Latest / Hurdle with Emily Abbate / From Heartbreak to World Champion: How To Navigate Expectations, Think Forward & Journal Your Way To Success With Heptathlete Anna Hall

Transcript

From Heartbreak to World Champion: How To Navigate Expectations, Think Forward & Journal Your Way To Success With Heptathlete Anna Hall · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

0:00
Speaker 1: No matter what is going on in my life off
0:02
Speaker 1: the track, on the track, no matter what injury, it's
0:04
Speaker 1: like I always just come back to the work.
0:22
Speaker 2: Hey everyone, Emily a body here. You are listening to
0:25
Speaker 2: another episode of Hurdle, a show that dives into the
0:28
Speaker 2: true stories and mindset secrets of the most inspiring woman
0:31
Speaker 2: in sports and wellness, empowering you to conquer your own
0:35
Speaker 2: hurdles and live a healthier, happier, more motivated life. Today
0:39
Speaker 2: I am joined by the incredible Anna Hall, a world
0:43
Speaker 2: champion heptapley, an Olympian who is truly redefining what it
0:47
Speaker 2: means to be resilient.
0:49
Speaker 3: Fresh off of.
0:50
Speaker 2: Her big win in Tokyo, Anna opens up about the good,
0:53
Speaker 2: busy season of life she's currently navigating, from intense training
0:57
Speaker 2: sessions to wedding planning. In this conversation, we get real
1:00
Speaker 2: about the highs and lows of professional sports. She reflects
1:04
Speaker 2: on the heartbreak of the Paris Olympics and the subsequent
1:06
Speaker 2: journey of returning to the track with a refreshed perspective.
1:11
Speaker 2: So many gems in this conversation, including insight into her
1:14
Speaker 2: journaling process, how she compartmentalizes challenge during a multi event
1:17
Speaker 2: of competition like the heptathlon, say that sentence five times
1:21
Speaker 2: fast and the important role that nutrition plays and ensuring
1:25
Speaker 2: that she's able to perform her best. Speaking of nutrition,
1:29
Speaker 2: Anna and her dog Cross partnered recently with the brand
1:34
Speaker 2: new Loo for their fuel Credible campaign, which is designed
1:37
Speaker 2: to highlight the profound connection between athletes and their pets,
1:41
Speaker 2: illustrating that success is not just measured in metals and titles,
1:44
Speaker 2: but also in the shared journey of wellness and mutual support.
1:48
Speaker 2: So thank you to New Loo for connecting me with Anna.
1:53
Speaker 2: Make sure you're following along with Hurdle on social It's
1:56
Speaker 2: over at Hurdle podcast.
1:57
Speaker 3: You can also check.
1:58
Speaker 2: Out Iheartwoman's Sport over at Iheartwoman's Sports and me over
2:02
Speaker 2: at Emily a Body. Listen to Hurdle with Emily a
2:05
Speaker 2: Body on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you
2:09
Speaker 2: get your podcasts.
2:11
Speaker 3: And with that, let's get to it. Let's get to
2:14
Speaker 3: hurdling today.
2:19
Speaker 2: I am sitting down with Anna Hall. She is a
2:22
Speaker 2: world champion at heptathlee. She's also an Olympian a pro
2:28
Speaker 2: for Adidas. Anna, how we doing, Welcome to hurdle.
2:31
Speaker 4: I'm good, how are you.
2:33
Speaker 3: I'm so good.
2:34
Speaker 2: I'm so excited to be here as a proud member
2:37
Speaker 2: of the Anna Hall fan club.
2:40
Speaker 4: I'm so sweet. I appreciate that. I'm happy to be here.
2:43
Speaker 2: Whenever I start these combos, I always like to level set.
2:47
Speaker 3: I want to know, how are you doing? Really good?
2:51
Speaker 1: I think I'm in a very busy season of life.
2:54
Speaker 1: But it's like a good busy track is busy picking
2:57
Speaker 1: up life, is busy picking up wedding planning and things
3:00
Speaker 1: of the sort. But I've gotten to spend so much
3:03
Speaker 1: time with my family, like maxed out my off season,
3:05
Speaker 1: which meant a lot of traveling, but it was so
3:08
Speaker 1: good to see everybody. And yeah, I'm good, but busy.
3:13
Speaker 2: Good but busy, and a lot of exciting things to
3:17
Speaker 2: be busy with, like you just mentioned wedding planning and
3:21
Speaker 2: getting back into the swing of things with training. Talk
3:25
Speaker 2: to me about what is making you feel the most
3:28
Speaker 2: excited about this upcoming season.
3:31
Speaker 1: I think what is making me the most excited is
3:33
Speaker 1: that I took a real break for like one of
3:37
Speaker 1: the first times ever. Like maybe last year was my
3:39
Speaker 1: first actual break, and this year I didn't feel bad
3:43
Speaker 1: about it. I guess the whole time like why I
3:45
Speaker 1: was on break. I wasn't punishing myself for being on
3:47
Speaker 1: break the whole time, if that makes sense. Yeah, And
3:50
Speaker 1: I feel like I came back to practice outside just
3:53
Speaker 1: like totally refreshed, like ready to be there, and probably
3:56
Speaker 1: with like the best attitude that I've ever.
3:58
Speaker 4: Started fall training at.
4:00
Speaker 1: And that's kind of shown up on the track, which
4:03
Speaker 1: I thought, because I took five weeks off, I was like,
4:05
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, I'm gonna feel terrible, like the events
4:07
Speaker 1: are going to be so out of whack. I'm going
4:08
Speaker 1: to be starting from scratch essentially, But training has actually
4:11
Speaker 1: been really good, so I was.
4:13
Speaker 4: Like, Okay, I got rewarded for taking a break.
4:16
Speaker 2: Now I have a hunch why it is that you're
4:19
Speaker 2: showing up and feeling a little bit more rejuvenated than
4:22
Speaker 2: ever and also felt like you were entirely able to disconnect.
4:26
Speaker 3: But I'd love to hear why you think that is.
4:29
Speaker 4: I think it's because I got out of Gainesville, which
4:32
Speaker 4: I love it here. I love the people here.
4:34
Speaker 1: But you know, my fiance lives in New Jersey right
4:37
Speaker 1: now during the football season, and so as soon as
4:40
Speaker 1: Tokyo was over, I actually flew straight there and crossed
4:45
Speaker 1: and my car met me in New Jersey, so Crosses
4:49
Speaker 1: my dog, and I was up there for maybe like
4:53
Speaker 1: ten weeks, took my like five week break even started
4:56
Speaker 1: training up there and lifting, so I got a lot
4:59
Speaker 1: of quality time with him, a lot of quality time
5:01
Speaker 1: with Cross. We got to explore a new city, lots
5:04
Speaker 1: of travel, and so even when I was training again,
5:06
Speaker 1: I still felt like I was off. So it feels
5:08
Speaker 1: like I've really had I've been away for a long time,
5:11
Speaker 1: and it gave me time.
5:12
Speaker 4: To miss it.
5:13
Speaker 3: Yeah, time to miss it is important.
5:15
Speaker 2: And what I'm hearing you say is that a new
5:17
Speaker 2: environment also provided a lot of excitement for both you
5:20
Speaker 2: your fiance, and we cannot forget Cross.
5:24
Speaker 4: Never forget him. That's my son, my son.
5:28
Speaker 3: Well, we'll talk about your son in just a little bit.
5:31
Speaker 2: But what I was insinuating is that coming off with
5:35
Speaker 2: the w AT World Championships.
5:37
Speaker 3: Have to be pretty speconal.
5:38
Speaker 4: Yes, it did, it was, No, it was. It was
5:43
Speaker 4: so special.
5:44
Speaker 1: I think it's weird because you always think like, oh,
5:47
Speaker 1: when I get the next thing, like I'll feel different,
5:50
Speaker 1: and you don't, which is why I think I was
5:51
Speaker 1: like not even mentioning it, like you think like, oh,
5:55
Speaker 1: my whole life will change when I get like the
5:57
Speaker 1: gold medal or when I get the next thing, and
6:00
Speaker 1: it really doesn't. But obviously I'm so proud of the
6:02
Speaker 1: accomplishment and it's made me even more motivated to get
6:06
Speaker 1: back to the process of like how we made that happen,
6:08
Speaker 1: and like hungry to do it again and excited to
6:11
Speaker 1: do it. But so, yeah, it's been amazing. But it
6:14
Speaker 1: is just funny how you're always like, Okay, I'm going
6:16
Speaker 1: to be a totally new person. All my problems will
6:18
Speaker 1: be fixed, like when I make the Olympics and when
6:19
Speaker 1: I get the gold medal, and like that's really not
6:22
Speaker 1: the case.
6:22
Speaker 2: I think it's especially interesting knowing that you were quite
6:25
Speaker 2: frustrated after the fifth at the Olympics, so to then
6:29
Speaker 2: go into World Championships and come out with the gold,
6:33
Speaker 2: it gives you perspective, right, because like what you're saying,
6:36
Speaker 2: it's like I thought that life was going to be
6:39
Speaker 2: so much different when I finally accomplished the goal, and
6:41
Speaker 2: then you accomplish the goal.
6:44
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you're still the same, Like it's like I'm
6:46
Speaker 1: still the same person and the same people are around me.
6:48
Speaker 1: It's obviously like something changes, there's new opportunities and like
6:52
Speaker 1: that's incredible, but ultimately, like.
6:55
Speaker 4: You're still you.
6:56
Speaker 1: It's not like fixing all your life problems are really
6:59
Speaker 1: a change much about you. It's just it really it
7:02
Speaker 1: makes you really realize it is more about the journey
7:04
Speaker 1: of the way there, and like the gold is satisfying
7:06
Speaker 1: because of how we got there.
7:08
Speaker 2: It probably contextualizes or puts into perspective a bit about
7:11
Speaker 2: how you were feeling after Paris.
7:13
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, yeah, yeah, which like frustrated is putting it lightly,
7:18
Speaker 1: like I was heartbroken.
7:20
Speaker 4: It does give me a better ability.
7:22
Speaker 1: Now I think to zoom out, even like at practice,
7:25
Speaker 1: like if you're having a tough time or like a
7:27
Speaker 1: tough few weeks and it's like, okay, I know, like
7:30
Speaker 1: I've been really low before, like I've wanted to quit
7:32
Speaker 1: the sport before, and that was temporary, and so now
7:35
Speaker 1: I kind of have that perspective where I can like
7:37
Speaker 1: zoom out a little bit and be like, Okay, I
7:39
Speaker 1: know I'm down, but like how down are we really?
7:42
Speaker 1: You know, like in three months, will I think this
7:45
Speaker 1: is the end of the world, And most of the time.
7:47
Speaker 2: The answer is no, So are you one of the
7:49
Speaker 2: people that allows yourself to be in this place where
7:52
Speaker 2: you feel down for a bit before remediating the situation.
7:58
Speaker 4: Not by choice.
7:59
Speaker 1: I think Paris was like the first time where I
8:01
Speaker 1: was down for a considerable amount of time and I
8:04
Speaker 1: couldn't pick myself up, which I think was why it
8:07
Speaker 1: was so hard coming off and coming into like the
8:12
Speaker 1: year that I won in Tokyo this past year, like
8:14
Speaker 1: was incredible, but I had no idea that was going
8:16
Speaker 1: to happen. I didn't even I didn't even write that
8:18
Speaker 1: down as a goal because I felt like so far
8:19
Speaker 1: away from it at the beginning of the year. I
8:22
Speaker 1: think that's why that year was so hard, was because
8:24
Speaker 1: I was down and I wasn't able to just be like,
8:26
Speaker 1: all right, let's go again.
8:28
Speaker 4: So never on purpose do I let myself stay down
8:30
Speaker 4: that long. But you know, sometimes life gets you.
8:33
Speaker 2: Yeah, and so what did that look like in practice
8:37
Speaker 2: for you? What did it look like for Anna to
8:40
Speaker 2: be down?
8:41
Speaker 1: Yeah, it definitely looked like I didn't want to be
8:45
Speaker 1: at practice. But I think that's how my coaches described it,
8:47
Speaker 1: like they're like, you show up, you do every single
8:50
Speaker 1: thing we ask of you. Like I was working hard,
8:52
Speaker 1: but they could just tell like you don't want to
8:54
Speaker 1: be here. It was just kind of it was a
8:56
Speaker 1: have to, And that is exactly what it felt like.
9:00
Speaker 1: Sometimes you wake up in the morning when I'm good,
9:03
Speaker 1: I wake up in the morning excited to go to practice,
9:05
Speaker 1: or sometimes I'm tired and I'm like ough, but then
9:07
Speaker 1: like once you get going, it's good. But I was
9:10
Speaker 1: in this phase where, like for months at a time,
9:12
Speaker 1: I was literally counting down the minute, Like I'd sit
9:13
Speaker 1: in my car before practice just to like wait until
9:16
Speaker 1: the minute turned because like I didn't want to be
9:17
Speaker 1: there a minimumer than I had to. It was just
9:20
Speaker 1: really something that I dreaded because everything about track just
9:24
Speaker 1: reminded me of Paris, and like how terrible I felt
9:28
Speaker 1: about how I did, and like how that played.
9:30
Speaker 2: Out in retrospect now looking back on that time period
9:34
Speaker 2: and reflecting on how you were just going through the motions,
9:38
Speaker 2: what do you think that you would do differently if
9:42
Speaker 2: you were to be faced with the similar situation today.
9:45
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think if I was faced with a similar
9:48
Speaker 1: situation today, I don't think I would get as well,
9:50
Speaker 1: because again I think I would be able to zoom
9:51
Speaker 1: out and I would be like okay, like this happened
9:54
Speaker 1: before and like something better was coming. So I don't
9:57
Speaker 1: think I would get to as deep and dark of
9:59
Speaker 1: a place where it's like I'm just dreading everything day
10:02
Speaker 1: in and day out, And I think I would have
10:04
Speaker 1: given myself more space. I think I could have taken
10:07
Speaker 1: a longer break after the Olympics than I did, to
10:10
Speaker 1: really like just let myself let it go, so to speak,
10:13
Speaker 1: instead of.
10:14
Speaker 4: Like jumping back in. Maybe before mentally I was ready.
10:17
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, it's so understandable, right to be in
10:20
Speaker 2: this place where you're seeking to make that comeback. You're
10:24
Speaker 2: seeking to show yourself like, no, I am capable of
10:28
Speaker 2: these things. And we haven't even mentioned that the surgery
10:31
Speaker 2: that you got at the top of twenty twenty four,
10:33
Speaker 2: which set you back dramatically. To still come in at
10:36
Speaker 2: that place, I know it doesn't make it feel any better.
10:38
Speaker 2: But when we talk about getting the opportunity to learn
10:42
Speaker 2: from the things that we don't expect, you had that surgery,
10:46
Speaker 2: you've been injured before, flashback to twenty twenty slash twenty
10:50
Speaker 2: twenty one trials, right, and so to be in this
10:53
Speaker 2: place years later where you can implement the lessons you
10:56
Speaker 2: learned in twenty twenty, twenty twenty one, back in twenty
10:59
Speaker 2: twenty four, or it's a continuous process and boy is it.
11:03
Speaker 4: Tiring, Yes, exactly.
11:05
Speaker 1: And I think I actually going into my knee surgery
11:08
Speaker 1: in January of the Olympic year, where we're all freaking
11:11
Speaker 1: out of course, because it's like that's the last thing
11:13
Speaker 1: you want to do eight months before the Olympics is
11:16
Speaker 1: go under the knife. But I felt so much more
11:19
Speaker 1: prepared for that having had that past surgery, because even
11:23
Speaker 1: though it's a different body part and it's a different
11:24
Speaker 1: recovery and all of that, I just I was like,
11:27
Speaker 1: I know what I'm walking into. So it's like I
11:29
Speaker 1: know like what we're doing instead of coming in blind.
11:32
Speaker 1: So in a weird way, it makes you like thankful
11:35
Speaker 1: for the things before. And I'm sure there's gonna be
11:37
Speaker 1: a reason down the line that I'm thankful for the
11:38
Speaker 1: knee surgery and the Paris and all of that, and
11:40
Speaker 1: so it kind of really just makes you realize where
11:43
Speaker 1: it's like, Okay, like God works in the most mysterious
11:46
Speaker 1: of ways when he is trying to prepare you for something,
11:48
Speaker 1: and so I think that's how I'm starting to apply
11:52
Speaker 1: the lessons moving forward where it's like, Okay, this area
11:55
Speaker 1: of me maybe, like God was like to do what
11:57
Speaker 1: you want to do, like it needs to be bulletproved
11:59
Speaker 1: a little bit more like you're not ready yet kind.
12:01
Speaker 2: Of yeah, And that's so frustrating in the moment because
12:05
Speaker 2: you want something that you don't have, this like broader
12:09
Speaker 2: grasp on the greater Why on we're talking about how
12:13
Speaker 2: one thing rolls into the next thing and everything has
12:16
Speaker 2: this quasi domino effect and that can.
12:20
Speaker 3: Be a lot like your sport, right, and they have tathlon.
12:23
Speaker 2: If you have one event that doesn't go as you'd hoped,
12:26
Speaker 2: you don't really have the time to linger in that disappointment. Right,
12:30
Speaker 2: So talk to me a little bit about how you've
12:32
Speaker 2: gotten better at rolling with the punches and allowing yourself
12:37
Speaker 2: to say, I need to pick myself back up because
12:40
Speaker 2: we've got to go.
12:40
Speaker 3: It's go time.
12:42
Speaker 4: Yeah.
12:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's definitely a skill that I had
12:45
Speaker 1: to learn and like you have to train at, like
12:47
Speaker 1: you need to train your brain at that legitimately.
12:51
Speaker 4: And I think looking.
12:53
Speaker 1: Back at my past experience, as I see all those
12:55
Speaker 1: times where it's like I was down in the dumps
12:56
Speaker 1: or I was having terrible practices and I have to
12:58
Speaker 1: pull myself out, and you can of have to take
13:01
Speaker 1: those and learn those where it's like, Okay, I've done
13:03
Speaker 1: this before, I can do it again, Like nobody's coming
13:06
Speaker 1: to save you, nobody's coming to fix your high jump
13:08
Speaker 1: or fix your long jump, like you need to do
13:11
Speaker 1: this yourself, and like you've done it before and you
13:12
Speaker 1: can do it again. So I think that's how I
13:16
Speaker 1: pull myself out is just looking forward. And then also
13:19
Speaker 1: the compartmentalization is huge, where it's like if I'm at
13:22
Speaker 1: long jump and it goes terribly, I need to leave
13:24
Speaker 1: it there. And then now I'm going to hurdles, and
13:26
Speaker 1: I need to hurdle the best that I can, because
13:29
Speaker 1: once you start blurring those lines, it's.
13:32
Speaker 4: You're kind of just.
13:33
Speaker 1: Throwing too many variables in where it's like I don't
13:36
Speaker 1: want to I don't want my hurdle performance to be
13:38
Speaker 1: on the whim of how I felt about long jump earlier.
13:41
Speaker 1: You want to be in control of every single thing
13:43
Speaker 1: that you're doing, especially if you're chasing this big goal.
13:46
Speaker 1: It's it's not going to happen to me, like I
13:48
Speaker 1: need to go do it.
14:06
Speaker 2: I often find that when things start to click in
14:09
Speaker 2: one area of our life, then we start to see
14:12
Speaker 2: the payoff across other aspects of our life. Would you
14:16
Speaker 2: say when it came to things clicking within training, obviously
14:21
Speaker 2: coming out victorious after World Champs, that you started to
14:24
Speaker 2: feel that sense of alignment across all aspects of your life.
14:29
Speaker 4: Yeah, I would, I definitely would.
14:30
Speaker 1: I think your mental state just affects so much, and
14:34
Speaker 1: so post Olympics, when I'm in this like super down state,
14:40
Speaker 1: it's like, of course, other areas of my life like
14:42
Speaker 1: aren't as good because it's like I'm not as good,
14:45
Speaker 1: you know, like I'm coming into every single situation negatively
14:48
Speaker 1: and down and all of that. And then on the
14:51
Speaker 1: back end it's going into Tokyo even like before it happened,
14:55
Speaker 1: was I super nervous and freaking out? Yes, But also
14:57
Speaker 1: I was so confident, like I knew. I was like, no,
14:59
Speaker 1: I'm ready this time. And That's how I felt about
15:02
Speaker 1: everything else in my life too, where I'm approaching it
15:04
Speaker 1: like I trust myself, I can do this, so across
15:09
Speaker 1: all areas decision making, even in off the track things
15:12
Speaker 1: or business things things like that really just comes down
15:15
Speaker 1: to like I had a good relationship with myself, and
15:18
Speaker 1: I trusted the way that I was moving through life.
15:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, can we talk a little bit about maybe the
15:23
Speaker 2: business side of things if you're okay with that, Like
15:25
Speaker 2: getting to this place where you are having to advocate
15:30
Speaker 2: for yourself, you are stepping into rooms that you've never
15:33
Speaker 2: been in. You gain more and more notoriety and fame
15:39
Speaker 2: with the more and more success that you see at
15:42
Speaker 2: the track and on the field. How has that felt
15:45
Speaker 2: for you and what's been the most challenging part.
15:48
Speaker 1: It's been a whirlwind, and I think it's it's a
15:51
Speaker 1: blessing for sure, but it's also something that I don't
15:54
Speaker 1: think anybody's really ready for when it happens or when
15:57
Speaker 1: you start doing it, because like my whole life out
16:00
Speaker 1: imagined what it was like to win and track and
16:02
Speaker 1: all of this, and like you don't imagine the business
16:05
Speaker 1: side of things off the track. And I think it
16:07
Speaker 1: forced me to grow up quickly, maybe, I would say,
16:10
Speaker 1: because it's like you turn pro after your junior year
16:13
Speaker 1: of college and then you're like a real adult.
16:14
Speaker 4: It's not like slow phase into adulthood.
16:16
Speaker 1: You know. It's like now you're making decisions, like you're
16:19
Speaker 1: hiring people and things like that.
16:21
Speaker 4: And not necessarily ready to do that. But it's made
16:25
Speaker 4: me grow in a lot of ways that I'm super
16:27
Speaker 4: happy about.
16:28
Speaker 1: And I think the hardest part was not wanting to
16:32
Speaker 1: people please, because I think at the beginning, I was like, Okay,
16:34
Speaker 1: I just I want to say yes to everything. I
16:35
Speaker 1: want everyone that I work with to really like me,
16:37
Speaker 1: and like I'll just like want to make everything work.
16:40
Speaker 1: And then I kind of just sit down with my
16:43
Speaker 1: team and be like, no, like this needs to be intentional,
16:46
Speaker 1: like I'm setting up a brand or like there's little
16:49
Speaker 1: girls looking up to me, and so it's like I
16:51
Speaker 1: want to be very picky about, you know, opportunities that
16:53
Speaker 1: you say yes to or why you're saying yes to them,
16:56
Speaker 1: and it's not just about you know, money all the time.
16:59
Speaker 1: So I think for me, that's something that was the
17:02
Speaker 1: hardest thing to kind of like actually let myself do.
17:06
Speaker 1: But I'm happy with the way that we've been able
17:09
Speaker 1: to do that because I think every single one of
17:11
Speaker 1: my partnerships like they truly like I use the product,
17:15
Speaker 1: I use some line of the product, like they mean
17:17
Speaker 1: a lot to me, Like there's reasons that like my
17:19
Speaker 1: values align with those brands, and so yeah.
17:22
Speaker 4: I'm super thankful for them.
17:23
Speaker 1: Like, and I've had a lot of fortunate long term
17:26
Speaker 1: partnerships that kind of cover multiple areas of life, Like
17:30
Speaker 1: literally with Cross and new Low, it's like I got
17:33
Speaker 1: to do a partnership that's focused on nutrition, which is
17:36
Speaker 1: something that I'm focused on all the time, and then
17:38
Speaker 1: taking care of my dog. And it's really cool to
17:40
Speaker 1: do those opportunities of things that I actually use and
17:43
Speaker 1: are actually meaningful to me.
17:44
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, you're a miss if we didn't say that.
17:47
Speaker 2: Cross is pretty cute, So it's not surprising to me
17:51
Speaker 2: that someone wanted to work with him.
17:54
Speaker 4: Yes, I know, he's my handsome boy. I work up
17:57
Speaker 4: way too much when people say that.
17:58
Speaker 3: But they're like, big, I know, I can take credit
18:01
Speaker 3: for him as my son.
18:04
Speaker 2: What would you say the role is that Cross plays
18:07
Speaker 2: in your day to day when it comes to helping
18:10
Speaker 2: you stay grounded, especially being in and out of training
18:12
Speaker 2: and traveling quite a bit.
18:14
Speaker 1: He just calms me down because it's like there's a
18:16
Speaker 1: part of my day that's like just for us. It's
18:18
Speaker 1: like in the morning we walk like I jet off
18:21
Speaker 1: to the track, I come back at lunch for hanging
18:23
Speaker 1: out and then I jet off to the track again
18:25
Speaker 1: and we go play fetch at night, or sometimes he
18:27
Speaker 1: comes along with me, and I think he just helps
18:29
Speaker 1: pull me out of the endless cycle of like, Okay,
18:32
Speaker 1: what do I do next for track? What do I
18:34
Speaker 1: do next for track? And so he breaks that up
18:36
Speaker 1: so well, because you just never know what you're going
18:38
Speaker 1: to get you thoughts. You know, he's super well trained,
18:40
Speaker 1: but you know some days he's super silly and goofy,
18:43
Speaker 1: and other days he wants to do this, and so
18:45
Speaker 1: he just adds such a nice variable to my day
18:48
Speaker 1: to make it just lighter instead of it always just
18:50
Speaker 1: being track track track.
18:51
Speaker 3: Ah, track track track, But there is a lot of track.
18:54
Speaker 2: In your day today. You mentioned going to and from
18:57
Speaker 2: the track twice. Teptathlon a quite intricate event, much more
19:02
Speaker 2: intricate than say, if you were just running the four
19:05
Speaker 2: undermeter hurdles. So give us a snapshot of what training
19:09
Speaker 2: typically looks like you, because there's a lot to integrate.
19:12
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, No, Typically I train from in the morning,
19:16
Speaker 1: usually like nine to about one or two, and then
19:20
Speaker 1: I'll break for lunch, sometimes have a second session at
19:23
Speaker 1: the track and then waits after so always at least
19:26
Speaker 1: always pretty much at least to two a day every
19:28
Speaker 1: day except for Sunday. So it really is a nine
19:31
Speaker 1: to five. I came from Hurdles actually, it was just
19:33
Speaker 1: fitting for the podcast name.
19:34
Speaker 4: And I'll be back in the weight room after this.
19:37
Speaker 1: So it really is kind of like a full time job,
19:40
Speaker 1: and which I love and I love being outside. I
19:43
Speaker 1: feel like I get to play outside as my job.
19:45
Speaker 4: It's the best thing. Ever. It just takes so much
19:47
Speaker 4: time that sometimes you're like, Okay, I need.
19:49
Speaker 1: To like fit in a meeting here or this and that,
19:51
Speaker 1: and like you're like when do I do that?
19:53
Speaker 4: Because like practice, you never really know when it's going
19:55
Speaker 4: to end exactly. It just it's done when it's done.
19:58
Speaker 4: So it's a.
19:59
Speaker 1: Huge time commitment. It's a lot on the body, a
20:01
Speaker 1: lot on the mind. But like I wouldn't trade it
20:04
Speaker 1: for anything.
20:05
Speaker 2: Because you have been injured before, and they were pretty
20:10
Speaker 2: large injuries. Do you find that you're able to let
20:15
Speaker 2: that go and be present in your body as it
20:17
Speaker 2: is now or does that stick with you?
20:20
Speaker 4: I think both.
20:20
Speaker 1: I think they stick with you in some way or another,
20:23
Speaker 1: no matter what. And I think like my foot stuck
20:26
Speaker 1: with me and I ended up growing stronger because of it,
20:29
Speaker 1: but it's like it still sticks with you. And I
20:31
Speaker 1: think the hardening process of having to force yourself to
20:34
Speaker 1: do things you don't feel ready to do when you're
20:37
Speaker 1: as you're rehabing back or first starting to test it out,
20:40
Speaker 1: like that's what really sticks with you, where you're like, okay, like,
20:44
Speaker 1: no matter how afraid I am of putting my foot
20:46
Speaker 1: down or it's gonna hurt actually, and I have to
20:48
Speaker 1: do it anyway. You did that, and I think that
20:51
Speaker 1: kind of hardens you a little bit in a good.
20:53
Speaker 2: Way, and that applicable well beyond track and field.
21:00
Speaker 4: Yeah.
21:00
Speaker 1: Yeah, it really just makes you realize that you need
21:02
Speaker 1: to be uncomfortable to grow, Like that's what all of
21:05
Speaker 1: training is, whether you're healthy or not, but especially when
21:08
Speaker 1: you're unhealthy, Like it's not going to not hurt when
21:11
Speaker 1: you're coming back, even if you're going as slow as
21:13
Speaker 1: you're supposed to go, Like you're doing something, you're asking
21:16
Speaker 1: something new of your body, you're asking it to adapt,
21:18
Speaker 1: you're asking it to heal, and it needs to be
21:20
Speaker 1: pushed in order to do that, which I think I've
21:22
Speaker 1: definitely taken and applied to other areas of my life
21:25
Speaker 1: because it really just is true across the board.
21:28
Speaker 2: It's so true across the board, and I think that
21:30
Speaker 2: vulnerability is really special. Now you mentioned the vulnerability of
21:34
Speaker 2: your injury story really helping others to get through their
21:38
Speaker 2: own injuries. What would you say has been maybe the
21:42
Speaker 2: most surprising thing that a follower has come to talk
21:47
Speaker 2: to you about, considering your story and how open you've been.
21:51
Speaker 1: Probably other people who have been injured like coming to me.
21:54
Speaker 1: I guess that wasn't that surprising since it was an injury,
21:57
Speaker 1: so it's like super applicable. But there been like moms
22:01
Speaker 1: or people that have like messaged me that are like, oh,
22:03
Speaker 1: I think about you on my runs because it was
22:05
Speaker 1: like if you could do it, and you were your
22:06
Speaker 1: knee was hurting, like I can do it too, And
22:08
Speaker 1: so I think that the fact that people are really
22:11
Speaker 1: some people are thinking about me as their motivation really
22:15
Speaker 1: is surprising, just because you never feel like you're gonna
22:18
Speaker 1: be on the other side of it.
22:18
Speaker 4: Because I still have people.
22:19
Speaker 1: That I think about when I'm running, So that part
22:23
Speaker 1: has been really humbling and really really cool.
22:25
Speaker 3: Honestly, who does Anna think about when she's running?
22:29
Speaker 1: Well, a lot of times, Actually my competitors not as like, well,
22:32
Speaker 1: I am inspired by them, but I'm not like, oh,
22:34
Speaker 1: like I want to be like them. But I think
22:36
Speaker 1: about and I'm like, Okay, I need to prepare.
22:37
Speaker 4: Myself to beat this person.
22:40
Speaker 1: So that and it's like I have a lot of
22:42
Speaker 1: respect for them, so preparing to beat you is not easy.
22:45
Speaker 4: I need to die today on the track in order
22:47
Speaker 4: to do that.
22:48
Speaker 1: But so I think about my competitors a lot, and
22:51
Speaker 1: then a lot of times it ends up being Jackie Joiner,
22:54
Speaker 1: Cursey or some other people that I've looked up to
22:56
Speaker 1: in the sport. Just thinking about where I'm like, Okay,
22:59
Speaker 1: the heights that she got to, I can only imagine
23:02
Speaker 1: what her practices were like. And so it's I don't
23:05
Speaker 1: get to fall into that pattern of like this is
23:07
Speaker 1: the hardest practice in the whole world. Like the pity
23:10
Speaker 1: is me, Like this is so hard, I don't know
23:11
Speaker 1: if I can do it. I'm like, somebody's definitely done
23:14
Speaker 1: this before, Like she's definitely done what I'm doing before,
23:17
Speaker 1: and like she made it out on the other side
23:20
Speaker 1: alive to tell about it and with great success. So
23:23
Speaker 1: I think of her and kind of just imagining the
23:27
Speaker 1: types of training that she would have had to endure.
23:29
Speaker 2: Yeah, I watched that really special package that NBC put
23:34
Speaker 2: together on the two of you leading into the Olympics
23:36
Speaker 2: last year, and I was sitting there thinking to myself,
23:40
Speaker 2: how mind blowing it must be for someone that's still
23:44
Speaker 2: just so much in the prime of their athleticism in
23:47
Speaker 2: their career to be able to have that time with
23:50
Speaker 2: someone who paved the way. We hear it all the time.
23:53
Speaker 2: In order to be her, you need to see her
23:56
Speaker 2: and you have her as a standing example. When I
23:59
Speaker 2: say that to you in the context of that you
24:02
Speaker 2: are her for other people, how does that make you feel?
24:06
Speaker 4: Oh, my gosh.
24:07
Speaker 1: I don't know if I would say that, like I'm like,
24:10
Speaker 1: I gotta I've got ways to go. But no, that
24:14
Speaker 1: is so crazy to think about. And I think I
24:17
Speaker 1: was actually talking to Davis about this a few weeks
24:20
Speaker 1: ago that like, it does make me laugh sometimes when
24:24
Speaker 1: people like pray to win the gold medal, and I
24:26
Speaker 1: was like, I remember thinking that, and so I prayed
24:29
Speaker 1: at the beginning of my career that I was like,
24:30
Speaker 1: I hope my career inspires people, And in hindsight, I
24:33
Speaker 1: should have prayed to win the gold medal because I
24:35
Speaker 1: think there's all these.
24:36
Speaker 4: Like hiccups along the way that it's like God is
24:39
Speaker 4: using transpiration, but I'm like, I wanted to.
24:42
Speaker 1: Go medal, but no, it really, it really is crazy
24:46
Speaker 1: because it makes almost all those injuries, like I don't
24:50
Speaker 1: want to say it like makes it worth it, but
24:52
Speaker 1: it kind of does because through those I have seen
24:56
Speaker 1: like my story reach so many people that it probably
24:59
Speaker 1: wouldn't have if like my career just had this perfect
25:01
Speaker 1: upward trajectory along the way, or if you're just like
25:05
Speaker 1: this crazy prodigy and you win everything and you never
25:07
Speaker 1: have a setback. And so I think having such public
25:11
Speaker 1: setbacks and then being able to overcome them is really
25:14
Speaker 1: what's kind of gotten through to other people. And that
25:16
Speaker 1: part is really special to me because it's like it
25:18
Speaker 1: was so hard, and I know that other people have
25:21
Speaker 1: things in their lives that are so hard. So if
25:24
Speaker 1: I can be a source of inspiration during those times,
25:26
Speaker 1: are a little bit of motivation of like okay, she
25:28
Speaker 1: did it too, Like that really means the world to
25:31
Speaker 1: me because yeah, I've been.
25:32
Speaker 2: There, Yeah you've been there, and again doing it all
25:35
Speaker 2: in public. I can't even imagine how difficult that has
25:39
Speaker 2: to be. At times, you mentioned your relatively new fiance
25:45
Speaker 2: Darius also a public part of your life. How does
25:48
Speaker 2: it feel to share that part of your life publicly?
25:53
Speaker 4: That part it's a little weird sometimes.
25:55
Speaker 1: I think when we first started dating, it was like
25:57
Speaker 1: I was scared to like, you want.
25:59
Speaker 4: To make sure you're sure before, like the public knows,
26:02
Speaker 4: so does meet.
26:03
Speaker 1: But we were slow to post each other and things
26:05
Speaker 1: like that, which is kind of just weird thing to
26:08
Speaker 1: think about, where it's like, Okay, most people who are dating,
26:11
Speaker 1: it's like only your close circle kind of knows. It's like, okay,
26:13
Speaker 1: you went on a few dates so and so and like,
26:15
Speaker 1: but the public obviously, like they keep count and score
26:18
Speaker 1: and so it's like, Okay, I'm gonna be associated with
26:20
Speaker 1: this person for a long time. So it was a
26:22
Speaker 1: little scary honestly at the beginning, But once we were
26:26
Speaker 1: sure about each other, it's kind of just a fact
26:29
Speaker 1: of the matter. I feel like we don't think about
26:30
Speaker 1: it much, and you know, we share like fun moments
26:33
Speaker 1: with each other, and it's like I'm not gonna just
26:36
Speaker 1: because we're in the public eye, Like I don't want
26:38
Speaker 1: to not post you, like I'm proud to be with you,
26:42
Speaker 1: and you know, if I was anybody else in my life,
26:45
Speaker 1: like I would be loving you out loud. So that
26:46
Speaker 1: was definitely something for me. I was like, no, we're
26:48
Speaker 1: not doing the like secret thing, like I will talk
26:52
Speaker 1: about you and that's fine. Yeah, And because I know
26:55
Speaker 1: my mom, she.
26:56
Speaker 4: Was always like just be careful, like you know, she's scared.
27:00
Speaker 1: And so I think for us, it really hasn't made
27:02
Speaker 1: too much of a difference. I think it can be
27:04
Speaker 1: a little weird, like people make comments and stuff sometimes,
27:07
Speaker 1: but most of how we've been received has been super
27:11
Speaker 1: nice and people are super encouraging, and yeah, hopefully like
27:16
Speaker 1: our relationship can also be a tool that like reaches
27:18
Speaker 1: other people. And I think he's inspired some people in
27:21
Speaker 1: track world that he's gotten to talk to and vice versas,
27:24
Speaker 1: like I get to be around people in football world,
27:26
Speaker 1: so that part's really fun.
27:28
Speaker 2: In football world, it's uh, I'm like, what criticisms do
27:33
Speaker 2: these people have of two like wonderful humans finding each other?
27:38
Speaker 3: Do you never know?
27:38
Speaker 1: You know, the internet is like a nasty place, and
27:41
Speaker 1: you know people don't always know like what's going on
27:43
Speaker 1: behind closed doors. And I mean, we really haven't had
27:46
Speaker 1: to endure too much Internet hate.
27:49
Speaker 4: But it's just always a possibility.
27:50
Speaker 1: You know, there's comments things that are always out there.
27:54
Speaker 2: So of course are nice, So football fans, I mean
27:58
Speaker 2: all fans. There's questions in all arenas of sport. You
28:02
Speaker 2: mentioned your mom. Both of your parents super active and
28:06
Speaker 2: athletes themselves. What was the most challenging part about that
28:13
Speaker 2: for you as you stepped into being a professional athlete.
28:17
Speaker 1: There wasn't too much of a challenge, I would say
28:19
Speaker 1: so that, Like, I think my parents just knew what
28:21
Speaker 1: I was getting into, which was great. So I think
28:24
Speaker 1: they just knew how to support me. Yeah, I don't
28:26
Speaker 1: know that I would say that there was like a
28:27
Speaker 1: challenging part of that. I didn't feel like I was
28:29
Speaker 1: ever in anyone else's footsteps but my own. But I
28:32
Speaker 1: feel like my family really just understood how to support me.
28:35
Speaker 2: Do you feel like you have the biggest expectations for
28:37
Speaker 2: yourself out of anyone?
28:40
Speaker 1: Definitely sometimes, I think I guess the hardest part is
28:43
Speaker 1: that it's like everybody's kind of watching you do this.
28:46
Speaker 1: So you feel like my coaches, my family, like my team,
28:51
Speaker 1: they just know so much about me that like you
28:53
Speaker 1: can feel like you're under a microscope, like very quickly
28:55
Speaker 1: where it's like we all talk about you know, we
28:58
Speaker 1: all talk about nutrition, we all talk about like how
29:00
Speaker 1: Anna's mental today, and it's like, that's not really normal.
29:03
Speaker 1: I kind of had to realize where like most people
29:05
Speaker 1: like go and go to work and tickeet to go home,
29:07
Speaker 1: and it's like, yeah, people might notice you're a little
29:09
Speaker 1: grumpy one day or whatever, but it's like, oh, if
29:11
Speaker 1: something's going on in my life, it's like everybody knows.
29:14
Speaker 1: Everybody's hands on deck, which is incredible because I'm so
29:17
Speaker 1: well loved and like well supported, but also sometimes you're
29:20
Speaker 1: like okay, guys like.
29:21
Speaker 4: Get away from you get alone, which is also usually
29:26
Speaker 4: not true.
29:27
Speaker 1: But yeah, I think my family understood that really really well,
29:30
Speaker 1: which is unfortunate.
29:32
Speaker 3: Yeah, very helpful. Anna's mental.
29:34
Speaker 2: It's something that I've always been so impressed by you,
29:40
Speaker 2: especially because you've taken it upon yourself to share a
29:43
Speaker 2: lot of your journaling practices and stuff, whether it be
29:46
Speaker 2: on your Instagram or talked about them in interviews. I
29:49
Speaker 2: want to learn about the tools that you've developed and
29:54
Speaker 2: where they came from. So journaling, for instance, how do
29:58
Speaker 2: you journal and how how do you find that that
30:01
Speaker 2: helps you when it comes to both your just mental
30:04
Speaker 2: state and your performance within sport.
30:06
Speaker 1: I have like my Track journal and then I have
30:08
Speaker 1: my life journal, and they're different books. But for Track,
30:11
Speaker 1: I only write down good things. I think that's something.
30:15
Speaker 4: I don't know where I picked that up along the way,
30:17
Speaker 4: but I remember when I told my coach that, she
30:18
Speaker 4: was like, wait, that's smart, and I was like, I
30:20
Speaker 4: guess it is.
30:21
Speaker 1: But so I only write down things that I want
30:24
Speaker 1: to remember or want to do again, I want to feel.
30:27
Speaker 1: So I don't write in it every day, because not
30:29
Speaker 1: every day is they're a nugget, But so whenever there's
30:32
Speaker 1: a really good session or a feeling I want to
30:34
Speaker 1: remember kind of a mentality I want to embody. I
30:37
Speaker 1: see a little nugget of a quote somewhere or something like,
30:40
Speaker 1: I'll write that down and then I use it the
30:42
Speaker 1: night before competition to kind of write down my three
30:45
Speaker 1: cues for each event and then kind of mantras or
30:48
Speaker 1: how I want to feel the next day. Like I
30:50
Speaker 1: feel like I write my mindset for track day into
30:54
Speaker 1: existence the night before. It's like tomorrow I will be
30:57
Speaker 1: thinking that like I am the best whatever there is
31:01
Speaker 1: in the whole world, whether or not that's true at
31:02
Speaker 1: the moment or not. It's like I wrote that down
31:04
Speaker 1: because it's like that's how I am approaching the day.
31:08
Speaker 4: And then my.
31:09
Speaker 1: Life journal really is just kind of a collection of
31:13
Speaker 1: random thoughts and usually like reflections. I feel like a
31:15
Speaker 1: lot of it's self reflection, noticing areas where I can grow,
31:18
Speaker 1: and writing down like kind of a lot of prayers
31:20
Speaker 1: or things that I can apply to my life.
31:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, I love the only good things, and I really
31:29
Speaker 2: appreciate the attention to detail and writing down the form
31:34
Speaker 2: cues because oftentimes, in my experience, process related goals can
31:40
Speaker 2: go out the window when you're so worried about an
31:43
Speaker 2: outcome goal. Do you feel like this detailed journaling is
31:48
Speaker 2: what allows you to focus on both Yeah.
31:52
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I think score wise, it's funny like I'll
31:55
Speaker 1: write down my long term goal in like the weight
31:59
Speaker 1: room on my weight room card, like it's written down somewhere,
32:01
Speaker 1: it's on my mirror in the bathroom, But like in
32:03
Speaker 1: my journal, really there is no like score seven thousand
32:06
Speaker 1: points or break the world record, Like that's not in there.
32:09
Speaker 1: It's really the steps along the way that are in there.
32:13
Speaker 1: So like in one hundred hurdles. I'm like, Okay, these
32:15
Speaker 1: are the three things I need to do to run fast,
32:18
Speaker 1: and I write those down. And then sometimes I'll write
32:21
Speaker 1: down like, Okay, at bare minimum, I need to run
32:24
Speaker 1: faster than this. And it's a very realistic goal. It's
32:26
Speaker 1: not pushing it. It's kind of like even if you're
32:29
Speaker 1: having a bad day, like you should run at least that,
32:32
Speaker 1: And that's what I write down. And then after the
32:35
Speaker 1: event's over, I get to exit off and because it's
32:38
Speaker 1: a realistic goal, nine times out of ten, I get
32:40
Speaker 1: to adjust it up, which is a great feeling during
32:43
Speaker 1: the multi because it's like I feel like I'm gaining ground.
32:46
Speaker 4: And so I think the small.
32:47
Speaker 1: Goals are way more important to write down than the
32:50
Speaker 1: big ones because it's like I know what I'm trying
32:51
Speaker 1: to do.
32:52
Speaker 4: I know I'm trying to win. I don't need to
32:53
Speaker 4: write that down.
32:55
Speaker 3: I appreciate that.
32:56
Speaker 2: Do you feel like that's also transferred over to life
32:59
Speaker 2: and maybe even segued at times into the life journal a.
33:03
Speaker 1: Little bit, because it's like some things are just it's
33:06
Speaker 1: it's obvious, like writing down like I want to be
33:08
Speaker 1: a winner today doesn't necessarily like it's like how do
33:11
Speaker 1: you do that?
33:12
Speaker 4: You know?
33:13
Speaker 1: So I think that has like segued into life where
33:15
Speaker 1: I write down like okay, like this is what you
33:18
Speaker 1: know I'm looking to add in this area of my life,
33:21
Speaker 1: or I'll write down like okay, these are the things
33:24
Speaker 1: like before I take on a new commitment, like this
33:26
Speaker 1: is what I want to evaluate and stuff like that.
33:44
Speaker 2: When you think about what's next. You are a world champion, right,
33:51
Speaker 2: what long term goals does Anna have?
33:55
Speaker 1: Yeah? I want to take pride in carrying that title
33:58
Speaker 1: in the way that I compete this year, and like
34:01
Speaker 1: carry myself even like off the track where I spent
34:04
Speaker 1: so long envisioning like what it would take to win
34:06
Speaker 1: it and like the type of girl or woman it
34:09
Speaker 1: would take to win that, and it's like okay, like
34:11
Speaker 1: now it's kind of your time to be that where
34:13
Speaker 1: it's like you need to you know, carry it well
34:16
Speaker 1: and use it wisely. And I think my biggest goal
34:20
Speaker 1: is just to keep chasing improvements because I'm super super
34:24
Speaker 1: happy with the win in Tokyo, but ultimately I know
34:27
Speaker 1: I could have scored higher there and I think I
34:29
Speaker 1: should have so next time around, like I want to
34:32
Speaker 1: make sure that it's my actual.
34:34
Speaker 4: Best on the day. And that's what knock one Wood
34:38
Speaker 4: brings home an I'll.
34:40
Speaker 3: Haul her own.
34:41
Speaker 2: Biggest critic I love that question is who is the
34:46
Speaker 2: type of person that does the thing that you want
34:50
Speaker 2: to achieve?
34:51
Speaker 3: Right? So, if I'm.
34:52
Speaker 2: Thinking of my life and I have a goal that
34:57
Speaker 2: I want to own a home in New York City
35:01
Speaker 2: in twelve to fifteen months, like, who is that person?
35:05
Speaker 3: Right? What do they need to have?
35:07
Speaker 2: And getting very granular like that can be so helpful
35:11
Speaker 2: for you.
35:12
Speaker 3: Who is a world champion?
35:15
Speaker 1: Yeah? I think for me that was I thought about
35:18
Speaker 1: that a lot last year and in training where I
35:20
Speaker 1: was like, okay, you again, you don't just become it,
35:23
Speaker 1: you have to earn it. So like I'd be like, okay,
35:25
Speaker 1: you need to earn your gold metal moment. Like does
35:28
Speaker 1: somebody who's want a world championship title get frustrated after
35:32
Speaker 1: their third time of like not understanding the queue or
35:34
Speaker 1: do they just do they figure it out?
35:36
Speaker 4: Do they keep hammering away?
35:37
Speaker 1: And so I think applying that to like little decisions
35:40
Speaker 1: can be super helpful. And like yeah, even in the
35:43
Speaker 1: house example, if you start imagining that, then it's like
35:45
Speaker 1: okay when you're starting to make decisions. It's like, does
35:47
Speaker 1: the type of person that like buys the house I
35:49
Speaker 1: want to buy do this?
35:51
Speaker 4: Or do they or do they do that?
35:52
Speaker 1: And I think it's a really helpful way to frame
35:55
Speaker 1: decisions and mindsets because for me, I was like, Okay, well,
35:59
Speaker 1: the type of person that wins a world championship is
36:02
Speaker 1: positive at practice every day, So you need to find
36:04
Speaker 1: a way to be positive at practice every day.
36:06
Speaker 3: Amen. Not always easy, that's for sure.
36:10
Speaker 2: Now someone comes to your Instagram page, they see a heptathlete,
36:14
Speaker 2: a world champion. But when you look in the mirror, Anna,
36:17
Speaker 2: what do you see looking back at you?
36:21
Speaker 4: I feel like I see young Anna just I don't
36:23
Speaker 4: know why. I think I'll always see her.
36:25
Speaker 1: But where I was just this like young girl who
36:29
Speaker 1: I knew what I wanted to do and I was
36:31
Speaker 1: a fighter, but like I didn't know how. So I
36:34
Speaker 1: think I like see her where It's like, okay, like
36:36
Speaker 1: now we kind of know how, and we need to
36:37
Speaker 1: keep shaping it. And I'm sure there's so many areas
36:40
Speaker 1: in my life where it's the same thing, like I'm
36:42
Speaker 1: I know what I want and I'm going to fight
36:44
Speaker 1: for it.
36:44
Speaker 4: But it's like I don't quite know how yet.
36:46
Speaker 1: I don't know quite know how to advocate for myself
36:48
Speaker 1: perfectly yet, And so I think I see her and
36:52
Speaker 1: I'm just constantly like, Okay, I'm gonna make you proud,
36:54
Speaker 1: and like how we figure that out and how we
36:56
Speaker 1: go about it.
36:57
Speaker 2: It's so special to have that opportunity to like show
37:00
Speaker 2: your younger self like, look, we're doing it.
37:03
Speaker 4: Yeah, exactly.
37:04
Speaker 1: Like I have a quote on my mirror that's like
37:06
Speaker 1: success is liking yourself, liking what you do and how
37:09
Speaker 1: you do it. And so that's something I think I'm
37:11
Speaker 1: always going to be trying to make younger.
37:13
Speaker 4: Anna proud of.
37:15
Speaker 2: What do you think one of the things that you
37:18
Speaker 2: like best about yourself is?
37:21
Speaker 3: Now?
37:23
Speaker 4: I think I like my like grit kind of like
37:27
Speaker 4: stick to it.
37:27
Speaker 1: Miss I would say, yeah, I think, yeah, I think
37:31
Speaker 1: that's something that like I maybe have like a little
37:34
Speaker 1: special gift in because there's just been so many things
37:38
Speaker 1: thrown my way or so many like bad sessions, hard
37:41
Speaker 1: things to learn, and even off the track, like life
37:44
Speaker 1: things happening that could have so easily like derailed things
37:49
Speaker 1: or just.
37:49
Speaker 4: Like taking me away.
37:50
Speaker 1: But I think, no matter what is going on in
37:52
Speaker 1: my life off the track on the track, no matter
37:54
Speaker 1: what injury, it's like I always just come back to
37:56
Speaker 1: like the work, and so I think, yeah, that's probably
37:59
Speaker 1: my fast everything about myself.
38:01
Speaker 3: The grit, we love it.
38:02
Speaker 2: Well, Anna, before I let you go today, final question.
38:06
Speaker 2: Right now, you have an opportunity to offer yourself a
38:08
Speaker 2: piece of advice. Let's go back to that hurdle moment
38:11
Speaker 2: of breaking your foot. It wasn't easy, but you got
38:15
Speaker 2: through it, right, So, knowing what you know, now, what
38:18
Speaker 2: would you tell your younger self.
38:21
Speaker 4: I would tell her it's going to be okay.
38:23
Speaker 1: And I think, honestly, I would stick to the advice
38:25
Speaker 1: that like that got me through it. I think when
38:28
Speaker 1: I finally decided I was going to try and then
38:31
Speaker 1: my career wasn't over when I broke my foot at twenty,
38:34
Speaker 1: which is crazy to say that I even thought that.
38:36
Speaker 1: I just kept telling myself always like, just keep showing up.
38:40
Speaker 1: And I think I would just I think I would
38:42
Speaker 1: tell myself just keep showing up.
38:43
Speaker 4: But showing up means doing your best as well.
38:46
Speaker 3: But that's a big thing to that. But yeah, I
38:49
Speaker 3: was a little bit of both.
38:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, such good advice and so understandable right, This
38:56
Speaker 2: desire to do your best you can with what you
38:59
Speaker 2: have and keep pushing through the moments when it feels
39:01
Speaker 2: like it's beyond your control. For those that aren't following
39:05
Speaker 2: along with you just yet, Anna give us the deeds?
39:07
Speaker 2: How do they keep up with you?
39:09
Speaker 4: Yeah, you can keep up with me. Probably on Instagram.
39:12
Speaker 4: I'm most active.
39:13
Speaker 1: I think if you search my name, hopefully I come up,
39:16
Speaker 1: and then maybe TikTok as well. I go through spouts
39:19
Speaker 1: where I'm really active and not so active so but
39:22
Speaker 1: sometimes I post my workouts and kind of a little
39:24
Speaker 1: just behind the scene things there e ts.
39:27
Speaker 2: I'm over at Emily a Body and at Hurdle Podcast
39:30
Speaker 2: Another Hurdle Conquered.
39:32
Speaker 3: I catch you guys next time.