Latest / Hurdle with Emily Abbate / 149. Alexi Pappas, Runner, Olympian, Actor & Author

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149. Alexi Pappas, Runner, Olympian, Actor & Author · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Just like muscles on our body, we don't have them
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: by birth. We like do movements and then we get
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: these muscles, and so it's going to be the same
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: with any of these self kindness or self preservation techniques,
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  Speaker 1: where it's going to feel a little awkward at first
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: or difficult, and then it becomes common and then it
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: feels good because you have this backbone of longevity through
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: these mechanisms you've created for yourself with these practices. And
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: sometimes we do, like boil over, we are going to
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: over commit sometimes, but that's okay. It's just once you
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  Speaker 1: realize that you have make a shift. I keep telling
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  Speaker 1: myself like, there's truly no regrets. There are only lessons,
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: and there are only regrets if you know you need
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  Speaker 1: a change and you don't make it.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: What is going on? Emily? A body here bringing you
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: Episode one, four forty nine of Hurdle, a wellness focused
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: podcast where I sit down with inspiring individuals to talk
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  Speaker 2: about big wins, tough moments, and everything in between. On
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: the show, you can expect a vulnerability, motivation, and candid
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: discussions with everyone from top athletes and CEOs to aspiring
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: entrepreneurs on what it really takes to follow your passions.
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: My mission is simple to inspire you to be your.
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: Best self, move with intention, and have some fun along
• 1:31
  Speaker 3: the way. Today I am sitting down with runner, Olympian
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: and actor Alexi Papa so recently added author to her
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: resume with last.
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: Month's Hurdle book Club pick Brady. Alexi has conquered a
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: lot of hurdles in her life, from navigating her mother's
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  Speaker 2: suicide at a young age to battling depression herself after
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: the twenty sixteen Olympic Games, back to in today's episode. Actually,
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: I really went into this interview understanding that many of
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: you have likely heard from Alexi before, just because of
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: all of the press that she's been doing surrounding her book.
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: I personally really loved her interview on rich Role. I
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: found it to be super captivating. But that doesn't mean,
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: and I want to say this upfront, that you won't
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: hear new stuff from her on this episode. And in fact,
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: I actually, and I know I'm a little bit biased,
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: but think this one is a gem. I specifically asked her,
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: you know, what haven't you been talking about? And she
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: answers a lot of tough questions, like how do you
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  Speaker 2: pull yourself out of a dark place. How do you
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  Speaker 2: get better at self care when maybe you have no
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: established practice? And I love what she said when I
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: asked her what it is that she sees when she
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: looks in the mirror. Again, super amped on this episode,
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: super grateful for Alexi's time. And I mentioned the Hurdle
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: book Club. If you happened to join us last week,
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: and you know that it was a really special conversation.
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: I'm looking forward to having more of those in the
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: coming weeks and months. I am right now trying to
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: home in on exactly what the next book club pick is.
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: So if you are listening to this and you have
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: a suggestion, I am all ears. I'm going to put
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: a link in the show notes where you can sign
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: up for the next book club and give me a
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: recommendation of what we should be reading. Of course, please
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: make sure you are following along with Hurdle over on
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: social media. It is at Hurdle Podcasts. I am also
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: over at Emily Abadi and last little bit of housekeeping,
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: Please make sure that you rate and review the show
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: in Apple Podcasts, and if you have yet to do so,
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: sign up for the weekly Hurdle link to do all
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: this goodness in the show notes With that, Oh, let's
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: get to hurdling.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: Today.
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  Speaker 2: I'm sitting down with Alexi Papa. She is a runner,
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: an Olympian and actor, a new author. How are you.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: I'm doing well. I'm thrilled to be here and I'm
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: so grateful that you have read Bravy.
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: It is on the bookshelf. It is on the bookshelf.
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: I'm so excited to have you on here today. I
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: have been inundated in the best of ways, really with
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: interviews from you over the last couple of weeks.
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  Speaker 1: Correct.
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  Speaker 2: Has that been like kind of a mind blowing moment
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  Speaker 2: for you to have all of these different conversations. I
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  Speaker 2: would imagine it's kind of or could be a little therapeutic.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: You know, it's been interesting because when you write a book,
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: I think you imagine a book tour. That's different than
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: a virtual book tour. But it is a virtual book tour,
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: and that allowed me to do more interviews and even
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: some people who would never do something that was remote
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: like abroad there you know. I think some of these
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: folks made adjustments and so it was really it's been wonderful.
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  Speaker 1: I think the most surprising of all all of these
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: conversations was one that I had with soldiers in the
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  Speaker 1: army at the Pentagon, and that came about because soldiers
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: see themselves as athletes, which they are, and I think
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  Speaker 1: the way there's one part in Bravey that talks about
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  Speaker 1: mental health, or there's a few parts, and I think
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  Speaker 1: some of the vocabulary that I learned the hard way
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  Speaker 1: proved to be very useful to them. And so I
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  Speaker 1: think that was like the most surprising and gratifying moment
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  Speaker 1: of this whole thing, because it was that and the
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  Speaker 1: teenagers who have reached out that have said I hate
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: reading books. I usually can't sit through a book, and
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: I plowed through your book. I was like, that's amazing.
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  Speaker 2: In general, would you say that the feedback from teenagers
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  Speaker 2: and like young women has really been some of the
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: most rewarding feedback for you from this book.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think so, because that is like who I
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  Speaker 1: imagined reading it, because that's who I That's who I was, right.
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  Speaker 1: I was like a young teenage girl wanting to find
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  Speaker 1: something to imitate. And I would have, you know, devoured
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  Speaker 1: this book as I used to devour Britney Spears videos
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  Speaker 1: and things I think so.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, like I said, a lot of us have
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: been hearing a lot about your story lately, but I
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: think I would be remiss if I didn't ask you
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: to give us some backstory, give us a little bit
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: about growing up in California and what that was like
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: for you.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. So I grew up in the Bay Area and
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  Speaker 1: it was just my dad and my brother and me
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: after my mom passed away when I was almost five,
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  Speaker 1: and it was like a hilarious, challenging way to grow
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  Speaker 1: up because you know, there were so many moments that
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: you know, puberty ridden moments that I went through with
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  Speaker 1: like my dad and my brother that were funny and
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  Speaker 1: awkward and difficult, and I think all the while grew up,
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  Speaker 1: you know, determined to be successful, to be honest, and
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  Speaker 1: be happy, and that was something that I perceived that
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  Speaker 1: my mom was not, and I just wanted to not
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  Speaker 1: be whatever it was that I thought that she was.
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  Speaker 1: And so I grew up very busy because that's how
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: my dad, I think, coped with the trauma. Like he
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: was just like, we'd just have to keep them busy,
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  Speaker 1: and so he did. And I don't think I slowed
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: down really until I had my own post Olympic depression,
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  Speaker 1: which I did not try to slow down. I had
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: to eventually, and that wasn't until you know, twenty sixteen.
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  Speaker 1: So it's been a it's been quite a life of
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  Speaker 1: trying hard and maybe finding some solutions but not all
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  Speaker 1: the right ones to this like internal you know void.
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  Speaker 2: I guess when you were going, going, going, do you
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  Speaker 2: remember at all a time previous to post Olympics where
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  Speaker 2: you may have gotten a taste of what it was
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  Speaker 2: like to slow down and thought to yourself like, this
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  Speaker 2: isn't for me.
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  Speaker 1: I think I've never been bored in my life. Like
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: some people are like, well, when you get bored, what
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: are you do? And I'm like, I've never been bored.
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  Speaker 1: But I don't think I did super well with you know,
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  Speaker 1: stillness or having no goals. And I think even rest
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  Speaker 1: is a type of activity. So I think, yeah, you're right.
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  Speaker 1: I was not very comfortable with pausing, and that is
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  Speaker 1: a strength and it's also a weakness.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, now that you feel a little bit more comfortable
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  Speaker 2: with pausing, although I would argue because of your accolades
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: and the multi hyphen that we just kind of threw
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: into the world, that you're not pausing too much. But
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: now that you're a little bit better with it, what
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  Speaker 2: advice would you offer to someone else who also feels
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  Speaker 2: like they struggle with the stillness.
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  Speaker 1: The only thing you know, and I wrote about this
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: in Braby, but actions change thoughts, which changed feelings in
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  Speaker 1: that order, and that was something I learned. But you know,
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  Speaker 1: pausing can is an action. So I think i've maybe
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: that's like a mind trickery of being like, look, this
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  Speaker 1: is part of success. This is part of moving forward,
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: is slowing down, and also that Okay, here's what I
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: will tell them. There's this I need to know what
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: this documentary is called. Hold on, I want to figure
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: this out. It's the octopus documentary. Is it my friend
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: the octopus or the octopus? My ocictcurpus teacher? My octopus teacher, Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: my octopus teacher. And there's a part in it it's
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  Speaker 1: just about you know, a real octopus. It's a documentary
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  Speaker 1: and there's a part where his arm he has to
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  Speaker 1: like regrow one of his arms, and the octopus goes
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: under a rock and regrows the arm and it takes
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: a long time. And I think that's that. What is
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: cool is looking to nature to be like this occurs elsewhere,
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  Speaker 1: and this animal that's very smart, because octopus are very smart,
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  Speaker 1: will take the time to regrow their arm. And I
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: think for me, you know, that is a particularly apt
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: comparison if you are actually injured, but also if you're
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: just like regrowing your willpower or you're you know, you
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: have this adrenal fatigue as you do after chasing any
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: big goal, and I think just imagining that if the
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: octopus can do it, then I can too, and it's
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: it's like a natural good thing, uh, And it is
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  Speaker 1: going to help the octopus and me in the long run.
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  Speaker 1: So I don't know. I think the message there is like,
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  Speaker 1: if you can't do it for yourself, like try to
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  Speaker 1: find imagery that makes you feel more okay doing the
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: things that you know you should do or you know
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: you want to do.
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  Speaker 2: And I also think that's why it's helpful to hear
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: other people talk some of these things out, whether it's
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: on podcasts or videos or Instagram or wherever you're getting
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: your information from. It's like when you can hear two
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: people talk about the importance of slowing down, and sometimes
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: you don't realize that you've been going a thousand miles
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: an hour. Then you're like, oh shit, like it's time
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  Speaker 2: to take a beat. It's time to be the octopus.
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  Speaker 1: Yep, exactly, and that whatever useful to you. You know,
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: if the octopus helps, great, if the podcast helps great.
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: So, as you were growing up, you are in this
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: go go go lifestyle, you start running. Talk to me
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: about your relationship with running as you were coming of
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: age and still grieving the loss of your mom.
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: Running well. I liked a lot of sports. Running was
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: the thing I was best at in all of the
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: other sports that I played, and I think something that
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: I liked about running was how I could put in
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: time into the sport and definitely improve And that like
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: sense of control or like predicted improvement is something I
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: think we all would like to have, and it was
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: you know, you can have it in running. I do
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: think for most people, if you try it, it is
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: something that's gratifying. It was a box I could tick
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: every day, like did this, and I liked that feeling
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: of probably control right. I also liked to win. I
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: liked to be good at something because whether this is
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: a sustainable emotional driving force or not, I wanted to
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: matter because I didn't as a child feel like I
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: madded enough for my mom to stay. She took her
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: own life, and that I would come later to understand
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: to be totally false and not the reality. But that
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: was all I could understand when I was a kid,
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: And so running was a great way to like push
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: myself in like a healthy way. Right. It's like a
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: good kind of pain, and it did a lot of
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: things for me, although I didn't love it at first
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: because I loved team sports and I didn't understand at
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: first that running could be a team sport too. That
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: took some time.
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: I like what you said, and I've heard you talk
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: about this before, the good kind of pain. Talk to
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: me about the difference between the good pain and the
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: bad pain.
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: So I think bad pain is, like we two know
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: what bad pain is. It's anything that is, you know, injury.
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: It is maybe chasing things for the wrong reason, Like
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: if we're making decisions out of fear, maybe there's some
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: bad pain in there. I think that good pain is
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: like athletic pain. If you're not injured, that's like a
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: good pain. I even think like heartbreak and failing facing
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: hurdles in a you know, dream, chasing scenario is kind
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: of good pain because it means we like cared about
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: something enough, you know, as long as it wasn't. I mean,
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: there's bad heartbreak too, but you know, I think intuitively,
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: if you just think about any moment of pain in
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: your life, you could probably be honest with yourself about
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: whether it was good pain or bad pain. And you
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: could also probably trick yourself into thinking it was one
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: when it was the other, if you wanted to. What
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: I had to understand was because I didn't like the
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: pain of running at first, right, and I thought it
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: was bad pain, but I came to understand eventually that
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: it was good pain. I was choosing to like run
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: up this mountain, and it was inherently like a good
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: way to learn how to fall down and get back up.
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: And I do think depression and some of those feelings
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: are bad pain, and they can heal, just like an
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: injury can heal. But I think it was important to
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: recognize that bad pain. We don't choose it, but we
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: do have to make choices to help ourselves get out
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: of it.
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think a lot of people struggle with
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: making the choice, especially when bad pain is coming in
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: a familiar situation. Yeah, So you then go on to college,
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: and it's funny that you talk about like embracing the
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: good pain that running gives you even though you weren't
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: the best at it. I know that when you got
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: to Dartmouth you were actually the quote unquote slowest person
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: on your team. So what made you stick with it
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: when you weren't performing at the same level as all
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: of your teammates.
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: Well, I think a couple things. One, I was happy
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: in the environment, so like, I liked the people on
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: my team, I liked the school I was at in
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: New Hampshire. I felt like I was in a place
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: that I could love. I was not doing the thing
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: I wanted to do, which was to contribute a team
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: point that was like all I really wanted. But I
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: tried to find ways to contribute in other ways, like
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: by being there every day, by showing up, and like,
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: I think, you know, when we can't contribute in the
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: ways we would like to, we still have to find
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: ways to feel valued to ourselves and to others. And
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: I did a pretty good job of that to the
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: point where I stuck around long enough to improve. But
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: it was humbling and hard and humiliating. At times to
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: come and last at a race or never not even
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: be allowed to run the race. And I tried to
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: also have a sense of humor about those moments because
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: it was sweet and it was a sport. It wasn't
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: like such a big I just you know, it's kind
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: of sweet to watch yourself come in last and know
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: that hopefully it won't be that way forever. And it's
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: hard to be like nostalgic for a moment in the present,
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: but like I tried to assume it wouldn't be that
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: way forever and just be proud of myself and want
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: more out of myself at that moment. But it wasn't
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: I think it wasn't always easy. Humor really helps. I
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: don't know if you.
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: Agree, No, I totally agree. I totally agree. And I
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: think it's like that, can you take a step back
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: and look at this holistically, like the fact that you
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: could take a step back from that experience when you
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: weren't on the top of the roster, on the top
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: of the people coming in for a second, et cetera,
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: When you could take a step back and look at
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: how you felt doing this thing instead of just like
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: the number and the outcome. I think that shows a
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: lot of wisdom and really great perspective.
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: Thank you well. Also, we just have to let ourselves
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: have the chance to improve. I think sometimes we put
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: ourselves into short of like we put ourselves in like
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: a toaster oven when we really need like a long
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: oven roast to become the thing we want to become,
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: and like it wasn't going to happen in like a
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: one toast cycle, Like it was going to take time,
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: And so I tried to like accept that the good
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: news and the bad news was that hanging in there
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: long enough would work. And I think swallowing that as
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: early as we can in like a process that might
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: take a while is super helpful because then you're like,
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: I'm not expecting that tomorrow I have the result I want.
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: And that applies to any dream. But also like that
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: mental health journey too, where if you are, you know,
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: in a tough spot, you're probably going to wake up
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: sad every day for a while, but it doesn't mean
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: you're not healing or improving. It just means you're not
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: going to feel it right away. And so I think
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: patience is hard, but it's less hard if we expect
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: it to take a while.
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: Whatever it is, so then you are committed to your
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: running journey. You're committed to sticking it out. When do
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: you start to see the fruits of your efforts really
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: pay off in sport?
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: I felt the fruits of my effort payoff when I
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: scored a single team point my junior year of college.
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: It was so great. I have a tattoo actually to
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: celebrate this this moment. So I was on a relay team,
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: which is very fun because it makes running truly a
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: team sport. And we really wanted to go to Nationals
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: and that sounds like, I mean, you know, it's a
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: big dream if you're an NCAA athlete in running particularly,
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: And we made it as a team in this relay
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: because I wasn't good enough to be an individual there
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: and we made it like a last chance to meet
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: and we were just happy to be at Nationals that
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: we were like, we want to get tattoos to celebrate
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: even being here. And our coach was like, you can't
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: get tattoos unless you like get all American, just top
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: eight in the national race or or podium, which would
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: be top three, And we made a bet with each other.
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: We were like Okay, if we podium, if we get
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: top eight, we will get the tattoo. And he was like,
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: if you podium, our coach said he would get the tattoo,
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: and we were He was like, there's just no way,
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: you guys podium. The guys are like ranked last in
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: this race. And it was a relay and sometimes people
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: like our tactical in these relay races, and somebody slowed
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: down the race enough. It was a Florida state girl
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: that we got third in this race, and you would
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: have thought we won because we were crying and it
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: meant so much, and I think it was really, you know,
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: representative of how how much joy I felt, and our
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: team felt at like chipping away at something and and
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: you know, being up there. We didn't win, but like
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: it felt like we won. And I think that's sometimes
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: good enough. You know in your own mind what your
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: what your win is. Oh, we all have the tattoo.
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: Even the coach, Yeah, he got it.
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: It was a lone pine, a little tree, which was
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: kind of the mascot sort of.
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: I love that. And so as you you know, you
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: earn the point this was a big deal. Then are
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: you like completely satisfied or in your head you're like, Okay,
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: so what's next.
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: Well, it's you're always wanting to know what's next. And
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: I think one of the things that I've tried to
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: respect more and it's it's it's hard when there's like
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: always the next you could jump to immediately. Is the
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: kind of come down between peaks in your life and
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: like respecting the moment after. And I haven't been historically
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: great at that, and who is. I mean, it's hard
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: if you're riding the momentum of one success or moment
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: to pause and absorb, let that absorb, which is why
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: when people are like do you ever party, I'm like, well,
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: there is a time and a place, and like I
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: think it's at the end of the season and things
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: like that. You know, that's a side note, but but
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: I did want to know what was next. And I
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: was like a poet at the time and thought that
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: it was going to be grad school for writing, and
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: I realized that I could possibly run this fifth year,
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: which some athletes have like an additional season or two
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: at Oregon, which was a different school and they were
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: very running focused, and I took that opportunity because it
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: was a rare one where my one team point would
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: actually mean the national title, you.
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: Know, which is a big deal.
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: Yes, and we did it and we won and it
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: did matter.
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: And it did matter. Well, it always isn't that the thing? Like,
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: it always matters. It just might not matter in the
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: way that you would hope that it could.
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yes, it matters differently.
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: Yes, you go to do the fifth year. You then
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: transition after college into a place where you're like, do
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: you think right away you know what I'm going to
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: try to do. I'm going to try to go to
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: the Olympics in twenty sixteen.
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: No, I think, But like that conversation we had earlier
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: about you know, letting myself sink and sink into like
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: a goal chasing period of time, I think I took
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: my life year by year and right after you know,
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: when I went to Oregon, my goal was to contribute
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: to that team. But when I graduated Oregon, I did
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: start to think that chasing the Olympic dream would be
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: possible and could be a goal I could set for myself.
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: So that's when I like set it out loud, was
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: probably you know, I was probably like twenty two or something,
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: and that was when I just decided to like go
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: for it for that cycle.
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: So that's like a big thing to say out loud.
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: It's scary because it means you might like not get
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: the thing that you say you want.
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: In that regard, I think a lot of people are
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: scared to say the things that they really want or
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: chase after these big things because they're scared of the
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: letdown or the quote unquote failure. For someone who's like
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: holding back because of those possible repercussions, like what do
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: you say to them?
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: Well, it is like the bravest thing you could ever
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: do is to try your best, not to be the best,
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: but to try your best, because the first step to
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: trying your best is saying what am I trying for?
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: Right?
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: And if you know that you're trying your best, that's
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: very brave because it means that if you don't get
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: the goal that you're chasing, you have nothing to fall
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: back on, Like you don't have the excuse of like,
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: well I didn't really try, you know. And I think
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: people are comforted by the what is that called standbagging.
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: I think that that's a comfort that people might give themselves,
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: but it's not the best way to live. Like I
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: think it's much better to be able to go to
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: sleep at night and feel like you've truly tried your best,
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: even if trying your best doesn't mean again being the best,
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: or even if trying your best on any given day
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: means different things, because if you feel crappy one hundred percent,
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: like trying your best of crappy is going to look different.
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: But I feel like the advice I want to give
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: people is just that it will be worth it, and
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: you will feel so grateful to yourself that you gave
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: yourself the chance to try your best and to chase something.
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: There's no regrets in that. I think the regret is
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: in the opposite.
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: Taking a break from today's episode to give some love
• 24:22
  Speaker 3: to two of my sponsors that plain and simple make
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• 24:28
  Speaker 2: First up, Baron Fig. As you all know, for me,
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  Speaker 2: No code necessary. Let's get back to it. Talk to
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: me about trying your best at the Olympics in real.
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: Yes, well, much of the trying the best happened leading
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: up to the Olympics. And I think what trying your
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: best means when you get there, Because you can't train anymore.
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: You're there, You're there, Your your body is as prepared
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: as it will be. It was embracing the Olympics as
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: different than every other race. That was what trying my
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: best meant, because being there is so chaotic and different
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: than any other experience that it would be easy to
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: feel like some of those differences were insurmountable challenges that
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: would make this race or whatever, you know, game, whatever athlete,
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: whatever you are going to do at the Olympics seem
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: hard and seem impossible and seem too different. And so
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: for me, trying my best meant embracing exactly what it
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: was and trying to decide as to why every single
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: thing I encountered was a reason why I would succeed
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: not fail whatever it was, you know, challenges, pleasant surprises,
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: and so it was a mindset that I needed to
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: have because my body was already prepared for sure.
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: So you go to the Olympics, and we all know
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: what happens after the Olympics, because many of us have
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: now read both your book and your op ed in
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: the New York Times. Talk to me about maybe that
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: moment when you realize that you needed to do something
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: about your mental health in the months and year that
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: followed the Olympics.
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I did not realize it for a long time,
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: and I just wanted to know what was next, like
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: we talked about earlier, and I wanted to know yesterday.
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: And I think it was my dad basically, who could
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: see in me that something was not right and I
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: was spinning out and speeding up rather than slow down
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: in the moment after the Olympics and the moments in
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: the months after the Olympics, and he and my brother
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: you know, told me that they, you know, they really
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: thought that I needed help and they made the appointments
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: for me. And I think that is a hard thing
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: to admit because I would like to have said that
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: I recognized it in myself, but I really didn't have
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: that vocabulary at the time. I really didn't understand that
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: my brain was like a body part. And if I
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: was having symptoms like not sleeping, which I wasn't sleeping
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: at all, like maybe an hour a night, that that
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: is as bad as like when your ankle feels really off,
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: you know, it's like something in your body is off.
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: You will make some sort of adjustment or see someone
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: for help. But I tried to take it upon my
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: self to fix all these things. And so it was
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: a couple months later that I finally got help and
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: got that vocabulary to see that my brain was a
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: body part and could get injured and could heal. And
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: then I shifted my focus completely because I think, you know,
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: talking about goal chasing, you have to know what your
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: goal is, and I was chasing the next goal. I
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: wanted to find the next goal. I was chasing fitness
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: when my health was not there. And I think once
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: we know that the goal needs to shift, we should.
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: We can shift immediately to chasing the proper goal, and
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: if health isn't there, that's always going to be the
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: thing that we should chase first. Right.
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: You told Ritual that Bravy is the best thing you've
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: ever written and that it was something in terms of
• 30:46
  Speaker 2: goals that was like a big goal for you. So
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: now that Bravy is in the world, do you think
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: about the next goal?
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: Yeah. I've been in working on the next goal the
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: whole time, and I think the hard part is trying
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: to pause again and telling myself, look, a book release
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: is like a type of Olympics. It is a kind
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: of Olympics, like to write and release a book is
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: an Olympics of sorts. And so I'm trying to pause
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: and like, let my adrenal fatigue, you know, come back,
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: and I can tell that I need to respect this moment.
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: It's I'm glad I have a partner in Jeremy, because
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: we do have creative projects that are unfolding, and he
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: has really taken the lead on those, and I think
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: that's partly my communicating with him that like, hey, I'm
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: likely to overdo this and I need to just have
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: you know, at least I need to be the vice
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: president of those projects right now. And I'm running. But
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: I think my goals and running are later in the spring.
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: They're not like winter goals. And that was a product
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: of like, it's just not being reasonable to race, you know,
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: in February or March. So yeah, I'm letting. I'm trying
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: to let it come back and do the things I
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: know will help me rebound and be able to chase
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: the next goal with like two feet on the ground.
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: I love that you mentioned the vocabulary that you learned
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: when it came to talking about mental health, and I'm
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: sure after seeking out some help, you got to a
• 32:28
  Speaker 2: place where you had to start implementing a lot more
• 32:32
  Speaker 2: self compassion and a lot more like grace with yourself.
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: What is your advice for someone who's struggling to implement
• 32:40
  Speaker 2: self care, self love and to have that grace from
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: your own experience.
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think making it official. So I remember when
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: I started training pretty seriously, but also as chasing these
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: film dreams, I felt guilty about mapping, for example, and
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: then I just started calling them meetings, where like I
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: had a meeting, like with my bed or whatever, and
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: people like respect meetings they respect like doctor's appointments or whatever.
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: So I just would say I have a meeting or
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: an appointment, and that made me feel a little bit
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: better about it because it was more official. And I
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: think whatever it takes for you to like take it
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: seriously or let your world around you take it seriously
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: is fine. Like it's okay if you have to label
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: it something like an appointment with your bed, that's fine
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: if that's what you do, you know, but just making
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: it a little bit as official as you would other
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: obligations in your life.
• 33:41
  Speaker 2: I really like what you said about putting your running
• 33:44
  Speaker 2: goals or your bigger running goals kind of on the
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: back burner, with the understanding of like when you're going
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: to execute on that. I think what many people struggle
• 33:52
  Speaker 2: with myself included is that I, like you like, want
• 33:56
  Speaker 2: to do the best I can at everything that I'm doing,
• 33:59
  Speaker 2: and sometimes in that effort, I will tend to burn out,
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: which is not you know what we want to do.
• 34:07
  Speaker 2: So that you reiterating like I'm going to need to
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: be the vice president on this, it shows a lot
• 34:13
  Speaker 2: of personal understanding and probably for you saying that back,
• 34:16
  Speaker 2: like you must see a lot of personal growth in that.
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you feel and you also see the positive effect
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: it has to just be more honest with yourself and
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: the people around you. Of like, there's a positive feedback loop.
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: I think that's what you're referring to. You see, and
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: then you've grown the muscle that respects your own wellbeing.
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: You know, they're all like these invisible muscles that we're growing,
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: just like muscles on our body. We don't have them
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: by birth. We like do movements and then we get
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: these muscles. And so it's going to be the same
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: with any of these self kindness or self preservation techniques,
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: where it's going to feel a little awkward at first
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: or difficult, and then it becomes common and then it
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: feels good because you have this backbone of longevity through
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: these mechanisms you've created for yourself with these practices, and
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: sometimes we do like boil over, we are going to
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: over commit sometimes, but that's okay. It's just once you
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: realize that you have make a shift. I keep telling myself,
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: like there's truly no regrets. There are only lessons, and
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: there are only regrets. If you know you need a
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: change and you don't make it, it's okay to like
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: realize you need a change, just shift there and give
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: yourself the kindness to just instantly shift when you need to.
• 35:31
  Speaker 2: When you need to, you opened up to your family
• 35:34
  Speaker 2: about your mental health struggles. Who else in your journey
• 35:38
  Speaker 2: opening up about what was going on for you has
• 35:41
  Speaker 2: helped you along the way.
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: Well, when I was in the deep of it, I
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: think my family and my doctor were the best support
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: that I had. Now, I do think it's been helpful
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: to talk to other like people at the pinnacles of
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: their world and just understand that we all one get
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: different vocabulary. Like I remember speaking to someone and understanding
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: what he does to feel okay every single day, like
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: little like techniques and tactics, but also looking up to
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: people as mentors not just for like what they do,
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: but for what they don't do, you know, and just
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: like taking that as permission to do and don't do
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: accordingly as well. And that just makes everybody seem more
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: human and it makes us feel more human. So that's
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: been helpful, I guess, being around studying and like looking
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: up to different people.
• 36:41
  Speaker 2: When someone goes to your Instagram page, they see a
• 36:45
  Speaker 2: woman with eighty thousand plus followers and olympian and actress. Now,
• 36:52
  Speaker 2: I guess someone would say, now an author. When you
• 36:56
  Speaker 2: look in the mirror, what is it that you see
• 36:58
  Speaker 2: looking back at you?
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: Oh, what a fun question I see. I think I
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: see someone who is trying her very best and still
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: feels a little bit like the kid on stage in
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: the elementary school play, because I think there's no one
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: who tries harder than that kid who's like just you know,
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: in a costume, trying to tap dance, you know, trying
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: to smile at their parents and the audience, trying to remember,
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: you know, their lines. Like I do feel like that,
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: but there's a joy in that because that's a wonderful
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: place to try and fall down sometimes. So I think
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: I see that person where it's like Wow, I'm still
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: out here trying my best and like I could still
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: really humiliate myself, but that's like, that's just a beautiful
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: way to live. So you know, it's not like I
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: look at myself and I'm like, I've got it all together,
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: but that's okay, I've got more. I'm like an adult face,
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: but still in that like I'm still tap dancing a
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: little bit.
• 38:02
  Speaker 2: I think we all are tap dancing like every single day,
• 38:06
  Speaker 2: and anyone who pretends that they're not is just like it's.
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: Not real or they've chosen to not put themselves in
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: positions to do that, and that's okay too. Like I
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: do think if someone like doesn't want to like feel
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: like they're constantly in like an audition for a play,
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: that's okay. It's just like knowing yourself. And I like
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: that feeling of like being in a position where like
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: it might go well and it might not. I like it,
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: but not everyone likes it, and I think that that's
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: okay too.
• 38:37
  Speaker 2: What excites you right now?
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: I'm excited to like see how the Olympics looks, like,
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: you know, meaning what my role in it will be,
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: what you know, how it's how it's going to be,
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: and I think it'll be a beautiful thing to see
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: the world come together in that way. I'm excited about
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: a TV show that I'm working on, in a feature
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: film I'm working on, and I'm excited for more teenagers
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: and the like. I'm excited for people to find this
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: book because I am really proud of it. So I
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: hope it slowly trickles its way into the world to
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: people who might, you know, like it.
• 39:16
  Speaker 2: I'm sure it definitely is. I mean, it's certainly making
• 39:19
  Speaker 2: I would say more than a trickle, kind of like
• 39:21
  Speaker 2: a splash here when I mean, like I said, you
• 39:26
  Speaker 2: have certainly had some really great conversations over the past
• 39:29
  Speaker 2: few weeks, which was why I want to ask you this,
• 39:32
  Speaker 2: this next and close to final question. You in these
• 39:36
  Speaker 2: conversations have told us so much about your life and
• 39:40
  Speaker 2: your experience with everything from running to acting to mental
• 39:44
  Speaker 2: health struggles. Is there anything when you sit down and
• 39:47
  Speaker 2: you reflect at the end of the day and you
• 39:49
  Speaker 2: ask yourself, am I talking about this enough? Is there
• 39:54
  Speaker 2: anything that you think to yourself? I want to talk.
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: About this well. I think a lot of the book
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: conversation has leaned towards mental health, which is like really
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: timely and important, and it was like it's good vocabulary
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: to talk about that. I like discovered the hard way
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: and shared in Bravy. But I do think that the
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: more that the useful, the most useful part to me
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: in my life was like just trying to see every
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: scenario somehow in my favor and like just talking about
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: how we can try to change our narrative and see
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: it as more subjective than objective, even in a sport
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: like running that seems pretty objective. I think to share
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: that with people because that's everything. It's like, that's everything
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: in the world, is like how we see our story
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: unfolding and how we tell it to ourselves first and
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: then maybe to the world. And it's not you know,
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: I respect people who like share their challenges, you know,
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: on social media or otherwise, but I do think like
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: there's a way that you can share it where you
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: see yourself as like always ending up as some kind
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: of hero even if you're going through something absolutely terribly hard.
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: I don't know why we wouldn't try and like emerge
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: victorious as best we can.
• 41:17
  Speaker 2: I love the word useful and I loved how you
• 41:20
  Speaker 2: explained how helpful that word has been to you when
• 41:23
  Speaker 2: you were talking to Michael Gervais.
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's so useful.
• 41:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's so useful, useful, it's so useful.
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: It is.
• 41:30
  Speaker 2: Alexi, you have an opportunity to offer yourself one piece
• 41:35
  Speaker 2: of advice looking back on the post Olympics phase of
• 41:41
  Speaker 2: your life, going through that hurdle moment. What do you
• 41:45
  Speaker 2: tell yourself?
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: Oh, I would tell her that everything is going to
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: be okay, even if you don't think so, and even
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: better than you think it could ever be, and that
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: your brain is a body part. Honestly. I mean I
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: needed to know that then and I didn't understand it,
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: So that would have been very useful to know a
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: few months before I knew it.
• 42:08
  Speaker 2: And now you know it and now you're spreading the message. Yeah, yes, Alexi,
• 42:15
  Speaker 2: thanks so much for your time, Diday. I really really
• 42:17
  Speaker 2: appreciate it.
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: Thank you for having me, and thank you for doing
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: this podcast.
• 42:21
  Speaker 2: Alexi. How do the hurdlers keep up with you? How
• 42:24
  Speaker 2: do they stay in the loop? Give me all of
• 42:26
  Speaker 2: your details.
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: My details are just my name, Alexi, A L E
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: x I pappus p A P p as. That's Instagram
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: and Twitter. And the book is called Bravey with a
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: forward by Maya Rudolph and I hope you love it
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: and it's everywhere, so you can find it at your
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: local bookstore. I hope to support those locals you know.
• 42:49
  Speaker 2: Support them. I'm over at Emily a Body at Hurdle
• 42:52
  Speaker 2: Podcast Another Hurdle Conquered. Catch you guys next time
• 43:03
  Speaker 3: In My Heir