Latest / Hurdle with Emily Abbate / RUNNING THROUGH: Carrie Tollefson, Olympian & Host of 'C Tolle Run'

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RUNNING THROUGH: Carrie Tollefson, Olympian & Host of 'C Tolle Run' · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

0:00
Speaker 1: The ups and downs the hurdles we face in life.
0:02
Speaker 1: You know, I think it's just how you kind of
0:04
Speaker 1: react to them, remember them, live through them, and hopefully
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Speaker 1: be better tomorrow than you were today.
0:24
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
0:35
Speaker 2: with Global Running Day on Wednesday, June first, It's only
0:38
Speaker 2: fitting that we wrap up season nine and celebrate all
0:41
Speaker 2: week by bringing five back to back episodes to the feed.
0:45
Speaker 3: You guys, you know the deal.
0:47
Speaker 2: Here on the show, I am dedicated to bringing hurdler's
0:49
Speaker 2: content that encompasses all that is wellness. Still running holds
0:54
Speaker 2: a really special place in my heart. While I originally
0:58
Speaker 2: leaned into running as a weight loss school back in college,
1:01
Speaker 2: it has turned into a passion of mine, helping me
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Speaker 2: personally get through a ton of difficult hurdle moments and
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Speaker 2: ten marathons later become a happier, healthier version of myself.
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Speaker 2: This week, I am talking with other inspiring women who
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Speaker 2: have also turned a running during some of life's biggest,
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Speaker 2: darkest hurdles. We get vulnerable talking about tough topics like
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Speaker 2: loss and grief, depression, and postpartum depression and how running
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Speaker 2: in sport has helped them persevere, rediscover their self worth,
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Speaker 2: and move forward with their head held high. For today's episode,
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Speaker 2: I am so so excited to have the opportunity to
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Speaker 2: bring you my conversation with Carrie Tolofsin. Aside from being
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Speaker 2: the sweetest, most kind hearted human, Carrie is also an
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Speaker 2: Olympian and host of the Sea Tlly Run podcast. Carry
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Speaker 2: and I talk in today's epist about how she has used
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Speaker 2: running in her life to run through insecurity that's her buzzword,
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Speaker 2: and that insecurity it's followed her from her days as
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Speaker 2: a pro to getting back into the swing of things
2:12
Speaker 2: after having children, and even these days as a recreational
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Speaker 2: runner I'll bite a speedy one at that, spending a
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Speaker 2: lot of her time for weekends traveling to do different
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Speaker 2: on camera race announcing and hosting. Carrie gets open and
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Speaker 2: honest about the criticisms that come hand in hand with
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Speaker 2: that and the feelings that she navigates putting herself out
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Speaker 2: there on the regular. She also talks about the concern
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Speaker 2: and love that she has for the sport of running
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Speaker 2: and where it is headed. As this year marks the
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Speaker 2: fiftieth anniversary of title Nines. Passing Carrie is all about
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Speaker 2: lifting up and supporting other women, empowering runners of all
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Speaker 2: shapes and sizes.
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Speaker 3: And again, I'm so so.
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Speaker 2: Happy that we were able to harve out some space
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Speaker 2: to have this super special conversation for the show. I
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Speaker 2: have to give a huge, huge thanks to my sponsor
3:10
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Speaker 2: to do some good and get free shipping over on
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Speaker 2: tracksmith dot com is Hurdle twenty two. Make sure you're
4:47
Speaker 2: following along with Hurdle over on the socials. It's at
4:50
Speaker 2: Hurdle podcast. I am over at Emily a Body And
4:54
Speaker 2: with that, let's get to hurdling.
5:06
Speaker 1: Today.
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Speaker 2: I am sitting down with Carrie Tullifson. She is the
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Speaker 2: host of CE Totally Run. She's also an Olympian. Just fantastic.
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Speaker 2: How you doing today, care, I'm doing well.
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Speaker 1: I'm excited to chat with you. I've been like seeing
5:19
Speaker 1: you here and there and everywhere around the world, not
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Speaker 1: just like you know, in New York City, but like
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Speaker 1: in Germany and all over the Buck Place. That's so cool.
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Speaker 2: I know, we literally are just like ships passing when
5:31
Speaker 2: we see each.
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Speaker 3: Other and we're like, oh, we're gonna catch up.
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Speaker 1: We're going to catch up.
5:34
Speaker 2: And now we're finally sitting down to catch up. And
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Speaker 2: I'm so excited. It's for this special week on the show.
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Speaker 2: I'm calling it running through, talking to different women about
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Speaker 2: how they have used running to get through some of
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Speaker 2: their life's hurdle. Moment I mentioned in your Awesome Intro Olympian.
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Speaker 2: We're not just although these days you know a little
5:54
Speaker 2: bit more of a recreational runner, but you have quite
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Speaker 2: the history with the sports. So talk to us. Start
6:01
Speaker 2: us off. Talk to me about how you got started
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Speaker 2: with running.
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Speaker 1: Gerry Well, I grew up in a really small town
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Speaker 1: and so we kind of did everything music, acting, sports
6:12
Speaker 1: like we needed to, because when you have a ton
6:15
Speaker 1: of sixteen hundred people, you need everyone to do everything right.
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Speaker 1: Like there's always something that can be picked up, whether
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Speaker 1: that's the lead in the play or the water girl
6:25
Speaker 1: on the bench. Like I did it all and so
6:28
Speaker 1: did all my friends, and so it was really fun
6:30
Speaker 1: for me to do that. But I had two older
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Speaker 1: sisters that were in cross country. Both of them didn't
6:35
Speaker 1: really know about it. They were like, it's a really
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Speaker 1: fun atmosphere, but they didn't know if they really liked
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Speaker 1: to run. And so I just went out for cross
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Speaker 1: because I was able to be on a team with
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Speaker 1: one of my big sisters. They were so Stacy was
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Speaker 1: already in college, Camm he was a senior.
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Speaker 2: When I was in seventh grade, all right, So definitely
6:53
Speaker 2: like a little bit of idolizing them and wanting to
6:56
Speaker 2: get involved totally.
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Speaker 1: So my mom, and this is such a big right
7:00
Speaker 1: we're celebrating Title nine and fifty years of Title nine
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Speaker 1: and all these amazing stories that have come through sport now,
7:07
Speaker 1: just like remembering the pioneers, and my mom wasn't allowed
7:10
Speaker 1: to play sports. My mom and dad are high school sweethearts,
7:13
Speaker 1: actually their elementary sweethearts. It's the cutest love story ever.
7:16
Speaker 1: But my dad used to peak and they had these
7:19
Speaker 1: like curtains to cover the gym or fai ed classes
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Speaker 1: when the girls went in, and my dad would peak
7:26
Speaker 1: to try to see my mom play. But that's the
7:28
Speaker 1: only time you ever saw her play. So when us
7:32
Speaker 1: girls were raised by my mom and dad, my dad
7:35
Speaker 1: was a college football player. My mom didn't get to
7:37
Speaker 1: do it. Us girls were like, let's do all of
7:40
Speaker 1: it because mom wants us to because she didn't get to.
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Speaker 1: So it's been a really neat year of celebrating and
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Speaker 1: learning from all these women, but especially my own mom.
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Speaker 1: So yeah, I was the third girl, and I wanted
7:52
Speaker 1: to do all of the things the girls in my
7:54
Speaker 1: family could and couldn't do.
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Speaker 3: Yeah. I love that.
7:58
Speaker 2: And for you, as you leaned more into cross country
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Speaker 2: and running, when did it go from something you did
8:05
Speaker 2: because you idolized your sisters to something you really really
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Speaker 2: excel at and knew that you wanted to take to
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Speaker 2: another level.
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Speaker 1: Well, actually, Emily, it was the first race I think
8:16
Speaker 1: that I was like, wait a second, what just happened?
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Speaker 1: Because my sister Cammi was a very good athlete. She's
8:23
Speaker 1: a really good basketball player and one of the best
8:24
Speaker 1: hurdlers in the state of Minnesota. And I beat her
8:28
Speaker 1: in that first race and I ended up placing third,
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Speaker 1: And I remember going home thinking, oh, no, what's gonna happen.
8:35
Speaker 1: She's gonna be so mad at me. And she said,
8:37
Speaker 1: don't you ever slow down for anyone, Like, don't let
8:40
Speaker 1: anyone dictate your outcome, and it was a really big
8:43
Speaker 1: life lesson and she was seventeen years old. I was twelve,
8:47
Speaker 1: so she understood life a little bit more than I did.
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Speaker 1: And from then on, my sisters just never let me,
8:53
Speaker 1: you know, think that I could do something. And wow, Yeah,
8:56
Speaker 1: as an eighth grader, I won state, and I won
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Speaker 1: every state championship until my very last race as a
9:04
Speaker 1: senior in high school. I dropped down to the eight
9:06
Speaker 1: hundred and I got beat right at the line. So
9:09
Speaker 1: it was a pretty fun experience but also a very
9:12
Speaker 1: hard experience, Emily, where I had the target on my
9:14
Speaker 1: back for every single race, whether I was jumping into
9:18
Speaker 1: the four hundred for teen points or running the two
9:21
Speaker 1: mile or whatever I had. I didn't lose from eighth
9:25
Speaker 1: grade on, So it was it was tough, but it
9:27
Speaker 1: was also super cool too, target.
9:30
Speaker 2: On your back, but also a lot of pressure, not
9:32
Speaker 2: just i'm sure externally maybe from the praise and excitement
9:37
Speaker 2: of your teammates and coaches, but also internally. How did
9:41
Speaker 2: you go about navigating that pressure as a girl in
9:44
Speaker 2: her teenage years, which, please you don't need me to
9:47
Speaker 2: tell you. Being a teenage girl as hard enough as it.
9:49
Speaker 1: Is exactly and having buck teeth way out to they
9:53
Speaker 1: were passing my toes. I couldn't even see my toes.
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Speaker 1: I mean, I was the ugly duckling for so many years,
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Speaker 1: and you know, I had really good runners in the state.
10:01
Speaker 1: Kiara Gaucher was here. I mean, we had name after
10:03
Speaker 1: name that we're you know, doing well at foot Locker
10:06
Speaker 1: or now East Bay, Like, we had a lot of
10:08
Speaker 1: competition here and I saw it all. But I think
10:11
Speaker 1: that was a really nice thing to have. Like Kiera
10:14
Speaker 1: and I had so many moments and we would talk about,
10:18
Speaker 1: you know, being that person that has a target on
10:21
Speaker 1: our back and you know, just going to different camps
10:25
Speaker 1: with her or whatever. But yeah, I loved every minute
10:28
Speaker 1: of it. Having the pressure was a tough thing. We
10:31
Speaker 1: had to figure that out and we had to keep
10:33
Speaker 1: it fun. And I guess I took that lesson through
10:36
Speaker 1: college and as a pro as well.
10:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, so you get to college and you continue on
10:42
Speaker 2: your road to stellar performances.
10:45
Speaker 3: Talk me through when that college running.
10:48
Speaker 2: Really instills in you that you're going to continue with
10:52
Speaker 2: it once you're done.
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Speaker 1: Well, I get my butt kicked for the first year
10:56
Speaker 1: for sure. And Jen Rymes was actually my teammates. She
11:00
Speaker 1: was this multiple NCAA champion, and I just knew that
11:04
Speaker 1: I needed to just keep my you know, head down
11:07
Speaker 1: and keep working, keep following along with all the great
11:10
Speaker 1: athletes that were Villanova with me. But it was a
11:12
Speaker 1: really hard transition. It was hard to go from winning
11:15
Speaker 1: and winning and winning to then getting you know, beat
11:19
Speaker 1: day after day in practice and in races. And I
11:23
Speaker 1: was so far away from home because Villanova is like
11:26
Speaker 1: a twenty six hour drive or something crazy like that
11:28
Speaker 1: from where I grew up. And I think that whole
11:31
Speaker 1: journey was really tough on me. I missed home, like
11:36
Speaker 1: you want believe, and a lot of people are like,
11:38
Speaker 1: why would you move back to Minnesota to train? Well,
11:40
Speaker 1: I missed my family, so it's you know, the winners
11:44
Speaker 1: are tough here, but my family is more important. So
11:47
Speaker 1: I think I just had to slowly but surely find
11:50
Speaker 1: me again. And by my i'd say by my sophomore year,
11:55
Speaker 1: I knew that I could get back to those winning ways,
11:58
Speaker 1: and I knew I wanted to win. And it's not
12:01
Speaker 1: all about the win, right, but I knew that in
12:04
Speaker 1: my heart, I was ready to really put it out
12:06
Speaker 1: there and not to be thinking so much in races
12:09
Speaker 1: and just go for it and let those competitive juices
12:13
Speaker 1: and that God given talent that I had go for it, right.
12:16
Speaker 1: So I think it took me a little bit of time,
12:19
Speaker 1: but once I got there, it was like, Okay, I'm
12:22
Speaker 1: proud of what's on my chest, I'm proud of who
12:25
Speaker 1: I am, and let's go. Let's do it.
12:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, And that work ethic, that determination is really impressive
12:32
Speaker 2: and super respectable because you going through so many of
12:38
Speaker 2: those I'm just.
12:38
Speaker 3: Getting beaten and beaten and beaten.
12:40
Speaker 2: What advice would you offer for someone who can totally
12:43
Speaker 2: relate to that feeling, who feels like they're giving it
12:46
Speaker 2: there all and just coming up short time after time.
12:49
Speaker 1: I mean, let's face it, that's the majority of sports, right.
12:52
Speaker 1: I've got lucky in high school. I really think that.
12:55
Speaker 1: I mean, I was good, but I got lucky that
12:58
Speaker 1: I did get beat to their place. Many of times
13:00
Speaker 1: I could have been beat. So I had to learn
13:02
Speaker 1: a little later in life really what it was like
13:05
Speaker 1: to get beat. Like most people, there's only one winner
13:09
Speaker 1: in every race, and it's very rare do you find
13:11
Speaker 1: someone that wins that many times? So for me, I
13:15
Speaker 1: had to figure it out and I had to really
13:17
Speaker 1: dig into. I think the mental side of the sport
13:21
Speaker 1: a little bit more so than I ever had. I
13:23
Speaker 1: had to figure out how to visualize and work through races,
13:26
Speaker 1: work through training, and just like I said, have fun
13:29
Speaker 1: with it. It's just running. And so many times we
13:33
Speaker 1: hear that now, it's just running. But I do think
13:35
Speaker 1: we do put pressure on ourselves to win and to
13:38
Speaker 1: perform and beat times. And I don't miss that, Emily.
13:43
Speaker 1: I don't miss that pressure. But I also am really
13:46
Speaker 1: happy I had it because I know I can handle
13:48
Speaker 1: tough things now.
13:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, And it's funny because I reflect on our conversation
13:53
Speaker 2: before we sat down here today and I was asking
13:57
Speaker 2: you what you thought like your buzzword would be when
13:59
Speaker 2: it comes to running through and running through these hurdle moments,
14:03
Speaker 2: and you said running through insecurity. Now, I'm sure that
14:07
Speaker 2: word comes into the mix more as you become a
14:11
Speaker 2: professional athlete as well, But you're running through insecurity at
14:15
Speaker 2: a young age to begin with.
14:18
Speaker 1: Well, let's just face it, I already talked about my
14:20
Speaker 1: buck teeth, so I'm like, yeah, that seems silly now,
14:25
Speaker 1: But back in the late eighties early nineties, when you
14:29
Speaker 1: had ratted bangs, and big teeth, and I was skinny, skinny, skinny.
14:33
Speaker 1: You know a lot of people think skinny girls that's
14:36
Speaker 1: they're lucky, right, Well, when you're skinny skinny, it's not
14:39
Speaker 1: always fun. You know. I had big, big, not only
14:43
Speaker 1: buck teeth, but big feet, and I had all these things.
14:46
Speaker 1: And so those are my early insecurities. I got over
14:49
Speaker 1: that eventually, and brace has helped a ton. I was
14:53
Speaker 1: thankful I could get those. But then when I went
14:55
Speaker 1: to college, I think the insecurity of everyone knew I
14:59
Speaker 1: was homesick. Everyone did because I just I wear my
15:02
Speaker 1: heart on my sleeve and I couldn't deny it. It
15:04
Speaker 1: was a long ways away from home. It was a
15:06
Speaker 1: culture shock for me. I grew up in a small,
15:09
Speaker 1: rural Minnesota town where everyone looks like me, and I
15:13
Speaker 1: needed to and you know, by all means, I was
15:16
Speaker 1: very welcoming of all types of people. But I needed
15:19
Speaker 1: to learn a lot of things. I needed to find
15:23
Speaker 1: me because I didn't have every mom and dad of
15:26
Speaker 1: my friends, you know, rooting me on lifting me up.
15:29
Speaker 1: I needed to figure out how to do it on
15:30
Speaker 1: my own. And then, you know, to be honest, that
15:33
Speaker 1: insecurity still lives big time in me. You know, I'm
15:37
Speaker 1: very confident. I know I can do hard things. I
15:40
Speaker 1: know I can go out and set goals and chase
15:43
Speaker 1: them and hopefully achieve them. But there's times where this
15:46
Speaker 1: performance thing that I've been living my whole life with
15:51
Speaker 1: makes me insecure. You know, there's so many people that
15:53
Speaker 1: do things better, or you think they do them better.
15:56
Speaker 1: So the run has definitely helped me through that. Every
15:59
Speaker 1: day that I go out for a run or if
16:01
Speaker 1: I have a day off, but I know why I
16:03
Speaker 1: take a day off. I feel like the run just
16:06
Speaker 1: brings life into me. And it doesn't mean winning races
16:09
Speaker 1: all the time. It means just getting out there and
16:12
Speaker 1: feeling alive.
16:13
Speaker 2: So yeah, I've got a pulse check with you. What
16:16
Speaker 2: size feet do you have these days? Carried nine and
16:19
Speaker 2: a half My feet are bigger than yours.
16:22
Speaker 1: I thought, I remember this now. I don't know a.
16:25
Speaker 2: Fun fact about Emily body. I run in a woman's
16:28
Speaker 2: ten and a half shoe. I'm a street ten, a
16:31
Speaker 2: ten and a half running sneaker.
16:33
Speaker 1: That's so. I mean, I feel like.
16:34
Speaker 2: I tell you, no one in my family has big
16:36
Speaker 2: feet either, So they're the anomaly.
16:38
Speaker 1: Hey, I mean, when we look at you. We know
16:42
Speaker 1: there's big shoes to fill.
16:44
Speaker 3: Man.
16:45
Speaker 2: You've never used that line before, man, But I mean
16:48
Speaker 2: to go back to your point of insecurity. It is
16:51
Speaker 2: certainly something that I can relate to, certainly something that
16:54
Speaker 2: a lot of people listening to this right now can
16:56
Speaker 2: relate to. As you came into your own as a professional,
17:00
Speaker 2: did you combat that sporadic, at times negative voice in
17:05
Speaker 2: your head and start to learn how to be truly
17:08
Speaker 2: your own biggest hype woman.
17:10
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I think that's the big thing. And
17:13
Speaker 1: I think that's why I could succeed because I could
17:17
Speaker 1: train my brain. I visualized. I'm a Christian, so I
17:21
Speaker 1: had prayer, but I also surrounded myself with like minded,
17:25
Speaker 1: goal driven people and they didn't have to be runners,
17:28
Speaker 1: you know, they just had to want to be something.
17:31
Speaker 1: They had to want to use that talent that they
17:34
Speaker 1: were given. And I think that really has helped me.
17:36
Speaker 1: I've always tried to be around positive people and be
17:40
Speaker 1: able to chat about things. You know. That's one of
17:43
Speaker 1: the reasons why I love going for runs. And it
17:45
Speaker 1: doesn't have to be outside. It could be next to
17:47
Speaker 1: you on a treadmill and we're both running our same
17:50
Speaker 1: pace or our own pace, not the same pace, our
17:53
Speaker 1: own pace, and I think just being able to have
17:57
Speaker 1: that conversation about what's going wrong, what's going well, like
18:01
Speaker 1: what can we do with our lives? What do we
18:03
Speaker 1: want to do with our lives? And that I think
18:05
Speaker 1: has been one of my best talents in life, is
18:08
Speaker 1: just being able to have the gift of gab and
18:12
Speaker 1: you know, really kind of learn from other people and
18:14
Speaker 1: learn from myself.
18:16
Speaker 2: And that's a beautiful thing about running and just working
18:19
Speaker 2: out in fitness in general. They call it that sweat
18:21
Speaker 2: working that sweat equity, that barrier that comes down the
18:25
Speaker 2: second that you get active with someone, enabling you to
18:29
Speaker 2: be a little bit more vulnerable than maybe you felt
18:31
Speaker 2: comfortable being before that perspiration really started. You went to
18:37
Speaker 2: the Olympics, I would be remiss if we didn't give
18:40
Speaker 2: that a little bit of breath right here. So talk
18:43
Speaker 2: to me about building up for that experience in your career.
18:48
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I went to Villanova hoping to become
18:50
Speaker 1: an Olympian. I did no idea professional athlete so much
18:53
Speaker 1: because it was still pretty new. I mean, when you
18:55
Speaker 1: look back, there were professional runners, but it wasn't as
19:00
Speaker 1: mainstream as it is now. So when I went there,
19:03
Speaker 1: I just wanted to kind of follow in the footsteps
19:06
Speaker 1: of the alumni of Villanova, and there were a lot
19:09
Speaker 1: of Olympic athletes that came out of that school. So
19:13
Speaker 1: I I think once I won my very first NCAA championship,
19:18
Speaker 1: which was my junior year in cross country, that's when
19:20
Speaker 1: it really was like, Okay, you you might be able
19:24
Speaker 1: to do this. You might be able to not only
19:25
Speaker 1: have Villanova on your chest, but maybe one day have
19:28
Speaker 1: the USA on your chest, which is a big thing
19:31
Speaker 1: to really think about. I had had the opportunity in
19:34
Speaker 1: some other race, like went to the Pan American Games
19:36
Speaker 1: as a junior, and so I had that, you know,
19:40
Speaker 1: I kind of dipped my toe in that area. But
19:43
Speaker 1: it wasn't until I was the best in the NCUBLEA
19:46
Speaker 1: where I really thought, oh, maybe I could be one
19:49
Speaker 1: of the best in the US when I'm older. So yeah,
19:53
Speaker 1: I guess that was a nineteen ninety seven and then
19:55
Speaker 1: it took me a couple couple times to go to
19:59
Speaker 1: you know, US to figure it out. But then in
20:01
Speaker 1: two thousand and four, I did it, and what an
20:04
Speaker 1: amazing experience, and it's something that kind of feels me
20:08
Speaker 1: every single day because I talk about it every day
20:11
Speaker 1: somebody brings up the Olympics or I'm doing a podcast
20:14
Speaker 1: or you know, it's why I get a lot of
20:16
Speaker 1: my jobs. So I'm very thankful that it came together
20:19
Speaker 1: because it doesn't always come together for superstar athletes. So
20:23
Speaker 1: I was a lucky one that day.
20:26
Speaker 2: I want to go back to what you just said
20:28
Speaker 2: about how you had to give it a go a
20:30
Speaker 2: few times before it clicked. Talk to me about the
20:34
Speaker 2: emotions that came hand in hand with the goos that
20:37
Speaker 2: didn't go as you had hoped.
20:39
Speaker 1: Oh they're so heartbreaking, you know, And I think that's
20:42
Speaker 1: what keeps us out there. Like if everything went well,
20:45
Speaker 1: it gets a little boring. So, you know, even though
20:48
Speaker 1: it's hard to swallow when you don't run the way
20:51
Speaker 1: you want to or you're just not there yet, I
20:53
Speaker 1: think that's even harder. If you have a bad race,
20:56
Speaker 1: it's one thing, but when you really sit down and
20:59
Speaker 1: know that you're just not there yet, that's what's really tough.
21:03
Speaker 1: And in my very first Olympic trials, I was lapped
21:06
Speaker 1: on national television. Regina Jacobs was winning the race and
21:10
Speaker 1: I had a whole other lap to go and that
21:13
Speaker 1: was kind of a big reality check. I thought everyone
21:16
Speaker 1: was cheered for me. I had no idea she was going,
21:19
Speaker 1: and so I had to go back home and kind
21:22
Speaker 1: of rethink things and figure out how to to make
21:25
Speaker 1: the next four years worth it. And you know, took
21:28
Speaker 1: a lot of time. I had some big injuries along
21:31
Speaker 1: the way, and once I made that team, it was
21:34
Speaker 1: just like a big breath of fresh air and big,
21:37
Speaker 1: you know, exhale, because it wasn't just me that made
21:40
Speaker 1: it was our my entire family, all the coaches and
21:43
Speaker 1: teammates that were along the way with me.
21:46
Speaker 2: You mentioned the buzzword injury, and you have had some
21:49
Speaker 2: very big ones. I mentioned my struggle with plannder fasciitis
21:53
Speaker 2: recently to you.
21:55
Speaker 3: That was something that plagued you for some time.
21:59
Speaker 1: Oh it like, I just feel so bad that you're
22:01
Speaker 1: dealing with it. I think we deal with it maybe
22:03
Speaker 1: a little bit different now than when I was competing.
22:06
Speaker 1: But I had an eighteen month I had it for
22:08
Speaker 1: eighteen months and one foot in sixteen months in the other.
22:11
Speaker 3: How did you get through that?
22:13
Speaker 1: Well? I think the reason why I had it for
22:15
Speaker 1: so long was because I really busted my butt cross
22:17
Speaker 1: training with it, and I don't know if I should have.
22:21
Speaker 1: You know, I would come off the elliptical limping like
22:23
Speaker 1: I did if I were done running. So does that
22:26
Speaker 1: make sense? But in that time, we thought, oh, it's
22:30
Speaker 1: no impact, it's you know, can't really be screwing you up. Well,
22:35
Speaker 1: you know, now I look back and I think it
22:37
Speaker 1: was my calf, and you know, all kinds of things
22:39
Speaker 1: were keeping it, you know, very alive in my foot,
22:42
Speaker 1: and it was tough mentally. I think that was one
22:46
Speaker 1: of my hardest challenges. But I had a really big
22:48
Speaker 1: injury in college where I had a tumor in my
22:51
Speaker 1: heel and they filled it with donor bone, and it
22:54
Speaker 1: was very much a question of what I get back
22:57
Speaker 1: would I be the same runner? And I think once
23:00
Speaker 1: I went through that, I knew I could handle most
23:04
Speaker 1: things in life. And so even though it was super
23:08
Speaker 1: hard to have planner when I did, I knew I
23:10
Speaker 1: just needed to keep on that mental game. I needed
23:13
Speaker 1: to have the mental capacity to get through it. But
23:15
Speaker 1: also I needed to just ride the wave and be
23:19
Speaker 1: excited to come back when I could get back.
23:22
Speaker 2: And you also had a massive abdominal injury.
23:25
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I forgot about that. One. How could you
23:31
Speaker 1: That one was lovely? I did the splits over a
23:34
Speaker 1: snow drift on the way to the indoor track in Minnesota,
23:38
Speaker 1: actually the January before I made my Olympic team in June,
23:41
Speaker 1: and I tore both addictors, which are your growing muscles.
23:46
Speaker 1: I tore the abs off my pubic bone. I didn't
23:49
Speaker 1: know I was that injured until I got home from
23:52
Speaker 1: the Olympics, because there's no time to be injured the
23:55
Speaker 1: Olympic year, right, So we managed with all kinds of
23:58
Speaker 1: different treatments. And then once I got home from the Olympics,
24:02
Speaker 1: I could tell I was super injured. I had more
24:04
Speaker 1: than just the soft tissue injuries. I had two stress
24:08
Speaker 1: reactions on my pubic bone. I had askediatus pubis while
24:11
Speaker 1: I was running in the Olympics. So I was a
24:13
Speaker 1: big mess. But just again, I mean, we're talking a
24:17
Speaker 1: lot about the mind, and for me to be able
24:19
Speaker 1: to sort of, you know, put that all aside and
24:23
Speaker 1: too mentally get through the pain that I was in,
24:26
Speaker 1: I think that's a pretty powerful thing for me to
24:28
Speaker 1: look back at.
24:30
Speaker 2: Wow, just wow, the thought of running on those kinds
24:35
Speaker 2: of injuries alone, nevertheless performing at the level that you
24:38
Speaker 2: were is just it's unfathomable. Now again, going back to
24:43
Speaker 2: that word insecurity that carried along with you well past
24:48
Speaker 2: your professional career and even in more recent years when
24:52
Speaker 2: you got really back into the swing of running after
24:57
Speaker 2: having your kids. Talk to me a little bit about
25:00
Speaker 2: how that felt for you, being this Olympian that is
25:05
Speaker 2: now a little bit older and trying to lace up
25:08
Speaker 2: and get back out there.
25:09
Speaker 1: Well, first of all, bite your tongue. Oh, I was
25:14
Speaker 1: just thinking that today, I'm like, I am forty five
25:16
Speaker 1: years old. How am I forty five years old?
25:19
Speaker 2: What a beautiful forty five year old you are?
25:21
Speaker 1: My gosh, I don't know. I got a lot of wrinkles,
25:23
Speaker 1: but we'll we'll just be happy with those. We'll call
25:26
Speaker 1: them smile lines. But anyway, yeah, you know, I didn't
25:30
Speaker 1: know for sure if I was going to be done
25:31
Speaker 1: competing when I was having my babies, and even after Everett,
25:35
Speaker 1: who now turns nine soon here and so Ruby's twelve,
25:39
Speaker 1: Everett's nine, and then our little guy Greer is six.
25:42
Speaker 1: I think that I needed to figure out who I
25:45
Speaker 1: was going to be after my sport was done, or
25:50
Speaker 1: I guess my racing was done, and that was where
25:53
Speaker 1: the insecurity really came into play for me. It wasn't
25:56
Speaker 1: so much that I was going to be a mom.
25:58
Speaker 1: It wasn't so much that I didn't know if I
26:01
Speaker 1: was going to be that athlete. It was just like
26:04
Speaker 1: where do I go? Like there are all these questions
26:07
Speaker 1: because I still didn't know I wasn't going to get
26:09
Speaker 1: back to the track. I didn't really get back to it,
26:11
Speaker 1: but my career went a different way with broadcasts and
26:14
Speaker 1: my podcast and all these other fun things that I
26:17
Speaker 1: get to do still, but there's still that like who
26:21
Speaker 1: am I without this sport? And that's what I think
26:24
Speaker 1: I really struggled with during my pregnancies, because that's where
26:28
Speaker 1: you're like, you look different, right, You're you're getting way
26:31
Speaker 1: out of shape. It's just you're going to be a mom.
26:34
Speaker 1: You got other kids to worry or you have other
26:36
Speaker 1: things to worry about, not just not just you. So
26:40
Speaker 1: I've struggled with insecurity a little bit. But also I
26:43
Speaker 1: think it's just a question of what's next. That has
26:48
Speaker 1: always been my fear, my insecurity, not necessarily living in
26:54
Speaker 1: the moment. So yeah, I getting away from racing wasn't
26:59
Speaker 1: so hard, it's just where am I going to go
27:01
Speaker 1: with my career. That's been the hard part.
27:04
Speaker 2: And I'm sure women, regardless of whether they've transitioned into
27:07
Speaker 2: a phase of being a mother, perhaps they've gone through
27:10
Speaker 2: some sort of other career change or navigating relationships as
27:14
Speaker 2: they ebb and flow. There are so many different ways
27:17
Speaker 2: that we as humans identify. So when you add a
27:21
Speaker 2: new title, a new identification to your roster in your case, mother,
27:25
Speaker 2: it's totally natural for you to question, like, well, what
27:28
Speaker 2: about all these other ways that I have identified in
27:33
Speaker 2: the moments in years leading up to right now, and
27:35
Speaker 2: especially identifying as a runner was such a huge part
27:39
Speaker 2: of your being. You even said it yourself, like, it
27:42
Speaker 2: is the thing that to this day still gets me opportunities,
27:47
Speaker 2: still enables you to do something that you love so much.
27:50
Speaker 2: So when you laced up again, talk me through how
27:55
Speaker 2: it felt to get back out there and know it
27:59
Speaker 2: was going to be different.
28:02
Speaker 1: It was really hard. It was really hard. I mean
28:05
Speaker 1: I always tell this story. So I went out to
28:08
Speaker 1: Portland to run and to try to make the Olympic
28:11
Speaker 1: trials right after Ruby was born. So it's about a
28:14
Speaker 1: year actually after Ruby was born, and I was sleeping
28:19
Speaker 1: on the floor of a friend's house on a blow
28:22
Speaker 1: up mattress, and I remember laying there thinking, I am
28:28
Speaker 1: sleeping on the floor on a blow up mattress away
28:31
Speaker 1: from my child. Is this what I want to do?
28:36
Speaker 1: And that was the kind of eye opener for me.
28:39
Speaker 1: My husband was home, my daughter was home, and you
28:42
Speaker 1: know what, Listen, we are seeing some amazing performances from
28:46
Speaker 1: moms and we even did at that time. You know,
28:49
Speaker 1: this was twenty eleven, so we had already seen Paula Radcliffe.
28:53
Speaker 1: We had already seen I mean, all kinds of athletes
28:56
Speaker 1: were having babies. Shane Culpepper is a big name that
28:59
Speaker 1: people should know that really was kind of one of
29:01
Speaker 1: the first Americans to have babies, and she ran great
29:05
Speaker 1: with her babies. But for me, that was this like,
29:08
Speaker 1: WHOA what am I doing? And I think that was
29:11
Speaker 1: the first time where my heart was telling me maybe
29:15
Speaker 1: this running thing isn't what I need to do anymore.
29:20
Speaker 1: I didn't want to do second runs, you know, I
29:23
Speaker 1: didn't want to get to the gym. I wanted to
29:25
Speaker 1: be at home when Charlie got home from work and
29:27
Speaker 1: play with Ruby. And then so I kind of that
29:31
Speaker 1: was the first taste of it. And then I got
29:33
Speaker 1: going a little bit. It was probably you know, two
29:36
Speaker 1: years after right before I got pregnant with Everett, where
29:39
Speaker 1: I was like, hey, maybe I will give it a
29:41
Speaker 1: go again. And then I was still kind of cut
29:44
Speaker 1: in corners. And so I think that that was the
29:47
Speaker 1: big eye opener for me where I just wasn't giving
29:50
Speaker 1: it my all anymore. And to be world class at anything,
29:53
Speaker 1: or to be very successful at anything, you have to
29:56
Speaker 1: be willing to sacrifice a lot of things. And I
29:58
Speaker 1: don't really love that word, but it's that's true. So
30:01
Speaker 1: the sacrifice wasn't more appealing to me than dealing with
30:07
Speaker 1: insecurity of not knowing where to go next.
30:11
Speaker 3: Two things to double click on.
30:12
Speaker 2: The first thing is this idea of finding joy in
30:15
Speaker 2: the journey as you go toward your goals. And it
30:18
Speaker 2: can be totally normal to set a goal and realize
30:22
Speaker 2: as you embark on the journey that gets you to
30:24
Speaker 2: this goal that it's not what you'd thought or that you'd.
30:27
Speaker 3: Hoped it would be.
30:29
Speaker 2: And it takes a big person to stake a step
30:30
Speaker 2: back from that, right So in your case, for you
30:33
Speaker 2: to say, listen, like, this isn't what i'd hoped it
30:35
Speaker 2: would be and like accept that that's cool. That's not
30:39
Speaker 2: to say that, you know, every person that goes out
30:41
Speaker 2: on a similar journey will have the same experience, because,
30:45
Speaker 2: as you said and articulated so well, there are so
30:47
Speaker 2: many stellar women that have stepped into motherhood while still
30:51
Speaker 2: excelling in.
30:51
Speaker 3: Sport to some sort of a way.
30:53
Speaker 2: But the second thing to double click on is that.
30:56
Speaker 3: You did excel.
30:58
Speaker 2: It just wasn't on that stage, right, because you did
31:02
Speaker 2: get back to running again.
31:05
Speaker 1: I did get back to running again, and then I
31:07
Speaker 1: started putting my focus into my broadcast work, which you know,
31:11
Speaker 1: I sometimes forget that they're really there. Now we're getting
31:15
Speaker 1: more female voices out there, but when I started, there
31:18
Speaker 1: were really only a few of us.
31:21
Speaker 3: You know.
31:21
Speaker 1: Catherine Switzer was leading the charge, right, Dina Castor was
31:25
Speaker 1: dabbling into it a little bit, Julie Benson was dabbling
31:28
Speaker 1: a little. But I mean, I'm proud of that when
31:31
Speaker 1: I look back, I'm proud of how many things I
31:34
Speaker 1: was able to do, still being in this sport, still
31:37
Speaker 1: getting like my cup filled, just not running fast anymore. Right,
31:42
Speaker 1: So I did get back to running. I did go
31:44
Speaker 1: and run a marathon for the first time four months
31:47
Speaker 1: after having Everett. That was an amazing kind of resurgence
31:52
Speaker 1: for me in the sport of running. I did not
31:54
Speaker 1: get back to elite running, but it was still good running.
31:58
Speaker 1: But yeah, I just my my life was shifting, and
32:01
Speaker 1: that's okay, it's still shifting. I just turned down a
32:04
Speaker 1: really big opportunity to coach at Division one and it
32:08
Speaker 1: was because I put my family first again, and I
32:10
Speaker 1: think that's okay. At the end of the day, it's okay.
32:15
Speaker 1: I still have super big insecurities, like, oh my gosh,
32:18
Speaker 1: I could have had tuition paid for with three kids,
32:22
Speaker 1: I would have had a steady paycheck. I would have
32:24
Speaker 1: been able to influence these lovely young women. But it
32:29
Speaker 1: wasn't the right time and my family had to come first.
32:32
Speaker 1: And it was sort of the same way back after
32:35
Speaker 1: having Ruby. It wasn't the right time for me to
32:37
Speaker 1: be racing. I had to put my family first, and
32:40
Speaker 1: life just shifted. So I put my broadcasts on the
32:43
Speaker 1: front burner. And you know, ten fifteen years later here, well, no,
32:48
Speaker 1: twenty years later, I'm still doing broadcasts. I'm still in
32:51
Speaker 1: the running world, and I'm a mommy.
32:55
Speaker 2: I love also your definition of like not running super
32:59
Speaker 2: fast it's probably so different than ninety nine nine people
33:06
Speaker 2: listening to this podcast.
33:08
Speaker 1: Yeah I did. I was trying to say it was
33:10
Speaker 1: an elite level, right, Like, so I think of elite
33:12
Speaker 1: marathoners as like, you know, making Olympic trials. I'm not
33:16
Speaker 1: making the Olympic trials, but I'm having fun doing it.
33:20
Speaker 3: That's amazing. That's amazing.
33:21
Speaker 2: So as you have reframed the narrative, and I think
33:26
Speaker 2: that's actually like a really good phrase for us to
33:29
Speaker 2: use here, recognizing that we each have that opportunity, right,
33:33
Speaker 2: because there are so many different insecurities that someone could
33:37
Speaker 2: be using running to run through. Maybe it is navigating
33:43
Speaker 2: for me at times I would be ormiss if by
33:45
Speaker 2: an admit like body dysmorphia, having undergone a major weight
33:49
Speaker 2: loss in my life. Maybe you are running through insecurity
33:52
Speaker 2: of feeling as though you're not enough at your job,
33:56
Speaker 2: or struggling through the way that you're navigating a personal relationship.
34:01
Speaker 2: There are so many different ways that we can reframe
34:05
Speaker 2: the narrative. So for you, as you've gotten older, what
34:09
Speaker 2: tools do you have in the toolbox, aside from lacing
34:12
Speaker 2: up your sneakers to help you reframe the narrative? As
34:17
Speaker 2: insecurity peeps in Yeah.
34:19
Speaker 1: I mean I have learned and we talk about this
34:21
Speaker 1: a lot. So many athletes say they've learned these life
34:24
Speaker 1: lessons on the track or on the roads, and you
34:26
Speaker 1: really have. You know, the journey that gets us to
34:29
Speaker 1: the start line and to the finish line is a
34:32
Speaker 1: pretty powerful one. So I lean on that a lot.
34:35
Speaker 1: I mean I go back to thinking about missing the
34:37
Speaker 1: five thousand meter team in two thousand and four and
34:41
Speaker 1: then coming back and surprising everybody and winning that fifteen
34:43
Speaker 1: hundred in one hundred and sixteen degree heat. I mean,
34:47
Speaker 1: it was amazing how tough we had to be that day,
34:52
Speaker 1: and for me to know I did it has fueled
34:54
Speaker 1: me for a lifetime. But there's been a lot of
34:57
Speaker 1: other things that have just kind of kept me going.
35:00
Speaker 1: And I think that for me, I just want to
35:03
Speaker 1: live this life that I'm proud of. And I think
35:07
Speaker 1: when I look back and say, what would I be
35:09
Speaker 1: proud of is just knowing that I'm okay to get gritty.
35:12
Speaker 1: I want to get after it. You know that's my saying.
35:15
Speaker 1: I want to keep being a rock star human being,
35:18
Speaker 1: which you know, in my world is one that just
35:22
Speaker 1: is excited to tackle things that seem hard and not
35:25
Speaker 1: be afraid of failing. So you know, when that red
35:28
Speaker 1: light goes on. Now, with every camera that I'm in
35:30
Speaker 1: front of, I know I'm going to get maybe some
35:33
Speaker 1: backlash for things I say, but I hope I bring
35:36
Speaker 1: the kind out and I hope I relay the stories
35:40
Speaker 1: of athletes and make sure that I'm just showing the
35:42
Speaker 1: passion of life that I have. And so you know,
35:45
Speaker 1: it's just I just want to be able to live
35:48
Speaker 1: a life that I'm excited about and proud of. So
35:51
Speaker 1: I think people can do that as well. When you
35:53
Speaker 1: have insecurities in life, I think just looking at yourself
35:56
Speaker 1: in the mirror and just really digging deep to see
35:59
Speaker 1: what you want to do. And I need like you
36:01
Speaker 1: to ask me these questions because sometimes I forget. And
36:05
Speaker 1: You've been on a different journey and I'm one of
36:07
Speaker 1: the most amazing ones to follow. It's so fun to
36:09
Speaker 1: see the joy you find in life. But yet you
36:12
Speaker 1: share your hurdles, right, You share your ups and downs,
36:15
Speaker 1: and that's what I want to do as well.
36:17
Speaker 3: I appreciate you.
36:18
Speaker 2: You know, it's interesting to hear you talk about being
36:22
Speaker 2: in front of the camera and when that red light
36:23
Speaker 2: goes on because that's kind of where I wanted to
36:25
Speaker 2: head next. Granted, you have now years of experience in
36:31
Speaker 2: this industry, but it is almost expected, and it would
36:35
Speaker 2: be odd if you didn't have to navigate the feelings
36:38
Speaker 2: of insecurity that go hand in hand with putting yourself
36:41
Speaker 2: out there, asking hard questions in front of large groups
36:44
Speaker 2: of people and having your own opinions at times. How
36:47
Speaker 2: have you gotten to this place where you do see
36:51
Speaker 2: the positive and what you get to do instead of
36:55
Speaker 2: harping on what can be.
36:57
Speaker 3: The negative aspects.
36:59
Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean I have been lucky for most of
37:03
Speaker 1: my career that I haven't had a lot of people
37:06
Speaker 1: say nasty things, but I do think they're always right there.
37:11
Speaker 1: You know, there are people. I've had an incidant last
37:13
Speaker 1: fall where I comment on Molly's sidel and she was
37:18
Speaker 1: high fiving her sister during the marathon, and it came out, Okay,
37:22
Speaker 1: I am a mom. I said behave because I say
37:24
Speaker 1: behave every day to my kids. But what she did
37:27
Speaker 1: was she high fived and I didn't know it was
37:29
Speaker 1: her sister, but it was right in thunder Alley and
37:33
Speaker 1: that's where most moves are made, and so I was
37:37
Speaker 1: just saying, Oh my gosh, she should behave here now
37:39
Speaker 1: because this is the exciting time she went up to
37:41
Speaker 1: high five. Everyone gets super pumped there. We talk about
37:44
Speaker 1: in every broadcast because that is the moment that is
37:47
Speaker 1: almost a game changer in most of the races in
37:49
Speaker 1: New York where the elite group breaks up because somebody
37:53
Speaker 1: gets excited and they go fast, you know, when they're
37:56
Speaker 1: when the crowds are so loud or their energy just
37:59
Speaker 1: feels like they're on fire and they want to go
38:01
Speaker 1: hard there and then things, you know, still have a
38:03
Speaker 1: long ways to run.
38:04
Speaker 3: Is this the mile sixteen turn?
38:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's I've never heard it called thunder Alley before.
38:10
Speaker 3: Huh Okay, I keep going.
38:11
Speaker 1: Well, there's a bunch of different things, right, No, I
38:13
Speaker 1: love that. I love that.
38:13
Speaker 2: So we're referencing the mile sixteen point right after you
38:16
Speaker 2: come off the Queensboro in the New York City Marathon.
38:18
Speaker 1: And it's loud for like two months, so loud.
38:20
Speaker 2: I mean I knew exactly what you were talking about
38:22
Speaker 2: without ever hearing that phrase before.
38:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, so after the race, there was all kinds of
38:28
Speaker 1: backlash for me. Well, they just said the commentator and
38:31
Speaker 1: I think they're just having fun with it. But that
38:34
Speaker 1: was really hard on me because Mollie is I'd like
38:38
Speaker 1: to call her a good friend of mine because I'm
38:40
Speaker 1: just you know, I'm always around her and we chat
38:43
Speaker 1: and things. And I've watched her run since she was little.
38:46
Speaker 1: She's from, you know, right around my area here in
38:49
Speaker 1: the Midwest, in Wisconsin. I've seen her at foot locker NCAA's.
38:53
Speaker 1: I love that girl. I would never say anything bad
38:56
Speaker 1: about her, but I said she needs to behave here.
38:58
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh.
38:59
Speaker 1: I was excited it and I just got right and
39:04
Speaker 1: it was hard, and I still I still kind of
39:06
Speaker 1: get like butterflies like her mom likes everything on my
39:09
Speaker 1: Facebook and on Instagram, and I like Molly's cool with it.
39:13
Speaker 1: She's on my podcast the next week. But knowing that
39:15
Speaker 1: people thought I was being mean killed me. So those
39:19
Speaker 1: are the hard times. But it's a really exciting job
39:23
Speaker 1: and I love it because I get to talk about
39:26
Speaker 1: a sport that I love so much, and I get
39:28
Speaker 1: to talk about the people that really I love so much,
39:31
Speaker 1: like in a different sense, but I love talking about
39:33
Speaker 1: the athletes. So there's definitely insecurities in my role. But
39:37
Speaker 1: I think my role is needed, whether it's my voice
39:40
Speaker 1: or someone else's, we need it, so I'm willing to
39:42
Speaker 1: put up with it.
39:44
Speaker 3: I love that. I love that, all right, Carrie.
39:46
Speaker 2: Right now, if you had to identify one of your
39:49
Speaker 2: favorite pieces of running gear, what would it be?
39:53
Speaker 1: Running gear?
39:54
Speaker 2: Oh?
39:55
Speaker 1: Well, I guess I'd have to say my shoes, because
39:58
Speaker 1: what shoes are we running it? I run in everything now,
40:02
Speaker 1: I do. But I will tell you you and I
40:04
Speaker 1: saw each other at the Adidas headquarters and hertze Canal, Germany.
40:08
Speaker 3: You say it. You say all of that so eloquently.
40:12
Speaker 1: Yeah, with a little at the end. But so the
40:16
Speaker 1: three stripes for me have been family, you know. They
40:19
Speaker 1: have supported me for years. But I do get to
40:22
Speaker 1: run in a lot of different shoes now because I'm
40:24
Speaker 1: at different events, and it's been good for me not
40:27
Speaker 1: to have a sponsor because I can wear the event
40:31
Speaker 1: sponsored gear. So I'd have to say I'll go with
40:34
Speaker 1: three stripes any day. But I wear all kinds of models,
40:38
Speaker 1: and I think it's been good for my feet, to
40:40
Speaker 1: be honest, to switch it up. I don't wear the
40:43
Speaker 1: same shoe more than two days in a row.
40:45
Speaker 2: I feel like I'm kind of the same way unless
40:47
Speaker 2: I'm traveling and I bring like one sneaker with me,
40:49
Speaker 2: which has been an acquired skill because I am known
40:53
Speaker 2: to travel with way too many pairs of sneakers at once.
40:55
Speaker 1: I know they're so cute. I mean, how often do
40:58
Speaker 1: you actually throw a pair of shoes who away?
41:00
Speaker 3: Though I throwing away is a strong term.
41:05
Speaker 2: I end up running through them to the point where
41:07
Speaker 2: they get thrown away. Unless it's like a carbon plated shoe,
41:11
Speaker 2: then that shoe, like, we'll get to a point where
41:13
Speaker 2: it's like they only have so many good miles in
41:15
Speaker 2: them to begin with. Otherwise I'm donating a lot of
41:19
Speaker 2: my like worn sneakers to Goodwill, which for me, after
41:23
Speaker 2: a certain amount of miles, it might be like, Okay,
41:25
Speaker 2: like this shoe isn't as good as it could be,
41:28
Speaker 2: but it's great for someone who may not be using
41:30
Speaker 2: it or pounding it into the pavement as much as
41:32
Speaker 2: I would be.
41:33
Speaker 1: That's so good of you. Yeah, I mean I kind
41:35
Speaker 1: of wear my shoes out, Like I'm do you ever
41:39
Speaker 1: wash your shoes? I wash my shoes.
41:40
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I wash them. I throw them in the
41:42
Speaker 2: washing machine and air dry. The comment the DM is
41:45
Speaker 2: going to come in you air dry them, and you
41:47
Speaker 2: put newspaper in them, which these days harder to find.
41:50
Speaker 3: Newspaper than it used to be.
41:53
Speaker 1: So true, I don't a newspaper.
41:57
Speaker 2: I make myself read some of it as a dedicated
42:00
Speaker 2: journalist before I just like crumble it up and put
42:02
Speaker 2: it into the shoe to air dry. But yeah, I
42:04
Speaker 2: just put them, like two to three pairs max in
42:07
Speaker 2: the washer on a spin cycle.
42:09
Speaker 1: Yeah me too. I like a white or clean pair
42:12
Speaker 1: of shoes, so yeah, I will. I will wear my
42:15
Speaker 1: shoes for a long time, even after they're sort of
42:17
Speaker 1: not good for the run anymore. But my house is
42:20
Speaker 1: sort of exploding with shoes.
42:23
Speaker 3: Exploding with shoes.
42:24
Speaker 2: Okay, so we like a three stripe sneaker. And then
42:26
Speaker 2: are you This is ironic to ask you because of
42:29
Speaker 2: what you do a podcast listener or a music listener.
42:33
Speaker 2: And if you go the music route, can you give
42:36
Speaker 2: us a track from your running playlist?
42:39
Speaker 1: So I don't listen to a lot of things when
42:40
Speaker 1: I run, which is crazy because I'm a podcaster, but
42:46
Speaker 1: I like to be outside. I'd love to hear the birds.
42:49
Speaker 1: I'm a little scared on the run, to be honest.
42:51
Speaker 1: If I'm running by myself. I'm always running a little scared,
42:54
Speaker 1: which is sort of sad, but I've had enough incidents
42:58
Speaker 1: in life that I just I want to be aware.
43:00
Speaker 1: So that being said, if I'm around the house, like
43:04
Speaker 1: cleaning or cooking or whatever, I like to put on
43:07
Speaker 1: a good podcast. The Hurdle is one of them. I
43:09
Speaker 1: like to listen to Ali on the Run, I'm good
43:12
Speaker 1: friends with you too, Rambling Runner, Another Mother Runner, all
43:16
Speaker 1: these fun ones. I'm not really one to listen to,
43:18
Speaker 1: like a murder. I'd rather sit down and watch that.
43:21
Speaker 1: But if I can go dancing, girl, I won't get
43:26
Speaker 1: off the dance floor. I love a little Bruno Mars.
43:30
Speaker 1: I love eighties big hairbands justin Timberlake. I don't know,
43:36
Speaker 1: I love it all. So I'm not one to run
43:38
Speaker 1: with things in my ears, but I am one to
43:41
Speaker 1: listen when I'm at home or on the dance floor.
43:45
Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel like the sentiment of I always run a
43:47
Speaker 2: little scared is like a whole other podcast. We won't
43:50
Speaker 2: get into it now, but I do think that at
43:53
Speaker 2: least it's important and valuable that you have a sense
43:57
Speaker 2: of awareness about where you're at and what you're doing.
43:59
Speaker 3: If you're heading out alone at any time of day.
44:01
Speaker 3: I feel like that's like a necessary disclaimer here.
44:04
Speaker 1: It is, for sure. I mean I run with a
44:06
Speaker 1: lot of friends and that's my fun time.
44:08
Speaker 3: You know.
44:09
Speaker 1: I travel most weekends for work, and then I'm at
44:11
Speaker 1: kids events when I'm not traveling, And so for me
44:15
Speaker 1: to call up a friend and say, hey, can we
44:16
Speaker 1: go at five thirty in the morning, and usually I'll
44:18
Speaker 1: find somebody. But if I'm alone, you know, I just
44:22
Speaker 1: make sure everyone knows where I'm at and when I'll
44:25
Speaker 1: be back and things like that. So all's good. I
44:28
Speaker 1: just I do run a little scared.
44:30
Speaker 3: All's good. Okay, final question for you here, Carrie. Right now, you.
44:35
Speaker 2: Have the opportunity to offer yourself a piece of advice
44:39
Speaker 2: when you think back to navigating the insecurities that came
44:44
Speaker 2: hand in hand with getting back to running. Looking at
44:48
Speaker 2: running a little bit differently after having your kids, what
44:53
Speaker 2: do you tell yourself now with what you know looking
44:56
Speaker 2: back on that time.
44:58
Speaker 1: I think, don't be as scared of it. You know,
45:00
Speaker 1: I was scared of what life was going to give
45:02
Speaker 1: me because I was going to change my body and
45:05
Speaker 1: I was going to, you know, have this. I don't
45:08
Speaker 1: know what do you say, like, I was housing this
45:10
Speaker 1: baby for all these months, and I was nervous of
45:13
Speaker 1: all of that, and it was lovely, it was awesome.
45:18
Speaker 1: And not everyone wants to have children or you know,
45:20
Speaker 1: sadly can't have children. But the journey to motherhood for
45:24
Speaker 1: me was amazing. And there were some hard times. I
45:28
Speaker 1: lost a baby in between Everett and Greer, which is
45:32
Speaker 1: heart wrenching to talk about, and it was super hard
45:34
Speaker 1: for me. But I wouldn't change that either. I don't
45:37
Speaker 1: think like I just learned so much about me. So yeah,
45:40
Speaker 1: the ups and downs, the hurdles we face in life,
45:43
Speaker 1: you know, I think it's just how you kind of
45:45
Speaker 1: react to them, remember them, live through them, and hopefully
45:49
Speaker 1: be better tomorrow than you were today. I mean, that's
45:51
Speaker 1: really what I always think about. I want to be
45:53
Speaker 1: better tomorrow than I am today, and I don't want
45:56
Speaker 1: people to be scared of what tomorrow is. I have
45:59
Speaker 1: been scared at times time, but it always works out.
46:02
Speaker 1: You always figure it out. Yeah, we'll figure it out.
46:05
Speaker 1: And if you are a little bit nervous, you call
46:08
Speaker 1: up Emily and say, hey, can you just talk to
46:12
Speaker 1: me for a little bit, because you always bring the positivity,
46:15
Speaker 1: and that's the thing. I just want to keep finding
46:17
Speaker 1: friends and people in my corner that lift me up.
46:21
Speaker 1: I don't ever want to be around people that don't.
46:24
Speaker 3: And I think that that and I was going to
46:25
Speaker 3: say this before.
46:26
Speaker 2: But that idea of like you're the sum of the
46:29
Speaker 2: people that you keep closest to you. When you are
46:32
Speaker 2: navigating insecurity in any capacity, that's always like a really
46:35
Speaker 2: important audit to do, like who are you surrounding yourself
46:39
Speaker 2: with and are they helping you get through whatever hurdle
46:43
Speaker 2: it is that you're going through in that moment. And
46:45
Speaker 2: that's why at times like there are relationships that come
46:49
Speaker 2: for a season and that's okay, that's part of.
46:52
Speaker 1: Life exactly, or even there's times when you can be
46:56
Speaker 1: with people like that, but you have to know win
47:00
Speaker 1: enough is enough. I have these conversations all the time,
47:02
Speaker 1: no Emily, because I am a mother of a twelve
47:05
Speaker 1: year old girl, and you know, those those years are hard,
47:09
Speaker 1: those junior high years are hard, especially for girls, I think,
47:13
Speaker 1: And so we're having these conversations about you know, you
47:16
Speaker 1: can be friends with everybody, and I want her to
47:18
Speaker 1: be that girl that's friends with everybody. But I think
47:21
Speaker 1: I'm seeing myself in her, and you know, just making
47:25
Speaker 1: sure she wants to be kind even if people aren't
47:27
Speaker 1: kind back. And I think there's a time and place
47:30
Speaker 1: for that. You have to save space for people that
47:33
Speaker 1: need you as well.
47:34
Speaker 2: I love that sentiment, Carrie. I'm so grateful that we
47:37
Speaker 2: were able to make this happen. If they don't follow
47:40
Speaker 2: along with you just yet, how do hurdlers keep up
47:42
Speaker 2: with you? How do they follow along with you? Give
47:44
Speaker 2: us all of your details.
47:46
Speaker 1: Yes, well, I am not nearly as good as you
47:48
Speaker 1: are on social media, but you can find me on
47:50
Speaker 1: Instagram at Carrie Tullison or see Tolly Ronn as my
47:54
Speaker 1: podcast and we have a new episode every Thursday. We
47:59
Speaker 1: love sharing people's journey of getting after life, and so yeah,
48:02
Speaker 1: you can find me there, or you can find me
48:04
Speaker 1: hopefully at a lot of the major marathons or some
48:07
Speaker 1: of the track events road races. I do a lot
48:10
Speaker 1: of broadcast work there and I just enjoy the sport
48:13
Speaker 1: so much. I enjoy whether you are in front of
48:15
Speaker 1: the pack, in the back of the pack, in the middle,
48:17
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter. We all have our own journey of
48:20
Speaker 1: putting one foot in front of the other. And I
48:22
Speaker 1: just would love to meet you all, so come follow me.
48:24
Speaker 1: I'll follow you back.
48:27
Speaker 2: I'm over at Emily a Body an at Hurdle podcast,
48:30
Speaker 2: Another hurdle conquered.
48:32
Speaker 3: Catch you guys next time.