Retiring from elite weightlifting with Meredith Alwine

WEBVTT
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I think to have a plan in mind because I have
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talked to people that really had no concept of
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like what life might look like after weightlifting.
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That's like a huge thing you have to know it's
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gonna end. Hi Meredith, it's my pleasure to have
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you on the Evidence Strong show. Could you briefly
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introduce yourself? Hi, thanks for having me.
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My name is Meredith Allwine. I was on Teen USA
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for weightlifting from a junior in 2017 all the
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way through 2024, where I retired from international
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competition. So that's the topic of our interview,
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but you had some... other roles on us weightlifting
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too could you speak about that too yeah so since
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i stepped away from international lifting was
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elected to the elite athlete director position
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on the usa weightlifting board of directors and
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then with that I also serve as the weightlifting
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representative to the Teen USA Athletes Commission
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that serves the U .S. Olympic and Paralympic
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Committee. And then also in USA Weightlifting,
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I'm the vice chair of our Athlete Advisory Council.
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And we advise the board and the staff on athlete
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matters. Awesome. And you retired. So after retiring,
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what is your main focus? Yeah. So since retiring,
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I've started law school. I just finished my first
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year. I'm working in a small law firm this summer.
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Thank you. Yeah. So that's where I am. I'm at.
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Awesome. Okay, so we will be talking retirement
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and transition out of professional sport. But
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let's start at the beginning. So how did you
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find your way into weightlifting? I had always
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done sports my parents put me in gymnastics when
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I was like a year and a half old I did that I
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did that until I was 10 and then once I was free
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from the gymnastics world you know that's like
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a four hours of training every day type situation
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my parents told me I had to do something so my
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dad played soccer and I decided to follow his
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footsteps and played soccer and then with that
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got into doing track and then my friends got
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me into doing lifting generally you know and
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then that's when to crossfit and the crossfit
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gym they said hey you should try weightlifting
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you could probably qualify so i did and i was
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that was my senior year of high school so i was
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17 and you never looked back yeah no no just
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kept going awesome so yeah could we dig a little
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bit deeper so you at 17 did you try to qualify
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for nationals well how did it go yes they said
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hey we think you could qualify for nationals
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and then we had to figure out the youth junior
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thing because i was 17 but I was turning 18.
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We realized there'd be junior nationals. We were
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like, okay, I didn't know anything about kilos
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or qualifying totals. I didn't know anything
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about the start. Yeah. And then I went to my
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first local meet and I bombed out. I prepped
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out all my jerks. We were like, well, that didn't
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work. So let's try again. A couple months later,
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I went to another local meet, actually Muscle
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Driver USA, which... rest in peace muscle driver
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and then yeah I qualified for junior nationals
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so I went to junior nationals about six months
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into starting weightlifting and I got third place
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I was like okay I guess I'll keep doing that
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okay and did you decide to find a coach you yes
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initially I was being coached we had like a weightlifting
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specific coach at the CrossFit gym and so I worked
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with him for about a year before I went away
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to college and I was in Virginia at the time
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which is where East Coast Gold is now headquartered.
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They were transitioning states at the time, so
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it wasn't quite as established in Virginia like
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it is now. But Phil Sabatini and Leo Totten helped
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me at my first junior nationals because my CrossFit
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gym weightlifting coach couldn't go. So I kind
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of got a high -level coaching experience at my
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first junior nationals, which is really cool.
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In hindsight, I know that. At the time, I did
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not. I didn't know anything. And then I was introduced
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to Vernon Patel, who is a two -time Olympian.
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lived in Hawaii, which is where my family's from.
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So we were vacationing and visiting my family
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and I was dropping into a CrossFit gym and she
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told me, no, you need to go to Vernon. He's the
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weightlifting Olympian. I went there and worked
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with him for a couple of years. All right. And
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so how did you make your first international
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team? That's such a good question. I have to
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remember that was so long ago. Yeah, you're like,
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you have to dig now. It was my second junior
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nationals. So the next year I had just finished
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my first year of college. college. And I actually
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took my exams early, like I did them specially
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early so that I could go to because junior nationals
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at that time was in February. And so I competed
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and won that junior nationals. And somebody was
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talking about me bumping somebody on the junior
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Pan Am team and making the team. And I didn't
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know what any of that meant. And then I remember
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being on campus and getting a phone call from
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a Colorado Springs number that ended up being
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I honestly don't even remember if it was like
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the CEO or a staff member or somebody, but they
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said, hey, would you like to be on the Junior
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Pan Am team? I was like, sure. Yeah, in hindsight,
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really short turnaround because that was like
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between February and May. So yeah, February,
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March, April, took my exams early, left and went
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to Junior Pan Ams for the first time. And then
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from that Junior Pan Ams, again, I had no idea,
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but I ended up qualifying for Junior Worlds,
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which was some, maybe like the next month or
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something. Yeah, it was like at the end of June.
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I don't know. This is all a blur. Yeah. Okay.
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So Junior Worlds. And then was the transition
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to seniors anything special? or it just rolled
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in, kind of happened? Because you were still
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studying. What did you study? I studied philosophy.
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Okay, so you're a full -time student and from
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time to time you adjust your learning schedule
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to fit in these adventures that weightlifting
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gave you unexpectedly. Definitely unexpectedly,
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yeah. Yeah, full -time student. I didn't really,
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like I said, I grew up just always training and
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doing sports. So it really wasn't that different
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to transition into college where I was just,
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okay, I go to class, I go to practice. I actually
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played soccer. my first semester in college.
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So I was going to class and then I think I would
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go lift and then I would go to soccer practice
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or vice versa, depending. And that didn't go
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well. I ended up having like back problems and
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I stopped soccer after that semester so I could
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just focus on weightlifting because I did go
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to the American Open back when it was just the
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American Open and bombed out. So I decided that
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was not a good idea. And that was in 2016 at
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the end of the year, right before I won that
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junior national and also made junior. Pan Ams
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and that was my first senior competition and
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I was really just focused on maybe taking a crack
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at an American record but I competed there as
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a 63 if I had the cut after my first semester
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of college where I was already kind of injured
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and so that didn't go well. The next year my
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next foray into the senior world was the American
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Open again in 2017 that was in Anaheim right
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after they did Anaheim Worlds which was pretty
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cool and I knew that I had a good shot of putting
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up some competitive numbers. And I was really
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excited and motivated. And I ended up winning
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and competing with Kate Bybert when we were both
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juniors. So we were both juniors. And I think
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we went first place, second place, the senior
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meet in the American Open. And I clean and jerked
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125 there, which was like huge at the time. And
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a huge improvement for me because that junior
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nationals that I had won that year, I clean and
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jerked 108. So from February to December, I added
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however many kilos that... is almost 20 kilos
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under my clean and jerk so then it just kept
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progressing because the next year in 2018 Kate
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and I went to senior nationals and did the same
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thing except we switched she won and then we
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went one two as the juniors in a senior session
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and then I had attempted 131 clean and jerk and
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it was actually like pretty close and that was
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I remember that being pretty huge because there
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weren't a lot of girls back then doing 130 plus
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I think it was like Jenny and Maddie and the
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supers and maybe other people I'm forgetting,
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but it wasn't like something that you saw as
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commonly as we do now. 130 gets pretty loaded
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pretty regularly now. And that felt like a really
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big deal. And we were looking at the start or
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maybe like the rankings for Senior Worlds that
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year. And I was still doing, I did Junior Worlds
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that year. And we looked at the Senior World
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ranking and they had introduced the Series meets
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now. This might have been the first year that
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the Series meets were a thing. So American Open
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Series 3 was the last qualifier for Senior Worlds.
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And we were like, we could, we could make it,
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we could go and try. So I did. Yeah. And I seen
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and jerked 133 there for, that was a junior American
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record and made the senior world team. That's
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great. And then I went to senior world. So from
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my first year in nationals in 2016 to 2018 senior
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world. So yeah, that, that transition wasn't
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really much of a transition for me. It kind of
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just happened. I definitely was not, not expecting
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it. It sounds so crazy with the numbers you're
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listing. You're like, what do you mean you did
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not expect it? I just didn't know any better.
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I really didn't know any better. And like you're
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saying, like I went to Senior Worlds in 2018
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and I got sixth place. And I remember being really
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disappointed in my performance. Not because of
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the placing, but because I felt like I could
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have done much better. And I attempted a Junior
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World record. Crazy. Yeah, I just had no concept
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of any of it yet. I was so new. That's such a
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nice story. Yeah, I feel so much like the first
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five years. just a mess like I feel like you're
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learning technique and at least like in my case
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like I was thrown into the international scene
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in the national scene so quickly and so immediately
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my technique was all over the place I had no
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mental concept of how to compete in weightlifting
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it's very different from any other sport like
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you're saying you have to manage you have to
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manage the intensity throughout the meet right
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like you have to be able to stay calm and then
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amp it up and then go back to being calm and
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managing all of the unexpected It's really unique.
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So I feel like when I think about when I would
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compete and then think back on the experience,
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so much of what I was taking away from each experience
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was not about my strength or anything. It was
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really just like, oh, I didn't handle this mental
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thing well, or I didn't handle this thing well,
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or I should have approached it differently versus
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like, oh, I just wasn't strong enough. Like that
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was never really what I was thinking. It was
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just learning how to compete effectively. strength
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you're working on in the gym this is what you
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think about during trainings but competition
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is more mental because that's you have what you
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have and know how to express it through this
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two hour or two and a half hour meet when you
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are judged on what you show not how strong you
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are not how technically proficient you are how
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you put all of it together on the platform yeah
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and it's way harder than it sounds yes oh yes
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we only covered a small piece of your huge olympic
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weight lifting career but i think it would be
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nice to sum it up with the best and the worst
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so let's start with the best and then the worst
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from a competitive international competitive
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time okay i feel like the answers seem like they
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would be obvious like i feel like saying winning
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worlds and being a world champion was the best
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and it's very cool i don't know i don't know
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that i feel like it's like the best for me personally
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because i didn't like my performance there we
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all almost cried when it happened I cried a lot.
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It was like a dream. It's so weird to like achieve
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that. Like I never thought I would achieve it.
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Like that was never the goal. Like my goal was
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like, oh, let's go to as many worlds as possible.
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And if we can qualify for an Olympics, like that's
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great. So to be in a position where you can win
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worlds, that's very beyond what I ever thought
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was possible. So that was pretty surreal. But
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like as I feel like it's lame to say, but like
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I don't like the way like I only made one snatch,
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I think. And then I. I won Worlds on my second
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clean and jerk. And so my third clean and jerk
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was an American record attempt. But, you know,
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the adrenaline is just a mess by then. And so
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I missed that. I was like, I should have made
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that. But I was very happy with that, the outcome.
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But the performance itself was less much to be
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desired for me. You know how it is. Weightlifting
00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:11.679
is like that. Sometimes you get the performance
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you wanted and weightlifters tend to be happy
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then. And then sometimes you get the outcome,
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you know, the medal or the placing or the qualification.
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or the stipend like whatever but the performance
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is like you as an athlete feel like yeah like
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I'm I'm going through my competitions right now
00:12:30.679 --> 00:12:32.399
right and it's like okay I won Pan Ams three
00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:36.679
times I don't know that I was like particularly
00:12:36.679 --> 00:12:39.440
like overjoyed with any of those performances.
00:12:39.639 --> 00:12:42.120
I think the second time I won was actually like
00:12:42.120 --> 00:12:44.360
a month before I won Worlds. And I did like that
00:12:44.360 --> 00:12:46.799
one. But I did clean and jerk the American record
00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:48.320
there. I got three white lights and then they
00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:50.960
overturned it, which was annoying. It was a press
00:12:50.960 --> 00:12:53.379
out. It was pretty bad. I don't know how I got
00:12:53.379 --> 00:12:55.860
three white lights, but that was annoying. But
00:12:55.860 --> 00:12:58.159
I don't know. I feel like the competition that
00:12:58.159 --> 00:13:00.639
brings me the most like joy internationally to
00:13:00.639 --> 00:13:03.820
think about would be like probably like my last
00:13:03.820 --> 00:13:06.029
Worlds. honestly, just because there was a lot
00:13:06.029 --> 00:13:08.570
of emotion and significance tied to it. And I
00:13:08.570 --> 00:13:11.570
was very satisfied and happy with the way that
00:13:11.570 --> 00:13:14.330
that went and the way my career was able to end.
00:13:14.629 --> 00:13:17.169
The Worlds that I won, I got first place. It
00:13:17.169 --> 00:13:19.690
was Olivia Reeve's first Senior Worlds. And she
00:13:19.690 --> 00:13:21.409
got fourth place there. And she was so young
00:13:21.409 --> 00:13:23.830
and nervous. And it was very cute. But that's
00:13:23.830 --> 00:13:26.389
where we first met. And we became very good friends
00:13:26.389 --> 00:13:28.129
and stayed really good friends and are still
00:13:28.129 --> 00:13:31.470
very good friends. And so that was in 2021. And
00:13:31.470 --> 00:13:34.299
then we went through the whole Paris. squad competing
00:13:34.299 --> 00:13:36.759
against each other and training with each other
00:13:36.759 --> 00:13:38.419
and traveling with each other and getting very
00:13:38.419 --> 00:13:41.399
close and so my last worlds was after Paris when
00:13:41.399 --> 00:13:44.840
obviously she went and was amazing and so my
00:13:44.840 --> 00:13:46.720
last world with her in the same weight class
00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:48.259
because sometimes we bumped around so we got
00:13:48.259 --> 00:13:49.500
to be in the same weight class we got to compete
00:13:49.500 --> 00:13:51.580
together and it was the first time she won senior
00:13:51.580 --> 00:13:53.960
world so that was very sweet to me you like you
00:13:53.960 --> 00:13:57.200
passed the baton yeah it was like okay I won
00:13:57.200 --> 00:13:58.740
the first time you're with me and the last time
00:13:58.740 --> 00:14:00.620
I'm with you you win the first time and it was
00:14:00.620 --> 00:14:03.139
very sweet the numbers actually was really crazy
00:14:03.139 --> 00:14:05.500
is the exact numbers that I snatched and clean
00:14:05.500 --> 00:14:07.360
and jerked in my last world are the exact same
00:14:07.360 --> 00:14:08.879
numbers I snatched and clean and jerked at my
00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:11.179
first world, which I had no idea about until
00:14:11.179 --> 00:14:13.799
like later when I realized that. That was pretty
00:14:13.799 --> 00:14:16.059
crazy. And the reverse happened where I think
00:14:16.059 --> 00:14:18.919
my last clean and jerk was no lifted. And then
00:14:18.919 --> 00:14:21.419
I don't know if we threw a challenge or the jury
00:14:21.419 --> 00:14:23.419
just started deliberating, but they overturned
00:14:23.419 --> 00:14:25.620
it to a good lift. And so we were walking back
00:14:25.620 --> 00:14:28.059
into the tunnel and heard they were deliberating.
00:14:28.059 --> 00:14:29.639
They said it was a good lift and we were all
00:14:29.639 --> 00:14:31.539
jumping up and down. And it was it was a lot
00:14:31.539 --> 00:14:34.879
of fun. I have to ask you about the Olympic qualification
00:14:34.879 --> 00:14:37.559
for Paris. How did you feel about that? It was
00:14:37.559 --> 00:14:39.340
horrible. It was like the worst experience of
00:14:39.340 --> 00:14:42.299
my life. Yeah, like when you say like, what was
00:14:42.299 --> 00:14:44.919
the worst? Like, I don't know. I think back on
00:14:44.919 --> 00:14:46.919
my career, I don't know if there's any one like
00:14:46.919 --> 00:14:48.759
international meet that I feel like was actually
00:14:48.759 --> 00:14:50.659
there is one that is the worst. So I'll get to
00:14:50.659 --> 00:14:53.320
the Paris question after this. The worst meet
00:14:53.320 --> 00:14:56.240
that I hated the most was Bogota Pan Ams 2022.
00:14:56.860 --> 00:15:00.240
I was in the classic, like you win worlds or
00:15:00.240 --> 00:15:01.769
you do something amazing. then you're in like
00:15:01.769 --> 00:15:04.750
a slump afterwards. Then it's like, okay, well,
00:15:04.850 --> 00:15:08.490
now what? That was it. So I was in a slump in
00:15:08.490 --> 00:15:10.769
my personal life. I was in a slump with competing.
00:15:11.250 --> 00:15:13.230
I didn't feel very motivated. There was just
00:15:13.230 --> 00:15:15.730
a lot going on. And so I went to this Pan Ams
00:15:15.730 --> 00:15:18.269
and did five. I mean, I got third place, which
00:15:18.269 --> 00:15:21.399
is like. very good still but I just didn't feel
00:15:21.399 --> 00:15:23.019
like I performed very well I think my shoulder
00:15:23.019 --> 00:15:25.399
was really bothering me a lot I don't know I
00:15:25.399 --> 00:15:27.200
was just in a bad place I remember taking those
00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:28.799
medals when I got home and I like put them on
00:15:28.799 --> 00:15:31.059
my dresser and then literally forgot they were
00:15:31.059 --> 00:15:33.200
there until I moved out of that room and then
00:15:33.200 --> 00:15:35.799
like cleaned them off and was like oh like two
00:15:35.799 --> 00:15:39.000
years later so 2022 just stuck But then the Paris
00:15:39.000 --> 00:15:41.899
qualification genuinely sucked so much worse.
00:15:41.940 --> 00:15:44.279
It was really, really horrible. Yeah, so I was
00:15:44.279 --> 00:15:47.379
in a unique position of everybody, all the women
00:15:47.379 --> 00:15:49.559
for America that were trying to qualify for Paris
00:15:49.559 --> 00:15:53.460
were amazing. And so I got stuck behind like
00:15:53.460 --> 00:15:56.419
Kate and Olivia for the weight class. And with
00:15:56.419 --> 00:16:00.440
the way that Team USA did our qualification to
00:16:00.440 --> 00:16:03.879
go to the qualifiers, you had to, like I couldn't
00:16:03.879 --> 00:16:07.340
compete up at 76 like I had done throughout my
00:16:07.340 --> 00:16:09.299
whole life. career like oh you know if Kate or
00:16:09.299 --> 00:16:12.080
Olivia are at 71 I'll just go up to 76 and that's
00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:15.820
fine I could only do that if I beat out the 81s
00:16:15.820 --> 00:16:19.139
because 76 fed into the 81s for a Paris call
00:16:19.139 --> 00:16:22.120
so I had to compete at like all of the national
00:16:22.120 --> 00:16:24.259
meets to try to keep qualifying whether it be
00:16:24.259 --> 00:16:27.620
at 71 or I had to beat out the 81s to get to
00:16:27.620 --> 00:16:30.799
76 which I did ultimately do but so I was competing
00:16:30.799 --> 00:16:33.340
more often than everybody and then we were already
00:16:33.340 --> 00:16:35.659
competing internationally so much because we
00:16:35.659 --> 00:16:37.759
had to go to five calls qualifiers and then at
00:16:37.759 --> 00:16:39.940
each qualifier because it was just your best
00:16:39.940 --> 00:16:42.519
total everybody was just going a hundred percent
00:16:42.519 --> 00:16:45.519
like especially me like I just had to go a hundred
00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:48.159
percent all the time to try to qualify for that
00:16:48.159 --> 00:16:50.039
spot and then once I got the spot I had to go
00:16:50.039 --> 00:16:52.200
a hundred percent again and so there was times
00:16:52.200 --> 00:16:54.740
we were competing like four to six weeks apart
00:16:54.740 --> 00:16:57.440
multiple times in a row at a hundred percent
00:16:57.440 --> 00:17:00.539
every single time yeah it just like for me turned
00:17:00.539 --> 00:17:03.019
out to be like physically impossible Like we
00:17:03.019 --> 00:17:06.720
hit a point where the only option we had left
00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:09.859
was to just stop training because I started like
00:17:09.859 --> 00:17:12.259
missing snatches at like 55 pretty regularly.
00:17:12.519 --> 00:17:14.799
Like I like I literally could not do it. I was
00:17:14.799 --> 00:17:16.640
missing squats. I was missing everything. I just
00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:19.259
like couldn't do it anymore. And I was in a lot
00:17:19.259 --> 00:17:21.480
of pain. Everything hurt really badly. My shoulder
00:17:21.480 --> 00:17:24.819
was barely functional. Yeah. And my numbers just
00:17:24.819 --> 00:17:26.740
weren't going. They just started going down.
00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:30.180
That was not great. Yeah. And mentally, I was
00:17:30.180 --> 00:17:32.299
I was just like when you're in it. you don't
00:17:32.299 --> 00:17:34.640
even realize how deep into the trenches you are,
00:17:34.680 --> 00:17:36.160
right? Like, you know, you're having a bad time,
00:17:36.180 --> 00:17:37.900
but you're just trying to like stay afloat and
00:17:37.900 --> 00:17:40.859
like keep training. And after it was over, so
00:17:40.859 --> 00:17:43.039
many people were like, wow, you seem so much
00:17:43.039 --> 00:17:45.839
happier. Like, I feel like I barely even remember
00:17:45.839 --> 00:17:49.119
some of like months of that process where I was
00:17:49.119 --> 00:17:51.940
just like nonstop training, just like eat, sleep,
00:17:51.960 --> 00:17:55.039
lift. And that was it. Is it okay to ask you
00:17:55.039 --> 00:17:57.460
about your relationship with Danica Margo? When
00:17:57.460 --> 00:17:59.759
did you guys started working together? Yeah,
00:17:59.819 --> 00:18:03.029
I had a lot of issues. with coaching earlier
00:18:03.029 --> 00:18:05.809
in my career like I said I didn't know anything
00:18:05.809 --> 00:18:08.869
going into it and so I kind of kept ending up
00:18:08.869 --> 00:18:12.130
in coaching situations that ended poorly and
00:18:12.130 --> 00:18:16.309
I was in a weird situation where I was sort of
00:18:16.309 --> 00:18:19.740
waiting to work with a coach And this was during
00:18:19.740 --> 00:18:21.940
COVID. So everything was a little bit up in the
00:18:21.940 --> 00:18:23.920
air and we didn't know what was going on. And
00:18:23.920 --> 00:18:26.119
I didn't know if I was going to move to this
00:18:26.119 --> 00:18:28.259
other state and work with this other coach or
00:18:28.259 --> 00:18:30.019
what was going to happen. And this kind of got
00:18:30.019 --> 00:18:33.980
dragged out for a while. At the same time, Maddie
00:18:33.980 --> 00:18:36.619
had just left Danny. So Danny had never really
00:18:36.619 --> 00:18:39.059
been an option to me as a coach because Maddie
00:18:39.059 --> 00:18:40.519
and I were the same weight class. So we never
00:18:40.519 --> 00:18:42.700
really considered it. I met him for the first
00:18:42.700 --> 00:18:45.500
time at that First Worlds in 2018. And we got
00:18:45.500 --> 00:18:47.480
along super well. He's very friendly. Everybody
00:18:47.480 --> 00:18:50.349
loves him. he's great and we got along always
00:18:50.349 --> 00:18:52.210
after that every time we saw each other he'd
00:18:52.210 --> 00:18:54.950
come by and say hi and talk and so we were already
00:18:54.950 --> 00:18:58.029
really friendly and then this weird situation
00:18:58.029 --> 00:18:59.809
didn't work out with the other coach and I was
00:18:59.809 --> 00:19:01.509
kind of like well I don't I don't know what to
00:19:01.509 --> 00:19:05.490
do now but he was available and the CEO at the
00:19:05.490 --> 00:19:08.750
time Phil Andrews recommended that he had recommended
00:19:08.750 --> 00:19:10.869
like years prior that I work with Danny but it
00:19:10.869 --> 00:19:12.950
kind of just wasn't like time wasn't right so
00:19:12.950 --> 00:19:15.809
finally everything aligned and this was yeah
00:19:15.809 --> 00:19:19.210
I'm like fall of 2020. And I went down there
00:19:19.210 --> 00:19:22.390
and visited and it was great. And we just immediately
00:19:22.390 --> 00:19:25.250
connected and got along. And then that was it.
00:19:25.329 --> 00:19:27.869
And I moved down there a year and a half later
00:19:27.869 --> 00:19:30.950
and trained full time. I mean, ever since I stopped
00:19:30.950 --> 00:19:33.890
competing internationally, he hasn't like coached
00:19:33.890 --> 00:19:35.970
me because I haven't really been weightlifting,
00:19:36.089 --> 00:19:38.329
but we are still very close and keep in touch.
00:19:38.450 --> 00:19:41.490
And he was great. He and I both approach weightlifting
00:19:41.490 --> 00:19:45.049
in a similar sort of like, like, not just vibes,
00:19:45.170 --> 00:19:47.640
but like very auto regulation. like self -regulation
00:19:47.640 --> 00:19:50.660
approach to training so he has the programming
00:19:50.660 --> 00:19:53.259
obviously but I was experienced enough at this
00:19:53.259 --> 00:19:56.559
point to know like oh you know I can push this
00:19:56.559 --> 00:19:58.720
or I should pull back on this you know kind of
00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:00.720
guide my own training a little bit within the
00:20:00.720 --> 00:20:02.779
parameters of the program and he was very open
00:20:02.779 --> 00:20:05.259
to feedback as well if I was like hey I don't
00:20:05.259 --> 00:20:07.519
like doing heavy pulls on Monday let's move those
00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:09.779
to whatever day or really you know stuff like
00:20:09.779 --> 00:20:11.440
that it was always very easy to work with him
00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:14.480
and he had a great sense for what I was capable
00:20:14.480 --> 00:20:17.940
of doing and what I needed here so in competitions
00:20:17.940 --> 00:20:21.000
I trusted him 100 % like put whatever number
00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:23.460
on the bar I know that that is the right decision
00:20:23.460 --> 00:20:26.279
because you know me and so whatever you put on
00:20:26.279 --> 00:20:29.279
the bar I will take and then when I was not feeling
00:20:29.279 --> 00:20:32.460
it he gave me a good you know kick like hey I
00:20:32.460 --> 00:20:34.589
need you to I need you to really try for like
00:20:34.589 --> 00:20:36.410
20 more minutes so you can get through this.
00:20:36.549 --> 00:20:38.410
And even in some of the training in the para
00:20:38.410 --> 00:20:40.630
squad, there was times where I really was like,
00:20:40.690 --> 00:20:42.990
you could just tell like I was just like, just
00:20:42.990 --> 00:20:44.869
like not giving it that effort. And he would
00:20:44.869 --> 00:20:46.670
be like, hey, like this is what you wanted, you
00:20:46.670 --> 00:20:48.490
know. He's very good at motivating. And then
00:20:48.490 --> 00:20:50.289
also when things were tough, being very kind
00:20:50.289 --> 00:20:53.609
and comforting. He's a dad and that shows. And
00:20:53.609 --> 00:20:55.430
just coaching a lot. He's very compassionate
00:20:55.430 --> 00:20:58.470
and sweet. So we had a very good, comfortable,
00:20:58.630 --> 00:21:01.450
easy dynamic. So what I'm hearing is trust and
00:21:01.450 --> 00:21:05.069
collaboration. looking back on the other experiences
00:21:05.069 --> 00:21:07.710
you have that didn't work so well what do you
00:21:07.710 --> 00:21:10.250
think athletes could this is something that now
00:21:10.250 --> 00:21:12.910
like on the athletes commission we talk about
00:21:12.910 --> 00:21:16.390
a lot how can we help younger athletes find that
00:21:16.390 --> 00:21:18.849
good coaching relationship and one of the things
00:21:18.849 --> 00:21:20.970
we were thinking about is like weightlifting
00:21:20.970 --> 00:21:24.369
it's a really hard sport and it's also kind of
00:21:24.369 --> 00:21:27.109
it's very unknown to people right like people
00:21:27.109 --> 00:21:29.690
come into it and they don't know anything about
00:21:29.690 --> 00:21:31.569
it it's not as popular in america right like
00:21:31.720 --> 00:21:33.559
don't grow up seeing weightlifting we don't really
00:21:33.559 --> 00:21:35.900
know anything about it so you get into the sport
00:21:35.900 --> 00:21:37.380
and you have this coach who knows a lot about
00:21:37.380 --> 00:21:39.319
it and they give you the program and they tell
00:21:39.319 --> 00:21:41.900
you what to do and you're like this must be the
00:21:41.900 --> 00:21:43.759
right way right and so I've had coaches tell
00:21:43.759 --> 00:21:46.099
me you know like you don't question what I do
00:21:46.099 --> 00:21:47.799
you just you know you need to trust the coach
00:21:47.799 --> 00:21:49.339
you do what the coach tells you and it's like
00:21:49.339 --> 00:21:52.619
okay well sure I don't know and I think if you're
00:21:52.619 --> 00:21:55.079
ending up in a situation where you don't feel
00:21:55.079 --> 00:21:57.240
like or you're not even getting responses to
00:21:57.240 --> 00:22:00.660
like hey why are we doing this or like yes why
00:22:00.660 --> 00:22:02.720
are we doing this what is this for or if you
00:22:02.720 --> 00:22:06.140
I think a big issue for me was if I was having
00:22:06.140 --> 00:22:10.119
pain or like injuries or I didn't feel like I
00:22:10.119 --> 00:22:11.900
was recovering well stuff like that this was
00:22:11.900 --> 00:22:13.519
an issue I've had multiple times with different
00:22:13.519 --> 00:22:15.900
coaches and I would give that feedback a lot
00:22:15.900 --> 00:22:18.940
of times I would be told either oh well you must
00:22:18.940 --> 00:22:21.440
be doing something wrong and I think if you're
00:22:21.440 --> 00:22:24.339
ever in that situation that's a huge red flag
00:22:24.339 --> 00:22:27.680
to me because as weightlifting athletes are perfectionists
00:22:27.680 --> 00:22:30.519
right and we try very hard and so you're probably
00:22:30.519 --> 00:22:32.019
not doing anything wrong you're probably just
00:22:32.019 --> 00:22:34.849
having pain and an injury or maybe the program
00:22:34.849 --> 00:22:37.150
just doesn't work for you and so if you're in
00:22:37.150 --> 00:22:39.569
a situation where a coach is putting more stock
00:22:39.569 --> 00:22:41.890
into their programming than into like what you're
00:22:41.890 --> 00:22:44.250
telling them and they're not listening to you
00:22:44.250 --> 00:22:46.289
and you don't you can't build that trust that
00:22:46.289 --> 00:22:48.970
is a situation i would try to leave right i think
00:22:48.970 --> 00:22:51.529
it's i can really relate to what you said that
00:22:51.529 --> 00:22:54.410
athletes weightlifters in general are on the
00:22:54.410 --> 00:22:57.269
trying to be perfect and do as much as they can
00:22:57.269 --> 00:23:01.470
and you know give 100 and almost i think that
00:23:01.470 --> 00:23:05.190
part of being a coach is to recognize where the
00:23:05.190 --> 00:23:07.829
line is and pull the athletes back. Yeah, and
00:23:07.829 --> 00:23:09.609
that was something Danny and I were great with
00:23:09.609 --> 00:23:13.269
because he retired as a junior. So he was a resident
00:23:13.269 --> 00:23:15.829
at the Olympic Training Center back in the 90s.
00:23:16.779 --> 00:23:19.039
I love telling him this. He retired the year
00:23:19.039 --> 00:23:20.720
I was born, which is one of my favorite things
00:23:20.720 --> 00:23:24.079
to say to him. He retired as a junior because
00:23:24.079 --> 00:23:27.119
the system was so different back then and the
00:23:27.119 --> 00:23:30.839
training was really hard and he would ask for
00:23:30.839 --> 00:23:33.059
time off and they wouldn't give it to him. They're
00:23:33.059 --> 00:23:34.680
like, well, the other kids aren't getting time
00:23:34.680 --> 00:23:36.539
off. You know, like, why would you get a day
00:23:36.539 --> 00:23:38.859
off? And that's just how it was. And he couldn't
00:23:38.859 --> 00:23:40.799
handle it. And he was burnt out. And that's why
00:23:40.799 --> 00:23:43.180
he retired so young. And so he's very sensitive
00:23:43.180 --> 00:23:46.789
to that dynamic and very willing to. listen when
00:23:46.789 --> 00:23:49.250
I said hey I need I need to back off and he was
00:23:49.250 --> 00:23:51.700
good at knowing like when I Did need to back
00:23:51.700 --> 00:23:53.839
off or when maybe I could push a little harder.
00:23:53.980 --> 00:23:56.119
He had a good eye for that. He coached you in
00:23:56.119 --> 00:23:59.539
some meets you did after retirement. Yeah, I
00:23:59.539 --> 00:24:02.079
did. So I was living in Florida still and I did
00:24:02.079 --> 00:24:04.339
the Florida State Championships were I think
00:24:04.339 --> 00:24:07.000
in like February after I did Worlds in December.
00:24:07.160 --> 00:24:09.900
But he was there for that. And then I think that
00:24:09.900 --> 00:24:13.660
was the last one we did together. I mean, I just
00:24:13.660 --> 00:24:16.400
competed in this Nationals and he had Nicole
00:24:16.400 --> 00:24:18.619
as his athlete in the same session. So he was
00:24:18.619 --> 00:24:21.579
back there. But I actually. was just being coached
00:24:21.579 --> 00:24:23.940
by olivia and my boyfriend which was a lot of
00:24:23.940 --> 00:24:27.599
fun oh these guys yeah it's like two people that
00:24:27.599 --> 00:24:31.240
like can't be serious like yeah they've never
00:24:31.240 --> 00:24:35.000
coached or like counted before um we had a good
00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:38.769
time it was good It sounds like your vibe from
00:24:38.769 --> 00:24:42.349
that, I don't know, 43 minutes I know you. It
00:24:42.349 --> 00:24:45.890
really is. I'm very like go with the flow. I
00:24:45.890 --> 00:24:48.430
will lift when I'm told to, which is funny. I
00:24:48.430 --> 00:24:50.069
wasn't always that way. Like in the beginning
00:24:50.069 --> 00:24:51.890
when I didn't understand how everything worked,
00:24:51.970 --> 00:24:54.170
I was much more uptight about like, why are we
00:24:54.170 --> 00:24:55.849
picking this number? Why aren't we doing this?
00:24:55.930 --> 00:24:57.450
Why are we doing this? And it used to like stress
00:24:57.450 --> 00:24:59.670
me out because I just didn't understand and I
00:24:59.670 --> 00:25:01.670
didn't know. And now that I know, and especially
00:25:01.670 --> 00:25:04.210
in a meet like that, where for me, the outcome
00:25:04.210 --> 00:25:07.349
did not matter. At all. I knew that we were nationals.
00:25:07.430 --> 00:25:10.309
Well, I was like, I think I could medal. I want
00:25:10.309 --> 00:25:12.190
to put myself in a position to medal, but I know
00:25:12.190 --> 00:25:14.269
I'm not going to be trying some crazy like PR
00:25:14.269 --> 00:25:17.450
lifts. So I was like, you guys read the board.
00:25:17.549 --> 00:25:20.470
Tell me what number is a good number and I'll
00:25:20.470 --> 00:25:22.990
go try my best. That's so funny. How do things
00:25:22.990 --> 00:25:26.109
change? It's completely night and day. Yeah.
00:25:26.190 --> 00:25:28.710
I think it's part of it is the trust. Part of
00:25:28.710 --> 00:25:31.430
it is understanding what's going on around you
00:25:31.430 --> 00:25:35.039
and all the ins and outs. Yeah, absolutely. Well,
00:25:35.079 --> 00:25:38.319
our sport is. So, okay. How did you decide that
00:25:38.319 --> 00:25:42.160
the Worlds will be your last meet and then you
00:25:42.160 --> 00:25:45.240
will retire? So we went through the Paris qualification.
00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:49.460
So Thailand in April of 2024 was the last qualifier.
00:25:49.640 --> 00:25:52.460
By that point, I was like, I was wrecked. And
00:25:52.460 --> 00:25:55.019
Bobby was done. I was not getting any more out
00:25:55.019 --> 00:25:57.619
of it. My numbers had gone down. I was mentally
00:25:57.619 --> 00:26:00.440
just fried, just totally done. And then I thought,
00:26:00.519 --> 00:26:03.000
well, I could go to Worlds. And this could be
00:26:03.000 --> 00:26:05.900
the last one. I wasn't sure yet, but I was like,
00:26:06.000 --> 00:26:08.000
might as well go. I got nothing else going on.
00:26:08.099 --> 00:26:11.799
So that required me to go to AO2 because other
00:26:11.799 --> 00:26:13.759
people were trying to make the team. I was like,
00:26:13.799 --> 00:26:15.900
well, I have to defend my spot. So we went and
00:26:15.900 --> 00:26:19.029
we did that. Didn't really train for that. Defended
00:26:19.029 --> 00:26:20.849
my spot. So that was like in August. And then
00:26:20.849 --> 00:26:23.430
Worlds was in December. So from August to December,
00:26:23.549 --> 00:26:26.069
I had to pick it back up, start training again.
00:26:26.250 --> 00:26:29.670
And I don't know if Danny was even giving me
00:26:29.670 --> 00:26:32.289
programming anymore. I literally might have just
00:26:32.289 --> 00:26:34.309
been like, I had moved in with my boyfriend at
00:26:34.309 --> 00:26:36.369
this point and he had a home gym. So I was like
00:26:36.369 --> 00:26:38.670
literally just lifting by myself. I might have
00:26:38.670 --> 00:26:40.769
just been making it up as I went. I don't remember.
00:26:41.029 --> 00:26:46.130
But it was not fun to go back into it. I had
00:26:46.130 --> 00:26:48.769
not. really recovered from doing the qualification
00:26:48.769 --> 00:26:53.650
yet and there was one very specific session I
00:26:53.650 --> 00:26:55.789
remember I don't remember anything about the
00:26:55.789 --> 00:26:58.910
session itself other than I just like felt a
00:26:58.910 --> 00:27:01.970
moment where like what I remember is just feeling
00:27:01.970 --> 00:27:04.910
like that competitive drive and spirit just like
00:27:04.910 --> 00:27:07.970
left just left me I was done like I just didn't
00:27:07.970 --> 00:27:09.809
care anymore and I didn't want to do it anymore
00:27:09.809 --> 00:27:12.210
and I was like okay so Bahrain Worlds will be
00:27:12.210 --> 00:27:14.509
the last one because at the time I was like well
00:27:14.509 --> 00:27:16.950
maybe I'll go to Bahrain and then what if I qualify
00:27:16.950 --> 00:27:19.690
for Pan Ams maybe I'll go to Pan Ams and then
00:27:19.690 --> 00:27:21.930
I'll start law school and then I'll stop I didn't
00:27:21.930 --> 00:27:24.329
know but there was like one specific moment where
00:27:24.329 --> 00:27:26.269
I was like I am not doing this anymore I'm going
00:27:26.269 --> 00:27:28.490
to Bahrain and that's it and that was that that's
00:27:28.490 --> 00:27:30.690
so interesting so you knew by then that you will
00:27:30.690 --> 00:27:33.529
go to law school yeah so I was planning to go
00:27:33.529 --> 00:27:35.690
to law school from I don't know middle school
00:27:35.690 --> 00:27:38.650
like a very early age. That was always the plan.
00:27:38.809 --> 00:27:42.049
I knew that going into college and that's part
00:27:42.049 --> 00:27:44.190
of why I went to the college I did and got the
00:27:44.190 --> 00:27:46.910
degree I did. And the timing of it worked out
00:27:46.910 --> 00:27:50.670
that I graduated at the end of 2019. So I got
00:27:50.670 --> 00:27:53.609
to do like half of the qualifying for Tokyo out
00:27:53.609 --> 00:27:56.369
of college. And then after COVID and everything,
00:27:56.509 --> 00:27:58.589
and then Tokyo happened and then I won world.
00:27:58.769 --> 00:28:00.250
I was like, well, I could go to law school right
00:28:00.250 --> 00:28:02.230
now, or I could just try to qualify for Paris.
00:28:02.329 --> 00:28:05.089
And because I was on stipend, on and off stipend.
00:28:05.710 --> 00:28:07.890
fairly mobile I could move to Florida I could
00:28:07.890 --> 00:28:09.910
move wherever I could do anything I was like
00:28:09.910 --> 00:28:12.069
let's just go to Paris or try to go to Paris
00:28:12.069 --> 00:28:13.930
and then we could go to law school after and
00:28:13.930 --> 00:28:16.710
so that was always the plan and I wasn't sure
00:28:16.710 --> 00:28:19.670
there were times in there where I was like do
00:28:19.670 --> 00:28:21.349
I really want to go to law school like maybe
00:28:21.349 --> 00:28:23.650
I just want to like open a gym or something which
00:28:23.650 --> 00:28:27.329
is very hard to do um yeah I was like wow I really
00:28:27.329 --> 00:28:29.609
love like I love coaching actually I do love
00:28:29.609 --> 00:28:31.789
coaching and I was like maybe I'll just like
00:28:31.789 --> 00:28:35.000
do that um parents were like I don't think will
00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:37.119
fulfill you the way that you think it will like
00:28:37.119 --> 00:28:39.400
okay and then once I got to the end of weightlifting
00:28:39.400 --> 00:28:41.539
and I was like yeah I'm tired of this sport I'm
00:28:41.539 --> 00:28:43.579
going to law school so I was like well let me
00:28:43.579 --> 00:28:47.329
just try but I started studying for the LSAT,
00:28:47.369 --> 00:28:50.569
which is the entry exam into law school during
00:28:50.569 --> 00:28:53.430
the qualification. So I remember we went to Europeans
00:28:53.430 --> 00:28:55.950
instead of Pan Ams during the qualifying, and
00:28:55.950 --> 00:28:58.410
I was studying a lot for it then. And I decided
00:28:58.410 --> 00:29:01.349
to not study at Thailand a few months later because
00:29:01.349 --> 00:29:03.509
I wanted to just get through the last qualifier
00:29:03.509 --> 00:29:06.250
in peace. But then I went home and just studied
00:29:06.250 --> 00:29:10.349
for that until August. I took the LSAT in August.
00:29:10.390 --> 00:29:13.140
I actually took it. And then I think like the
00:29:13.140 --> 00:29:15.359
next day or something flew to Paris to watch.
00:29:15.440 --> 00:29:17.539
I got to watch Olivia and Mary compete, which
00:29:17.539 --> 00:29:19.880
was really fun. And then I actually started applying
00:29:19.880 --> 00:29:22.059
after that once my score came back. And then
00:29:22.059 --> 00:29:24.440
I got accepted into the school that I go to while
00:29:24.440 --> 00:29:26.619
we were in Bahrain. And we were all like sitting
00:29:26.619 --> 00:29:28.339
around playing video games together. And I was
00:29:28.339 --> 00:29:31.299
like, oh, I got an email. I was like, oh, I got
00:29:31.299 --> 00:29:33.759
in. Cool. I didn't know I wanted to go there
00:29:33.759 --> 00:29:36.630
yet. I was like, OK, that's cool. Thanks, God.
00:29:37.150 --> 00:29:39.930
Yeah, no, I'm very glad that that worked out
00:29:39.930 --> 00:29:41.990
because I'm very happy here. Oh, that's so cool.
00:29:42.170 --> 00:29:44.410
So it kind of came together at the end. Yeah,
00:29:44.490 --> 00:29:46.990
it all really like lined up and worked out, which
00:29:46.990 --> 00:29:49.170
I feel like is how, like we were talking about
00:29:49.170 --> 00:29:50.690
the beginning of my weightlifting journey. I
00:29:50.690 --> 00:29:52.210
feel like that's just kind of how things tend
00:29:52.210 --> 00:29:55.710
to go for me. I put myself in, oh, I'll try this.
00:29:55.829 --> 00:29:58.210
I'll try this. And things kind of work out. What
00:29:58.210 --> 00:30:00.670
was the part of you, you think, that helped you
00:30:00.670 --> 00:30:03.750
to, because it seems to be quite smooth. You
00:30:03.750 --> 00:30:06.009
knew that you were done with this. sport you
00:30:06.009 --> 00:30:08.589
that the qualification for Paris was horrendous
00:30:08.589 --> 00:30:11.650
for athletes in any country but I think US had
00:30:11.650 --> 00:30:14.690
its additional problems with it with so many
00:30:14.690 --> 00:30:16.950
girls being there competing on you know just
00:30:16.950 --> 00:30:19.609
the three spots so they're just horrendous so
00:30:19.609 --> 00:30:21.430
let's leave it at that what are you saying like
00:30:21.430 --> 00:30:25.470
it seems smooth all right what do you think in
00:30:25.470 --> 00:30:27.950
your approach or your way of thinking or your
00:30:27.950 --> 00:30:30.289
personality maybe I don't know why so smooth
00:30:30.289 --> 00:30:32.789
because people struggle like the standard would
00:30:32.789 --> 00:30:34.759
be to struggle it's such an interesting question
00:30:34.759 --> 00:30:37.440
because like it both is and isn't smooth for
00:30:37.440 --> 00:30:40.500
me like the next step to me are always pretty
00:30:40.500 --> 00:30:43.960
clear I'm very decisive in what I want and I'm
00:30:43.960 --> 00:30:47.839
not hesitant at all in doing the next thing like
00:30:47.839 --> 00:30:49.980
okay I need to take the LSAT I will study for
00:30:49.980 --> 00:30:52.279
the LSAT now I will take the LSAT okay now I
00:30:52.279 --> 00:30:54.619
will apply to school oh the school is in Texas
00:30:54.619 --> 00:30:56.799
I live in Florida okay let's figure out how to
00:30:56.799 --> 00:30:59.359
move it like for me I'm very like that part of
00:30:59.359 --> 00:31:01.339
my personality I think is really helpful to making
00:31:01.339 --> 00:31:03.700
things smooth I'm not indecisive at all I know
00:31:03.819 --> 00:31:06.160
I want I figure out what it takes to do it and
00:31:06.160 --> 00:31:08.380
then I do it I'm grateful that I have like the
00:31:08.380 --> 00:31:10.680
grounding of okay I have these next steps that
00:31:10.680 --> 00:31:12.759
I'm focused on but I still had to go through
00:31:12.759 --> 00:31:16.859
all of the emotional and mental shifting of ending
00:31:16.859 --> 00:31:19.440
one thing and starting another and that was very
00:31:19.440 --> 00:31:22.819
messy because we had just come out of this awful
00:31:22.819 --> 00:31:26.079
Paris qualification like there's training sessions
00:31:26.079 --> 00:31:30.539
where I got very close to posting videos of this
00:31:30.539 --> 00:31:32.839
because I know people mean well but when they
00:31:32.839 --> 00:31:34.839
would tell me like oh don't retire like you could
00:31:34.839 --> 00:31:37.480
try to qualify for LA it's like one I'm getting
00:31:37.480 --> 00:31:39.980
old two like the new girls are amazing three
00:31:39.980 --> 00:31:41.980
like that's not what I want and then I got really
00:31:41.980 --> 00:31:44.740
close to posting like I have multiple videos
00:31:44.740 --> 00:31:47.000
where I was doing this training in our house
00:31:47.000 --> 00:31:50.339
in our little gym and like I said like I I couldn't
00:31:50.339 --> 00:31:52.539
do it and so there's I would like miss a squat
00:31:52.539 --> 00:31:55.559
or something I would just be crying on the floor
00:31:55.559 --> 00:31:58.160
like inconsolable and like my boyfriend is literally
00:31:58.160 --> 00:32:00.519
like picking me up off the ground taking off
00:32:00.519 --> 00:32:02.450
my knee sleeves taking off my shoes because I
00:32:02.450 --> 00:32:05.430
just like couldn't handle it and so it was very
00:32:05.430 --> 00:32:08.069
hard to like deal with that in the first place
00:32:08.069 --> 00:32:11.329
and then to sit and to be in like the position
00:32:11.329 --> 00:32:12.670
where it's like okay we just went through this
00:32:12.670 --> 00:32:14.390
really horrible thing that was honestly pretty
00:32:14.390 --> 00:32:17.990
traumatic and now I'm retiring from it so that's
00:32:17.990 --> 00:32:19.630
like a very bittersweet moment where it's like
00:32:19.630 --> 00:32:21.970
I'm really happy to be done like genuinely so
00:32:21.970 --> 00:32:24.230
happy to be done with it and it's like this was
00:32:24.230 --> 00:32:26.609
my career and this was also a very like amazing
00:32:26.609 --> 00:32:29.369
beautiful thing and I think the quad that qualification
00:32:29.369 --> 00:32:31.970
in itself was really hard the At the beginning
00:32:31.970 --> 00:32:35.970
of it, our social media, like our USAW social
00:32:35.970 --> 00:32:38.869
media guy, he died when we were going to Pan
00:32:38.869 --> 00:32:42.190
Am. Like he like that day, like we were all on
00:32:42.190 --> 00:32:43.670
the plane and we were like, where is he? And
00:32:43.670 --> 00:32:46.150
he had died, thankfully, at home. But we were
00:32:46.150 --> 00:32:47.990
all very close to him. And that was very hard.
00:32:48.089 --> 00:32:50.970
And then at the end of it. Danny was actually
00:32:50.970 --> 00:32:54.769
not in Thailand with me because his brother was
00:32:54.769 --> 00:32:57.890
dying and died while I was in Thailand. So the
00:32:57.890 --> 00:33:00.730
quad was sandwiched with grief, very serious
00:33:00.730 --> 00:33:03.109
grief. And then throughout it, dealing with my
00:33:03.109 --> 00:33:06.329
own very serious grief of going through the qualification
00:33:06.329 --> 00:33:09.109
and then ending, fortunately, with this amazing,
00:33:09.369 --> 00:33:13.029
beautiful world experience in Bahrain as a beautiful
00:33:13.029 --> 00:33:16.170
ending to this very horrible few years. So it
00:33:16.170 --> 00:33:19.920
was very emotionally complex and difficult. time
00:33:19.920 --> 00:33:22.799
it's also part of it that is that you can't make
00:33:22.799 --> 00:33:26.359
it gradually you either are a professional weightlifter
00:33:26.359 --> 00:33:29.119
or you're not there is nothing in between because
00:33:29.119 --> 00:33:33.119
to sustain an international level on team usa
00:33:33.119 --> 00:33:35.740
you have to be that's that has to be your main
00:33:35.740 --> 00:33:38.720
thing there's no doubt and the minute you decide
00:33:38.720 --> 00:33:41.920
this is not my main thing you are not a professional
00:33:41.920 --> 00:33:43.940
weightlifter because it makes no sense doing
00:33:43.940 --> 00:33:46.980
it i don't know 90 and there was such a weird
00:33:46.980 --> 00:33:48.700
place that i was stuck in where it was like Like
00:33:48.700 --> 00:33:52.759
even if I train, I'm never going to do one. I
00:33:52.759 --> 00:33:54.539
was like, I genuinely don't believe I can ever
00:33:54.539 --> 00:33:56.579
be as strong as I was at my strongest point,
00:33:56.660 --> 00:33:59.339
like leading into the Saudi Arabia worlds in
00:33:59.339 --> 00:34:01.240
2023, where I ended up getting hurt on my first
00:34:01.240 --> 00:34:03.380
clean and jerk. So that was annoying. But like,
00:34:03.420 --> 00:34:05.519
that's where I was hitting lifetime PRs in the
00:34:05.519 --> 00:34:07.519
training leading into that. Like PRs, like I
00:34:07.519 --> 00:34:10.179
hit a backspot PR by one kilo for the first time
00:34:10.179 --> 00:34:13.000
in five years. Like these were like really like
00:34:13.000 --> 00:34:15.420
significant PRs. And I was like, but I was also
00:34:15.420 --> 00:34:17.139
training nine times a week. And I was like, I
00:34:17.139 --> 00:34:20.579
am never doing that. ever i and i don't even
00:34:20.579 --> 00:34:23.360
want to like approach those numbers again because
00:34:23.360 --> 00:34:26.559
of how hard it like it's so hard to even be in
00:34:26.559 --> 00:34:29.239
the position to take those numbers and make them
00:34:29.239 --> 00:34:32.139
like i was like i'm never doing that again so
00:34:32.139 --> 00:34:34.920
like you're saying i was like so now what like
00:34:34.920 --> 00:34:37.679
do i do statues and queen and jerks because i
00:34:37.679 --> 00:34:42.000
like them or like that kind of seems weird like
00:34:42.000 --> 00:34:44.860
i'm like i could that initial like yeah that
00:34:44.860 --> 00:34:47.130
initial like you're saying like that drop like
00:34:47.130 --> 00:34:48.909
you're either in it or you're not um fortunately
00:34:48.909 --> 00:34:51.389
I was done enough that I wanted to do other things
00:34:51.389 --> 00:34:54.409
so I I really missed running you know weightlifting
00:34:54.409 --> 00:34:59.590
is very stationary I missed like just being able
00:34:59.590 --> 00:35:03.090
like I was in so much pain the idea of like jogging
00:35:03.090 --> 00:35:06.530
was so hard I was like this is horrible like
00:35:06.530 --> 00:35:09.210
I have to be able to like run and I have two
00:35:09.210 --> 00:35:11.769
dogs and so like my one dog likes to run I was
00:35:11.769 --> 00:35:13.570
like I can't even like keep up with it I mean
00:35:13.570 --> 00:35:17.349
this is this is ridiculous And I miss just moving
00:35:17.349 --> 00:35:19.489
my body. I mean, like from gymnastics and all
00:35:19.489 --> 00:35:21.250
these other sports I did, I just miss moving
00:35:21.250 --> 00:35:23.230
my body in a way that wasn't doing a snatch,
00:35:23.309 --> 00:35:26.409
clean jerk, squat, deadlift, right? And so in
00:35:26.409 --> 00:35:30.070
January after December Worlds, I joined a CrossFit
00:35:30.070 --> 00:35:32.769
gym and got back into that. I also, I did teach
00:35:32.769 --> 00:35:36.079
yoga for a bit in my life. So then I got... I
00:35:36.079 --> 00:35:39.079
did. Yeah. And so I got back into doing yoga
00:35:39.079 --> 00:35:41.619
more now that I had time for it. I did CrossFit.
00:35:41.679 --> 00:35:44.019
I started running again. So there was this weird,
00:35:44.119 --> 00:35:45.960
like, I don't want to touch a barbell at all
00:35:45.960 --> 00:35:48.039
thing going on. And fortunately, I had these
00:35:48.039 --> 00:35:51.119
other sort of outlets to transition into like,
00:35:51.219 --> 00:35:55.539
how do I exercise again? How do I do sport that's
00:35:55.539 --> 00:35:57.980
not that's in clean and jerk? Yeah. How do I
00:35:57.980 --> 00:36:01.400
do it for fun instead of joy? Yeah, it's a weird
00:36:01.400 --> 00:36:03.400
transition to make. And you don't realize how
00:36:03.400 --> 00:36:05.619
deep you're in it until you get out of it. like
00:36:05.619 --> 00:36:09.059
for Teen USA if you're on now what is the NTP
00:36:09.059 --> 00:36:12.179
back then didn't exist but you had to submit
00:36:12.179 --> 00:36:14.860
training videos to prove that you were fit to
00:36:14.860 --> 00:36:16.599
compete and that was always really stressful
00:36:16.599 --> 00:36:19.659
because you're like oh I'm having a bad day I
00:36:19.659 --> 00:36:22.460
have to submit 90%. I don't know if we can get
00:36:22.460 --> 00:36:24.619
there today. It's going to look really bad. And
00:36:24.619 --> 00:36:26.659
then they're going to think I'm weak and not
00:36:26.659 --> 00:36:29.880
in shape. And then you have to maintain the body
00:36:29.880 --> 00:36:32.019
weight. I have been tracking macros for almost
00:36:32.019 --> 00:36:37.519
10 years. What do I even do? Do I just eat food?
00:36:37.840 --> 00:36:40.940
What do I do? What do I do with my body weight?
00:36:41.280 --> 00:36:45.519
That was this weird open, I can do whatever I
00:36:45.519 --> 00:36:47.820
want that I hadn't been able to do for 10 years.
00:36:48.039 --> 00:36:51.829
It's freedom. but also you don't have any background
00:36:51.829 --> 00:36:54.750
because all you knew 10 years is a long time
00:36:54.750 --> 00:36:58.230
was the the job the profession the the training
00:36:58.230 --> 00:37:01.530
and everything that supports it so recovery it
00:37:01.530 --> 00:37:03.650
includes sleeping the ways you sleep there's
00:37:03.650 --> 00:37:06.969
ways you eat the ways you spend your time socialize
00:37:06.969 --> 00:37:09.210
like everything every literally everything it's
00:37:09.210 --> 00:37:11.889
like oh i can like take my dogs for a long walk
00:37:11.889 --> 00:37:14.309
and i don't have to worry about what my training
00:37:14.309 --> 00:37:16.829
looks like after that and i don't have to sleep
00:37:16.829 --> 00:37:19.150
for 10 hours because I'm not training that hard
00:37:19.150 --> 00:37:20.909
and I don't need to and I can wake up earlier
00:37:20.909 --> 00:37:25.019
and I can eat less food. Yeah, super weird. or
00:37:25.019 --> 00:37:28.300
what was the hardest from putting all these elements
00:37:28.300 --> 00:37:31.119
exploring probably did you did you have to kind
00:37:31.119 --> 00:37:33.659
of try this try that yeah a lot of things were
00:37:33.659 --> 00:37:36.699
really yeah just weird food ended up being like
00:37:36.699 --> 00:37:40.880
a very difficult one for me where I like specifically
00:37:40.880 --> 00:37:43.820
like after Thailand going into AO2 to try to
00:37:43.820 --> 00:37:45.639
like stay on the world team going into worlds
00:37:45.639 --> 00:37:47.659
I was like okay I'm still training like I need
00:37:47.659 --> 00:37:50.239
to keep eating and so I kept my macros pretty
00:37:50.239 --> 00:37:53.480
similar without for whatever reason taking into
00:37:53.480 --> 00:37:55.190
account count that I had gone from training nine
00:37:55.190 --> 00:37:58.630
times a week to three or around there I also
00:37:58.630 --> 00:38:00.570
had this mental block of I don't want to get
00:38:00.570 --> 00:38:02.889
on a scale I'm tired of like tracking my body
00:38:02.889 --> 00:38:05.269
weight so then I got on the scale before I o2
00:38:05.269 --> 00:38:10.159
and was like oh I have gained two kilos because
00:38:10.159 --> 00:38:12.460
I was so stuck in this mentality of like, I need
00:38:12.460 --> 00:38:14.920
to feel my body. I need to keep eating. But the
00:38:14.920 --> 00:38:16.760
training I was doing was way less and lighter
00:38:16.760 --> 00:38:19.139
weights and literally a third of the training.
00:38:19.300 --> 00:38:21.440
And so I put on a couple of kilos, had to get
00:38:21.440 --> 00:38:24.280
them off. That was a weird transition. And like,
00:38:24.280 --> 00:38:27.800
and then after retiring from Bahrain, like eating
00:38:27.800 --> 00:38:31.179
a meal without thinking about how much protein
00:38:31.179 --> 00:38:34.940
in it was really hard. Allowing myself to eat
00:38:34.940 --> 00:38:38.460
like a bowl of cereal as a meal or like a bowl
00:38:38.460 --> 00:38:40.469
of pasta. or something was like, I wasn't like
00:38:40.469 --> 00:38:43.510
allowed to do that because I had to eat so much.
00:38:43.590 --> 00:38:45.409
And if I wasn't eating that much protein and
00:38:45.409 --> 00:38:46.989
every single meal that I couldn't get there,
00:38:47.130 --> 00:38:48.789
like, like things like that, where it's like,
00:38:48.869 --> 00:38:53.289
I one time in like 100 % seriousness said something
00:38:53.289 --> 00:38:56.070
to my friend that like, oh, I only eat banana
00:38:56.070 --> 00:38:59.429
for carb purposes. She was like, what? And I
00:38:59.429 --> 00:39:01.510
was like, bananas are purely a carb food. They're
00:39:01.510 --> 00:39:03.510
only for carb purposes before training. And she
00:39:03.510 --> 00:39:05.849
was like, what are you talking about? I was like,
00:39:05.949 --> 00:39:08.590
oh, my dynamic, like my understanding. of like
00:39:08.590 --> 00:39:12.130
eating food is so bizarre and like not at all
00:39:12.130 --> 00:39:14.610
in tune with like what being a human should be
00:39:14.610 --> 00:39:17.429
like like there was no concept of do I like bananas
00:39:17.429 --> 00:39:19.650
it was just like bananas have about 30 grams
00:39:19.650 --> 00:39:21.809
of carbs in them and that is good before training
00:39:21.809 --> 00:39:24.090
so that was like a whole worldview shift that
00:39:24.090 --> 00:39:26.110
I had to do I could still tell you the macros
00:39:26.110 --> 00:39:29.789
of almost everything but yeah like I try actively
00:39:29.789 --> 00:39:32.250
to not think about it and over time that has
00:39:32.250 --> 00:39:35.050
gotten much easier did you use any any support
00:39:35.050 --> 00:39:37.900
obviously you moved with your boyfriend so that's
00:39:37.900 --> 00:39:40.760
probably good, I guess. Yeah, that was really...
00:39:40.760 --> 00:39:43.199
I don't want to put things into your mouth, but...
00:39:43.199 --> 00:39:46.420
No, no, no. It was really good. And part of like
00:39:46.420 --> 00:39:50.360
it was actually I was. So when I moved to Florida
00:39:50.360 --> 00:39:52.980
to train full time at Danny's gym, I moved in
00:39:52.980 --> 00:39:55.579
with our assistant coach, Jen. And that was great.
00:39:55.659 --> 00:39:57.820
We were like sisters. Like it was a good time.
00:39:57.960 --> 00:40:00.539
And at the same time, it was like my whole life
00:40:00.539 --> 00:40:01.860
was just weightlifting. Right. So like in the
00:40:01.860 --> 00:40:03.780
house, it was weightlifting. The gym was weightlifting.
00:40:03.860 --> 00:40:05.980
Everything else was weightlifting. And when I
00:40:05.980 --> 00:40:07.840
was flying back from Thailand, my boyfriend and
00:40:07.840 --> 00:40:09.699
I were already dating at this point. But he was
00:40:09.699 --> 00:40:11.300
in Tampa and I was in Orlando, which are about
00:40:11.300 --> 00:40:14.360
an hour and a half drive. And I was. flying back
00:40:14.360 --> 00:40:16.780
from Thailand as the last qualifier. And I was
00:40:16.780 --> 00:40:19.199
like, I can't do it. I changed my ticket in the
00:40:19.199 --> 00:40:21.460
airport to fly back to Tampa to go to his house
00:40:21.460 --> 00:40:23.780
instead of Orlando to where I was living. And
00:40:23.780 --> 00:40:25.900
I was like, I just need to, like, I need to not
00:40:25.900 --> 00:40:29.159
be in the weightlifting area. So I went back
00:40:29.159 --> 00:40:31.820
to Tampa and we drove back to Orlando and moved
00:40:31.820 --> 00:40:33.719
me out like a couple of days later. I was like,
00:40:33.760 --> 00:40:36.079
I just need to be away from it. And it was, it
00:40:36.079 --> 00:40:40.079
was very nice and like healing. And he does weightlifting
00:40:40.079 --> 00:40:43.099
too, but he also doesn't do it at the elite level.
00:40:43.280 --> 00:40:46.480
And so I got to be in a place where like we could
00:40:46.480 --> 00:40:50.219
eat ice cream for fun and we could go out and
00:40:50.219 --> 00:40:52.860
eat whatever. It was just such a totally different
00:40:52.860 --> 00:40:55.239
dynamic than what I was used to. And that was
00:40:55.239 --> 00:40:57.599
like very helpful to like make that transition
00:40:57.599 --> 00:40:59.980
because he was very supportive and like just
00:40:59.980 --> 00:41:03.340
let me exist and like go through it where I honestly
00:41:03.340 --> 00:41:06.199
like I think back on it. And because he and I
00:41:06.199 --> 00:41:08.239
started dating right after the Saudi Arabia world
00:41:08.239 --> 00:41:11.260
where I got hurt and that was a bad time. So
00:41:11.260 --> 00:41:13.849
the first year. our relationship was me going
00:41:13.849 --> 00:41:16.610
through the absolute worst part of the qualification
00:41:16.610 --> 00:41:20.510
and he just like dealt with the mess that and
00:41:20.510 --> 00:41:22.730
the mess that I was so yeah he's pretty great
00:41:22.730 --> 00:41:24.909
for that because that was not a good time I guess
00:41:24.909 --> 00:41:27.889
in situations like that is this or that so in
00:41:27.889 --> 00:41:31.150
or out either it will build you up together or
00:41:31.150 --> 00:41:33.909
it will split you pretty quickly so yeah I mean
00:41:33.909 --> 00:41:36.590
and he loves weightlifting and he trains very
00:41:36.590 --> 00:41:38.469
hard he's very dedicated and that's kind of how
00:41:38.469 --> 00:41:39.989
we got to know each other in the first place
00:41:39.989 --> 00:41:42.929
and so he understood it And kind of just let
00:41:42.929 --> 00:41:44.869
it happen when it needed to happen and supported
00:41:44.869 --> 00:41:47.289
me through it. When it was over, helped me transition
00:41:47.289 --> 00:41:49.969
out of it. Yeah. Anything else you think was
00:41:49.969 --> 00:41:52.690
helpful outside? Not necessarily what you did,
00:41:52.710 --> 00:41:55.449
but what you had access to or created access
00:41:55.449 --> 00:41:58.530
to? I definitely should have probably used a
00:41:58.530 --> 00:42:01.610
therapist more. When you're on Team USA, you
00:42:01.610 --> 00:42:04.570
have access to, I think it's required now also,
00:42:04.670 --> 00:42:08.260
to a sports psychologist. They were always really
00:42:08.260 --> 00:42:11.099
helpful to me. And the one that we had all through
00:42:11.099 --> 00:42:14.139
Paris qualification was amazing. And she saw
00:42:14.139 --> 00:42:16.659
me through a lot. It's kind of interesting. So
00:42:16.659 --> 00:42:18.320
I was so ready to be done with it. I was just
00:42:18.320 --> 00:42:19.860
happy to be out of it. And I think honestly,
00:42:19.920 --> 00:42:22.719
the most helpful thing was like joining the CrossFit
00:42:22.719 --> 00:42:25.039
gym. I also am really into rock climbing. And
00:42:25.039 --> 00:42:27.619
so I joined a rock climbing gym and I was meeting
00:42:27.619 --> 00:42:30.420
all of these people that were not weightlifters
00:42:30.420 --> 00:42:32.219
and they didn't know anything about weightlifting
00:42:32.219 --> 00:42:33.619
and they didn't know anything about me. They
00:42:33.619 --> 00:42:36.079
didn't know who I was. And it was that in itself
00:42:36.079 --> 00:42:38.860
was. great it's like I could connect with people
00:42:38.860 --> 00:42:42.099
as I'm just Meredith yeah you know like they
00:42:42.099 --> 00:42:44.300
didn't know anything about me or my career and
00:42:44.300 --> 00:42:47.059
that I think was also really helpful to just
00:42:47.059 --> 00:42:50.219
not be in it so much like literally just be physically
00:42:50.219 --> 00:42:52.360
removed from the weightlifting environment was
00:42:52.360 --> 00:42:54.579
really helpful and to have more things to like
00:42:54.579 --> 00:42:57.280
work towards and people to meet and things to
00:42:57.280 --> 00:42:59.539
go to and socializing to do that just didn't
00:42:59.539 --> 00:43:02.420
for the first time in like 10 years didn't revolve
00:43:02.420 --> 00:43:04.880
around weightlifting so should I read that looking
00:43:04.880 --> 00:43:06.889
into the thing Things you didn't have time to
00:43:06.889 --> 00:43:10.289
do while you were a professional weightlifter.
00:43:10.829 --> 00:43:13.409
That's the way to ease the pain of transition.
00:43:13.590 --> 00:43:16.230
One of the ways. Yeah. Get out and do other things.
00:43:16.309 --> 00:43:18.409
Talk to people that don't care about weightlifting.
00:43:18.590 --> 00:43:21.150
I think the biggest thing is also. So I was so
00:43:21.150 --> 00:43:24.989
surprised when I retired and like you're saying
00:43:24.989 --> 00:43:26.550
like, oh, you're doing really well with this
00:43:26.550 --> 00:43:29.250
transition. Like so many people said to me like,
00:43:29.309 --> 00:43:31.510
wow, it's so amazing that you had like something
00:43:31.510 --> 00:43:34.630
to do, you know, after retiring, which was confusing.
00:43:34.989 --> 00:43:37.590
me because in my mind like law school was always
00:43:37.590 --> 00:43:39.369
the plan right like I always wanted to go to
00:43:39.369 --> 00:43:42.489
law school and this was like a side thing that
00:43:42.489 --> 00:43:45.289
popped up that I was doing and that I was gonna
00:43:45.289 --> 00:43:47.690
go back and so like when everybody's like wow
00:43:47.690 --> 00:43:49.889
like it's so great to see that you're you have
00:43:49.889 --> 00:43:52.110
something and you you're like moving on basically
00:43:52.110 --> 00:43:54.670
that you're doing okay that was shocking to me
00:43:54.670 --> 00:43:56.630
because I was like finally I can go do this thing
00:43:56.630 --> 00:43:59.570
and I think that is very important like I said
00:43:59.570 --> 00:44:02.550
although the like mental and emotional psychological
00:44:02.550 --> 00:44:05.400
shift of like shifting my entire worldview out
00:44:05.400 --> 00:44:08.000
of the weightlifting thing into something else
00:44:08.000 --> 00:44:10.880
was very difficult. It was so helpful to have
00:44:10.880 --> 00:44:13.960
those next steps to focus on like, yes, I am
00:44:13.960 --> 00:44:16.099
going to school. Okay, let me get through these
00:44:16.099 --> 00:44:17.820
applications. I mean, the applications are a
00:44:17.820 --> 00:44:19.559
pain in the butt. Like it was a lot of work.
00:44:19.639 --> 00:44:22.219
So it's like be able to put energy into something
00:44:22.219 --> 00:44:24.980
else that I had to do. And then trying to figure
00:44:24.980 --> 00:44:27.340
out how to move was a pain. My boyfriend was
00:44:27.340 --> 00:44:29.480
moving with me and for his job, he had to change
00:44:29.480 --> 00:44:31.599
his license from Florida to Texas. And that was
00:44:31.599 --> 00:44:33.800
a pain. And then looking into Where are we going
00:44:33.800 --> 00:44:36.159
to live? And how are we going to get there? Like
00:44:36.159 --> 00:44:38.260
all of that. There was just a lot of work to
00:44:38.260 --> 00:44:40.679
be done. And that really helped me transition
00:44:40.679 --> 00:44:42.860
away from it. It's like, okay, there are things
00:44:42.860 --> 00:44:44.440
in life that are not weightlifting that need
00:44:44.440 --> 00:44:47.000
to be done. So when you are a weightlifter, everything
00:44:47.000 --> 00:44:49.780
is aligned to that. So it is a big chunk of your
00:44:49.780 --> 00:44:52.960
identity. Which part of it was the hardest to
00:44:52.960 --> 00:44:56.880
let go? It was, I had a really hard time. So
00:44:56.880 --> 00:45:00.300
some of the difficulty I had with doing other
00:45:00.300 --> 00:45:02.880
sports now, like doing CrossFit or like... getting
00:45:02.880 --> 00:45:05.519
into running was trying to not do it at a high
00:45:05.519 --> 00:45:08.699
level and like in the intensity I mean like I
00:45:08.699 --> 00:45:10.300
was never gonna go to like the CrossFit games
00:45:10.300 --> 00:45:12.860
or anything but to be like I don't feel like
00:45:12.860 --> 00:45:16.039
going to CrossFit class today that's okay I don't
00:45:16.039 --> 00:45:18.619
have to that was really really really really
00:45:18.619 --> 00:45:22.159
hard for me and it felt so like icky like I couldn't
00:45:22.159 --> 00:45:25.159
like I would text my friend all the time I feel
00:45:25.159 --> 00:45:27.599
like I'm being like a bad athlete because I I
00:45:27.599 --> 00:45:29.519
only went to CrossFit like three times this week
00:45:29.519 --> 00:45:31.420
or something and I feel like I should be there
00:45:31.420 --> 00:45:34.190
this many times even though it literally does
00:45:34.190 --> 00:45:36.849
not matter I'm not training for anything at all
00:45:36.849 --> 00:45:38.869
that was a hard mindset and that is something
00:45:38.869 --> 00:45:41.510
I actually still struggle with like this week
00:45:41.510 --> 00:45:44.010
for example has just been like really busy especially
00:45:44.010 --> 00:45:46.840
now that like I'm not lifting again because nationals
00:45:46.840 --> 00:45:48.340
is over I was like oh good I can stop lifting
00:45:48.340 --> 00:45:50.980
again so I started running again and I'm like
00:45:50.980 --> 00:45:53.000
doing other things but this week I don't think
00:45:53.000 --> 00:45:54.739
I have worked out literally one time and it's
00:45:54.739 --> 00:45:57.780
Thursday and I feel I'm like it's okay like I'm
00:45:57.780 --> 00:46:00.019
still talking myself through that like it is
00:46:00.019 --> 00:46:02.380
okay like we can rest this week this week has
00:46:02.380 --> 00:46:05.320
been busy we can like you don't have to do something
00:46:05.320 --> 00:46:07.400
it will that's definitely like the hardest thing
00:46:07.400 --> 00:46:10.659
I struggle with is like not giving a lot of effort
00:46:10.659 --> 00:46:13.579
towards being an athlete yeah which I guess makes
00:46:13.579 --> 00:46:16.099
sense because like I I've been literally in the
00:46:16.099 --> 00:46:18.400
gym since before I could remember because my
00:46:18.400 --> 00:46:21.219
parents told me when I was a baby. So there have
00:46:21.219 --> 00:46:25.539
been very, very few and very short periods of
00:46:25.539 --> 00:46:29.070
my life in my 28 years of existing that. for
00:46:29.070 --> 00:46:32.349
not being an athlete so that's taking a lot of
00:46:32.349 --> 00:46:34.909
reconditioning still I mean it's almost two years
00:46:34.909 --> 00:46:37.869
later I'm like it's okay you don't have to exercise
00:46:37.869 --> 00:46:41.030
every single day I have a question about what
00:46:41.030 --> 00:46:43.829
have you learned in weightlifting that you continue
00:46:43.829 --> 00:46:47.590
using in your life or maybe brought to your career
00:46:47.590 --> 00:46:50.489
or to your work as a student oh the thing that's
00:46:50.489 --> 00:46:53.849
most important to me that I learned is that I
00:46:53.849 --> 00:46:56.150
as much as I just talked about wanting to do
00:46:56.590 --> 00:47:00.750
100 % at everything I was never ever willing
00:47:00.750 --> 00:47:03.889
as even as an elite weightlifter to actually
00:47:03.889 --> 00:47:08.329
do like the 100 % so like I I think I took creatine
00:47:08.329 --> 00:47:10.909
in my entire career for like one week before
00:47:10.909 --> 00:47:13.809
I decided that that was irritating to me and
00:47:13.809 --> 00:47:17.190
I wasn't gonna do it um like things like that
00:47:17.190 --> 00:47:19.809
where I was like that seems like a pain I actually
00:47:19.809 --> 00:47:22.949
don't like doing accessory work so I'm just not
00:47:22.949 --> 00:47:27.070
gonna do that I will cut that out. And honestly,
00:47:27.190 --> 00:47:29.210
my shoulder... No, at least I can hear it. I
00:47:29.210 --> 00:47:32.590
know, but don't listen to me. I'm joking. You're
00:47:32.590 --> 00:47:34.840
tired. You can say whatever you want. Yeah. You
00:47:34.840 --> 00:47:37.260
freak. Listen to your coach. Do your accessories.
00:47:37.539 --> 00:47:39.280
My shoulder probably would have been a lot less
00:47:39.280 --> 00:47:41.619
painful if I had done that. But stuff like that
00:47:41.619 --> 00:47:44.679
where I was a big like 80 -20 person for like,
00:47:44.699 --> 00:47:46.800
you know, like macros and food where I was like,
00:47:46.900 --> 00:47:51.360
okay, if I eat like a lot of chicken breast today
00:47:51.360 --> 00:47:53.699
for my protein, then I can have a lot of ice
00:47:53.699 --> 00:47:56.920
cream later. So a lot of just like little things
00:47:56.920 --> 00:47:59.119
like that. When I was training nine times a week,
00:47:59.219 --> 00:48:02.420
I really like sleeping and I'm a night owl. So
00:48:02.420 --> 00:48:05.690
my morning sessions. often happened at 12 o 'clock
00:48:05.690 --> 00:48:07.530
in the afternoon yeah like I was never going
00:48:07.530 --> 00:48:09.650
to be like let me go to the gym at 8 a .m. person
00:48:09.650 --> 00:48:12.320
like that wasn't happening so All that to say,
00:48:12.460 --> 00:48:14.980
I felt like the way that I could be the best
00:48:14.980 --> 00:48:18.340
athlete was by still giving myself wiggle room
00:48:18.340 --> 00:48:20.519
in these little things that I felt like it would
00:48:20.519 --> 00:48:24.000
be worse for me, at least mentally, to try to
00:48:24.000 --> 00:48:27.900
make myself do like that last 1%. And I didn't
00:48:27.900 --> 00:48:30.659
think the trade -off in the kilos really mattered
00:48:30.659 --> 00:48:33.059
that much, especially when you're competing against
00:48:33.059 --> 00:48:36.260
Olivia Reeves. Like whether or not I am clean
00:48:36.260 --> 00:48:40.079
and jerking 139 or 142, it doesn't make a difference
00:48:40.079 --> 00:48:42.320
when she's clean and jerking. 50 to me like the
00:48:42.320 --> 00:48:44.960
last little bit I just I could never force myself
00:48:44.960 --> 00:48:48.659
to do it and I I don't regret it and so now like
00:48:48.659 --> 00:48:51.400
in law school and in life but like in law school
00:48:51.400 --> 00:48:54.519
it's been very evident I have friends that are
00:48:54.519 --> 00:48:56.820
amazing and they go into the library at 7 a .m
00:48:56.820 --> 00:48:59.840
and they leave campus at 7 p .m and they're getting
00:48:59.840 --> 00:49:01.539
the best grades in the class and they're amazing
00:49:01.539 --> 00:49:03.599
and they're brilliant and I'm very proud of them
00:49:03.599 --> 00:49:05.679
and I will never do that you will never catch
00:49:05.679 --> 00:49:07.940
me on campus for 12 hours straight unless I have
00:49:07.940 --> 00:49:10.440
like a paper due the next day so just learn I
00:49:10.440 --> 00:49:12.880
guess the lesson is like balance but like really
00:49:12.880 --> 00:49:16.260
learning what where I can push when I can push
00:49:16.260 --> 00:49:18.719
like a lot of my friends do their readings for
00:49:18.719 --> 00:49:21.440
the week on Sunday the idea of sitting and reading
00:49:21.440 --> 00:49:23.480
for like five hours straight is horrible to me
00:49:23.480 --> 00:49:25.300
on a Sunday when I would rather just be laying
00:49:25.300 --> 00:49:28.460
in bed so sometimes I wake up at 5 a .m. and
00:49:28.460 --> 00:49:31.420
go to book before class and read for an hour
00:49:31.420 --> 00:49:34.940
and that seems maybe it seems like disorganized
00:49:34.940 --> 00:49:37.840
or not optimal but it works for me and I know
00:49:37.840 --> 00:49:40.360
it works for me and I did pretty well doing that
00:49:40.360 --> 00:49:43.159
so I'm just gonna keep doing that yeah so just
00:49:43.159 --> 00:49:46.079
finding like there's the 100 % correct way to
00:49:46.079 --> 00:49:48.699
do things and then there's like the 98 % way
00:49:48.699 --> 00:49:51.539
that works for me and allows me to still like
00:49:51.539 --> 00:49:54.420
not burn out really and like having that trust
00:49:54.420 --> 00:49:57.340
in myself that I know myself well enough to have
00:49:57.340 --> 00:50:00.579
faith that I can do that and it'll be okay I
00:50:00.579 --> 00:50:02.960
actually think you're very right that and it
00:50:02.960 --> 00:50:05.079
probably was something in the sport you tested
00:50:05.079 --> 00:50:08.619
that being 100 % stress this year so much that
00:50:08.650 --> 00:50:10.650
but it's very hard for you to then give to the
00:50:10.650 --> 00:50:13.510
sport what is needed to be elite. So giving just
00:50:13.510 --> 00:50:16.150
a little bit less gave you this wiggle room and
00:50:16.150 --> 00:50:18.869
this mental capacity to push harder. Actually,
00:50:18.949 --> 00:50:21.190
even though you didn't, in a sense, you didn't
00:50:21.190 --> 00:50:23.769
give, or someone could say you didn't give 100%,
00:50:23.769 --> 00:50:26.130
but actually that allowed you to push harder.
00:50:26.269 --> 00:50:29.630
Yeah. Even though I felt more relaxed, like I
00:50:29.630 --> 00:50:31.610
said before, like I didn't think, I could not
00:50:31.610 --> 00:50:33.230
have given more. Like there was nothing else
00:50:33.230 --> 00:50:35.369
I could have done. I could not have pushed harder.
00:50:35.510 --> 00:50:38.949
Do you think it's part of the... being okay with
00:50:38.949 --> 00:50:41.190
parting with the sport that you feel like you
00:50:41.190 --> 00:50:44.349
gave it all yeah and that's not to say that like
00:50:44.349 --> 00:50:46.789
I met all my goals I did not like I always wanted
00:50:46.789 --> 00:50:48.989
to go to the Olympics like that sucks that I
00:50:48.989 --> 00:50:51.889
didn't and that's still like it still stings
00:50:51.889 --> 00:50:53.909
a bit that's still like something I never got
00:50:53.909 --> 00:50:56.369
to do and is what it is and then other small
00:50:56.369 --> 00:50:58.610
goals like I wanted to clean and jerk double
00:50:58.610 --> 00:51:01.710
body weight at 71 and I cleaned it in training
00:51:01.710 --> 00:51:03.750
once I cleaned 142 once it was actually pretty
00:51:03.750 --> 00:51:07.840
good it was very hard but I never I think I only
00:51:07.840 --> 00:51:10.840
ever even tried it in competition one time. Like
00:51:10.840 --> 00:51:13.239
I never got around to doing that. I never smashed
00:51:13.239 --> 00:51:15.360
110 in competition. I wanted to do that. Like
00:51:15.360 --> 00:51:17.159
just stuff like that. So I tried the stuff I
00:51:17.159 --> 00:51:19.500
left on the table. But like we're saying, I feel
00:51:19.500 --> 00:51:21.699
like the stars just never align. I feel like
00:51:21.699 --> 00:51:23.739
there was nothing else I could have done or would
00:51:23.739 --> 00:51:27.039
have been willing to do. So there is peace in
00:51:27.039 --> 00:51:29.039
that. Like despite that, I wish some of these
00:51:29.039 --> 00:51:30.820
things would have happened. I wouldn't have done
00:51:30.820 --> 00:51:33.860
it differently. So yeah, I can move on. That's
00:51:33.860 --> 00:51:36.400
super cool. It seems like weightlifting... Although
00:51:36.400 --> 00:51:39.099
you have lots of baggage you're still dealing
00:51:39.099 --> 00:51:42.340
with, it seems like overall it was a worth of
00:51:42.340 --> 00:51:45.480
pursuit endeavor. I mean, yeah, absolutely. I
00:51:45.480 --> 00:51:48.980
look back on my career with much fondness. There
00:51:48.980 --> 00:51:50.440
was a lot, like you're saying, there's a lot
00:51:50.440 --> 00:51:53.380
of baggage. There's a lot I had to go to therapy
00:51:53.380 --> 00:51:56.900
for. But also, like, I got to travel the world,
00:51:57.000 --> 00:51:59.840
which is amazing. I have friends all over the
00:51:59.840 --> 00:52:02.219
world, which is so cool. I got to go to these
00:52:02.219 --> 00:52:04.400
amazing experiences. I mean, I got to experience
00:52:04.400 --> 00:52:06.519
being a world champion. which is like really
00:52:06.519 --> 00:52:09.239
cool like I'll never forget that and like like
00:52:09.239 --> 00:52:11.000
I said like my boyfriend I met through weightlifting
00:52:11.000 --> 00:52:13.320
my best friend that I keep talking about she's
00:52:13.320 --> 00:52:16.280
also in weightlifting despite the more negative
00:52:16.280 --> 00:52:19.940
experiences I learned so much from them so much
00:52:19.940 --> 00:52:23.059
that like helps me in my day -to -day just interacting
00:52:23.059 --> 00:52:25.460
with other people and also in the job that I
00:52:25.460 --> 00:52:28.659
do now working in the legal world and like representing
00:52:28.659 --> 00:52:31.280
clients and helping them through the worst times
00:52:31.280 --> 00:52:33.139
in their life you know it's like I've been through
00:52:33.139 --> 00:52:34.639
some pretty rough times too like I know you're
00:52:34.730 --> 00:52:36.349
coming from and i can help them through that
00:52:36.349 --> 00:52:39.050
just like on the human side of that work which
00:52:39.050 --> 00:52:41.610
is which is a gift so sucks i went through it
00:52:41.610 --> 00:52:44.469
but a real gift that i'm able to help people
00:52:44.469 --> 00:52:47.610
and have that experience so yeah wouldn't trade
00:52:47.610 --> 00:52:50.190
it for the world i mean i would i'm glad that
00:52:50.190 --> 00:52:52.610
i did it i would not be willing to do it again
00:52:52.610 --> 00:52:55.789
it's lifetime but no i i'm definitely better
00:52:55.789 --> 00:52:59.289
for it and always will you go and watch la 28
00:52:59.289 --> 00:53:03.670
oh my gosh i want to but the bar exam is at the
00:53:03.670 --> 00:53:06.670
same exact fine it's literally the same exact
00:53:06.670 --> 00:53:08.610
days I already looked at this and I was like
00:53:08.610 --> 00:53:13.110
of course it is yeah so that sucks that's crazy
00:53:13.110 --> 00:53:16.130
that will be the ultimate test well you know
00:53:16.130 --> 00:53:19.840
we know what you will choose but I think it's
00:53:19.840 --> 00:53:22.619
like, maybe it's like the bar is like halfway
00:53:22.619 --> 00:53:24.579
through it. So it's like, maybe I can like take
00:53:24.579 --> 00:53:27.340
the bar and then flag right now. Like the same
00:53:27.340 --> 00:53:29.539
exact thing I did for the LSAT, but for the bar,
00:53:29.659 --> 00:53:32.599
which would be funny. All right. I'll be keeping
00:53:32.599 --> 00:53:34.800
my fingers crossed. Let's see. I know I'll have
00:53:34.800 --> 00:53:38.380
to look into that, but yeah, I'll try. Oh, that's
00:53:38.380 --> 00:53:41.380
so funny. All right. We need some kind of advice
00:53:41.380 --> 00:53:44.380
from Auntie Meredith to all the younger athletes
00:53:44.380 --> 00:53:48.289
and their coaches on how to handle. The transition
00:53:48.289 --> 00:53:51.130
or maybe the professional life. I don't know
00:53:51.130 --> 00:53:52.550
what you want to talk about. It's your time.
00:53:53.409 --> 00:53:56.309
Yeah, I mean, the transition, like we've talked
00:53:56.309 --> 00:53:58.250
about so many of the things that helped me. I
00:53:58.250 --> 00:54:00.530
think like having another outlet, you've seen
00:54:00.530 --> 00:54:02.869
it. The people have seen like Jordan Delacruz.
00:54:02.929 --> 00:54:05.050
She picked up running and rock climbing, actually.
00:54:05.289 --> 00:54:07.889
Taylor Vulcan, she also she's been like running
00:54:07.889 --> 00:54:10.409
a lot, too. It's interesting to see like when
00:54:10.409 --> 00:54:13.070
these people retire. I mean, even Kate got married
00:54:13.070 --> 00:54:14.670
and had a baby. That'll definitely give you something
00:54:14.670 --> 00:54:16.969
to transition to, right? Like there's to have
00:54:16.969 --> 00:54:20.239
something. else and to think I think to have
00:54:20.239 --> 00:54:23.179
a plan in mind because I have talked to people
00:54:23.179 --> 00:54:26.000
that really had no concept of like what life
00:54:26.000 --> 00:54:28.519
might look like after weight lifting that's like
00:54:28.519 --> 00:54:30.880
a huge thing you have to know it's gonna end
00:54:30.880 --> 00:54:34.320
and you can kind of do it like like now I have
00:54:34.320 --> 00:54:36.519
friends here and they have a great gym and I'll
00:54:36.519 --> 00:54:38.699
go lift with them for fun sometimes but like
00:54:38.699 --> 00:54:41.780
that is like once a week activity if that right
00:54:41.780 --> 00:54:44.920
so like gotta think about what do i want from
00:54:44.920 --> 00:54:47.440
life besides weight lifting and i think that
00:54:47.440 --> 00:54:49.639
can be that sounds very obvious right now but
00:54:49.639 --> 00:54:52.059
like when you're so deep in it you like it kind
00:54:52.059 --> 00:54:53.659
of you don't really think about like well what's
00:54:53.659 --> 00:54:56.059
gonna happen for eight years from now i don't
00:54:56.059 --> 00:54:57.579
know doesn't matter we'll get there when we get
00:54:57.579 --> 00:54:59.480
there like i think it actually would be helpful
00:54:59.480 --> 00:55:01.920
to like make a list of things like there's so
00:55:01.920 --> 00:55:03.579
many times in my career where things would pop
00:55:03.579 --> 00:55:05.679
up that i couldn't do and that's very frustrating
00:55:05.679 --> 00:55:07.679
right like to literally like write that down
00:55:07.679 --> 00:55:11.099
to reference like you're done like okay like
00:55:11.099 --> 00:55:12.940
you're saying I couldn't visit my family very
00:55:12.940 --> 00:55:15.400
often I have family all over the country like
00:55:15.400 --> 00:55:18.320
everywhere Hawaii Delaware Florida like everywhere
00:55:18.320 --> 00:55:21.119
and I couldn't go see them because I had to train
00:55:21.119 --> 00:55:23.579
and it was inconvenient and traveling is hard
00:55:23.579 --> 00:55:26.179
and finding a gym is hard like like you're saying
00:55:26.179 --> 00:55:28.619
like reintegrating going back to like getting
00:55:28.619 --> 00:55:31.940
into seeing my family I wanted to run I wanted
00:55:31.940 --> 00:55:34.619
to rock climb I wanted to do crossfit I wanted
00:55:34.619 --> 00:55:36.639
to do all these other things so like to have
00:55:36.639 --> 00:55:38.420
in mind like what are the things that you want
00:55:38.420 --> 00:55:40.400
to do that you can't do you kind of forget about
00:55:40.400 --> 00:55:41.860
when you retire and you're going through the
00:55:41.860 --> 00:55:45.099
like I'm retiring thing like those are now is
00:55:45.099 --> 00:55:47.960
the time to like just it's sort of like a challenge
00:55:47.960 --> 00:55:50.699
like can you go on a vacation without bringing
00:55:50.699 --> 00:55:53.239
your weightlifting shoes like that sounds very
00:55:53.239 --> 00:55:56.840
simple but it's a really hard transition to like
00:55:56.840 --> 00:56:00.000
only bring one suitcase because I don't need
00:56:00.000 --> 00:56:03.559
my lifting bag it feels really weird yeah so
00:56:03.559 --> 00:56:05.940
thinking about those experiences but definitely
00:56:05.940 --> 00:56:08.610
more life planning and And the real practical
00:56:08.610 --> 00:56:11.269
advice is that if you're in the U .S. and you
00:56:11.269 --> 00:56:13.389
are a teen USA athlete, the U .S. Olympic Committee,
00:56:13.570 --> 00:56:15.570
Olympic and Paralympic Committee has a really
00:56:15.570 --> 00:56:19.110
great retiring transition resources. They have
00:56:19.110 --> 00:56:21.050
like scholarship resources. They have all these
00:56:21.050 --> 00:56:23.170
really amazing resources to help athletes navigate
00:56:23.170 --> 00:56:26.250
that transition too. So things out there exist
00:56:26.250 --> 00:56:28.670
to help athletes get through it. So if you're
00:56:28.670 --> 00:56:30.489
an athlete and struggling with your transition
00:56:30.489 --> 00:56:33.130
message, Meredith, she will point you in the
00:56:33.130 --> 00:56:35.750
right direction. Yeah, absolutely. And even like
00:56:35.750 --> 00:56:38.289
the AAC within. USA Weightlifting, we're trying
00:56:38.289 --> 00:56:41.530
to do a better job of letting athletes know what
00:56:41.530 --> 00:56:43.809
resources they have and have access to. And so
00:56:43.809 --> 00:56:45.489
that's something we're going to try to start
00:56:45.489 --> 00:56:47.829
pushing sooner. letting you know that we're here,
00:56:47.929 --> 00:56:50.570
you know, USAW is here for you, the USOPC is
00:56:50.570 --> 00:56:52.650
here for you. And like you're saying, like connecting
00:56:52.650 --> 00:56:55.710
and reconnecting with like friends, family, whatever
00:56:55.710 --> 00:56:57.969
groups that you've probably neglected because
00:56:57.969 --> 00:57:00.110
you've been focused on weightlifting. I think
00:57:00.110 --> 00:57:02.090
that's really helpful. Everybody's very supportive.
00:57:02.170 --> 00:57:05.389
And I think it can be hard for the people that
00:57:05.389 --> 00:57:08.670
know you to know how to navigate that transition
00:57:08.670 --> 00:57:11.489
with you. And so like being open with them about
00:57:11.489 --> 00:57:13.530
how you're feeling or what you need can also
00:57:13.530 --> 00:57:15.909
be really helpful. Right, we didn't even talk.
00:57:15.949 --> 00:57:18.389
touch on how it is to the close ones to get you
00:57:18.389 --> 00:57:22.230
back and but also be mindful of that you need
00:57:22.230 --> 00:57:24.809
time even though it's you know that's the decision
00:57:24.809 --> 00:57:27.050
that was your last competition you knew at the
00:57:27.050 --> 00:57:29.269
time that this is the last competition you want
00:57:29.269 --> 00:57:31.570
to do on the international stage as a part of
00:57:31.570 --> 00:57:34.130
Team USA although I don't know you tried powerlifting
00:57:34.130 --> 00:57:37.530
maybe you were who knows I forgot about that.
00:57:37.789 --> 00:57:40.409
There is proof on the internet. There is. You
00:57:40.409 --> 00:57:43.469
know what? I almost did another one and then
00:57:43.469 --> 00:57:45.630
that kind of didn't work out. That was interesting.
00:57:45.889 --> 00:57:47.409
Maybe I'll get back into that. I don't know.
00:57:47.530 --> 00:57:50.989
I have two short questions I usually finish with.
00:57:51.269 --> 00:57:53.510
Okay. The first one would, I wanted to ask you
00:57:53.510 --> 00:57:55.070
about your favorite metal, but you covered that.
00:57:55.210 --> 00:57:57.590
So which one is your favorite lift, snatch or
00:57:57.590 --> 00:58:00.539
clean and jerk? Oh. That's such a hard question.
00:58:00.639 --> 00:58:03.360
Okay, I really like training snatches. I like
00:58:03.360 --> 00:58:05.639
training snatches. I hate training clean and
00:58:05.639 --> 00:58:07.820
jerks. And then the reverse is true for competition.
00:58:08.260 --> 00:58:10.039
Because clean and jerks are just like... heavy
00:58:10.039 --> 00:58:12.360
in training so it's just kind of like but then
00:58:12.360 --> 00:58:13.920
you get on stage you get to like lift this really
00:58:13.920 --> 00:58:15.420
heavy weight and you're going for the win and
00:58:15.420 --> 00:58:17.079
like that's really fun and then snatches are
00:58:17.079 --> 00:58:18.860
like really fun to like work on the technique
00:58:18.860 --> 00:58:20.539
of but then you get on stage and that's like
00:58:20.539 --> 00:58:22.460
really irritating at least for me because I'm
00:58:22.460 --> 00:58:25.760
bad at them so it's like I you never know what's
00:58:25.760 --> 00:58:28.900
gonna happen when I get up to snatch oh I wanted
00:58:28.900 --> 00:58:32.019
to ask you the bone bouts how did you manage
00:58:32.019 --> 00:58:34.019
that because sometimes it's a it's a big deal
00:58:34.019 --> 00:58:36.980
the bone bout but you just mentioned two was
00:58:36.980 --> 00:58:40.110
it hard was it how did you take it Yeah, my mouth
00:58:40.110 --> 00:58:44.309
stuck. And I would say that with the exception
00:58:44.309 --> 00:58:46.570
of the first meet ever where I didn't know what
00:58:46.570 --> 00:58:49.480
I was doing, I never bombed out. for like a strength
00:58:49.480 --> 00:58:51.599
reason right there was always like a mental thing
00:58:51.599 --> 00:58:54.739
behind it and honestly there are there's a very
00:58:54.739 --> 00:58:56.780
significant number of times that I've missed
00:58:56.780 --> 00:58:58.800
my first two snatches and made the third and
00:58:58.800 --> 00:59:01.139
I have been asked before like how do you do that
00:59:01.139 --> 00:59:02.960
I'm like you already missed it twice you're probably
00:59:02.960 --> 00:59:07.079
getting on the third one but yeah so bomb outs
00:59:07.079 --> 00:59:09.559
for me were usually because I was trying to hit
00:59:09.559 --> 00:59:12.179
a number to make some sort of team to qualify
00:59:12.179 --> 00:59:15.000
for a thing and like so I either just like was
00:59:15.000 --> 00:59:17.989
too fatigued and not in a good spot to do that
00:59:17.989 --> 00:59:20.289
or we were trying to hit a PR basically or something
00:59:20.289 --> 00:59:23.769
yeah it feels like the end of the world in the
00:59:23.769 --> 00:59:26.030
moment and then you kind of like forget about
00:59:26.030 --> 00:59:29.269
it later like I can think of like being so devastated
00:59:29.269 --> 00:59:32.570
and now I'm trying to think back on when I did
00:59:32.570 --> 00:59:35.070
bomb out and I can only think of like one right
00:59:35.070 --> 00:59:37.929
now yeah it's just it's like In the nicest way
00:59:37.929 --> 00:59:39.989
possible. It's just not a big deal. It doesn't
00:59:39.989 --> 00:59:42.849
matter. The best advice I have for that is like,
00:59:42.929 --> 00:59:45.449
why did you bomb out? If you can identify that
00:59:45.449 --> 00:59:48.670
and you can identify like, what were you doing?
00:59:48.869 --> 00:59:50.429
What were you thinking? What was your mindset?
00:59:50.650 --> 00:59:52.369
Were you too stressed? Were you not stressed
00:59:52.369 --> 00:59:55.090
enough? Were you too nervous? Were you? Sometimes
00:59:55.090 --> 00:59:57.329
I would be like focused too much on my tech.
00:59:57.369 --> 00:59:59.010
Like on snatches, I'd be like really trying to
00:59:59.010 --> 01:00:00.650
do something technical. And like when you're
01:00:00.650 --> 01:00:02.469
competing, you just got to lift. And so I would
01:00:02.469 --> 01:00:05.150
kind of miss lift trying to focus on things too
01:00:05.150 --> 01:00:08.269
much. Yeah. Figuring out where did it go wrong
01:00:08.269 --> 01:00:10.510
and using it as a learning experience rather
01:00:10.510 --> 01:00:12.590
than like being like that was an absolute failure
01:00:12.590 --> 01:00:14.769
and I'm horrible. Like that's not true. It's
01:00:14.769 --> 01:00:16.849
just a learning experience. You'll do better
01:00:16.849 --> 01:00:18.829
the next time. A piece of information. Yeah,
01:00:18.869 --> 01:00:21.670
exactly. It's just another piece of data that
01:00:21.670 --> 01:00:23.570
you can extract information from and then you'll
01:00:23.570 --> 01:00:25.690
learn how to be better. Awesome. And the last
01:00:25.690 --> 01:00:28.010
question is where people can find you if they
01:00:28.010 --> 01:00:30.210
want to reach out or they want to follow your
01:00:30.210 --> 01:00:32.449
journey. Where should they go? Yeah. Wow. I'm
01:00:32.449 --> 01:00:34.050
really becoming a professional that I was like,
01:00:34.090 --> 01:00:37.760
you can email me. You can email me. My email
01:00:37.760 --> 01:00:40.800
is my name. It's meredithallwine at gmail .com.
01:00:40.920 --> 01:00:46.880
The AAC, the USAWAAC Instagram is open to USA
01:00:46.880 --> 01:00:49.980
weightlifting athletes. And if you got real athlete
01:00:49.980 --> 01:00:52.800
issues or concerned, you can always come to me
01:00:52.800 --> 01:00:54.800
through there too. Awesome, Meredith. Thank you
01:00:54.800 --> 01:00:57.119
so, so much for this candid conversation and
01:00:57.119 --> 01:00:59.139
for your advice. Oh, thank you so much for having
01:00:59.139 --> 01:00:59.400
me.