Latest / Hurdle with Emily Abbate / 237. Kate Courtney, Pro Mountain Bike Racer

Transcript

237. Kate Courtney, Pro Mountain Bike Racer · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

0:00
Speaker 1: A combination of the joy and hard work that allows
0:03
Speaker 1: me to really be my best as an athlete and
0:06
Speaker 1: to go beyond those limits and really go beyond what's
0:11
Speaker 1: achievable by hard work alone. Because the person who's having
0:15
Speaker 1: fun and who loves what they're doing, they will always
0:19
Speaker 1: outperform the person who's suffering and struggling.
0:37
Speaker 2: What's going on, Emily Abadi? Here? You are listening to
0:40
Speaker 2: episode two hundred and thirty seven of Hurdle, a wellness
0:43
Speaker 2: focus podcast where connect with everyone from your favorite athletes
0:47
Speaker 2: to top experts and industry CEOs about their highest ties,
0:51
Speaker 2: toughest moments, and everything in between. We all go through
0:55
Speaker 2: hurdles in life, and my goal through these discussions is
0:58
Speaker 2: to empower you to navigate yours and move with intention
1:03
Speaker 2: so that you can stride towards your own big potential
1:06
Speaker 2: and of course, have some fun along the way. For
1:11
Speaker 2: today's episode, I am chatting with my girl, Kate Courtney.
1:15
Speaker 2: She is a pro mountain bike raser that I had
1:18
Speaker 2: the awesome opportunity to hang out with in person when
1:22
Speaker 2: I moderated Strava's Year in Sport event this past December.
1:28
Speaker 2: Known to many on Instagram as Kate plus fate. Kate
1:33
Speaker 2: is a world champion, she's an Olympian, and her story
1:37
Speaker 2: is one filled with resilience and of course, her fair
1:41
Speaker 2: share of hurdles. In today's episode, Kate talks all about
1:46
Speaker 2: how she came to fall in love with cycling and
1:50
Speaker 2: ultimately heading to Stanford University in twenty thirteen, when she
1:55
Speaker 2: signed her first professional contract with Specialized Bicycles. She talks
2:00
Speaker 2: openly about her experience and navigating injury and what it
2:03
Speaker 2: was like for her to really have to overcome this
2:07
Speaker 2: massive hurdle of wondering if she was falling out of
2:11
Speaker 2: love with her sport, rediscovering her why, which helped her
2:14
Speaker 2: ultimately stand firm in her purpose. She talks about how
2:19
Speaker 2: it was difficult to navigate the pandemic and her sport,
2:23
Speaker 2: as well as the pushback of the Olympics, and offers
2:26
Speaker 2: up some really really helpful advice for anyone who feels
2:29
Speaker 2: as though there are just days that they are incapable
2:33
Speaker 2: of showing up. At twenty seven, Kate is wise beyond
2:37
Speaker 2: her years, and this is truly one of those conversations
2:40
Speaker 2: that had me re listening really thinking about what are
2:45
Speaker 2: the things that I want? What is my purpose and
2:47
Speaker 2: what am I willing to do to go after my big, scary, hairy,
2:53
Speaker 2: audacious goals. I also really love how Kate talks about
2:56
Speaker 2: the intersection of enjoying what you do, having fun with
3:00
Speaker 2: what you do, and pursuing your goals, knowing that that
3:04
Speaker 2: could require hard work, but it is possible to both
3:06
Speaker 2: work hard and have fun. Love love this conversation. Excited
3:11
Speaker 2: to bring it to the feed today and also want
3:14
Speaker 2: to make sure that I throw this out there. If
3:16
Speaker 2: you haven't rated and reviewed Hurdle yet in Apple Podcasts
3:19
Speaker 2: or wherever you get your podcasts, it would mean the
3:21
Speaker 2: world to me. I'm always looking to help others discover
3:24
Speaker 2: the show in a good way that they can do
3:26
Speaker 2: that is by your positive or views, So thank you
3:29
Speaker 2: for that in advance. If you have a listener question,
3:32
Speaker 2: I would love to answer it in an upcoming episode
3:34
Speaker 2: of Hurdle. Head on over to the show notes and
3:36
Speaker 2: click leave me a voice message. Plus, also make sure
3:40
Speaker 2: you're following along with the show over on social media.
3:43
Speaker 2: It's over at Hurdle podcast. I myself am over at
3:46
Speaker 2: Emily a Body and last little bit of housekeeping here
3:48
Speaker 2: the Weekly Hurdle. It's a weekly newsletter that you can
3:51
Speaker 2: get a lot of the same motivation, inspiration stuff you
3:54
Speaker 2: love about the show in your inbox every single Friday.
3:58
Speaker 2: Subscribe via the Land you guessed it in the show notes.
4:02
Speaker 2: And with that, let's get to it. Let's get to hurdling.
4:15
Speaker 1: Today.
4:16
Speaker 2: I am sitting down with Kate Courtney, she's a professional
4:19
Speaker 2: mountain bike rid How you.
4:21
Speaker 3: Doing doing well? Thanks for having me.
4:24
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for making the time. You're out
4:26
Speaker 2: in Tahoe right now, which looks like a dream.
4:29
Speaker 3: Winter wonderland for sure.
4:32
Speaker 1: Up here started on Christmas, so we always spend the
4:35
Speaker 1: holidays up here with my husband's family, and then built
4:38
Speaker 1: in a couple weeks of training in winter wonderland, which
4:41
Speaker 1: is great.
4:41
Speaker 2: So what does training look like for you when you're
4:44
Speaker 2: in a winter wonderland.
4:45
Speaker 1: It's a good question, and it's something I've thought about
4:48
Speaker 1: and worked on for a few years. Actually grew up
4:52
Speaker 1: ski racing, but when I started doing it endurance sport
4:55
Speaker 1: mountain biking, it kind of fell by the wayside because
4:58
Speaker 1: it's hard to get out and run or ride up here.
5:01
Speaker 1: So recently I've gotten really into backcountry skiing and that's
5:06
Speaker 1: where you skin up the mountain, which is actually pretty
5:09
Speaker 1: similar to riding a mountain bike, and you can kind
5:12
Speaker 1: of keep your heart rate in that zone one two
5:14
Speaker 1: range for hours and hours out in the mountains, and
5:17
Speaker 1: that's kind of like reinvigorated my skiing. So I can
5:22
Speaker 1: be up here, I can run, I go to the gym,
5:24
Speaker 1: and do a lot of ski touring.
5:26
Speaker 2: Going up the mountain is something that I didn't even
5:29
Speaker 2: know was a thing until like a few years ago,
5:32
Speaker 2: and when I learned about it, it truly blew my mind.
5:36
Speaker 1: Yeah, I call it the mountain biking of winter. It's
5:39
Speaker 1: like very similar. You kind of you get out, you're
5:42
Speaker 1: out of the resort, you're out in the woods. You
5:45
Speaker 1: kind of have this like a little bit of a
5:47
Speaker 1: kind of meditative activity of climbing these mountains and also
5:52
Speaker 1: ski touring you never do alone, mostly because of avalanche rists,
5:55
Speaker 1: so usually out there chatting it up and then and
5:58
Speaker 1: skiing some great snow. So it's kind of the best
6:01
Speaker 1: of both worlds.
6:02
Speaker 2: It sounds great, It sounds great. Well, I'm so glad
6:05
Speaker 2: that you've been able to get out there and at
6:06
Speaker 2: least enjoy some extra time with your family. You right now,
6:11
Speaker 2: though still in the height of training season. Talk to
6:14
Speaker 2: us about how you're feeling these days, about where you're
6:16
Speaker 2: at with your performance.
6:18
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's definitely a big year for me NEXTRAS and
6:21
Speaker 1: Olympic years, So this is kind of where you start
6:24
Speaker 1: to make progress towards those big goals. And for me,
6:27
Speaker 1: I think I've learned in the last couple of years
6:30
Speaker 1: that it's really about having periodization in my training and knowing, Okay,
6:34
Speaker 1: I have this block, what's the goal, and did I
6:37
Speaker 1: achieve that goal. So this year I've done a lot
6:40
Speaker 1: more performance testing, so Black Day tests, strength testing on
6:44
Speaker 1: force blades, blood testing. You might get a little technical there,
6:48
Speaker 1: but for me, it's really helped me feel confident that
6:52
Speaker 1: I'm doing what I want to do with my training
6:55
Speaker 1: and to also have a lot of insight from my
6:58
Speaker 1: coaches on that. So we start usually November first, and
7:02
Speaker 1: then I have kind of my first block through Christmas,
7:04
Speaker 1: so that's like the big Bay season, base season in
7:08
Speaker 1: the gym, tons of hours on the bike, and then
7:12
Speaker 1: I retest right before Christmas and Christmas through New Year's
7:15
Speaker 1: is kind of my like rest period, and I think
7:19
Speaker 1: critically the like mental reset where I feel like, you know,
7:22
Speaker 1: I'm still training and still doing activity, but I'm mentally
7:25
Speaker 1: not feeling like I'm at work every single second on
7:29
Speaker 1: my bike. And so for me having that check in
7:31
Speaker 1: before Christmas, seeing Okay, I'm on track, my training's going
7:34
Speaker 1: really well, I feel healthy and strong, allows me to
7:38
Speaker 1: be up here and take that mental rest, and I
7:42
Speaker 1: think right now, I'm just kind of, you know, getting
7:44
Speaker 1: to that point where I'm really excited to go home
7:46
Speaker 1: and put in a ton of work in January.
7:49
Speaker 2: Just like so many I mean, it's great to hear
7:51
Speaker 2: that you do get that time to do a little
7:52
Speaker 2: bit of a reset, because I think that that can
7:55
Speaker 2: be a really big struggle, at least in so many
7:58
Speaker 2: of the conversations I've had for the show, the amount
8:02
Speaker 2: of sacrifice that comes hand in hand with going after
8:06
Speaker 2: your dreams. I love to rewind a little bit and
8:09
Speaker 2: get some understanding, some background from you on when you're
8:13
Speaker 2: talking about getting ready for another Olympic year. When did
8:17
Speaker 2: chasing these dreams on this level when it comes to
8:21
Speaker 2: being on your bike become a thing for you.
8:26
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think, like so many things in the athletic world,
8:28
Speaker 1: it happened very slowly and then kind of all at once.
8:32
Speaker 1: I fell in love with cycling from a young age,
8:35
Speaker 1: with my dad growing up in Moran, where mountain biking
8:39
Speaker 1: was originally invented in the seventies, so there's definitely like
8:41
Speaker 1: a culture of being out being out on the bike, exploring.
8:45
Speaker 3: But it wasn't until a.
8:46
Speaker 1: Lot later that I really figured out there was this
8:49
Speaker 1: kind of whole competitive world that could be unlocked. And
8:53
Speaker 1: I think honestly being a bit naive helped me in
8:56
Speaker 1: that sense. I didn't know necessarily where I was going,
9:00
Speaker 1: just kind of focus on the next step. Oh if
9:01
Speaker 1: I if I can win a local race, what about
9:04
Speaker 1: if it's a you know, statewide race, What if I
9:07
Speaker 1: do a national level race? What if you know, where
9:09
Speaker 1: do I stack up in the international field? And those
9:12
Speaker 1: are kind of step by step, and I think it
9:15
Speaker 1: was it was really when I was in college and
9:18
Speaker 1: started racing technically. I was an under twenty three, so
9:21
Speaker 1: nineteen to twenty two in the World Cups, but you
9:25
Speaker 1: race professionally in the US, and I think that was
9:28
Speaker 1: kind of the moment I started to think, Wow, Okay,
9:30
Speaker 1: this could be a long term career opportunity for me,
9:35
Speaker 1: and what would that look like? And I think, you know,
9:38
Speaker 1: through college it was. It was definitely balancing those two priorities.
9:42
Speaker 1: School was still a big part of my life, and
9:45
Speaker 1: I wasn't necessarily at a place competitively where I could say, yeah,
9:49
Speaker 1: I can for sure support myself with this. But at
9:53
Speaker 1: the end of college, my kind of my last year
9:55
Speaker 1: as a student, I had some really big international results,
9:59
Speaker 1: and I think that's the moment where I started to think,
10:02
Speaker 1: you know, why not me, Why why couldn't I win?
10:05
Speaker 1: Why can't I set the goal of being on the
10:07
Speaker 1: podium or the goal of going to the Olympics and
10:10
Speaker 1: kind of, you know, set that next level of dreams
10:13
Speaker 1: and aspirations that seemed, you know, like a big leap
10:17
Speaker 1: at the time, But we're necessary to make it a
10:21
Speaker 1: kind of full time career for me.
10:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, And it's it's not it's no secret that the
10:29
Speaker 2: pay for woman for so long has been so far
10:32
Speaker 2: behind the pay of the men. So when you were
10:36
Speaker 2: getting started to truly follow your gut and like pursue
10:41
Speaker 2: a career in your sport, was that scary for you?
10:49
Speaker 3: Yeah.
10:49
Speaker 1: I think one of the big things that helped me
10:52
Speaker 1: was being a student. I think I thought of those
10:56
Speaker 1: two competing dreams or priorities as being really equally weighted
11:02
Speaker 1: at that time in my life, and so it held
11:05
Speaker 1: me back a little bit from the pressure, and I
11:08
Speaker 1: think that was a huge advantage at the time. I
11:10
Speaker 1: think if I had been nineteen and had the pressure to,
11:13
Speaker 1: you know, have my livelihood depend on my results, I
11:16
Speaker 1: probably would have overtrained, burned out, and had a really
11:19
Speaker 1: tough time just having longevity in the sport. And I
11:23
Speaker 1: think by the time I graduated school, I was a
11:26
Speaker 1: little more confident, I knew myself better, I had a
11:29
Speaker 1: little bit of a different perspective, and I was ready
11:33
Speaker 1: physically also to meet the demands of that trainee schedule
11:36
Speaker 1: and to kind of, you know, level up, both in
11:39
Speaker 1: terms of the mental goals, the kind of pressure of
11:42
Speaker 1: being a full time athlete and the physical demand that
11:46
Speaker 1: that takes.
11:47
Speaker 2: When you say the pressure of being a full time athlete,
11:50
Speaker 2: expand on that a little bit for us, what is
11:53
Speaker 2: the pressure that goes hand in hand with this level
11:56
Speaker 2: of performance.
11:58
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a.
11:58
Speaker 1: Really good question because there's the obvious you know, your
12:01
Speaker 1: paycheck depends partially on your results piece of it, and
12:05
Speaker 1: that's definitely part of it. But I think for me
12:08
Speaker 1: and for a lot of lead athletes. I know, it's
12:10
Speaker 1: really this intrinsic pressure and drive that you know got
12:14
Speaker 1: me into the sport. It encouraged me to kind of
12:18
Speaker 1: work hard and pursue these dreams and push myself. But
12:21
Speaker 1: that also has to be managed. I think that's probably
12:24
Speaker 1: my biggest like double edged sword, is that desire to
12:27
Speaker 1: push and to try to make these results happen by
12:31
Speaker 1: sheer willpower. And often you know you're not going to
12:36
Speaker 1: succeed without the hard work, without showing up to training
12:39
Speaker 1: every day, without giving your best and pushing your limits.
12:43
Speaker 3: But it's also not.
12:44
Speaker 1: Necessarily enough, Like sometimes you need the stars to align
12:49
Speaker 1: and the right circumstances to evolve for you to get
12:53
Speaker 1: that result on the right day. And so I think
12:55
Speaker 1: there's like this balance of pressure and desire to achieve
13:00
Speaker 1: and the courage to commit to it that has to
13:02
Speaker 1: be balanced with this humility of Okay, I'm a human
13:06
Speaker 1: being and I'm trying to do something really hard and
13:09
Speaker 1: it's completely uncertain. And I think for me that's been
13:12
Speaker 1: a huge part of the learning curve is accepting that
13:16
Speaker 1: there's days when I'm just not going to feel great,
13:19
Speaker 1: or that there's days that I need rest or that
13:22
Speaker 1: there's races that won't go well for things that are
13:24
Speaker 1: outside my control. Things can be canceled, I can get sick,
13:28
Speaker 1: I can have a flat tire, and to be you know,
13:31
Speaker 1: dedicated to the process through all of that and kind
13:35
Speaker 1: of accepting it as it comes. And I think as
13:38
Speaker 1: a young athlete, you know, I was really rewarded for
13:40
Speaker 1: working hard and for pushing my limits, and I think
13:43
Speaker 1: that was an incredibly positive experience. But something I've learned
13:48
Speaker 1: more recently is the ability to balance that with rest
13:52
Speaker 1: and to not just you know, recover, but to rest
13:56
Speaker 1: and to be able to pursue those long term over
14:00
Speaker 1: a long period of time.
14:03
Speaker 2: Two things had double click on. The first thing is
14:06
Speaker 2: how did you get to a place where you felt
14:10
Speaker 2: better navigating uncertainty.
14:14
Speaker 1: I think I'm still in process on that one, but
14:17
Speaker 1: I think we've all gotten a little bit of a
14:19
Speaker 1: crash course in the last three years. For me, you know,
14:23
Speaker 1: everyone was impacted differently by the pandemic, and for me
14:28
Speaker 1: it was really a huge disruption to the Olympic year.
14:31
Speaker 1: I think there are a lot of scenarios that I
14:34
Speaker 1: planned for in my mind. You know, race is not
14:36
Speaker 1: going while training, not lining up not making the team,
14:39
Speaker 1: but having the Olympics moved or canceled was not something
14:43
Speaker 1: that really made the short list of expectations, and I
14:47
Speaker 1: think that really I struggled with that for a long time,
14:52
Speaker 1: just to kind of get my feet back underneath me
14:55
Speaker 1: in terms of, you know, opening your mind to that
14:58
Speaker 1: uncertainty and still being willing to try and put yourself
15:02
Speaker 1: out there again and again. And I think at the
15:06
Speaker 1: end of the day, it comes back to that kind
15:07
Speaker 1: of humility piece and to being dedicated to the process,
15:12
Speaker 1: knowing that the results are never guaranteed and that they
15:15
Speaker 1: never were.
15:16
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, wow, that's really powerful. The other thing to
15:19
Speaker 2: touch on is you speaking so candidly about the concept
15:24
Speaker 2: of rest and that being something that over the years
15:28
Speaker 2: you've become better with navigating. Let's say, was there a
15:33
Speaker 2: point for you where you had to navigate maybe overtraining
15:39
Speaker 2: because of your lack of a desire to rest.
15:43
Speaker 3: Absolutely, yeah, I think.
15:47
Speaker 1: Yeah, that is certainly why that topic is top of
15:50
Speaker 1: mind for me. I struggled big time with the Olympic
15:54
Speaker 1: year being moved, so we had the kind of twenty
15:57
Speaker 1: twenty pandemic year where everyone was home and I basically
16:00
Speaker 1: just trained and then the Olympic year, which just really
16:05
Speaker 1: didn't go well for me, And I think, in hindsight
16:08
Speaker 1: a huge part of that was the compounding effect of
16:12
Speaker 1: just multiple years of dealing with challenges, dealing with uncertainty
16:16
Speaker 1: and having the same response every time, which is, oh,
16:18
Speaker 1: I must need to work harder, which I think is
16:21
Speaker 1: a pretty typical response for a lot of endurance athletes
16:24
Speaker 1: is oh, we've come up against a challenge, double down,
16:28
Speaker 1: And eventually you can't double down anymore, and in fact
16:32
Speaker 1: you come to a point of not just diminishing returns,
16:36
Speaker 1: but where actually the overtraining over trying adding load.
16:41
Speaker 3: Works against you.
16:44
Speaker 1: And it's often so easy to see from the outside
16:47
Speaker 1: or in hindsight, but as it's happening, I think it's
16:50
Speaker 1: really hard. And for me at the time, at a
16:53
Speaker 1: certain point, I think because of the stress and just
16:56
Speaker 1: the compounding effect of the few years, my body just
16:59
Speaker 1: did not respond on the same way to training, like
17:01
Speaker 1: I was training the same amount and getting less out
17:04
Speaker 1: of it. And when you have that, it's really hard
17:06
Speaker 1: to say, oh, I actually need to do less and
17:10
Speaker 1: then reset. I think you're kind of trying to like
17:13
Speaker 1: pull it back from the edge and you're like, oh,
17:15
Speaker 1: if it's if I'm getting less out of it, I'll
17:17
Speaker 1: just do more, which has again the opposite effect. So
17:21
Speaker 1: I kind of got into a really deep hole by
17:24
Speaker 1: the end of the twenty twenty one season and physically
17:28
Speaker 1: just was in a really bad place. Like I think
17:32
Speaker 1: it's easy to say, oh, it's the stress, it's overtraining,
17:34
Speaker 1: it's so mental, but you know, I took some blood
17:37
Speaker 1: tests and my cortisol in that fall was fifty three,
17:40
Speaker 1: which is like five times the normal amount. It's it
17:43
Speaker 1: should be like ten to fourteen for me, and I
17:47
Speaker 1: think that actually was the first thing that helped me
17:50
Speaker 1: understand how physical stress and overtraining and even just life
17:56
Speaker 1: circumstances can be. And I really I was forced to
18:01
Speaker 1: rest in a big way for that So last season
18:04
Speaker 1: that was kind of the focus of my fall.
18:09
Speaker 2: You highlighted the way that you felt physically, but how
18:13
Speaker 2: did you feel emotionally by the end of that season.
18:18
Speaker 1: Oh awful, awful. Yeah, I think I just was really depleted,
18:24
Speaker 1: I would say, and at times really discouraged. Like it
18:27
Speaker 1: got to a point where you're thinking, you know, I
18:31
Speaker 1: got into the sport because I love it, like I
18:34
Speaker 1: love riding my bike.
18:35
Speaker 3: I love racing my bike.
18:36
Speaker 1: I love to compete, Like these are things that are
18:39
Speaker 1: very or feel very central to like who I am.
18:43
Speaker 1: And you get to this point where all of a sudden,
18:47
Speaker 1: you know, for me, this thing that I love doing
18:50
Speaker 1: started being kind of a negative experience. Like I would
18:54
Speaker 1: show up to the races knowing physically I wasn't where
18:56
Speaker 1: I wanted to be and having a bad experience it's
19:00
Speaker 1: in the race, and then you know, having that kind
19:03
Speaker 1: of compound on itself. You know, I got to this
19:05
Speaker 1: point where I was thinking, you know, is cycling making
19:09
Speaker 1: me a better version of myself? Or is it starting
19:11
Speaker 1: to have the opposite effect? Is it starting to kind
19:13
Speaker 1: of tear me down instead of build me up? And
19:16
Speaker 1: I felt like that's the point where that rest became
19:20
Speaker 1: an asset not just for restoring my body, but for
19:24
Speaker 1: allowing me mentally to kind of sift through that feeling
19:28
Speaker 1: and separate out what was fatigue from what was something
19:32
Speaker 1: I needed to work on. And I think the biggest
19:36
Speaker 1: piece was to kind of let all of the external
19:40
Speaker 1: inputs and opinions fade away and connect with why I
19:46
Speaker 1: was doing it. And I think allowing myself to contemplate.
19:52
Speaker 1: That was challenging, absolutely, but in the end it kind
19:57
Speaker 1: of gave me this ability to find that answer within
19:59
Speaker 1: my myself and to say, no, I really want to
20:02
Speaker 1: do this, I don't want to do it in this way.
20:05
Speaker 1: So how do I do it differently? How do I
20:08
Speaker 1: do it better? How do I do it in a
20:10
Speaker 1: way that you know, of course worked towards my goals,
20:14
Speaker 1: like I really really want to win bike races, but
20:17
Speaker 1: that also has a positive impact on me as a person,
20:21
Speaker 1: that allows me to learn about myself, that allows me
20:24
Speaker 1: to show up not just as a better racer, but
20:26
Speaker 1: as a better role model and leader and partner and
20:30
Speaker 1: athlete overall. And so I think, you know, I'm obviously
20:33
Speaker 1: still working on that. I would say last year was,
20:35
Speaker 1: like I called it, the Year of foundations. We were
20:38
Speaker 1: like rebuilding a foundation to stand on, and this year
20:41
Speaker 1: is the year of building, so kind of adding little
20:45
Speaker 1: pieces to that puzzle, and you know, trusting not just
20:49
Speaker 1: what my body's doing, not just what the numbers say,
20:52
Speaker 1: not just what the results say, but trusting that voice
20:55
Speaker 1: of does this feel right? Does this feel like I'm
20:58
Speaker 1: on the right track, Like my feels good, like I'm
21:02
Speaker 1: happy and motivated and allowing that piece of feedback to
21:06
Speaker 1: be just as important.
21:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's understandable you're at this point of complete
21:12
Speaker 2: depletion because you were just kind of running into the
21:15
Speaker 2: wall again and again, working so hard, and so many
21:19
Speaker 2: different external factors were changing what you were working on,
21:25
Speaker 2: So to get to this point of depletion, it's super understandable.
21:29
Speaker 2: And then for you to to really highlight you know,
21:33
Speaker 2: you were talking about the different roles that you plant
21:36
Speaker 2: in your life, being a partner, you know, being a
21:39
Speaker 2: role model, and then kind of in the end of
21:40
Speaker 2: your list saying and an athlete. It's so clear that
21:44
Speaker 2: you've done so much work here to really look at
21:47
Speaker 2: your life in a holistic way and really laying that foundation,
21:52
Speaker 2: as you said, to think about what is it that
21:56
Speaker 2: truly makes Kate happy? And that's a hard question to ask,
22:00
Speaker 2: ask and a hard question to answer, no matter how
22:03
Speaker 2: much work you've done in your on yourself right to
22:05
Speaker 2: get to a point where you can be truly, wholeheartedly
22:09
Speaker 2: honest with yourself and ask the hard questions exactly like
22:12
Speaker 2: you did, That's it's really challenging.
22:16
Speaker 1: Oh, absolutely, Yeah, And I think I've learned a lot
22:20
Speaker 1: about resilience through that process, and it's you know what
22:23
Speaker 1: you just said about this like honesty piece and what
22:26
Speaker 1: makes you happy. I think in the endurance sports world
22:29
Speaker 1: there's often been a little bit of resistance to that.
22:32
Speaker 1: I think there's like this kind of push through suffer
22:36
Speaker 1: you have to be willing to do whatever it takes mentality,
22:38
Speaker 1: which I absolutely agree with, Like you have to have
22:41
Speaker 1: that mentality, but it has to be applied in the
22:44
Speaker 1: right way. And I think there's huge value in the
22:49
Speaker 1: ability to be honest and to be present and to
22:53
Speaker 1: be in the moment as well. And I think it's
22:56
Speaker 1: actually like the combination of these two things. I say,
22:58
Speaker 1: for me, it's like the combination of the joy and
23:01
Speaker 1: hard work that allows me to really be my best
23:05
Speaker 1: as an athlete and to go beyond those limits and
23:09
Speaker 1: really go beyond what's achievable by hard work alone. Because
23:13
Speaker 1: the person who's having fun and who loves what they're doing,
23:17
Speaker 1: they will always outperform the person who's suffering and struggling.
23:21
Speaker 1: They will be able to take on more capacity, to
23:25
Speaker 1: push harder, and to achieve more just by virtue of
23:28
Speaker 1: the fact that in a given moment, one person might
23:31
Speaker 1: be saying this is really hard and I'm struggling, but
23:33
Speaker 1: I will overcome. And that person is saying, man, it's
23:36
Speaker 1: like amazing to be on my bike and I love
23:38
Speaker 1: this and I'm succeeding. And I think that's part of
23:42
Speaker 1: having a resilient and strong and tough mindset as much
23:46
Speaker 1: as the ability to kind of suffer and push through,
23:49
Speaker 1: which is of course also part.
23:50
Speaker 3: Of the sport.
23:51
Speaker 2: It's a fine line sometimes, right, because you want to
23:55
Speaker 2: make sure that you're finding the joy. If you're not
23:58
Speaker 2: having fun then truly, I am also so of the
24:00
Speaker 2: mindset like what's the point, right, But there also does
24:04
Speaker 2: become a point where that certain level of grit is
24:09
Speaker 2: going to give you an added edge, and that's grit
24:12
Speaker 2: that you found in your career, you know, in all
24:15
Speaker 2: of your accomplishments. So kind of finding the balance there
24:21
Speaker 2: certainly can be challenging. Absolutely, but this isn't going to
24:26
Speaker 2: be your first Olympics that you're prepping for. Talk to
24:30
Speaker 2: us about your first trip to the Olympics.
24:36
Speaker 3: Yeah, I so.
24:37
Speaker 1: I was on the team in twenty twenty, which came
24:40
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one in Tokyo, and it kind of came
24:44
Speaker 1: at the end of kind of my best two or
24:47
Speaker 1: three years. I won the U twenty three World Cup
24:50
Speaker 1: overall in twenty seventeen. Twenty eighteen, I won the World Championships.
24:56
Speaker 1: In twenty nineteen, I won the Elite World Cup overall.
24:59
Speaker 1: So it's kind of like huge progression over these three years.
25:04
Speaker 1: And I automatically qualified for the team in twenty nineteen,
25:08
Speaker 1: so I had punched my ticket by the time we
25:11
Speaker 1: got to twenty twenty, and then of course things were
25:14
Speaker 1: up in the air a little bit for a few years.
25:16
Speaker 1: But yeah, for me, you know, the race did not
25:18
Speaker 1: go necessarily to plan. I had a really tough experience
25:23
Speaker 1: in the actual race. But I think it also has
25:28
Speaker 1: helped me to kind of, as we've talked about, reassess
25:31
Speaker 1: my process and change some critical things that I think
25:35
Speaker 1: are going to give me the best chance of having
25:36
Speaker 1: the results I want in the rest of my career.
25:40
Speaker 1: And that's something that you know, is really hard to do,
25:42
Speaker 1: especially in these Olympic cycles. But playing that long game,
25:46
Speaker 1: not just the two year game or the four year game,
25:48
Speaker 1: but the what do I want the trajectory of my
25:52
Speaker 1: entire career to be? And I think for me, that
25:55
Speaker 1: of course involves hopefully a few more Olympic cycles, but
25:58
Speaker 1: also involves a lot of other races along the way,
26:01
Speaker 1: and it's really about using that feedback to improve every
26:08
Speaker 1: stage of the game.
26:10
Speaker 2: I want to talk about mountain biking as a sport
26:13
Speaker 2: because it is clearly a completely different let's call it
26:19
Speaker 2: beasts than road cycling, and that there is a lot,
26:23
Speaker 2: a lot, a lot of technicality involved. How did you
26:27
Speaker 2: know that you wanted to lean into mountain biking versus
26:31
Speaker 2: road cycling.
26:34
Speaker 3: Yeah, I grew.
26:36
Speaker 1: Up not really knowing that mountain biking was a sport
26:39
Speaker 1: for me.
26:39
Speaker 3: At the time.
26:40
Speaker 1: I think, you know, cycling was the Tour de France,
26:43
Speaker 1: which was not only all road bikes but also all
26:45
Speaker 1: men until this past year. So I never really saw
26:51
Speaker 1: myself in that sport growing up. But when I found
26:55
Speaker 1: mountain biking, I think for me, it was this kind
26:58
Speaker 1: of combination of all these things.
27:00
Speaker 3: I loved.
27:00
Speaker 1: It was kind of a home for my competitive spirit.
27:03
Speaker 1: I loved, you know, the mass start, full effort. It's
27:08
Speaker 1: kind of similar to a marathon. It's about an hour
27:10
Speaker 1: and a half and it's the first person to cross
27:12
Speaker 1: that finish line. So I love that competitive aspect of it.
27:16
Speaker 1: But I also loved all those other elements. There's kind
27:19
Speaker 1: of the mechanical side of things. You have to manage
27:21
Speaker 1: a bike. There's the technical side of things. We have
27:24
Speaker 1: rock gardens and drops and rocks and single track to
27:28
Speaker 1: manage and navigate.
27:29
Speaker 3: In the race.
27:30
Speaker 1: It's incredibly physical. It's we call it like sprinting marathon.
27:34
Speaker 1: It's a super anaerobic sport, but it's also long, so
27:38
Speaker 1: it kind of walks that line of needing endurance but
27:42
Speaker 1: also needing that sprint power to compete, and at the
27:45
Speaker 1: end of the day it's really fun. Like I love
27:47
Speaker 1: the training for it. I love going out being in
27:50
Speaker 1: the woods, being on the trail and having that kind
27:53
Speaker 1: of like solo experience on the mountain bike. But I
27:58
Speaker 1: also love the races which have some element of that.
28:00
Speaker 1: Of course, it's not quite as introspective out on a
28:03
Speaker 1: World Cup circuit with tons of fans and the noise
28:07
Speaker 1: and the competition, but I think it still does bring
28:10
Speaker 1: out some of those elements of you know, you're out there,
28:13
Speaker 1: you're on the bike, it's you and the trail and
28:16
Speaker 1: you're just trying to go as fast as you possibly can.
28:18
Speaker 2: It's interesting as well, you saying or making note of
28:22
Speaker 2: the fact that we didn't see women in the Tour
28:24
Speaker 2: de France until last year, and for you growing up
28:28
Speaker 2: and then deciding that this is the direction that you
28:31
Speaker 2: wanted to go in, it's what how did that feel
28:34
Speaker 2: for you to not see a lot of examples of
28:38
Speaker 2: strong women doing the thing that you felt so passionate about.
28:42
Speaker 1: I think it's been an interesting thing to watch evolve
28:46
Speaker 1: over time. Mountain biking actually has been a lot more equal.
28:52
Speaker 1: We have we raise on the same courses as the men,
28:55
Speaker 1: We've had the same prize money. Since I've been in
28:58
Speaker 1: the sport. The kind of generation right ahead of me
29:01
Speaker 1: advocated and worked really hard to make sure that we
29:04
Speaker 1: had equal prize money. So a lot of these kind
29:07
Speaker 1: of like bigger picture structural things are the same in
29:10
Speaker 1: mountain biking, which I think probably attracted me to the sport.
29:14
Speaker 1: You know, I saw that there was that kind of platform.
29:17
Speaker 1: But there still are a lot of ways in which
29:20
Speaker 1: that inequality kind of seeps in, whether it's in the attitudes,
29:24
Speaker 1: the way that the women are talked about, the time
29:26
Speaker 1: that they raise the size of the fields, the salaries,
29:30
Speaker 1: like there's all these kind of subtle indicators of you know,
29:33
Speaker 1: maybe we're not being valued in the same way, and
29:36
Speaker 1: I think in a positive sense. That's what I've started
29:39
Speaker 1: to see change throughout my kind of ten years on
29:43
Speaker 1: the circuit is that, you know, I do think women
29:46
Speaker 1: are being valued and supported in a much more equal way.
29:51
Speaker 1: And there is a lot of work still to be
29:52
Speaker 1: done in that sense, but it's definitely part of what
29:56
Speaker 1: I think makes mountain biking really unique and a super
29:59
Speaker 1: excited sport to watch. Like, we have an incredibly competitive
30:03
Speaker 1: women's fields, and I think we had over one hundred
30:06
Speaker 1: women in the World Cup in multiple races last year,
30:09
Speaker 1: which is just huge growth. And I think that's not
30:13
Speaker 1: just the result of women being interested and wanting to participate,
30:17
Speaker 1: but it's the result of companies being willing to pay
30:20
Speaker 1: women to focus on it, and to support women and
30:23
Speaker 1: getting to the races and competing, and to value the
30:27
Speaker 1: output of that effort, which is really competitive, exciting, dynamic racing.
30:33
Speaker 2: When you say the way that women are talked about
30:36
Speaker 2: paints an example of what that may look like.
30:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, So the example that kind of comes to mind
30:45
Speaker 1: is saying like, oh, she's fast for a girl, or
30:48
Speaker 1: she's fast for a woman, or they're strong for the
30:51
Speaker 1: women's field, you know, those kind of qualifiers, and I
30:55
Speaker 1: think that's you know, sometimes that's said in a way
30:58
Speaker 1: that's not malicious at all, but I do think there's
31:01
Speaker 1: like subtle undercutting of the talent in the women's field
31:06
Speaker 1: sometimes when those qualifiers are put on. And I would say,
31:10
Speaker 1: you know, about three years ago, we had a national
31:12
Speaker 1: championships and it's the first time that I remember this happening,
31:17
Speaker 1: but a ton of like young US boys, like young
31:22
Speaker 1: male mountain bikers came up and we're like, wow, we
31:26
Speaker 1: just saw you do that rock card and like that
31:27
Speaker 1: was you're so skilled or you're so fast, you're so strong,
31:31
Speaker 1: and I want to be like you. And it totally
31:33
Speaker 1: took me by surprise. I think I come to expect or, like,
31:38
Speaker 1: you know, it seems more normal for like the young
31:40
Speaker 1: female mount bike racers to come up and say, oh,
31:42
Speaker 1: I want to be like you. And I think that's
31:45
Speaker 1: an example of like where it's changing and where I think,
31:49
Speaker 1: you know, they didn't say you're fast for the women's field,
31:53
Speaker 1: they said you're a really good mounta biker, and I
31:56
Speaker 1: want to be able to do some of the things
31:58
Speaker 1: you can do. And it's a small example but I
32:03
Speaker 1: think it's representative of bigger changes where young boys are
32:08
Speaker 1: taught to potentially look up to women and to respect
32:11
Speaker 1: the efforts of anyone who's competing at the top of
32:15
Speaker 1: a sport.
32:16
Speaker 2: Part of your multi hyphen it undeniable role model. How
32:23
Speaker 2: does being a role model make you feel?
32:27
Speaker 3: Thank you?
32:28
Speaker 1: First of all, I think it's a privilege. I think
32:31
Speaker 1: it's something that sometimes makes me feel nervous. It makes
32:34
Speaker 1: me want to be a better version of myself, to
32:38
Speaker 1: represent the values and ideas that I would want to
32:42
Speaker 1: pass along to the next generation and that I would
32:44
Speaker 1: want to see in the next generation of mount bikers.
32:49
Speaker 3: And I think of.
32:49
Speaker 1: It as kind of a responsibility making sure that I'm
32:53
Speaker 1: aware that when I'm doing something publicly, when I'm racing,
32:56
Speaker 1: when I'm talking about racing, it's something that young women
33:01
Speaker 1: or men could be looking at and looking to as
33:03
Speaker 1: an example. And I do think that's something that comes
33:06
Speaker 1: with a lot of responsibility.
33:08
Speaker 2: What do you think one of the qualities that you
33:11
Speaker 2: possess makes you to be a role model outside of
33:15
Speaker 2: your athletic performance.
33:19
Speaker 1: Oh, that's a good question. That's a hard one. You know,
33:23
Speaker 1: we're going to come full circle. I think this ability
33:26
Speaker 1: to combine the joy and hard work. If I had
33:29
Speaker 1: to pick one thing that I wanted to promote, it's
33:33
Speaker 1: that combination because I think if I've learned anything in
33:38
Speaker 1: my career so far, it's that it is so rare
33:42
Speaker 1: that it all comes together. You know, I've had those
33:44
Speaker 1: moments and I'm so lucky and grateful, and I've worked
33:48
Speaker 1: incredibly hard to make those happen. So it's not like,
33:51
Speaker 1: you know, it's plucked from the earth and just given
33:55
Speaker 1: this title or given this opportunity. You know, you work
33:59
Speaker 1: really hard, but there's a lot of people who work
34:01
Speaker 1: really hard and it just doesn't come together. So I
34:04
Speaker 1: think knowing that you have to really invest in making
34:09
Speaker 1: that process additive to your life. And for me, that's
34:13
Speaker 1: that intersection of joy and hard work. It's knowing that
34:16
Speaker 1: I get to wake up and do something I love
34:19
Speaker 1: to do and that makes me a better person. And
34:22
Speaker 1: I think when it tips too far to one side
34:25
Speaker 1: or the other, I mean, maybe it's not so bad
34:27
Speaker 1: if it tips too far to the joy side, but
34:30
Speaker 1: if it tips too far to one side of the other,
34:33
Speaker 1: you either, I think, lose your competitive edge or you
34:37
Speaker 1: lose the most important thing that kind of soul of
34:40
Speaker 1: sport connection where it is additive to your life and
34:43
Speaker 1: you're enjoying what you're doing. And for me, in the
34:47
Speaker 1: next generation, many are called, few are chosen. Like, there's
34:51
Speaker 1: many young athletes who want to be a professional or
34:55
Speaker 1: want to make it on the World Cup circuit and
34:57
Speaker 1: who may or may not. But if they walk away
35:00
Speaker 1: from this sport knowing how to work hard, with respect
35:04
Speaker 1: for discipline, with the ability to set big goals and
35:07
Speaker 1: chip away at it, and with a love for being
35:11
Speaker 1: outside and being on their bikes and moving their bodies like,
35:14
Speaker 1: they will be better people. They will be more successful
35:17
Speaker 1: at anything they do. And I think that's more important
35:21
Speaker 1: than any title.
35:22
Speaker 3: Really.
35:23
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, when you refer to the building stage that
35:28
Speaker 2: you're in right now, what would you say are kind
35:32
Speaker 2: of the key components of that for you?
35:35
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's definitely.
35:36
Speaker 1: We're around new year, so you know, we're getting our
35:38
Speaker 1: themes of the year, our mantras, our words dialed in.
35:42
Speaker 1: And that's definitely one that I've been thinking about this
35:45
Speaker 1: year is just building. And my other my kind of
35:49
Speaker 1: mantra of the year so far is just keep going.
35:52
Speaker 1: I think there was a period where I had to
35:55
Speaker 1: really look really critically at a lot of things and
35:58
Speaker 1: think deeply about, Okay, is do I have the right coach,
36:01
Speaker 1: Do I have the right structure? Am I in the
36:04
Speaker 1: right place? And do I have the right tools to
36:07
Speaker 1: do what.
36:07
Speaker 3: I want to do?
36:09
Speaker 1: And now I think I've done that really hard work
36:12
Speaker 1: of kind of putting that foundation back in and you
36:15
Speaker 1: know whether or not it works. I trust the path
36:19
Speaker 1: that I'm on and I think it's great to be
36:23
Speaker 1: able to say that at this stage. And now it's
36:26
Speaker 1: about continuing to follow that process and follow that path
36:29
Speaker 1: and you know, trust it and that's in some ways
36:35
Speaker 1: the hardest part.
36:37
Speaker 2: So I know that many individuals that like to run,
36:41
Speaker 2: because I like to run, they listen to this show.
36:44
Speaker 2: And when you're training for something specific and running, you
36:47
Speaker 2: have a training plan. Is it that your coach puts
36:49
Speaker 2: together a specific training plan that you are following regularly,
36:52
Speaker 2: whether you have a race in the more immediate future
36:58
Speaker 2: versus the distant future. How does that work? Yeah?
37:00
Speaker 1: So I have it's a big infrastructure, but I have
37:04
Speaker 1: a coach who writes pretty much my on bike training.
37:08
Speaker 1: I have a strength coach who writes all my in
37:10
Speaker 1: the gym training and I I'll be in the gym
37:13
Speaker 1: two to three days a week and a lot of
37:15
Speaker 1: it in person. My strength coach is also my physical therapist,
37:19
Speaker 1: and then I have a nutritionist that I work with.
37:23
Speaker 3: So in any.
37:24
Speaker 1: Given day, I think there's a lot more to the
37:28
Speaker 1: training than one might think. It really is a full
37:31
Speaker 1: time job. It's at least a nine to five in
37:35
Speaker 1: terms of getting mobility, recovery, getting your training done, not
37:40
Speaker 1: just getting through it, but getting it done in a
37:42
Speaker 1: really high quality manner, and having the support around that
37:46
Speaker 1: training that you need to make it the best you
37:48
Speaker 1: can possibly be on that day, and then having the
37:52
Speaker 1: systems in place to be able to do it again
37:54
Speaker 1: the next day. So I have, yeah, a pretty robust
37:57
Speaker 1: training calendar, and then we worked onne to you know,
38:02
Speaker 1: integrate feedback how I'm feeling, how things are going, and
38:06
Speaker 1: try to push the edge where we can.
38:09
Speaker 2: How would you say that things are going now?
38:13
Speaker 1: He's going, well, I think, yeah, it's a little it's
38:15
Speaker 1: too simple. I think, Okay, it's early in the season,
38:21
Speaker 1: so this time of year, just being healthy, being on
38:25
Speaker 1: track in terms of hitting kind of my objectives, that's
38:29
Speaker 1: all you can really ask for. And I do think
38:33
Speaker 1: that's helpful, and this is something that I would recommend
38:35
Speaker 1: to everyone, is if you're training for something, if you're
38:39
Speaker 1: looking towards a big goal on the horizon, having KPIs,
38:43
Speaker 1: as we call them, key performance indicators along the way
38:47
Speaker 1: is critical. And this is something that at times I
38:50
Speaker 1: haven't had in my career where I've just tried to
38:52
Speaker 1: get better and better every week every year, which is,
38:57
Speaker 1: you know, a good starting point, but at a certain
39:00
Speaker 1: point you can't just add training load every year. You're
39:04
Speaker 1: going to get to a point where you can take
39:07
Speaker 1: on as much training as you need to, and there's
39:10
Speaker 1: a law of diminishing returns. So for me, having these
39:14
Speaker 1: indicators of Okay, when I'm at my best, I've hit
39:16
Speaker 1: this benchmark in January, or I am able to like
39:20
Speaker 1: put up this power number for this many minutes, or
39:23
Speaker 1: I'm performing this way in the gym. Having those KPIs,
39:27
Speaker 1: I think not only makes the process more fun. It's
39:30
Speaker 1: really fun to like hit those little objectives, but it
39:33
Speaker 1: also gives you this like small immediate thing to focus
39:36
Speaker 1: on as you're breaking down this big goal. So when
39:39
Speaker 1: you ask, like where am I in my training, It's like, well,
39:42
Speaker 1: I'm hitting my KPIs. So I'm like on track where
39:44
Speaker 1: I am, but there's still a long way to go
39:47
Speaker 1: to being where I want to be in the World Cup.
39:50
Speaker 2: Season Ah the mid Roll ad Reed taking a break
39:58
Speaker 2: from today's episode to talk to you about some of
40:01
Speaker 2: my lovely sponsors who make bringing this content to you
40:05
Speaker 2: a week after week possible. First up, ag one from
40:10
Speaker 2: Athletic Greens. AG one is really just so much more
40:14
Speaker 2: than a Greens powder. It's your daily multi vitamin and
40:17
Speaker 2: multi mineral pre and probiotic, immunity support and more. And yes,
40:22
Speaker 2: it provides your daily Greens blend. Two Greens powders provide
40:27
Speaker 2: critical final nutrients, but alone these nutrients don't help empower
40:31
Speaker 2: gut health. By delivering the final nutrient blend along with
40:35
Speaker 2: the multi vitamins, probiotics, adaptogens, and more, ag one creates
40:39
Speaker 2: an environment where the gut can thrive, so the body
40:43
Speaker 2: can thrive too. Take it from me, I have been
40:45
Speaker 2: taking ag one from Athletic Greens for years now and
40:49
Speaker 2: I cannot imagine my mourning routine without it. I literally
40:53
Speaker 2: shake it up every single day after my morning workout.
40:56
Speaker 2: I bring it with me into the studio and that
40:59
Speaker 2: is like be signaling to my brain. Okay, it's go time.
41:03
Speaker 2: You're doing something good for yourself and now you are
41:06
Speaker 2: prepared to do good for others. Now, of course, as
41:10
Speaker 2: you know, ag one has an amazing deal for you.
41:13
Speaker 2: If you head on over to Athleticgreens dot com slash hurdle,
41:17
Speaker 2: you can get a free year's supply of Vitamin D
41:21
Speaker 2: three K two plus five free travel packs with your purchase.
41:26
Speaker 2: Again that link Athleticgreens dot Com slash hurdle to get
41:31
Speaker 2: all of those freebies. Do something for you you trust
41:35
Speaker 2: me deserve it. Also got to give some love to
41:39
Speaker 2: my friends at future. Future is a new way to
41:42
Speaker 2: get fully customized personal training that revolves around you. You'll
41:48
Speaker 2: find the guidance, a motivation, and accountability that you need
41:52
Speaker 2: to push beyond your comfort zone. Future has all of
41:56
Speaker 2: the benefits of one on one personal training without to
42:00
Speaker 2: the hour time limit. Whether you need tips for sleeping
42:03
Speaker 2: better the night before a big race, or perhaps you're
42:07
Speaker 2: trying to think about how to fuel yourself best to
42:10
Speaker 2: go toward that big deadlift. Pr Future has got you
42:14
Speaker 2: covered and it all happens directly in the Future app.
42:18
Speaker 2: With the tools that you need to track your progress
42:22
Speaker 2: and celebrate milestones. I am, oh my goodness obsessed, sounds
42:28
Speaker 2: a little strong, but loving. Working with my guy Brendan
42:32
Speaker 2: in the app. He is giving me so much of
42:35
Speaker 2: what I'm asking for, including cranking up the intensity and
42:39
Speaker 2: also the weights. So just last week I hit a
42:42
Speaker 2: new deadlift pr myself and I'm feeling strong, capable, and
42:46
Speaker 2: excited for what's to come. Exclusive to hurdle listeners, get
42:51
Speaker 2: your first month of future for just nineteen dollars. Head
42:54
Speaker 2: on over to tryfuture dot com slash hurdle again. That is,
42:59
Speaker 2: try fut youre dot com slash hurdle to get your
43:05
Speaker 2: first month of future for just nineteen dollars. Today, let's
43:10
Speaker 2: get back to it for the person who isn't hitting
43:21
Speaker 2: the KPIs and feels discouraged, what advice do you have
43:27
Speaker 2: to offer about the practice of grace.
43:32
Speaker 1: Grace is a big part of it, and that's something
43:35
Speaker 1: that I work on a lot, so I have compassion
43:39
Speaker 1: for anyone struggling with that. But I think some of
43:44
Speaker 1: it is being able to kind of switch in and
43:47
Speaker 1: out of this objective mode. So when you're just looking
43:50
Speaker 1: at training, you're looking at numbers, you're looking at this output.
43:53
Speaker 1: There's like this objective piece where you're like, is it
43:55
Speaker 1: good or bad?
43:56
Speaker 3: Is it going well or not?
43:58
Speaker 1: And it's it's important to be able to take that
44:02
Speaker 1: perspective and like objectively analyze how things are going. But
44:06
Speaker 1: I think there's also this piece that's very subjective. How
44:09
Speaker 1: you feel, like what's happening in your life, how kind
44:13
Speaker 1: of the environment around you is impacting your performance in
44:17
Speaker 1: any given moment or week or year, and those things
44:21
Speaker 1: we can't always control and we can't always predict how
44:24
Speaker 1: they will impact our performance. I think a lot of
44:28
Speaker 1: times the athlete who gets injured mid season will like
44:31
Speaker 1: win worlds, and everyone says when they get injured, oh bummer,
44:34
Speaker 1: their season's over. But somehow the rest like allows them
44:38
Speaker 1: to reach a new level that we never knew they could.
44:42
Speaker 1: So I think it's important to be able to yes,
44:46
Speaker 1: like keep that in mind, keep track of the objective output,
44:50
Speaker 1: and make sure that you know if something really isn't working, like,
44:53
Speaker 1: you can also make changes. It's never too late to
44:55
Speaker 1: like adjust something to respond to the feedback you're getting
44:59
Speaker 1: to say, my body doesn't feel right, Like I need
45:01
Speaker 1: to see a new coach work with a nutritionist, get
45:05
Speaker 1: some testing done like that. That's part of it to
45:07
Speaker 1: that objective piece. But I think this other side of
45:11
Speaker 1: having grace and accepting Okay, well this isn't going great
45:15
Speaker 1: right now, but the tides can always turn.
45:19
Speaker 2: Please, You're not the only person who is like constantly
45:22
Speaker 2: a work in progress. When it comes to grace, it
45:25
Speaker 2: can be hard, right because we don't work hard to
45:28
Speaker 2: not get the thing that we are working toward. You know,
45:32
Speaker 2: that is never the hope. But that grace and having
45:37
Speaker 2: that exhale moment is the thing that empowers you to
45:41
Speaker 2: keep showing up when those hurdles kind of come up.
45:45
Speaker 2: Right for you now, as you gear up for another Olympics,
45:52
Speaker 2: what would you say that you're most excited about right
45:54
Speaker 2: now in your training?
45:57
Speaker 3: I love that question.
45:58
Speaker 1: I think people don't ask enough about that. The training
46:02
Speaker 1: is ninety percent of what I do right It's so
46:05
Speaker 1: much more time spent than the racing. I think for
46:09
Speaker 1: me right now, it's really exciting to see that my
46:14
Speaker 1: body is just taking on training load.
46:17
Speaker 3: I think it.
46:18
Speaker 1: Legitimately took probably six to eight months to dig out
46:22
Speaker 1: of that hole after just not like kind of overtraining
46:26
Speaker 1: getting to that low point I think for a long
46:30
Speaker 1: time it just we had to be really conservative. And
46:33
Speaker 1: the way I described it was, you know, the twenty
46:37
Speaker 1: twenty one season, I was on a treadmill and it
46:39
Speaker 1: was like one speed too high, right, You're just like
46:42
Speaker 1: you're barely barely hanging on, and then eventually you like
46:46
Speaker 1: truly cannot do it anymore. Last year it was like
46:49
Speaker 1: we kept the treadmill like within my limits. Right.
46:53
Speaker 3: It was never too high.
46:54
Speaker 1: It was always if it like got a little challenging,
46:56
Speaker 1: we'd like turn it down a little bit and stay
46:58
Speaker 1: within that range of Okay, you know, I can handle this.
47:03
Speaker 1: But when I'm at my best, and what excites me
47:06
Speaker 1: in racing is when I'm on the treadmill and I'm like,
47:09
Speaker 1: we interned this baby up, like we.
47:12
Speaker 3: Turn it out, you know.
47:14
Speaker 1: And I think I've finally gotten to that places fall where,
47:18
Speaker 1: you know, when when my coaches have to hold me
47:20
Speaker 1: back a little bit, that's when it gets fun and
47:23
Speaker 1: where you start to think, you know, be positively surprised
47:27
Speaker 1: by a workout. I think, you know, Alexi Papas has
47:30
Speaker 1: the rule of thirds, like a third of the days
47:32
Speaker 1: are bad, a third or kind of medium.
47:34
Speaker 3: Our third are like.
47:36
Speaker 1: Really amazing, and without that third of like you know,
47:40
Speaker 1: for me, I call it the power meter broken days
47:42
Speaker 1: where I'm like, man, we need to recalibrate this.
47:45
Speaker 3: I don't know if it's right.
47:47
Speaker 1: Like sometimes that happens and it's too low and you're like,
47:50
Speaker 1: I'm having a really bad day. Maybe my power meter
47:52
Speaker 1: is wrong. But occasionally that will happen when you're like,
47:55
Speaker 1: it's impossible, I couldn't be this strong. Uh, And then
47:59
Speaker 1: you check and it's right and you're like, wow, I
48:01
Speaker 1: didn't think that that was going to happen today. And
48:05
Speaker 1: without the kind of I don't think it's a third,
48:07
Speaker 1: but without those days, occasionally it's just not as fun.
48:12
Speaker 1: And so for me, I guess that's my biggest excitement
48:14
Speaker 1: is that there's like some surprise days right now.
48:20
Speaker 2: That it almost feels like a third of the time.
48:22
Speaker 2: I love that. And you know, earlier you used the
48:25
Speaker 2: word robust, and I would be remiss if I didn't
48:29
Speaker 2: say that you also have a robust social media following
48:33
Speaker 2: of something like almost five hundred and fifty thousand people.
48:37
Speaker 2: When did that like start to tick up for you? Yeah?
48:42
Speaker 3: For me, I think it was really like results driven.
48:45
Speaker 1: Initially, I think it really had to do with, you know,
48:49
Speaker 1: getting big race results and just having my name like
48:52
Speaker 1: be out there, like you win a World Cup, it's
48:54
Speaker 1: on TV, a bunch of people follow you, and it's
48:58
Speaker 1: something I've struggled with, like how much to put into that.
49:01
Speaker 1: There's been times where it's really positive and encouraging, and
49:04
Speaker 1: also times of course, like I think for any athlete
49:08
Speaker 1: who's been to the top and then maybe had some failures,
49:11
Speaker 1: like people love to people love the downfall of a champion,
49:15
Speaker 1: like that is a great you know, fuel for trolls
49:19
Speaker 1: on Instagram. But I also think there's this like really
49:24
Speaker 1: robust support for people that are working hard and just
49:28
Speaker 1: like involved in the process. And so it's this double
49:31
Speaker 1: edged sword where it can be really positive for me,
49:34
Speaker 1: And I think it can be really positive in terms
49:36
Speaker 1: of being a role model and showing what it takes
49:39
Speaker 1: to try to achieve at this level and what it
49:42
Speaker 1: looks like, at least for me to try to do
49:44
Speaker 1: so in a healthy, balanced, thoughtful way. But it also
49:50
Speaker 1: has certainly its drawbacks and its challenges. So it's something
49:53
Speaker 1: that I've kind of gone back and forth on in
49:55
Speaker 1: the last few years.
49:57
Speaker 2: How did you navigate those low lows of twenty one
50:01
Speaker 2: with feeling like you were kind of on display.
50:04
Speaker 1: Then it was interesting because I think honestly, as I
50:11
Speaker 1: was struggling and shared quite a bit of that as
50:14
Speaker 1: it was happening, people were really supportive more so than critical.
50:20
Speaker 1: And I think there are a lot of people who
50:24
Speaker 1: appreciated seeing, you know, a role model or someone that
50:28
Speaker 1: they want to be a role model for their kids
50:31
Speaker 1: showing what it looks like to kind of stumble and struggle.
50:34
Speaker 1: But I also think there's kind of this like self
50:37
Speaker 1: protective side where sometimes you really do need to just
50:40
Speaker 1: like be surrounded by the people that love you and
50:43
Speaker 1: know you and not have a lot of external inputs
50:46
Speaker 1: because even if the good far outweighs the bad, like
50:50
Speaker 1: there are always questions and people with more negative opinions
50:54
Speaker 1: or critical opinions, especially as a professional athlete, like I'm
50:58
Speaker 1: in a sport, I get paid to do something that
51:01
Speaker 1: people love to do, and well, you know, if you
51:05
Speaker 1: really spend a lot of time with a professional athlete,
51:07
Speaker 1: a lot of people want to do what I do
51:10
Speaker 1: two to three days of the week. But it's really
51:14
Speaker 1: it's a challenging job in other circumstances, But I think
51:18
Speaker 1: it is important to be able to insulate yourself from
51:22
Speaker 1: that when necessary, And for me that was like taking
51:26
Speaker 1: a break and healing and really soliciting opinions from people
51:31
Speaker 1: that I love and who love me and who I
51:34
Speaker 1: could trust to not just give me super positive feedback,
51:38
Speaker 1: but to give me appropriate feedback.
51:42
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, that's such an important takeaway for sure. On
51:47
Speaker 2: that note, someone goes to your Instagram and they see
51:51
Speaker 2: the labels you throw up, top World Champ, Olympian Racer
51:55
Speaker 2: of bikes. When you look in the mirror, Kate, what
51:59
Speaker 2: is it that you see looking back at you?
52:02
Speaker 1: None of those titles have changed who I am as
52:06
Speaker 1: a person. They've been really fun, like I think in particular,
52:10
Speaker 1: like winning world championships or you know, winning a World
52:14
Speaker 1: Cup in front of my family, like things like that.
52:17
Speaker 1: They're just they're unbelievable life experiences, Like they're such highs.
52:22
Speaker 1: But I think for me, I just see someone who's
52:27
Speaker 1: willing to try, and that is what I want to protect.
52:32
Speaker 1: I want to protect that like fierce willingness, just to
52:36
Speaker 1: like give it all I've got, try something new, push
52:40
Speaker 1: myself in training, see what happens. It's something that's like
52:44
Speaker 1: deeply a part of who I am, and that I
52:46
Speaker 1: think shows up in bike racing, but that I also
52:51
Speaker 1: know will show up in anything I do, and that
52:54
Speaker 1: I get to take with me and to apply to
52:59
Speaker 1: what I'm passionate about and what I'm curious about and
53:01
Speaker 1: what I care about and what makes my life interesting
53:06
Speaker 1: and fun not just for me but for the people
53:08
Speaker 1: that I share it with.
53:11
Speaker 2: What was it like to win a world championship?
53:15
Speaker 3: It was pretty awesome.
53:17
Speaker 1: No, you only get one of those moments if you're lucky.
53:22
Speaker 1: And I went into that race, you know, trying to
53:26
Speaker 1: be on the podium. That was certainly my goal, but
53:28
Speaker 1: with no expectation of winning. And when I think about it,
53:33
Speaker 1: I think, you know, there was the moment that I
53:38
Speaker 1: in the race, took the lead and thought, Okay, if
53:41
Speaker 1: I want this, I have to perform like I deserve it,
53:45
Speaker 1: and kind of got this confidence in my ability to
53:49
Speaker 1: deliver under pressure that I think will be with me forever.
53:53
Speaker 1: Like to be in that moment with yourself and say, okay,
53:59
Speaker 1: I'm here, like what do I have? And to be
54:01
Speaker 1: able to give your best is I think a really
54:05
Speaker 1: important experience. But the main thing I think of is
54:10
Speaker 1: my parents standing at the finish line. There's like a
54:12
Speaker 1: video of all of us crying and and just to
54:17
Speaker 1: be able to share that with them, and to know
54:22
Speaker 1: how much so many people put into the process of
54:26
Speaker 1: getting me there, and to be able to like be
54:28
Speaker 1: the vessel of all this work and all this passion
54:31
Speaker 1: and all this commitment and to be able to pull
54:34
Speaker 1: it off, Like it was just one of the most
54:36
Speaker 1: exciting and emotional moments of my life. And I know,
54:40
Speaker 1: you know, there's there's little moments like that in training
54:44
Speaker 1: all the time. There's tiny little breakthroughs, there's tiny moments
54:47
Speaker 1: of where you get to travel to race with your family.
54:50
Speaker 1: Like there's a little hints of it. But I think
54:52
Speaker 1: there's also this kind of like acknowledgment and respect that
54:55
Speaker 1: those huge ones are. You know, a few times in
54:58
Speaker 1: a lifetime.
54:59
Speaker 2: What do you say your ultimate goal is?
55:04
Speaker 3: You know, I'm tempted to like give a results goal.
55:07
Speaker 1: There's of course like ones on the table, right, that's
55:10
Speaker 1: the first thing you're like, oh, I want to do
55:11
Speaker 1: that thing, But when you go beneath it, I think
55:16
Speaker 1: I really thought a lot about this idea of like
55:18
Speaker 1: infinite verse, finite games and like a world Championships and Olympics.
55:23
Speaker 1: Any bike race is this finite game. It's like there's
55:25
Speaker 1: a start line, there's a finish line. You show up,
55:28
Speaker 1: it starts, it's over, there's a clear result. But the
55:31
Speaker 1: infinite game of for me, like trying to be the
55:35
Speaker 1: best mountain biker that I can possibly be. That's a
55:38
Speaker 1: long term process, and it's one that has no clear
55:43
Speaker 1: start or end, and that has no real clear input
55:48
Speaker 1: or output. But that is a really long term process,
55:52
Speaker 1: and that all those finite games play into. Like I
55:54
Speaker 1: think every finite game is an opportunity to gain skills
55:59
Speaker 1: and gain master that feeds into that bigger goal. And
56:04
Speaker 1: then of course mountain biking is probably a finite game,
56:07
Speaker 1: and like your overall desire to evolve and achieve as
56:10
Speaker 1: a person, So we can get very deep with that,
56:13
Speaker 1: but I would say, yeah, for me right now, it's
56:16
Speaker 1: just to see it through and to see how far
56:21
Speaker 1: and how fast and how long I can go.
56:24
Speaker 2: You got married at the end of last year. Congratulations,
56:28
Speaker 2: Thank you. How does married life feel.
56:32
Speaker 3: Oh it's a blast. Yeah, it's been. It's so fun.
56:37
Speaker 1: We're we're up here in Tahoe together skiing a bunch
56:40
Speaker 1: and hopefully we'll go home and ride our bikes if
56:42
Speaker 1: it's not too rainy.
56:44
Speaker 2: Yeah.
56:44
Speaker 1: I think for me it's really it's a privilege to
56:48
Speaker 1: have that kind of partnership in my life. And I
56:51
Speaker 1: feel really grateful that, you know, we met when I
56:55
Speaker 1: was a freshman on the Mountain Bike team. So will
56:59
Speaker 1: my husband and someone that's really been a part of
57:01
Speaker 1: my life for a very long time and has supported
57:04
Speaker 1: me and achieving these dreams and pushing me. But that
57:07
Speaker 1: also I know loves and cares about me for who
57:11
Speaker 1: I am as a person, and I think that's a
57:14
Speaker 1: real gift as an athlete to have that presence in
57:17
Speaker 1: your life and to have that person to share that with.
57:21
Speaker 2: I'm curious, how do you show up for yourself on
57:23
Speaker 2: the days where it just feels like you cannot show
57:27
Speaker 2: up at all.
57:28
Speaker 1: There are certainly those days for me. I'm sure you
57:31
Speaker 1: have them running, especially it's wintertime right now, so we
57:34
Speaker 1: can all think about that a little bit. But for me,
57:38
Speaker 1: I think it comes down to structure. It's kind of
57:40
Speaker 1: like setting New Year's resolutions, where when you're like thinking
57:43
Speaker 1: about it, it's like really exciting and you're super motivated.
57:45
Speaker 1: You want to do it all right away, but anything
57:48
Speaker 1: great that you really want to do takes long term
57:51
Speaker 1: commitment and discipline over such a period of time that
57:55
Speaker 1: you will definitely have days you don't want to do it,
57:57
Speaker 1: Like there will definitely be days that you you don't
58:00
Speaker 1: want to get on in your bike or you don't
58:02
Speaker 1: want to run. And for me, that's about having training partners.
58:06
Speaker 1: It's about having that like nine o'clock appointment at the
58:10
Speaker 1: gym Monday and Friday, where like I have to be
58:13
Speaker 1: there and there's a person keeping me accountable. And when
58:17
Speaker 1: you don't have that person, like you need to be
58:19
Speaker 1: that person for yourself and have the structure, have the schedule,
58:23
Speaker 1: have the commitment so that you take out the choice
58:27
Speaker 1: every single day. You're not waking up and saying will
58:29
Speaker 1: I do this or not? It's how am I going
58:33
Speaker 1: to do this? And it's it's a structure that you've
58:36
Speaker 1: committed to ahead of time.
58:37
Speaker 2: This also goes back to your super important point from
58:41
Speaker 2: before when you were talking about the value of your
58:44
Speaker 2: why right, because knowing your why is going to be
58:47
Speaker 2: the thing that, like when your bed is super warm
58:50
Speaker 2: and you know that you had every intention to work
58:53
Speaker 2: out in forty five minutes from the moment you woke up,
58:57
Speaker 2: that you get up out of bed. That's going to
58:59
Speaker 2: be the reason that when it is a little gloomy outside,
59:03
Speaker 2: but it's totally fine to go out there and lace up,
59:06
Speaker 2: that you're gonna get your shoes out of a closet
59:09
Speaker 2: and go after it. Right That why is the thing
59:11
Speaker 2: that changes everything.
59:14
Speaker 1: Completely, and it's it's hard to find sometimes, and that's
59:17
Speaker 1: something you know, to bring it full circle to earlier
59:20
Speaker 1: in our conversation, I think sometimes contemplating quitting is the
59:26
Speaker 1: best way to actually find that why. Like I was
59:28
Speaker 1: taught from a young age, you never quit. You always
59:30
Speaker 1: finish what you start, and you just you push through
59:33
Speaker 1: and you do it, which is great, Like it's a
59:35
Speaker 1: really beautiful skill that my parents gave me and it
59:38
Speaker 1: pays off big time in the world of elite athletics.
59:42
Speaker 3: But the ability to say.
59:43
Speaker 1: No, I don't have to do this, I'm choosing to
59:47
Speaker 1: do this, I think is a really powerful one and
59:50
Speaker 1: it's a it's that why piece that kind of emerges
59:53
Speaker 1: when you ask yourself that question, like what if it
59:56
Speaker 1: all went away tomorrow? What if no one paid me
59:58
Speaker 1: to raise my bike and I didn't have to do
1:00:00
Speaker 1: it and I didn't have to go on this ride today,
1:00:02
Speaker 1: Like is that what I want? And usually, at least
1:00:06
Speaker 1: for me, when it's something I really care about, if
1:00:09
Speaker 1: I just like even entertain that question for a moment,
1:00:12
Speaker 1: you're you like have this soul voice that comes through
1:00:15
Speaker 1: and says like, no, you like, I have to do
1:00:17
Speaker 1: this and this is why. And I think that why
1:00:21
Speaker 1: can carry you through a lot of tough moments.
1:00:24
Speaker 2: I also believe that there can be both right, Like
1:00:28
Speaker 2: you can know your why and use it often right,
1:00:32
Speaker 2: use it to be the thing that gets you out
1:00:34
Speaker 2: of bed often, but also coming back to the note
1:00:37
Speaker 2: of grace, have to be okay with the idea that
1:00:41
Speaker 2: there are going to be days that it's just not
1:00:44
Speaker 2: going to happen and that is okay, right, like they
1:00:48
Speaker 2: happen to everyone from Olympians. I'm gesturing toward you to
1:00:53
Speaker 2: regular folks like me, and to know that like there
1:00:58
Speaker 2: is going to be another day, hopefully, and that you
1:01:02
Speaker 2: will have the opportunity to find that why after a
1:01:06
Speaker 2: little respite. That's important as well.
1:01:10
Speaker 1: I love that and it's that's so true and it's
1:01:13
Speaker 1: true for all of us, and I think it's challenging
1:01:16
Speaker 1: not to kind of double down on your own challenge,
1:01:21
Speaker 1: like when you face that to then say and because
1:01:24
Speaker 1: you didn't do this, now you're a bad runner or
1:01:25
Speaker 1: a bad athlete, or you know, kind of like making
1:01:28
Speaker 1: the situation worse. Something that's helped me a lot. Have
1:01:32
Speaker 1: you read Atomic Habits I have.
1:01:35
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a good one. It's a good one to
1:01:38
Speaker 3: bring around in New Year's time. I love they.
1:01:42
Speaker 1: He talks about not missing twice, where if you miss
1:01:45
Speaker 1: a habit, if you like skip a day, have a
1:01:48
Speaker 1: bad off day.
1:01:50
Speaker 3: Don't adjust your view of yourself.
1:01:53
Speaker 1: Right. So for me, like let's say I'm supposed to
1:01:56
Speaker 1: ride seventies a week and I miss a day. Instead
1:01:58
Speaker 1: of being someone who's you know, not consistent in my riding,
1:02:03
Speaker 1: I can just be I'm I am still someone who
1:02:06
Speaker 1: rides every day And that was just a fluke. You know,
1:02:09
Speaker 1: that was just a bad day. That was no problem,
1:02:12
Speaker 1: happens to everyone.
1:02:12
Speaker 3: Move on.
1:02:13
Speaker 1: I'll ride tomorrow. And I think the ability to kind
1:02:16
Speaker 1: of like keep that self image and that support of
1:02:19
Speaker 1: yourself when you do have those off moments, in the
1:02:24
Speaker 1: long run, you forget about them, like you completely forget that.
1:02:27
Speaker 1: Ever happened unless you allow it to dominate the pattern
1:02:34
Speaker 1: moving forward.
1:02:35
Speaker 2: Right now, you, Kate, have an opportunity to offer yourself
1:02:39
Speaker 2: a piece of advice at the end of the twenty
1:02:42
Speaker 2: one season, going through that hurdle moment, knowing what you know, now,
1:02:47
Speaker 2: what do you tell yourself getting him not?
1:02:51
Speaker 1: If I had to offer myself a piece of advice,
1:02:54
Speaker 1: it would be a piece of advice that I read
1:02:57
Speaker 1: this week from Jesse Diggins, who's just incredible cross country skiers.
1:03:02
Speaker 1: She's a superstar and she I guess it's been having
1:03:05
Speaker 1: some bad races in the last week, and she posted
1:03:08
Speaker 1: a quote if the seas were always calm, we would
1:03:10
Speaker 1: never build a better boat. And I loved that because
1:03:16
Speaker 1: I think that's really what I've been trying to do
1:03:18
Speaker 1: in the past few years, is build a better boat.
1:03:20
Speaker 1: And I think when those seas are stormy, when your
1:03:22
Speaker 1: boat's failing, it's really hard to look forward to that
1:03:26
Speaker 1: and see it as part of that process of getting better.
1:03:29
Speaker 1: It feels like a process of coming apart, or of
1:03:33
Speaker 1: moving backwards or disintegrating, and really that's the beginning of
1:03:39
Speaker 1: the process of building a better boat. So that would
1:03:42
Speaker 1: be my piece of advice.
1:03:43
Speaker 2: Love that. Kate. I'm so glad that we were able
1:03:46
Speaker 2: to make this happen. Thank you for your time. How
1:03:49
Speaker 2: do the hurdlers follow along with you? How do they
1:03:51
Speaker 2: keep up with you? Give me your details?
1:03:54
Speaker 3: Thank you so much.
1:03:55
Speaker 1: It was awesome to be able to chat with you
1:03:57
Speaker 1: today and big fan of your podcast. Of you and
1:04:00
Speaker 1: hopefully we can connect in the future. Following me Instagram's
1:04:04
Speaker 1: probably the easiest Kate plus fit.
1:04:06
Speaker 2: That's it, Kate plus Fate. I'm over at Emily a
1:04:09
Speaker 2: Body and at Hurdle Podcast. Another hurdle conquered. Catch you
1:04:13
Speaker 2: guys next time.