Latest / Hurdle with Emily Abbate / Progress Over Perfection: Olympic Medalist Jess Hull On Grit, Mindset, & What Makes a ‘Good’ Run

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Progress Over Perfection: Olympic Medalist Jess Hull On Grit, Mindset, & What Makes a ‘Good’ Run · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: When you're going after something, you get to do this.
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: You're chasing it because your heart's got the desire for it.
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: What's shaking, everyone?
• 0:21
  Speaker 3: Emily Abadi here. You are listening to another episode of Hurdle. Now,
• 0:26
  Speaker 3: before I get into the mix today, I have a
• 0:29
  Speaker 3: very special request for you.
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  Speaker 2: Will you do me a favor?
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  Speaker 2: For you to go and rate and review the show.
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  Speaker 3: And if you are listening to this in Spotify, if
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  Speaker 3: little something about what you like about Hurdle, what keeps
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: you coming back for more, and it would mean the
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: world to me.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: Now, you know the gist with Hurdle. You've been here before.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: But let me give you a little reminder.
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  Speaker 3: Hurdles, a podcast that features the mindset secrets and true
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  Speaker 3: stories of the most inspiring women in sports and wellness,
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  Speaker 3: empowering you to live a healthier, happier, more motivated life,
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  Speaker 3: and of course, conquer your own hurdles. And this week,
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  Speaker 3: I am bringing you my conversation.
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  Speaker 1: With Jess.
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  Speaker 3: Hull. Now this conversation would be remarkable at any time,
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  Speaker 3: but the fact that we had the opportunity to do
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  Speaker 3: it IRL together in Australia, once in a lifetime chance here.
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  Speaker 3: For those of you that are unfamiliar with Ms. Hull,
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  Speaker 3: let me fill you in. She's an Olympic silver medalist,
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  Speaker 3: an indoor world championship medalist, and a 2000 meter world
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  Speaker 3: record holder, a pro runner for Nike. And In this episode,
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  Speaker 3: Jess and I sit down in her home country to
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  Speaker 3: chat about all things mindset, patience, and grit. We also
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  Speaker 3: chat about her transition from college star at the University
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: of Oregon to competing on the global circuit, navigating the
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: challenges and joys of being coached by her father and
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  Speaker 3: what it really felt like to capture that monumental wave
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  Speaker 3: in Paris after walking away hungry from Tokyo. Plus, Jess
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  Speaker 3: opens up about finding freedom in speed, why delayed gratification
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  Speaker 3: is an athlete's greatest superpower, and the special camaraderie within
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  Speaker 3: the woman's 1500 meter event, and the power of celebrating
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: pure progress over perfection. Make sure you're following along with
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: Hurdle over on social.
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: It's over at Hurdle Podcast.
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: You can also check out I Heart Woman Sports over
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: at I Heart Woman Sports and me over at Emily Abadi.
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: Listen to Hurdle with Emily Abadi on the I Heart
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: And with that, let's get to it. Let's get to hurdling. Today,
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  Speaker 3: I am sitting down with Jess Hull. She is an
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  Speaker 3: Olympic medalist, a world champion, a world record holder.
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  Speaker 2: Welcome to Hurdle. How are we doing?
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  Speaker 4: I'm good. Thank you. Thank you for having me.
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  Speaker 1: I feel like when I first signed with Nike back
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  Speaker 1: in the day, you had the guest list of my dreams.
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  Speaker 1: So it's an honor to be on the podcast.
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  Speaker 2: Oh my, I am. I'm blushing. I am blushing.
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  Speaker 1: I am.
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  Speaker 2: So I couldn't be more excited.
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  Speaker 3: The fact that we're both in Australia right now, which
• 3:20
  Speaker 3: is absolutely wild. Somewhere Obviously, you were born and raised here,
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  Speaker 3: but I cannot even imagine.
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  Speaker 1: I touched down on Tuesday morning, so I'm equally as
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  Speaker 1: excited about Australia right now as you are. Well, it
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  Speaker 1: is home, but yeah, I feel like the excitement that
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  Speaker 1: first few weeks when you're back home, back in Australia,
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  Speaker 1: you hear the accent everywhere you go.
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  Speaker 4: It's just like, oh, so nice.
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  Speaker 3: I as someone who has been back and forth to
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  Speaker 3: America at this point, I cannot imagine how you do
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  Speaker 3: the travel that you do to compete in the way
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  Speaker 3: that you do. Can you you must have like a
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  Speaker 3: secret routine. You must have it so down at this point.
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  Speaker 4: I have it pretty down.
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  Speaker 1: I think it's just like, I'm so used to it
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  Speaker 1: and I don't really, I know what I've got to
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  Speaker 1: get in when I get off the plane and stuff.
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  Speaker 1: So I kind of just roll through the motions and
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  Speaker 1: then yeah, now late September, looking back at, I did
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  Speaker 1: the trip a lot of times this year. I came
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  Speaker 1: home a fair few times in the front part of
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  Speaker 1: the year and I'm like, damn, that was kind of
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  Speaker 1: a crazy idea.
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  Speaker 3: Well, it makes so much sense why you go to
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  Speaker 3: somewhere like San Maritz then and like set up camp
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  Speaker 3: for a bit because it's, basically impossible to be coming
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  Speaker 3: and going from Australia constantly when you're doing, especially the
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  Speaker 3: Diamond League circuit in Europe. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Once we're over, once we leave for the Diamond League,
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  Speaker 1: we try and stay over. I've never come back mid-season.
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  Speaker 1: A few of my Australian counterparts do, but I sort
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  Speaker 1: of like to commit to the energy. The whole season
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  Speaker 1: is in Europe at that point that it's just like
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  Speaker 1: you're surrounded by people that are working for the same thing.
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  Speaker 4: The energy's high.
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  Speaker 1: I feel like coming home mid-year to Australian winter is
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  Speaker 1: It's not terrible, but it's still not ideal.
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  Speaker 4: And yeah, just the energy of the season is in
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  Speaker 4: the Norman Hemisphere.
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  Speaker 3: I also love the phrase, although it is factually accurate,
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  Speaker 3: but Australian winter. Like technically we're coming off of winter
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  Speaker 3: right now.
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  Speaker 1: I've been shocked coming home. Like I was just driving.
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  Speaker 1: It's 29 degrees Celsius. Like that's 80 something. And it's
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  Speaker 1: not even like early spring.
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  Speaker 4: So yeah.
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  Speaker 2: It's delightful.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: It's absolutely delightful. You.
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  Speaker 3: Traveling to stay and park in Europe for a bit
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  Speaker 3: is not something that is entirely unfamiliar to you because
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  Speaker 3: you also left Australia to go and attend college at
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  Speaker 3: the University of Oregon. At the time, such a major
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  Speaker 3: decision and one I'm sure that wasn't easy for you.
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  Speaker 3: Tell me a little bit about getting your feet wet,
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  Speaker 3: making that decision to leave home and travel so far
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  Speaker 3: away to chase after something that really excited you.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think so. I was 18 when I went
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  Speaker 4: to college.
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  Speaker 1: So it was pretty crazy to sort of like my
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  Speaker 1: last really 12 years have just been like all of
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  Speaker 1: this back and forth, back and forth and making home
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  Speaker 1: where I was and where I was set up. And
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  Speaker 1: then knowing my heart's back here, my family are here,
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  Speaker 1: but I can make everywhere feel like home. So going
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  Speaker 1: to college at 18 was a massive decision. And I
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  Speaker 1: think now it's like when I encourage younger girls to
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  Speaker 1: go that are based in Australia I'm like yeah go
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  Speaker 1: for it go for it and then I'm like wow
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  Speaker 1: it really is a big thing to do but I
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  Speaker 1: think when you're doing it yourself you just get so
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  Speaker 1: wrapped up in it you're carried away by I'm going
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  Speaker 1: to be on a team I'm going to have teammates
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  Speaker 1: that you basically have 12 built-in best friends when you
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  Speaker 1: land in the US that you train with every day
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  Speaker 1: you study with you live with um I think it
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  Speaker 1: just getting in going in with it so much excitement
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  Speaker 1: I was like able to make it work and I
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  Speaker 1: think it gave me the travel bug for sure.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: Do you remember the weirdest thing that you thought like
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  Speaker 3: right when you got to Oregon?
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  Speaker 4: Because it is weird.
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  Speaker 2: And now I'm here, I'm like, wow, this is a utopia.
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  Speaker 1: Oregon is an interesting place. I feel like it's the
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  Speaker 1: most freeing place to be maybe I'd ever been. It
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  Speaker 1: was just like, I think the most jarring thing to
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  Speaker 1: me was the homelessness in a way it's so different
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  Speaker 1: like you don't see it here at home unless you're
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  Speaker 1: right right in the city there's a bit of it
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  Speaker 1: but I think then kind of learning like the homeless
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  Speaker 1: people are so friendly there like it's like I had
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  Speaker 1: a guy that used to basically live around our apartment
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  Speaker 1: complex and he'd say hello to us every day um
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  Speaker 1: asks how day was going and I was like he
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  Speaker 1: was harmless but things like that that I then normalized
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  Speaker 1: yeah and then when my parents came to visit they
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  Speaker 1: were just like you talk to it?
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  Speaker 4: I'm like, yeah, like he's homeless.
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  Speaker 2: He's our buddy. Yeah.
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  Speaker 4: Random side tangent.
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  Speaker 1: But I think that was, yeah, the most thing that
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  Speaker 1: I was just like, well, okay.
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  Speaker 4: And then you kind of get used to it.
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  Speaker 2: You get used to it.
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  Speaker 3: And it's just so impressive because from such a young age,
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  Speaker 3: you had this willingness to be so independent in the
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  Speaker 3: pursuit of things that excited you, but that doesn't mean
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  Speaker 3: that it didn't come.
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  Speaker 2: With its fair share of nerves, anxiety.
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  Speaker 1: I'm sure.
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  Speaker 2: Is that right?
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  Speaker 4: Definitely.
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  Speaker 1: I think I have great parents and I often fall
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  Speaker 1: back on that when it comes to people asking me
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  Speaker 1: like how I think the way I do or why
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  Speaker 1: I'm so positive or optimistic. And I think mom and
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  Speaker 1: dad just encouraged me. They didn't push me to go
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  Speaker 1: to college, but they opened my eyes to the possibilities
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  Speaker 1: that would come from it. And just like the different situation,
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  Speaker 1: if I was to stay at home, there isn't really
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  Speaker 1: the infrastructure. There still isn't for young athletes between the
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  Speaker 1: age of 18 and 22, unless you're good enough to
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  Speaker 1: make a senior team at that point. There's like nothing
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  Speaker 1: to strive for. You're kind of just lost a little bit.
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  Speaker 1: And then maybe you come through it. Maybe you don't.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe you fall out of the sport. But I think
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  Speaker 1: I just had great parents that were so down to earth.
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  Speaker 1: And as much as they didn't want me to move
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  Speaker 1: to the other side of the world, they just recognized
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  Speaker 1: the opportunity that it would bring.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: And obviously, it was something that also brought you a
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  Speaker 3: lot of joy from a young age, being able to
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: train alongside of your dad, who was your coach when
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  Speaker 3: you were young, but also your coach again now. Talk
• 8:51
  Speaker 3: to me a little bit about that relationship and how
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  Speaker 3: it's felt for you to really be in this chapter
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  Speaker 3: where you two get to do this together.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think... It's super unique.
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: The more into the elite world you get, the more
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: you realize sometimes it is quite a common partnership, like father, daughter, father, son.
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  Speaker 1: Like there is a few athletes that are coached by
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  Speaker 1: their parents. And I think getting to see the world,
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  Speaker 1: getting to see my dad see the world, he's the
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  Speaker 1: most Australian man you'll ever meet. And he stands out
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  Speaker 1: like nothing else when we're overseas.
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  Speaker 2: What's that mean though? Like when you say he's the
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  Speaker 2: most Australian man you'll ever meet?
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  Speaker 1: I just think if you picture Australian with long hair,
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: curly hair, pulled back in a ponytail, he looks like
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: a surfer dude even though he's 56 now. Mum says
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: he's too well looked after because he hasn't got a
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: grey hair on his head. But he just looks like
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: a beached Australian man that's so passionate for sport, football, soccer, athletics, whatever,
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  Speaker 1: you name it, he'll watch it. And he walks into
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  Speaker 1: like cafes, refuses to speak French or Italian, no matter
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  Speaker 1: where we are.
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  Speaker 4: And he's like, I'll have a large cap, mate.
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  Speaker 1: And the poor person behind the counter will like look
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: at me for like, can you translate that?
• 9:59
  Speaker 4: Like what's a cap?
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: It's a cappuccino. Yeah.
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: So for coffee, he drinks so much coffee, so you
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: can't go without it wherever we are, but that's his order.
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: And I think sometimes he forgets, you're not at your
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: local in Australia, like these, that's not like, they might
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: not even have that on the menu. So you gotta
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: adopt to where we are, but yeah, he's, he is
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: who he is. And it's just so cool to, to
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: show him the world. And yeah, it gives me a
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: lot to laugh about when we're on the road and yeah,
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: he's just, a typical Australian dad that gets to see
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: his daughter live her dreams.
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  Speaker 2: Which is so special.
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  Speaker 3: So being able to travel with him and work alongside
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: of him certainly brings so much joy to you. You
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: can hear it in the way that you speak, but
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: does it also come with a fair amount of challenge?
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  Speaker 4: You know, it doesn't now.
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: I think in the way that I said they were so,
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: they recognize the opportunity of going to college.
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  Speaker 4: I also think that the age I was, I was 18.
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: I think that for dad handing me off to other
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: coaches for that kind of like formative time and I
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: had Marisa Powell at the University of Oregon and I
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: think she's, every young woman needs a Marisa Powell in
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  Speaker 1: their life. And I think just the time in my
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: life that I had her coaching me and even just
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: teaching me like the way of the world a little
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  Speaker 1: bit has meant that by the time I came back,
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: I moved home at the start of 2023 and I
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: re-partnered up with dad for coaching. Like I was a
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: mature young woman who knows kind of like how to
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: stand on her own two feet and not just like
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: push back because dad said this, dad said that. Like
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: I think we have Both of us would say our
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: relationships evolved from like kind of like the hiatus of
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: like maybe if he was coaching me at 19 and
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: I thought I knew everything, we have more issues. But
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: now like we never disagree on training or anything. And
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: often it's quite scary that we're on such similar pages,
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: especially if he might come home mid-season for a week
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: or two to see my mom. And it's like he'll
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: send me the workouts the night before.
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: To do.
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: And it's like, I can almost predict them because I just,
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: we're on such a good wavelength with it. So yeah,
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: I don't think right now it doesn't come with a cost.
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: And I think he would probably be the first to
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: say if it ever does, it's probably time to change
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  Speaker 1: things up. And yeah, it's not something that I'd ever
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: really be interested in doing.
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: But so special that you had this opportunity to go
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: away for college and experience what it was like to
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: work with someone else. It sounds like it really worked
• 12:19
  Speaker 3: in your favor to have this moment where you could
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: experience what it was like to be coached by another person.
• 12:27
  Speaker 3: And also, like you said, kind of dealing with that
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: hard stuff that comes hand in hand with coaching a
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: woman that's college years old.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly.
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  Speaker 1: So, I mean, it all adds to your story and
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: it all becomes part of the athlete and the person
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  Speaker 1: that you become. So I'm grateful for kind of like that,
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  Speaker 1: the formative years being I think I learned to love
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: the sport through dad coaching me in high school. And
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: then I went through that transition into being a woman
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: with fierce and determined goals under Marisa and came back
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: to being able to combine it all with dad now.
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: Combine it all.
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  Speaker 3: And I mean, you said coming back to Australia in 2023,
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: the year you had in 2024 is just absolutely phenomenal.
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: I think such a testament to the fact that so
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: often we see people and it looks like an overnight
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: success and so much happened for you then, but you
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: had been grinding and.
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: Working at it for so long.
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: Talk to me a little bit about what it meant
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: for you to get to this place where you really
• 13:23
  Speaker 3: started to feel like the work was paying off.
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, I think, so much in running and
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: in sport in general is delayed gratification. And it's like,
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: there is such a journey to every athlete's breakthrough that
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: like people see the little glimpse of the breakthrough, but
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: they don't see the years and years that went into it.
• 13:40
  Speaker 4: And I think it's something I never doubted.
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: Like I always believed like I was going to get
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: to a point like I don't know that I believed
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: I would run 350 in the 1500.
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  Speaker 4: Like that's kind of mind boggling. And it still is.
• 13:52
  Speaker 4: Getting back to it is challenging. I can't pee pee
• 13:55
  Speaker 4: every year.
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  Speaker 1: But I think I always believed like I had an
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: Olympic dream growing up. And I think I don't know
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  Speaker 1: that I understood monumentally like what I was really setting
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  Speaker 1: my heart on or anything when you're 10 years old
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: watching in your lounge room. But achieving it and the
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: feelings and the rush of like capturing a wave in
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: 2024 and the momentum there. into an Olympic games, like
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: it's a dream and it's what every athlete wishes that
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: they could have. And if I could write it up
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: perfectly for myself, it's probably what I would have orchestrated.
• 14:25
  Speaker 4: And it's just, so special to live it.
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: It's so special to live it. And from my POV,
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: so special to watch it. I watched it again today
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: just for vibes. I was like, oh, let's watch it.
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: And it's just so emotional.
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: It's like faith and then there's you and your face
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: is just the lightest.
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: I mean, you're like, I've watched it a gazillion times
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: as well. It's just the epitome of happiness.
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it truly is. There's no better feeling in the world.
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: And I think it's like, you just want to bottle
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: it up. And if I could even just go back
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: and tell myself that again in 2024 is like, just
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: bottle this up because you can't recapture it. I think
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: it's when you do something like that, you win your
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: first medal or like you achieve something big that you've
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: had your heart desired on for so long. You just cannot,
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: like you're chasing that feeling over and over again. But
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: I think I would have told myself to just like
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: soak in this because you can't replicate it no matter
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: how hard you try. And I think, yeah, full stadium
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: in Paris, victory lap.
• 15:23
  Speaker 4: It's so special.
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: So special. And we'll talk a little more about that
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: in just a little bit.
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: But I also really love what you said about knowing
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: that you're going to put in the work and sooner
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: or later, it can pay off, that it will come
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: to fruition. There are so many people listening to this
• 15:38
  Speaker 3: right now that maybe they're in the thick of it.
• 15:40
  Speaker 3: Maybe they're in the muck. They feel like They're putting
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: in that work and nothing is happening. Talk to me
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: about how you spoke to yourself when you felt like
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: you were in that phase and maybe any advice you
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: have for them.
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: You know, I think I'm quite lucky to be a
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: naturally positive, optimistic person. And I think I never really
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: had to talk myself around. I think I just believed
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: in my heart. And I think that's something to it
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: for everybody is like, if you feel like you are
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: looking for more or you want more or your goals
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: are higher, like you have to be fearlessly following them
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: and there's going to be deviations on the pathway it's
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: not going to be smooth but I think if you
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: can just remember like you want this for a reason
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: it's like it's so motivating it's like okay I've been
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: set back a little bit, but like, I believe I
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: can do it. And I think that that belief and everything,
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: whether you're trying to run a specific time in a
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: half marathon or a marathon or just complete the thing,
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: like these are big goals. And if you just can
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: kind of like, that's your Olympics, you know, like it
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: doesn't have to be the Olympic stadium on a world stage.
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: It's like everyone that's doing something and working towards their goal.
• 16:44
  Speaker 4: It's pretty admirable.
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: I think what you also said is that every race
• 16:48
  Speaker 3: can't be a PB because getting to a place where
• 16:51
  Speaker 3: you're in that mindset and you understand that that's part
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: of the process, this isn't even about running. It's just
• 16:59
  Speaker 3: like you get to this point where you're in pursuit
• 17:02
  Speaker 3: of the things that excite you that you're not going
• 17:04
  Speaker 3: to wake up every day and it's going to be
• 17:05
  Speaker 3: a win. But it's those days that you wake up,
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: you recognize today maybe wasn't the biggest win and you say,
• 17:13
  Speaker 3: but what do I get to do with that?
• 17:15
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah. And it's like, I think often remembering like, when
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: you're going after something like you get to do this,
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: like you're chasing it because your heart's got the desire
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: for it. So it's like you get to do this.
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: And I think when you can embrace the process of
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: something and you truly learn to love like the journey
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: along the way, it's like that's what you're going to
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: remember more so than like the big moment. Like you
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: remember the feeling of the moment or ticking off the goal.
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: But I think the process of it is like it
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: shapes you for like what's to come next. But it
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: also is the pieces that you remember the most when
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: it's like Oh, but what did it like you'd run
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: that PB or you finish that race? But it's like, yeah,
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: but there was like 10 steps before that. And I
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: shared this step with that person or like I celebrated
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: with my family afterwards or I had so much support
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: in the build up. It's just I think they're the
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: pieces that you've got to kind of bring.
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: It back to.
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: Just to put this in context again, it would be
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: epic regardless of what happened to get a silver medal
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: in Paris, but you came in 11th in Tokyo. So
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: to go from within four years, getting to this place
• 18:33
  Speaker 3: where you really put in the grit and the determination
• 18:36
  Speaker 3: and the hard work to put yourself in the best
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: position possible, it's beyond impressive. Do you believe that in
• 18:43
  Speaker 3: addition to the training and the hard work that you
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: put in, there was a mindset shift of what you
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: believed that you could do?
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: A hundred percent. And I think it actually probably started
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: in Tokyo. Like if I look at being like a
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: first time Olympian, so I was 24 turning 25 just
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: after the games. And so I went in there with
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: the goal to make the final. And I did that.
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: And I had such a high in my semifinal of
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: breaking four minutes for the first time national record. Just
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: like that moment was such a high. And 48 hours later,
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: I was like so flat. Like it was crazy. Like
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: I would have fought if I told myself 11th at
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: my first Olympics before that week began, I would have
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: been stoked. Like I'd have been like, yep, like that's exciting.
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: That's a great step. But I couldn't have predicted like
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: the feelings that came with that. And I think I
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: often reflect on, and we were kind of forced to again,
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: because last year our worlds were in the same stadium,
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: but The walk from the finish line through the media
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: to like the warm-up track in Tokyo, it's pretty far.
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: It's like 200, 300 meters before you get to your people.
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: So you're kind of living. in the experience of it
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: in your own mind. And I think from that semi-final
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: on that two nights before, I was just like rushing
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: through that process to get back to my coaches and
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: celebrate and be like, wow, that was incredible. I made
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: an Olympic final to sort of leaving the track pretty
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: unsatisfied with the 11th place. And I ran a 402,
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: which back then it was probably my average. Like it
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: wasn't a bad day, but it was just a, it
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: left me wanting so much more. And that just fueled
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: this feeling of like, I don't want to leave the
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: next Olympics, like feeling this way. And there's only a
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: few people that truly understand that. Like, I think Dad
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: wasn't coaching me then, but like he could feel it
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: with me. Like it was, I could just, I think
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: I was in the village the next day and you
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: just feel like you're kind of floating around a bit
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: because it's all over. Like the first Olympics is said
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: and done. But like there was not, not disappointment, but
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: there was definitely dissatisfaction. And I was just like, I
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: don't want to leave in three years time because we
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: were 21 to 24 feeling this way again. Like I
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: want more. And I think if you don't have that
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: first experience, you don't land.
• 20:54
  Speaker 4: Where you do in 2024.
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: And....
• 20:57
  Speaker 3: It's also this recognition that you knew it had to
• 21:02
  Speaker 3: be rooted in feeling in 2024. There was the goal
• 21:07
  Speaker 3: of meddling, right? But almost this awareness, like, I need
• 21:13
  Speaker 3: to ask myself, how do I want to feel? And
• 21:16
  Speaker 3: that feeling is almost what I would say is probably
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: the beginning of the benchmark for success. Because once you
• 21:22
  Speaker 3: get out on the track, you can do what you
• 21:25
  Speaker 3: can do. But there are so many variables, right? So
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: would you say that setting yourself up from a mindset
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: POV was really what laid the foundation for you to
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: find that success?
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: 100%.
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: And I think I often sometimes I'll see races back
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: and I'll like, even this year, really, it's like I've
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: had some like great races this year, but I've had
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: some like good hits, like not like not as great
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: as I was searching for. And I think often I'll
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: see myself finish the race and like, I like if
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: I'm watching it back and there's like a big smile.
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: And I'm like, or I'll like feel it in the moment.
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: I'm like, well, that was, I might've wanted more, but
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: I'm really satisfied with that effort. Or like, I think
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: I sort of just know intrinsically like when it's been
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: a good day. And I think so often it hasn't
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: been validated by a medal or it hasn't been validated
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: by like the overall goal. It's just been a feeling
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: of like, oh, that was good. And like, or like, well,
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: that wasn't so good. You know, like, it's like, there's
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: a feeling that comes with the result that kind of
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: gives me more validation than like the actual hardware that
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: you might come home with.
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah. And I mean, that's so important for anyone to hear, right?
• 22:29
  Speaker 3: Because how you feel about yourself when you're by yourself
• 22:33
  Speaker 3: is the measure of success.
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: At least that's how I feel.
• 22:37
  Speaker 3: Right. And so if we're constantly looking for this external validation, like,
• 22:41
  Speaker 3: don't get me wrong. The Olympic medal is amazing. And
• 22:45
  Speaker 3: like every day you're not going to win an Olympic medal.
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: No. And I think Nikki Hiltz said something so good
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: after kind of the Budapest ultimate champs was like, you
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: can earn medals and you have medals, but you don't
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: pull them out and look at them every day. Like
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: they do when you do get the chance to take
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: them out. Like the best thing, I love taking my
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: Olympic medal to schools and like younger kids, when they
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: hold it, you can see the dream spark a little bit.
• 23:09
  Speaker 4: Like that's really special. But It's so accurate.
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: Like I live my life like a normal person and
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: I don't just pull the medal out every day to
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: look at it and feel good about it. It's just
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: like it's something I have, something that's a token for
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: a lot of hard work. But if you're just searching
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: for like the medal, it's like you're not even scratching
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: the surface of what like the journey is.
• 23:29
  Speaker 3: I just got chills a little bit when you talked
• 23:31
  Speaker 3: about like going to schools and talking to them and
• 23:33
  Speaker 3: bringing your medal. When you say that, does that still
• 23:36
  Speaker 3: feel a little bit surreal to you that this is
• 23:38
  Speaker 3: something that you get to do?
• 23:39
  Speaker 4: It does.
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: It does.
• 23:40
  Speaker 4: It truly does.
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: Because like I was the kid with the dream, like
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: I said, and it's like I looked up to athletes
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: before me. And I think something I look back on
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: often is like athletes that gave me the time of
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: day when I was a young junior, or if I
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: would go to little meets that are back here in Australia,
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: I'd wait for an autograph or a photo, you know,
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: and like, I remember the athletes that gave me the
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: time of day. And I sometimes remember athletes that didn't,
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: you know, and like, I just think it's such, you're such,
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: you have so much potential to be kind of influential
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: on these athletes out there for many years. So giving
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: back to those, those younger generations, or just seeing them
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: kind of wonder, like, maybe that could be me, you know,
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: it's pretty special. And it's something that like, it's a
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: massive perk that comes with what we've been able to do,
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: getting to just sort of see what people can do with,
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: you know, if you can see it, they might be
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: able to be it.
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 24:27
  Speaker 3: And you coming up with, running has always been such
• 24:32
  Speaker 3: a big part of your identity.
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: I mean, right now, if someone goes to your Instagram page,
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: they see it.
• 24:37
  Speaker 3: There's O-L-Y right next to your name, right at the
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: top of it. And it beckons the question, when you
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: look in the mirror, what do you see looking back
• 24:47
  Speaker 3: at you?
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: Who is Jess beyond being an athlete?
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: Well, I think at the moment, like I, well, I'm
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: a wife, I'm a daughter, I'm a sister, and I'm about, well,
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: I'm an auntie, but I'm about to be an auntie
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: for a my side of the family, which is like.
• 25:00
  Speaker 4: I know it's so exciting.
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: I've got a nephew, I'm going to have a niece. Like,
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: so like, that's just like things like that. I'm like, I,
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: I just enjoy when I, especially when I'm home in Australia,
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: you know, like I get to be, I get to
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: be a family member. I get to go to extended
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: family events, celebrate little milestones and things. I've got a
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: few weddings coming up this wedding season in Australia. So
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: over the summer. So it's just like, you know, I
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: think there's so much more to it. I get, I
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: get to live a lot of my life on the
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: track with people following what I'm doing. And I try
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: and I probably keep a bit of separation sometimes. Like
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: when you go to the Instagram, you probably see Jessica
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: Oly more so than you see like myself. But that's,
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: you know, it's just like, So much of my life
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: right now is wrapped up in that dream of like
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: desire of my goals that I'm doing. It is nice
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: when you do get moments to just be grounded at
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: home and be more than that.
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 25:54
  Speaker 3: How does it feel for you right now to be
• 25:56
  Speaker 3: in this chapter where it is so much of what
• 26:00
  Speaker 3: you're doing day in and day out? Does it feel
• 26:03
  Speaker 3: as joyful as it did, say, leading into 2024 or
• 26:07
  Speaker 3: leading into 2020?
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: You know, when I strip it back, it truly does.
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: There's so much that I'm excited for every day. And
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: I think At the moment, a lot of that is
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: cool because it's off the track stuff in the off
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: season right now. So we just moved into our house.
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: We're getting a puppy next week. And there's like so
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: much to be excited for. But then I start to
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: think and I'm like, in the next week or two,
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: we're going to start planning what comes in 2027.
• 26:29
  Speaker 4: And there's a world champs.
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: And that's obviously what we'll be building the season around
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: is like building up to that in Beijing in September.
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: And then the Olympics are pretty soon after that. Like,
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: it's like, if you're not thinking about it now, you're
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: sort of doing yourself a disservice. So there's just still
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: things that, like, I don't know exactly what we'll plan
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: for in the next two years. But, like, those big
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: end goals, like, there's still so much that I'm excited
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: for every day when I wake up. And then, yeah, similarly,
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: just sort of moving into our house has been something
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: to be so excited for.
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: I mean, the house and the dog alone.
• 27:03
  Speaker 4: Well, it's like we joke we're doing everything at once. But,
• 27:05
  Speaker 4: you know, I'm also.
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: in a unique period in this Olympic cycle where I
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: don't think I'll run an indoor season next year. So
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: we kind of, for the first time in my career,
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: my husband and I, because my husband travels with me
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: all the time, it's like for the first time in
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: my career, we're going to be in Australia for like
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: eight months. So it doesn't sound like much, but it's like,
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: from now till the Diamond League beginning next year in May,
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: it's like, we're going to be home.
• 27:30
  Speaker 4: And that's just like, that's exciting.
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: It is exciting. It is so exciting.
• 27:35
  Speaker 3: And you sure, I'm sure you have so many routines
• 27:39
  Speaker 3: that I'd be so curious to hear about that go
• 27:41
  Speaker 3: hand in hand with your athletic pursuits, but to get
• 27:44
  Speaker 3: into a rhythm where you get to have like routines
• 27:47
  Speaker 3: that keep you grounded within your own home on a
• 27:50
  Speaker 3: day-to-day basis. I'm, as someone who's been out of her
• 27:53
  Speaker 3: routine for about a month now, I'm, i am excited for.
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: You thank you i appreciate that you might be surprised
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: like i feel like because i do travel so much
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: i just go with the flow often like what does.
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: That what does that look like for you.
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: Well i have like i have my things i have
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: to do every day or like i like to do
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: every day but it's like i'm often like i'm not
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: someone that's like if i don't wake up at 6
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: a.m like the whole day is not thrown out like
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: you know like um I have to move training times
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: sometimes based on being in a different country and the
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: tracks are open here or there. And, you know, I,
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: that stuff never wavers me. Like I'm kind of just like,
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: I have the routine of like what has to be
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: done for the day, but like the order of events can,
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: I can, I can work around that.
• 28:33
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: But what are some of the things that have to
• 28:36
  Speaker 2: be done every day?
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: Um, I think, well, I, training, obviously. But then I
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: think I just have like, I'm a better person if
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: I'm consistent with like the mindset work. And that's, for me,
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: that's like some headspace and gratitude. Like if I can
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: take the time each day and, you know, sometimes that
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: happens on a run because it's like the day has
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: been busy and it's like, I'll be out on my
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: double run and I'm like, oh, take a few moments
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: to just sort of be like, oh, look around and
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: be like, I get to do this.
• 29:03
  Speaker 4: I have the best job in the world.
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: And I think when I'm making space for just looking
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: after the mindset wherever I am and then making sure
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: I get my training in, then I'm definitely a better person,
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: happier person, easier person to be around. But everything else
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: I can build around that. Like I'm not too worried
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: about like I need coffee, absolutely. But like I'm not
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: too worried about like being able to be in my
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: normal routine in a foreign place.
• 29:26
  Speaker 4: Like I've got pretty good at being adaptable.
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 29:28
  Speaker 3: And that in itself is so impressive to just be
• 29:32
  Speaker 3: able to get to this place where you feel okay
• 29:35
  Speaker 3: with that flexibility and the fluidity of it.
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: It couldn't have been easy.
• 29:38
  Speaker 4: I think it's just happened. over time. Like overall, like
• 29:42
  Speaker 4: I've been on the circuit for seven years now.
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: So it's like, it's always nice when you go back
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: to a repeat place because you can fall back into
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: that routine of like, you know what you're doing. But
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: I also just feel like over time, I've just learned like, hey,
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: things change and things happen on the road. Just like
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: do the fundamentals well and you'll be doing a good job.
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: Seven years.
• 29:59
  Speaker 3: So seven years ago, you signed with Nike. A lot
• 30:01
  Speaker 3: has changed since then. Talk to me about what that
• 30:05
  Speaker 3: process was like for you and how your journey with
• 30:09
  Speaker 3: Nike has been.
• 30:10
  Speaker 4: It's interesting.
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: I think no one knows how to go pro. Like
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: there's no handbook and there still isn't. It's still a
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: lot of like unspoken or like through the grapevine kind
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: of like people learn the process. So I think coming
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: out of college, I knew I wanted to train and
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: I wanted to run and wanted to give it a
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: good shot. And I had the opportunity to kind of
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: like look at some Nike groups and Constance Klosterhaufen was
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: training under Pete Julian on the Nike campus when I
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: was like making these big decisions and what she was
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: doing was incredible. And it was, she was only, we're
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: a year apart. Coco's actually younger than me, but it
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: was like someone my own age having success doing the
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: things that I was dreaming of doing. And I was like,
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: I want to go in and train with her. And
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: I think that's kind of what sparked me signing with
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: Nike and landing myself in Portland for a few years
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: and training alongside Coco. Like it truly taught me the
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: way of the world. And I think the extended group
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: at that point, Stefan Hassan was on campus. Like seeing
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: people that had ambitions to not just make a team,
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: not just make a final, like to win gold medals.
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: And that was just like, I think I was at
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: a very influential age of like, Hey, I want to
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: do that too. And it was like, it was just
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: taught me to dream a bit bigger. And I think
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: I was already dreaming big. Like I was already wanting
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: to do things in the sport, but I don't think
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: I was dreaming that big until I was like around
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: people that were like Donovan Brazier, even it was like,
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: He won a world title when I was, I just
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: joined the team and I think I'd been kind of
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: in Europe with them for the two months leading into that.
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: And just seeing the preparation, seeing the day to day,
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: it just, it humanized it and it normalized it that
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: then when he goes and has that moment in Doha
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: at the world champs, it's like, hey, I want to
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: do that too. It's like your mind goes beyond even
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: just like a medal. It's like, I want to win
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: a title.
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: So yeah.
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that process was pretty special. And I
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: look back and I often wonder, I'm like, if I
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: didn't go to that group in particular around those people, like,
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: would I have accomplished as much as I have? And
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: would I have even thought it was like, would I
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: have even fathomed like what could be possible?
• 32:13
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and that is such a powerful thing. realization, such
• 32:18
  Speaker 3: a powerful thought process, because at the end of the day,
• 32:21
  Speaker 3: like this is how it is now. So all you
• 32:23
  Speaker 3: can do is the best you have or the best
• 32:26
  Speaker 3: you can in any given moment. It's different now than
• 32:29
  Speaker 3: it was five minutes ago. And it could be different
• 32:31
  Speaker 3: in five minutes from right now. So to have this
• 32:35
  Speaker 3: foresight to say, wow, like to be around Stefan, to
• 32:38
  Speaker 3: be around this company and look to them and learn
• 32:41
  Speaker 3: from them.
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: I mean, it sounds like an absolute dream. It was.
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: And, you know, I think it still feels like it
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: a little bit. Like some of the things when you,
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: when you go back to Nike camp, it's like, I
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: don't live there now, but like, you're so welcomed back
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: and everyone's excited. And when they sort of showcase like
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: what's to come or you kind of get the chance
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: to talk to them about like what has been, it's like,
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: there is so much like coming in that as an
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: Nike athlete, you never, ever feel like you're stagnating. Like
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: there's just so much that they're excited for with you.
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: And I think it truly does feel like a family.
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: Like I think they've been along the journey and like
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: you say, so much has changed. And it would be
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: interesting to pick the brains of sports marketing from like
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: when they signed me to where we are now. And
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: it's like, yeah, the evolution's been very fun. And I
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: think they're probably similarly enjoying that process right now with
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: Claudia Kazimierzka. So she was a duck at Oregon and
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: she trains in Eugene still and she's just had such
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: a breakthrough season.
• 33:34
  Speaker 4: So, you know, it's like, it's cool. History repeats itself
• 33:37
  Speaker 4: a little bit.
• 33:38
  Speaker 3: You know, to have this opportunity to be on the
• 33:41
  Speaker 3: ground floor and trying new things and being around like
• 33:45
  Speaker 3: all of these big ideas, it beckons the question. So
• 33:50
  Speaker 3: often people will ask me, they'll be like, well, what's
• 33:52
  Speaker 3: been like the highlight of your career?
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: And I'm like, God, I don't know.
• 33:56
  Speaker 3: And I feel like that question is kind of like
• 33:58
  Speaker 3: ever evolving for me because every day I get to
• 34:00
  Speaker 3: have new and exciting experiences. When you think about the
• 34:03
  Speaker 3: highlight of your pro career thus far, what comes to mind?
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: Oh, definitely Paris comes to mind. Like I think that's,
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: if I was to just put a label on a highlight,
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: like you probably, I would probably tend it to Paris.
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: But I think, you know, the highlight, like, and I
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: think it's a motivator because I am still right in
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: the middle of my career. The highlight is just like,
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: that desire and that burn for more. Like, I think
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: it's like, it's shown me that I don't think I've
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: ever left like the perfect race out on the track.
• 34:32
  Speaker 4: And I think, I think that's a good thing, you know?
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: So I think that just like highlights the desire to
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: stick in it, keep the process and yeah, keep looking
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: for more. I think, um, I hope, I hope I
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: haven't had my biggest highlight yet, you know?
• 34:47
  Speaker 3: It's really special to hear it in that way. I
• 34:51
  Speaker 3: don't think I've left a perfect race out on the track.
• 34:54
  Speaker 4: No, yeah.
• 34:55
  Speaker 3: And for so many, again, we talk about this idea of, oh,
• 34:59
  Speaker 3: it's so frustrating that it's not going as I hoped.
• 35:02
  Speaker 3: But to be in constant pursuit of your best effort,
• 35:08
  Speaker 3: that's really why you do it, isn't it?
• 35:09
  Speaker 4: Yeah, absolutely.
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: And you have you almost have to have a bit
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: of delusion about it. Like, Oh, like I think I'm
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: ready for more, you know? Like if I think that
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: this year, like if you say frustrating, I immediately think
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: of this year, like I had some good moments, but
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: I had some moments where I was like, what was that?
• 35:25
  Speaker 4: You know?
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: And it's like, there is a bit of frustration there.
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: And you know, I think that frustration comes because you know,
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: you're like destined for more a little bit sometimes too.
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: And it's like, I want to nail it every time
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: I step out on the track, but I might not
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: still be doing the sport if I did, you know,
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: like if I, if I felt like I'd had that
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: perfect race, it's like, well, why keep going then? It's like,
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: you know, you kind of, you're chasing that feeling of
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: the perfect race, but you know, who knows if you
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: ever get it.
• 35:50
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 35:51
  Speaker 2: Who knows if you're ever going to get it.
• 35:52
  Speaker 3: I mean, one of the highs from this year, obviously
• 35:54
  Speaker 3: second at the world ultimates recently, when you talk about
• 35:58
  Speaker 3: the frustrating moments in those moments, what is it that
• 36:01
  Speaker 3: you lead into that helps you pick yourself back up
• 36:04
  Speaker 3: and keep going at it?
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: I think, well, ultimates was a, a, just a great
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: example of this really I didn't have a great race
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: in the 1500 on the Saturday night and I kind
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: of was like I don't I don't know like I
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: don't know what that was I just kind of told
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: myself and I leaned on my team like my dad
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: and my husband were there and my agent and it's
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: like I just said to them all I was like
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: fitness doesn't change right like I'm not any less fit
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: tomorrow so I just like I know I'm really ready.
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: I don't know what that was, but I just want
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: to get back out there tomorrow night and move on.
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: And I think I just have great people that are like,
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: whether it was true or not, or whether they believed
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: it or not, just kind of said, yeah, no, you're
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: really fit.
• 36:46
  Speaker 4: Like you're really ready. Just like, don't be too hard
• 36:48
  Speaker 4: on yourself. Move on from that one.
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: So much easier said than done though. Like don't be
• 36:52
  Speaker 2: too hard on yourself.
• 36:53
  Speaker 4: I know.
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: Yeah. That was like, dad said to me when I
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: got back to him and I was like, obviously he
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: I was always running the 5K the next day, so
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: I needed to just start my cool down. And I
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: just was like, normally I would cool down with another person,
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: but everyone, by the time I got through, I had
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: already like, either their season was over, so there was
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: no cool down, or like it was late and everyone
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: was done. So he's like, sent me on my cool down.
• 37:16
  Speaker 4: I say sent me. He didn't send me on my
• 37:17
  Speaker 4: cool down. He sort of like.
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: like go ahead yeah in a nice way he's like
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: I left him to go on my cool down and
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: he's like don't be too hard on yourself and I
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: was like oh that was like the worst thing to
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: say because I was like you know like he just
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: knows me so well that like he just knew that
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: I was going to be in my thoughts that like
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: it was like I was already going there so um
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: it made me then sort of think of it but
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: couple of minutes into jogging, I was like so fired
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: up for the 5k the next day that it's just
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: like when you have something else to reset and refocus on,
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: you kind of just have to be a goldfish. And
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: I kept telling myself that all day on the Sunday
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: when I was just waiting to race. I'm like, goldfish brain,
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: forget about it, move on.
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 37:57
  Speaker 3: It's so interesting too, because I've had so many conversations
• 38:01
  Speaker 3: where like either approach could be beneficial. The goldfish mentality
• 38:06
  Speaker 3: can be so helpful. Like I'm just going to focus
• 38:09
  Speaker 3: on this one thing, like forget what's happened in the past.
• 38:11
  Speaker 3: And then other people like, for instance, Des Linden, who
• 38:14
  Speaker 3: literally talked to me about living her entire life leading
• 38:17
  Speaker 3: in to the Boston Marathon and asking herself every day,
• 38:22
  Speaker 3: is this something a Boston Marathon champion would do?
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: That's so interesting because I feel like when I've just
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: done some self-reflection on this season, I think for the
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: last couple of years, I've been trying to be that
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: Olympic silver medalist. And it's almost like, Des, how you
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: just said, it's like you almost need to think bigger.
• 38:38
  Speaker 2: It's like, well.
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: leave the silver. It's like, is this what something that
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: an Olympic champion does? Is this something that a world
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: champion does? And it's like that for whatever reason seems
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: so much more calming and like centered and present when
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: you think about the process than like trying to live up.
• 38:53
  Speaker 4: To something you've formerly done.
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: And it's like, I don't know if her sentiments were
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: the same when she coined that, but it is an
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: interesting thing to think about. It's like that dichotomy between
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: does that overwhelm you, but, or does that encourage you?
• 39:20
  Speaker 3: Some people respond really well if they're like speaking to
• 39:23
  Speaker 3: themselves with expletives.
• 39:25
  Speaker 2: So if you're like really hard on yourself, you're like,
• 39:27
  Speaker 2: let's effing go. And some people really respond. well to that.
• 39:30
  Speaker 3: But other people like it sends off alarms in their
• 39:33
  Speaker 3: brains and like this doesn't feel encouraging or exciting to me.
• 39:35
  Speaker 3: It also kind of runs parallel to this idea that
• 39:38
  Speaker 3: some folks really thrive in being super multifaceted.
• 39:42
  Speaker 2: So take Jess McLean, for instance. Yes.
• 39:44
  Speaker 3: McLean is someone that absolutely loves the fact that she's
• 39:48
  Speaker 3: not living every day, day in and day out, only
• 39:51
  Speaker 3: thinking about running.
• 39:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: And she loves her job. She loves her life. She
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: has a great situation in Phoenix around there. She has
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: a lot of fun with her family and her husband and,
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: you know, and it's like, you can see that in
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: her running too. It's like, she's just, She has so
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: much joy in every other pocket of her life. She's
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: not searching for that in her running.
• 40:07
  Speaker 3: But you have so much joy within your running. Like literally,
• 40:09
  Speaker 3: you're one of the smiliest runners on the track. I
• 40:12
  Speaker 3: also have such an adoration for the range that you
• 40:15
  Speaker 3: have on the track.
• 40:17
  Speaker 2: What do you think it is?
• 40:18
  Speaker 3: About yourself, your strengths as an athlete that enable and
• 40:23
  Speaker 3: empower you to really thrive within that range?
• 40:25
  Speaker 2: Because it's not something that you see all the time.
• 40:27
  Speaker 4: I think it's a balance of strengths and weaknesses.
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: I think I've spent the bottom end, the 800, that's
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: the biggest challenge for me.
• 40:35
  Speaker 4: That stuff doesn't come easily.
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: I have to work really hard on getting that strength
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: and that speed to combine to be able to run
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: a good 800.
• 40:43
  Speaker 4: But I've embraced that.
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: Like I actually, if I look at my training plan,
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: like the 800 sessions are the ones that I almost
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: look forward to the most because it is, it's so
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: challenging and it's like, I don't get to do them
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: too often. So when I, when they come up in
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: the block, it's like, oh, here I go. I'm going to,
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: I get to rip a 600 and then we come
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: back with some more fast stuff and so painful. Like
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: they're the lowest volume sessions I do, but they hurt
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: the most. And I think if I zoom out massively, I,
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: my biggest strength is maybe my endurance or my endurance base. Um,
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: When I've spent time in the past working on a 5K,
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: it's come together very well. I wouldn't have thought I
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: was prepared enough for a 5K to do what I
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: did in Budapest if I just looked at my training program.
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: But I think when I'm fit, my aerobic is actually
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: very strong. That performance in Budapest definitely opened my eyes
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: that that strength is there.
• 41:36
  Speaker 4: It's not something that I always have to work on religiously.
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: But with the bottom end, I've really got to tap
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: into that. And I think it adds that variety into
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: training where I have a bit of different stuff.
• 41:45
  Speaker 3: I absolutely love the caption after Budapest. It was like,
• 41:48
  Speaker 3: maybe I'm really good at 5k.
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: There were so many athletes that like played around with
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: that whole ultimate concept in their captions. And I was
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: just like, and I was trying to put together, you know,
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: sometimes you try and put together your thoughts in a post.
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: And I was like, you know what, this is just like,
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: I mean, there's a lot of people that have told me,
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: to explore the 5k in the past. And my first
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: few years as a pro, like I probably definitely trained
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: more 5k, but it gave me the base to come
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: back up to the 15 and have that strength behind me.
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: So I think I might be fighting it and I
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: probably will continue to fight it for another couple of years,
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: but there's some potential there.
• 42:24
  Speaker 2: There's some potential there.
• 42:25
  Speaker 3: And again, such a wide array of distances that require
• 42:30
  Speaker 3: a wide array and abilities of speed. For you, when
• 42:35
  Speaker 3: it comes to speed when it comes to finding your fast?
• 42:39
  Speaker 3: How do you feel your fastest? What does speed look
• 42:42
  Speaker 3: like for you?
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: I think if I think about what it feels like,
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: it's like, so I love training in St. Mary's as
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: you've touched on, but when you're up at altitude, you
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: feel like when you do the speed stuff, you feel
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: so light and fast because there's less air resistance. Or
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: I say gravity, my husband always corrects me. He's like,
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: the gravity is the same as the air resistance. That's different. But, um,
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: there's less, like you just can fly at altitude. You
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: can get that turnover off the ground and you can
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: get your foot back up so much quicker. And I
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: love that feeling. You can also get some nice tailwinds
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: in St.
• 43:14
  Speaker 2: Mary's.
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: So I just love that feeling of feeling you're just
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: floating and you're covering the ground. You're just like lifting
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: and whipping kind of in that cycle of, of running fast.
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: And I usually tell myself to spin and it's like, you're,
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: you don't want to run from the arms. You want
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: that spinning feeling of the legs that they're just flying
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: and you're just got this wave of momentum. So I
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: think fast can feel like many things. But if I
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: think about what, like, fundamentally to me, like, that's when
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: I feel my best and my fastest is, yeah, altitude
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: with some good assistance from the tailwinds. I mean, what I'm.
• 43:46
  Speaker 3: Hearing you say is it's also about this feeling of freedom.
• 43:51
  Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, it is.
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: And I think sometimes to feel fast, you have to
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: think less in a way and just be so present in, like,
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: what you're feeling.
• 43:58
  Speaker 4: And I think that's sometimes.
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: It's often like, I mean, we were told as juniors
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: growing up and stuff that my very, very first coach
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: back in the day was like, the harder you try,
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: the slower you run. Like if you kind of just
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: go with the flow of it, like you'd be surprised
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: at like how much more effortless fast feels. It's like,
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: I think sometimes we're so wired to be like, if
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: I move my arms faster, I'll run faster. Or if
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: I just like turn over my cadence, I'll run. But
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: you end up just being choppy and it's like you
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: have to just work with the rhythm of things and
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: like the feeling of fast. Yeah.
• 44:29
  Speaker 3: This even goes back to what you were saying earlier
• 44:31
  Speaker 3: about how there were races this year that you felt
• 44:34
  Speaker 3: like you did a good job. It might not have been,
• 44:36
  Speaker 3: you know, the ultimate result that you wanted, but you
• 44:38
  Speaker 3: were like, no, that was really good.
• 44:40
  Speaker 2: Like it felt really good.
• 44:41
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: It's like, uh world indoors in the 1500 that's the
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: the biggest one that like i was shocked at how
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: i felt immediately afterwards in a way like i wanted
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: to win that title i absolutely did but i ran
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: the best race i could and then like crossing the
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: finish line i was just like wow that was awesome
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: and it's like i was second to georgia hunter bell
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: and it was like it was fast but indoor we
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: ran sub four and it was just like the feeling
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: of like satisfaction of like yeah it wasn't a global
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: title But I know that was a good day. And
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: just like being proud of the effort I'd put out
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: there before it's like, before you know the time, before
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: you know like who finished third, before you get to
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: celebrate with the flag and the medals and stuff. It's
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: just like that feeling of like, oh, that was really solid.
• 45:23
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 45:23
  Speaker 3: Talk to me about what it's like right now to
• 45:26
  Speaker 3: be a woman running professionally. There's so much community, but
• 45:32
  Speaker 3: also so much competition. What does that feel like for you?
• 45:36
  Speaker 2: The community.
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: I mean, when you look at the Women's 1500, you
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: probably from the outside see the community before you see
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: the competitiveness. And I think that's definitely attributed to Faith
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: Kipyayon and how she's led our event for so long
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: is she's been so far ahead of the rest of
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: us that I feel like almost we've banded together in
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: a way to like bridge that gap.
• 45:56
  Speaker 2: A little bit.
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah. And it's just built this competitiveness, but in a
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: friendly way that like, I think the we're an event
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: group that we understand how hard it is to stand
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: on the start line prepared as best as possible at
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: the big events that I think we have this appreciation
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: for each other that like when you see someone have
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: a breakthrough, when you see someone have a big moment,
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: you just want to celebrate them. And it's like, similarly,
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: like in Celestia Diamond League this year, like Claudia Kazmierska,
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: Polish lady, home track, breaks the Polish record, front run
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: a lot of the race. Like you just feel the
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: desire to go over there and celebrate that.
• 46:29
  Speaker 4: For her and with her.
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: And I think it's so unique to the 1500, but
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: I think you would probably find all of us have
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: a good balance of leaning into that community feel, but
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: also being competitive that it's like, I want to do
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: that too, you know? And, um, but you get to
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: share the high moments with people that you like race
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: against for the four minutes that you're on the track.
• 46:49
  Speaker 2: Is the 1500 your favorite? Yeah, it is.
• 46:51
  Speaker 3: I'm like, you don't need to tell me, but like,
• 46:54
  Speaker 3: I need to know.
• 46:55
  Speaker 1: I mean, I've had the, I've, had the chance to
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: go up and down, um, in major championships and both
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: the 800 and the 5,000, like the extremes are so different,
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: but it's like the 15 is such a happy middle ground.
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: And even just the call room process, you know, like,
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: I don't know, the 1500 is so much calmer.
• 47:16
  Speaker 2: Bring me into the call room. Like what's that like
• 47:18
  Speaker 2: for you?
• 47:18
  Speaker 3: And obviously every race is a little bit different, but like,
• 47:21
  Speaker 3: put me, put me in your shoes, in your spikes.
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah. I think when you leave, like, so you do
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: a warm-up and everything and then you go, uh, 25,
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: 30 minutes before depending on how far the warm-up is
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: from the start line, basically. It depends how long the
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: core room is. But you go through that process of then, like,
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: getting your bibs, getting your hip numbers and then the
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: 12 women you're racing against, like, and yourself are just
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: sitting there kind of in this little area. So, for
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: 15 minutes or so, you know, and there'll be a
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: little bit of chit chat. Like I think the longer
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: I've been in the sport, like I know the people
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: I can bounce off.
• 47:52
  Speaker 4: In the call room.
• 47:53
  Speaker 2: Do you like to?
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: Nikki Hiltz and I always like, you can tell it's nerves,
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: but we're both always searching for like a few words
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: from each other.
• 48:01
  Speaker 2: Oh, that's so special.
• 48:02
  Speaker 1: Similar to like Kira McGee and Corey McGee, like neither
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: of them are racing right now for different reasons, but
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: it's like, they were women that I kind of like
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: looked to in the call room to be like, hey,
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: this is really scary and it's going to be really hard.
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: But like you feel like you had a friend in
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: like the moment of kind of solidarity from your team.
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: So it's like it is a different experience. But going
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: down to the 800 last year in Tokyo, like that
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: was intense. Like that's more like stepping into a sprinter's
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: call room. And that was so different to the 15.
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: And I was like, whoa, this is a bit jarring
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: of like no one's sitting here like trying to reassure
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: each other. Everyone's like here for battle. And then running
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: the 5,000 Commonwealth Games, like it was similar. I think
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: when there's a lot of women that believe they can
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: medal or believe they have opportunity to do something, it
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: can be quite intense. And I found that in the
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: 800 in Tokyo and the 5,000 in the Commonwealth Games
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: this year in Glasgow.
• 48:56
  Speaker 4: It was just a different feeling.
• 48:58
  Speaker 1: Whereas in the 15, I feel like everyone has that
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: competitive desire to win a medal or to have a
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: great day. But there's so much support around you that
• 49:07
  Speaker 1: it's like it's not as intense and it's like a
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: bit safer.
• 49:10
  Speaker 4: A bit of a safer environment.
• 49:12
  Speaker 2: A little bit safer.
• 49:13
  Speaker 3: And also there has to be, I would assume, a
• 49:15
  Speaker 3: little bit of a dialogue shift that happens from like, oh, this.
• 49:19
  Speaker 2: Is really scary. we're gonna do it together.
• 49:21
  Speaker 3: And then you get on the track and you're like
• 49:22
  Speaker 3: I'm gonna beat you yeah talk to me about that
• 49:25
  Speaker 3: a little.
• 49:25
  Speaker 1: Bit yeah I think it's almost like I think all
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: of us are very good at knowing that for that
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: four minutes that we're on that track it's like it's
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: competition and we want to beat each other And you
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: can see it like when someone makes a move and
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: stuff too, you can be like, oh, like, okay, that's.
• 49:40
  Speaker 4: The way you respond, it's like, oh, good for you.
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah. But it's like you also then the competitor in
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: you processes that and you're like, okay, do I need
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: to respond? Do I like, is that like, can they
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: hold this to the finish? And you know each other
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: so well as competitors that you can kind of still
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: make those decisions and still decide what you're going to
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: do in response to things and remove that.
• 50:02
  Speaker 4: That's like Nikki making a breakaway. Like Nikki might win
• 50:05
  Speaker 4: their first medal.
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: You know, it's like you can be like more of
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: kind of athlete minded while you're out there on the track.
• 50:10
  Speaker 4: And then as soon as you cross that finish line,
• 50:12
  Speaker 4: it's pretty special. Very unique. Not as present in the
• 50:17
  Speaker 4: men's 1500 at the moment. But the rivalries there are
• 50:22
  Speaker 4: also big parts of the story.
• 50:23
  Speaker 3: I think that's what's really fun right now about track
• 50:26
  Speaker 3: and field. And that's why I was so excited to
• 50:28
  Speaker 3: go all in on track and field right now. at
• 50:31
  Speaker 3: this time for Hurdle, because it's like, there's so much
• 50:34
  Speaker 3: storytelling here. And there are so many amazing people that
• 50:37
  Speaker 3: have this opportunity, not only to now share what makes
• 50:40
  Speaker 3: them great with so many people, but then amplify this
• 50:43
  Speaker 3: sport that we all love so much, right? And so
• 50:46
  Speaker 3: it makes me excited to hear that, like, there are
• 50:48
  Speaker 3: moments where you all, like, have this joy together, and
• 50:50
  Speaker 3: then you can still step on the track and being like,
• 50:52
  Speaker 3: I'm here, and I'm here to put my game face on,
• 50:54
  Speaker 3: and I'm here to do it well.
• 50:55
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's interesting.
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: I'm really curious, like, I've been a mainstay in the
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: 15 for so long now, and it's like, We saw
• 51:01
  Speaker 1: a year, a strange year without Faith kind of being
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: on the track with us often and a lot of
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: different winners at different Diamond Leagues and different events and stuff.
• 51:10
  Speaker 1: It's like there wasn't a dominant athlete this year, I
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: wouldn't say, until this last few weeks. Like, Claudio was
• 51:16
  Speaker 1: very dominant in September.
• 51:18
  Speaker 2: Do you feel like that was good for you all?
• 51:20
  Speaker 1: I'm curious if it changes this mindset a little bit around, like,
• 51:23
  Speaker 1: how friendly the event has been, you know? Because it's like,
• 51:28
  Speaker 1: if it becomes this, like, each time you line up, like,
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: anyone can win. Like, it's like, it's, does that make
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: it more competitive?
• 51:34
  Speaker 4: I don't know.
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: Like, it's going to be interesting in the, having had
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: the best of like the Faith Kip Yegon era. I'm
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: curious just how it's going to shift if, I mean,
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: I'd love for her to be back in the 15
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: with us, but she has voice that she wants to
• 51:48
  Speaker 1: explore longer distances. Yeah. It'll be interesting, you know, we
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: might have a different conversation at the end of my career.
• 51:55
  Speaker 3: I mean, and as you continue to progress, I mean,
• 51:57
  Speaker 3: we talked about how epic the last couple of years
• 52:00
  Speaker 3: have been, how much work that you've put in to
• 52:02
  Speaker 3: get to these really big wins. And it's like in
• 52:05
  Speaker 3: this time period and in the years to come, there
• 52:07
  Speaker 3: are going to be people that are saying, I am
• 52:09
  Speaker 3: running with Jess Hull.
• 52:10
  Speaker 2: And like, how lucky am I? Right.
• 52:12
  Speaker 3: And so it's cool because that's what is so great
• 52:15
  Speaker 3: about sport is this continuous evolution of really pushing the limits,
• 52:20
  Speaker 3: pushing your boundaries. And I love what you're saying about
• 52:23
  Speaker 3: stepping on the track and saying, I believe that this
• 52:26
  Speaker 3: could be my day at any given point.
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah.
• 52:29
  Speaker 4: No, it's a great time to be part of the sport.
• 52:31
  Speaker 1: And I think it's like similar to what we were
• 52:33
  Speaker 1: talking about before is the memories that you have is
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: like when those mindsets change and when the feelings change.
• 52:39
  Speaker 4: So yeah.
• 52:40
  Speaker 3: I feel like I was in the dark until I
• 52:42
  Speaker 3: came to Australia this month because I just totally spaced
• 52:46
  Speaker 3: on the fact that the Olympics are here in 2032.
• 52:49
  Speaker 3: I would be shocked if we're not seeing Jess Hull
• 52:53
  Speaker 3: run in the Olympics in 2032.
• 52:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 52:56
  Speaker 2: You got to bring it home, my girl.
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: I was having a conversation with Donovan Brazier about this
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: a few weeks ago, and he sort of said, he's like, Julie, like,
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: there's no way you're not. And I was like, it's
• 53:07
  Speaker 1: the long way away like it truly is and he
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: even said he was like you know that that means
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: like you're in like the true middle of your career
• 53:14
  Speaker 1: right now and I was like that makes it sound
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: quite terrifying but I.
• 53:18
  Speaker 2: Was like I was like does that make.
• 53:20
  Speaker 1: You feel hopeful excited yeah I mean it makes me
• 53:23
  Speaker 1: feel like there's a lot of opportunities still in my
• 53:25
  Speaker 1: career like it probably makes it feel less finite that
• 53:28
  Speaker 1: like I got two more three more years to like
• 53:31
  Speaker 1: achieve everything I want to like it's I mean, sometimes
• 53:34
  Speaker 1: depends who you are, you might respond better to having
• 53:36
  Speaker 1: like a finite period. But I definitely feel like things
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: happen when they happen and when you're the most ready
• 53:41
  Speaker 1: for them, like it's going to happen if it's meant
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: for you. And I think when he said that, I
• 53:46
  Speaker 1: was like, wow, like that's like kind of like, I
• 53:49
  Speaker 1: love what I do and I love the process of
• 53:51
  Speaker 1: it all. And I am so lucky that this is
• 53:53
  Speaker 1: my job, but to think that I still have this
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: whole career over to come, I'm like, that's, that's kind
• 53:59
  Speaker 1: of a lot, but.
• 54:01
  Speaker 3: Well, I'm going to be, I'm going to be tapping
• 54:02
  Speaker 3: in with you for longevity tips for sure.
• 54:05
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 54:06
  Speaker 1: I mean, if anything's going to keep you in it,
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: it's definitely thought of a home Olympics.
• 54:09
  Speaker 4: So yeah.
• 54:10
  Speaker 2: I love it. Well, I'm so happy that we were
• 54:12
  Speaker 2: able to sit down today.
• 54:13
  Speaker 3: It truly feels like such a joy.
• 54:15
  Speaker 2: Uh, before, uh, I let you go today, Jess.
• 54:18
  Speaker 3: You talked about that disappointment that you felt after Tokyo,
• 54:22
  Speaker 3: maybe rushing through the feeling part of it, a difficult
• 54:25
  Speaker 3: hurdle moment for you for sure. But when you look
• 54:29
  Speaker 3: back on that now, knowing what you know now, what
• 54:32
  Speaker 3: advice would you offer yourself during that hurdle?
• 54:35
  Speaker 1: I think I would have just told her that like,
• 54:38
  Speaker 1: this is everything that you were meant to have for
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: your first experience. I think going to Paris and having
• 54:43
  Speaker 1: the Olympic experience like It's unique at the Olympics and
• 54:46
  Speaker 1: you have your free rounds in five days instead of four.
• 54:49
  Speaker 4: And you only experience that at the Olympics.
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: Five days is a long time to be like holding
• 54:55
  Speaker 1: on to something very tightly. It's not much in the
• 54:57
  Speaker 1: scheme of life, but in like that reality, it's a lot.
• 55:00
  Speaker 4: It's a long time.
• 55:01
  Speaker 1: And I would just tell her this is everything you
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: needed as an experience for what's to come.
• 55:07
  Speaker 3: I have one more question because I'm just thinking back
• 55:09
  Speaker 3: to what we were talking about, about what you see
• 55:13
  Speaker 3: when you look in the mirror and then also our
• 55:15
  Speaker 3: conversation about your opportunity to go in and speak to
• 55:17
  Speaker 3: young kids. And it makes me wonder, curious about what
• 55:21
  Speaker 3: it is that you hope that people see when they
• 55:23
  Speaker 3: look at you. Because when I look at you... You
• 55:27
  Speaker 3: are so kind and so optimistic. And I love how
• 55:31
  Speaker 3: gritty you are on the track. So what is it
• 55:33
  Speaker 3: that you hope that people see when they look at you?
• 55:36
  Speaker 1: I think I would just hope that they see that
• 55:38
  Speaker 1: I truly love it. Like, and I think I do
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: a good job of conveying that. But I think if
• 55:42
  Speaker 1: you want to be fearlessly following big goals like this,
• 55:46
  Speaker 1: you have to love what you're doing.
• 55:48
  Speaker 4: And it depends who's watching that.
• 55:50
  Speaker 1: But it's like if it's a young girl watching that
• 55:52
  Speaker 1: saying like, well, she loves what she's doing. I think
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: it just encourages her to learn to love the sport.
• 55:57
  Speaker 1: But if you're a parent tuning in alongside your child,
• 56:00
  Speaker 1: it also, you have a huge role to play in
• 56:03
  Speaker 1: that too. It's like not making it bigger than it
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: is from the age of 10 years old. Like, I
• 56:07
  Speaker 1: think that's something my mom and dad did so well
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: was just letting me lead this and like they supported it.
• 56:13
  Speaker 4: From day one. And But they never kind of pushed.
• 56:16
  Speaker 1: They didn't tell me how to train or coach me.
• 56:21
  Speaker 1: They didn't tell me how to do it. They kind
• 56:23
  Speaker 1: of let me feel it out, let me find it out.
• 56:25
  Speaker 1: And they were so good at just celebrating the process
• 56:28
  Speaker 1: with me. And they still do. We won a little
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: peak medal, we celebrate the process. But it was just
• 56:33
  Speaker 1: like I had them telling me from such a young age, like, oh,
• 56:37
  Speaker 1: you're in a PV or you finished one place higher
• 56:39
  Speaker 1: than you did last year. We'll come back next year
• 56:41
  Speaker 1: and we'll try and be fifth instead of sixth. You know,
• 56:43
  Speaker 1: like it was... It was never with this whole like
• 56:45
  Speaker 1: desire of being like the best from such a young age.
• 56:48
  Speaker 1: It was like celebrating just progress.
• 56:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, just progress. Oh my God. What a joy. What
• 56:53
  Speaker 2: a joy.
• 56:54
  Speaker 3: For those that aren't following along with you yet on
• 56:56
  Speaker 3: the socials, Jess, give us the details.
• 56:58
  Speaker 2: How do they keep up with you?
• 56:59
  Speaker 1: I guess I'm the most active on Instagram. So yeah,
• 57:01
  Speaker 1: Jessica Hull, two A's, two L's. Yeah.
• 57:04
  Speaker 2: Beautiful.
• 57:04
  Speaker 3: I'm over at Emily Abadi and at Hurdle Podcast. Another
• 57:07
  Speaker 3: hurdle conquered. Catch you guys next time.