Latest / Hurdle with Emily Abbate / RUNNING THROUGH: Tara Davis, Olympian & Long Jumper

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RUNNING THROUGH: Tara Davis, Olympian & Long Jumper · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

0:00
Speaker 1: I'm grateful. I'm so, so so grateful from that moment
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Speaker 1: of me being depressed because I can see I always
0:08
Speaker 1: say there's a light at the end of the tunnel,
0:09
Speaker 1: and I can never see it until December seventh.
0:26
Speaker 2: Hey everyone, Emily Abani here, you are listening to a
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Speaker 2: special week of content here on Hurdle called Running Through
0:37
Speaker 2: with Global Running Day on Wednesday, June first, It's only
0:40
Speaker 2: fitting that we wrap up season nine and celebrate all week.
0:43
Speaker 3: By bringing five back to back episodes to the feed.
0:47
Speaker 3: You guys, you know the deal.
0:49
Speaker 4: Here on the show, I am dedicated to bringing hurdler's
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Speaker 4: content that encompasses all that is wellness. Still running holds
0:57
Speaker 4: a really special place in my heart. While idly leaned
1:00
Speaker 4: into running as a weight loss tool back in college,
1:03
Speaker 4: it has turned into a passion of mine, helping me
1:07
Speaker 4: personally get through a ton of difficult hurdle moments and
1:12
Speaker 4: ten marathons later become a happier, healthier version of myself.
1:17
Speaker 4: This week, I am talking with other inspiring women who
1:20
Speaker 4: have also turned to running during some of life's biggest,
1:23
Speaker 4: darkest hurdles. We get vulnerable talking about tough topics like
1:27
Speaker 4: loss and grief, depression and postpartum depression, and how running
1:31
Speaker 4: in sport has helped them persevere, rediscover their self worth
1:35
Speaker 4: and move forward with their head held high. For today's episode,
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Speaker 4: I am chatting with Tara Davis. She is a professional
1:43
Speaker 4: track and field athlete, a long jumper, and as of yesterday,
1:49
Speaker 4: the big announcement that we talk about in today's episode,
1:52
Speaker 4: she is now a global Blue bu Lemon ambassador. So
1:56
Speaker 4: excited about this episode, specifically because you may recognize Tara,
2:01
Speaker 4: because let's just say it for what it is. She
2:04
Speaker 4: blew up after the twenty twenty Olympic Trials thanks to
2:08
Speaker 4: her fiery personality and her go getter attitude and.
2:12
Speaker 3: On camera shenanigans.
2:14
Speaker 4: Since then, she has been having a blast making content
2:18
Speaker 4: with her now beyance and fellow Global Lululemon ambassador Hunter Woodhall.
2:24
Speaker 4: Today she's on the podcast Solo, something that I don't
2:29
Speaker 4: believe she has done just yet. Usually her and Hunter
2:33
Speaker 4: a dynamic duo. So amped to have her here to
2:36
Speaker 4: get personal, to talk about her journey and hers alone,
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Speaker 4: navigating everything from the pressures that go hand in hand
2:43
Speaker 4: but going after your big Olympic dreams for her, that
2:47
Speaker 4: involved navigating abouts of depression and what it was like
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Speaker 4: for her to navigate both long distance and the pandemic,
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Speaker 4: finishing at college, going to the Olympics all at.
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Speaker 3: The same time.
3:00
Speaker 4: Really really grateful that Tara decided to get vulnerable with
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Speaker 4: us and this convo is one not to be missed.
3:07
Speaker 3: Before we dive in, I have to give.
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Speaker 4: A huge, huge thanks to my sponsor for this week
3:13
Speaker 4: of content, and that sponsor is Tracksmith. Tracksmith, as you
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3:57
Speaker 3: Now this is really special to me.
3:59
Speaker 4: Tracksmith is working with me to support an organization that
4:02
Speaker 4: I feel passionately about, especially after the awful massacre last
4:08
Speaker 4: week in Alvaldi, Texas at rob Elementary.
4:12
Speaker 3: And that organization is every Town.
4:14
Speaker 4: For every order that is purchased on tracksmith dot com
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Speaker 4: using the code Hurdle twenty two, Tracksmith will donate five
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Speaker 4: percent of.
4:25
Speaker 3: All sales to every Town.
4:27
Speaker 4: Now, for those of you who don't know, every Town
4:30
Speaker 4: is an organization that advocates for gun control and against
4:34
Speaker 4: gun violence. So grateful to Tracksmith for partnering with me
4:40
Speaker 4: on this and again. That code for anyone to do
4:43
Speaker 4: some good and get free shipping over on tracksmith dot
4:46
Speaker 4: com is Hurdle twenty two. Make sure you're following along
4:51
Speaker 4: with Hurdle. Over on the Socials is a hurdle podcast.
4:53
Speaker 4: I am over at Emily a body and with that,
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Speaker 4: let's get to hurdling.
5:08
Speaker 3: Today. I am sitting down with Tara Davis.
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Speaker 4: She is a professional track and field athlete, a long
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Speaker 4: jumper and Olympian.
5:16
Speaker 3: How you doing today, Tara?
5:17
Speaker 1: I am good. Thank you so much for having me.
5:20
Speaker 4: I am so excited to have you. You have nothing
5:23
Speaker 4: going on right now, like absolutely nothing. You must be
5:26
Speaker 4: so bored, so far from it, so far from it. Well,
5:32
Speaker 4: we're recording this before a very big week for you,
5:35
Speaker 4: but it's coming out after you make a major announcement.
5:39
Speaker 4: So do you want to share what your news is
5:42
Speaker 4: with us to start our collage?
5:45
Speaker 1: Absolutely so. In track and field, I'm a professional athlete
5:50
Speaker 1: and my fiance and I just signed with Lululemon. We
5:54
Speaker 1: are now world ambassadors for the Lululemon team and we
5:58
Speaker 1: are just so excited to be on board and be
6:01
Speaker 1: with the team and see where it.
6:03
Speaker 3: Takes us, see where it takes us.
6:05
Speaker 4: Congratulations, I need like an applause, like and for you
6:08
Speaker 4: to put into yeah, to put into the podcast here.
6:12
Speaker 4: That's so exciting, so exciting and such a big moment,
6:16
Speaker 4: especially you know, being our professional athlete. So many costs
6:19
Speaker 4: that come and in hand with that, and we'll get
6:22
Speaker 4: into your backstory a little bit, but it's expensive to
6:25
Speaker 4: navigate on your own.
6:26
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, very expensive. And before I went professional some
6:31
Speaker 1: track meets I had to pay my own way to
6:33
Speaker 1: get to and just recently we paid our way to
6:36
Speaker 1: go to California and paid for the hotel and paid
6:38
Speaker 1: for the flight and paid for everything about going on.
6:41
Speaker 1: I was like, Wow, this sport is really really expensive,
6:45
Speaker 1: especially if you don't have any sponsors around. You know,
6:48
Speaker 1: there's so many track meets around the world, but you
6:50
Speaker 1: have to travel to them and you're not staying there
6:53
Speaker 1: just for one day or staying there for multiple days.
6:55
Speaker 1: And then on top of eating and training and you know,
6:58
Speaker 1: just doing all of that, just recovery and massage is
7:00
Speaker 1: and you know it's expensive, and not having someone to
7:04
Speaker 1: support you can really just like make the sport not
7:08
Speaker 1: fun for anyone or for the person, you know. So
7:12
Speaker 1: I'm so, so so grateful that Hunter and I have
7:16
Speaker 1: this cool sponsorship that you know, supports us and supports
7:20
Speaker 1: not only what we do on the track, but what
7:22
Speaker 1: we do off the track as well.
7:24
Speaker 3: Yeah, super super awesome.
7:26
Speaker 4: And obviously we're throwing Hunter's name into the mix here.
7:30
Speaker 4: If you have been living under a rock and you
7:33
Speaker 4: don't know a Tari's fiance, his name is Hunter Woodall.
7:37
Speaker 4: He is also an Olympian. Give us some context into
7:42
Speaker 4: what it's like to be in a relationship with someone
7:46
Speaker 4: who is as obscenely competitive as involved in sport as
7:51
Speaker 4: you are.
7:52
Speaker 1: It's honestly such a fun journey because we know we
7:56
Speaker 1: do the same exact thing and not the same event,
8:00
Speaker 1: but the same sport, and we both know how tiring
8:04
Speaker 1: and what track and field is, and like having someone
8:06
Speaker 1: who can get it, if that makes sense, like get
8:11
Speaker 1: what we're going through, it's so much easier. And so
8:16
Speaker 1: I think it's better to have, you know, my significant
8:18
Speaker 1: other being the same sport because one day I'm having
8:21
Speaker 1: a bad day, but I don't have to explain to
8:23
Speaker 1: him why I'm having a bad day or a bad practice.
8:25
Speaker 1: He already just knows. And same for him, like I
8:29
Speaker 1: know he's had a really hard workout. We probably don't
8:32
Speaker 1: want to go, you know, walk around the mall for
8:34
Speaker 1: two and a half hours, and like I just we
8:37
Speaker 1: get it. We get each other and we get like
8:38
Speaker 1: what's going on. It's just a lot easier.
8:42
Speaker 4: And it's it's super interesting to me. I mean, you yourself,
8:45
Speaker 4: you're a ball of energy. You're so fiery. But you
8:49
Speaker 4: even said at the top of this episode, like Hunter
8:51
Speaker 4: and I got signed to Lulu Lemon, and before I
8:55
Speaker 4: sat down with you today, I was like looking for
8:57
Speaker 4: just Tara Davis interviews and there aren't a lot of them.
9:02
Speaker 3: So together you get to do a lot.
9:04
Speaker 4: But I personally, selfishly am excited to have you here
9:08
Speaker 4: on your own today.
9:09
Speaker 1: Thank you so much.
9:11
Speaker 3: I'm so excited.
9:13
Speaker 1: It's fun doing things together, but it's also fun doing
9:15
Speaker 1: things like separately. It's kind of like throes back to
9:18
Speaker 1: like when you know we weren't together and what we
9:20
Speaker 1: used to do not together.
9:22
Speaker 3: So you've been together for a while.
9:24
Speaker 4: Now, talk to us a little bit before we get
9:27
Speaker 4: into more of your Olympic journey, which is what I
9:31
Speaker 4: really do want to talk about today.
9:33
Speaker 3: Talk to us about what it was like meeting him.
9:36
Speaker 4: You started dating and got exclusive pretty fast right before college,
9:40
Speaker 4: so give us some context there.
9:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, so Hunter and I met. We were both seventeen.
9:45
Speaker 1: He was actually turned eighteen that day. We were in
9:48
Speaker 1: Simplot at Simplot Games, which is in pokatell Idaho, and
9:52
Speaker 1: it's just an indoor track, super small, and he was
9:55
Speaker 1: running a race and I saw him and I was like,
9:57
Speaker 1: oh wow, he's pretty cute, and I we went up
10:00
Speaker 1: onto the track as he finished his race. I don't
10:03
Speaker 1: know why, but I just had a feeling that I
10:05
Speaker 1: had to hug him and give him a hug, and
10:07
Speaker 1: I went out to him. I was like, I don't
10:09
Speaker 1: know why I'm doing this from giving you a hug,
10:11
Speaker 1: and then I was like pretty much it for that
10:15
Speaker 1: track me and then we followed each other on social
10:16
Speaker 1: media and began talking on there, and then you know,
10:20
Speaker 1: it just kind of took off. And at first, like
10:23
Speaker 1: we knew we liked each other, but it wasn't like exclusive,
10:28
Speaker 1: like we're not telling each other we like each other.
10:30
Speaker 1: And then I don't know, someone we posted a picture
10:33
Speaker 1: together and someone's like, oh my gosh, you guys would
10:35
Speaker 1: be such a cute couple, and we're like, we should
10:36
Speaker 1: pretend that we're dating, but like for dead, but actually
10:40
Speaker 1: started dating. So we just played along with everyone and like, actually,
10:44
Speaker 1: like I really like you and he's like, I really
10:46
Speaker 1: like you. And then you know, just started dating. And
10:48
Speaker 1: then college came around. Immediately went to long distance, which
10:52
Speaker 1: was not fun, but it made our relationship our relationship.
10:56
Speaker 1: So we did long distance for four years all of
10:59
Speaker 1: college up until August I moved in with him in Faetteville, Arkansas.
11:05
Speaker 3: Wow. Wow.
11:07
Speaker 4: Also of note, which we haven't covered yet, is that
11:09
Speaker 4: Hunter is a paralympian, so he is working with two
11:14
Speaker 4: prosthetic legs. When you guys started dating, was that even
11:17
Speaker 4: something that you thought about or you were just so
11:20
Speaker 4: taken by him?
11:21
Speaker 3: That was never like in the equation for you.
11:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, I get this question, and I kind of just
11:27
Speaker 1: didn't even. It didn't phaze me. I was more focused
11:31
Speaker 1: on him himself and his personality and just his like
11:36
Speaker 1: aura himself, and I didn't even. It wasn't even a thought.
11:41
Speaker 1: And I don't know, it's still not a thought. I
11:43
Speaker 1: kind of forget that. You know, he doesn't have two
11:45
Speaker 1: feet seas like everyone else, but it's cool it makes him.
11:50
Speaker 3: Has that been challenging for the both of you at times?
11:54
Speaker 1: No, only when he wants me to go do stuff
11:56
Speaker 1: for him to get out of bed at first, and
12:01
Speaker 1: I'm like, no, you get out of bed.
12:04
Speaker 3: You figure it out. Yeah, oh my god, Oh my god.
12:08
Speaker 4: Well, okay, so you guys met super young, dated all
12:12
Speaker 4: of college, and during this.
12:13
Speaker 3: Time you transfer schools.
12:16
Speaker 4: You start at one university, end up at University of Texas,
12:20
Speaker 4: and you're both training at this like next level that
12:25
Speaker 4: must be in itself for you have been certainly challenging
12:30
Speaker 4: navigating all of the emotions that go hand in hand
12:33
Speaker 4: with trying to be a full time student, a full
12:35
Speaker 4: time athlete, and also in a long distance relationship, and then.
12:39
Speaker 1: Trying to have a social life as well, and it's
12:43
Speaker 1: just like a lot of things piling on top of
12:45
Speaker 1: each other, you know, trying to and then try to
12:47
Speaker 1: figure out what adult life is or what you know,
12:49
Speaker 1: how to live a life without parents or without someone
12:53
Speaker 1: telling you what to do when you know it's it
12:55
Speaker 1: was hard trying to navigate through all of it, and
13:01
Speaker 1: it I mean I got through it. It wasn't easy,
13:05
Speaker 1: but I got through it. And with the help of
13:08
Speaker 1: my fiance Hunter. He knew what I was going through
13:12
Speaker 1: and I knew what he was going through, so we
13:14
Speaker 1: could relate on that and help each other throughout those
13:17
Speaker 1: hard times.
13:19
Speaker 4: Then, as you are navigating all of this, what year
13:23
Speaker 4: do you graduate college?
13:25
Speaker 1: I graduated in twenty twenty one. I went to the
13:27
Speaker 1: Olympics while I was still in college, and I was
13:31
Speaker 1: doing assignments in Tokyo.
13:33
Speaker 4: Oh my gosh, and like navigating a global pandemic.
13:37
Speaker 3: So that's really where I want to go with this.
13:39
Speaker 4: I want to talk to you about that experience, because
13:43
Speaker 4: I'm sure a stress anxiety unlike any other navigating all
13:50
Speaker 4: of that during so much uncertainty in our world.
13:54
Speaker 3: So where were you when things got shut down?
13:59
Speaker 1: I was actually at my house in my apartment. My
14:03
Speaker 1: teammates had just left two Nationals, so I was a
14:06
Speaker 1: little upset because I couldn't go with them because I
14:09
Speaker 1: didn't make the team. I was like, dang, like I
14:12
Speaker 1: really wish I got to go. And then all of
14:14
Speaker 1: a sudden, the my group chat of the team starts
14:20
Speaker 1: blowing up and they're like, why are we going home?
14:23
Speaker 1: What's going on? Like we just got here. They're telling
14:26
Speaker 1: us the Nationals to shut down, no fans allowed, and
14:29
Speaker 1: it was like everything was a bit confusing, and I
14:32
Speaker 1: was like stating at home, like what the Heck's going on?
14:34
Speaker 1: Hunter called me telling me that he was on the
14:36
Speaker 1: flight and I guess they're the president of their school
14:40
Speaker 1: said no no travel for athletes and they had just
14:44
Speaker 1: landed in New Mexico and he calls me. He's like,
14:47
Speaker 1: I have no idea what's going on? Like I think
14:49
Speaker 1: we're about to go home And I was like what,
14:51
Speaker 1: Like you just got there. So long story short, Hunter
14:55
Speaker 1: ends up coming to Austin and they get back to FAYEO.
14:58
Speaker 1: Everyone comes back home and Hunter books it to Austin.
15:01
Speaker 1: We thought he was gonna stay for like a week
15:03
Speaker 1: or two, ends up staying for six months and like
15:06
Speaker 1: we just lived together for six months, and it was like,
15:11
Speaker 1: at first it was a little terrifying because I didn't
15:13
Speaker 1: know where track was going. I didn't know how the
15:16
Speaker 1: Olympics were gonna go. I didn't know anything because everything
15:19
Speaker 1: was just shut down. No one knew anything. But then
15:22
Speaker 1: realization set in, like Track's over for the year, Track
15:25
Speaker 1: is done, there's no there's not gonna be the Olympics.
15:28
Speaker 1: And I think Hunter and I took full advantage of
15:31
Speaker 1: this moment and just lived a normal life while everything
15:36
Speaker 1: wasn't normal. We got to be together, we got to
15:39
Speaker 1: just enjoy each other's time and just I would say,
15:42
Speaker 1: learn more about each other than we ever learned before
15:45
Speaker 1: because we were in one space for longer than twenty
15:48
Speaker 1: four hours together. And I personally enjoyed COVID because of
15:53
Speaker 1: that reason, because I got to, you know, track has
15:57
Speaker 1: always been in my life since I was four years old,
15:59
Speaker 1: and it finally wasn't And it was a weird transition.
16:02
Speaker 1: It was weird change, but it was so cool. I
16:05
Speaker 1: had no responsibilities. I had nothing to, you know, go
16:08
Speaker 1: do at twelve thirty in the afternoon, I didn't have
16:11
Speaker 1: to go practice and stuff. So I found myself. I
16:14
Speaker 1: found like what I like to do. I had to
16:17
Speaker 1: think about if Track was taken away, what other hobbies
16:19
Speaker 1: would I like to do? And we filmed a lot
16:23
Speaker 1: of YouTube videos. We filmed so many things. We got
16:25
Speaker 1: to have one on one time with each other and
16:28
Speaker 1: you know, just live a life like a normal couple would.
16:31
Speaker 4: What else did you learn about yourself? When you say
16:35
Speaker 4: I got to really learn who Tara was?
16:38
Speaker 3: Who is Tara without Track and Field?
16:42
Speaker 1: I that's a really big question because at the time
16:45
Speaker 1: I was like just doing stuff that I wouldn't have
16:48
Speaker 1: been doing, you know, like staying up until four am
16:51
Speaker 1: watching Netflix, or you know, like I didn't know I
16:53
Speaker 1: could grub all of this food and such like a
16:56
Speaker 1: short amount of time. And just like I didn't see
17:02
Speaker 1: I was always focused on Track and not on the
17:04
Speaker 1: bigger world. I didn't know there's all of these like
17:08
Speaker 1: what did we do? We did almost everything. We went
17:11
Speaker 1: to the creek, we went to play with my dog.
17:12
Speaker 1: I trained my dog, taught so many tricks to him,
17:16
Speaker 1: and like it was just I want to say I
17:20
Speaker 1: found myself, but I don't know how to say, like
17:23
Speaker 1: what I found within myself? But it was just another
17:26
Speaker 1: chapter of life where track was involved.
17:30
Speaker 4: And it's really interesting to hear you talk about this,
17:32
Speaker 4: because I think the flip side of that coin can
17:34
Speaker 4: be when you don't have your sport, whether it's because
17:39
Speaker 4: of injury or in this case, a global pandemic and
17:43
Speaker 4: so much anxiety and confusion sets in and you really
17:47
Speaker 4: start to struggle with your identity.
17:49
Speaker 3: But you kind of had like the adverse experience.
17:52
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I knew that, I mean, track was going
17:56
Speaker 1: to be there next year, you know, and I knew
17:57
Speaker 1: it was going to come back, and I knew whatever happens,
18:00
Speaker 1: that I can still just go to the track and
18:02
Speaker 1: train and do whatever I would like to do. But
18:05
Speaker 1: not having to was so cool, like not being forced
18:11
Speaker 1: to do something, if that makes sense. And I just
18:16
Speaker 1: I got to sleep in and I got to like
18:19
Speaker 1: not have my body and pain twenty four to seven,
18:22
Speaker 1: and I feel like it was really a reset for
18:24
Speaker 1: my mind and for my body. I don't think I
18:28
Speaker 1: would have made the Olympic team in twenty twenty at all.
18:31
Speaker 3: Interesting talk a little bit about that.
18:34
Speaker 1: I just mentally wasn't ready to be on that stage
18:37
Speaker 1: and physically nowhere near. Yeah, I just don't think I
18:40
Speaker 1: would have made the team. I don't think I would
18:43
Speaker 1: have been in the position where I was the next
18:46
Speaker 1: following year.
18:47
Speaker 4: When you go to the Olympic trials, you have a
18:54
Speaker 4: standout appearance, I would say, And it feels as though,
18:58
Speaker 4: and please correct me if you've perceived otherwise, But after
19:03
Speaker 4: the Olympic Trials, everyone knew Tara Davis's name. So talk
19:07
Speaker 4: to me about what that experience was like for you
19:09
Speaker 4: and how that felt.
19:11
Speaker 1: It felt so good. In high school, I was pretty
19:16
Speaker 1: elite in track and field, and I was, you know,
19:19
Speaker 1: famous in the high school world and everyone knew my name.
19:22
Speaker 1: But in track now, you know, and just social life,
19:25
Speaker 1: and it kind of reminded me like, this is where
19:28
Speaker 1: you're supposed to be, This is what you want to be,
19:30
Speaker 1: this is you know, this is what you've worked so
19:32
Speaker 1: so so hard for. And having my name recognized and
19:37
Speaker 1: people recognizing me and just knowing that what I did
19:41
Speaker 1: on the track is showing and what I do off
19:45
Speaker 1: the track is being you know, recognized, and all of
19:49
Speaker 1: my hard work I was dedicated for so long and
19:53
Speaker 1: it's finally paying off. And every time I get recognized,
19:57
Speaker 1: I feel, you know, humbled, and it shows that what
19:59
Speaker 1: I doing is really working, and it feels good to
20:04
Speaker 1: be reminded that all my hard work is being paid
20:08
Speaker 1: off from just like this short amount of time on
20:10
Speaker 1: the runway or on the track.
20:12
Speaker 4: Of course, with that level of attention also comes a
20:15
Speaker 4: lot of opinions.
20:16
Speaker 3: I don't need to tell you this.
20:18
Speaker 4: You also have something like three hundred and fifty thousand
20:22
Speaker 4: Instagram followers.
20:24
Speaker 3: How has navigating that been for you?
20:27
Speaker 1: It was really difficult at first. You know, the negative
20:29
Speaker 1: comments stick out more than the positive comments, and I
20:33
Speaker 1: get hundreds and hundreds of positive comments, but that one
20:36
Speaker 1: negative really sticks out like a sore thumb, and I
20:40
Speaker 1: learned to brush it off. But at first, I was like,
20:44
Speaker 1: why are these people talking like this. I'd never done
20:47
Speaker 1: anything to them. They don't even know what they're talking about.
20:49
Speaker 1: They're assuming that when I was transferring, they assumed that
20:53
Speaker 1: I was the problem and I was just being dramatic
20:56
Speaker 1: and that's not true. Like no one understood like behind
20:59
Speaker 1: the scenes. And I think that's where I finally came
21:03
Speaker 1: to recognitions, like they're not seeing what's going on behind
21:05
Speaker 1: the scenes. They can only see what they put on
21:07
Speaker 1: social media or what other people say. And so it
21:11
Speaker 1: took some getting used to and it's still getting I still,
21:15
Speaker 1: you know, fall under the comments and try to calm
21:19
Speaker 1: back and fight back. But at the end of the day,
21:22
Speaker 1: that person's just sitting on the couch, not doing anything,
21:25
Speaker 1: just watching a twenty three year old living their life.
21:28
Speaker 4: Do you want to shed some light on the transfer
21:30
Speaker 4: for us?
21:32
Speaker 1: When I went to University of Georgia, I went from
21:36
Speaker 1: twenty seventeen to December twenty eighteen. Once I transferred, my
21:43
Speaker 1: coach blocked me, and he said that I was too
21:45
Speaker 1: good of an athlete to compete against his girls. And
21:48
Speaker 1: what blocked means is I couldn't compete with any team
21:53
Speaker 1: for the next season at all. So doesn't matter if
21:56
Speaker 1: it was like an SEC school or a Big twelve school,
21:58
Speaker 1: it's any school in the D one, you know, championships
22:03
Speaker 1: and c WAD one. And that was hard because I
22:08
Speaker 1: couldn't understand why an adult was blocking someone or.
22:13
Speaker 3: How is that legal? Like how does that work?
22:15
Speaker 1: You know, I can tell you all the legalities of everything,
22:18
Speaker 1: but I know that it's wrong. I know it's wrong
22:22
Speaker 1: because if that coach wanted to leave a school and
22:25
Speaker 1: go coach somewhere else, he could do it. Fine, No, like,
22:28
Speaker 1: no options, no blocking, no nothing. He can go do it.
22:33
Speaker 1: But for an athlete, someone whose career that you're hindering,
22:37
Speaker 1: that's not fair just because of your own opinion. And
22:40
Speaker 1: I didn't understand that, and you know, I still don't
22:43
Speaker 1: understand it. I still don't know how it's legal. But
22:46
Speaker 1: I hope it changes so you know, kids can really
22:50
Speaker 1: live out their career and their dreams. It's I'm not
22:55
Speaker 1: everyone's going to get along, and that's just the way
22:58
Speaker 1: life is. And I don't think that there should be
23:01
Speaker 1: someone blocking someone for doing that and not doing that.
23:06
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm I giggled a little bit silently to myself
23:11
Speaker 4: before when you were like, and sometimes I say something
23:14
Speaker 4: back because I feel like, was it yesterday on my
23:16
Speaker 4: Twitter foret or two days ago you like literally said
23:18
Speaker 4: to someone, sorry, I'm annoying you.
23:21
Speaker 1: They said, I'm annoying. I'm the most annoying track at
23:23
Speaker 1: and I'm like, how I don't I do to you?
23:26
Speaker 1: I don't think it's in the same breath. In the
23:28
Speaker 1: same breath.
23:29
Speaker 4: You also said everyone is entitled to their own opinions,
23:32
Speaker 4: so you tried to come at it from a place
23:34
Speaker 4: of grace.
23:37
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it's true, like everyone's in town to
23:39
Speaker 1: their own opinion, but like, I'm sorry that I'm annoying you,
23:43
Speaker 1: but I'm just gonna continue to do what I do.
23:45
Speaker 4: Twenty three years old, so like beyond your years already
23:50
Speaker 4: and like so many years ahead of you, and certainly
23:53
Speaker 4: young in the sport. So it's really cool to see
23:57
Speaker 4: you stepping into your power. Well, it doesn't act and
24:00
Speaker 4: as a woman, I think we'd be remiss if we
24:03
Speaker 4: didn't talk about the fact that you're also a black athlete.
24:07
Speaker 4: And over the last couple of years, there have been
24:11
Speaker 4: a lot of conversations surrounding race and diversity within sports
24:17
Speaker 4: and beyond sports. For you, as a black woman, how
24:22
Speaker 4: does it feel to represent for so many perhaps younger
24:27
Speaker 4: athletes that look up to you and see you and
24:30
Speaker 4: then in turn can see themselves perhaps after the things
24:34
Speaker 4: that excite them.
24:35
Speaker 1: You know, it's crazy because I was I'm going to
24:39
Speaker 1: go off topic a little bit, but it kind of
24:40
Speaker 1: relates to the story. When I was watching the election,
24:43
Speaker 1: I saw Kamala Harris on my screen. I was like, Wow,
24:47
Speaker 1: there's a colored woman in the office on my screen.
24:51
Speaker 1: The biggest thing that any woman, any person can be
24:54
Speaker 1: at and she's there, and I just started bawling my
24:58
Speaker 1: eyes out because I didn't see that growing up. I
25:01
Speaker 1: didn't see you know, person of color, you know, running
25:05
Speaker 1: the nation at all. I didn't think that was ever
25:07
Speaker 1: going to be possible before Barack Obama and then a
25:09
Speaker 1: woman being a vice president, And I just bowled my
25:13
Speaker 1: eyes out because I know for my kids, my kids
25:16
Speaker 1: are going to be African American, and I know that
25:20
Speaker 1: there's going to be their color on the screen. And
25:22
Speaker 1: I feel like for me, I'm doing the same thing.
25:25
Speaker 1: I don't even realize it. And it's so cool that,
25:28
Speaker 1: you know, young women look up to me and tell
25:30
Speaker 1: me that I've inspire them. I'm like, wow, Like that's
25:34
Speaker 1: so insane, and like when everyone comes up to me
25:36
Speaker 1: like I am inspiring them and I'm doing something that
25:39
Speaker 1: I love, but I'm also showing everyone else that they
25:43
Speaker 1: can do it too.
25:45
Speaker 4: I think a saying that I heard last week was
25:48
Speaker 4: in order to be her, sometimes you need to see her.
25:52
Speaker 4: So it's like to see people that look like you
25:54
Speaker 4: doing things that you want to do. Sometimes that's the
25:57
Speaker 4: unlock to go after the potential that you already had.
26:01
Speaker 3: It's already inside of you.
26:02
Speaker 4: But sometimes we need to see, especially as women, other
26:05
Speaker 4: women going after and pursuing the things that excite them
26:08
Speaker 4: so that we can channel that excitement within us. Going
26:11
Speaker 4: back to the Olympics, you said that you weren't exactly
26:14
Speaker 4: sure if you would have made it before this extra
26:18
Speaker 4: year so to speak. Talk us through the actual experience
26:23
Speaker 4: and making that team and the prep that happened for
26:26
Speaker 4: you between the Olympic trials and let's call it game day.
26:31
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was a lot of overwhelming, but it was
26:37
Speaker 1: so exciting. But it was very overwhelming because there's so
26:41
Speaker 1: much publicity. But I loved it at the same time,
26:45
Speaker 1: and I wanted to, you know, focus on the Games
26:49
Speaker 1: as another track meet. I didn't want to wrap my
26:51
Speaker 1: head around it being the Olympics because I was twenty
26:54
Speaker 1: two years old, like still trying to figure out like
26:56
Speaker 1: how the heck I even got here, and like this
26:59
Speaker 1: was my dream, This was my main goal, like since
27:02
Speaker 1: I was four years old, was to make the Olympic team.
27:04
Speaker 1: And I knew if I went to the meet that
27:06
Speaker 1: it was the Olympics, that I probably wouldn't have done
27:10
Speaker 1: as you know, as well as I did, because I
27:12
Speaker 1: was going to be so wrapped up around you know,
27:14
Speaker 1: the rings and the Olympics and everyone there, and like
27:18
Speaker 1: this is the biggest stage of your entire life, like
27:20
Speaker 1: you've got to do well. Like no, you can do
27:23
Speaker 1: well while having fun. But I just wanted to embrace
27:27
Speaker 1: all of it and just treat it as another track meet.
27:30
Speaker 1: Treat it as like this is something that you do
27:33
Speaker 1: all the time. This say is if you fail or
27:35
Speaker 1: you win it, it doesn't define you because you're still
27:38
Speaker 1: an athlete that you are, You're an Olympian. And I
27:41
Speaker 1: don't know, I just went in like, go for it,
27:45
Speaker 1: Just go fun, Go have fun. You know, you've made
27:47
Speaker 1: it this far, just go do you And I did.
27:50
Speaker 1: It was so much fun.
27:52
Speaker 3: Yeah.
27:52
Speaker 4: So, I mean sixth in the world isn't bad. And
27:57
Speaker 4: to your point saying like, whether you do good or
28:00
Speaker 4: you don't do good, at the end of the day,
28:02
Speaker 4: you're still an Olympian and you still have the opportunity
28:05
Speaker 4: to learn from that experience.
28:06
Speaker 3: Again, going back to being wise beyond your.
28:09
Speaker 4: Years, I would say that's pretty exemplary of that statement.
28:12
Speaker 3: There.
28:13
Speaker 4: Beyond that experience and showing up for quote unquote just
28:16
Speaker 4: another track meet, there still was a hell of a
28:19
Speaker 4: lot of preparation that went into this. So you said
28:23
Speaker 4: before kind of jokingly like it was nice for my
28:26
Speaker 4: body not to hurt every single day. Did you feel
28:29
Speaker 4: like you were really just like kind of pushing it
28:31
Speaker 4: to the max and the weeks and months leading up
28:34
Speaker 4: to the Olympics, Yeah, I had a.
28:36
Speaker 1: Stretch fracture in my hip, I had a strained hamstring,
28:39
Speaker 1: I had a broken foot all before the Olympics, and
28:42
Speaker 1: at the trials, I had a fracture in my hip
28:44
Speaker 1: and it was painful, so so so painful, and I
28:49
Speaker 1: remember like hitting my hip like this like the entire time,
28:52
Speaker 1: just to like stop hurting, like like, let's not do
28:55
Speaker 1: this right now. And I was talking to my competitors.
28:58
Speaker 1: I was like, dang, my hip birds like I don't know,
29:00
Speaker 1: like I was like limping, and but as soon as
29:03
Speaker 1: I started jumping, you know, it kind of just went away.
29:06
Speaker 1: Until I would sit back down.
29:07
Speaker 3: I'm like, oh my god.
29:10
Speaker 1: But I mean it's all worth it at the end.
29:13
Speaker 1: And I don't think any athlete has ever competed freshly healthy,
29:19
Speaker 1: like there's always something hurting us, you.
29:21
Speaker 3: Know, Yeah, firstly, how is your hip?
29:24
Speaker 4: Now?
29:24
Speaker 1: It's good? Now, it's just my knee.
29:27
Speaker 4: Now it's just another ailment. And then secondly, talk to
29:30
Speaker 4: me about the mental game that goes with that, because
29:32
Speaker 4: it's not like normal that you can just combat that
29:36
Speaker 4: sort of pain. Clearly there is some work that goes
29:39
Speaker 4: hand in hand with that. Are you working with anyone
29:41
Speaker 4: to kind of get to that next level for mental
29:44
Speaker 4: performance for the sports psychology side of things, or is
29:48
Speaker 4: this just an acquired skill that you've come to this
29:51
Speaker 4: place of positive self talk?
29:53
Speaker 3: Yeah.
29:54
Speaker 1: I mean in college I was talking to a therapist,
29:55
Speaker 1: which really helped, but towards the end I stopped talking
29:59
Speaker 1: because it was in school. So I mean I used
30:03
Speaker 1: some of the coping mechanisms and everything that she's had
30:05
Speaker 1: taught me and brought it to the trials into the Olympics.
30:08
Speaker 1: But it's almost like a second nature of like pushing
30:12
Speaker 1: pain out of your head. And it's kind of like
30:15
Speaker 1: kind of toxic if you think about it, because you're
30:17
Speaker 1: like forcing your body to go through this pain when
30:21
Speaker 1: it's not supposed to. But at the same time, it's
30:24
Speaker 1: kind of cool how our brain works that, like if
30:28
Speaker 1: you put your mind to something, it can happen. And
30:32
Speaker 1: I tell myself, Okay, yeah, you're going through this pain,
30:34
Speaker 1: but we're going to keep on pushing because we want
30:36
Speaker 1: to make this team, or we want to keep on
30:38
Speaker 1: pushing because we want to do well.
30:41
Speaker 4: It seems as though the way that you're framing it,
30:44
Speaker 4: that pushing seemed to work in your favor. But throughout
30:47
Speaker 4: your athletic career, did pushing ever get you to a
30:50
Speaker 4: place that you were worse off than where you were before?
30:53
Speaker 1: Absolutely? And that was two years a year before the
30:56
Speaker 1: Olympic trials, where I was super, super, super depressed and
31:00
Speaker 1: I was just being forced to show up to practice
31:03
Speaker 1: every day and if I didn't show up, I would
31:04
Speaker 1: get in trouble. And it was like, how can I
31:08
Speaker 1: balance all of that? Like I can't even get out
31:11
Speaker 1: of bed, but I'm forcing myself to get out of
31:12
Speaker 1: bed to go to practice. And I would show up
31:14
Speaker 1: to practice literally like in a hoodie and sweatshirts on
31:17
Speaker 1: a ninety degree day because I didn't want to do anything.
31:20
Speaker 1: But I would just go out there and kind of
31:23
Speaker 1: like half ass everything. And that part was not healthy.
31:27
Speaker 1: That was not what I was supposed to be doing.
31:29
Speaker 1: I should have just stayed at home and you know,
31:31
Speaker 1: took that mental day to recoup. But every day I
31:36
Speaker 1: had to get up and do it. And so it
31:38
Speaker 1: kept on like m like hitting me, hitting me and
31:41
Speaker 1: hitting me, and finally, just like one day, just like
31:44
Speaker 1: completely didn't show up to practice and broke completely. And
31:49
Speaker 1: I think after a couple of weeks from that day,
31:52
Speaker 1: I kind of changed my mindset of like, this is
31:57
Speaker 1: my choice, this is what I'm going to do. I'm
32:01
Speaker 1: going to choose to not feel this way. And it
32:05
Speaker 1: was hard and I did it, but it was so
32:08
Speaker 1: so so difficult because it took months, almost a year
32:12
Speaker 1: and a half to even get to that point.
32:15
Speaker 4: Do you mind talking us through a little bit more
32:19
Speaker 4: of what that pinnacle hurdle moment I'm not going to
32:23
Speaker 4: show up today day was like for you. And I
32:26
Speaker 4: ask you that because so many individuals listening to this,
32:30
Speaker 4: they hear you say I was definitely depressed when you
32:33
Speaker 4: reflect on that time, and they two may be either
32:37
Speaker 4: struggling with depression or wondering if they are navigating something
32:40
Speaker 4: similar right now.
32:41
Speaker 3: So would you mind just talking a little bit about that?
32:44
Speaker 1: So that day was the day I set for myself
32:48
Speaker 1: that I think it was like December eighth or December seventh,
32:52
Speaker 1: where if I am not happy I was quitting track,
32:57
Speaker 1: and I made a pros and cons list of all
33:00
Speaker 1: the reasons why it was good for me to quit
33:02
Speaker 1: track and why it wasn't good for me to quit track,
33:04
Speaker 1: and of course the cons outweighed the pros of me
33:08
Speaker 1: quitting track, and it was like, okay, I've put it
33:13
Speaker 1: into writing that like if I quit track, I'm not
33:15
Speaker 1: going to have the life that I want to live.
33:18
Speaker 1: And so it all kind of like sort of like
33:21
Speaker 1: coming together, and I was like, you know what, this
33:23
Speaker 1: is my choice, and I love track so much. I
33:25
Speaker 1: don't know what I'm going to do without it, and
33:27
Speaker 1: I just have to put all of my eggs into
33:29
Speaker 1: this basket and just trust the process that it's going
33:32
Speaker 1: to turn out well. And it was really really hard,
33:35
Speaker 1: and I had so many conversations with my dad, I
33:38
Speaker 1: had so many conversations with my coach about it, and
33:42
Speaker 1: at some point they just said it's up to you,
33:45
Speaker 1: like whatever you do, we're going to support you. And
33:48
Speaker 1: I was like, I will feel so guilty if I
33:50
Speaker 1: give up all of my talent that I know I have,
33:53
Speaker 1: and like I'm not going to be able to live
33:54
Speaker 1: with myself if I do that. And I worked my
33:57
Speaker 1: butt off since I was four years old to get
33:58
Speaker 1: to this point. Why would I just throw it away?
34:04
Speaker 1: And it was a huge mind shift and it was
34:08
Speaker 1: very difficult where you know days where I was like, yeah,
34:12
Speaker 1: I'm definitely gonna run track. No, I'm not going to
34:16
Speaker 1: run track. I don't want to do this. I wanted
34:17
Speaker 1: to live my own life, and back and forth, back
34:20
Speaker 1: and forth all the time, and I just came to
34:22
Speaker 1: the conclusion. I was like, try it, just try it
34:25
Speaker 1: if you can do, like just one day, go to practice,
34:28
Speaker 1: happy and see what happens. Go to practice and put
34:32
Speaker 1: all your effort into it and see what comes out
34:34
Speaker 1: of it. And from that day, practice was not the
34:38
Speaker 1: same practice. I was on tin at every practice, I
34:41
Speaker 1: listened to my coach on every queue and everything that
34:43
Speaker 1: he said to me. And that's when my life just started,
34:48
Speaker 1: you know, escalating, and it's becoming what it is now.
34:51
Speaker 1: I'm grateful, I'm so so so grateful from that moment
34:55
Speaker 1: of me being depressed because I can see I always
34:59
Speaker 1: said there's a light at the end of the tunnel,
35:00
Speaker 1: and I could never see it until December seventh.
35:03
Speaker 4: So so profound and such a great thing that you
35:07
Speaker 4: shared that with us. Anyone can go through that. Obviously
35:11
Speaker 4: you had your unique experience. But what I mean by
35:14
Speaker 4: that is that depression happens to all different sorts of people, right,
35:18
Speaker 4: and it comes.
35:19
Speaker 1: In different ways. It shows in different.
35:20
Speaker 4: Forms, exactly different forms, different experiences, different reasons for both
35:26
Speaker 4: people that may be attached and not attached in your relationship.
35:32
Speaker 3: How did this manifest for the two of you?
35:35
Speaker 1: It was more Hunter was always there supporting me, no
35:39
Speaker 1: matter what time of the day, doesn't matter where he was,
35:44
Speaker 1: he would always pick up the phone. And I think
35:46
Speaker 1: that was like the most crucial thing in my depression stage,
35:52
Speaker 1: is him picking up the phone, because it could have
35:55
Speaker 1: been me just calling saying hey, but it was also
35:57
Speaker 1: me just bawling my eyes out, like basically saying help me,
36:02
Speaker 1: like I don't know what to do, help me. And
36:04
Speaker 1: he was there, even though he was in Favou, Arkansas
36:06
Speaker 1: and I was in Austin, Texas, eight and half hour drive.
36:10
Speaker 1: He was there. And I can't think him enough. And
36:13
Speaker 1: I've always said this, like he saved my life literally,
36:16
Speaker 1: And if it wasn't for him and for you know,
36:21
Speaker 1: my other supporters in my life, I don't think I
36:23
Speaker 1: would have been here.
36:25
Speaker 3: Why did you choose long jump?
36:29
Speaker 1: My dad was my head where my dad was the
36:32
Speaker 1: coach of a team in Texas and my sister was
36:35
Speaker 1: doing long jump for the track team. And I was
36:38
Speaker 1: four years old and I was like, I want to
36:39
Speaker 1: do that. I want to go jump and play in
36:41
Speaker 1: the sand. And ever since then, I've fallen in love
36:45
Speaker 1: with it and it's always been like my main niche
36:48
Speaker 1: I've done trouble jump, I've done hurdles, I've done sprinting,
36:51
Speaker 1: but nothing compares to the feeling of flying literally flying
36:55
Speaker 1: in the air and it's so technical and it just
37:00
Speaker 1: you know, makes my brain work and I love it.
37:03
Speaker 4: Did you have a come down after the Olympic Games
37:09
Speaker 4: that maybe rivaled how you had dealt with depression in
37:13
Speaker 4: the past.
37:14
Speaker 1: There is definitely a post Olympic depression, definitely, because you
37:19
Speaker 1: work your life, but you work so hard your entire
37:21
Speaker 1: life to get to this one moment, and that moment
37:24
Speaker 1: finally came and you're like, Okay, well what's next. Like
37:29
Speaker 1: my dream was to just make the Olympic team. It
37:31
Speaker 1: wasn't to win, it wasn't to you know, medal or
37:33
Speaker 1: do any of the other stuff. Is just to make
37:36
Speaker 1: the Olympics, and I never made a goal besides make
37:40
Speaker 1: the Olympic team because I was so you know, I
37:43
Speaker 1: feel like young and didn't really understand that like, yeah,
37:46
Speaker 1: you want to we want to win, but I just
37:49
Speaker 1: want to be an Olympian, you know. And so afterwards
37:52
Speaker 1: I was like, well, I'm an Olympian. What's next? Like
37:58
Speaker 1: what else is there to do? And it took a
38:01
Speaker 1: while for me to like make new goals for myself
38:04
Speaker 1: because I was super confused on where I'm supposed to be.
38:07
Speaker 1: She's like just graduated college, I'm an Olympian. Now I
38:11
Speaker 1: live with my fiance. Okay, Like I've done life, you know,
38:15
Speaker 1: like I did everything that everyone asked me to do.
38:17
Speaker 1: I did what I would ask myself to do. So
38:20
Speaker 1: what's next? And I think us, you know, living together,
38:25
Speaker 1: kind of made new goals for ourselves, you know, like
38:27
Speaker 1: now we're getting married, and then we found new hobbies
38:31
Speaker 1: with real estate and stuff, and just like a new
38:35
Speaker 1: life has emerged and new goals have emerged. And now
38:39
Speaker 1: I'm like setting myself up for bigger.
38:42
Speaker 4: That word supposed can be really tricky, right, feeling like
38:46
Speaker 4: we should do X or Y are you willing aside
38:51
Speaker 4: from you hinted at the real estate stuff. To talk
38:53
Speaker 4: to us about what some of your big, scary, audacious
38:57
Speaker 4: goals are right now.
38:58
Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean, of course, with some track and field,
39:01
Speaker 1: you know, making the world championship team and not just
39:06
Speaker 1: this championship team, but the next one and then the Olympics.
39:08
Speaker 1: That's those are my track goals. But life goal just
39:12
Speaker 1: like learning more about myself and learning like how this
39:17
Speaker 1: world works. And with our new sponsor, they're letting us
39:22
Speaker 1: like they're very big on diversity and community driven goals,
39:26
Speaker 1: and I'm really excited to work with the women and
39:30
Speaker 1: be able to find a niche that I like. I
39:33
Speaker 1: love special ed kids. I love teaching special education, and
39:37
Speaker 1: you know, that was a dream of mine, and it
39:40
Speaker 1: kind of got pushed back because Track was so like
39:45
Speaker 1: full force in my face. I went to school for
39:49
Speaker 1: special education and I was going to be a teacher,
39:51
Speaker 1: but I didn't like the way that they were teaching kids.
39:53
Speaker 1: They were trying to seclude kids into other classrooms, which
39:56
Speaker 1: I didn't agree with. I think they should be in
39:59
Speaker 1: a classroom just like any normal kid could be. That's
40:02
Speaker 1: they're obviously the social cues are not there, so let's
40:05
Speaker 1: make them there, you know. So it kind of like
40:08
Speaker 1: irritated me a little bit that that's how they wanted
40:10
Speaker 1: to treat kids. And I got out of the program
40:14
Speaker 1: because I was like, no, I'm not going to do that.
40:16
Speaker 1: But now since I've gotten my degree, I've gotten stuff
40:20
Speaker 1: under my belt. Now I want to try to do
40:23
Speaker 1: what I dreamed about with special ed kids and make
40:26
Speaker 1: a program where kids can come and run track or
40:29
Speaker 1: My main thing was teach kids playground games. I'm not
40:32
Speaker 1: sure why, but it was because I remember there was
40:36
Speaker 1: the special ed kids could not come to the recess
40:39
Speaker 1: because we were there, and they never learned the games
40:43
Speaker 1: that I played, like handball and you know, tag and
40:46
Speaker 1: all this stuff. And that's what I don't know, I
40:48
Speaker 1: just dreamed of, you know, teaching little kiddies on sports
40:52
Speaker 1: and stuff.
40:53
Speaker 4: Okay, so right now, someone comes to your social media.
40:57
Speaker 4: We talked about your extensive following. We're like at three
40:59
Speaker 4: hundred fifty thousand people. They see an Olympian ha who
41:03
Speaker 4: just made this really big announcement. By the time this
41:06
Speaker 4: episode comes out, when you look in the mirror, what
41:09
Speaker 4: is it that you see looking back at you, Tara.
41:12
Speaker 1: I see a bad ass chick who's just dealt with
41:19
Speaker 1: just crazy amounts of situations. And I've pushed myself to
41:25
Speaker 1: get to this point, and kid, you're not a year ago,
41:30
Speaker 1: I would not be looking at myself in a mirror.
41:32
Speaker 1: And so I look at myself and I was just like,
41:34
Speaker 1: you made it, and you're here and you're doing what
41:38
Speaker 1: you want to do, not what someone's forcing me to do.
41:42
Speaker 3: Will you tell us why why you wouldn't look in
41:46
Speaker 3: the mirror?
41:47
Speaker 1: Because I didn't like who I was. I didn't like
41:50
Speaker 1: who I didn't like my skin, I didn't like what
41:53
Speaker 1: I was, and I just wouldn't avoid all mirrors.
41:57
Speaker 3: I was like, nah.
41:59
Speaker 4: Ah, I look at you, and I see like this budding, vibrant,
42:03
Speaker 4: beautiful young woman who, as we kind of got into before,
42:06
Speaker 4: like so many other young women are going to look
42:10
Speaker 4: at you and be like, I can do this too,
42:12
Speaker 4: And that in itself is emotional and special and exciting,
42:16
Speaker 4: and I'm super stoked to continue to follow along with
42:19
Speaker 4: your journey.
42:21
Speaker 1: Thank you so much.
42:22
Speaker 4: If you are going out for a run, are you
42:24
Speaker 4: a music listener or a podcast listener?
42:27
Speaker 3: And if it's music, what's your go to track right now?
42:30
Speaker 1: It's definitely music, and it's definitely something with Billie Eilish.
42:35
Speaker 1: I'm a huge, huge Billie Eilish fan, like huge, I
42:40
Speaker 1: own a lot of Billy murch and I will listen
42:43
Speaker 1: to her on repeat.
42:45
Speaker 4: Someone will hear that and they'll be like, that's not
42:46
Speaker 4: necessarily always like an amp up vibe.
42:49
Speaker 1: Though, No, no it's not, and it is for me.
42:54
Speaker 3: I love this for you.
42:55
Speaker 4: And then the second thing I'm asking all the guests
42:58
Speaker 4: this week is in light of your new collab, in
43:02
Speaker 4: your new partnership, your new global ambassadorship, what is your
43:06
Speaker 4: go to piece of Lululemon gear?
43:09
Speaker 1: Oh, the Aligned pants, Yes, they're so soft and they're
43:13
Speaker 1: just so lovely. But inside scoop the new Sensinet fabric.
43:19
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, it's being released. It is so nice.
43:24
Speaker 1: We've tested and it's approved stamp by Tarred Hunter. It's perfect.
43:29
Speaker 1: It's perfect for anybody who wants to do yoga running.
43:31
Speaker 1: It keeps you all in place and so nice.
43:34
Speaker 3: No jiggle, jiggle, no jiggles. That's it. That's it. Right now,
43:40
Speaker 3: you have an opportunity.
43:41
Speaker 4: You are so vulnerable and candidate about what you went
43:44
Speaker 4: through struggling with your mental health. You have an opportunity
43:48
Speaker 4: to offer yourself a piece of advice going through that
43:51
Speaker 4: hurdle moment, knowing what you know, Now, what advice do
43:56
Speaker 4: you tell yourself?
43:58
Speaker 1: It's not advice, it's a statement. And there's a light
44:01
Speaker 1: at the end of the tunnel, and there is, like
44:04
Speaker 1: I promise you, there is, And if you just keep
44:06
Speaker 1: going and you just keep moving, you're gonna get to
44:08
Speaker 1: that light and there's gonna be a whole new world
44:11
Speaker 1: for you. I personally did not believe that until I
44:15
Speaker 1: saw it, and I was like, are you kidding? This
44:18
Speaker 1: is what I missed out on. I missed out on
44:20
Speaker 1: being happy and joyful and it's exhausting being sad. And
44:24
Speaker 1: I was like, wow, this is so much fun, Like
44:26
Speaker 1: life is so much more clear and more enjoyable and
44:31
Speaker 1: if you can just keep on pushing like you're gonna
44:34
Speaker 1: get through it.
44:35
Speaker 3: So excited that we were able to make this happen.
44:37
Speaker 4: Tara, How do the hurdlers keep up with you? How
44:39
Speaker 4: do they follow along with you on your journey? Give
44:41
Speaker 4: us your info?
44:43
Speaker 1: Yes, you guys can follow me on Instagram. It's at
44:46
Speaker 1: underscore t aa r r A underscore. I know it's annoying,
44:51
Speaker 1: but they wouldn't let me change it. And then you
44:55
Speaker 1: can catch Hunter and I on YouTube with just Tar
44:58
Speaker 1: and Hunter. Yeah that's pretty mu. Twitter's Tara Tara t.
45:02
Speaker 5: A R underscore and score Watch out not Back, Hi,
45:05
Speaker 5: I will Club, I'm Over at Emily Bodie and at
45:10
Speaker 5: Hurdle Podcast another Hurdle conquered.
45:13
Speaker 3: Catch you guys next time