And so when you weren't kind of catching those first three ladies, how were you doing?

Yeah, I definitely didn't feel like myself today.

I have not had a bad race yet.

So I feel like today was kind of my first day where it didn't feel easy and natural.

So it's going to happen eventually.

I look at it that I have five trial runs to get it right before Hong Kong.

Today was one of five.

love that attitude, but it'd be nice to, you know, win some money and stuff.

Continue.

Yeah.

No.

And I, and I think there was multiple points in that decade where, um, it was a like I don't is this worth it like is it you know this isn't my job this isn't um this isn't what I like depend on for my livelihood like why am I still just like beating my head against the wall and I think to me the answer comes down to with With a marathon, with high rocks, whatever it may be, there are just like a million little things you can change.

And yeah, so like I might have, you know, ran 252 and failed.

But then my brain immediately goes like, well, I like fueling didn't go great.

Like next cycle, like let's try like let's try a couple different brands.

So are you feeling like a part of you is missing or is this just so novel and invigorating and exciting that the marathon is now just see ya?

How do you mentally navigate or negotiate with yourself when something like twisting your ankle goes awry? How do you handle the unexpected and do the best you can with what you have?

I think it comes back to kind of what I was hinting at when I talked about the whole spitting penalties.

At the time, I would have given anything to take that spit back, paid any amount of money, done anything.

I was distraught, sad.

But then, yeah, it turned into I needed that spit to happen in order to go to Toulouse and run a fast enough time.

to qualify for the elite 15.

I just didn't see it in the moment.

Do you feel like that is something that took time for you to put in the reps to get to this place where it wasn't just saying these positive things, but you actually were capable of believing them?

What about specifically watching the women's pro heat?

Oh my gosh.

I've never watched like a really like fast pro heat before.

I've like always been in it.

Um, no, it made me like very excited, also very nervous.

[laughs] Like, yeah, it, it made me wanna be in the race at the same time and also like I'm good to wait till Hamburg, so.

Will, will you get more nerves as we get closer, or is now peak nerves 'cause it's further away or?

I'm sure it'll hit hard like once I get to Europe.

But then right before Worlds, literally two days before, were you just playing hard to get and you were trying to get Adidas? Was it like you were playing the other brands because Adidas had your heart the whole time and you were like, I need them to think that I'm going to go with someone else? Yeah.

Was that the strategy? My love for the past few years has been Adidas.

I've run in their shoes for three years now and have loved them.

But yeah, transparently, I knew I had to do my due diligence.

This is a big multi-year decision for me.

It's not just a quick little... you know one year thing it's it's multi-year and um i had to like i had to research and i had to have the like different shoes on my feet because like to me like adidas was great um this was before i'd ever have their high rock shoe on my foot though so like that was a little nerve-wracking um also before nike really came out with their like high rock specific shoe So it was just a lot of unknown.

Like I truly had to like try out the different shoes for the different workouts.

Not because you, not because you don't care, but just because like, you do have to have some downtime and you can't stay sharp for 10 months.

probably like, damn it, we lost one.

we lost a good one hopefully.

Um, so yeah, like have been like really happy to work with my agent, um, Bijan at ripple sports on those projects.

Um, he's been like, great.

I think if it were up to me, I would have been like, I would have signed with like anyone who came knocking like really early on.

And he really cautioned me to like, we're going to do that like really slow, like do just the big ones.

We'll worry about all the small ones later.

Like, what do you, do you have to tell yourself stuff? Is it, or is it just all a blur? Like, where are you in your head when it's taking you three minutes?

You said like from 2.45 to 2.37. What do you think the biggest – what were the tweaks you made? Was it change your diet, run more? What do you think the tweaks were?

Yeah, I have like three major ones.

One would be fueling before and after races.

I had not, I just hadn't really focused on it.

Like you'd be like, ah, you know, I'll take, I'll take some fuel during long runs.

Maybe, you know, during races, like I'll take a couple of gels, but really dialed in on fueling.

practicing that fueling during long runs every week.

Right.

Yeah, because you, you had a bit of a rough few days leading into it, didn't you?

For sure.

Arrived in Stockholm, I think, the Friday before the Thursday race.

I had almost a week there to just kind of adjust and kinda, like, develop a routine, like, feel like I'm at home.

So that was really helpful.

Got in and found a gym.

It was called Life Lab, and that's, I think, where a bunch of the other kind of Elite 15s ended up training, so it was kinda fun to see people popping in and out during workouts.

So how, how do you, like, focus that now?

[laughs]

[laughs] I do remember the question.

Um, yeah, so to me, I think I expect it to be, like, just not as, like, wild as it was.

Like, the amount of spectators and fans and their level of engagement in the race is just incredible, um, whether it's, like, an open race or an Elite 15 race.

Like, the, I think that's one reason, like, I've just been able to, like, smile through all these races, because the people just make it so fun.

I feel like the more I engage with them, the more they engage back with me.

Um, so that's been great.

Did you channel that at all in that, in this buildup and in this race?

Can you maybe tell us a little bit about what you've observed of how High Rocks is finding its place, I guess, in the world of elite competition?

Certainly.

I think...

High Rocks, when it's, you know, in its infancy was populated mostly by a lot of CrossFit athletes.

And I think we're seeing a lot of runners coming into the sport and realizing that it can be a really healthy thing.

That it's, you know, you can come from a marathon, you can come from maybe more shorter distance, like a 5K, and it's healthy.

you know, not, not necessarily natural right away, but it's pretty easy to come from that running background and then start to add in strength work.

Is there anything that you can tell us? And it's OK if these aren't particularly uplifting and beautiful thoughts of like what is going through your head when you're maybe on the fourth lap and just like really, really pushing through to get this to get this done?

So everybody says, "Don't show up unless you believe you can win." Did you, in your heart, believe you could win?

Uh, yes.

Again, my whole little ankle twist thing definitely threw a little bit of a wrench in that.

Um, but it was feeling great, like, all day Thursday.

And, um, so I think that kind of got put out of my mind a little bit.

Um- Yeah, I think especially after sleds, I was like, "This is my day." Like, I could tell that sleds were going better than they normally...

I mean, not that they go poorly, but, like, I was gaining every step I took, and then the runs I was also gaining.

So what, tell folks, 'cause I know we talked about it a little bit, what was the highest level you reached in running? Like, what was your previous highs, I guess?

And then you can do both.

Yeah, I, I will say that a s- I mean, oh boy, so let's see, 20, the spring of, I'm gonna get these dates mixed up.

Basically, I've been training for this Olympic trials marathon 237 goal for a long time.

Um, there was a chunk of time when I did think I, I did overtrain, um, and it led to like an overuse injury.

I had some hamstring tendinopathy.

Had to take, yeah, oof, been fun.

[laughs] Had to get some PRP done and take, um, it was ultimately about 12 weeks off of running.

What's the racing team texting you like? Like, what [laughs] ...

When you crossed the line, what was the first thing that actually hit you? Like, what went through your head?

Uh, yeah, I, I don't think I even knew the time for a good, like, couple minutes.

Like, that wasn't anywhere in my, um, wheelho- or, like, in my brain at that point.

I think what I was feeling was just, like, the, like, the-- I don't know.

For, for, like, a few months now, like, I think I know, I've known what I was capable of, um, and I've kind of had to, like, talk about it in, like, a, like a really abstract way.

Like, oh, what I'm going to do, or, like, what I think I can do in the sport, or what I know I'm capable of.

Um, and every race I've gotten to do has let me, like, prove that little by little.

Do you find yourself applying things to your own training that you're teaching your athletes, or is there a gap, I'm sure there is, between H- [coughs] HYROX and high school cross country?