Latest / Hurdle with Emily Abbate / 309. In Good Faith: Nia Akins On Following Her Passions All The Way To Paris & Finding Solace In Music

Transcript

309. In Good Faith: Nia Akins On Following Her Passions All The Way To Paris & Finding Solace In Music · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: I know what it looks like when we're out there racing.
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: It's just like it's just us out there. You see
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: the result and it's just like my name next to
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: the time and the place. But it's like there's so
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: many people behind me, and there's also God behind me.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: That's like brought me to where I am today, you know.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: And I feel like that's the thing that people don't
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: always like get to see.
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: What's shaking everyone. Emily A Body here.
• 0:38
  Speaker 3: You're listening to episode three hundred and nine of Hurdle,
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: a wellness focused podcast where I talk to inspirational people
• 0:45
  Speaker 3: about everything from their highest ties and toughest moments to
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: essential tips on how to live a healthier, happier, more
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: motivated life. We all go through our fair share of hurdles.
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: My goal through these discussions is to power you to
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: navigate yours and move with intention so that you can
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: stride towards your own big potential and of course have
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: some fun along the way.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: For today's episode, I am chatting with Nia Aikins.
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: She is a professional runner for Brooks and she's heading
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: to Paris. In today's episode, we talk about that, We
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: talk about her epic run at the Olympic Trials in
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: Eugene just a couple of weeks ago, where she came
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: in first place in the eight hundred meters that's a
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: half mile for those of you that are getting up
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: to speed here. Candidly, I really love the way this
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: conversation starts off because it has absolutely nothing to do
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: with running, but rather MIA's other passion, and that is
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: music and singing. She just released a song on Spotify
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: earlier this week. It's called Pedals to the Fire, and
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: we talk about the intersection of her two loves of
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: sport and music and how they actually play into one another.
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: Of course, I'll make sure to link that new track
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: in the show notes. I also really love the conversation
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: that Nia and I have around her faith. She talks
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: really beautifully about a realization that she had not all
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: that long ago, when she felt like she was putting
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: too much emphasis on her self worth based on her
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: performance as an athlete or as an artist, and her
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: faith is exactly what helped her come back to the
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: value that she has simply as Nia the person of note.
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: I also really appreciate her sentiments offering advice to anyone
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: that may be making a big life change or a
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: big move. Nia herself moved across the country when she
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: accepted her contract with Brooks to train with their track club,
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: the Brooks Beasts. They go back and forth between Albuquerque
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: and See all love this combo. It's making me really
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: am for what is to come In the next few weeks.
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: I'm myself I'm going to be heading out to Paris.
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: I can't wait to share more details about what I'll
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: be doing out there with y'all very soon. It's truly, truly,
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: this feels like the biggest understatement, a dream come true
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: for me, and I am so looking forward to it. Also,
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: I have some other exciting news next week on the show,
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: I'm doing a special series gearing up to the opening
• 3:29
  Speaker 3: ceremonies on the twenty six. It's going to be featuring
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: both athletes as well as other individuals that are tied
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: to what's going.
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: On in Paris.
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: I'm talking reporters, broadcasters, all sharing their perspective on what
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: it's like to be a part of such a major
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: moment in sport.
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: I can't wait to make sure.
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: In the meantime, you're following along with Hurdle over on
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: social It's at Hurdle Podcast. I'm over at Emily a
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: body with that. Let's get to it. Let's get to hurdling.
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: Today.
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: I am sitting down with Nia Aikens. She is a
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: professional runner for Brooks. How are we doing today, Nia.
• 4:15
  Speaker 4: I'm doing fantastic. Yeah, thank fantastic.
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: The vibes are high in albuquer Guie.
• 4:21
  Speaker 4: The vibes are high. Yeah, high altitude, high vibes.
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: We love that.
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: I'm so excited to chat with you on the heels
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: of And maybe this isn't what you're expecting me to say,
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: but you have a new song out and I think
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: that's where I want to start.
• 4:37
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: So, in addition to being a phenomenal athlete on the track,
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: you also are a singer and your newest song came
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: out just two days ago. Talk to me about it.
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: Talk to me about your passion for songwriting and singing.
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's been I started writing songs and playing guitar
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: in twenty twenty when the pandemic. I was like, this
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: is my window of opportunity because I had so much
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: free time, and yeah, just kind of like took.
• 5:05
  Speaker 4: Off from there.
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: Found some friends that also loved making music, and we
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: started kind of producing some of the stuff that I
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: was working on and Pedals to the Fire. The one
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: that we put out two days ago was one that
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: was a little different from stuff that we've done in
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: the past, but we were really just like obsessed with
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: just kind of the way the bass was hitting. And
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: it was my first time putting one out that I
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: wrote and started on the keyboard on the piano, So
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: this one was really special to me. I was also
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: super self conscious about it because it's not guitar. I
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: was like, I don't know if this is any good
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: because it's just like so different from what I've done before.
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: But yeah, ended up being one of our favorites, and
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: I'm so excited that we were able to share it.
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: Talk to me about the timing of this.
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: Was it always thought like, Okay, July seventh, this is
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: the drop date, or were you like, oh, this will
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: work really well with my track schedule.
• 5:59
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: No, we just I wrote this song in the fall
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: of this year, I think, and we recorded it like
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: just a few months ago honestly, and then the production
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: was just like a month or two before the recording process,
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: so it's been like six or seven months in the
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: making of this and then I was like, you know
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: what I want for my birthdays to release a song.
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: So I was like, which one can I release? Because
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: we've were putting together an album, so we've worked on
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: a few and it's been a while since I have
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: put something new out. So it's like, Okay, I'm gonna
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: pick this one because it's our favorite, and yeah, just
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: share it.
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: Do I owe you an apology? Did I miss your birthday? No?
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: No apology is necessary. That was my gift to myself.
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: I was like, I don't know if I can like
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: eat cake and cookies right now. I'm like, not really
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: up to it, but maybe I'll release a song.
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: I think there's always room for maybe just a little
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: bit of cake and cookies. But understandably so, you are
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: kind of in a time sensitive moment after making the
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: Olympic team in the eight hundred meters. Aside from the
• 7:04
  Speaker 3: fact there is joy from both being a birthday girl
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: and releasing a song.
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: How are we feeling right now?
• 7:12
  Speaker 4: I'm feeling great.
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: I just like the US Olympic Trials is such a
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: high energy meet. There's a lot at stake there and
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: just there's just so much relief after when you make
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: the team. You're like, okay, like I did it, like
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: whether you were expected to or not, Just like the
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: relief is overwhelming. And some of my peers that made
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: the team were saying the same thing. We're just like wow,
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: Like it's just like a weight was kind of lifted
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: off of our shoulders. So I'm looking forward to continuing
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: to race this summer, but kind of like a little
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: bit more freely than us. Childs like this is the
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: end of the line kind of. So yeah, I'm just
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: really excited and really grateful to be competing in Paris
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: and beyond.
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: So yeah, quote from your Spotify profile, my goal is
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: to make the Paris Olympic team in the eighth DS
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: in track and field.
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: So you did? Yeah, do you feel I know, I
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: don't know if you remember that you wrote this and.
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it's everybody knows it's been a goal
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: of mine, but me putting it in my Spotify bio
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: is crazy.
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: When you finished first in that final, what was going
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: through your mind? Is it even possible for you to
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: describe that level of emotion?
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: I honestly was going through my mind was like what
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: just happened? I think on the line, I was like
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: I wanted to win that race and it was another
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: goal of mine. But when I got to the line,
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: I was like, okay, God, you will be done. I
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: was trying to RelA, I was trying to rationalize with him.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: I was like, it's okay, if I don't win, like,
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: as long as I still make the team, like I'll
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: be happy. So yeah, I think I just it was
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: just so much shock. It's yeah, that's that's all I
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: can really say.
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: Just yeah.
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: And then to look up and see the time was
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: it was also I don't know, I was I was
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: pleasantly surprised to see the time. I was hoping to
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: run faster, but at the same time, I was like,
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: I can't believe that, like that I ran that time
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: here like when it when it counted, and and yeah,
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: like in the final, after after all that racing and stuff.
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: So yeah, I was just really excited and relieved and
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: completely shocked. I think Ali and Juliette were also, like
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: all of our faces we were just.
• 9:35
  Speaker 4: Like, what just happened? So yeah, it's it was.
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: It was a crazy moment, crazy moment, and I love
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: hearing you be so steadfast on your own potential, knowing
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: that the time that you ran that day of one
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: fifty seven thirty six was a personal best, as it is,
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: what were you aiming for?
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I just you know, I wanted to kind of
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: crack through that one fifty seven barrier. To be honest,
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: I feel like I've been in the one fifty seven
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: one fifty eight for a while now, and I was
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: maybe hoping for a bigger breakthrough. And I just felt
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: like I was like, this is it, Like this is
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: the race. Like, so I was pleasantly surprised to see
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: the time and and how my body felt. I was
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: like emotionally so exhausted, but I was like that felt
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: like like I've been doing this, Like it felt like
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: a little bit more mundane. So I'm excited to go
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: into the Olympics and kind of see if there's more
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: and how much more is there from a time standpoint,
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: But I don't know, It's just I was just running
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: and just I wasn't really thinking about the times. I
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: was just racing and I'm hoping to do the same
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: thing in Paris and the time will come eventually.
• 10:54
  Speaker 4: So yeah, it's just been fun along the way, So
• 10:57
  Speaker 4: I mean.
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: And that's the most important part, right is that you're
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: in Joe buying the journey, because otherwise the destination doesn't
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: feel nearly as sweet. Now knowing that you are going
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: to be a first time Olympian, talk to me about
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: whether or not this was something that was on your
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: bingo car. Did you always have aspirations to go to
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: the Olympics.
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: It's funny, like I feel like in high school, you know,
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: when you have like a good race, or you've been
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: in college, like there's always been the occasional like remember
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: me when you go to the Olympics, And like, it's
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: just funny thinking back to that because like at the
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: time I was like, lol, like this I'm not going
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: to I don't know. At the time, I was like
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: that just seems so beyond me, so like unrealistic. So
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: it still hasn't. I still have a process that that's
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: the next race. That's what we're doing, is we're competing
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: at the Olympics, which I think is kind of a
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: good thing for me mentally from a racing standpoint. But
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: but yeah, I just I just always wanted to just
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: see how good I can be and just do my
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: best in every race. And I think I'm more proud
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: of that than the making the team. I think I
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: would have been happy no matter where I placed, as
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: long as I knew that I gave it my all
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: on the day. I'm just really thrilled to have more
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: opportunities to race at the highest level. It's yeah, it's
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: really just a blessing.
• 12:19
  Speaker 3: Talk to me a little bit about why you think
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: that it's good that it hasn't hit you yet. What
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: do you think that that lack of a realization maybe
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: does for you.
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: I think it it brings it down to earth. It
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: makes it not bigger than me, It makes it not
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: bigger than God. It makes it like it's just another race.
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: It's still a track. I'm still running eight hundred meters.
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: I know how to do that. I know how to
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: do it well. So I think it'll help me just
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: do what I know how to do to the best
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: of my ability instead of kind of getting lost in
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: the lights a little bit. And I think going to
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: World's last year kind of helped with that too, because
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: I was so like enamored by everything. I was like,
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: this is so cool, the kid's awesome. And I still
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: raced really well, but it was just I think going
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: through team processing and stuff and getting the USA kit
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: and stuff.
• 13:10
  Speaker 4: Still like so cool.
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: But I wasn't like, whoa, this is like this is new,
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: like this is like I haven't done this before, even
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: though like the Olympics is different. So I think that
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: is a little good because it makes me feel a
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: little bit more like a veteran in that respect.
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: In that respect, you know, that was funny.
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: Still yeah, no, I mean, listen, you're obviously very good
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: at what you do, and it seems to me from
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: what I've learned about you thus far, is that there's
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: like this really beautiful humbleness that you.
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: Have about the things that excite you.
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: It's as though you're both passionate and entirely capable to
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: go beyond excelling. And this arguably stems from not only
• 13:50
  Speaker 3: how you were raised, but then also what you were
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: doing in college. Talk to me a little bit about
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: your journey in college as you were studying nursing and
• 13:58
  Speaker 3: then also simultaneously getting into music and then really excelling
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: in sport.
• 14:05
  Speaker 4: Thank you.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: My parents are gonna be so pleased to hear that
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: how you were raised. Like, credit to mom and dad,
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: they did a good job. But yeah, school was so hard.
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: I went to the University of Pennsylvania, and I just
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: was so busy every single hour because I chose to
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: major in nursing and I absolutely loved it. But the
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: clinical rotations were like eight to twelve hour shifts on
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: top of classes and studying and then track and as well,
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: and you know, we traveled for that too. But I
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: just I loved what I was doing. I loved nursing,
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: I loved track. So there just like wasn't any question
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: in my heart of like should I be doing this?
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: Like is this too much? Is just it was what
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: I wanted to do, So I think it really helped
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: me transition into professional running when things got tough, because
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: they did, and that's life. It's inevitable. You're gonna go
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: through hard times. Is I was like, Okay, Like do
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: I love this? Is this what I want to do?
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: And like if the answer is yes, and like if
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: I have my why, then I'm just going to keep
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: going and you know, and now like kind of I
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: don't think I'm on the other side quite yet. This
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: still feels like the middle of the journey. But yeah,
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: now looking back on some of the things that I've
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: gone through, I'm like, I'm so grateful for that, because
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't be this neo without that nia and like
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: without those times. And I did have fun along the
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: way too, So I think, yeah, college really taught me
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: to work really hard, but to like enjoy the journey
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: and have fun along the way.
• 15:36
  Speaker 4: And I think.
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: That's super important because like, obviously we want to do
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: really well, and we want to you know, win championships
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: and medals and make teams and everything, but like the
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: things that I'm going to remember the most, or how
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: much fun I had, and you know, the people I
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: met and just you know, the little nuances.
• 15:54
  Speaker 4: So yeah, yeah.
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: And when you say things were hard outside of the scheduling,
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: can you recall anything specific or talk a little bit
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: about the experiences that you had that you really felt
• 16:06
  Speaker 3: as though you needed to put your head down and
• 16:09
  Speaker 3: grind through.
• 16:10
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: I would say I just had to make sacrifices really,
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: Like I was like not as social as maybe I
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: wanted to be at times.
• 16:20
  Speaker 4: And you know, there were some.
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: Meats that I went to that I was like, Okay,
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: if I want to do really well in this race,
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: I'm probably going to have to get some sleep.
• 16:29
  Speaker 4: Like I'm probably not.
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: Going to study as much as I want to or
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: vice versa, like I want to ace this exam, so
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: like I just am probably not going to perform as
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: well on the track tomorrow.
• 16:39
  Speaker 4: As I would have hoped.
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: So yeah, it just taught me to I just had
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: to sacrifice some things sometimes. And you know, looking at
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: my race schedule this year, I was like, Okay, I
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: US Trials.
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: I have to be ready US Trials.
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: I have to be perfect then, so there are some
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: sacrifices along the way of like, Okay, this race, we're
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: going to train through this race, We're just not going
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: to do it, and we're just gonna you know, we're
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: going to skip that one, and then we're going to
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: do this one, and said because this lines up better
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: for trials. So yeah, it's just learning to kind of
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: make those sacrifices along the way for the bigger goals
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: and as well. So I think that really helped. And yeah,
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: I just it also helped me with music too. Now
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: I'm like, okay, I also love music, and you know
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: I'm going into like coming into this year, I was
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: like I wanted to do an album. I was like,
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: this is probably the most important year on the track
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: that I will probably have like this opportunity comes once
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: every four years, and I was like, you know.
• 17:36
  Speaker 4: What, I want to do an album too.
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: It's what I love to do. I know how to
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: balance things, so I'm just going to go for it
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: and like see what happens. And yeah, it's been really fun.
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: I think I would really regret, you know, just putting
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: it aside for a year and be like, oh, next year,
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: next year, I'll do the album because I need to
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: focus on track this year. That's part of my focus.
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: To me, it's like another life giving thing.
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: So yeah, life giving thing.
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: It's interesting how you describe the opportunity costs that goes
• 18:06
  Speaker 3: hand in hand with the things that really excited you.
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: It shows the passion that you had both as you
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: put it, within sport and within your music. There are
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: people listening to this for sure that have things that
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: they want, but they might not be yet in the
• 18:23
  Speaker 3: place mentally to accept the opportunity cost that goes hand
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: in hand with chasing your goals.
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: How do you think you got to that place?
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: When was it that you made the conscious decision Okay,
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: I'm going to accept that I have to go to
• 18:41
  Speaker 3: bed earlier or I'm going to get up early in
• 18:44
  Speaker 3: the morning to make sure that I can train before
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: I go in for this rotation.
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: What did that process look like for you?
• 18:50
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I honestly, I'm a perfectionist.
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: I'm not gonna lie. So it's and I'm still learning.
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: It's been a very slow process of kind of surrendering
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: that perfectionism for like the greater goal, but for me
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: that's been kind of like every year and just every opportunity,
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: every second, honestly, just like diving a little deeper into
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: my faith and just like surrendering my life and being like, Okay,
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: you know what, God, it's in your hands, Like you
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: tell me what to do if this is your big goal,
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: and I just I just trust that whatever He has
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: for me is like it's gonna happen, whether I wanted
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: to or not. So like I can just ride along
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: with it, or you know, or I can fight it.
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: So you know, I pray over what I want and
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: I really work for it, but you know, there's I'm
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: gonna make mistakes and I'm still human. So yeah, there
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: are nights where like I don't I don't get some sleep,
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: or you know, like I just don't do as well
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: as I wanted to on the track or like the
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: song doesn't turn out the way that I wanted it to,
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: but that's like part of the process too, And I
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: feel like I just feel like God's teaching me and
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: He's he's building me into, you know, the person that
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: he wants me to be out side of all of this.
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: So I think like taking a step back from it
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: has really helped me just commit to it, if that
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: makes sense. It's it's kind of hard. It's kind of
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: a weird way to explain it.
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: What I'm hearing you say is that your newly let's
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: call it fostered talent within music and deciding to pursue
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: that avenue and invest more time in it is allowing
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: you to take a step back and also have perspective
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: on the other things that you're passionate about.
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I feel like with music and also with track,
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: like me working for myself and being like I'm running
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: for myself or I'm writing this song for myself has
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: been very like it's been very stressful, and it puts
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: a lot of pressure on me because I want it
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: to be perfect and I want it to really like
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: personify who I am. But then when I like took
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: a step back from it and was like, you know what,
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: you know, I'm writing this for God, this is for him.
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: I'm running for God, this is for him. It just
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: like it took the pressure off of me and it
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: just made me write more freely and run more freely
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: and all those things.
• 21:04
  Speaker 3: So when would you say you really embrace this relationship
• 21:10
  Speaker 3: you have with God. Was it something that was fostered
• 21:13
  Speaker 3: in you from a young age.
• 21:15
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: We my parents were both Christians, so we always went
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: to church, and honestly, my love for music kind of
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: stemmed from worship. I just was so like I'd look
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: up at the worship leaders, and especially like the female
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: worship leaders that where it was just them and the guitar,
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: and I just thought that was the coolest thing. And yeah,
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: I just you know, I just I loved worship. I
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: loved learning more about God from an early age, and
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: I kind of like stuck with me. There were some
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: ebbs and flows. There were definitely some weak moments in
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: my faith where I wasn't investing as much as I
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: probably should have been. But I feel like once I
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: moved to Seattle and I just had more free time,
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: I was like, Okay, what do I want to fill
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: it with. And for me, that was, you know, investing
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: more in my faith, spending more time in His word
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: and you know, building a faith community and then also
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: playing guitar and worshiping.
• 22:10
  Speaker 3: And yeah, it's interesting to me that you said that
• 22:13
  Speaker 3: there were times that you should have been perhaps a
• 22:16
  Speaker 3: little bit more and I'm paraphrasing here diligent within your faith.
• 22:20
  Speaker 3: Why do you feel that way now looking back on it?
• 22:23
  Speaker 3: And what was going on during those times?
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: I was just putting my identity and the wrong things,
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: and like part of that was music, and part of
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: that was track, and I just felt like, you know,
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: if the song didn't turn out the way I wanted
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: it too, where if the race didn't go the way
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: that I wanted to, I was just so upset and
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: I was just very anxious and honestly depressed and confused.
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: And I was like, why am I putting my identity
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: in this when, like you know, in the past, I've
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: gone to Jesus first, and I put my identity in
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: Jesus first, And like there was peace in that, there
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: was comfort in that, like there's just there's no question
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: to me. Like I was like, why am I choosing
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: this over that when I know how it's going to
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: make me feel. So I think putting Jesus back in
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: the center, which is like a daily battle and there
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: are like some days where I'm really good at it
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: and some days where I'm not. But like putting him
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: back in the center, just no matter what happens, I'm
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: just like okay, like I still have that peace, I
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: still have that comfort, and yeah, I just there's just
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: this outpouring of just loving kindness and comfort that I
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: received from him that you know, you get more of
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: the more that you seek him. So for me, I
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: was like, why why am I taking a break from this?
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: Why I liked what I was getting? Like, why am
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: I doing this instead of that? So, yeah, they're definitely
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: ebbs and flows.
• 23:45
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and sometimes life just be life in right, like
• 23:48
  Speaker 3: it feels as though there's so many balls in the
• 23:51
  Speaker 3: air and you're doing what feels like the best you
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: can to juggle them, and in that act of the
• 23:58
  Speaker 3: juggling are change our patterns shit, And you have to
• 24:02
  Speaker 3: recognize that in those moments you are doing at least
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: what you hope to be the best you can with
• 24:10
  Speaker 3: what you have. I think that regardless of what your
• 24:12
  Speaker 3: faith is. The goal to center yourself and be able
• 24:16
  Speaker 3: to remove that value of identity based on either your
• 24:20
  Speaker 3: career or other ways that you might identify can be
• 24:24
  Speaker 3: really beneficial.
• 24:26
  Speaker 4: Yeah. I agree.
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: I think who we identify ourselves to be is just
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: like it's like who we are, And yeah, I just
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: I wanted to put my identity in something that was
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: more constant and that something didn't change, because my circumstances
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: change all the time. Like we like the sport. Our
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: sport is so crazy and unpredictable and anything can happen
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: and it's wild and we've seen that time and time again.
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: So so yeah, to me, there was just like there
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: was no choice but to you know, just continue to
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: grow and kind of go down, go down his path
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: and seek him more and more.
• 25:02
  Speaker 4: And I hope to continue to do that.
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 25:06
  Speaker 3: Something that my life coach always talks to me about
• 25:09
  Speaker 3: is the foundation of asking yourself how you want to
• 25:13
  Speaker 3: feel and allow that feeling to be the thing that
• 25:16
  Speaker 3: guides your decisions or your choices, which again easier said
• 25:21
  Speaker 3: than done, right, But for me, someone who has always
• 25:25
  Speaker 3: been similar to you, a little bit of a perfectionist,
• 25:28
  Speaker 3: really allowing my decisions to be rooted in like fact,
• 25:33
  Speaker 3: I am finding a lot of freedom and purpose and
• 25:38
  Speaker 3: excitement and allowing my emotions to be the thing that
• 25:41
  Speaker 3: guides me toward the right path.
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think like our feelings and our emotions are
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: like they're important, they're valid and their gifts and it's
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: a way that like we need them to collect, to
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: connect with each other and you know, to connect with God.
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: And yeah, so I just feel like, especially as as athletes,
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: like there's not you know, I feel like you see
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: the race, but you don't like you're not in the
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: athlete's head, so you don't know like all of the
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: emotions and feelings and like the conflicting thoughts that are
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: going back and forth on the line. But you know,
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: all those exist too, and I feel like as a
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: musician it's fun to like unpack those and to sing
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: about them. And I like Pedals to the Fire is
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: kind of about like my pre race, like back and
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: forth between confidence and just like not really being super confident.
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: But feelings are just they're so important, and I think
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: they're tools and we have them for a reason. And yeah,
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: they it's a double edged sword. Obviously, it can be
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: like depending on how you use them and how you
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: lean into them like it can be good or bad,
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: but but yeah, I just think they're so important.
• 26:48
  Speaker 3: Let's talk a little bit about the battle that happens
• 26:51
  Speaker 3: in your head wavering from super confident to what the
• 26:55
  Speaker 3: hell yeah is going on here? How do you manage
• 26:58
  Speaker 3: those thoughts and on understand that you have the opportunity
• 27:02
  Speaker 3: to respond to that.
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think you know it come it starts at
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: practice for me, like how I talk to myself at practice.
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: That's going to be how I'm going to talk to
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: myself in a race or at a meet like times
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: like a thousand So I practice, you know, when those
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: thoughts come that are you know, particularly doubtful, I just
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: I try and respond with like, okay, well what's true?
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: Like what's true is like I you know, I'm running
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: this distance. I know how to run this distance. I've
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: done it before, and sometimes it doesn't matter how I feel,
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: Like I can feel terrible that day and still run
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: the time that I need to. I don't know how
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: I did it, but I but I did it. So
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: I think, like, you know, like that's important too, And
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: then you know, I think it is important to have
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: that little bit of doubt in a sense, because I
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: also think it it forces you to be curious and
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: to keep going and to kind of like want to
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: like prove that like little voice wrong or at least
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: for me. So so yeah, I think it's it's important
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: to kind of have that battle back and forth and
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: to not like not sleep on yourself in a way,
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: don't sleep on anybody else, but also don't sleep on
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: yourself because you don't really know what you're capable of.
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: But yeah, I go back and forth all the time
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: of like I'm ready for this, uh like but I
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: don't feel like I like I slept that great or
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: like you know, like my legs don't feel super great.
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: But yeah, it's just like what whatever's winning is going
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: to be what's gonna win on the track that day.
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: So I try to make sure that, like, you know,
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: the more positive and life giving thoughts are what's winning
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: for me.
• 28:37
  Speaker 3: How would you say that the people that you surround
• 28:41
  Speaker 3: yourself play oh to the way.
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: That you speak to yourself, especially within.
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: Sport, Yeah, it plays a huge role. I'd say, Like
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: going back to high school and college, you know, there's
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: more team championships, so like there were a lot of
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: what are they that we just had this kind of
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: true where we would like write little like note cards
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: to each other. We'd have like kind of like secret
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: buddies where we'd just like you know, tell them like they're.
• 29:07
  Speaker 4: Ready for this. Da da da da.
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: So I think having that kind of like team element
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: and now it looks a little different. But like you know,
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: when I talk to my teammates at practice, everybody does
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: a really good job of like if somebody's like I
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: don't think I can do this or I'm not feeling
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: great today, like immediately there's another teammate that's like what
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: are you saying, Like you're totally capable, like you can
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: do this.
• 29:25
  Speaker 4: It just kind of like puts it into perspective.
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: Today is not the day. You don't you have to
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: be super great. You have to be super great in
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: two weeks when you're towing the line. So today, you know,
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: you just take care of business and then you're ready
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: for the next thing. And there's so many different personalities
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: on our team where everybody's super confident, but it comes
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: from different angles where you kind of get like a
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: little bit of everything. So yeah, the team dynamic plays
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: a huge role, huge role in that for sure, And yeah,
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: I'm really blessed to be a part of a group
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: where it's like you're not in your own head all
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: the time. You're kind of like forced to interact with
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: other people and see what they're doing, so you kind
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: of build confidence off them too.
• 30:01
  Speaker 4: So yeah, it's pretty it's pretty special.
• 30:04
  Speaker 3: And of course behind a good team is also a
• 30:06
  Speaker 3: good coach. You've been working with Danny for some time now.
• 30:11
  Speaker 3: Talk to me about how you've learned to settle in
• 30:16
  Speaker 3: with both his coaching style and what you think that
• 30:19
  Speaker 3: a good coaching style does for you as an athlete.
• 30:23
  Speaker 4: Yeah, Danny.
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: Danny's very methodical in his coaching and everything that he
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: does there's a reason for it and there's science behind it.
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: So it's taught me to like, like over the years
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: is just to like trust like whatever he's telling me
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: to do, I'm like, there's like a reason for it,
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: and sometimes I like it helps me to know exactly why,
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: so he'll explain it and it's like this scientific jargon.
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: We're like halfway through, I'm like, Okay, I feel like
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: it's gonna work. So it's fine.
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: You're put.
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: Here, Yeah, like I understand it. I understand what he's saying.
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: But yeah, I'm like, okay, okay, okay, because yeah, he's
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: there's definitely a method to all the things that he does,
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: and even just the people that he brings in.
• 31:10
  Speaker 4: He's very methodical about too.
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: We have like an amazing athletic trainer Sarah, and nutritionist
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: doctor Kyle, and our sistant coach Julian, just like they
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: all are like one unit, and they're all very different,
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: but he was very intentional about those differences, so they
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: just become one really great unit. And usually when we
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: get to races, like all the work is done.
• 31:31
  Speaker 4: I think he was.
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: He was laughing at me at trials because we were
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: both kind of laughing, which I was like, Okay, I'm
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: gonna I'm gonna ask him later why he was laughing,
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: Like after the race, but because I went into the
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: call room and I don't think we like said anything
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: to each other. I think I would do a stride
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: and then I just be like, we're good. And then
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: I walked into the call room and I was like,
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: we're good, and I think all the other coaches were
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: like talking to their athletes and Danny was like, this
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: is all we've done.
• 31:55
  Speaker 4: The entire time, but it works.
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: So we're just doing thumbs up the entire time as
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: communication at the end. But he's like, I mean, all
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: the work is done. I've said everything I needed to say,
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: like you know, in the lead up. So he's like,
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: just you know, go go do you and see what
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: We'll see what happens. So yeah, it's pretty cool. There's
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: space for me.
• 32:15
  Speaker 3: Do you think that your faith has taught you how
• 32:21
  Speaker 3: to trust in other people?
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: Yes, one hundred percent, Because I like came into the
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: sport as a perfectionist and I didn't want any help
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: from anybody. I felt like I could do it all
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: by myself, and I got humbled real quick. God was like, no,
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: you need me, and you also need people to help you.
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: So I think that's been huge and I'm just so
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: blessed He's placed me and with these teams of people
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: that you know, they're it's a team, it's a group,
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: and yeah, we we just support each other and and
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: like carry each other's burdens, and you know, I had
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: to learn how to do that, and yeah, it's just
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: it's definitely played a huge role for sure.
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 33:06
  Speaker 3: I mean you signed in twenty twenty right after graduating
• 33:10
  Speaker 3: with Brooks. Talk to me a little bit about your
• 33:14
  Speaker 3: mental state at that point, how it felt to walk
• 33:17
  Speaker 3: away not all that long after getting your diploma and
• 33:21
  Speaker 3: have this contract on the table.
• 33:23
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it was.
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: It was such a blessing to have had signed a
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: contract during that time. I think I ran like a
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: really fast time, like I was like point zero two
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: seconds off the NCAA record at the time, and then
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: the world just completely shut down after that, And it
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: was funny toeple like, oh, you'll get it at Nationals
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: or like maybe like if you don't get it at Nationals,
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: like outdoor, you're gonna break two. And then you know,
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: that didn't happen until like three years later. So I
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: think mentally at the time I was super crushed because
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: I just felt like there was just so much loss.
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: But but then there was also a new adventure and
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: going to Brooks and being a beast, and like immediately
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: just because of the nature of the times and everything
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: just kind of being shut down and everything, I had
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: to rely on my teammates. Like when I got there,
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: like I didn't have a driver's license, Like I stayed
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: with my teammates, I lived with them, and you know,
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: like the program was so there was so many moving
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: parts of the program and there were so many things
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: that I had to learn that like, you know, there
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: are different drill sets, and every day I'd be like, oh,
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: like I don't remember the drill set. And it was
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: really hard for me to be like I need help.
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: It's like the hardest thing to do is like ask
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: for help. And I felt like every day I was
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: asking for help, and you know, like they were all
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: super patient, and you know, everybody kind of like carried
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: me that first year, and the first year transitioning from
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: collegiate to pro is it's just really hard, Like it
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: just doesn't really matter who you are, Like I've seen
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: that with people that we've signed after me. It's just
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: a hard transition. So, yeah, it was just it was
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: a new adventure. It was fun, and I learned a
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: lot about how to dep on other people. And then
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: you know, now I'm getting the opportunity and the chance
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: to pay it forward a little bit with the people
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: that we've been signing now that I'm on the other
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: end of it. But it's been Yeah, they they really
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: it helped me a lot to get to where to
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: get to where I needed to be for sure.
• 35:17
  Speaker 3: On the subject of asking for help, what did opening
• 35:21
  Speaker 3: yourself up to that ask to saying I don't have
• 35:25
  Speaker 3: all the answers?
• 35:26
  Speaker 2: What did that do for you? And how did it feel?
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it was It felt really scary asking for help,
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: but you know, when I did, and when they you know, obviously,
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: like my teammates are incredible, and my coaches are also incredible,
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: Like they were more than willing to help me out,
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: you know, and you know whether or not.
• 35:47
  Speaker 4: They were like oh this girl again, like like.
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: I didn't know, like I didn't know any of that.
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: They just they just helped me, you know. So I
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: think it opened me to like a whole It's just
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: like a different world after that, because it wasn't like
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: I was doing everything on my own or like I
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: got a lot of validation and I felt really good
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: about myself when I was like, man, I did that
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: all by myself, Like I didn't need anybody. I did
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: that by myself. But there's a different kind of there's
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: a humility that comes with Wow, I did this, and
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: I don't know if I would have been able to
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: do this if I didn't have help, you know. So
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: it just opened up a whole new world for me,
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: and it just taught me humility in a different form.
• 36:27
  Speaker 3: So yeah, yeah, I think that's a really beautiful way
• 36:31
  Speaker 3: to put it, and also a lesson that you can
• 36:35
  Speaker 3: only learn by asking for help. There is so much
• 36:39
  Speaker 3: personal gratification in being able to say something like I
• 36:43
  Speaker 3: did it myself. But when you take a step back
• 36:46
  Speaker 3: and you realize that you can achieve what you're after,
• 36:50
  Speaker 3: whether you go it alone or whether you have an
• 36:52
  Speaker 3: army standing behind you, when you get to that final destination,
• 36:57
  Speaker 3: it's arguably a little bit more fun and when you
• 37:00
  Speaker 3: have other people to celebrate with, right.
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no, that's one hundred percent true. And you know it,
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: I know what it like, what it looks like when
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: we're out there racing. It's just like like it's just
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: us out there, and like you see the result and
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: it's just like my name next to the time and
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: the place. But it's like there's so many people behind me,
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: and there's also God behind me that's like brought me
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: to where I am today, you know, And and I
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: feel like that's the thing that people don't always like
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: get to see so much of. But but yeah, it's there,
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: and it's there for everyone, And I think that's the
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: really cool kind of like circle of life moment. From
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: last trials to this one was like last Trials, everybody
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: in Seattle was still so new, Like those were the
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: people that were behind me, but like they were all
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: so new, and like we just were dealing with something
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: that like nobody had ever dealt with before. Like they
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: didn't know how to comfort me because they'd never needed
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: to comfort me in that way before. So it was
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: like it really accelerated kind of the learning process for
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: all of us. And you know, I made mistakes, you know,
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: everybody kind of made mistakes during that time, but then
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: you know, it took a few years, but now we're
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: here and you know, now we understand each other better.
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: And like twenty twenty four, I was like I had
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: the same people behind me, a few new faces here
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: and there, but like the same group of people behind
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: me that helped me get to where I am. And
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: it's just it's really special that we got to share
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: and that joy after the previous trials together, we yeah,
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: we all learned and you know, we all got to
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: celebrate together.
• 38:33
  Speaker 4: So it was fun.
• 38:35
  Speaker 3: When someone comes to your Instagram page, they see a
• 38:39
  Speaker 3: professional athlete who's heading to her first Olympics, and they
• 38:43
  Speaker 3: might also see a little bit about your songwriting. Beyond that,
• 38:49
  Speaker 3: When you look in the mirror, what is it that
• 38:51
  Speaker 3: you see looking back at you?
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: I just see so much grace and love from g
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: from God when I'm looking at when I'm looking at me,
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: I'm like, I cannot believe I have all these things
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: attached to my name, and I just see them all
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: as gifts and all his blessings. So so yeah, I
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: just kind of like start there and and kind of
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: like center myself there and then yeah, it's just which
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: was really cool about and really special about this time
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: around is when the race was done at trials, I
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: just kind of like I forgot that, like the Olympics
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: is what we were running for. Like I just reached
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: a point where like I was just out there running
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: and I was like, I'm just going to do my
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: best and I'm not going to think too much about
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: about where I am and everything.
• 39:39
  Speaker 4: I just I just want to do the best that
• 39:40
  Speaker 4: I can.
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: And yeah, and it just it kind of like comes
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: back to I just feel like I'm really proud of
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: where I where my identity is at right now, and
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: who it's centered around, and everything else is just kind
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: of gets added.
• 39:54
  Speaker 4: To that, which is really special.
• 39:56
  Speaker 2: So it's all just a bonus, right, It's.
• 39:58
  Speaker 4: All just a bonus.
• 40:00
  Speaker 3: What what what excites you right now? Aside from of
• 40:04
  Speaker 3: course the pending trip to Paris.
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: Right now, I'm I'm most excited about the actual racing part,
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: which I was really nervous that I was going to
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: finish trials and like, if I, you know, made the team,
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: I'd be like, Oh, I'm so excited to see top
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: croissants and go see the Eiffel Tower and like do
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: all the sight seeing stuff. But I'm like most excited
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: to race, which is super important and I'm like proud
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: of myself for But yeah, right now, I'm like, this
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: is another part of the journey, being in Albuquerque, So
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: I'm excited to train a little bit more and and
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: have some fun along the way and and yeah, and
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: just there's a lot of it's very quiet here. There's
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: just especially after trials and the emotional high of trials,
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: just coming down to the high desert and training and
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: a really quiet environment. I think I'm really excited for
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: before you know, we go back into the into the
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: chaos and to.
• 40:57
  Speaker 4: The whirlwind that is the Games.
• 41:00
  Speaker 3: So yeah, you had the opportunity when you moved across
• 41:05
  Speaker 3: the country to fall in immediately with a team. But
• 41:08
  Speaker 3: for those that may be thinking about whether or not
• 41:12
  Speaker 3: a new city is a good idea for them, do
• 41:15
  Speaker 3: you have anything to add, any words of comfort of
• 41:19
  Speaker 3: being able to make it on your own somewhere new.
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I feel like for me, when I was looking
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: around and deciding where I wanted to go, I was
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: very intentional about like I you know, I had my
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: even diagrams and everything about which was which was better,
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: which where I think I'd be most happy. But truly, like,
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: I think the answer is like whatever you decide to do,
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: like wherever you decided to go, is to own it
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: and just really commit to that decision, like don't look
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: back and go all in for that decision and and
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: do your best where you're at and be patient because
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: sometimes it takes i'm to address, especially if you're doing
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: things by yourself, but it's been done before.
• 42:04
  Speaker 4: So yeah, I just I don't know.
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: I just think whatever you decide to do is to
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: just really commit to it. I think is the most
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: important thing because usually usually what you're looking for is
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: already inside you. You just need a little bit of
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: support and to get there.
• 42:18
  Speaker 3: So yeah, I feel like you always know, like you
• 42:21
  Speaker 3: always have a hunch on what the right decision or
• 42:23
  Speaker 3: the right move is for you. That's like why we
• 42:26
  Speaker 3: have what they call intuition, right, but oftentimes it's as
• 42:30
  Speaker 3: though we're looking for that third party to come in
• 42:33
  Speaker 3: and be like, yes, this is the right decision, but
• 42:35
  Speaker 3: you won't know until you try.
• 42:37
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: For me, I definitely like I definitely prayed over it.
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: The scariest thing is like a short story that happened
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: when I was making a decision was you know, I
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: prayed over it. And I had a video call with
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: Danny and just kind of like getting to know. It's
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: like the second or third one, and he goes off
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: on these tangents sometimes where he's just like talking about
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: stuff and I don't really know how he got there,
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: but he was talking about the Alchemist and he's like,
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: I don't know if you've ever read this book before,
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: but it's like such a good book, and it was
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: going on and on and on about it, and I
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: was like, you know what, like like something Emmy was like,
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: I do have a copy of the Alchemist, like I
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: should I should go read it, like reread it. I'm
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: always lending it out to people, and I was like,
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: I tore my room apart looking for it and I
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: couldn't find it. And I was like, man, I guess
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: I gave it to somebody. And this was during COVID,
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: so I was like, I have no idea who I
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: gave it to. And I was like, honestly really upset
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: about it that I couldn't find it. And then I
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: went for a run. I was like, I just need
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: to go for a run. So I went for a
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: run and I came back and I still don't know
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: to this day who I lent it to because I
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: was like texting people, but the Alchemist was on my porch,
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: like somebody had left it there.
• 43:42
  Speaker 4: It was the scariest thing.
• 43:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think went for the run.
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: Yeah, on the day that I went for the run,
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: I came back and it was on the porch and
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: I was like, I'm gonna take this as a sign.
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: So yeah, it was. It was crazy and I was
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: texting people. I was like, did I give this book
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: to you? Did you leave it back? And nobody like
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: texted me or left a no or anything, and I
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: had like highlights in it, so it was my copy too,
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: and it was yeah.
• 44:04
  Speaker 4: And then the next.
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: Day I had like there were like there were other
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: reasons why I wanted to go with Brooks. The next day,
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: the next day I signed my contract. I was like,
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: I'm check yep, I think God approves.
• 44:17
  Speaker 3: So yeah, that is absolutely wild talk about a sign.
• 44:21
  Speaker 3: Huh yeah, Oh my gosh. Well, I am so glad
• 44:27
  Speaker 3: that we were able to carve out some time to connect,
• 44:30
  Speaker 3: especially as things are about to get really hectic for
• 44:33
  Speaker 3: you. You mentioned earlier the difficulties that came hand in hand
• 44:38
  Speaker 3: with getting so close to hitting such a special time
• 44:44
  Speaker 3: on the track and then the world shutting down right now,
• 44:48
  Speaker 3: knowing what you know now, if you had the opportunity
• 44:52
  Speaker 3: to offer yourself at that point a piece of advice
• 44:56
  Speaker 3: looking back on that hurdle moment, what would you tell yourself?
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: I tell myself to not get frustrated, be patient, because
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: it's just like, it just wasn't my time. It wasn't
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: my time yet I still had some growth to do,
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: and and yeah, I wouldn't change my journey for the world.
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: It was really hard, but I definitely knew at the
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: time that it wasn't my time yet I think when
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: it happened, I was like, you know, it's just not
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: my time. It might never be my time, and that's okay,
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: And yeah, so I think at the time, I just, yeah,
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: I just wish I knew to not get frustrated because
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: that was I think that was where I lost a
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: lot of energy.
• 45:37
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so special to be able to look back on
• 45:41
  Speaker 3: that and know, especially with what we know now, you
• 45:44
  Speaker 3: going to your first games.
• 45:47
  Speaker 2: I'm so amped for you for those.
• 45:49
  Speaker 3: So it's all along with you. Just yet, how do
• 45:52
  Speaker 3: they keep up with you? Give us the details.
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: My Instagram is my first and last name. I have
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: been kind of taking a step back away from it
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: this year, which unfortunately is one of the reasons why
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: I think I've been having a really good year. But
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: I know it's terrible comparison. Man, it's the thief of
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: joy sometimes. But yeah, I told myself I would be
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: a little bit more diligent for the games, just because
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: you know, it only happens ever so often. And then
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: I'm just started my own like nia Aigan's music, separate
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: from that, just so like, you know, if I want
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: to post about music, I just wanted to have like
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: a cohesive artsy vibe going, you know, and it's kind
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: of hard to do that with like track posts here
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: and there. So I was like, Okay, we're just going
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: to like separate the two and just see what happens.
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: If I hate it, I'll bring them back together. But yeah,
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: that's at Nia Aichen's music. And yeah, I think those
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: are the two prime, two prime things that I'm working.
• 46:49
  Speaker 2: On right now.
• 46:50
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I am on Nia Aigens music. I can't wait
• 46:53
  Speaker 3: for all the vibes and I'm so excited to follow
• 46:57
  Speaker 3: along not only of course with you this summer, but
• 47:00
  Speaker 3: and beyond as that album is on deck.
• 47:03
  Speaker 2: I'm over at emily A.
• 47:04
  Speaker 3: Bodi and at Hurdle Podcast Another Hurdle Conquered.
• 47:09
  Speaker 2: Catch you guys next time