Latest / Hurdle with Emily Abbate / 215. Annie Kunz, Heptathlete

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215. Annie Kunz, Heptathlete · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

0:00
Speaker 1: Build each other up because we're all in the same struggle.
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Speaker 1: We're all just doing our best. We all want to
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Speaker 1: be successful.
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Speaker 2: Hey, everybody, Emily a body checking in here. You are
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Speaker 2: listening to episode two hundred and fifteen of Hurdle, a
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Speaker 2: wellness focused podcast. We're connect with everyone from your favorite
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Speaker 2: athletes to top experts and industry CEOs about our highest hies,
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Speaker 2: toughest moments, and everything in between.
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Speaker 3: We all go through.
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Speaker 2: Hurdles in life, and my goal through these discussions is
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Speaker 2: to empower you to better navigate yours and move with
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Speaker 2: intention so that you can strive towards your own big
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Speaker 2: potential and of course have some fun along the way.
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Speaker 2: For today's episode two hundred and fifteen, I am chatting
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Speaker 2: with Annie Koons. She is a heptathlete and Olympian and
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Speaker 2: I am so so amped to bring you this conversation.
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Speaker 2: We talk about so many things in today's episode, ranging
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Speaker 2: from the injuries that Annie sustained putting her on the
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Speaker 2: injury list for this year's World Championships, what it feels
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Speaker 2: like for her now to have a sponsor that not
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Speaker 2: only believes in her, but invests in her within a morpho,
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Speaker 2: plus what it really means to be a heptathlete, which
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Speaker 2: featuring seven different events, it has a slew of challenges
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Speaker 2: outside of just hurdles. So amped to bring you this conversation.
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Speaker 2: Really excited personally to be back in Brooklyn after man
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Speaker 2: a decent amount of travel woes and still feeling on
1:58
Speaker 2: a high from the Salt Lake City Unleashed conference.
2:03
Speaker 3: I digress. Make sure you're.
2:04
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Speaker 2: more in your inbox every single.
2:28
Speaker 3: Friday is in the show notes.
2:31
Speaker 4: And with that, let's get to hurdling.
2:50
Speaker 3: Today. I am sitting down with Annie Koons. She is
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Speaker 3: a heptaphle. How are you doing today?
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Speaker 5: I'm amazing. Thank you for having me. I'm excited.
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Speaker 3: I'm excited, too happy to have you here.
3:01
Speaker 2: I would be remiss if I didn't kick this off
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Speaker 2: by addressing what's going on with you right now, And
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Speaker 2: what's going on with you right now is you're making
3:10
Speaker 2: a comeback from some injury.
3:11
Speaker 3: Talk to me about it.
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Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm I'm definitely.
3:14
Speaker 1: You know, you go to the Olympics, it's like this
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Speaker 1: peak moment and you think it's going to be easier
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Speaker 1: from that moment on. And I think this year has
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Speaker 1: proven to me that that's not the case always and
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Speaker 1: that adversity is just part of the sport. And so
3:27
Speaker 1: unfortunately for me, that's kind of been my situation this year,
3:30
Speaker 1: battling a torn planner fascia, which is kind of where
3:34
Speaker 1: your arch connects to your heel, so you kind of
3:36
Speaker 1: need that for some different events that I do. But
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Speaker 1: it's kind of been a year of blessings in disguise.
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Speaker 1: I think it brought to light a lot of things
3:44
Speaker 1: that weren't mechanically working very well in my feet and
3:47
Speaker 1: the way I was running, and so it's kind of
3:48
Speaker 1: helped me to take care of the little things this year,
3:51
Speaker 1: and I think I needed a little bit of a
3:54
Speaker 1: reset just after the five year grind of the Olympics
3:57
Speaker 1: and training for that, so it's kind of give me
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Speaker 1: a chance to do that and so I'm super grateful
4:02
Speaker 1: for that, but excited to get back out on the track.
4:05
Speaker 1: I'm definitely missing it and sad not be part of
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Speaker 1: World Championships this year, but it's part of it and
4:10
Speaker 1: I'm trying to make a comeback.
4:11
Speaker 2: So I appreciate this perspective and this is in some way,
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Speaker 2: although not easy, happening for me. Did it take work
4:21
Speaker 2: with a coach or just time to pass for you
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Speaker 2: to be in this place and have this perspective?
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Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean I think it's definitely. I'd be lying
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Speaker 5: to you.
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Speaker 1: I was like, I'm always this positive and it's you know,
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Speaker 1: always blessing in disguise. But I think it's kind of
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Speaker 1: waves of it where you're feeling super motivated and you're like, Okay,
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Speaker 1: this is what I'm supposed to be doing right now,
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Speaker 1: and then there's waves in the bottom where you're like,
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Speaker 1: oh my gosh, this stuff is tedious, Like rehab is
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Speaker 1: not fun. I'm not out on the track with my
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Speaker 1: friends and by myself every day. So I think it's
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Speaker 1: just doing things to put your like daily to kind
4:53
Speaker 1: of put your mindset in the right.
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Speaker 5: Place, and then accepting those moments when.
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Speaker 1: You're at the bottom when you're like, Okay, I'm really
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Speaker 1: not feeling it and that's okay. I don't have to
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Speaker 1: be super positive all the time, but just kind of
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Speaker 1: behaving your way to success in those moments. It's kind
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Speaker 1: of been my mantra that I've given myself is like,
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Speaker 1: you're not always going to feel like you want to
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Speaker 1: do that, but you've got to just show up every
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Speaker 1: day and do it. And so that's kind of helped me.
5:16
Speaker 1: And then just taking the time to like recharge with
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Speaker 1: friends and family because I usually don't get that during
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Speaker 1: the summer, and doing things to kind of fill my
5:23
Speaker 1: cup in that way where I don't have track feeling
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Speaker 1: that role.
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Speaker 2: Really this year, I didn't know when I was going
5:29
Speaker 2: to ask you about your injury that you were going
5:31
Speaker 2: to tell me about planter fascia because I've been dealing
5:33
Speaker 2: with some issues. Although thankfully, knock on like my wooden
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Speaker 2: desk right here, it's not torn, but I have been
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Speaker 2: aggregating plant fascia stuff, and it does bring to lights
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Speaker 2: so much about your mechanics. I am like doing so
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Speaker 2: much calf stuff now, which that's like me constantly releasing
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Speaker 2: my calf when I'm crossing my legs and like moving
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Speaker 2: my ankle around, So I feel you I've been there.
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Speaker 1: It definitely shows a ton of like what's not working right,
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Speaker 1: because you're not going to get plant of fashi if
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Speaker 1: like you're out of your mechanics are perfect. So I
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Speaker 1: definitely am just grateful for that opportunity to kind of
6:07
Speaker 1: fix those things and lay the foundation for the next
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Speaker 1: two years on the way to Paris twenty twenty four.
6:12
Speaker 2: What's the predicted recovery time for you right now, Like,
6:15
Speaker 2: do you have an outlet or an insight into when
6:18
Speaker 2: you'll be back on the track.
6:19
Speaker 1: Yeah, So I just got my MRA, my second my
6:22
Speaker 1: follow up our MRI last week, so I'm actually so
6:24
Speaker 1: to get those results today. I'm patiently waiting in anticipation
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Speaker 1: to hopefully be cleared to kind of progress more into
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Speaker 1: running and accelerations and all that. So very very excited
6:36
Speaker 1: for that. I've been pretty much doing non impact stuff
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Speaker 1: for about three to four months. I was working like
6:43
Speaker 1: on the alter G so kind of takes your body
6:45
Speaker 1: weight away, so I can do that kind of running,
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Speaker 1: but nothing like fully on the track. So hopefully this
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Speaker 1: next week or two I'll be able to get cleared
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Speaker 1: to kind of move over back to the track and
6:53
Speaker 1: or we'll probably be on your ass at first, but
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Speaker 1: the outside running so super excited.
6:58
Speaker 2: I mean, I don't know about you or how much
7:00
Speaker 2: you've shared about this particular injury on social but I
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Speaker 2: know that plantro fascia idis as a whole is like
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Speaker 2: super buzzy because so many people navigate it and deal
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Speaker 2: with it and are so frustrated with it. So beyond
7:12
Speaker 2: taking this time and doing a lot of non weight
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Speaker 2: bearing stuff switching up your exercise routine, what else have
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Speaker 2: you been doing from a recovery pov to give maybe
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Speaker 2: your foot a little bit more of what it really needs.
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Speaker 1: Well, so I've actually started I started working with like
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Speaker 1: a rehab specialist, Andrew Hauser. He worked with the Dodgers
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Speaker 1: for a while, and He's given me just like like
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Speaker 1: all the things that I've never done before and never
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Speaker 1: had the time for. I feel like, as as athlete,
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Speaker 1: you're like your days are just so long that there's
7:40
Speaker 1: certain things you just don't make time for.
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Speaker 5: And I've actually done that this year.
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Speaker 1: So like it's a ton of like mobility stuff and
7:47
Speaker 1: then footstrength things. I use the thing a toe a
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Speaker 1: toe pro thing, so you're like a lot of calf
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Speaker 1: at acentric razes. It's a lot with planar fasci iis
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Speaker 1: you don't want to just take the time off, you're
8:00
Speaker 1: actually loading it to build that strength back. You obviously
8:03
Speaker 1: don't get surgery, that's like last option. So it's really
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Speaker 1: just tedious rehab for the last few months, and then
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Speaker 1: also learning how to put force into the ground properly
8:14
Speaker 1: because we realized that my right foot wasn't doing that.
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Speaker 1: So I use this a lot of I do a
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Speaker 1: lot of stuff with like a water bag, and it's
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Speaker 1: kind of like balance and mobility and strength and functional
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Speaker 1: strength stuff. So it's been super fun and different, and
8:26
Speaker 1: so that's kind of been you know, exciting in a way,
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Speaker 1: and just trying to lean into that and hope that
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Speaker 1: it works and I heal it.
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Speaker 2: I love I just like I keep smiling here. No
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Speaker 2: one's like, look at me smile as they listen to this,
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Speaker 2: But I'm just feels so nice to hear you seemingly
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Speaker 2: be at peace with something again that has at times
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Speaker 2: so frustrating. I feel you mentioned at the top of
8:50
Speaker 2: this not participating in World Champs.
8:54
Speaker 3: How does that feel for you?
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Speaker 5: It sings like you know.
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Speaker 1: You say that, and I still get like a sensation
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Speaker 1: to my body, like you know, And I think that's
9:02
Speaker 1: good in a way because that means that competitor spirit
9:05
Speaker 1: and like that love and passion is still there. And
9:09
Speaker 1: so I think at first there was definitely a few
9:13
Speaker 1: weeks there where you know, you're looking at what girls
9:16
Speaker 1: other girls are doing, and they're training, and they're at meats,
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Speaker 1: and this is my first year and gosh, I don't know,
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Speaker 1: I honestly don't know the last time I took a
9:23
Speaker 1: year off like this, and so just kind of watching
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Speaker 1: your competitors still doing what you love was really tough.
9:30
Speaker 1: And so I kind of had to take a break
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Speaker 1: and just like force myself not to look at that
9:34
Speaker 1: and just lean in and be present in what I'm
9:36
Speaker 1: doing in my reality right now. So it's definitely tough,
9:40
Speaker 1: but I also think I took some time to really
9:43
Speaker 1: get introspective about it and know and feel where I
9:47
Speaker 1: was at, and I this whole year mentally was different.
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Speaker 5: It was, you know, it's this pinnacle moment where of
9:54
Speaker 5: your career where you make the Olympics.
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Speaker 1: I did better than I expected I would do, and
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Speaker 1: it kind of opened my eyes I thought I was
10:00
Speaker 1: going to be done after Tokyo, and then I realized
10:03
Speaker 1: leaving Tokyo, I'm not done.
10:04
Speaker 5: I want to.
10:05
Speaker 1: Compete for a medal and I know that potential is there,
10:08
Speaker 1: which I kind of shocked myself with so adjusting to
10:11
Speaker 1: that and then kind of coming back from Tokyo and
10:14
Speaker 1: being like, okay, let's hit the ground running, let's go.
10:16
Speaker 5: I only took like nine days off. I didn't allow
10:18
Speaker 5: my body to break.
10:20
Speaker 1: Mentally, I was struggling just allowing myself to be present
10:23
Speaker 1: and practice and focus, and so I feel like the
10:26
Speaker 1: burnout actually really hit me, that Olympic hangover that everyone
10:29
Speaker 1: talks about, and so I feel like it's all just
10:35
Speaker 1: happenying for a reason in that if I want to
10:37
Speaker 1: be successful in the next two years leading to Paris,
10:40
Speaker 1: I think I needed this summer to take that break
10:43
Speaker 1: mentally and physically, and I think physically it forced me
10:46
Speaker 1: into it. I think my body was speaking to me
10:48
Speaker 1: and I had to listen to that because knowing my personality,
10:51
Speaker 1: I don't take breaks and I don't slow down, So
10:53
Speaker 1: it forced me into that, and that's kind of how
10:56
Speaker 1: this perspective change has happened.
10:57
Speaker 2: Yeah, Yeah, So I've only had one other heptathlete on
11:02
Speaker 2: the show, and it was a really really long time ago.
11:05
Speaker 3: Her name is Georgia ellen Wood.
11:06
Speaker 2: So why don't you tell the hurdlers about the heptathlon
11:11
Speaker 2: if they don't have the background, know how?
11:14
Speaker 1: Yeah, So the heptathlon is the women's version of the decathlon.
11:18
Speaker 1: So it's what Bruce I would say, it's what Bruce
11:20
Speaker 1: Jenner did, and everyone's like, oh yeah, OK, or now Caitlin.
11:24
Speaker 1: But and so it's seven different events over two days.
11:28
Speaker 1: It's based on a point system. So however far you jump,
11:31
Speaker 1: however fast you run, however far you throw, there's a
11:34
Speaker 1: certain amount of points down to, like the centimeter and millisecond,
11:38
Speaker 1: and so you add it up over the two days
11:40
Speaker 1: and your your score at the end is how you
11:43
Speaker 1: total you know, first, second, third, and it is It
11:47
Speaker 1: is fun.
11:47
Speaker 5: It keeps me busy.
11:49
Speaker 3: It keeps me busy. Give us the rundown of the events.
11:52
Speaker 1: It is hurdles, high jump, shot put two hundred on
11:55
Speaker 1: day one, and then on the day two it is
11:56
Speaker 1: long jump, jablin in the eight hundred, the dren big deal.
12:00
Speaker 2: You know, the saying how you do anything is how
12:02
Speaker 2: you do everything. Yes, how is it actually possible to
12:06
Speaker 2: excel at all of those events?
12:08
Speaker 1: Well, I joke that I'm just above average at a
12:11
Speaker 1: lot of stuff that excellent at once. But at the
12:15
Speaker 1: same time, I think it's interesting because a the camaraderie
12:18
Speaker 1: within the heptathlon is really special and very different. Everyone
12:21
Speaker 1: has different strengths and weaknesses. You can kind of root
12:24
Speaker 1: for each other in a different way where it's like
12:25
Speaker 1: a different competitive spirit. And then it just you don't
12:28
Speaker 1: get burnout. If you have a bad event, you move
12:30
Speaker 1: on to the next one. You have another opportunity to
12:32
Speaker 1: be successful. So I think that's pretty cool about it.
12:34
Speaker 2: Being above average at a bunch of things. Have you
12:38
Speaker 2: always been a dedicated multi sport athlete?
12:43
Speaker 1: Yes, I've always you know, I've done track in soccer
12:46
Speaker 1: since I was two and three years old, so I
12:48
Speaker 1: did that all the way through college.
12:50
Speaker 5: So yes, and that I for sure was.
12:52
Speaker 1: I didn't really know what the heptathlon was until my
12:55
Speaker 1: senior year of high school and my high school coach
12:56
Speaker 1: threw me in one of them in Colorado. And then
13:00
Speaker 1: as I was starting the recruiting process, all of the
13:02
Speaker 1: college coaches were like, you'd be an amazing heptad let
13:05
Speaker 1: and I had no idea what it was, and then
13:07
Speaker 1: I ran my first eight hundred and I was like,
13:08
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, what did I.
13:09
Speaker 5: Sign myself up for? What is this thing?
13:13
Speaker 1: So fell into heptath on late, especially because I was
13:17
Speaker 1: a soccer scholarship as well, so I was basically a
13:20
Speaker 1: four ride for soccer, technically a walk on for track.
13:23
Speaker 1: Soccer is a team sport. It always was my priority,
13:26
Speaker 1: and I would just do track because I loved it
13:28
Speaker 1: and didn't want to give it up. And then when
13:29
Speaker 1: I red shirted finally dove into track fully my fifth year,
13:33
Speaker 1: it really took off for me and then kind of
13:35
Speaker 1: changed my perspective in that I thought there was more
13:38
Speaker 1: ceiling there and more I wanted to see, you know,
13:41
Speaker 1: what that potential was in that sport.
13:42
Speaker 5: And I'm happier than I've heard that I chose that.
13:45
Speaker 3: And fifth year strictly based on athletics.
13:49
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I needed it for school because I was
13:51
Speaker 1: always in I was always in season, so you know,
13:52
Speaker 1: I could really only do like twelve credits every semester
13:56
Speaker 1: because of I was just in season in season fall
13:58
Speaker 1: to summer, and then my summer you know, at an
14:01
Speaker 1: end till June. We had to report back end of
14:03
Speaker 1: July for soccer, so I only got like a month
14:05
Speaker 1: off every year, so I needed it for school anyway.
14:07
Speaker 1: And then my soccer coaches were really encouraging me, like, Hey,
14:10
Speaker 1: we know we're going to be good.
14:11
Speaker 5: We want you to start.
14:12
Speaker 1: We feel like it takes you a few games to
14:14
Speaker 1: kind of get in the rhythm and build the chemistry. Again,
14:17
Speaker 1: you don't get the spring foundation that all the other
14:20
Speaker 1: girls get.
14:20
Speaker 5: Let's take us.
14:21
Speaker 1: We think it'd be great for you to take the spring,
14:24
Speaker 1: be with the girls, build that strength at the foundation,
14:26
Speaker 1: go into fall.
14:27
Speaker 5: We actually ended up making Final four. I was a
14:29
Speaker 5: starter all year. It was great.
14:31
Speaker 1: And then I transitioned into track for a year and
14:33
Speaker 1: a half and that was the first time in my
14:35
Speaker 1: life that I've put all of my eggs into track
14:37
Speaker 1: and it took off and I was happier in the sport.
14:40
Speaker 1: So I'm just super grateful that I made that decision
14:43
Speaker 1: to kind of allow myself to fully be present in
14:46
Speaker 1: each sport for the first time.
14:48
Speaker 2: You say that you are happier in the sport, YEA,
14:51
Speaker 2: why I think that With soccer, I got a little
14:55
Speaker 2: bit burnout and I think there's you know, there's a
14:59
Speaker 2: little bit more p in soccer, you know, with their
15:01
Speaker 2: playing time and you know, does this coach like you
15:04
Speaker 2: or does this coach And I mean even like making
15:06
Speaker 2: national teams and things like that.
15:07
Speaker 1: Those girls are in the system for a very long time,
15:09
Speaker 1: so it's very hard to kind of break into that.
15:11
Speaker 5: With track.
15:13
Speaker 1: You get the time, you go, you get top three,
15:16
Speaker 1: you go, And I love that about it, and I
15:18
Speaker 1: just felt myself being happier in practice.
15:21
Speaker 5: Soccer is like a sisterhood.
15:23
Speaker 1: You The games are like nothing other like winning as
15:25
Speaker 1: a team is just something so special that I'm very
15:27
Speaker 1: very grateful for.
15:28
Speaker 5: And that was what I loved so much about it.
15:30
Speaker 1: But the day to day stuff, I wasn't as happy
15:33
Speaker 1: as in track. Like the day to day once I transitioned,
15:36
Speaker 1: I was like super excited to get out there. I
15:38
Speaker 1: feel like I was learning so much because I was
15:40
Speaker 1: so behind in the sport. So every day was just
15:43
Speaker 1: super exciting because I just felt like things were clicking
15:45
Speaker 1: every day and I was just a lot happier.
15:48
Speaker 2: When did you start to realize as you made this transition,
15:52
Speaker 2: just how much more above average you were at these
15:56
Speaker 2: things than everybody else.
15:58
Speaker 5: Gosh.
15:58
Speaker 1: I think it took me probably the Olympic Trials in
16:03
Speaker 1: twenty sixteen. That was the year. So at that end
16:06
Speaker 1: of that year, that was my end of my fifth year.
16:08
Speaker 1: So I had broken the school record or I qualified
16:12
Speaker 1: for the Olympic Trials, which did not see that coming,
16:14
Speaker 1: Like whatsoever. I was like twenty second I think out
16:16
Speaker 1: of twenty two girls that made the Olympic Trials. And
16:21
Speaker 1: then I finished eighth overall at the Olympic Trials and
16:24
Speaker 1: that really opened my eyes. And that's where I broke
16:27
Speaker 1: the school record and things started clicking, and I got
16:29
Speaker 1: recruited there by my now coach, Chris Mack. He saw
16:33
Speaker 1: me and his athlete, Heather was a Head's athlete and
16:36
Speaker 1: it was a dual SPORTY talked to her a lot,
16:39
Speaker 1: so she was like, hey, like, I think you have
16:40
Speaker 1: a lot of potential in the sport and you should
16:42
Speaker 1: see how that you know where that takes you after college?
16:44
Speaker 1: I think MAC would be great for you. And so
16:48
Speaker 1: I ended up moving to California if trained full time,
16:52
Speaker 1: and I've never been more grateful to have that opportunity,
16:55
Speaker 1: because I don't think if I didn't have that opportunity
16:57
Speaker 1: I would have kept going in the sport.
16:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, So when you made the move at that time,
17:03
Speaker 2: were you or did you have any sponsors to help
17:07
Speaker 2: cover the costs that go hand in hand with diving
17:09
Speaker 2: full time into training.
17:11
Speaker 1: So I didn't have any sponsors until the Olympic year
17:14
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty one. So my after the Olympic trials
17:18
Speaker 1: is when I finally got some help financially and so
17:21
Speaker 1: having the center there to pay for domestic flights for me,
17:25
Speaker 1: to pay for health insurance, to get sports mad you know,
17:29
Speaker 1: help there, to have a coach that was employed by
17:33
Speaker 1: USATF like that was a game changer because I didn't
17:37
Speaker 1: have the funds, I didn't have the support behind me,
17:40
Speaker 1: and it really did take me, you know, until twenty
17:43
Speaker 1: nineteen to kind of get some I got like, you know,
17:46
Speaker 1: Nike sent me like gear when when I made World
17:48
Speaker 1: Championships some stuff like that, but I really didn't have
17:51
Speaker 1: like financial help until a mor FO sponsored me after
17:54
Speaker 1: the Olympics. And so I'm just so unbelievably grateful for
17:57
Speaker 1: a company that would support me and is behind me
18:00
Speaker 1: and wants to see me succeed, because I haven't had
18:02
Speaker 1: that until now.
18:03
Speaker 2: Definitely a lesser known brand. So why don't you shed
18:07
Speaker 2: some light on what a morpho is and then we'll
18:09
Speaker 2: go back to talk a little bit more about your
18:11
Speaker 2: journey to your first Olympic Games.
18:13
Speaker 1: Yeah, a Morpho is incredible. It's just so you know,
18:16
Speaker 1: I've never seen anything like it. It's a startup company
18:19
Speaker 1: of weighted clothing, apparel, workout apparel, and I you know,
18:24
Speaker 1: they approached to me and not only are they just
18:26
Speaker 1: amazing people, amazing people to work with, they value me
18:29
Speaker 1: as a part of their company, which I think doesn't
18:33
Speaker 1: happen too often from just friends that I know that
18:35
Speaker 1: have had sponsorships.
18:37
Speaker 5: They really can.
18:38
Speaker 1: They really consider me a partner and want me a
18:39
Speaker 1: part of a lot of things. So I was super
18:41
Speaker 1: grateful for that. But not only that, just the innovativeness
18:44
Speaker 1: of it. It's like I as a HEBT athlete, our
18:47
Speaker 1: volume is so high every day, like we can't just
18:51
Speaker 1: add more to add more is really tough. And with
18:56
Speaker 1: a Morpho, it's like I don't have to do anything different.
18:58
Speaker 1: I can throw on this stuff and I'm going to
19:00
Speaker 1: burn more calories and they get more out of my jumps.
19:02
Speaker 5: I'm going to get more resistance training.
19:04
Speaker 1: And so for me, that's just a tool that I'm
19:06
Speaker 1: going to gain an edge about having to do anything.
19:09
Speaker 1: And I think when I got to the Olympics, I realized, like,
19:12
Speaker 1: it really is that extra one percent, Like everyone there
19:15
Speaker 1: is amazing, and it's really going to take that extra
19:18
Speaker 1: one percent to get to get above some of those girls,
19:21
Speaker 1: and so something like a morpho is a tool to
19:23
Speaker 1: help me get there.
19:24
Speaker 5: I was just super excited about it.
19:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I feel like it's important to kind of
19:30
Speaker 2: stress here that the weighted clothing, so to speak, it's
19:33
Speaker 2: not like you're putting on twenty pounds and going to
19:35
Speaker 2: do the exact same stuff that you used to do.
19:37
Speaker 3: It's low in weight, right, yeah, Oh it's low.
19:40
Speaker 5: And wait yeah, and so but it does.
19:41
Speaker 1: It's crazy because like you put it on and initially
19:44
Speaker 1: you're like, okay, it kind of feels something.
19:45
Speaker 5: You totally forget that you're even wearing. It doesn't feel
19:47
Speaker 5: like anything.
19:47
Speaker 1: I think the leggings are like a pound and a
19:49
Speaker 1: half or something like that, So none of the clothes
19:52
Speaker 1: are going to go over a pound and a half
19:53
Speaker 1: and then the weight best is about five pounds. But
19:56
Speaker 1: that's the amazing thing about it, and you look at
19:59
Speaker 1: the science and numbers, it makes sense like you really
20:01
Speaker 1: are getting more out of your workout, but you're not
20:04
Speaker 1: having to sacrifice form. And that's huge because like the
20:07
Speaker 1: weight best that we would use before, we used to
20:09
Speaker 1: joke like we look like FBI agents. They're just like bulky.
20:13
Speaker 1: You're like moving differently, your balances off. Everything here is
20:16
Speaker 1: so fitted and the way that they place the microbeads
20:19
Speaker 1: are so specific on your muscles that yeah, you don't
20:23
Speaker 1: have to sacrifice scorn and that's huge.
20:25
Speaker 2: It's crazy hearing you talk about this now for me
20:28
Speaker 2: thinking about where you started. You were talking about your
20:32
Speaker 2: beginnings and prepping for that first Olympic Games. Now with
20:36
Speaker 2: the know how that you have, it's just a completely
20:39
Speaker 2: different athlete.
20:40
Speaker 5: It's it's hilarious.
20:41
Speaker 1: And I think that's, you know, going through this year,
20:45
Speaker 1: being able to give myself a little bit of grace
20:46
Speaker 1: because I'm like Annie, think about three years before the
20:49
Speaker 1: last Olympics, Like where were you then, and it's just
20:53
Speaker 1: completely different athletes. So I think just allowing myself to
20:56
Speaker 1: lean into the moment that I'm in and taking that
20:58
Speaker 1: for what it is and knowing that you know, like
21:02
Speaker 1: so much can change in a year, and so yeah,
21:05
Speaker 1: definitely it's funny to look back and just realize.
21:08
Speaker 5: The difference an athlete that I am now compared to that.
21:11
Speaker 3: What else was.
21:12
Speaker 2: Going on in your life when you made your first
21:16
Speaker 2: Olympic team?
21:17
Speaker 5: Oh my gosh, what was going on in my life?
21:19
Speaker 3: Yeah?
21:20
Speaker 1: I mean it was everyone on deck. I mean it
21:23
Speaker 1: was my village of people, my fiance, my now fiance.
21:26
Speaker 1: We were dating back then, but our relationship that took
21:30
Speaker 1: the back seat. I mean it was truly a team
21:33
Speaker 1: effort of like my coaches, my family, my sports, my sports,
21:37
Speaker 1: my team.
21:38
Speaker 5: I mean it was. It was a bit of a
21:39
Speaker 5: pressure cooker too.
21:40
Speaker 1: I was living on site, so on the Olympic year,
21:44
Speaker 1: I actually moved on site. I was an offsite athlete,
21:46
Speaker 1: but they have a residency program, so you're their offsite
21:48
Speaker 1: or on site. I moved on site, which is like
21:50
Speaker 1: these tiny three hundred square foot dorms. Like we didn't
21:53
Speaker 1: have a kitchen we have. I brought like my air fryer,
21:55
Speaker 1: and like I wed like a mini fridge. I shared
21:57
Speaker 1: a bathroom with another thirty three year old. It's like
22:00
Speaker 1: dorm living for a bunch of almost thirty year olds.
22:03
Speaker 1: And so that was interesting, but I mean it had
22:07
Speaker 1: its pros and cons. I mean, you're in, you're in that,
22:10
Speaker 1: you don't leave it, you can focus, you have no distractions,
22:14
Speaker 1: But it did become a bit of a pressure cooker
22:17
Speaker 1: just being surrounded by people that are all trying to
22:19
Speaker 1: make this you know goal, never leaving your.
22:21
Speaker 5: Place of work.
22:22
Speaker 1: Really it was great, but also you know, taxing, So
22:27
Speaker 1: I think I'm trying to figure out that balance now
22:29
Speaker 1: of living off site but also being able to focus
22:32
Speaker 1: and put all my eggs into that. So yeah, that
22:34
Speaker 1: was kind of the difference from making AVIC team.
22:36
Speaker 4: To know.
22:37
Speaker 2: It's so interesting because I'm sitting here and I don't
22:39
Speaker 2: think I've ever heard about this residency program before, So
22:43
Speaker 2: would you be able to talk a little bit about
22:45
Speaker 2: that and how someone even gets to be a part
22:47
Speaker 2: of it.
22:48
Speaker 1: It's actually sad because they're they're you know, they're cutting
22:50
Speaker 1: the program after this year, which is unfortunate because I
22:53
Speaker 1: feel like it gives so many athletes the opportunity to
22:55
Speaker 1: be successful. Just funding is getting cut for it, so
22:58
Speaker 1: we'll have, you know, use but we won't be able
23:01
Speaker 1: to do anything other than that. We don't We're not
23:03
Speaker 1: allowed to live on site anymore, but up until you know,
23:05
Speaker 1: this last year, you were either I think there's like
23:09
Speaker 1: thirty of US somewhere in there.
23:11
Speaker 5: There's a jumps group, Jeremy Fisher's jumps group.
23:14
Speaker 1: There's the multis so Chris Max Multize, and then John
23:17
Speaker 1: Degotta has all the throwers, so those are kind of
23:19
Speaker 1: the three. And then poll Vulters had publicers when I
23:23
Speaker 1: first got there, So those are kind of the different
23:25
Speaker 1: categories that you can be a part of. And then
23:26
Speaker 1: there's Paralympic Track and Field, and basically it's a little
23:30
Speaker 1: compound like it's the Olympic Training or it's now the
23:33
Speaker 1: two of US to Elite Athlete Training Center down two
23:35
Speaker 1: of US is south of San Diego, and there's rugby,
23:38
Speaker 1: there's BMX, there's archery, there's rowing, there's US there's Paralympic tracks.
23:43
Speaker 1: So it's kind of a little village of Olympic sports
23:47
Speaker 1: and people are living, breathing what they do. There's a
23:50
Speaker 1: dining hall for food and then there's dorms there, so
23:53
Speaker 1: you basically and then they have their sports in my
23:55
Speaker 1: clinic as well, so it's just everything play.
23:58
Speaker 5: USA Track and Field was paying.
24:01
Speaker 1: For it formerly paying for it, so and yeah, they're
24:05
Speaker 1: not employing our coaches anymore anything like that. So yeah,
24:10
Speaker 1: so it's kind of a bummer, but it was amazing
24:12
Speaker 1: for the time that we had it because it just
24:14
Speaker 1: gave you the opportunity to be successful and you're kind
24:16
Speaker 1: of immersed in being around all of these amazing gold
24:20
Speaker 1: medal I mean, I was around Britney Reees, I'm around
24:22
Speaker 1: Will Clay, I'm learning from the best, I'm around the best.
24:24
Speaker 1: Ryan Krauser was there for a while. So it really
24:28
Speaker 1: just put you in an atmosphere to be successful. So
24:30
Speaker 1: it's really unfortunate that it's ending.
24:32
Speaker 2: What would you say was one of the most difficult
24:35
Speaker 2: lessons that you had to learn, kind of immersing yourself
24:40
Speaker 2: in that environment early on.
24:42
Speaker 1: I think the comparison game, I think that is really tough. I,
24:48
Speaker 1: you know, came in and A I was out of shape.
24:51
Speaker 1: I wasn't in the shape that I should have been,
24:52
Speaker 1: and went on like a little drinking dinner like surely
24:55
Speaker 1: after the Olympic trials in twenty sixteen, So I didn't
24:57
Speaker 1: come in as as good of shape, which I really
25:00
Speaker 1: regretted because then I got there, I'm training with Erica Bogard,
25:03
Speaker 1: who was like just misfitness. She is just tiny, she's strong,
25:09
Speaker 1: she's fast, she's amazing at distance stuff. So I was
25:13
Speaker 1: constantly comparing myself to her and trying to change, you know,
25:16
Speaker 1: how I do things to how she does things. And
25:19
Speaker 1: I think that was probably the biggest lesson, is like
25:21
Speaker 1: I am a completely different athlete than Erica Bogard, and
25:24
Speaker 1: I have to know that and know that, like I'm
25:26
Speaker 1: a power girl, Like I'm not going to be this
25:29
Speaker 1: like tiny couick little thing, like I'm six feet tall,
25:31
Speaker 1: I'm one hundred and sixty pounds. Like I just had
25:34
Speaker 1: to really figure out how to not compare myself every
25:37
Speaker 1: day to her and try to be like her, I'd
25:39
Speaker 1: be like Annie, And so figuring that out too probably
25:42
Speaker 1: two years.
25:43
Speaker 3: I've like was taken aback for a second.
25:45
Speaker 2: But I love that you just said your height and
25:47
Speaker 2: your weight, which is just bizarre because I feel like
25:49
Speaker 2: that's such a taboo thing. Have you ever felt that
25:54
Speaker 2: way as an athlete? Like a little odd that like
25:57
Speaker 2: all of this information about you is just like kind
25:59
Speaker 2: of a public record at this point.
26:01
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, And I think that was probably one of
26:03
Speaker 1: my biggest insecurities is like, oh my god, I weighed
26:06
Speaker 1: like one hundred and sixty pounds or like one hundred
26:08
Speaker 1: and sixty two pounds in off season, and like, you know,
26:10
Speaker 1: I feel like I was even looking up girls that
26:12
Speaker 1: are my height that are have to athletes, like what
26:14
Speaker 1: do they weigh?
26:15
Speaker 5: Like am I?
26:15
Speaker 1: You know, It's like one of those things that, especially
26:17
Speaker 1: as a female, I think in general, we're constantly being
26:21
Speaker 1: hard on ourselves and comparing ourselves to other people and
26:25
Speaker 1: figuring out, you know, I think, how to fuel myself
26:28
Speaker 1: properly and know like, gosh, I'm like one hundred and
26:31
Speaker 1: sixty pounds of muscle, like I'm strong as hell like
26:34
Speaker 1: and then like you look at Erica, I mean she's
26:36
Speaker 1: five seven, she's like this tiny just genetically she's smaller
26:39
Speaker 1: than me, but she's jacked as well, and so just
26:43
Speaker 1: really just knowing like, Okay, I'm just going to get
26:45
Speaker 1: myself to optimal performance, whatever that is, and accept that
26:48
Speaker 1: and know that like strong is better. And I think
26:50
Speaker 1: I struggle with that for a really long time. And
26:53
Speaker 1: I think you have coaches too that make you feel
26:55
Speaker 1: like you need to be skinnier, you need to be
26:57
Speaker 1: smaller to be more successful and I had coaches and
27:00
Speaker 1: college that even told me like, oh, if you lost
27:02
Speaker 1: ten pounds, like you'd be amazing. So things like that
27:04
Speaker 1: that really get in your head. I struggled with up
27:06
Speaker 1: until probably like twenty nineteen.
27:09
Speaker 3: Was there a turning point for that?
27:11
Speaker 5: Yeah, one hundred percent. I you know, just a god thing.
27:15
Speaker 1: I was on vacation with my boyfriend and his family
27:18
Speaker 1: and he, you know, anywhere we go, he makes friends
27:20
Speaker 1: with everyone, but he made friends with the bartender a
27:23
Speaker 1: at a hotel and his wife happened to be a
27:26
Speaker 1: master's truck and field athlete who also is like a
27:28
Speaker 1: metabolic practitioner and got to talk with him.
27:31
Speaker 5: Long story short, I met with her and she just.
27:35
Speaker 1: Completely transformed you know, my body and got me to
27:39
Speaker 1: optimal performance and taught me how to fuel myself properly.
27:42
Speaker 1: It was just a lot about like how you're eating,
27:44
Speaker 1: when you're eating certain things, cutting certain things out, and
27:47
Speaker 1: it's specific to my body, like she just caters.
27:51
Speaker 5: Because everyone is so different.
27:52
Speaker 1: And I feel like that's frustrating too, because you know,
27:54
Speaker 1: there's this like myth that you know, there's just like
27:56
Speaker 1: a one size fits all.
27:57
Speaker 5: I think with like the paleo or quito or whatever
28:00
Speaker 5: being in all that.
28:01
Speaker 1: It's like, your body is so specific, and so she
28:04
Speaker 1: really caters to what works for you, Like R I
28:07
Speaker 1: can what kind of carbs are good for me?
28:09
Speaker 5: You know, is it fruit, is it potatoes, is it whatever?
28:12
Speaker 1: And when certain things are good for me so and
28:14
Speaker 1: supplements like what I'm deficient in where my hormone imbalances are.
28:18
Speaker 1: That's so specific to especially women. So she figured that
28:22
Speaker 1: out for me and got me on a protocol that
28:24
Speaker 1: transformed my body and finally got me to that option
28:27
Speaker 1: performance that I had been trying to reach and didn't
28:29
Speaker 1: know how.
28:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's so interesting when you say, like I
28:32
Speaker 2: eliminated certain things or I cut back on certain things.
28:35
Speaker 2: People you know are listening and they're probably like, oh,
28:37
Speaker 2: I want to know what that is. But to your point,
28:39
Speaker 2: everyone is just so different. And of course your performance
28:43
Speaker 2: goals are something to keep in mind here, like this
28:45
Speaker 2: is your profession. And for so many people who may
28:49
Speaker 2: be stuck in their own version of the comparison trap,
28:53
Speaker 2: they're like, well, if I do this and this, then
28:54
Speaker 2: maybe I can look a certain way. But so many
28:57
Speaker 2: factors go into that, where what your genetics are, what
29:00
Speaker 2: your everyday activity levels are, how stressed you are, what
29:04
Speaker 2: medication you're on. Like the list is literally endless, so
29:07
Speaker 2: it goes.
29:08
Speaker 5: On and on and on. But I would love like
29:09
Speaker 5: people that are listening.
29:11
Speaker 1: My medal law practitioner name is Cynthia Cynthia Montolioni. It's
29:14
Speaker 1: fast over forty on Instagram. You can reach out to her.
29:18
Speaker 1: She is amazing. She's based out of Hawaii, but she
29:20
Speaker 1: does like, if you're a storing stress, it's going to
29:22
Speaker 1: show in your stomach, if you're doing toxin, it's going
29:24
Speaker 1: to show in your hamstrings. Like she figures out what's
29:26
Speaker 1: going on in your body and can cater something specifically
29:29
Speaker 1: to you.
29:30
Speaker 5: And I think that is exactly to your point. That's
29:32
Speaker 5: that's the game changer there.
29:33
Speaker 2: The other thing that I'd love for you to reflect
29:35
Speaker 2: on a little bit maybe the journey, the mental journey
29:38
Speaker 2: that went with this is you mentioned that there were
29:41
Speaker 2: coaches or people that were surrounding you at different times
29:44
Speaker 2: that were overly critical or perhaps just critical about your
29:48
Speaker 2: body and maybe focus a little bit more on that
29:51
Speaker 2: than what was happening within your performance. So can you
29:54
Speaker 2: just shed some light on really what that was like
29:56
Speaker 2: for you in college.
29:58
Speaker 1: I just remember feeling so in secure and so frustrated
30:02
Speaker 1: because I didn't know, you know, even the nutritionists in college,
30:06
Speaker 1: like you know, they were giving me things or saying like, yeah,
30:08
Speaker 1: you're doing anything right, they weren't helping me much, and
30:10
Speaker 1: I didn't know what to do. So I just remember
30:12
Speaker 1: being so frustrated and genetically, you know, I think my
30:15
Speaker 1: genets are just a little bit different, and was constantly
30:18
Speaker 1: comparing and then having male coaches specifically that I just
30:23
Speaker 1: don't think fully understand or know how to tactfully address.
30:28
Speaker 5: Things in that way.
30:29
Speaker 1: But having you know, those tactful conversations with females I
30:33
Speaker 1: think is hard for men sometimes and male coaches.
30:36
Speaker 5: So I just think going through that was.
30:37
Speaker 1: A little bit different and hard to have those conversations
30:43
Speaker 1: because for me, I would just shut off and take
30:45
Speaker 1: it in and not you know, have an open conversation
30:47
Speaker 1: about it and then just get more insecure and more frustrated.
30:51
Speaker 1: So that was definitely really tough in college. I would say,
30:54
Speaker 1: more than anything.
30:55
Speaker 3: You make your first Olympic team, where are you?
31:01
Speaker 1: I was in Eugene, Oregon with my whole family, which
31:06
Speaker 1: was amazing because you know, they hadn't really gotten to
31:08
Speaker 1: watch me in like two years because of COVID. My
31:11
Speaker 1: entire family and like some of my best friends were
31:13
Speaker 1: up in the stadium.
31:14
Speaker 5: My sister made it.
31:15
Speaker 1: Her flight got She's a track coach in Colorado, so
31:18
Speaker 1: her flight actually got canceled on Saturday, so Sunday she
31:21
Speaker 1: made it only because they postponed the eight hundred like
31:24
Speaker 1: eight hours or whatever because of the heat. And so
31:26
Speaker 1: right when I lined up to the line, and at
31:29
Speaker 1: that point, the stadium was full, but I heard my
31:30
Speaker 1: sister say like, oh Annie and looked up in the crowd,
31:33
Speaker 1: like I get tearyarid thinking about it. But she made
31:35
Speaker 1: it for my last race, and she's a track coach too,
31:38
Speaker 1: so it was just really special to have her there
31:40
Speaker 1: and my whole family because it's just been truly such
31:42
Speaker 1: a team effort to get me to that point. So
31:45
Speaker 1: to be able to share that moment with them was amazing.
31:49
Speaker 1: They my family came down, I hugged them, My fiancee
31:51
Speaker 1: came down.
31:52
Speaker 5: I was able to hug and kiss him, and.
31:54
Speaker 1: We just had one of the most emotional moments because
31:57
Speaker 1: of anyone. He's been there the day to day, the
32:00
Speaker 1: ups and downs, and he's dealt with me coming home
32:02
Speaker 1: crying or whatever, feeling like I can't do it.
32:05
Speaker 5: So to get to that moment together it was just
32:07
Speaker 5: super special.
32:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you spoke about how much it meant to
32:12
Speaker 2: you that your sister was there. Also your family to
32:16
Speaker 2: touch on worthy of noting here you have a lot
32:19
Speaker 2: of athleticism in your family.
32:21
Speaker 3: Your dad played in a Super.
32:23
Speaker 1: Bowl yes, seventy six with the Raiders Casual.
32:27
Speaker 2: So for you, what was it like growing up in
32:31
Speaker 2: a family where there was definitely a stress on athletics.
32:36
Speaker 1: You know, I look back at my childhood and the
32:39
Speaker 1: thing that I'm really grateful for is my parents always
32:41
Speaker 1: allowed me to make my own choices. They didn't push
32:43
Speaker 1: me in any direction. And I think just innately, I
32:47
Speaker 1: you know, I'm just a hard worker. I loved what
32:49
Speaker 1: I was doing, so they didn't have to force me
32:51
Speaker 1: to go to practice or force me to stay after
32:53
Speaker 1: or anything like that. They really allowed me to make
32:56
Speaker 1: those decisions for myself. And then I think just being
32:59
Speaker 1: in a family that's so sports oriented and having my dad,
33:02
Speaker 1: who's been at the elite level, he's been in the
33:05
Speaker 1: pro level, he's won a Super Bowl. To have that
33:08
Speaker 1: resource growing up was so priceless because he just gets it.
33:14
Speaker 1: And you know, my mom it was a different era
33:16
Speaker 1: back then, like she you know, I think she played
33:18
Speaker 1: softball a little bit, but they didn't have a lot
33:20
Speaker 1: of sports offered to her, so she doesn't fully understand,
33:23
Speaker 1: you know, what I'm going through. And so to have
33:25
Speaker 1: my dad to lean into and like have those moments
33:27
Speaker 1: where like, hey, I'm having this self doubt or hey,
33:30
Speaker 1: like how do I make this team and how do
33:32
Speaker 1: I push myself or how do I handle this situation?
33:34
Speaker 1: Just having that resource there was just amazing and he's
33:37
Speaker 1: he's been my role model for sure as far as
33:39
Speaker 1: sports go.
33:41
Speaker 2: Yeah, and spoiler alert, coming in number six in the
33:45
Speaker 2: world in your first Olympics, Like does saying that or
33:48
Speaker 2: hearing that ever get old?
33:50
Speaker 1: I honestly don't know who that it's even fully hit me,
33:54
Speaker 1: Like I think it don't hit me like in ten years,
33:56
Speaker 1: you know, like because I'm still in it right now
33:58
Speaker 1: and I'm like, oh, I want more, Like what do
33:59
Speaker 1: you mean?
34:00
Speaker 5: You know?
34:00
Speaker 1: So I'm and it's just funny because like a year ago,
34:04
Speaker 1: you know, over a little bit over a year ago,
34:06
Speaker 1: before the trials, if you told me that I'd be like,
34:08
Speaker 1: oh my god, are you kidding me? Like, oh my gosh,
34:10
Speaker 1: it's amazing. And now I'm just like my Now, my
34:13
Speaker 1: goals are just different, and I have my expectations a
34:15
Speaker 1: little bit higher, and so it's amazing, but I want
34:18
Speaker 1: more for sure.
34:19
Speaker 3: I want more for sure. So the question is what's more?
34:22
Speaker 1: You know, after a one for Trials scoring in the
34:26
Speaker 1: sixty seven hundred range, you know, I was just trying
34:28
Speaker 1: to get the standard.
34:29
Speaker 5: I was just trying to get top three.
34:30
Speaker 1: I didn't even expect to be able to win it,
34:33
Speaker 1: let alone score sixty seven hundred points.
34:34
Speaker 5: And so.
34:36
Speaker 1: For me, it's just like, oh my gosh, it open
34:38
Speaker 1: my eyes to what there's more there that ceilings even
34:41
Speaker 1: higher than I realize, And let's see how much further
34:44
Speaker 1: we can.
34:44
Speaker 5: Get in three more years.
34:46
Speaker 1: Like the amount that I've learned in the last you know,
34:48
Speaker 1: four or five years in this in this Olympic process
34:52
Speaker 1: is just like we talked about, I'm a completely different
34:54
Speaker 1: athlete and the knowledge and the mental training and the
34:56
Speaker 1: nutrition all of that. So I'm like, I just feel
34:59
Speaker 1: like there's so much more in these next couple of
35:00
Speaker 1: years that I can get to that level and be
35:03
Speaker 1: a metal contender, and that's one of my biggest goals
35:05
Speaker 1: for sure.
35:06
Speaker 2: And we talked about, you know, and joked a little
35:09
Speaker 2: bit about being above average and a lot of these events,
35:13
Speaker 2: but of course that would also mean that at times
35:16
Speaker 2: you're not going to perform at your very.
35:19
Speaker 3: Best because there's just so much going on.
35:21
Speaker 2: Can you talk to us or maybe shed some light
35:24
Speaker 2: on how you've had to pick yourself up after something
35:27
Speaker 2: didn't go as planned?
35:29
Speaker 1: That is probably, if you talk to any of athlete,
35:32
Speaker 1: the biggest struggle of the sport, you know, Going through COVID,
35:35
Speaker 1: I found my mental coach, and if I hadn't found him,
35:38
Speaker 1: I don't know that I'd ever figured that out. And
35:41
Speaker 1: what he taught me a lot of is like mindfulness
35:43
Speaker 1: and being present and accepting what is. And that has
35:47
Speaker 1: been because I'm just an emotional person in general, Like
35:50
Speaker 1: you know, I cried in Monsters, inc. Like I'm an
35:51
Speaker 1: emotional person and so battling that when I when I do,
35:57
Speaker 1: when I have an event that doesn't go my way
35:59
Speaker 1: or I come up short and not stewing in it
36:02
Speaker 1: and allowing you to seep into the next event. It
36:04
Speaker 1: was really really tough, and it happened at the Olympics,
36:08
Speaker 1: like I almost fell in the hurdles first event.
36:10
Speaker 5: I lost half a second.
36:11
Speaker 1: I felt like I was like I was leading over
36:13
Speaker 1: the four hurdles, clipped one and almost fell. Finished the race,
36:18
Speaker 1: but you see me pass the finish line and I
36:21
Speaker 1: kind of go like ah dang, and then it's gone.
36:23
Speaker 5: Like I didn't hold on to it.
36:25
Speaker 1: I accepted what happened, and I legit was just able
36:28
Speaker 1: to drop it and move on to the next event.
36:30
Speaker 1: And so learning how to be present, learning to accept
36:33
Speaker 1: what is and knowing that there, it's in the past.
36:35
Speaker 1: There's nothing you can do about it. All you can
36:37
Speaker 1: do is execute your next event. And I think figuring
36:41
Speaker 1: that out is probably the biggest battle. But it's it'll
36:44
Speaker 1: what it's going to be what makes you successful in
36:46
Speaker 1: the heptathlon, because if you go in heptathlon thinking it's
36:49
Speaker 1: all going to go the way you want it to
36:51
Speaker 1: and you're going to do amazing in every event, you're
36:53
Speaker 1: setting yourself up for failure. I think some of your
36:56
Speaker 1: better heptathlons are just going to be your your your average,
36:59
Speaker 1: your average of all your events. If you have averages
37:01
Speaker 1: of all your events, you're gonna have a great score,
37:04
Speaker 1: and I think a lot of times I was looking
37:05
Speaker 1: for those prs in every event, and that's when you
37:07
Speaker 1: kind of get in those frustrated moods. And so yeah,
37:10
Speaker 1: adapting to that and figuring that out has been the
37:13
Speaker 1: reason I think I was actually successful in a lot
37:15
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty one.
37:16
Speaker 2: Yeah, but I mean, obviously so much bigger than heptathlon, right' ohality.
37:21
Speaker 1: Oh my fiance is super grateful for that training. It's
37:26
Speaker 1: helped us tremendously.
37:29
Speaker 3: Yeah.
37:30
Speaker 5: I mean, and that's the thing that's so cool.
37:32
Speaker 1: Sports are amazing, and the medals and you know, the
37:35
Speaker 1: championships are great, but it's like, these are the things
37:37
Speaker 1: that are going to carry me through in my relationship
37:40
Speaker 1: with my family, with my kids, and my job after this.
37:44
Speaker 1: This is such a small blip, it feels. It doesn't
37:46
Speaker 1: feel that way, but it's such a small whip.
37:47
Speaker 5: In our life.
37:48
Speaker 1: And the lessons and the values that I've learned, I
37:52
Speaker 1: think is what I'm most grateful for through this Olympic
37:55
Speaker 1: process and the Olympic Olympic journey, because you know, they
37:58
Speaker 1: really are priceless things. I'll teach my kids and I'll
38:01
Speaker 1: hopefully be able to have them learn them a lot
38:03
Speaker 1: sooner than I did and be more successful early.
38:06
Speaker 2: So of course, for a huge part of your life,
38:10
Speaker 2: you have like gushed over your fiance a few times.
38:13
Speaker 3: Now, when are you getting married? I feel like you're
38:14
Speaker 3: getting married.
38:15
Speaker 1: Soon, I thought, So that's that's been the bait in
38:19
Speaker 1: this house. I initially was like, let's get married before
38:23
Speaker 1: the Olympics.
38:24
Speaker 5: Let's like do it soon, Like I think, like right
38:26
Speaker 5: after you got engaged.
38:27
Speaker 1: I was talking about getting married like this December, and
38:29
Speaker 1: he like his eyes just were huge and he's like.
38:31
Speaker 5: Oh my god, that's so much money. What are you
38:32
Speaker 5: talking about.
38:34
Speaker 1: And now I've sat in it a little bit longer,
38:36
Speaker 1: and I think we're actually going to wait, We're gon
38:38
Speaker 1: have a long engagement and it's going to be like
38:39
Speaker 1: right after Paris. So yeah, I think it'll be, you know,
38:43
Speaker 1: be able to close that chapter. It's going to be
38:45
Speaker 1: my last Olympic run, hopefully, you know, God William make
38:48
Speaker 1: the team and then we can come back, go to Mexico,
38:51
Speaker 1: have a week long celebration with family and friends, and
38:54
Speaker 1: go on a long honeymoon and enjoy being married.
38:56
Speaker 5: Because it is just a pressure cooker.
38:58
Speaker 1: The year of the Olympics so getting married for I
39:00
Speaker 1: don't think would have been the best decision.
39:01
Speaker 2: A nice finish line after hopefully your other finish lines. Yes, exactly,
39:07
Speaker 2: so exactly Beside obviously this exciting big life event for
39:11
Speaker 2: you and the series of life events for you, I'm
39:13
Speaker 2: sure that there are other things, and I know that
39:15
Speaker 2: there are other things that you deal with in your
39:17
Speaker 2: life outside of sports. So talk to me about how
39:21
Speaker 2: that's been in the scheme of things. How you have
39:24
Speaker 2: been able to either make time or show up or
39:27
Speaker 2: navigate the hardships that happen when you're not on the track,
39:30
Speaker 2: when you're not on the field.
39:32
Speaker 1: That's been kind of the cool part about this year
39:35
Speaker 1: is navigating those things that I'm not used to and
39:38
Speaker 1: like just kind of.
39:39
Speaker 5: Living that normal life. And I think it's been good because, you.
39:44
Speaker 1: Know, I think when it's you know, whenever you're in something,
39:46
Speaker 1: you'reways wishing or thinking about something else, you wish your move,
39:50
Speaker 1: wanted to be on into that next thing or whatever.
39:52
Speaker 1: I think when I'm in the heat of season and
39:54
Speaker 1: like missing out on weddings or missing out on barbecues
39:57
Speaker 1: and just casual stuff with friends that I I have
40:00
Speaker 1: to say no to a lot.
40:02
Speaker 5: I'm not drinking.
40:03
Speaker 1: I'm doing I'm just I'm very structured and so to
40:06
Speaker 1: have kind of that time this year to live my
40:09
Speaker 1: life a little bit and just have a breather and
40:12
Speaker 1: enjoy my friends and family, because that's probably the most
40:14
Speaker 1: important thing in me to be able to just you know,
40:16
Speaker 1: have a Saturday, go walk my dogs down by the beach.
40:19
Speaker 1: It's been really nice to kind of recharge and allow
40:22
Speaker 1: myself to do that. And I think I struggled allowing
40:26
Speaker 1: myself to and I kind of hit that brink from like, Okay,
40:28
Speaker 1: I have to lean into this and just let myself
40:31
Speaker 1: live a little bit. I'm still working out I'm not
40:34
Speaker 1: just like sitting on the couch all day long, but
40:36
Speaker 1: lean into refilling my cup that way and then navigating real.
40:42
Speaker 5: Life stuff has been cool. But it's kind of like
40:44
Speaker 5: what we just talked about before.
40:45
Speaker 1: It's you know, those lessons and being mindful and present
40:48
Speaker 1: and meditation and things like that are carrying me through
40:51
Speaker 1: this year and when I don't have that thing that
40:53
Speaker 1: has been my identity for so long. So it's been
40:56
Speaker 1: super cool and I think it'll help me be really
40:58
Speaker 1: excited to get back to the track and more motivated
41:01
Speaker 1: for the next two years.
41:02
Speaker 3: You know.
41:02
Speaker 2: I had a registered dietician on the show recently, and
41:05
Speaker 2: she was talking about this idea that you know, when
41:07
Speaker 2: you're trying to quote unquote be good and you don't
41:10
Speaker 2: want to eat certain things or drink certain things, and
41:12
Speaker 2: you go out with friends, and then the whole time
41:14
Speaker 2: that you're out with your friends, you're like feeling some
41:16
Speaker 2: kind of way that you yes, that you were there
41:18
Speaker 2: and that you did whatever. And she said that the
41:21
Speaker 2: client will then come in and say to her, oh
41:23
Speaker 2: my god, I did this thing, I eat whatever, blah
41:25
Speaker 2: blah blah, and then she'll look at her and she's like, but.
41:27
Speaker 3: Did you have fun? Like what where was your head?
41:30
Speaker 2: At was your head the entire time that you were
41:33
Speaker 2: with these people that actually like, we're excited to see you,
41:37
Speaker 2: you haven't seen them in a while, And you're sitting
41:39
Speaker 2: there and your whole focus is on quote unquote messing
41:42
Speaker 2: up with your diet.
41:43
Speaker 3: Like that's just like no way that you want to live.
41:47
Speaker 2: So for you, how did you squash that inner critic
41:50
Speaker 2: or get used to cultivating a more positive conversation within
41:54
Speaker 2: your own mind?
41:55
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I think it's just learning to be present, like,
41:58
Speaker 1: and I think, and you know, that's what the and
42:00
Speaker 1: the thing that's made me so successful in track is
42:02
Speaker 1: learning how to be present and then taking that into
42:05
Speaker 1: my day to day life.
42:06
Speaker 5: Now.
42:06
Speaker 1: So if I am with friends on a Saturday and
42:09
Speaker 1: they're drinking, and I want to have like lean into that,
42:11
Speaker 1: like have a couple of drinks. Obviously, don't go black
42:13
Speaker 1: out every weekend, you know, like enjoy yourself a little bit.
42:17
Speaker 1: And I think it's really tough because we are constantly
42:20
Speaker 1: in that battle of you know, anxiety of the future,
42:23
Speaker 1: depression of the past, things that like oh my gosh,
42:25
Speaker 1: I ate that donut, or future things like oh my gosh,
42:28
Speaker 1: I ate that donut. And now my workout's going to
42:29
Speaker 1: be harder. Oh I had a couple of drinks this weekend.
42:32
Speaker 1: Monday's workout's going to be the word. It's like you're
42:34
Speaker 1: constant thinking about the future, past instead of just being
42:36
Speaker 1: in the moment that you're in. And so I feel
42:39
Speaker 1: like that's been what I have to ground myself in
42:41
Speaker 1: is like, Okay, put things in perspective. The Olympics aren't tomorrow,
42:46
Speaker 1: They're not next month, you know, and I'm still working out.
42:49
Speaker 1: I'm still working with at my whole village of people
42:52
Speaker 1: that are helping me be successful. But if you don't
42:54
Speaker 1: lean into those moments you're gonna be then I'm going
42:58
Speaker 1: to be in season. I'm be like God, I wish
43:00
Speaker 1: I would have enjoyed myself it's last summer instead of
43:03
Speaker 1: constantly thinking about, you know, this season or this fall
43:06
Speaker 1: training or whatever. And so just being present in the
43:08
Speaker 1: moment you're in, I feel like has really helped me
43:09
Speaker 1: ground and just be able to accept those those moments
43:13
Speaker 1: and not be hard on myself. I think the inner
43:15
Speaker 1: critic is tough and we're always going to battle that,
43:17
Speaker 1: but putting things in perspective and trying to be present
43:20
Speaker 1: has helped me for sure.
43:21
Speaker 2: You talked about how you navigate the quote unquote hurdles
43:25
Speaker 2: that could come up in the myriad of events that
43:28
Speaker 2: are happening during the heptathlon.
43:30
Speaker 3: When you are in the middle of.
43:33
Speaker 2: These tough moments and giving something your all, what do
43:37
Speaker 2: you think of where does your mind go when you're
43:39
Speaker 2: in that struggle executing?
43:41
Speaker 1: So I am constantly you know, I have about two
43:44
Speaker 1: to three ques per event that I am just hammering,
43:48
Speaker 1: like that's what I go to and I think it's
43:51
Speaker 1: you know, you have we call it like monkey brain,
43:53
Speaker 1: where you're gonna have all these living thoughts that pop in,
43:55
Speaker 1: and it's just learning to you know, look at that thought,
44:00
Speaker 1: accept it, and then bring your retention back to your
44:02
Speaker 1: executing so you're not trying to deny that it's there.
44:04
Speaker 1: You're you're kind of just accepting that it's there and
44:06
Speaker 1: then coming back to what you need to execute. And
44:08
Speaker 1: that's really helped me, along with a lot of breathing
44:11
Speaker 1: exercises that I do. So whether it's shot put and
44:14
Speaker 1: I need to calm my central nervous system or it's
44:17
Speaker 1: the eight hundred and kind of like trying to put
44:18
Speaker 1: myself up. I feel like I have a lot of
44:20
Speaker 1: tools like breathing and queues and things like that that
44:24
Speaker 1: kind of bring me to center. And then I also
44:27
Speaker 1: I think if I go into those moments where you're
44:29
Speaker 1: feeling anxiety or fear, I think fear can be debilitating,
44:32
Speaker 1: And especially at my moment like the Olympics, I ground
44:35
Speaker 1: myself in gratitude and so like even at the Olympic trials,
44:38
Speaker 1: like if that fear of not making the team was
44:39
Speaker 1: popping in, or my fear of coming up short in
44:42
Speaker 1: an event, or just look at the crowd and see
44:45
Speaker 1: my family and be like, I am so grateful that
44:47
Speaker 1: I have this opportunity no matter what happens, and just
44:50
Speaker 1: kind of letting go and allowing yourself.
44:53
Speaker 5: To execute and be in the moment. I think, just
44:55
Speaker 5: help me be successful for sure.
44:57
Speaker 3: For sure.
44:57
Speaker 2: So someone comes to maybe your Instagram page and they
45:02
Speaker 2: see an olympian, a heptathlete with over sixty thousand followers.
45:07
Speaker 2: When you look in the mirror, what does Annie see?
45:11
Speaker 5: Oh gosh, getting deep with me here?
45:14
Speaker 1: You know, I think that it's funny to talk about
45:16
Speaker 1: that because I think that if I look back, you know,
45:19
Speaker 1: one of the toughest lessons I think you have to
45:21
Speaker 1: learn is like you are more than your sport and
45:23
Speaker 1: more than what I do. And that took a while
45:26
Speaker 1: for me to figure out. And i'd be lying to
45:28
Speaker 1: you if you know I think you still I still
45:29
Speaker 1: struggle with.
45:30
Speaker 3: That a little bit.
45:31
Speaker 1: But I think that's what's been so special about this
45:33
Speaker 1: year is figuring out who is Annie when that thing
45:36
Speaker 1: that has made me me for so.
45:37
Speaker 5: Long is gone?
45:40
Speaker 1: And I you know, I love my dog, I'm free.
45:43
Speaker 5: I'm a Frenchy lover. I love my dogs.
45:45
Speaker 1: I love spending time with family. I have my two
45:48
Speaker 1: god children that I am just obsessed with. I can't
45:51
Speaker 1: wait to have kids and be a mom someday. So
45:53
Speaker 1: I think just figuring out what makes me happy when
45:56
Speaker 1: that thing isn't there, you know, finding little hobbies and
45:58
Speaker 1: things like that, like crafts and redecorating my house.
46:01
Speaker 5: I love doing that stuff.
46:02
Speaker 1: So things like that I'm just really leaning into too,
46:06
Speaker 1: so that when that thing has gone permanently, that I
46:08
Speaker 1: know who I am and I'm not going to have
46:10
Speaker 1: that struggle of my identity.
46:11
Speaker 5: For a while.
46:12
Speaker 3: What excites you right now?
46:15
Speaker 5: Oh gosh, I mean the future.
46:17
Speaker 1: I think what's exciting to me is seeing, you know,
46:20
Speaker 1: what else I can do in the sport, how far
46:23
Speaker 1: I can push my body once I'm healed. I think
46:25
Speaker 1: that's super super exciting, just you know, life stuff. I'm
46:29
Speaker 1: so excited that I'm finally engaged. You know, we've we've
46:31
Speaker 1: been together almost five years. Looking forward to that next
46:35
Speaker 1: chapter and then kids. I can't wait to have babies.
46:39
Speaker 1: All of my friends have kids, so it's like it's
46:41
Speaker 1: birth control sometimes but then sometimes like oh, but they're
46:43
Speaker 1: so cute, Like it's like baby fever, but also birth control,
46:46
Speaker 1: so I think that's super exciting. When the Olympics are over,
46:47
Speaker 1: we're definitely gonna have kids soon. And then also just
46:51
Speaker 1: I think leading into the younger generation of girls in
46:54
Speaker 1: athletes I think as something that I'm really passionate about,
46:58
Speaker 1: and I would love to get involved with more organizations
47:01
Speaker 1: or even like start my own camp someday or something
47:03
Speaker 1: like that where I can give back to those young athletes,
47:06
Speaker 1: because you know, kids are the future. And if I
47:08
Speaker 1: knew half the stuff I know now at a younger age,
47:10
Speaker 1: I feel like I would have been successful so much sooner.
47:12
Speaker 1: So to be able to share that knowledge is something
47:15
Speaker 1: I'm really passionate about as well.
47:16
Speaker 3: The stuff that you wish that you knew sooner.
47:19
Speaker 2: Anything when you think about a younger you, that you
47:23
Speaker 2: wish that someone kind of filled you in on from
47:25
Speaker 2: the get go.
47:26
Speaker 5: I think be present, I mean being present.
47:28
Speaker 1: It's like I feel like I look back at you know, college,
47:33
Speaker 1: or like especially college, and just like that experience, I
47:37
Speaker 1: was constantly living in anxiety or depression of things that
47:41
Speaker 1: have already happened or might happen, and I just wasn't
47:43
Speaker 1: in the moment, and it goes by so fast too,
47:46
Speaker 1: Like and even high school I had such an amazing experience,
47:49
Speaker 1: but I don't feel like I was ever fully present,
47:52
Speaker 1: So it goes by so quick, and those memories are
47:54
Speaker 1: so precious that I wish someone would have tried to
47:57
Speaker 1: help me to like learn meditation and mind fullness and
48:00
Speaker 1: being present in those moments, because I just feel like
48:02
Speaker 1: I would have been able to take them in a
48:04
Speaker 1: little bit more and then also be more successful and
48:07
Speaker 1: be in the moment that I am in. So that's
48:09
Speaker 1: probably the biggest piece of advice I wish I could
48:11
Speaker 1: give my younger self, which just like, be in the
48:12
Speaker 1: moment you're in.
48:13
Speaker 3: I feel like, what's that O they're saying, it's run
48:15
Speaker 3: the race you're in.
48:16
Speaker 5: Yes, yeah, run your race.
48:18
Speaker 3: Run run your own run your race, run your race.
48:22
Speaker 2: Where do you garner your inspiration and motivation from? Does
48:26
Speaker 2: it really come just rooted from your village?
48:29
Speaker 3: M hmm.
48:29
Speaker 1: I think it does, But I also think that's just me,
48:32
Speaker 1: Like you know, I have I think I got high
48:34
Speaker 1: school interview.
48:34
Speaker 5: They're like, what do you like where? What do you
48:36
Speaker 5: want to do when you grow up? And like I
48:38
Speaker 5: want to go to the.
48:38
Speaker 1: Olympics, Like I've just always kind of had that inner drive,
48:41
Speaker 1: and my parents and said that too, like they've never
48:43
Speaker 1: had to push me really with with like you know,
48:45
Speaker 1: athletics or my academics.
48:48
Speaker 5: Even I was.
48:48
Speaker 1: Always just kind of getting my stuff done because I
48:51
Speaker 1: innately wanted to do it and I wanted to push myself.
48:54
Speaker 1: And I think what motivates me the most is just
48:58
Speaker 1: seeing what I can do, how far can I push
49:01
Speaker 1: my body?
49:01
Speaker 5: What can I do in this sport? Like I want
49:03
Speaker 5: to find that out.
49:04
Speaker 1: I want to see how high my ceiling is in
49:05
Speaker 1: the sport. And I think because I was so late
49:09
Speaker 1: to the heptathlon, it's been so exciting and I feel
49:12
Speaker 1: like there's so much more to learn still, So seeing
49:15
Speaker 1: how much I can learn, seeing how fer I can
49:16
Speaker 1: push my body and what I can do in the
49:17
Speaker 1: sport definitely motivates me.
49:19
Speaker 3: I also find it pretty admirable.
49:21
Speaker 2: I know that you're stopping in Eugene next week to
49:24
Speaker 2: go and be there and support and also just like
49:28
Speaker 2: kind of show face, is that difficult for you at all?
49:30
Speaker 3: You know?
49:31
Speaker 1: I thought it would be harder, actually, I thought when
49:34
Speaker 1: you know, when that opportunity was given to me, I
49:36
Speaker 1: was like, oh, I wonder. Like at in the moment,
49:39
Speaker 1: I was like, oh my god, that sounds super exciting,
49:41
Speaker 1: But then I kind of sat and I'm like, oh, well,
49:42
Speaker 1: that'd be kind of depressing, Like well if that'd be hard.
49:44
Speaker 1: But I think just it goes back to like putting
49:48
Speaker 1: things in perspective, Like the moment that I'm in right
49:50
Speaker 1: now is getting healthy and building that foundation for the future.
49:55
Speaker 1: The moment that other athletes are in, they might be
49:58
Speaker 1: they're having their best year yet and they're to go,
50:00
Speaker 1: you know, contend for a metal and like that's awesome
50:02
Speaker 1: for them.
50:03
Speaker 5: Like, it's just different.
50:04
Speaker 1: And I think you have to stop comparing yourself to
50:07
Speaker 1: other athletes and things like that and build each other
50:10
Speaker 1: up because we're all in the same struggle.
50:13
Speaker 5: We're all just doing our best. We all want to.
50:15
Speaker 1: Be successful, and so I think if you're hoping and
50:18
Speaker 1: wishing that other people aren't successful because you want to
50:20
Speaker 1: be in that role, is just setting yourself up for
50:22
Speaker 1: failure too. So I try to just you know, live
50:25
Speaker 1: in the moment that I'm in and be happy for
50:27
Speaker 1: others because that's there, this might be their moment, So
50:29
Speaker 1: just kind of accepting that.
50:30
Speaker 2: I think in our conversation today, you reflected so openly
50:34
Speaker 2: and beautifully about you know, taking that backseat and taking
50:37
Speaker 2: that backstep and using this time to your advantage instead
50:42
Speaker 2: of thinking of it as a disadvantage. So right now
50:46
Speaker 2: you have the opportunity to offer yourself a piece of advice.
50:49
Speaker 2: At the beginning of this hurdle moment for you, when
50:52
Speaker 2: you found out that you were going to have to
50:54
Speaker 2: slow down, what would you tell yourself with the know
50:58
Speaker 2: how that you have now.
51:00
Speaker 1: You know, learn from your past experiences, because I look
51:03
Speaker 1: back at COVID and you know, in the moment, it
51:07
Speaker 1: felt awful, it was depressing, it was hard, but it's
51:10
Speaker 1: the year that define me as an athlete, and I
51:13
Speaker 1: was out there doing you know, I was sneaking into
51:15
Speaker 1: parks by myself and I was I was taking that
51:18
Speaker 1: time to get better. And so I think looking back
51:22
Speaker 1: on that experience and reminding yourself like, Okay, I look
51:25
Speaker 1: at what you did with that time, look at how
51:26
Speaker 1: you use your time. Then it's different. Now you can't
51:29
Speaker 1: do the same things. But leaning into everything happens for
51:33
Speaker 1: a specific purpose and reason and knowing that and believing
51:37
Speaker 1: that and trusting that is what I would say to
51:40
Speaker 1: myself because you've done it before, you can do it again.
51:42
Speaker 2: You've done it before, you can do it again. Annie,
51:45
Speaker 2: I'm so happy that we were able to make this happen.
51:47
Speaker 2: How do the hurdlers follow along with you? How do
51:49
Speaker 2: they keep up with you? Give us your details?
51:52
Speaker 5: Thank you so much, it's been so fun.
51:54
Speaker 1: I am on Instagram mostly Annie Underscore Cooon seven. I'm
51:58
Speaker 1: on Twitter Annie Underscorecoon, but I am more active on
52:01
Speaker 1: Instagram for sure. I'm on TikTok, but I feel like
52:04
Speaker 1: a geriatric with that stuff, Like I don't.
52:06
Speaker 5: Know how to work it. What's the seven for? I
52:10
Speaker 5: was number seven in college. That was my soccer number.
52:12
Speaker 2: Ha ha Okay, well, I am over at Emily Body
52:16
Speaker 2: and at Hurdle Podcast. Another Hurdle conquered. Catch you guys
52:19
Speaker 2: next time,