Latest / Hurdle with Emily Abbate / Confessions of a HYROX World Champion: Alyssa McElheny On How Strength Training Made Her a Faster, More Durable Runner

Transcript

Confessions of a HYROX World Champion: Alyssa McElheny On How Strength Training Made Her a Faster, More Durable Runner · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: If you haven't taken a dive into like strength training,
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: I would really encourage like anyone out there to like
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: give it a chance. I think you'll be really surprised
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: by where it takes you.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: What's going on, everyone? Emily Abadi here. You are listening
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: to another episode of Hurdle, a podcast featuring the mindset
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: secrets and true stories of the most inspiring women in
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: sports and wellness, empowering you to live a healthier, happier,
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: more motivated life, and of course, conquer your own hurdles.
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: Today's guest went from casually dipping her toes into the
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: world of hybrid fitness to becoming a world champion in
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: just seven months. Alyssa McElhenney spent more than a decade
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: relentlessly chasing her dream of qualifying for the Olympic marathon trials.
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: Even when the qualifying standard dropped and made the goal
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: seem nearly impossible, she refused to back down, ultimately running
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: an incredible 2.34.28 to accomplish her big goal. Then, just
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: two weeks after securing her OTQ, she decided to try
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: a high rocks race for fun. Fast forward seven months,
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: And she stood atop the podium in Stockholm as the
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: 2026 High Rocks Elite 15 World Champion. In today's conversation,
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: Alyssa opens up about what it feels like to navigate
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: rapid success, wrestling with imposter syndrome when stepping into a
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: completely new arena, and redefining how she views her body
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: and strength. We talk about the wild reality of having
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: film crews follow her daily routine, how strength training transformed
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: her running durability, and why protecting your joy and community
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: matters far more than any podium finish. Plus, she shares
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: the hilarious real talk moments along the way, including the
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: famous spit gate penalty she suffered in Scotland, navigating unexpected
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: race week hurdles, and staying grounded in your own lane
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: when comparison creeps in. Truly, Alyssa is living a life
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: she didn't even dream of because she never anticipated that
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: this was possible for her.
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: Now she's an.
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: Adidas pro athlete. She's traveling the world, moving her body
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: for a living, doing what she loves. And this is
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: mega inspiring. Make sure you're following along with Hurdle over
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: on social. It's over at Hurdle Podcast. You can also
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: check out iHeart Woman Sports over at iHeart Woman Sports
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: and me over at Emily Abadi. Listen to Hurdle with
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: Emily Abadi on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: wherever you get your podcasts. And with that, let's get
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: into it. Let's get to hurdling. Today, I am sitting
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: down with Alyssa McElhoney. She's a 2026 High Rocks World Champion.
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: She's also an Olympic trials qualifying marathoner. Welcome to her, Alyssa.
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: What's up?
• 3:09
  Speaker 4: Nothing. Thanks for having me. I'm so pumped to be here.
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: I'm so pumped to have you. I like to level set.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: Everyone knows this right when we kick off the show
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: and ask you, and you can think about it for
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: a second, how are you doing really?
• 3:22
  Speaker 4: How am I doing really? I think there's like maybe
• 3:28
  Speaker 4: two words. Overwhelmed.
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't say it's like a negative like connotation of
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: the word overwhelmed. Just overwhelmed with like a lot of
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: changes in life. Like my life looks completely different than
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: it did a year ago. And there's days where that's
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: like overwhelming. Like today I have a crew from Adidas
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: Germany here filming a day in my life.
• 3:49
  Speaker 4: Like that is not something I could have pictured a
• 3:50
  Speaker 4: year ago. So yeah, overwhelmed. Overwhelmed.
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: And then the other one would just be, yeah, like
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: kind of like floored, grateful. Again, on a similar note,
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: I didn't expect this to be what my life looked
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: like a year ago. And I am every single day
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: just trying to like take it really slow. Have you
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: seen the movie About Time at all?
• 4:12
  Speaker 4: Yes. Okay.
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: So like the premise of that is like, for those
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: of you that haven't seen the movie, it's like this
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: father and son that learn that all the men in
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: their family can travel in time. And the father's like
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: biggest advice to the son when like using that gift
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: is to like just sit in every day and like
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: really cherish the small moments and like live every day
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: like you've lived it before. So you can like, again,
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: just like take things, you know, slowly don't take things
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: for granted. And I feel like that's like been a
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: big part of like my mental space in the last
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: few months. Just like really cherishing all like the small stuff,
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: the big stuff, not taking it for granted.
• 4:49
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: Thanks for sharing that.
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: And to your point, I mean, this is a lot
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: different than hustling full time as a wedding photographer. Tell
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: me a little bit about you said they're here to
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: film a day in your life. Are any two days
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: the same?
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: It gets different. I guess I do fall into routine eventually.
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: It is a lot of like up and go though.
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: I have been traveling a lot recently for what is
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: now like my work, which is wild. This is like
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: something I do for fun that I now say is
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: like what I do for my freaking job.
• 5:25
  Speaker 4: Wild. So yeah, like I.
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: Do really like relish those weeks where I do feel
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: like I have like a routine or a little bit
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: of monotony. Like I love, you know, having the same
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: wake up time in the morning, having the same breakfast.
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: seeing the same people at the gym, like going for
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: my run at the same time in the evening, winding
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: down the same way at night. So I do love
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: those things. But yeah, it's few and far between.
• 5:49
  Speaker 4: That's for sure.
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: Few and far between. Getting up the same time every morning.
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: What time are we getting up?
• 5:55
  Speaker 4: Oh my gosh. I've been like struggling with this. So
• 5:58
  Speaker 4: I don't know. Tell me about it. Tell me about it.
• 6:02
  Speaker 4: It's so difficult. Yeah.
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: So yeah, I guess like in my like upbringing and
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: even in like everyday life now, I don't know. I've
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: always been like an early riser or been like forced
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: to be an early riser. And I've been trying to
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: get a lot more sleep recently. Cause now that is again,
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: like part of my job is to like recover as
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: best I can, which means trying to get like nine
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: hours of sleep a night. So yeah, I've been waking
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: up around like eight 30, maybe sometimes nine o'clock. So
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: I'm trying to like reframe that as like not lazy
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: and as literally part of what I am like paid
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: to do as like an athlete.
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: Um, It's kind of wild because what I'm hearing you
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: say is that you go to bed at midnight.
• 6:42
  Speaker 4: Actually earlier. So maybe I get more like nine or
• 6:45
  Speaker 4: 10 hours.
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: I'm like, I am incapable of stay. I can't tell
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: you the last time. Actually, I can. It was at
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: a wedding in July.
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: I am basically incapable as a 38 year old woman
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: of staying awake past like maybe 1030.
• 7:01
  Speaker 4: It changes so fast. Okay. I'm 35.
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: I feel the same way. Like, Again, 25 was a
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: completely different story. But yeah, midnight is definitely too late.
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: So yeah, maybe I truly get more like nine and
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: a half or 10 hours of sleep every night.
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: I love this for you.
• 7:17
  Speaker 4: It is good. I feel like it lets me like
• 7:19
  Speaker 4: work out harder.
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: I'm hoping it leads to like less like little like
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: popping up injuries here and there. So yeah, trying to
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: reframe it as not lazy and as like part of
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: like equally as important as like the hard work I
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: put in like on the gym or on the roads
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: every day.
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: Of course. And you made such a good point.
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: This is literally your full-time thing now. Let's talk a
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: little bit about that because your rise to being where
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: you're at from going to competing in High Rocks doubles
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: seven months later than becoming the world champion Elite 15
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: High Rocks in Stockholm, not a typical journey to success
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: in sport, to say the least. So How does it
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: feel for you now that you get to say, this
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: is what I do full time? Do you feel overwhelmed
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: by it? Do you feel excited by it? Is it
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: a lot of and both?
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we'll come back to that word overwhelmed. I still
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: feel like there's a little bit of like that imposter
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: syndrome going on. Like I've always been a relatively competitive athlete,
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: like in the running world, but never to the level
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: where I'm like looking to make an Olympic team or
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: like a US team for anything. And I've never thought
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: that was going to be part of my life. So
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: seeing like, you know, these women, these female like runners
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: I've looked up to for like freaking years, the pro
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: athletes that we all like follow on Instagram, social media,
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: and seeing myself now, you know, be on that same
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: level in a different sport, but to be in that
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: same space where I'm doing what I love for a
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: living still doesn't feel right to me. I know that's like,
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: I know that's not reality, but to me, it just,
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: it still doesn't feel like I quite belong in that space.
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: So getting used to like feeling like I do belong, um,
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: and recognizing that it's just a different, it's a different
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: existence and different space than that, like pro running scene,
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: but overwhelmed a little bit of disbelief.
• 9:18
  Speaker 4: Um, but yeah, we're, we're getting there little by little.
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: And I think the more I show that, you know, I'm,
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: you know, I'm competitive in the space that I'm in,
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: the more I, you know, I'll believe it. Again, the
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: brands and partners I work with definitely help me with that.
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: They give me a lot of support and reassurance. So
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: I have a good team around me.
• 9:34
  Speaker 4: So that helps.
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: I was going to say, how do you boost your
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: own self-belief muscle? Because aside from quote unquote, putting in
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: the reps, AKA continuing to compete at this level, there's
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: got to be a lot of self-talk that goes into it.
• 9:49
  Speaker 4: Yeah, definitely.
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: I think that, Yeah, I've always been good at practicing
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: like being positive and being like kind to myself. I've
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: always been a positive person. I've always seen like glass
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: half full. I've always been a big believer in my abilities.
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: I'm also just really competitive.
• 10:08
  Speaker 4: I'm a little rat.
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: Like I'll, you know, go to the ends of the
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: earth to make sure that I'm like working as hard
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: as I can. So yeah, I do think I've always
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: believed in myself and in my capabilities.
• 10:20
  Speaker 4: I think maybe.
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: It's more when I start to compare myself to other
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: athletes that that factor comes in of like, I don't
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: know if I belong here. When I'm just with myself
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: and in myself, I don't think that's an issue at all.
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: I think it's when I start looking outside of myself
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: that that comes into play. So that's something I have
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: had to develop. especially since coming into this sport, I
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: don't really follow a lot of other athletes on social media.
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: I don't like look at people's training. I don't care
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: to really know. I'm talking specifically about high rocks athletes, runners.
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: I'll listen to podcasts. I'll listen to training all day long,
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: but other high rocks athletes that I'm competing against. I
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: like to just kind of stay in the dark a
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: little bit and focus on what I'm doing and be
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: confident in my own work and my own patterns and habits.
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: So that's definitely like a mechanism I use when it
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: comes to protecting my mental space and self-belief.
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: It's so relatable, right?
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: Because every day we get up and for at least 75%
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: of the people listening to this podcast, I'm sure one
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: of the first five to 10 things they do in
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: the morning is open a platform that then opens Pandora's
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: box of comparison and allowing people to steal your joy.
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: So good on you for getting to this place where
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: you're like, actually, that's not going to serve me. I'm
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: going to stay in my own lane.
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: And it applies to professional sport, but it applies to
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: every area of life. Talking to my youngest sister, she's
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: kind of getting into the personal chef cooking realm of life.
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: And that's what she is super passionate about. And so
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: she says she'll make something. And she's a beautiful graphic designer, photographer.
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: She does the work specifically. But she still says she'll
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: open Instagram after, you know, making what she thinks is
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: like a beautiful, perfect meal. And then she'll see what
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: someone else does. And that, you know, brings down her
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: joy of like what she just made and produced that
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: before seeing the other posts on social media, she was
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: so proud of. So, yeah, I think that applies to, again,
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: high rocks, running, cooking, whatever it is you may do that.
• 12:23
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: If you can use like social media and other people's
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: work to inspire you.
• 12:27
  Speaker 4: Great.
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: But if it like you said, if it kind of
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: like brings you down a notch, then like that's something
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: we need to work on.
• 12:31
  Speaker 4: Maybe. Yeah.
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Something I love about your story, Alyssa, is that
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: you spent the better part of 12 years trying to
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: qualify for the Olympic trials. And you finally did it.
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: And then you decided, I'm going to lean into high
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: rocks for fun. Do you think that the fun is
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: the thing that's helped you get as far as you
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: have so far?
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: And I know we're really only at the beginning. Yeah, truly.
• 12:58
  Speaker 4: We were like eight months in. Yeah. But yeah, I.
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: I, that's like, I feel like I say that all
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: the time is if I'm not enjoying what I'm doing
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: out here, like, like what am I doing? Um, I,
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: I hate the idea that someone would be competing and
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: like dreading, you know, the actual competition or dreading the
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: training or dreading the results. Um, yeah, to me, if
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: I'm not having a good time, it's not worth it.
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: Like most of my workouts, I do a lot of
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: workouts solo. I do a lot of, you know, daily mileage, um,
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: with a group. Like I have a group of guys
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: I do my long runs with here in Grand Rapids.
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: The gym I work at or work out at is
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: eighth day gym. And we have classes like a few
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: times every day for a few days a week. So
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: I get to like work out with friends at the gym.
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: And that might mean I'm like kind of doing my
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: own thing in the class or maybe extending the workout
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: a little bit. But to me, part of And that
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: part of the fun, the most part of the biggest
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: part of the fun is being able to like do
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: these things with a community and with a group and
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: not just, you know, suffering in silence solo.
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: So what advice would you give to someone who may
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: be hesitant about leaning into community? I mean, if you flashback,
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: think about Alyssa before she had done her first high
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: rocks doubles. There's so many people right now that are
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: seeing this buzzy workout and they're like, oh, this sounds
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: like so fun. much fun, but I'm not good enough
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: to go to a class. What do you say to
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: someone that thinks that way?
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: I mean, that was 100% me.
• 14:28
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: Like the gym I train at has traditionally been like
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: a CrossFit gym and that freaked me out. Like CrossFitters
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: are impressive athletes. Um, and I, you know, thought about
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: walking in and picturing everyone being like this, like hulking muscular,
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: you know, world champ barbell lifting CrossFit athlete. Um, and
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: that was like the vision I had in my head.
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: The second I walked in, like, People in, I mean,
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: most gym communities are really welcoming and really friendly. Not
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: everyone is this like muscular CrossFit champion. Like there are
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: people that are also there on their first day. There's
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: at my gym, at least there's like 70 year old
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: women that still do CrossFit, like lift barbells.
• 15:07
  Speaker 4: It's wild. So yeah, I think it's about like.
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: Maybe forgetting about that picture you've painted of gyms in
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: your head and like giving things a chance. It's definitely
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: nerve wracking. Or whether it's finding a gym or just
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: hopping in a race, whether that be a marathon, a 5K,
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: a high rocks race, whatever it may be. Yeah, just
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: recognizing that there are other people like you doing the
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: same thing on that very day. You go to any
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: of these races and there are the elites and they're
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: doing their thing. And there's people that have raced 12 marathons.
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: There's people that have raced 12 high rocks.
• 15:42
  Speaker 4: But there's also.
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: a huge chunk of people that are also like on
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: their first go of things and realizing that you're not alone.
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: And that is a big part of, I think what,
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: what like enabled me to be comfortable enough to try
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: something like this for the first time.
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: I think until you get to this point where you're
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: willing to admit that you're good at being a beginner,
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: like you're okay with it, you can put your ego aside.
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: Once you get past that hurdle, you have so much
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: opportunity to learn, to grow. I don't know about you,
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: but I never want to be the smartest to the
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: best in the room. So although I mean, for you,
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: it's pretty awesome to be the best in the room.
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: But I'm saying here is that you get the chance
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: to then learn from so many outstanding people around you.
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: And of course, maybe in the moment when we're talking
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: about going to a workout class, it's about the workout,
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: but there's so much more opportunity than that.
• 16:35
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: And I even love, you know, again, the gym I'm at,
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: there are high rocks classes and there's also CrossFit classes.
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: And I love throwing myself in a CrossFit class occasionally.
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: There are CrossFit movements I'm pretty capable of. And there's
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: also CrossFit movements that make me look like a newbie,
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: which I am.
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: Okay, let's compare notes. Favorite lift, least favorite lift.
• 16:57
  Speaker 4: Oh, geez.
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: So we're like creating a training app here soon to
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: kind of like fill a pretty big void in like
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: the High Rocks training market right now. And so yesterday
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: we had to film like all the movements that we're
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: going to add into the app. And oh my gosh, Emily,
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: there's like, there's a, there's a handful, like anything barbell
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: wise with, I don't know, clean and jerk or I
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: am again, maybe not even a lift. Just I, I
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: can do like one pull up and that is it.
• 17:27
  Speaker 4: You heard it here first.
• 17:28
  Speaker 3: The world champion in high rocks can do one pull up.
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: I feel very strong right now.
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: And that's like a new development. Like it used to
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: be zero. We are, we're like working our way up
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: little by little. Um, What is, what about you? Least
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: favorite lifts?
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: Okay, my favorite lifts, and I love lifting a barbell,
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: but I would agree with you. Least favorite is like
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: anything like with the jerk, like that fast movement for me.
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: Like I understand that when taught appropriate form, it can
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: be done safely and everyone can be fine. But for me,
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: I'm like, I have too much going on in my
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: head to jerk anything properly.
• 18:02
  Speaker 4: So I do.
• 18:03
  Speaker 3: Love an overhead press.
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: There's nothing more badass, I think, than like lifting heavy
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: things over your head.
• 18:09
  Speaker 4: I agree with you on that.
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 18:11
  Speaker 4: Yeah. And I do love.
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: I genuinely, although it's forever a work in progress, I
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: do love a pull-up.
• 18:18
  Speaker 3: I think I have like five or.
• 18:20
  Speaker 4: Six of them. That is... To me, very impressive.
• 18:24
  Speaker 3: Not to brag. Not to brag.
• 18:26
  Speaker 4: No, again, but you.
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: Said like, I like not feeling like the strongest person
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: in the room and that is how I feel right now.
• 18:31
  Speaker 4: So we're good.
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: Perfect. I'm here to mentor you and give you my tips.
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: But really what I want you to do is give
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: my audience your tips, mostly because... So many people listening
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: to this, they aspire to do any amount of strength
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: training whatsoever. Again, we go back to your background, you
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: being a strict runner for 12 years and a friend
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: of yours beckoning you to try this high rocks thing
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: with him. I remember hearing your response to be specifically,
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: I just like to stay in my lane.
• 19:00
  Speaker 3: Like I am a runner. and that's how it is.
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: So for other individuals that relate to you, that too
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: feel as though strength training isn't for them, what.
• 19:11
  Speaker 4: Do you say? Oh, I have so many things to say.
• 19:14
  Speaker 3: I'm so ready. Okay, let's dive in.
• 19:16
  Speaker 4: Here comes the word vomit. All right, we're going to start.
• 19:18
  Speaker 4: Let's see.
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: We'll start with, since I have dived into high rocks,
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: I have definitely let go of some of my runner identity.
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: I used to swear by high mileage, and I still
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: run about 60 miles a week, but that feels like
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: nothing compared to like the a hundred I was used to.
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: So that's been like a difficult thing to part with
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: and give up like mentally, truly. But, um, since giving
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: up that like running volume for high rocks work, I
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: have PR'd in every distance I braced. PR in the 5K,
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: PR in the 10K. I mean, I haven't really tried
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: a half marathon recently, but we might give that a
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: go soon.
• 19:55
  Speaker 4: We'll see.
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: So yeah, truly just adding in that different modality has
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: led me to being a much stronger, more powerful runner
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: when I was afraid that that lack of volume would
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: kind of lead me in the opposite direction.
• 20:10
  Speaker 4: Didn't happen. So super excited about that.
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: And then two, when I was running those high mileage weeks,
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: I think I was very prone to like overuse injury.
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: I had like hamstring tendinopathy in my left, like upper
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: hamstring had to get like PRP injections to solve that.
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: And I mean, it was just simply, it was overuse.
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: It was too much wear and tear doing the same movement,
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: same motion all the time over and over again. And
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: since adding in that strength component, dropping my mileage a
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: little bit, making that sacrifice to make my body stronger
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: and more capable and more powerful, I truly have not
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: had any issues with those like nagging overuse injuries. So
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: I think it just made me a much more well-rounded
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: athlete and like has truly made me a better runner.
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: So again, you haven't like taken a dive into like
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: strength training. If you're a little afraid that like it's
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: going to affect your running negatively, I would really encourage
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: like anyone out there to like give it a chance.
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: I think you'll be really surprised by where it takes you.
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: Practically, I also feel like it's super helpful to give
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: some like foundational basics. And what I mean by that
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: is like, if I were to drop one right now,
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: it'd be find your form first, right? So if someone
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: is interested in strength training, like you don't need to
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: go into a gym and lift a 75 pound barbell,
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: start small and start by learning the basics of the
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: movement so that as you progress, you can get better
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: at it.
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 21:52
  Speaker 4: And finding like a gym community.
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: Again, there's, There's like a gym place for everyone, whether
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: that's like a local CrossFit gym or a Planet Fitness
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: or like a really boutique studio. Like whatever scratches your itch,
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: like go to that place. But yeah, finding somewhere where
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: you can have like that one-on-one attention, like with a
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: coach every so often, I think is really valuable. Because
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: I want to learn the movements I know now. if
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: it weren't for, you know, great coaching.
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: So yeah, there's community everywhere.
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: You just have to be open to it, right? You
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: can't walk into a gym and stand there and stare
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: at your phone and expect that everyone is going to
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: do the work for you. So when you arrive, be there,
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: be where your feet are, and then the rest of
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: the good stuff is going to come for you.
• 22:33
  Speaker 4: No, I totally agree.
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: But yeah, again, whether it's starting a new race, you know,
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: coming into a gym, starting a new modality, like I
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: have not met a person who's like, you know, there's
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: no anxiety with that.
• 22:45
  Speaker 4: Super easy.
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: Like it's, it's everybody to different extents, but like we're all,
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: we're all in the same boat, whether you're a, you know,
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: new to running, new to lifting, whatever it may be, um,
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: new to high rocks, whatever it is.
• 22:57
  Speaker 4: We're all a little freaked out.
• 23:00
  Speaker 3: Just a little bit.
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: Well, I want to double click back on that 12-year
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: journey for you getting that Olympic trials qualifying time. You
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: ultimately ran a 2.34.27. To put that in context for
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: those listening at home, that's an average pace of 5.53
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: per mile. Most people on the journey to something they
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: want thinking, okay, I'm not going to get it year one,
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: year two, year three, year four, how do you keep
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: hammering back through to year 12? What is it about
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: you that kept you on the path to that ultimate goal?
• 23:35
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: I feel like if I'm like, if I'm like joking
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: about it, I'll say like, you know, something up here
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: is a little broken. Like, yeah, I mean, that's probably
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: part of it, but yeah, in all seriousness, um, I
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: think it's, I think I, again, it comes back to
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: that self-belief piece Um, and I'm, I'm just like a relentless,
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: like goal setter.
• 23:56
  Speaker 4: I'm competitive.
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: So yeah, you know, I started to try and qualify
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: when the time standard was two 45 and dropped.
• 24:04
  Speaker 4: It to two 37.
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: So I was like, yeah, if I couldn't hit two 45,
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: there's no way I'll hit two 37. Um, yeah, it's like, it's,
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: it should be like out of my mind, out of
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: my sight. I dropped the goal the next day, woke
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: up and was like, nah.
• 24:17
  Speaker 4: I'm still going.
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: And it was, yeah, it was really about like knowing
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: that there was a lot that I left on the table.
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: Especially with marathoning with high rocks, there's just like so
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: many different pieces you can change and so many things
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: you can do to have a better result. So yeah,
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: I don't think anyone finishes a marathon and is like,
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: everything was perfect. Like I did absolutely everything I could
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: in preparation. I did absolutely everything I could during the race.
• 24:43
  Speaker 4: It was great.
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: Like literally no edits. I think everyone who finishes is like, yeah,
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: great race, 90% of the way there. But like, you know, maybe, um,
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: I would have gotten more sleep, you know, the three
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: nights leading up to the marathon, or maybe it was like,
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: you know, it was 20% of the way there.
• 24:58
  Speaker 4: I could do this, this, this, and this. So I
• 25:00
  Speaker 4: think it's just knowing that.
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: There was like pieces of the puzzle that had not
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: yet come together at every point along the way. Um,
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: at every marathon I ran, just knowing that, you know what, like, yeah,
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: I should find coaching. Like I shouldn't write my own
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: training or, you know, the next marathon being like, I didn't,
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: I don't really know what I'm doing with fueling. Like
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: I should do some research. I should try some different gels.
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: Like I should just see what else is out there. Um,
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: or even, you know, you know, maybe I shouldn't eat
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: that much dairy the night before the race. Like I
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: maybe don't want to have to use the porta potty
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: during the race if at all possible. So yeah, I think, Again,
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: belief in myself.
• 25:36
  Speaker 4: I'm relentless. I'm competitive.
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: But then also just knowing that there's so many things
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: I can focus on and change in this kind of
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: a sport that will lead to different outcomes. And yeah,
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: just not wanting to leave any of those stones unturned.
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: Do you remember a specific moment of missing the mark
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: on your journey to that OTQ where you had to
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: maybe more so than usual or... in a specific way,
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: talk yourself off the ledge of being like, maybe this
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: just isn't for me.
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: Again, I think it was more, more than a specific race.
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: It was when I found out they dropped that time standard. Yeah,
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: it was after, so it was for the 2020 Olympic trials.
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: You know, I had in mind that, you know, I
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: have two and a half years to go hit 245.
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: And at the time I'd run 252. And I was like, yeah, like,
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: That's a lot of time. But like after, you know,
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: more years of consistency, I can definitely do that. I
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: remember being in line at a Chick-fil-A and, you know,
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: pulling up my phone because I got a text. And
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: it was a friend saying like, did you see they
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: changed the time standards? Or like they announced new time standards. And,
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: you know, quick doing a little Google search and seeing
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: that it was now 2.37. And like I just get
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: like goosebumps right now thinking about that moment and just
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: being like so devastated. Because, yeah, I mean, you know,
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: a seven-minute improvement is one thing.
• 26:54
  Speaker 4: But a 15.
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: Minute improvement is like, yeah, it's just like a whole
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: different realm, you know, especially once you start whittling down
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: that time, every minute is like, it becomes a bigger deal.
• 27:05
  Speaker 4: You know, when you're trying to, when you're trying to.
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: Go from, um, like, let's say a five 30 marathon
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: to a five 15 marathon, like that's just a bigger
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: window of time when you're trying to go from like,
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: you know, you know, running a world record of, you know,
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: one 58, like if you're trying to take 15 minutes
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: off of that, like that's not happening, you know, at
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: least not right now.
• 27:27
  Speaker 4: So, um, yeah, I just remember being.
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: In that moment all night and, you know, talking with
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: different people in my life about it. And all those people, um,
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: gave me nothing but positive affirmation and said like, yeah, no,
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: you're like, stick on it.
• 27:41
  Speaker 4: Like stay on it. We believe.
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: So I think it was, it wasn't what I did
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: for myself. to convince myself to get back on that
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: horse or to stay on the horse, I guess. It
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: was really like the community I had around me and
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: their affirmation and their positivity and belief in what I
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: could do that kind of, again, kept me on the horse.
• 28:01
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: I mean, you're bringing up once again, the importance of
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: who you surround yourself with. You talked earlier about being
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: in this position now as the High Rocks World Champion,
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: where the people around you are doing the exact same thing.
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: They're giving you that affirmation that, hey, you belong here.
• 28:17
  Speaker 3: You're doing great. And your words, there's just still so
• 28:21
  Speaker 3: much work to be done.
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 28:23
  Speaker 4: Again, I'm still a baby in the sport.
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: Like I've, I've been used to being a runner for
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: 22 ish years and to be in the sport of
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: high rocks for eight months. Um, yeah, there's a lot
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: I can still get to work out and still need
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: to work on. So that's exciting to me that there's
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: like a lot of, I don't know, I think being
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: new in a sport, it's a, like a unique time
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: in life. You know, if you've been somewhere for, you know,
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: 10 years, 20 years, whatever, Obviously there's still changes and
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: there's still growth that can happen, but that like beginning
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: of sport period, whether it's, you know, the first few months,
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: the first season, the first couple of marathons, um, I
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: think it's just exciting and new that, yeah, there is
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: so much you can do to change, um, and to grow.
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: I always like to say that you only get to
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: be a beginner once, and it is just so important
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: not to judge your beginnings too harshly. Like, I would
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: doubt that you left that initial High Rocks doubles race
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: that you did for fun, almost as a favor to
• 29:22
  Speaker 2: a friend and thought, man, I would fix this, this, this, this, this, this, this,
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: and blah, blah, blah, blah, all right away.
• 29:28
  Speaker 3: You were like, no, that was a good time.
• 29:30
  Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah. I truly left that one. I was like,
• 29:32
  Speaker 4: That was fun.
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: Like, I want to see what I can do once
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: I actually start going to this gym and start training.
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: I knew for a fact that so much of my
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: form on the stations was quite poor because I'd never
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: pushed a sled before, never skied before, never rode before, burpee,
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: broad jump, whatever it may be. So yeah, it's a
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: balance of like, again, just... sitting in that space of
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: being like, you know, that was my first one and
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: I enjoyed it. And that's, that enjoyment is what makes
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: you want to keep going. But then also the excitement
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: of like, no, I got a lot I can still do.
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: Like there's a lot of like, there's a lot of
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: ways I can get better here.
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: I think what's also quite interesting is that yes, you
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: are still new in the sport and like the sport
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: itself is also still evolving, growing and solidifying itself as
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: the days go on.
• 30:22
  Speaker 3: There are things that are constantly changing.
• 30:24
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: Like, again, I, again, coming from a running background, you know,
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: we've had marathons and track races for decades, you know,
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: it's been around for forever and they've had years to
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: establish how, you know, how best to treat athletes and
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: to establish.
• 30:40
  Speaker 4: Rules and prize money.
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: And even like when it comes down to like footwear,
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: you know, years to kind of go through the process
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: of what's best for athletes.
• 30:47
  Speaker 4: And, you know, wide variety of.
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: Options for different kinds of runners. Um, But yeah, high
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: rocks is a baby. It's a baby. It's a little
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: baby sport, like less than a decade old. And I
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: think a lot of times it's easy to be hard on,
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: you know, the sport when it comes to the things
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: they don't get right. But I think having a lot
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: of grace and realizing that, yeah, we're still young and
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: we're still developing is something that I learned that is
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: necessary in this space. Everyone's trying their best. Yeah.
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: I wouldn't be a true journalist if we didn't talk
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: about the poop. And I only want to talk about
• 31:21
  Speaker 2: the poop because I know that you once got a
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: two minute penalty for spitting.
• 31:27
  Speaker 4: I did. Yeah.
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: That was like my, that was my first, not my first,
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: that was my second solo race. And that penalty, like, well, here's,
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: here's a bigger piece. Like, yes, we can get to
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: all this stuff, but, um, yeah, I spit in Glasgow,
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: Scotland and it gave me a two minute penalty. And, um,
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: At that point, I was trying to qualify to be
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: in the elite 15, which is the whole thing. It's
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: a really complicated process, but basically I needed like an
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: average of times that were fast enough to be in
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: the top 15 in the sport. By that two minute penalty,
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: it completely knocked me out of the running. I didn't
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: run a fast enough time. I had traveled all the
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: way to Scotland for that opportunity. And so, yeah, left
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: that race being like, well, shit, like the time, the
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: time limit was almost up in a few days. I
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: feel like I wasted everyone's time and energy by, you know,
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: flying all the way out there and then, you know,
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: getting a penalty for something that I didn't even know
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: incurred a penalty, which is my own fault.
• 32:22
  Speaker 4: Quick pivot.
• 32:22
  Speaker 3: You're like, I'm a runner. Don't people do that?
• 32:24
  Speaker 4: Yeah, we can fit. We can, like, whatever. It's a course. Jeez.
• 32:28
  Speaker 4: Apparently the indoor nature of it makes it different. Apparently. Well. Yeah,
• 32:33
  Speaker 4: it just was spitting. So, yeah.
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: And then, like, you know, had to find a different race,
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: pivot really quickly, raced in four days later in Toulouse, France.
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: was able to run a time that was fast enough
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: to qualify. So just like there's little things that are
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: like negatives and that seem like these big humps at
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: the time that like truly do turn out to be
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: like for the best and for the positive. But yeah,
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: I'm glad that we're like, we're standardizing things that all
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: bodily fluid is penalties. I think that's something that again,
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: like as a new sport, you would think that like
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: that might've.
• 33:04
  Speaker 4: Already been in the rule book.
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: Like if you're, if you're thinking about penalties for spitting
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: or penalties for, I think, I think spitting might be
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: the only, The.
• 33:12
  Speaker 3: Only one that was redlined.
• 33:13
  Speaker 4: I think it was.
• 33:15
  Speaker 3: What about a snot rocket?
• 33:17
  Speaker 4: Oh no, I think that one too.
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: I think it was like anything from like mouth or nose.
• 33:20
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: And I think snot rocket would have been a bad
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: one too, for sure. So you, you think that like
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: all those things would be covered in a rule book. Um,
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: but being a new sport, I guess there's truly things
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: that like weren't anticipated. Um, and yeah, now that it
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: seems like now it's very like clear and concise, um,
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: going forward. And I, I mean, I heard someone say like,
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: you know, the high rocks as you compete in, in
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: the next, you know, in the following weeks and months
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: are going to be like the most pristine clean events
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: you will ever find out there. So yeah, I think, again,
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: I think we're making, we're making moves and like learning
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: as we go. Um, I say we, I mean like high,
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: high rocks is a sport in general, but yeah, it is. Um,
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: I mean, since I've been in the sport, even eight months,
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: the amount of changes I've seen have been wild.
• 34:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and you've also competed at so many different venues.
• 34:09
  Speaker 2: Have you had a favorite thus far?
• 34:11
  Speaker 4: Oh my gosh, yeah. Toulouse, France was definitely my favorite.
• 34:16
  Speaker 3: Wow, that really happened for you, the spit gate, huh?
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, like it was not supposed to be the case.
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: And like I'm super glad it did and glad it
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: happened the way it did. That was definitely my favorite.
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: Also hard to say, hard to not say worlds. Like Stockholm,
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: Sweden was a beautiful city and like the memories I
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: have on that course specifically are things I will never again,
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: gives me goosebumps talking about and thinking about things I'll
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: never forget. Like that race was truly a dream.
• 34:44
  Speaker 4: So yeah.
• 34:45
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 34:45
  Speaker 2: So let's, let's talk about that because again, you went
• 34:48
  Speaker 2: in and you were seated in fourth, right?
• 34:51
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 34:52
  Speaker 2: So even going into the world championship race and being
• 34:55
  Speaker 2: seated fourth after doing this thing for seven months is
• 34:57
  Speaker 2: just like super wonderful. And so interesting because I, uh,
• 35:03
  Speaker 2: as someone who was there in Stockholm.
• 35:06
  Speaker 4: You were?
• 35:06
  Speaker 3: It was. When you started, you didn't want to be
• 35:09
  Speaker 3: in the front row.
• 35:09
  Speaker 4: No, I was hiding. You were like, no, you could all,
• 35:14
  Speaker 4: you could go. Like, I'll go when I'm ready.
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no, I mean, like, as the, you know, fourth seed,
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: I definitely had a place on that starting line. And
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: I've always, always, in the last eight months of my
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: High Rocks sporting career, this is something that, like, my
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: coach is big on is, like, we start in the back. Like,
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: there are people that go out like banshees, you know,
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: like harder than they should for no necessarily good reason.
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: So yeah, I like to be able to be in
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: the back, be a little more calm, run my own race.
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: And then, yeah, a whole nother part of that was
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: like three days before the race, I had twisted my
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: ankle to the point I couldn't walk. So I just
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: did not want to be in the crowd. I didn't
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: want to be like near super close to other women
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: where I could potentially get tripped up or have someone,
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: you know, nick my ankle, anything like that. So it's
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: like a mix of caution and just like a mix of,
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: I just want my own like calm space in the back.
• 36:06
  Speaker 4: I don't need to be in the crazy in the front.
• 36:08
  Speaker 4: So yeah.
• 36:08
  Speaker 3: Run your own race.
• 36:10
  Speaker 2: How do you mentally navigate or negotiate with yourself when
• 36:16
  Speaker 2: something like twisting your ankle goes awry? How do you
• 36:21
  Speaker 2: handle the unexpected and do the best you can with
• 36:24
  Speaker 2: what you have?
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: I think it comes back to kind of what I
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: was hinting at when I talked about the whole spitting penalties.
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: At the time, I would have given anything to take
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: that spit back, paid any amount of money, done anything.
• 36:38
  Speaker 4: I was distraught, sad.
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: But then, yeah, it turned into I needed that spit
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: to happen in order to go to Toulouse and run
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: a fast enough time to qualify for the Elite 15.
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: I just didn't see it in the moment. So I
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: think as soon as that ankle twist happened, that Toulouse–
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: spitting Glasgow moment, like came right into focus that this
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: was a huge negative at the time I would have
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: taken it back. That's how I was feeling about the ankle.
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: I was like, Oh my gosh, I would pay, you know, $ 10, 000,
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: whatever to like, just get rid of this ankle twist.
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: And I was like, no, no, like these like big
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: negative things like can turn out for good. And I
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: think I started to reframe it in that way. Like,
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: you know, I'm going to be really well rested. I
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: have a really hard time with tapering and just like
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: sitting and chilling and Like this is going to allow
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: me to like, not feel like I have to explore
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: Stockholm on my feet every day.
• 37:30
  Speaker 4: Um, I'm not going to run too much.
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: Um, I'm just going to, you know, maybe be on
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: the bike a little bit and hopefully I'll be really
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: fresh come race day. Also help take off a lot
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: of the mental pressure. Um, you know, coming in seated,
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: you know, fourth, there's a lot that I could have
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: been worrying about. And instead my brain like was completely
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: flipped to thinking about like, take care of the ankle
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: and let's just get on the course. Let's make sure
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: we can run on that day. And like, that was
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: the priority. The priority was no longer like, where are
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: we going to finish? Super nervous about competition. I was
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: just like walking onto that course. I was like, I'm
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: here and I'm able to run. Cause like three days ago,
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: I wasn't sure that was even going to be possible.
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: So yeah, it truly like flipped the script for me
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: and helped me like take off some of the pressure
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: and helped me run really fresh and just free. So yeah,
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: I think that's something that I'll use going into a
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: this next season of high rocks as well. And I mean,
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: the rest of life is like when these big negative
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: things happen, like just taking a second to pause and there's,
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: there's some negatives that are just allowed to be negative.
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: Like that's also, that's allowed, but to recognize that there's
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: potential for a silver lining or for that negative thing to,
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: you know, turn into something really beautiful. And that's truly
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: what happened on that day.
• 38:53
  Speaker 2: I actually got a listener question last week from someone
• 38:57
  Speaker 2: who was very keen on, okay, I know the power
• 39:02
  Speaker 2: of positive self-talk. I know that I want to say
• 39:05
  Speaker 2: that all of these good things can happen, but I'm
• 39:07
  Speaker 2: in this spiral of not really being able to get
• 39:12
  Speaker 2: to the place where I really believe it. Do you
• 39:15
  Speaker 2: feel like that is something that took time for you
• 39:18
  Speaker 2: to put in the reps to get to this place
• 39:20
  Speaker 2: where it wasn't just saying these positive things, but you
• 39:23
  Speaker 2: actually were capable of believing them.
• 39:26
  Speaker 4: Yeah, and I I, I do think that's true.
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: Like I've, you know, I've been in really competitive sport
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: for about 20 years now. So I've had a lot
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: of time to, you know, practice different, you know, methods
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: and different types of self-talk, but I would say I
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: still struggle with it. Um, again, I think that situation,
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: you know, the ankle twist might've been a little bit
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: different where, um, it was like dire. Like I, I needed,
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: I needed that positive spin on things to be able to,
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: you know, make it through those days before worlds. Um,
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: I needed to believe that there was something positive at
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: the end of it. Um, but yeah, there's still days where,
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: you know, going into workouts here at the gym or
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: going into, you know, like a local 5k where, yeah,
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: I still have, I still have that doubt. Um, and
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: I think it's, I think it's okay to, um, yeah,
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: I don't know, come into something not fully confident.
• 40:17
  Speaker 4: Um, I experienced that all the time.
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: Um, and especially now, like, you know, last season for
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: high rocks, I was a newcomer and I surprised people and, um,
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: there were no expectations for my performance. Everything I did
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: was like, kind of like a surprise and, you know, fun.
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: And this year coming into the season, I'm coming in as,
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: you know, world champion. And I've had to wrestle with
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: that for sure. Um, there's, it's a whole different set
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: of eyes. It's a whole different amount of pressure and
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: I'm still kind of learning to deal with that. I've
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: never been in a spot in life where I'm a
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: world champion of anything or even close, you know? So yeah,
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: I think I, I think I'm trying to, you know,
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: still really take this season in stride. And, um, I mean,
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: it comes back to, I think the first question you
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: asked is like talking about enjoyment and fun and like,
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: that's where I really need to like put the emphasis.
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: Like we can care about performance and I can care
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: about winning a lot. And I do, but truly when
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: I look back on this period of my life, when
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: I am 50, 60, 70 years old, like no one will.
• 41:24
  Speaker 4: Give a shit about the win.
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: Like people will give a shit about how I made
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: them feel on the course and how, you know, as
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: an elite 15 athlete now I'm I feel like I
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: was welcomed so kindly by so many of the women
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: in the sport. And that's something I want to prioritize.
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: So there's just, again, I feel like I kind of
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: got away from the question, but that's fine.
• 41:45
  Speaker 3: The sentiments are so important.
• 41:46
  Speaker 2: It's just this resounding idea of be a kind human,
• 41:52
  Speaker 2: try your hardest, and make sure that no matter what
• 41:55
  Speaker 2: the goal is, that you're finding the fun. Because if
• 41:58
  Speaker 2: you're not finding the fun, then to your entire point,
• 42:02
  Speaker 2: what is the point?
• 42:03
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: And I hope that's something that like I, you know,
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: spread when I compete, like one of my, like, again,
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: my biggest priority is to like have a good time
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: on the course. And I think I show that in
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: the way I compete. And I hope, and like, I've
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: had people send me messages or come up to me
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: in person and like talk about how that's changed the
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: way they race. And that would be my biggest goal.
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: Like if I can help other people recognize that like
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: sport should be a.
• 42:30
  Speaker 4: Joy, like that's, That's what I'm here for. 100%.
• 42:33
  Speaker 2: Do you wish that you had realized that sooner? Do
• 42:38
  Speaker 2: you feel like you were able to find the fun
• 42:42
  Speaker 2: when you were working so diligently toward that Olympic trials
• 42:47
  Speaker 2: qualifying time as a runner?
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: I think it came little by little. But yeah, the
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: last couple years, I do feel like it was really fun.
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: I don't know if I could have said that through
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: like my college and immediate post college years. Um, I
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: think there was a lot more of that, like just
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: pressure or stress or comparison factor, um, when I was
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: competing collegiately and then even like a few years post. Um,
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: but yeah, I think, I think I learned, you know,
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: once I really started marathoning, so about 10 years ago,
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: maybe a little more, 11 years ago ish. Um, I
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: think that became just such a personal goal, um, that,
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: I mean, obviously I'm still, I'm not immune to comparing
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: myself to other people out in the sport, but I think,
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: you know, chasing that Olympic trials qualifying time became so
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: personal and it didn't matter if other women also hit
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: the time that, you know, that's great. It wasn't about,
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: you know, being, it was, yeah, about being like happy
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: for myself and for my achievements, regardless of like what
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: the people around me were doing. It was all about,
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: you know, trying to hit a standard and a time.
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: And I think that taught me to like, yeah, just, Yeah, actually, again,
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: I don't remember what we were talking about.
• 44:01
  Speaker 2: We're just like really reflecting on the journey right now.
• 44:04
  Speaker 2: While I was asking you about if you feel like
• 44:06
  Speaker 2: you were able to find the fun during all of
• 44:09
  Speaker 2: the running, I think that what's really cool about High
• 44:12
  Speaker 2: Rocks is that the diversity of the competition is what
• 44:17
  Speaker 2: keeps it fresh and fun, even just throughout one go
• 44:20
  Speaker 2: at it, right?
• 44:23
  Speaker 3: So to liken marathoning where.
• 44:26
  Speaker 2: It's like, you know, you're just off to the races
• 44:29
  Speaker 2: for two and a half plus hours to an hour's
• 44:34
  Speaker 2: worth of all of these different things.
• 44:36
  Speaker 3: Like it's apples and oranges.
• 44:38
  Speaker 4: It truly is.
• 44:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: I think that my, so my background in running in college,
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: I competed in the three K steeplechase. And to me,
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: there's just a lot of similarities between that and high rocks. Like,
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: you know, I'm never, I was never a 10 K
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: runner who just did circles on circles on circles. I
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: loved being able to run and then like jump over
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: a hurdle and then run and then jump over a
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: water barrier. And that's exactly what high rocks is like
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: without the water and without the hurdles. But instead of hurdles,
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: we have like strength activities. Like we have burpee, broad
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: jump and sled push. And so I think there's a
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: lot of similarities between that, you know, that steeplechase background
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: and high rocks. And I just ran with Colleen Quigley
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: in London and we talked about that. So she means
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: she's going to try a high rocks really soon now.
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: And she's, you know, also a, way more high-level steeplechaser
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: than I was ever. But yeah, I think she also
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: sees that there's that pipeline there, that there's some similarities.
• 45:34
  Speaker 2: I'm not trying to put Colleen on the spot, but
• 45:37
  Speaker 2: she was sitting in a chair that's about four feet
• 45:39
  Speaker 2: from where I'm sitting right now, not all that long ago.
• 45:43
  Speaker 2: And we talked about doing High Rocks doubles in Paris.
• 45:48
  Speaker 3: We shook on it.
• 45:49
  Speaker 4: That venue... is just the most beautiful. So yeah, I, Colleen.
• 45:55
  Speaker 2: We're basically saying that everybody needs to, we're taking a
• 45:58
  Speaker 2: girl's trip to Paris. Yeah.
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: I'll find someone else to doubles with and then we'll
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: just go the four of us.
• 46:03
  Speaker 4: It'll be great.
• 46:04
  Speaker 2: I mean, the fact that we're talking about an actual
• 46:06
  Speaker 2: Olympian and Olympic trials qualifying marathoner, and then.
• 46:10
  Speaker 3: There's me over here. Oh, I have six pull-ups in
• 46:14
  Speaker 3: the back.
• 46:15
  Speaker 4: And I have one. So you belong. This is fine.
• 46:18
  Speaker 4: We all have our different strengths. Oh my God.
• 46:21
  Speaker 3: The ultimate girl strip.
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: Truly.
• 46:24
  Speaker 4: And I've, I've never been to Paris. Have you?
• 46:26
  Speaker 3: Oh my God.
• 46:27
  Speaker 4: Oh my God.
• 46:28
  Speaker 3: We're going.
• 46:29
  Speaker 2: I have been many times, my girl.
• 46:34
  Speaker 3: So we have lots of, I have a lot. I
• 46:36
  Speaker 3: can be your guide.
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: Okay. It's been on my list for a while. I
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: travel like super frequently, but Paris is just for some
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: reason never happened for me.
• 46:44
  Speaker 2: Well, somewhere I know you are going very soon is
• 46:49
  Speaker 2: on a cruise.
• 46:51
  Speaker 4: Oh, so an update.
• 46:53
  Speaker 3: Oh my God.
• 46:54
  Speaker 4: An update. Breaking news. I know. Breaking news. You heard
• 46:56
  Speaker 4: it here first.
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: They are still doing the cruise, but they canceled like
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: the elite racing portion of it.
• 47:04
  Speaker 3: Tell me more.
• 47:04
  Speaker 4: Which, I, okay. So mixed bag, the.
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: Cruise is going to be to like really beautiful cities.
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: It was going to be to like Mallorca, Marseille, Barcelona,
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: which I love all those places.
• 47:15
  Speaker 4: So that was going to be fun.
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: I did not love the idea of trying to prepare
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: for a race and.
• 47:20
  Speaker 4: Be on a boat with.
• 47:21
  Speaker 3: I don't like that either. I think it's quite dangerous.
• 47:23
  Speaker 4: No, not great.
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: Like in terms of like maybe getting sick and seasickness
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: and just like.
• 47:28
  Speaker 4: Yes. Being around tons of other, like in a small
• 47:30
  Speaker 4: space around other Hyraxers for like a whole week.
• 47:32
  Speaker 3: So much hormones. Yeah.
• 47:34
  Speaker 4: Yeah. Just like exhausting.
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: Like I love a Hyrax race, but I love being
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: able to leave and go to my quiet Airbnb in
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: a different neighborhood.
• 47:40
  Speaker 4: You know?
• 47:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 47:41
  Speaker 4: It's great.
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: That energy would be a lot for a week. So
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: they decided it was not like the safest option for
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: the Elite 15 race to be on the boat, which
• 47:49
  Speaker 1: was a great call. So instead now we are competing
• 47:52
  Speaker 1: in Hamburg, Germany at the end of October. So that'll
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: be the first Elite Series race. Rather than being on
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: the boat, it is on dry ground. So, again, I'm
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: bummed to miss going to those cities, but... Hamburg, I think,
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: will be a better option for all involved.
• 48:07
  Speaker 4: Oh, wow.
• 48:08
  Speaker 3: This is a development.
• 48:10
  Speaker 4: I know. Breaking news.
• 48:11
  Speaker 2: I was actually just like really excited for the content
• 48:14
  Speaker 2: to come out of the boat. And like, you know,
• 48:16
  Speaker 2: they were going to be the most obscene TikToks. Like,
• 48:19
  Speaker 2: I'm not even a big TikTok person, but I was
• 48:21
  Speaker 2: just like thirsting over what could happen from this.
• 48:25
  Speaker 4: But don't worry. They're still doing the cruise. All right. Okay.
• 48:28
  Speaker 3: Without the elites.
• 48:29
  Speaker 2: I don't even want the content from the elites, honestly,
• 48:32
  Speaker 2: because you're taking it too seriously.
• 48:34
  Speaker 4: You're not going to give us interesting stuff.
• 48:35
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: You want like the everyday athlete on the boat. There's
• 48:40
  Speaker 1: going to be, I'm sure there's going to be a
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: lot of hookups.
• 48:42
  Speaker 3: Like, Oh my God.
• 48:44
  Speaker 2: So many high rocks, so many rocks babies. I, um, Hamburg,
• 48:49
  Speaker 2: Germany seems to be a fun hub for high rocks. Yeah.
• 48:52
  Speaker 4: That is like where their European headquarters are. Okay. So
• 48:55
  Speaker 4: it is kind of like the, like the home of.
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: The sport per se. So yeah, I've, I've never been,
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: I've been to Germany, never Hamburg. Um, And I mean,
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: Hamburg in the fall is probably beautiful. I don't, I
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: don't truly know. It's going to be great. I mean,
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: can't be as good as New York in the fall.
• 49:10
  Speaker 2: Oh no, nothing is as good as New York. I mean,
• 49:13
  Speaker 2: Paris in the fall is quite nice.
• 49:14
  Speaker 3: I won't even lie. I won't even lie, but we're
• 49:16
  Speaker 3: going to go to Paris in the spring. So it's okay.
• 49:18
  Speaker 4: All right.
• 49:20
  Speaker 2: I want to circle us back here, though, because I
• 49:22
  Speaker 2: actually find it so interesting to talk about this if
• 49:27
  Speaker 2: we want to call it imposter syndrome that we've chatted
• 49:30
  Speaker 2: about briefly so far, because that is such a relatable
• 49:33
  Speaker 2: thing for so many people. So many people getting excited
• 49:36
  Speaker 2: about something, finding the fun in something and still being like,
• 49:38
  Speaker 2: do I belong here? For a lot of individuals, for example,
• 49:43
  Speaker 2: they might like running, but they might not consider themselves
• 49:46
  Speaker 2: a runner. When you feel that imposter syndrome, Creeping in,
• 49:51
  Speaker 2: I know you talked about the importance of maybe staying
• 49:54
  Speaker 2: in your own lane, staying off of social media, not
• 49:57
  Speaker 2: following people that make you feel any lesser than, but
• 49:59
  Speaker 2: what other tools do you have in your toolbox, Alyssa,
• 50:02
  Speaker 2: so that you can feel like your best self when
• 50:04
  Speaker 2: you show up to compete?
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm trying to think of that from like, I've
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: never really felt like an imposter in the running space
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: just because I have, I started off so young and
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: it just became part of like my personality and my life.
• 50:19
  Speaker 1: But yeah, in the high rock space, that's most definitely
• 50:22
  Speaker 1: a thing. And I think it's going to come back
• 50:25
  Speaker 1: to shifting the focus. If I can't feel, you know,
• 50:30
  Speaker 1: if I'm feeling that, you know, these women are faster
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: than me and they're more experienced than me, it's going
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: to be shifting the focus to like my strengths. Not like,
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: you know, what am I missing that they have? It's
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: going to be what do I have that, you know,
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: matches up or, you know, might even like exceed what
• 50:46
  Speaker 1: these other women have.
• 50:47
  Speaker 4: Like, yeah.
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: I haven't pushed a sled as much as someone who's
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: been in the sport for five years, but I'm a
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: damn good runner. I know that there are portions of
• 50:57
  Speaker 1: the race. High rocks is still mainly a running sport.
• 51:01
  Speaker 1: There's a good chunk of this race that is so.
• 51:03
  Speaker 4: In my wheelhouse.
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: During burpee broad jumps, I know I can catch up
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: and make up ground for another station that I might
• 51:09
  Speaker 1: not be super strong at. Same with marathoning, same with
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: any other sport, same with any career. Feeling like an imposter,
• 51:16
  Speaker 1: I think, comes at some point for most every person
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: on the planet. And then, yeah, I think it's about
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: reframing and thinking about, even if it's something small, like
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: what do I do really well in this space? Um,
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: you know, in a new job, like I, you know,
• 51:30
  Speaker 1: I write, I write really good emails.
• 51:32
  Speaker 2: Like, I don't know.
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: There's just, there's little things here and there that, um,
• 51:36
  Speaker 1: you can focus on when it when you see something,
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: you know, missing or you feel that like, I'm not,
• 51:40
  Speaker 1: you know, I'm not worthy or I'm not in the
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: right spot.
• 51:42
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 51:43
  Speaker 2: It's, I am really good at time management. I'm really
• 51:45
  Speaker 2: good at showing up to where I'm supposed to be.
• 51:47
  Speaker 4: Yeah. I'm on time.
• 51:48
  Speaker 1: Maybe it starts with something tiny like that and then
• 51:52
  Speaker 1: it can grow.
• 51:53
  Speaker 4: I don't know. I see.
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: I don't think there's, I don't think there's a person
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: on this planet that hasn't felt that in life, but yeah,
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: we can just like focus on what we are good at.
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: And then little by little, like If you start, you know,
• 52:05
  Speaker 1: as you start to be in the space a little
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: more and you start to see that other people also
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: have strengths and weaknesses and that we're all like a
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: little human sometimes.
• 52:12
  Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah. I think that's the way to go.
• 52:14
  Speaker 3: What are you looking forward to right now, Liz?
• 52:17
  Speaker 4: Oh my gosh.
• 52:17
  Speaker 1: So many things in life. I'm excited to like start
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: off a new high rock season. I'm excited to like
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: run this time of year. I live in Michigan. So
• 52:26
  Speaker 1: like it's not New York City, but it's still like
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: right now everything is like crisp and cool. The mornings
• 52:31
  Speaker 1: are like in the low 40s. Um, the colors are changing.
• 52:36
  Speaker 1: And to me that is like, if I could have
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: eight months of the year be October, I would like
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: October is for me is everything like getting to, yeah,
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: getting to like come out of like a really hot,
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: sticky summer. We had super hot, humid summer here in Michigan.
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: And like, I don't know about you, like running in
• 52:53
  Speaker 1: the summer. I'm always like, man, I'm doing something wrong.
• 52:55
  Speaker 1: Like I'm out of shape.
• 52:56
  Speaker 4: I don't know what's up. Like something's off. And then
• 52:58
  Speaker 4: the temperatures drop and you're like, oh, we're good.
• 53:00
  Speaker 3: No.
• 53:01
  Speaker 4: Nevermind. We're so good. You remember who you are again.
• 53:05
  Speaker 1: Truly.
• 53:05
  Speaker 4: Yeah. Are you training for anything right now?
• 53:07
  Speaker 2: Uh, I just ran Sydney. Uh, and so I'm literally
• 53:12
  Speaker 2: just training for the super bowl. That is New York
• 53:14
  Speaker 2: city marathon week in that I'm not running New York city,
• 53:17
  Speaker 2: but I think I'm going to be hosting at least two,
• 53:20
  Speaker 2: if not three live shows and then doing the event circuit.
• 53:23
  Speaker 3: And so I'm training for good vibes. I'm training to cheer.
• 53:26
  Speaker 3: I'm training for life.
• 53:28
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 53:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 53:29
  Speaker 4: And coming off of Sydney, I think that's like the
• 53:30
  Speaker 4: perfect place to be.
• 53:32
  Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly.
• 53:33
  Speaker 4: Exactly. Okay.
• 53:34
  Speaker 2: So right now, someone goes to your Instagram page and
• 53:37
  Speaker 2: they see this woman that is the 2026 High Rocks
• 53:41
  Speaker 2: World Champion and Olympic Trials Marathoner. But when you look
• 53:45
  Speaker 2: in the mirror, Alyssa, what is it that you see
• 53:47
  Speaker 2: looking back at you?
• 53:49
  Speaker 4: I don't know. I think I really prioritize the.
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: Mark, I leave on people. And that mostly comes to
• 53:58
  Speaker 1: like comes down to in person. I mean, sometimes social
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: media interactions, but like my priority on a daily basis
• 54:06
  Speaker 1: is if I interact with someone like again, podcasts are
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: actually kind of hard for me because I like I
• 54:11
  Speaker 1: play a game of like when I interact with someone,
• 54:13
  Speaker 1: my goal is to ask them like way more questions
• 54:15
  Speaker 1: than they ask me. Like I want them to leave
• 54:17
  Speaker 1: feeling like they are prioritized and cared about and that
• 54:21
  Speaker 1: I have like a lot of interest in who they
• 54:23
  Speaker 1: are and in their life. Um, and that's the game
• 54:26
  Speaker 1: I play on a daily basis. So coming on a podcast,
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: it's hard.
• 54:29
  Speaker 4: I want to interview you a little bit.
• 54:33
  Speaker 1: Um, yeah, it is. I've gotten more used to it.
• 54:36
  Speaker 1: And I realized that a podcast is a podcast and
• 54:38
  Speaker 1: that's how things go. And that we're here again, like
• 54:41
  Speaker 1: I'm here to talk about my story. Um, but I
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: think that's, that's a priority in life for me. Like, again,
• 54:47
  Speaker 1: I was, you know, out, I got breakfast sandwiches with
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: a friend this morning and talking about how I hope that, that,
• 54:56
  Speaker 1: you know, that little Instagram bio that, you know, 2026
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: high rocks world champion doesn't change how I interact with people.
• 55:03
  Speaker 4: And I hope it doesn't change who I am.
• 55:05
  Speaker 1: Um, and yeah, I think that's, that's a big goal
• 55:07
  Speaker 1: of mine to keep playing that game of like, I
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: want to care about your wife and I want you
• 55:11
  Speaker 1: to feel like you like feel taken care of and
• 55:14
  Speaker 1: heard and seen when I interact with you. That's like,
• 55:16
  Speaker 1: that's the biggest goal I have in life.
• 55:18
  Speaker 2: I think it's so important also to know your own intentions. Inevitably,
• 55:23
  Speaker 2: as you continue to succeed in this sport, you're going
• 55:26
  Speaker 2: to get more exposure, you're going to meet more and
• 55:29
  Speaker 2: more people, and you're going to make the conscious choice
• 55:32
  Speaker 2: to continue to act with kindness. But that doesn't mean
• 55:36
  Speaker 2: that people aren't going to form their own opinions.
• 55:40
  Speaker 3: So not basing.
• 55:41
  Speaker 2: Your self-worth or the way that you view yourself based
• 55:46
  Speaker 2: on the way that others view you, it's easier said
• 55:48
  Speaker 2: than done. But knowing that you have this really beautiful
• 55:51
  Speaker 2: intention of, I want to see you, I want to
• 55:53
  Speaker 2: get to know you, and that bio doesn't define.
• 55:56
  Speaker 3: Who I am, it's really important.
• 55:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, people can think and form opinions really easily based
• 56:01
  Speaker 1: on social media.
• 56:03
  Speaker 2: Amen.
• 56:03
  Speaker 1: Or just based on a small interaction here and there.
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: So that's something I'm really conscious of too when I'm
• 56:08
  Speaker 1: at a High Rocks venue or High Rocks event is Um,
• 56:11
  Speaker 1: even if I'm like, you know, in the rush to
• 56:13
  Speaker 1: like go warm up for an event and I don't
• 56:15
  Speaker 1: have time to like stop for a selfie with someone
• 56:17
  Speaker 1: of still making sure I like, I say that or
• 56:18
  Speaker 1: do that in a kind way. Cause I, yeah, I,
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: I want people to feel valued and cared for, even
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: if I don't have like a minute to stop in that,
• 56:25
  Speaker 1: in that moment.
• 56:26
  Speaker 3: In that moment.
• 56:26
  Speaker 4: All right.
• 56:27
  Speaker 2: So right now, Alyssa, you have an opportunity to offer
• 56:30
  Speaker 2: yourself a piece of advice. I want to give advice
• 56:33
  Speaker 2: to that younger you standing in the Chick-fil-A line that
• 56:37
  Speaker 2: was like, this just isn't for me. Feeling like she
• 56:40
  Speaker 2: was at a total loss and her goals were slipping away.
• 56:43
  Speaker 2: Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give
• 56:46
  Speaker 2: to yourself going through that hurdle moment?
• 56:49
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I'm kind of going to relate it
• 56:52
  Speaker 1: or talk about something that I haven't talked about yet.
• 56:56
  Speaker 4: I think so.
• 56:57
  Speaker 1: This is just something I'm really passionate about in general. Um,
• 57:00
  Speaker 1: I've always been like a, like larger, like marathoner, like
• 57:05
  Speaker 1: I'm five, 10. Um, I have some muscle, like, I
• 57:08
  Speaker 1: don't look like your average elite woman on a marathon
• 57:10
  Speaker 1: start line. And that's something that I've really struggled with, um, throughout,
• 57:14
  Speaker 1: you know, college post-college running.
• 57:16
  Speaker 4: I always like you.
• 57:18
  Speaker 1: Know, took that, took stock of that when I looked at,
• 57:20
  Speaker 1: you know, the other women on the race course and it,
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: you know, it gave me some anxiety and it kind of, again,
• 57:25
  Speaker 1: like led to that imposter syndrome that, you know, I
• 57:28
  Speaker 1: don't look like most of you, like, I don't know
• 57:30
  Speaker 1: if I belong here.
• 57:30
  Speaker 4: Like, is this my sport?
• 57:32
  Speaker 1: Um, and for years, I think I had the mentality
• 57:36
  Speaker 1: of like, you know, smaller would be better. Like if
• 57:38
  Speaker 1: I could find a way to run more and like
• 57:40
  Speaker 1: fuel differently, so I could like, you know, carry less
• 57:43
  Speaker 1: with me when I run, that was in my mind. Um,
• 57:46
  Speaker 1: all the time, especially when racing. And for some freaking reason,
• 57:51
  Speaker 1: like when starting High Rocks, I don't know what it was.
• 57:55
  Speaker 4: It was magical.
• 57:56
  Speaker 1: Like I was able to make a really like marked
• 57:59
  Speaker 1: mental shift from, you know, what my body like looks
• 58:03
  Speaker 1: like comparing to others and then what I need it
• 58:06
  Speaker 1: to do, like what I need it to be capable
• 58:07
  Speaker 1: of and how I need to fuel it and treat
• 58:10
  Speaker 1: it in order to, you know, perform at the level
• 58:13
  Speaker 1: I need it to perform at. So yeah, I think
• 58:15
  Speaker 1: just whether it's like a change in sport or a
• 58:19
  Speaker 1: change in like focus. Yeah. I think for me, like
• 58:24
  Speaker 1: I would tell that, you know, that woman who was
• 58:27
  Speaker 1: unsure if she could, you know, qualify for Olympic trials
• 58:30
  Speaker 1: and not hit a certain time. And part of that
• 58:32
  Speaker 1: was like, am I the right body type? Do I
• 58:34
  Speaker 1: look the right way to, you know, hit that goal
• 58:37
  Speaker 1: that like, yeah, that there's so much more than so
• 58:41
  Speaker 1: much more out there than how your body looks. It's
• 58:42
  Speaker 1: about like what your body is capable of. And then again,
• 58:46
  Speaker 1: being able to fuel it and treat it in the
• 58:47
  Speaker 1: way that allows it to perform at the highest level.
• 58:49
  Speaker 1: So just a really big mindset shift for me happened
• 58:53
  Speaker 1: since finding this new sport.
• 58:55
  Speaker 3: I love it. I'm so happy to hear that.
• 58:57
  Speaker 2: And I think that there are so many people that
• 58:59
  Speaker 2: can really relate to this, not feeling like they're doing
• 59:03
  Speaker 2: something right just by being exactly who it is that
• 59:05
  Speaker 2: you are. So now being in this place where you
• 59:07
  Speaker 2: feel so strong and good as you are, knowing that
• 59:11
  Speaker 2: you have so much to bring to the table is
• 59:13
  Speaker 2: just truly like such a beautiful, beautiful thing and such
• 59:16
  Speaker 2: a beautiful takeaway from this journey.
• 59:18
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 59:18
  Speaker 1: It makes me like, it really makes me want more
• 59:20
  Speaker 1: people to try like, again, whether it's high rocks or
• 59:23
  Speaker 1: just like strength training or a new sport, like, I
• 59:26
  Speaker 1: don't know, like, yeah, it have some courage and like
• 59:29
  Speaker 1: try something new in life. And I like, for me, I,
• 59:32
  Speaker 1: it was completely unexpected and it like has been something
• 59:35
  Speaker 1: I have had so much gratitude for.
• 59:37
  Speaker 2: Well, Alyssa, give us the lowdown for those that aren't
• 59:41
  Speaker 2: following you on the socials just yet. How do they
• 59:44
  Speaker 2: find you? Give us the lowdown.
• 59:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I am really truly only in one place. I'm
• 59:50
  Speaker 1: on Instagram as Alyssa McElhoney. If you like, Some high
• 59:55
  Speaker 1: rocks content, some running content, but mostly like food travel content. Like,
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 1: please come over. If you have any like any high
• 1:00:04
  Speaker 1: rocks or running questions, mostly high rocks. I won't say
• 1:00:07
  Speaker 1: I'm like, you know, an authority on running or even
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 1: high rocks. But if you have any questions or like
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 1: anything about like races, anything you're curious about, like, please
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 1: send me a message. I love interacting with people in
• 1:00:18
  Speaker 1: that way.
• 1:00:19
  Speaker 4: Yeah, don't hesitate. I love it.
• 1:00:21
  Speaker 2: I'm over at Emily Abadi and at Hurdle Podcast. Another
• 1:00:25
  Speaker 2: hurdle conquered. Catch you guys next time.