Latest / Hurdle with Emily Abbate / 379. ‘I Never Fail’: How To Trust The Timing Of Your Life & Make Every Second Count With Olympic Champion Masai Russell

Transcript

379. ‘I Never Fail’: How To Trust The Timing Of Your Life & Make Every Second Count With Olympic Champion Masai Russell · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

0:00
Speaker 1: You could create the life that you want. It doesn't matter,
0:02
Speaker 1: the age, doesn't matter the time. Like you could start
0:04
Speaker 1: today by just putting yourself first and speaking positive things
0:08
Speaker 1: over your so positive things over your life.
0:24
Speaker 2: Hey hey, Emily body here. You are listening to season
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Speaker 2: twenty of Hurdle. Today's the season premiere episode, and I
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Speaker 2: could not be heavier to have you joining me, not
0:36
Speaker 2: only because today I'm bringing you my conversation with Massai Russell.
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Speaker 2: She's the American record holder and Olympic champion in the
0:44
Speaker 2: one hundred meter hurdles. We had this conversation alive last
0:48
Speaker 2: week here in New York. But today's a really special day,
0:51
Speaker 2: and that is because today Hurdle officially joins the iHeart
0:56
Speaker 2: Women's Sports Network.
0:58
Speaker 3: Insert applause here.
1:00
Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you, thank you. I oh my goodness.
1:03
Speaker 2: It's been something that's been in the works for quite
1:05
Speaker 2: some time. I feel so many ways about it. I've
1:08
Speaker 2: been podcasting for almost eight years now. And if you
1:11
Speaker 2: were to tell me eight years ago when I started
1:13
Speaker 2: doing this, that I would be joining such a stellar
1:18
Speaker 2: group of shows and be supported by such a phenomenal network, yeah,
1:23
Speaker 2: I don't know if I would have believed you.
1:24
Speaker 3: But here we are.
1:25
Speaker 2: And I am elated. Hurdle moving forward. Nothing new that
1:30
Speaker 2: you have to do as a listener unless you are
1:32
Speaker 2: now checking us out for the first time, in which
1:34
Speaker 2: welcome you are now officially a hurdler. Make sure you
1:37
Speaker 2: slam that subscribe button. What can you expect week after
1:42
Speaker 2: week on Hurdle. I'm bringing you the true stories in
1:44
Speaker 2: the mindset secrets of the most inspiring women in sport
1:48
Speaker 2: and wellness. My goal here is to peel back the
1:50
Speaker 2: curtain on the grit, glory and vulnerable journeys.
1:54
Speaker 3: Of the best to ever do it.
1:56
Speaker 2: You'll still have five minute Friday, You'll still have new
1:58
Speaker 2: episodes every Tuesday, and you already know I am sticking
2:02
Speaker 2: to my mission to empower you to live a healthier, happier,
2:07
Speaker 2: more motivated life. Last little bit of housekeeping. If you're
2:10
Speaker 2: new here again, my name's Emily. I'm a wellness coach,
2:13
Speaker 2: a veteran journalist living here in Brooklyn, New York, with
2:17
Speaker 2: almost two decades of experience telling stories within the woman's
2:22
Speaker 2: sports space. I'm the former fitness editor at Self Magazine.
2:26
Speaker 2: I'm also a certified trainer, run coach, and a certified
2:30
Speaker 2: professional coach, which you can liken to a life coach.
2:33
Speaker 2: And I use all of this knowledge and education to
2:36
Speaker 2: make sure that I am having safe and productive conversations
2:40
Speaker 2: here on the show. Let's talk about mass I, like
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Speaker 2: I said, a stellar athlete who has had quite a year,
2:47
Speaker 2: most recently finishing her season with a win at Athlos
2:51
Speaker 2: in New York City. This conversation filmed live in front
2:55
Speaker 2: of an audience at Nike's New York headquarters, a motivational pregame,
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Speaker 2: if you will, for so many of the individuals in
3:02
Speaker 2: the room that were preparing to run the New York
3:04
Speaker 2: City Marathon. And wow, wow, wow, what a time we had.
3:09
Speaker 2: In today's conversation, Beside talks.
3:12
Speaker 3: To us about her struggles.
3:13
Speaker 2: She shares what it was like for her to make
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Speaker 2: her first US Olympic team and not only compete in Paris,
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Speaker 2: but emerge victorious as the Olympic Champion, bringing home the gold.
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Speaker 2: So many of the women that were in attendance told
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Speaker 2: me afterward as they came up and said hi, that
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Speaker 2: they took down notes as we were talking. My favorite
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Speaker 2: part about this conversation Massi's point of view on failure
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Speaker 2: and that well, she never fails I want to say
3:40
Speaker 2: thank you to all of you for sticking with me
3:42
Speaker 2: over the last eight years. It's an emotional day for me.
3:45
Speaker 2: It's a special time and I would love your support
3:49
Speaker 2: to get everybody else amped about this new chapter. So
3:52
Speaker 2: make sure you're following along with Hurdle over on social
3:55
Speaker 2: It's at Hurdle Podcast. Make sure you're keeping up with
3:57
Speaker 2: I hurt Women's Sports over at I Heart Women's Sports
4:01
Speaker 2: on Instagram, and of course I'm over at Emily a Body.
4:04
Speaker 2: Share today's episode with a friend, and make sure you're
4:08
Speaker 2: subscribed to our weekly Hurdle Substack. It's our newsletter that
4:12
Speaker 2: comes out every single Friday. Bring you so much of
4:15
Speaker 2: the same inspiration and motivation you love from the show,
4:18
Speaker 2: plus my gear picks what I'm reading, listening to watching
4:22
Speaker 2: directly in your inbox.
4:24
Speaker 3: With that, let's get to it. Let's get to hurdling MESSI. Hi,
4:40
Speaker 3: welcome to New York.
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Speaker 2: Thank you A little different than Kentucky, it is it
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Speaker 2: is your event, a little bit different than the marathon,
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Speaker 2: very much so for some context here MASSI won the
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Speaker 2: Olympics in twelve point three three seconds.
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Speaker 4: Thank you guys.
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Speaker 2: We're gonna do a little game later to see what
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Speaker 2: some of you can do in twelve point three three seconds.
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Speaker 2: I know I certainly can't run one hundred meters in
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Speaker 2: tire three three seconds, but just just.
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Speaker 3: Wait on that.
5:18
Speaker 2: Anyway, I like to kick off our conversation on the
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Speaker 2: show by doing a level set.
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Speaker 3: How are you doing? Really?
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Speaker 4: I'm actually doing great.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, you know.
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Speaker 1: I'm taking some time from track right now. I'm in
5:32
Speaker 1: the off season. Had a really long year, did indoor outdoor.
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Speaker 1: I just wrapped up my season October tenth, actually in
5:40
Speaker 1: New York, three weeks ago, one net. So I'm just
5:43
Speaker 1: taking some time for myself and just making sure that
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Speaker 1: I'm giving myself that break mentally so that I can
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Speaker 1: continue to show up and you guys can continue to
5:52
Speaker 1: watch me win more medals at the Olympics.
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Speaker 2: Never gets old saying something like that, And I mean
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Speaker 2: saw toting of the win at Athlos. Let's hear it
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Speaker 2: from Asi. That event is such a special thing to
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Speaker 2: be a part of. I mean, this room so special
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Speaker 2: because we're all in community with women, but that the
6:13
Speaker 2: exact same thing. How did it feel for you to
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Speaker 2: not only be a part of that this year but
6:17
Speaker 2: then just take home that w.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, last year, I didn't get the W and it
6:21
Speaker 1: was the first one, so I was like, I want
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Speaker 1: to win the first one and that didn't happen. But
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Speaker 1: I think this time around definitely meant more. Serena Williams
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Speaker 1: literally crowned us, So I'm like, who wouldn't want to
6:31
Speaker 1: be crowned by Serena? Like, but yeah, I mean it's
6:34
Speaker 1: super on brand for literally what we're doing here, just
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Speaker 1: women in community and just women pushing each other, women
6:40
Speaker 1: supporting each other. And like I said, I won this
6:43
Speaker 1: time around, it meant a little more because Serena was there,
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Speaker 1: so another great women in sports was able to crown
6:49
Speaker 1: me who's so decorated herself.
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Speaker 4: It was just like amazing.
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Speaker 2: Bring me back to like twelve year old MESSI because
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Speaker 2: you just said and Serena Williams crowned me.
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Speaker 3: Can you even imagine at.
7:03
Speaker 2: Twelve years old looking at your future self and being like, hey,
7:07
Speaker 2: one day, you know what I.
7:09
Speaker 1: Mean, I'm honestly trying to think of who I was
7:13
Speaker 1: when I was twelve. That was before high school, so
7:16
Speaker 1: I didn't really know what was going on. But if
7:21
Speaker 1: you would have told little Massaiah that she was honestly
7:27
Speaker 1: within a foot from Serena, she probably would have been
7:32
Speaker 1: running around the house and going crazy. So it's really
7:35
Speaker 1: insane to see what my life has turned into. The
7:39
Speaker 1: rooms that I've been able to enter, the people I've
7:42
Speaker 1: been able to talk to, it's just a blessing. And honestly,
7:45
Speaker 1: when you put your mind in something and when you
7:47
Speaker 1: believe in the unknown, honestly, great things happen.
7:52
Speaker 2: Great things happen, and for you, a lot of unknown
7:56
Speaker 2: except you knew that you wanted to run. There's six
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Speaker 2: of you in your face, and ly six total siblings,
8:01
Speaker 2: and you yourself grew up watching your brother's run track,
8:04
Speaker 2: Is that right?
8:05
Speaker 3: Yeah?
8:05
Speaker 4: Yeah, So it was too older than me, one younger
8:08
Speaker 4: than me.
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Speaker 1: I was the only girl at the time, and I
8:12
Speaker 1: was like, all right, I'm just trying to.
8:14
Speaker 4: Keep up with my brothers.
8:16
Speaker 1: And I think that just like pushed me to be
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Speaker 1: like competitive, and I think that that's what has still
8:21
Speaker 1: to this day instilled that competitiveness in me to just
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Speaker 1: like want for more, you know, just always trying to
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Speaker 1: prove myself.
8:28
Speaker 3: Always trying to prove yourself to yourself.
8:30
Speaker 2: And I think that's actually a really great point for
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Speaker 2: us to kick off here on is that essential self
8:36
Speaker 2: belief that is required for you to do what you
8:41
Speaker 2: do from a young age. Where did you get that from?
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Speaker 2: Was that taught to you by your parents? Did that
8:47
Speaker 2: come I know you're really inspired by your mother. From
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Speaker 2: your mother or where did that sense of self belief
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Speaker 2: really begin for you?
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Speaker 1: I think it was a couple of different things that
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Speaker 1: kind of went into that. I think, like I said, starting,
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Speaker 1: I think my brother's just the way that we grew
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Speaker 1: up kind of help with that competitiveness. And then once again,
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Speaker 1: like you just mentioned my mom she's a doctor, just
9:07
Speaker 1: seeing her get up every day and just work towards
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Speaker 1: something every day.
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Speaker 4: I wasn't like that.
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Speaker 1: With school, but I mean, like I got a grit,
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Speaker 1: Let me just throw that out there. But the drive
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Speaker 1: that I have on the track is like the way
9:20
Speaker 1: that I see my mom drive towards like being on
9:23
Speaker 1: call and showing up for patience and going.
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Speaker 4: To the hospital.
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Speaker 1: So that's I would say that that's the biggest thing
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Speaker 1: that has pretty much made me the person that I am,
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Speaker 1: which those two definitely, and my dad just like supported
9:36
Speaker 1: me and he was like my coach for a small
9:38
Speaker 1: period of time. But yeah, my brother's just trying to
9:41
Speaker 1: keep up with the boys, you know, just trying to
9:43
Speaker 1: be competitive in that sense and trying to keep up,
9:45
Speaker 1: and then just seeing the grid that my mom had
9:48
Speaker 1: to just continue to want for more and to push herself.
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Speaker 1: And you know, I just seen that as a young girl,
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Speaker 1: and I just took that on the track every single day.
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Speaker 3: Take it on the track every day.
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Speaker 2: Now, you followed that self belief and you brought that
10:02
Speaker 2: grit with you to the University of Kentucky. I know
10:05
Speaker 2: that wasn't original area where you thought that you were
10:07
Speaker 2: gonna go to college.
10:08
Speaker 3: Let's talk a little bit about that.
10:10
Speaker 2: How did it feel for you to trust your gut
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Speaker 2: and take that leap to go to Kentucky.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, it just felt right. I initially was supposed to
10:20
Speaker 1: be going to the University of Tennessee, but some coaching
10:24
Speaker 1: changes kind of happened, and from there, I just was like,
10:28
Speaker 1: all right, I'm gonna follow the coach that recruited me,
10:31
Speaker 1: so I'm gonna go over to Kentucky. And it, like
10:32
Speaker 1: I said, it just felt right. I wasn't too excited
10:35
Speaker 1: to go to Tennessee. I was just going there for
10:38
Speaker 1: the coach. So when the coach was like all right,
10:40
Speaker 1: I'm going to Kentucky. Are you gonna come with me?
10:42
Speaker 1: I still have everything in place. I'm like, yeah, let's
10:45
Speaker 1: do it. And it ended up being the best school
10:47
Speaker 1: out of all the schools that I visited. To this day,
10:49
Speaker 1: I'm still there. I still live here nowhere like New York,
10:54
Speaker 1: and it's super different from even where I'm from. I'm
10:56
Speaker 1: from Maryland, the DMV area, so I'm very familiar with
11:00
Speaker 1: New York, just coming here a lot as a young athlete,
11:03
Speaker 1: so very different than the East Coast. But yeah, it
11:07
Speaker 1: just made sense. Like I said, I'm still there, still
11:10
Speaker 1: with the same coach. I'm like, if it's not broke,
11:12
Speaker 1: there's nothing to fix. So for me, it's just worked out.
11:17
Speaker 1: And I bought a house last year. So yeah, I mean,
11:22
Speaker 1: oh yeah, we.
11:23
Speaker 3: Women applauding women for their success.
11:25
Speaker 4: Yeah, thanks, thanks. I know it's like a big deal.
11:28
Speaker 1: But like my problem sometimes is like I'm just like sewing,
11:32
Speaker 1: Like I'm always trying to get to the next thing,
11:34
Speaker 1: and I don't always take a step to realize where
11:37
Speaker 1: I'm at. But like anytime I tell someone that, they're like,
11:40
Speaker 1: that's insane. You bought a house at twenty four and
11:42
Speaker 1: I'm like, yeah, I did so it's a blessing. It's
11:46
Speaker 1: definitely a blessing.
11:47
Speaker 3: But yeah, raise your hand.
11:49
Speaker 2: If you two are always in a rush to get
11:51
Speaker 2: to the next thag, I'm always like, okay, I'm not
11:53
Speaker 2: even gonna SKay alone.
11:55
Speaker 3: Yeah, you're not alone, not alone at all.
11:58
Speaker 2: And we will say this for those of you, all
12:01
Speaker 2: of you running on Sunday, we want to make sure
12:03
Speaker 2: that you take the time to celebrate this accomplishment. It's
12:06
Speaker 2: such a special moment, regardless of the outcome. Making it
12:10
Speaker 2: to that starting line at all is a massive, massive
12:14
Speaker 2: thing to celebrate. Now, you said I bought a house
12:18
Speaker 2: at twenty four. You're twenty five. Now.
12:20
Speaker 3: You also mentioned being a young athlete.
12:22
Speaker 2: You are pretty early on in this How does it
12:25
Speaker 2: feel for you to have found so much success at
12:30
Speaker 2: such a young age.
12:34
Speaker 1: It feels amazing, of course, And of course there's still
12:37
Speaker 1: more things that I want to accomplish, and I think
12:41
Speaker 1: for me, this guy's limitless. So I do view myself
12:45
Speaker 1: as a very successful person. But until I check off
12:49
Speaker 1: some more boxes, I think I'll still have more to
12:53
Speaker 1: work towards. Of course, and in the professional space, it
12:57
Speaker 1: doesn't make you easy so yeah, blessed, I'm just so
13:01
Speaker 1: like relentless.
13:04
Speaker 2: Checking off some more boxes. Let's talk about some of
13:06
Speaker 2: the boxes you've already checked. American record holder. Bring us
13:11
Speaker 2: to that race, and let's start at the beginning. And
13:14
Speaker 2: by the beginning, I mean, what does Messi Russell think
13:18
Speaker 2: about in the starting box?
13:21
Speaker 1: I think the build up before the blocks is the
13:25
Speaker 1: most important thing because honestly, once for me want I'm
13:27
Speaker 1: on the track and want someone on the line, there's
13:29
Speaker 1: nothing more that's gonna change or the outcome isn't gonna change.
13:32
Speaker 1: So that's even something that you guys can take to
13:34
Speaker 1: the marathon, like you put all the work in, You've
13:37
Speaker 1: done everything you could do, like literally just show up
13:40
Speaker 1: and be in whatever that outcome is gonna be. That's
13:43
Speaker 1: just what it is, and you have to be okay
13:45
Speaker 1: with it.
13:45
Speaker 4: You have to accept it.
13:46
Speaker 1: And that's just you know, for me, that's always been
13:50
Speaker 1: my mindset. So once I step foot on the line,
13:53
Speaker 1: it's it's just like the time is now, like allow
13:56
Speaker 1: whatever's meant to happen to happen. You can't change the
13:59
Speaker 1: outcome and literally just be That's what I tell myself.
14:03
Speaker 1: And once the gun goes off, nothing else matters. I'm
14:07
Speaker 1: kind of blacked out. I know, for me, it's twelve seconds.
14:10
Speaker 1: For y'all's twenty six miles. But I heard that runners
14:15
Speaker 1: highs is such a thing, So get into that mindset,
14:19
Speaker 1: in that mode, and y'all gonna do great.
14:22
Speaker 3: You're gonna do great.
14:22
Speaker 2: She's like, I've never had the opportunity to personally experience
14:25
Speaker 2: runners high.
14:27
Speaker 4: Yeah, I heard of it.
14:28
Speaker 3: I heard of it.
14:28
Speaker 2: But unlike some other short distance runners, I will say
14:32
Speaker 2: that Massai used to run cross country.
14:35
Speaker 3: So she she's run a mile.
14:37
Speaker 2: You ask some other sprinters, they've never run a consecutive mile.
14:40
Speaker 3: Yeah, She's like, yeah, I know, I'm gonna tell.
14:42
Speaker 4: Yeah, I haven't went over two miles, but I used
14:46
Speaker 4: to do cross country.
14:48
Speaker 2: Well, we love to hear it, and I really appreciate this.
14:52
Speaker 2: You're gonna show up, and this is how it is now. Mentality.
14:55
Speaker 2: Now that is something that isn't exactly easy to arrive at,
15:00
Speaker 2: A mentality that's for some.
15:03
Speaker 3: Hard to adopt.
15:05
Speaker 2: Were you always this way when it came to competition,
15:08
Speaker 2: or is this a skill that you've refined over time
15:11
Speaker 2: by putting in the reps and showing up time and
15:13
Speaker 2: time again.
15:14
Speaker 1: Yeah, I feel like I always had like a very
15:17
Speaker 1: confident mindset, but I didn't have it directed to what
15:20
Speaker 1: I wanted out of my life.
15:23
Speaker 4: For so long, I always came up short. I never won.
15:26
Speaker 1: Me honestly, when in the Olympics was a shock to
15:29
Speaker 1: ninety nine percent of the people that know track and
15:32
Speaker 1: that watch track. But to the people that were in
15:34
Speaker 1: my circle, it wasn't a surprise. And I say that
15:37
Speaker 1: to say, it doesn't really matter what you have coming in.
15:42
Speaker 1: It's just like the mindset that you take when you arrive.
15:46
Speaker 1: And I was always second place. I was always national
15:49
Speaker 1: runner up. I was always third or second, even like
15:52
Speaker 1: from a kid, I could never pull off the wind.
15:56
Speaker 1: And I think once I shifted my mindset to it
16:00
Speaker 1: actually being directed towards something I kind of focused on.
16:08
Speaker 1: Like I'm trying to think of how to say this
16:10
Speaker 1: and not sound like cocky, but it's like you really
16:15
Speaker 1: just have to tell yourself, like who you are or
16:17
Speaker 1: what you want or what you want to become. And
16:21
Speaker 1: you know, people say it's cocky, some people say it's confidence,
16:24
Speaker 1: but you know, when you're a sprinter like myself or
16:26
Speaker 1: even just like a competitor, you have to think of
16:29
Speaker 1: yourself in a somewhat of a higher way to get
16:33
Speaker 1: to what you want. And I'm a professional athlete, so
16:35
Speaker 1: you know, it's a little different. I feel like my
16:37
Speaker 1: mindset may be a little different than you guys, but
16:41
Speaker 1: you guys can still take on this mindset. And like
16:44
Speaker 1: I said, for me, it was a lot of self talk,
16:46
Speaker 1: It was a lot of writing down my goals. It
16:48
Speaker 1: was a lot of honestly delusion. And you know, I
16:51
Speaker 1: feel like we put a lot of negative thoughts into
16:54
Speaker 1: not being or not doing. But it's like, just as
16:58
Speaker 1: delusional as it is to not believe, you could be
17:01
Speaker 1: as delusional as it can happen, and you believe that
17:05
Speaker 1: it will happen. So it's just about like yeah.
17:10
Speaker 3: She's like, okay, Yeah, it's literally just like.
17:13
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's a mindset thing.
17:14
Speaker 1: And you know, for me, the mind is literally the
17:17
Speaker 1: controller of everything that you do. So you know, if
17:20
Speaker 1: I say I want to break the world records, so
17:22
Speaker 1: one can say that's impossible, but I could say it's possible,
17:25
Speaker 1: and then it's only impossible until it happens. So just
17:28
Speaker 1: direct the delusion in a way that's beneficial to y'all.
17:32
Speaker 2: I love everything about this. I love going after for
17:34
Speaker 2: what it is that you want. I love speaking your
17:36
Speaker 2: goals and do existence. I truly believe that you don't
17:39
Speaker 2: get to get what you want until you cann't put
17:41
Speaker 2: words to what that is.
17:43
Speaker 3: So it's such a special lesson.
17:45
Speaker 2: I also appreciate what you said about having a really
17:49
Speaker 2: hard year going into the Olympics.
17:51
Speaker 3: Let's talk a little bit about that.
17:52
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was my first year professional. As most people know,
17:56
Speaker 1: this is last year, first year I'm out of college.
17:59
Speaker 1: She was my first time being on the professional circuit,
18:03
Speaker 1: competing against other professionals, especially the ones that you've looked
18:05
Speaker 1: up to and who have Olympic champion medals, who have
18:09
Speaker 1: world medals, who've broken the world record, you know. So
18:12
Speaker 1: it definitely is a very humbling place coming out of
18:15
Speaker 1: college being the collegiate record holder, fastest college punching meter
18:19
Speaker 1: hurdler of all time, and then you're coming into the
18:21
Speaker 1: professional realm and it's like no one cares about anything
18:24
Speaker 1: you just did in college. You got to do it
18:26
Speaker 1: again and do it better. So for me, yeah, I
18:30
Speaker 1: had a pretty tough year. I wasn't sponsored initially before
18:34
Speaker 1: I signed with Nike, so I was supporting myself. I
18:36
Speaker 1: was competing on the road by myself, with no sponsor,
18:39
Speaker 1: and you know, it's just a lot that mentally buried
18:43
Speaker 1: on me. And you know, I knew that the Olympics
18:46
Speaker 1: was around the corner, but I just kind of like,
18:49
Speaker 1: let the Olympics come when it was meant to come,
18:52
Speaker 1: you know. Of course, like everyone else in the world's
18:54
Speaker 1: like Paris, Paris, Paris, Paris, I'm like, I'm just trying
18:57
Speaker 1: to show up right now, you know. So, so that
19:00
Speaker 1: was the main thing for me that was on my mind,
19:04
Speaker 1: was just to show up for myself every single day,
19:06
Speaker 1: just keep one foot in front of the other and
19:07
Speaker 1: just continue to show up.
19:09
Speaker 4: And yeah, like I didn't win.
19:12
Speaker 1: A single race until the US Championships, and I think
19:15
Speaker 1: the main thing that pretty much helped me to pull
19:20
Speaker 1: off that win. It was my first time ever winning
19:22
Speaker 1: anything at a national level, was my first time went
19:25
Speaker 1: in a national title, and I ended up breaking the
19:28
Speaker 1: Olympic trials record. I just shifted my mindset, like I
19:31
Speaker 1: knew mentally, like I just wasn't aligned with my body
19:36
Speaker 1: and I wasn't locked in, and I knew I put
19:39
Speaker 1: the reps in. I knew I put the work in
19:41
Speaker 1: just like you guys like put you put the work
19:42
Speaker 1: in everything that you've done up until now, Like you
19:45
Speaker 1: put the work in, like literally just give yourself a
19:47
Speaker 1: chance and you surprise yourself. So I just told myself
19:50
Speaker 1: when I got out there on the line, like whatever's
19:52
Speaker 1: gonna happen is gonna happen.
19:53
Speaker 4: And I think once I kind of let.
19:55
Speaker 1: Let my ego go and let what I thought I
20:00
Speaker 1: should be or what the expectations of what people put
20:03
Speaker 1: onto me.
20:04
Speaker 4: Once I let all.
20:05
Speaker 1: That go out the door, I just like felt free
20:08
Speaker 1: and I ran through those ten hurdles and it was
20:12
Speaker 1: the best race of my life at that time. Won
20:15
Speaker 1: the Olympic Trials, I was like, wow, I'm literally considered
20:18
Speaker 1: an Olympian now, like and I was a dream for
20:21
Speaker 1: so long, and I actually lost faith at a point
20:24
Speaker 1: in my life where I didn't believe that I could
20:26
Speaker 1: even be an Olympian. So to even now be sitting
20:30
Speaker 1: here as an Olympic champion, Like, it's just crazy what
20:33
Speaker 1: you could do when you put your mind to something.
20:35
Speaker 4: So yeah, I mean that's really the story.
20:38
Speaker 3: That's the story.
20:59
Speaker 2: Two things I want to double click on the first
21:01
Speaker 2: thing is how do you do it?
21:04
Speaker 3: And by it, I mean, how.
21:06
Speaker 2: Do you pick yourself up on the days that you
21:09
Speaker 2: don't feel so shiny and so capable, Because that is
21:12
Speaker 2: something that I'm sure all of us can really relate
21:15
Speaker 2: to what worked for you.
21:18
Speaker 4: I think the main thing that worked for me.
21:20
Speaker 1: I'm just a very positive person, So regardless of whatever
21:23
Speaker 1: situation I'm going through, I just try to stay as
21:25
Speaker 1: positive as possible.
21:27
Speaker 4: And I've always said like, I've had.
21:29
Speaker 1: A pretty good life for the most part, So last
21:34
Speaker 1: year was like pretty much like in terms of track
21:36
Speaker 1: and field, that was the most adversity that I've ever felt,
21:39
Speaker 1: not winning races, not doing good, not being the person
21:42
Speaker 1: that everyone expected for me to be. I'm coming out
21:44
Speaker 1: of from college being the collegiate record holder to now
21:48
Speaker 1: running times that I haven't seen since I was like
21:51
Speaker 1: a freshman or sophomore in college. So for me, I
21:55
Speaker 1: at that moment, I feel like when you put things
21:57
Speaker 1: out there and when you say things, it's like you're
21:59
Speaker 1: gonna get said on those things. So I'm like, all right,
22:02
Speaker 1: now I'm in the situation where you know, I was positive.
22:06
Speaker 4: It's easy to be positive.
22:07
Speaker 1: When everything's going in your favor, but now it's time
22:09
Speaker 1: to be positive and literally practice what you preach when
22:13
Speaker 1: you're now in a situation where it's not looking the
22:17
Speaker 1: way that you want it to be. So for me personally,
22:20
Speaker 1: my biggest advice is to literally just continue to show
22:22
Speaker 1: up for yourself however that looks, even if it's not
22:25
Speaker 1: in the way.
22:25
Speaker 4: That you want it to be.
22:27
Speaker 1: Just continuing to just show up is the best thing
22:30
Speaker 1: that you can do. I think, like it just builds
22:33
Speaker 1: so much mental fortitude and it just it proves to you,
22:36
Speaker 1: to you and yourself that like, regardless of how you feel,
22:40
Speaker 1: you can, you just got to get up.
22:41
Speaker 4: You just got to do it.
22:42
Speaker 1: And it sounds tough and it sounds hard, but sitting
22:46
Speaker 1: in the bed or feeling bad for yourself, like you're
22:49
Speaker 1: not gonna thank yourself for that once you get to where.
22:51
Speaker 4: You're where you're going, or where you're at or where
22:53
Speaker 4: you end up.
22:54
Speaker 1: And on the days that I didn't want to lift,
22:58
Speaker 1: you know, ways I didn't want to go to p
23:00
Speaker 1: I'm like, I have to. I have to do it
23:03
Speaker 1: because literally, like what you're going through is preparing you
23:07
Speaker 1: for where you're meant to be. And if you don't
23:09
Speaker 1: take those moments like as honestly a privilege. Then you'll
23:15
Speaker 1: never see the beauty in what you had to go through.
23:17
Speaker 1: So for me not winning any races, not believing in myself,
23:22
Speaker 1: having a whole bunch of doubt, not wanting to show up,
23:25
Speaker 1: it didn't mean anything when I crossed that line and
23:27
Speaker 1: I won the Olympic. So it's just about like doing
23:30
Speaker 1: it when you don't want to, because your self is
23:33
Speaker 1: gonna think yourself for showing up when you didn't want to.
23:38
Speaker 2: In the end, I am just looking at you and
23:41
Speaker 2: I'm like, so, I'm I'm thirty seven, just so we're
23:44
Speaker 2: all clear, and I am just looking at you and
23:46
Speaker 2: I'm like, Wow, if I had this together at twenty five,
23:50
Speaker 2: I don't even know where I would be right now.
23:53
Speaker 2: With that said, the second thing I want to double
23:55
Speaker 2: click on is you make it almost sound easy in
23:59
Speaker 2: that you have put in so many reps already, You
24:02
Speaker 2: have been tested already, and you learned through the adversity
24:06
Speaker 2: that you faced that when you face a hurdle, no
24:09
Speaker 2: pun intended, you then have the opportunity to come out
24:11
Speaker 2: on the other side and take what you've learned to
24:13
Speaker 2: become better, to continue to grow in a practical sense
24:18
Speaker 2: when you reflect on maybe some of the things that
24:22
Speaker 2: you did to help you get your mind right, what
24:25
Speaker 2: comes to mind. Were you journaling, were you reading? Were
24:27
Speaker 2: you outsourcing and talking to people that you care about
24:30
Speaker 2: about trying to pull yourself out of these difficult moments?
24:33
Speaker 3: What was in your toolbox? Messiah?
24:36
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think the main things that I would say
24:38
Speaker 1: was in my toolbox was one hundred percent journaling. Just
24:41
Speaker 1: like journaling whatever is like, oh my mind on my heart,
24:44
Speaker 1: like whatever thoughts, just put them on the paper, release it,
24:47
Speaker 1: let it go. And then also I said earlier, just manifesting,
24:53
Speaker 1: just putting out there what you want, what you see
24:56
Speaker 1: yourself doing, even if it sounds outland is or it
24:59
Speaker 1: sounds crazy. I'm happy, I'm great, I'm beautiful, I'm blessed.
25:04
Speaker 1: Like just saying things that will make you feel better
25:07
Speaker 1: is like so powerful. It's just so much power in
25:10
Speaker 1: the tongue. And honestly, like don't I don't say anything
25:14
Speaker 1: negative out my mouth Like that sounds crazy, but like
25:17
Speaker 1: when it comes to myself, I don't ever affirm anything
25:20
Speaker 1: about myself that's negative. Like if I don't feel like practicing,
25:23
Speaker 1: like I'm not gonna put light onto that it's just
25:25
Speaker 1: gonna be like, I'm not gonna say anything because it's
25:27
Speaker 1: gonna make the practice ten times harder. So you know,
25:30
Speaker 1: these are just like keys that of course I use
25:32
Speaker 1: in my sport right now, but I also use them
25:35
Speaker 1: in life in general, just how I show up. So
25:39
Speaker 1: I think that people underestimate what comes out of their mouth,
25:42
Speaker 1: and everything that I've spoken over my life has pretty
25:44
Speaker 1: much come to fruition, and it literally happening over a
25:49
Speaker 1: year of me just like practicing these things. So you know,
25:52
Speaker 1: just start like speaking positive, just speaking, start speaking life
25:55
Speaker 1: over yourself, over your situation, even if it's not where
25:58
Speaker 1: you want to be, Like literally be the like it
26:01
Speaker 1: sounds crazy, but be delusional in a positive light. And
26:03
Speaker 1: I think that for me that has been the biggest
26:05
Speaker 1: thing that I would say is in my two box,
26:07
Speaker 1: it's just writing down my goals, seeing my goals, speaking, manifesting, journaling,
26:13
Speaker 1: and just like being a positive person, like you can
26:16
Speaker 1: always look in any situation and flip it to a positive.
26:21
Speaker 4: It's just all about perspective.
26:22
Speaker 1: And I think that that's what's been able to like
26:24
Speaker 1: separate me from most It's just like the perspective that
26:27
Speaker 1: I take on to life. Like, I mean, I'm not
26:30
Speaker 1: about to start ranting, but I did not do what
26:32
Speaker 1: I wanted to do at the World Championships. I ended
26:34
Speaker 1: up coming fourth place, missing out on the medal after
26:37
Speaker 1: being the American record holder, after running twelve to one
26:39
Speaker 1: twice this year, Like everyone had me to win. But
26:42
Speaker 1: I know that that race is gonna be the reason
26:46
Speaker 1: why I do what I do in the future. It's
26:48
Speaker 1: not a failure. It's just a lesson that's setting me
26:51
Speaker 1: up for the biggest blessings.
26:53
Speaker 4: How did that feel coming forth?
26:56
Speaker 3: Yeah? Oof, it was what happened, talked me through that.
27:03
Speaker 1: For me, I mean, I think I've been through enough
27:05
Speaker 1: to now know how to like navigate the hardships. So yeah,
27:09
Speaker 1: I mean, honestly, like honestly, speaking to being super transparent,
27:13
Speaker 1: I felt actually very humiliated. I felt very embarrassed because
27:17
Speaker 1: everyone had me to win. I mean, I ran twelve
27:19
Speaker 1: to one and I ran twelve four that day, and
27:23
Speaker 1: I had an amazing season and I didn't show up
27:27
Speaker 1: when it mattered the most.
27:28
Speaker 4: I mean, yeah, I felt very embarrassed.
27:30
Speaker 1: But you know, for me, I didn't really beat myself
27:33
Speaker 1: up too much about it because I didn't have any
27:35
Speaker 1: regrets about it because I put so much work in.
27:38
Speaker 1: I do what I need to do, and unfortunately it
27:41
Speaker 1: didn't go in the way that I, of course envision.
27:44
Speaker 1: But it's not the end, you know, and it's just
27:48
Speaker 1: a setup for what's to come.
27:51
Speaker 4: And that's always my mindset. That's why I'm for me personally.
27:54
Speaker 1: I'll never feel because it's always a lesson to turn
27:59
Speaker 1: me into what the world will see. Yeah, And like
28:03
Speaker 1: I said, I had to humbly swallow my pride. I
28:07
Speaker 1: had to take a step back and understand who I am.
28:10
Speaker 1: I had to redirect my focus. I knew I had
28:12
Speaker 1: another race in Aflos, which was three weeks ago, and
28:16
Speaker 1: I ended up directing my focus to that, taking some
28:20
Speaker 1: time to myself, you know, regrouit, refocus, reset, and I
28:24
Speaker 1: attacked that race and I ended my season in a
28:28
Speaker 1: way that I was happy with. So yeah, I mean,
28:30
Speaker 1: it's life, it's sports. And once again, like of course
28:34
Speaker 1: I'm talking about like sports and marathon talk, but all
28:39
Speaker 1: of these things that I'm saying, like I would just
28:41
Speaker 1: take to life like it's just how you show up,
28:44
Speaker 1: it's how you think of it. It's just the perspective
28:46
Speaker 1: that you have and Yeah, you could be sad, give
28:50
Speaker 1: yourself a couple of days, but life continues to move
28:53
Speaker 1: like nothing will stop just because you do. So that's
28:57
Speaker 1: the you know, that's the way that I look at it,
28:58
Speaker 1: and it's just it is what it is.
29:01
Speaker 3: It is what it is.
29:02
Speaker 2: It's so impressive to hear firstly about this mindset, but
29:07
Speaker 2: then the sentence I don't fail.
29:11
Speaker 3: I don't fail.
29:14
Speaker 2: That is not a sentence that is often a part
29:18
Speaker 2: of many people's vocabulary. It's such a beautiful way to
29:24
Speaker 2: frame what you go through in your life, whether you
29:27
Speaker 2: get the outcome that you want or you don't.
29:31
Speaker 3: I also think.
29:32
Speaker 2: That it's so valuable the way that you talk through
29:35
Speaker 2: the thought process of it's not that I don't have
29:38
Speaker 2: a single negative thought, but then I get to make
29:42
Speaker 2: the conscious choice of what happens with that negative thought.
29:45
Speaker 2: I don't give in to that negative thought. And that's
29:49
Speaker 2: again it's a huge challenge to get to that place. Now,
29:54
Speaker 2: you said that journaling is a regular part of your routine.
29:57
Speaker 2: Can you like give us a slice of what that
29:59
Speaker 2: looks like for you? What does your journaling practice look like?
30:02
Speaker 1: So I have two journals, ones like a guided like
30:05
Speaker 1: five minute journal, and then the other one's just like
30:07
Speaker 1: literally a blank page, and the five minute one is
30:12
Speaker 1: just like, you know, what are your daily affirmations, like
30:15
Speaker 1: what are you grateful for?
30:16
Speaker 4: What things are you looking for?
30:18
Speaker 1: And yeah, like you know, just basic gratitude type of things.
30:23
Speaker 4: And then on the other journal.
30:24
Speaker 1: Like I said, it's really just about like what I
30:26
Speaker 1: feel in that moment, at that time, at that day.
30:30
Speaker 1: It could be like go out there and kill it,
30:32
Speaker 1: lock in, zone out, be you like super straightforward, or
30:36
Speaker 1: it could be just like whatever is literally on my
30:39
Speaker 1: heart and mind.
30:39
Speaker 4: So yeah, that's the main things.
30:41
Speaker 3: How does it feel to finally be in your off season?
30:45
Speaker 4: Yeah, it feels good.
30:47
Speaker 1: I need to stay on social media because I'm seeing
30:49
Speaker 1: like other people starting to train and I'm like, I'm
30:51
Speaker 1: ready to start, Like I'm like, so I'm definitely trying
30:55
Speaker 1: to like limit my social media intake and seeing what
30:59
Speaker 1: other people are doing, just because I did just finish
31:01
Speaker 1: my season three weeks ago and I was pretty much
31:04
Speaker 1: running for almost a year straight, so I know I
31:07
Speaker 1: need to get myself some time off just because the
31:09
Speaker 1: season this year is just as long as it was
31:12
Speaker 1: from last season. I'm gonna be running again to a September,
31:15
Speaker 1: so I'm like, I could take some time to just breathe,
31:19
Speaker 1: and I think for me that's the biggest thing that
31:21
Speaker 1: will help towards my longevity in the sport. I think
31:24
Speaker 1: that like we don't always give ourselves enough time, and
31:28
Speaker 1: a lot of times throughout this year and this season,
31:32
Speaker 1: coming back as the Olympic champion, I felt like I
31:34
Speaker 1: had so much to prove to the world, to everybody else,
31:37
Speaker 1: to the blogs, to the fans, and I wasn't really
31:40
Speaker 1: giving myself enough time.
31:41
Speaker 4: And although I did have the mindset.
31:44
Speaker 1: That I have to show up, keep pushing, keep fighting,
31:47
Speaker 1: like you shouldn't have to want to like pull yourself
31:51
Speaker 1: every single day to do something that you love.
31:53
Speaker 4: So for me, I mean, yeah, I pulled through and
31:56
Speaker 4: I ran a.
31:56
Speaker 1: Lot of great times, but a lot of times when
31:58
Speaker 1: I stepped to the line, it was it was kind
32:00
Speaker 1: of hard, just because I didn't give myself enough time
32:03
Speaker 1: last year after the Olympics to mentally just detached and
32:07
Speaker 1: mentally reset. So this year I'm definitely just trying to
32:10
Speaker 1: like actually just be be and not think about track
32:15
Speaker 1: and you know, just allow what to happen when it
32:17
Speaker 1: comes back around, because I mean it's a part of
32:19
Speaker 1: what I do, but it's not the only thing that
32:22
Speaker 1: I do, so it's good to just take some time.
32:41
Speaker 2: I want to talk about recovery in just a second,
32:43
Speaker 2: but before we do, you brought up social media. For
32:47
Speaker 2: those of you that aren't following Massai on the socials,
32:50
Speaker 2: she's got quite the big TikTok following, quite the big
32:53
Speaker 2: Instagram following. I'm talking like over like one point four
32:56
Speaker 2: million combined.
32:57
Speaker 3: That sounds like a lot of pressure, question Mark.
33:02
Speaker 2: I mean, I bring this back to what you were
33:03
Speaker 2: saying about what happened at Worlds and you were like,
33:05
Speaker 2: I was embarrassed. Is a part of that the size
33:09
Speaker 2: of your following and how have you navigated that rise
33:13
Speaker 2: of people keeping up with you?
33:15
Speaker 3: How does that make you feel?
33:16
Speaker 1: I think the people keeping up with me, I think
33:18
Speaker 1: it's kind of natural, just because I've always like just
33:21
Speaker 1: it's been authentic for me to just post my life,
33:23
Speaker 1: post what I'm doing, just be like just being me honestly,
33:28
Speaker 1: So it hasn't really felt like any pressure. I feel
33:29
Speaker 1: like the pressure has kind of come now from me
33:32
Speaker 1: being the Olympic champion. So you know, the people within
33:35
Speaker 1: the track world, the fans, like people who didn't know
33:38
Speaker 1: about me before the Olympics that now know about me
33:41
Speaker 1: expect something amazing every single time I compete. So I mean,
33:45
Speaker 1: once again, it's all about the mindset, and I just
33:48
Speaker 1: look at it as a privilege, and there's privilege for
33:52
Speaker 1: you to have pressure. You know, like people expect something
33:56
Speaker 1: of me. It's something that people want to see. People
33:58
Speaker 1: know that I'm capable of these great things. So you know,
34:00
Speaker 1: I just shipped my mindset in that sense. But I
34:03
Speaker 1: don't think the embarrassment came from social media. I think
34:06
Speaker 1: this my social media fans were actually like no one
34:09
Speaker 1: really said anything like that was like outland ish, Like
34:12
Speaker 1: I didn't see any crazy comments. I think the embarrassing
34:16
Speaker 1: morisel came from myself and how I viewed myself and
34:20
Speaker 1: what I expected of myself.
34:22
Speaker 4: And the people in my circle.
34:23
Speaker 1: You know, like I had big goals, I had big plans,
34:26
Speaker 1: and you know, it just didn't happen the way that
34:29
Speaker 1: me and my team expected. But you know, once again,
34:32
Speaker 1: it is what it is. And you know, people was asking.
34:34
Speaker 4: Like are you okay? Are you fine?
34:36
Speaker 1: I'm like, yeah, I'm still living, I'm still here. I'm
34:38
Speaker 1: so healthy. I'm blessed. You know, I've taken more losses
34:40
Speaker 1: than I've ever won, So I'm like, I've been here before,
34:44
Speaker 1: and y'all know what happens when I've been down there
34:46
Speaker 1: and what I do and to get to where I'm going,
34:49
Speaker 1: So you know, it's all right.
34:50
Speaker 4: It's just part of the story.
34:53
Speaker 2: Part of the story, recovery, as I said that I
34:56
Speaker 2: wanted to come back to. It also involves a little
34:59
Speaker 2: bit of Celi And I know that you said that
35:03
Speaker 2: you're not always good at celebrating yourself when we're aiming
35:07
Speaker 2: for our next big goal. What is something that you're
35:11
Speaker 2: looking forward to doing in this off season part of
35:14
Speaker 2: that recovery and maybe a little bit part of that celebration.
35:17
Speaker 1: Laying on the beach, phone on, do not disturb in
35:23
Speaker 1: literally just detaching. So I think that that's the main
35:27
Speaker 1: thing I'm looking forward to.
35:29
Speaker 2: I'm not blowing up besides Spot, but she's going on
35:31
Speaker 2: vacation next weekend, and I think it's getting a little
35:34
Speaker 2: cold here, so this will be I'm inspired.
35:36
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's time to go.
35:37
Speaker 3: It's time to go.
35:39
Speaker 4: Takes time to get out of New York.
35:41
Speaker 2: I appreciate the sentiments that you are sharing on how
35:45
Speaker 2: you only vocalize to yourself these positive thoughts. But what
35:49
Speaker 2: other advice do you have for these women as they
35:52
Speaker 2: toe the line on Sunday going to be out there
35:54
Speaker 2: for quite some time. To stay positive, remembering that every
35:57
Speaker 2: single second is an opportunity to start over.
36:00
Speaker 1: Say, I'll give you, guys, everything that's in my toolbox,
36:02
Speaker 1: Like you put the work in, You've done everything that
36:05
Speaker 1: you've needed to do to be here now. So whatever
36:09
Speaker 1: is meant to happen is gonna happen. And I think
36:10
Speaker 1: that you just have to be okay and accept that
36:13
Speaker 1: in your mind and detach all the expectations of what
36:18
Speaker 1: anyone believes that you should do or even you're putting
36:21
Speaker 1: on yourself. So just be just just be happy, just
36:24
Speaker 1: be blessed that you're able to run. You know, I
36:27
Speaker 1: think we take little things like that for granted, like
36:29
Speaker 1: just being able to run, walk, get up, like to
36:32
Speaker 1: do things on our own. You know, we just are
36:34
Speaker 1: so like on the go, we don't even sometimes take
36:37
Speaker 1: time to be thankful for the tiny things that allow
36:40
Speaker 1: us to get from point A to point B. Running
36:43
Speaker 1: a marathon is insane in general, Like I don't think
36:48
Speaker 1: I could ever do it, So just be you whatever
36:52
Speaker 1: is meant to happen. Just be happy for yourself, be
36:54
Speaker 1: happy that you're here, happy that you're alive, and y'all
36:57
Speaker 1: are gonna kill it.
36:58
Speaker 4: I wish I could be out there.
37:00
Speaker 2: Remember that you are part of a very small, elite
37:04
Speaker 2: group of humans that choose to torture yourself this way.
37:08
Speaker 2: So again, to Massiz's point, this is an opportunity, It's
37:11
Speaker 2: a blessing and the chance to show up at all
37:14
Speaker 2: at that starting line.
37:15
Speaker 3: It's such a.
37:16
Speaker 4: Gift accomplishment within it. So so true.
37:19
Speaker 2: Now we did touch on your great amount of social
37:22
Speaker 2: media followers. Those people they come to your page, they
37:25
Speaker 2: see this stunning woman who Olympic champion, American record holder.
37:32
Speaker 2: But when you look in the mirror, Massia, what is
37:34
Speaker 2: it that you see looking back at you?
37:37
Speaker 4: Oh that's a key question. Well thanks girl.
37:41
Speaker 1: I think for me personally, when I look at myself
37:44
Speaker 1: in the mirror, I just see someone with still so
37:48
Speaker 1: much potential, someone that's still so eager to just get better,
37:53
Speaker 1: to learn new things, not even just on the track.
37:56
Speaker 1: Just I'm young, I'm twenty five. I'm like, I'm trying
37:59
Speaker 1: to get a little girl.
38:00
Speaker 2: I'm sorry, I feel like I really blew up your
38:02
Speaker 2: spot of the here.
38:04
Speaker 4: But yeah, no, you're all good.
38:07
Speaker 1: But I'm like, you know, I'm still like so young
38:10
Speaker 1: in the adult life, and it's still just so much
38:13
Speaker 1: to learn. So you know, any person, any place, any
38:18
Speaker 1: experience that I have, I just take so much from everybody.
38:21
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter who I'm talking to, Like, I learned
38:26
Speaker 1: from everybody, and I think for me, I'm just still
38:29
Speaker 1: so eager and just so blessed and just so adamant
38:33
Speaker 1: to continue to learn who I am, continue to you know,
38:36
Speaker 1: do my thing as a professional, but just to continue
38:38
Speaker 1: to grow as being an inspiration to so many and
38:42
Speaker 1: to continue giving back and just using my voice as
38:45
Speaker 1: a way to just inspire just because I mean, I've
38:48
Speaker 1: come from literally not being an Olympic gold medalist, like
38:52
Speaker 1: to this day it sounds insane to me, but I've
38:55
Speaker 1: been able to create something for myself and of.
38:58
Speaker 4: Course with the help of God.
38:59
Speaker 1: But just God has given me the strength to use
39:02
Speaker 1: my voice to help people and to show people the
39:04
Speaker 1: way they like, you could create the life that you want.
39:06
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter, the age, doesn't matter, the time, Like
39:09
Speaker 1: you could start today by just putting yourself first and
39:12
Speaker 1: speaking positive things over yourself, positive things over your life,
39:15
Speaker 1: and you could create something that you wouldn't be able
39:18
Speaker 1: to recognize when you look in the mirror. So sometimes
39:21
Speaker 1: it took a minute for me to realize, like, wait,
39:24
Speaker 1: I am who I am? I had impostually synd on
39:26
Speaker 1: for a minute, but now you know it's definitely it's
39:29
Speaker 1: set in, And I mean like I know who I
39:31
Speaker 1: am now, but yeah, for sure, like just continueing to
39:36
Speaker 1: explore me.
39:37
Speaker 3: Raise your hand if you want to run through a
39:39
Speaker 3: brick wall. I'm so inspired by you. And I also think.
39:43
Speaker 2: That when we speak about this positive mindset again, we
39:47
Speaker 2: can't run this point home enough. You get to decide
39:53
Speaker 2: what it is that you do with your thoughts, whether
39:56
Speaker 2: it is on Sunday or bigger than Sunday. You get
40:00
Speaker 2: that opportunity each and every time you said you've checked
40:03
Speaker 2: off some things that you've wanted to do. What are
40:06
Speaker 2: you looking forward to right now? MASSI what else do
40:08
Speaker 2: you want to check off?
40:10
Speaker 1: I think in the track road of course everyone they
40:13
Speaker 1: probably know, but for you guys listening now, of course,
40:17
Speaker 1: my goal is to break the world record. My best
40:20
Speaker 1: is twelve seventeen. The world record is twelve twelve, so
40:24
Speaker 1: I'm like five five, five hundreds, blink of and I
40:31
Speaker 1: off of the world record. So you know, that's the
40:33
Speaker 1: next big goal. And just to continue to dominate, continue
40:35
Speaker 1: to win more medals and win the Olympics in LA
40:39
Speaker 1: twenty eight.
40:40
Speaker 3: No big deal.
40:45
Speaker 2: Right now, MASSI, you have an opportunity to offer yourself
40:49
Speaker 2: a piece of advice. I'm going to go back to
40:51
Speaker 2: that difficult streak of time you had before showing up
40:55
Speaker 2: to usas taking home that w getting the meat record
40:58
Speaker 2: and then ultimately landing your as an Olympic champion. Knowing
41:02
Speaker 2: what you know now, what advice would you give to
41:05
Speaker 2: yourself during that hurdle moment?
41:08
Speaker 1: Just to continue to believe in yourself, I tell myself,
41:11
Speaker 1: all you have is all you need. I think we're
41:14
Speaker 1: all blessed with something specific within us, and it's just
41:18
Speaker 1: about you utilizing the gift that each and every one
41:21
Speaker 1: of us have within us and not looking at, you know,
41:25
Speaker 1: the next person and comparing what they have versus what
41:28
Speaker 1: you don't have. And yeah, just understanding that everything that
41:32
Speaker 1: you have within you is everything that you need to
41:34
Speaker 1: be successful. So if I could go back and tell
41:38
Speaker 1: myself that probably would have ran a little faster, but
41:40
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter now, right.
41:42
Speaker 2: It doesn't matter now now for those of the ladies
41:45
Speaker 2: and the audience that aren't following along with you, just yet,
41:48
Speaker 2: give us your details. Where do we find you on
41:50
Speaker 2: the socials?
41:51
Speaker 4: Yeah?
41:52
Speaker 1: Well, honestly on every platform it's the same. Not many
41:55
Speaker 1: people have my name, so it's m Asai.
42:00
Speaker 4: And then if she come up after that, Massigh Russell.
42:05
Speaker 3: You know how I do it.
42:06
Speaker 2: On the show I'm Over at Emily a Body and
42:08
Speaker 2: at Hurdle Podcast we say another hurdle conquered, Thank.
42:11
Speaker 3: You so much. Let's give it up for a MASSI