help the team win gold.
27:51
Speaker 2: I love hearing this you talking about this now and
27:54
Speaker 2: having read the statements that you put out after everything
27:57
Speaker 2: that came out yesterday. It brings over a new appreciation
28:01
Speaker 2: for you, being like, I am so amped to be
28:03
Speaker 2: with my family and candidly like seeing you just talk
28:06
Speaker 2: about that. This may be like the most you smiled
28:09
Speaker 2: in us speaking together so far.
28:11
Speaker 3: So it's special.
28:13
Speaker 2: And it's special because having kind of been on both
28:16
Speaker 2: sides of the coin, having a strong relationship or a
28:18
Speaker 2: stronger relationship now versus not having much of a stellar
28:21
Speaker 2: relationship before, Like you know, both sides, and some people
28:24
Speaker 2: don't get to experience both sides, right, So to be
28:27
Speaker 2: someone that has that like deep understanding and appreciation and
28:30
Speaker 2: can empathize with someone who may be dealing with either
28:34
Speaker 2: is really special.
28:35
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree, I like that. I think that's so
28:38
Speaker 1: true and it's great.
28:40
Speaker 2: When someone comes to your Instagram page, they see a
28:43
Speaker 2: fierce competitor with a hell of a lot of followers.
28:47
Speaker 3: When you look in the mirror, what is it that
28:49
Speaker 3: you see staring back at you.
28:51
Speaker 1: You know, I'm a pretty private point person to a point,
28:54
Speaker 1: but I just like to give off positive energy I
28:59
Speaker 1: like to inspire and help others, and I just have
29:05
Speaker 1: always wanted to live an authentic life and never waver
29:09
Speaker 1: from that. And so the person that I am sitting
29:13
Speaker 1: in front of this computer screen talking to you is
29:17
Speaker 1: the same person on my social media channels. You know, nothing,
29:20
Speaker 1: nothing is filtered, per se, nothing is fake. It's it's
29:26
Speaker 1: what I believe in, it's what I feel, and it
29:30
Speaker 1: just is something that I've always wanted to be. Is
29:34
Speaker 1: just being the best version of yourself and being okay
29:37
Speaker 1: and being comfortable with who you are and not trying
29:40
Speaker 1: to be somebody you're not.
29:42
Speaker 3: For sure. We've referenced a couple of times.
29:44
Speaker 2: Now you know how long of a beautiful career you've had,
29:47
Speaker 2: the longevity you've had, and mentioning that you're thirty nine,
29:50
Speaker 2: I'd be amiss if I didn't ask you, then, what
29:53
Speaker 2: do you dream of doing in the next chapter?
29:57
Speaker 1: Obviously that chapter is coming and a approaching At some.
30:01
Speaker 3: Point, does that get easier to say?
30:04
Speaker 1: I mean, I think when you have no regrets and
30:07
Speaker 1: when you have you know, the mindset that I've had,
30:10
Speaker 1: I mean, I've given it all that i have and
30:13
Speaker 1: I don't know, you know, if this is my last
30:16
Speaker 1: in Tokyo. I don't know it's something that I need
30:19
Speaker 1: to reflect on, but obviously I have sort of somewhat
30:22
Speaker 1: reflected on. But you know, I think the important thing
30:26
Speaker 1: is is just being able to spend time with my husband.
30:30
Speaker 1: We definitely need a vacation together, like a two week vacation,
30:35
Speaker 1: leave the phones at home or something, and just spend
30:38
Speaker 1: quality time and catch up because life's been so busy
30:42
Speaker 1: and you know, I'm grateful for all of his support,
30:46
Speaker 1: but spending time with my family friends doing things that
30:49
Speaker 1: I haven't been able to do, ski, go, snowmobiling, four wheeling,
30:55
Speaker 1: whatever it is. And you know, the biggest thing is
30:59
Speaker 1: obviously my husban and I want to start a family,
31:01
Speaker 1: so I think that that would have just happened sooner
31:04
Speaker 1: rather than later. But yeah, we'll see when that time comes.
31:09
Speaker 2: Another hurdle to jump for you, and then for you,
31:12
Speaker 2: having talked about dealing with so much adversity and really
31:15
Speaker 2: emphasizing the importance of having a good mentally strong game
31:19
Speaker 2: as well as a physically strong game. For someone that
31:22
Speaker 2: really struggles finding that sense of self belief, what do
31:26
Speaker 2: you tell them.
31:29
Speaker 1: It happens to the best of us. I mean, you know,
31:34
Speaker 1: people may look at me and say, you know, you've
31:35
Speaker 1: accomplished all that you have, and you know your life
31:39
Speaker 1: looks perfect, and it's not. You know, we struggle with
31:43
Speaker 1: the same thing that every other person in this world
31:47
Speaker 1: struggle with, you know, anxiety, depression here and there, you know,
31:52
Speaker 1: and self doubt and all of these different things. I
31:57
Speaker 1: just think there's varying degrees of it within every single person.
32:02
Speaker 1: And so it's okay. You know, it's okay to feel
32:06
Speaker 1: that way. It's okay that every day you don't feel perfect,
32:10
Speaker 1: or every day you know you perhaps maybe struggling with
32:13
Speaker 1: something different. But I think it's it's important to surround
32:17
Speaker 1: yourself with with people who can help you. And it's
32:21
Speaker 1: okay to have people help you, you know, whether you
32:23
Speaker 1: need to speak to somebody, whether you read books or
32:25
Speaker 1: listen to podcasts, or you know, have your significant other
32:30
Speaker 1: help you, your parents help you, your friends help you.
32:33
Speaker 1: I think that's the most important thing, is that whatever
32:35
Speaker 1: you're struggling with, you know, you have to speak about it,
32:38
Speaker 1: and you have to unravel it and figure out how
32:43
Speaker 1: you can make it better or just learn maybe how
32:48
Speaker 1: to live with it or deal with it. So I
32:50
Speaker 1: think that you know us us as athletes and actors
32:55
Speaker 1: and actresses and politicians, I mean, everybody struggle with this.
32:58
Speaker 1: You know, it doesn't matter, you know, because we're on
33:01
Speaker 1: the world stage that we don't. We do and I have,
33:04
Speaker 1: and there's been days where I've had doubt. There's been
33:07
Speaker 1: days where my confidence is has dipped. There's been days
33:10
Speaker 1: where I've felt super anxious and upset. But you have
33:15
Speaker 1: to understand that that doesn't last forever in particular situations,
33:20
Speaker 1: and you know, you just have to do your best
33:22
Speaker 1: to get through it.
33:25
Speaker 2: Right now, you have an opportunity to offer the Carly
33:29
Speaker 2: right after knee surgery, going through that hurdle moment, one
33:31
Speaker 2: piece of advice looking back on it, what do you
33:35
Speaker 2: tell her?
33:36
Speaker 1: Enjoy the journey, Try to savor every moment, Live in
33:43
Speaker 1: the present moment is what I have learned, and never
33:49
Speaker 1: never wish or hope something comes in the future, because
33:53
Speaker 1: we're living this life that we get and we don't
33:56
Speaker 1: get to redo it. So why not just enjoy it
34:00
Speaker 1: one days at a time and let the future be
34:05
Speaker 1: the future.
34:05
Speaker 2: Grateful for your time, Grateful for your words, Carly, How
34:08
Speaker 2: do the hurdlers keep up with you?
34:09
Speaker 3: How do they follow along with you? Give me the details.
34:12
Speaker 1: Oh well, social media obviously, I've got my website. Yeah.
34:17
Speaker 1: Just keep on supporting Women's Soccer ur NWSL and hopefully
34:22
Speaker 1: we bring home that gold medal from Tokyo.
34:24
Speaker 2: Can't wait to watch it. I'm over at Emily a
34:26
Speaker 2: Body and at Hurdle Podcast. Another hurdle conquered. Catch you
34:30
Speaker 2: guys next time