Latest / Yips and Giggles / Melanie Woods & Reclaiming Her Purpose Through Wheelchair Racing
Transcript
- speaker-0: What's up guys? Welcome to our podcast. speaker-1: She finally realized that it was all mental. What's y'all? Welcome back to Yips and Giggles. I am so excited to introduce our guest today, Melanie Woods, a Scottish Paralympic athlete who competes in wheelchair racing. Among her numerous accolades, she finished fifth in the 800 meter at the Tokyo Paralympics and sixth in the 400 and 800 Paris Paralympics. Just this summer, she won two gold medals at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. Technically, you could say three medals, but we'll get into that in this episode. Melanie is a huge role model for not only Parasport, but for all athletes because of her genuine positivity and sheer determination. We get into her recovery from her traumatic injuries and how she found purpose and motivation through sport, how to not dwell on the past, and what it's like to train as an elite wheelchair racer. So sit back and enjoy because this is a very cool episode, guys. speaker-0: Hi. speaker-1: Hello. speaker-2: How are you both? speaker-1: Good. Thanks for coming on. We really appreciate it. Yeah, are you enjoying the Scottish weather today? speaker-2: Well, that's not great, is it? It's pretty grim, but I feel like I should be used to it by now. speaker-1: I know. It's it's actually been better recently. Like it's been a it's been a little sunnier, so I I appreciate that. Well, first I think we wanted to get into the Berlin marathon since you just finished that up with a crazy good time. So how was speaker-2: that? Yeah it was so that was my first marathon and I guess the unknown of it was a scary thing so I was nervous going into it because I was like I think if you're unprepared for the track it's over and done with pretty quickly so speaker-1: Right. speaker-2: the thought of suffering for a long time in the marathon was a bit of a fear for me but I actually really enjoyed it I got in with a group and there was five of us working together which changed the experience it meant you were focusing on the wheel in front and Yeah, you're working as a group taking turns in the front and things so that really a limit I guess it reduces the energy you have to use over the whole course which is nice true So yeah when when I came away with the fourth place I was so pleased because I honestly had no expectations for the race at all I just wanted to finish and be like that was horrible. I might do it again. So yeah, I so surprised but obviously pleasantly surprised. It was a great result for me speaker-1: Yeah, that was awesome to see. Yeah, Anya Anya ran you ran a full marathon. Sorry, not a full speaker-2: have. speaker-0: No, not a full. I have so much respect for people who do foals. I almost didn't make it out of my half. speaker-1: Ha ha ha. speaker-2: my gosh, great effort though. speaker-0: I know. It's definitely it's definitely like At least for me, and again I I've never done any form of racing. I just played tennis growing up. Mm-hmm. But for me it was just such a different mental strain almost of having to focus like that hard for that long of a period and figure out how to manage your energy expenditure and things like that. So I I'm curious, when you say that you guys kind of work together in the front, I'm assuming that's because of it's 'cause of the drag, right? Can you explain a little bit more about that? speaker-2: Yeah, so I guess wheelchair racing is a lot more similar to cycling than it is to running. And even when you say you did a half marathon and I'm doing a full, I would say the full is similar to half for us because like you're not always pushing, I guess. And the impact is less because it's not like your body weight bouncing off the ground. It's you you're on a new free wheel for periods of time. yeah, I guess it's similar to cycling in the way that if you're behind someone else in a race, the energy that you save is maybe I up to 30 % sometimes. it's yeah, you're kind of drafting in behind. So when I say taking turns at the front, I guess even mentally like, you know, you take a turn at the front and you have to focus on pace and effort. And then when you're at the back, it is a lot easier and you can kind of just coast a little bit more. You still have to work, but just not as hard. And also you don't have to think too much about the pace that you're going at because someone's, you know, pacing you and you're just like trying to follow the wheel. So yeah, that's definitely is a big difference from even running to cycling. speaker-1: that's so interesting. we have a lot of UK listeners who obviously know your story and know who you are, but we also have some US listeners since that's where we're from and we speak to that audience a little bit. But can you give a little bit of just your background, as a PE teacher, but also your story with your injury and everything? speaker-2: Yeah, so I've not always been an athlete. I've not always done wheelchair racing. In fact, I studied PE teaching at university and I was a teacher for a couple of years before I got into athletics. I guess life changed pretty suddenly for me when I was 23, 24. I was out cycling in the country roads and a passing driver that didn't see me kind of drove straight into the back of my bike, sent me flying off my bike into the grass fern. And from there I had a number of injuries but the most significant was the damage to my spinal cord and almost immediately I was told I had paralysis from waist down. So at that point it was kind of figuring out what life was going to look like as a wheelchair user and that was something I didn't really know very much about. yeah guess I had gone from being this 23 year old, fresh out of uni, starting my career and was really life turned upside down and I was now figuring out okay well how can I get my independence back and even that seemed quite a far stretch for me at that point. speaker-1: When you were going through your rehab, you were in the hospital for what, probably seven, seven months. Did speaker-2: Did you? speaker-1: you receive any sort of psychological help alongside your physical rehab? speaker-2: I was offered it, so they have a psychologist who is part of the unit and the rehab center. And to be honest, I spoke to him briefly, but for me, in that moment, there's so much going on, right? You're learning how to physically get yourself back. Mentally, you're a bit scrambled because you're like, you can't even really think about the future. You're more just thinking the now and the next task that's in front of you. So for me, I relied a lot more on the support around me with my friends and family and that being the support system for me at that point. I didn't feel like adding something else in psychologically was like helpful or useful at that time. It almost got overwhelming to like start thinking about, you know, how I feel about the situation or what the future will look like. That was quite a daunting element to add in. speaker-0: And I know you said that you kind of started looking at a lot of different like wheelchair athletes and and drawing inspiration from them, right? What why did you decide to get into wheelchair racing specifically versus, you know, other sports that you may have tried out? speaker-2: think it was luck of the draw, like the club that I went along to there, one was a coach there who was like super supportive and like, we can get you a chair, let's interview in races, like was really pushing me in that right direction. And I guess I also saw athletes who were at the club, you know, just at local club and they were also elite athletes training for the Paralympics and this was their full-time job. So could very much see the pathway and that's why I'm like so keen on like being a role model or like trying to represent para sport more. Cause I think like it is true. If you can see it, you can believe that you can do it too. And for me that's why I was like, okay, I'm going to commit to this because I can see a pathway and I can see like a future in this even though I was awful at the beginning. speaker-0: No you gotta start somewhere, right? Like no one's speaker-2: way. speaker-0: no one's good at typically there's always exceptions to everything. There's always those crazy athletes, but I feel like typically no one's great at something the second they start it. I surely wasn't at tennis. No speaker-1: But yeah, at the same time, you're also learning how to live a different life. So it's not just a new sport. You're also still learning how to, you know, live. It just like blows my mind. And I mean, you had your injury in 2018, and by 2021, the Tokyo Paralympics, you were competing. I mean, that's like a crazy turnaround for anyone to be that good at a sport. So how did you get to that place of acceptance of your injury so quickly and then turn Yeah. speaker-2: I think the acceptance was, didn't didn't arrive. It was more, I guess, like having that goal, the purpose and excitement for the next step. I think that's kind of like what moved me forward as opposed to like acceptance of, okay, this is my situation. But yeah, it was, it was like sucked and it did feel like a quick turnaround. I guess COVID came around and I basically just trained. I just trained the after day. I was on kind of a, like a static trainer. almost like rollers that you'd get from a bike. And I just, yeah, kind of did hours and hours on that. And I guess the year of 2021, when I came, when it came to racing again, I'd obviously made huge improvements. And as the season went on, I got faster and got a surprise result that actually made the qualifying standards. So even when I got the call for Tokyo, I was in so much shock. was like, like, what? Exactly. But I guess it was also the best time for me to go in the sense of like, I had no expectations. I was picked for experience to hopefully perform in the future, know, come experience the games, gain everything you can without any pressure of performance. And to be honest, that's like a free ticket at such a big stage, do you know? Like that's just like, go have fun. Yeah, I think that just served me so well. When I came away from that, was like, I know in three years time, I'll be such a better athlete. I'll have so much more experience and I'll actually be able to compete against these girls. speaker-0: Competed pretty well the first time around two in Tokyo. So could you explain the different categories what T 54 means? speaker-2: Yeah, so T54 basically means that you have a lower limb impairment. So it's anyone kind of with function from the waist up. So like my core and my arms function normally. So yeah, I compete against other athletes who have paralysis from waist down or have like a lower limb amputation. So essentially the same as an able-bodied person would be in a wheelchair. Because I guess you're like out of the equation anyway. speaker-1: And what what is the paraathlet community like? Is everyone pretty close? Does everyone know each other? Like what what is that kind of response like in support? speaker-2: Yeah, I guess so. guess you get to see the same athletes on the circuit and I guess you get to know each other pretty well. Everyone's kind of supportive of each other. I guess we don't race, like we don't have too many race opportunities so we don't see them that often. But yeah, it's similar people that you see and yeah, it's nice to know faces when you go to a race for every chance. Right. speaker-1: Yeah, 'cause we always say growing up in the tennis world, everyone knew everybody. It was just small world. It was crazy. I'm from the southern part of the United States and Anya's from New Jersey in the northeast. And even the different sections, everyone would know about each other. So I was just curious like speaker-0: Everyone's drama everything that was going on in their lives. It was like it was it was definitely fun though 'cause you had people in it with you all the time, speaker-2: I guess that makes an answer as well. I imagine like tennis can be lonely at points. It's an individual sport, right? So, in that sense. speaker-1: But going back to kind of using your platform and everything, I love looking at your content and I feel like it's just very inspiring for people who are maybe going through similar injuries, but also for really any athletes that are going through a hard time. I just feel like sometimes we get in that habit of where social media is so negative, but then I see your Instagram and things like that of your content and being so positive and also using, you know, humor to talk about your whole journey and the races and everything. And I feel like it can be so inspiring. It's not just, you know, their family and friends support, but it's people online that you can just look to and and I think that's also something that we're trying to do with this podcast is trying to get people to to see the positive side of sport if possible. speaker-0: 'Cause it can be so negative sometimes, you're right. Like it yeah. So hard it's speaker-1: So speaker-0: so easy to dwell on cer so many things and just crumble under the pressure and always just look to the next, next, next thing and not enjoy it. speaker-2: Yeah, in some ways, my perspective on life is great for sport because I don't get too caught up on results being everything or really... Because it can become your whole world and you can forget that other things actually exist and there's no important things. But I guess at times I also find it hard because I can very much be like, it's not that deep. But I think when you're going after big wins or results and you really want to dial in, you kind of need... to be so it's like having that ability to zone in and zone out or zoom in and zoom out. I don't know have both perspectives so yeah sometimes I find it a bit hard to because I'm like it's not that deep I'm going around in circles for a living like it's really not you know there's like so many bigger things going on in life but actually like at times it's my world so I need to zoomed in. speaker-1: Right, yeah. And I also feel like athletes do struggle with that aspect of dwelling on the past and rumination, but is there a way that you have learned to almost reframe your thoughts when you get in those negative cycles? speaker-2: I think it's important to feel those emotions and feel the disappointment or the negativity that comes because that's we all feel that, that comes and goes, I think for me, it's noticing how long I hold onto it for. So being disappointed about a result, like how long am I holding onto that for? You know, I've seen people hold onto that for months, potentially years, and that can be so facilitating. And also finding an anchor that allows me to like look forward. So whether that's like my next goal or, I don't know, just something that takes me away from like anchoring myself. of to the past or whatever's happened, if that makes sense. speaker-1: Right. That's a good way of putting it. speaker-0: But also when you say finding the next thing to look forward to, I feel like sometimes people also tend to have if they have a good result, they don't almost celebrate it and they're always not always, but they're almost like, okay, on to the next thing, onto the next thing. So do you feel like you do a good job of like celebrating your successes and like actually letting yourself feel the moment and feel like proud of yourself and just sit there with being like, Wow, I achieved whatever this goal or wow, like who would have thought that I would have been here? a year ago type of thing. speaker-2: Yeah, I definitely try to and I try to regularly reflect on how far I've come, reminding myself, because I guess when those moments when you get so caught up on those little details or those losses or disappointments or whatever, you can forget actually, I was in a hospital unable to do anything for myself. So like being able to kind of reflect back on that and being like, actually you've come so far and like you worked so hard to be here, like celebrate this moment. And I think I really did that this year when we had a champs at home. and I had my friends and family there. It's not often I get a moment with all of them with me. Like I really want to soak this in and enjoy it and yeah, remember it as like a positive and not just have it something that's like kind of breezed by and you're onto the next goal. Because it's so easily done. speaker-1: yeah, a hundred percent. I saw a video the other day of Andy Murray. He was talking about like his biggest regret in tennis was when he was going for world number one and he had won the Olympic gold and he said he like didn't celebrate it at all and just moved on to the next tournament. I was like, that's crazy. speaker-2: Hey, you was on like a radai flight or something, wasn't he? Yeah. speaker-1: And he just like showed up and he was like practicing the next day. I was like, no, that's so sad. Like you gotta take that moment. That's cr winning an Olympic gold is crazy. So it's good to hear that you do enjoy it. I also think that we should talk about the Commonwealth Games because that was pretty crazy. And it was so fun that it was in Glasgow. So, you know, hometown crowd. What was it like having to rerun that race? I mean, remember I think I saw your story explaining everything that happened and you were so positive about it. And I would have 100% crashed out and been like, I'm like, I'm not doing this again. Like this is my gold. Like, so tell me what that was like, like what emotions were you feeling? How did that go? speaker-2: That's so funny. Yeah. So for context, for anyone who's not, who weren't aware, I had a 1500 meter race at the Commonwealth Games and during the race, there was a crash, which I went on to win the race. I celebrated the win, kind of did my lap of honor. And then when we got back to the kind of warmup area, we're told actually this looks like it's going to be rerun. And true enough, it was rerun the next day. So I to go out there and I guess defend my title. I'd only just bought the day before. So yeah, think that probably just, it's probably a personality thing and also that big perspective situation where I'm like, almost quite easily able to feel like the disappointment and move on fairly quickly. Obviously like that was conscious, like I was in my mind there's no point in getting stressed about this, like I just need to go out and do the same again and I think there was a part of me also that like there was three or four girls that were wiped out in the crash so in my mind I was like you know if I'm gonna win this I do want to win it against all of them. I want to prove I'm the best in the field. And I guess there was a confidence in my training in the season that I'd had so far that probably helped me get myself ready for that. think if I didn't, if I thought, gosh, I don't know if I can do that again, I might've felt a little bit differently. But yeah, luckily I was able to go out and race again and win gold for a second time. speaker-1: So technically you have three mouths. Yeah. speaker-0: We're gonna count it, yeah. speaker-2: was going to get an extra medal at the of it but... speaker-1: Yeah, what the heck? It's a pretty good record. speaker-0: So there's wait, so there's a crash, but then they let you guys continue racing and finish the race and do all the celebrations and then only afterwards. How speaker-2: With the flag speaker-0: does that like they isn't there like a time frame you need to decide certain things within? Like how does that even work? speaker-2: No, they, they dragged that one out and there was also the panel that were the site. Cause basically it's one team puts in a protest and says, no, want this rerun or our, or our athlete was knocked out or whatever. But because the panel had like one person from every country that was racing there, they were like, we need to make a new panel so that it's neutral. I doubt speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-2: for like into the next day before we actually found out it's tomorrow you're racing. speaker-1: That's ridiculous. speaker-0: Ridiculous. It's also like you're on such a high because you won, like you celebrate, you know, you have all the adrenaline running through you, and then you have to like your high just comes down to this immediate low and how you balance those emotions and then like refocus again and put it out of your mind. my gosh, I'm so impressed. speaker-2: the post race, I had to go to anti-doping and then I had to go eat and then I was like, I really don't want to get an ice bath, but I had to get an ice bath. I was like, gosh, that was kind of like, well, if I'm racing, I need to do all of these things, you know? So it was definitely a different night of celebration. speaker-0: And when did you race the four hundred in this timeline as well? speaker-2: So we raised the initial crash was Wednesday, and then we did the 400 heat on the Friday morning, followed by the 1500 final or other way about, and then the 400 meter final was on the Saturday. OK. speaker-1: a lot. That's just a lot. And I am very curious with you know backing up a little bit, talking about your training and recovery, you know, talking about your ice baths and everything. When you first started out, what did you, what steps did you have to take to get your body to adapt to what you were doing? Because I'm sure that was a little bit of a shock to the system. speaker-2: Yeah, for sure. as I said, I'd always been active and always been sporty. But in terms of going to the gym and really pushing my upper body, that was that was not something that really I did. I think, yeah, one part was getting stronger in the gym. Like, I guess that was a big focus. And then just time in the chair, I think that's almost exciting part about being a newbie is you almost just need to do the basics like over and over again. Spend time practicing and doing over again over and over. So yeah, I think that was in terms of progress. It was just time on task, like doing it over and over again. speaker-1: Do you also ch still train with Samantha Kinghorn? speaker-2: Yeah, so she's actually just had a baby, she's off on maternity, so I'm very much missing my training partner, but yeah, we do a lot of training together. speaker-1: That's so cool. What is that like? Because she's obviously super accomplished. Is that was that intimidating at first or is it just fun to have someone to train with? speaker-2: Just great to have someone who's two steps ahead of you, who's someone to chase. She's definitely been the reason that I've been able to get faster and have belief that I'll get faster because I've got a train with someone who is the world's best. And yeah, I guess that gives you kind of a target. yeah, also just having someone to, think wheelchair racing, there's not that much information out there. So actually just learning from someone who's been through it, kind of made the mistakes and learned from them. just makes it a lot easier. So yeah, it's been a huge step or a huge help in my progress, for sure. It's fun to have, like when we're on training camps and stuff, it's also just fun to have someone there and like seen before, it's an individual sport, so a lot of the time you are solo, but having a friend that you can have downtime with makes it a lot easier. speaker-0: What are your s like training sessions look like on a daily or weekly basis? speaker-2: Yeah, so I train six days. I am on the track on a Monday and I do gym on the Monday. Tuesday, I use the ski org to cross train and then I will do like a steady push either on the roads or the rollers. Wednesday, I'm on the rollers. Thursday, I'm on the track. Friday, I'm on the track. I'm the gym. And Saturday, I do like a longer session either on the track or the road. So yeah, most days twice, two sessions a day, whether that's gym or track or road. speaker-0: And how often do you have to get new equipment? Because I'm I'm assuming the equipment is, pretty expensive and you have to make sure that it's like up to tip top shape, right? speaker-2: Yeah. I'm luckily, I luckily work with a racing chair brand RGK. So that allows me to kind of, yeah, I have access to chairs and make changes without the cost completely racking up. Cause yeah, they are so expensive and to make changes, like you kind of have to get a whole new chair, which yeah, makes it a super expensive sport to kind of evolve and, like make, you know, kind of continue to get better. Cause positioning the way that you set has a huge impact on your performance. yeah, maybe like every couple of years, I've been in my chair two years now and I'm thinking about getting another one. So it could last you a long while if you're in the right position, but to be honest, we're always making changes and looking for ways to get faster. So a new chair tends to come with that. speaker-1: Would you try any other sports in the future or are you pretty locked in on the wheelchair racing? speaker-2: Yeah, I definitely would. I'm not sure I would like do it competitively. I feel like I'm 32 now. So in terms of like respecting another sport and the journey it would take to be elite in anything else, definitely think wheelchair racing is the one that I want to kind of continue to do full time. But like I love the idea that there's so many sports out there that I've not tried. And I guess as well, because I'm training so much, I don't really have space for like doing anything else for fun. speaker-1: Right. Yeah. No chance. speaker-2: I sometimes play tennis, which I really enjoy. It's quite nice to do something that's a game and not grinding out a session. Yeah. speaker-0: Yeah. speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-2: And I'd love to do a bit more skiing when I finish racing and things like that. yeah, I definitely would like to try other things. There's so many out there and I think every year another sport pops up. speaker-1: Yeah. Yeah, I was f I was scroll stalking you kind of but researching. and I I saw the videos of you skiing and I've actually never skied once in my life, but that was like one of the first things I feel like you did when you recovered and I was like, that's very brave. speaker-2: I was so nervous about the whole thing. I remember being like, just don't know if I'm going to go. My mum was like, what do mean you don't know if you're going to go to Colorado and set ski? That's incredible. Of course you're going. I was like, but it just shows you, I just think that unknown is so scary. But it was so eye opening. And I was like, OK, I can actually do cool things. It really opened my eyes. speaker-0: Can we go back to the Paralympics for a second? I just wanna geek out on that a little bit more because I think it's just it's so r cool that you were there. what did it feel like to be out there with everyone else and represent your country? speaker-2: Yeah, so I think I'll talk about Paris because Tokyo was quite an unusual game where there was a crowd screening. speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-2: was so special because yeah, I was going out to a stadium that was full and that for someone who's never experienced that, that is crazy. And I don't think I'll forget like the roar when we were racing. I remember like you're so, I guess you're like in a flow state. So you're really thinking about racing and not much else, but there was almost like a little like break in my thoughts. It was like listening to the roar of the crowds. I feel like I remember just hearing it and it being just like almost like you're in a tumble dryer like a washing machine. Yeah so crazy. But yeah I think yeah I think it's like I guess I'm quite a relaxed person so I almost find it quite hard to get. hyped up for a race, like almost get that adrenaline going. So I think when you're in an environment like that, like that helps you because you're like, okay, no, I'm ready to go now. Yeah, speaker-1: And yeah, why could you not? speaker-2: you're right in top on like you're, you're like, I'm ready to think like I've got nothing to lose here. I just need to raise my best and yeah, it's quite a cool feeling. speaker-1: I'm sure that's so awesome. do you have any sort of superstitions before you compete? speaker-2: No. No. speaker-1: None. That's our first person that's never had any. speaker-2: I think I'm like if you get locked into a super session and then it goes your wrong way, that not just lose your hair? speaker-1: no, a hundred percent. No, it's good that you don't have one. speaker-2: I have routines in terms of checking my chair, I go through processes but yeah I'm not locked into anything. speaker-1: That's healthy. That's what we call healthy. We also always ask people, because our podcast is called Yips and Giggles, have you ever had the yips in anything, in any part of your life, sport, whatever? speaker-2: What's the end? speaker-0: it's basically speaker-1: This is probably a good thing that you don't know what it is. speaker-0: Yeah, so it's basically you're like sort of. So like for example in tennis, right? I had the yips really badly on my backhand and I've been able to hit a backhand my entire life. And then I just woke up one day and all of a sudden my arms felt like noodles. I couldn't make contact with the ball. And it was just like an unexplained, like just inability to speaker-1: You're supposed to speaker-0: do what I'm supposed to do that I've done my entire life. Yeah. And it's like a mental very speaker-2: But if sex speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-2: No, I don't think I've it speaker-1: Also the first one with Snaps. speaker-2: I get that over and over but I turn it up and I can't do it for some reason. No, I don't think I it. speaker-1: I'm so glad you were speaker-0: Yeah. speaker-2: I guess it's probably less likely in like a non-technical sport. speaker-1: Maybe. Potentially. I I I think there is something about, especially in tennis, just how precise everything is and having to control a racket. And I I feel like there's just so many components to it that can go wrong that mentally it eventually adds up. So yes, I do think you're right about that. But that's so funny. It's just I we always like asking that question because we never really know what we're gonna get. speaker-2: Yeah, I guess like I laugh at the thought of like doing a 100 meter sprint as like a like that's your event because I guess like you've got things that you know you should do and then it's like as soon as the start gun goes you forget all of them and you're like why did I do that? that's not how I, that's not how I used to go fast. did everything. I did everything the opposite of what I was meant to do. in that sense, I'm like, coaches like do this, do this. And I'm like, yep, yeah, sure, sure. speaker-1: Of course. speaker-2: You're like, I didn't do any of those things. speaker-1: Yeah, and then you just realize it at the end, you're like, we did have a plan there, but speaker-0: What was the plan again? I don't know. speaker-1: that's great. That's awesome. So what's next for you? What's what's coming up? speaker-2: So I've actually, I've just had a surgery in my hands. I'm taking some time off. Yeah. Which is, this is kind of like off season. So I'll definitely take at least three, if not four weeks kind of off structure training. And then we have a world championships next year in June, which is kind of the big focus. So that'll be like the last big champs before LA. So it's really like kind of wanting to be in the best place for that possible so that we can, yeah, kind of get ready for LA the following year. speaker-1: That would be awesome. speaker-2: I think after Berlin I'm definitely looking to do some more marathons. I'm just not just looking to look at the calendar and see where they fit in with the speaker-1: So the distance didn't totally turn you off, so that's good. speaker-2: wasn't completely horrified. speaker-0: Like I'm I'm assuming the training for that is different than obviously the the events that you normally race. What was that like? speaker-2: Yeah, not hugely. think the volume obviously increased and we did more training and less intensity. So it was kind of like a bit of a shuffle around of what we usually do. And I think if I was to have a bigger block, I would definitely do more volume and have more miles in there. So yeah, it definitely would change. I think it's quite funny, guess, unlike running more like cycling. the wheelchair racers tend to do track and road racing. know, the girls that do the marathon racing are also winning medals in the hundred and the 400, which is obviously that would be unheard of in running. So, yeah, it makes it like, adds quite an interesting dynamic into the sport, but it definitely means you can do both. I think it'll just be seeing how you respond to doing that much volume and seeing if you can still keep your speed or how can you still keep your speed. So yeah, training will definitely change, but hopefully not too much. speaker-1: Well, we hope your recovery goes well. And yeah, we'll be rooting for you for LA for sure. That would be so sick. Yeah. That'll be a cool venue to go to for sure. speaker-2: Yeah, I definitely feel like the US will do a good job of it. speaker-1: Hope so. I hope we represent well. speaker-0: This was really cool. Thank you so much for coming on. speaker-1: What's cool? speaker-2: No, thanks for having me guys. That was a nice sweet chat. speaker-1: Thank you all for listening. Give us a follow here on Apple or Spotify, or you can also watch our podcast videos on YouTube to keep up with us. You can also find us on our Instagram or TikTok at Yips and Giggles to see what we're up to. See you next week. And of course, in the meantime, don't take life too seriously and have a laugh on us.