October 5, 2021 • 41 mins
If this summer has taught us anything, it’s that being the best doesn’t make you immune from struggles with mental health. And the pressure of high-stakes competition can weigh heavy on the strongest athletes. In this episode, Monica and Meg catch up with professional runner, Jazmine Fray and learn about the pressures of breaking collegiate records and the importance of working through the anxiety of competition with a strong support system.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's going on fit fam. Before we get into this episode,
we want to give you a heads up that will
be discussing mental health challenges, including anxiety and depression. Now,
everyone's got their own story, but remember to take care
of yourselves and to seek out support to help you
through difficult times. The way I balance a lot of
things that I balance is through support, like through my friendships,
(00:20):
through my relationships, through my mentors. Like they support me
so much, and when I'm down and I just feel like,
I'm like, you know what, I don't feel like doing this,
I don't want to do it. They kind of push me,
you know. And having that support changes your life. Find
people that fully support you on our down with you
all the way. It helps so much. This is Sweat
(00:45):
the Details, a collaboration with Under Armour and I Heart Radio,
a sports and training podcast made for women by women
that puts our success in challenges at the front and center.
I'm Monica Jones. I'm a fitness coach, boxer, business owner,
and you a AT And I'm Meg Boggs. I'm a powerlifter, author,
body positivity advocate and mother. Every episode, Monica and I
(01:07):
will talk to athletes, trainers, and experts and learn more
about how the body mind worked together in training and competition.
In today's episode, we're very excited to be talking to
professional runner and u A athlete Jasmine Fray. During her
sophomore year at Texas A and M, Jasmine broke the
eight hundred meter collegiate record. Yes girl. The Long Island
native is now a member of District Track Club, a
(01:28):
running team comprised of dedicated professional runners training together and
motivating one another to achieve their career goals. Jasmine has
accomplished so much as a college athlete and now as
a team member of District Track Club, but competing at
such a high level as not without its challenges. So
Jasmine has been very vocal about her own struggles with anxiety,
and she speaks so openly about the importance of athletes
(01:52):
working with a support system to take care of their
mental health. Yes, she's just one of many athletes who
have struggled with mental health and competition. Man, I know
you've been open about some of the things you've experiencing competition.
What are some ways you've found helpful in managing nerves
and stress when you're competing? Well, For me, there's been
a couple of times that I've competed, and the only
thing that has really calmed me down right before the
(02:15):
competition kicks off, I have to be alone, like I
need space. I don't need anybody around me. I just
need an alone moment with myself, usually some headphones in
very just calm music, something very very calm, and I
just breathe, like I have to breathe. Just remembering that
(02:35):
is the only way that I can get through it,
because for some reason, I when I get really nervous,
I just I clam up and I stopped breathing. I
keep inhaling and inhaling and I never exhale. It's an
issue of mine. So I just know that I have
to keep breathing. If I'm not by myself, I'm not
consciously thinking of it. So that's really the only way
that I'm able to manage that. And what about you, Yeah,
(02:57):
saying breathing is huge. I lean on my coach for sure.
When it comes to fighting. It's a very singular athletes sport.
But having the support of coach and the reassurance and
actually having a routine, right, we talked about breathing before
being alone, having the headphones in the routine that we
(03:18):
can rely on is really what allows us to calm
our nerves and allows us to affirm what's really happening
right now, that we have been working really hard for
X amount of months, years, days leading up to competition
and we should feel more secure there. So you know,
for me, it's it's very much the same process of
zoning in on ourselves and our breathing, but also being
(03:40):
able to have someone support you and coach you through it.
Whether it's like your mom in the dressing room you're
coach letting you know the third set is going to
be the best set. So I feel the same way.
It's definitely it takes a little bit of a loan
time and centered nous, but it also does take a
little bit of support from U, t your family, the
people around you. Absolutely, I'm so excited we have such
(04:04):
a huge mental health advocate to talk to. Let's get
into the interview with Jasmine. I agree, let's get to it. Hello, Hello,
fit fam. We are so excited to have Jasmine Free
here with us today. Welcome Jasmine. Hi, how are you guys?
Thank you so much for welcoming me. I'm so excited. Yeah,
(04:24):
we're so excited to Um, let's start with how you
first got started with running. Can you tell us a
little bit about your journey into becoming a runner. So
I kind of started my journey with running a long
time ago, when I was about an elementary school. My
mom kind of used to tell me stories about how
she ran track and field. So she didn't even pressure
(04:45):
me or she didn't say anything to me really about it.
You would just tell me stories. And so I went
to her and I asked her. I was like, hey, like,
can you take me out of these sports and maybe
put me in track? And then I started running track
and I really like it. And then after that, in
seventh grade, I went to a club team, which is
(05:05):
a more like serious team, right before I went to
high school. UM, and that was such a big shock
to me because I was in C y oh before,
which is more just like an easy league and you know,
it's just more for fun. But for club team, they're
like really running, like they're girls that can like really run,
like kill it. And so they were killing me when
(05:27):
I first, you know, joined and I just had to
keep working, keep working, keep working, and actually my mom
was going to take me out of it because we thought,
you know, maybe this isn't a good fit for me,
Maybe this isn't what I'm supposed to be doing. The
track meet that she was going to take me out,
she said, okay, this is your last meet. That's the
meat that I prd. I ran my personal best by
(05:47):
thirty seconds, and then from then on it was kind
of just like a whole WorldWind of like getting faster
and faster and faster. And then that's when I went
to my high school, calumber Memorial High School on Long Island,
New York. I was born and raised in New York UM,
and then from there I was able to receive a
full scholarship at Texas A and M, and I ran
collegiately there. So it was just a great, great experience overall. Wow,
(06:11):
you know you were you were a college athlete and
that's extremely demanding keeping up with the academics as well
as the performance. So how was it for you balancing
college work and your actual performance on the team? Um,
it was hard at times when I first got to
the school. That's what I was actually really really worried about. UM,
And it ended up working out really well because Texas
(06:34):
A and M makes it a point to care a
lot about your academics, and so a lot of times
that I was struggling, I would have a tutor, Like
they would give me a tutor for pretty much anything
that I needed. People actually care about you, um, and
they actually want to see you succeed. And I really
really love that. And I think that was a huge
(06:55):
lesson to me because my coaches always cared before my
athletic perform They always set to me, you know, we
want to see you run really well, but Jasmine, like,
you have to get your degree because you know, in
the long run, your mind outlast your body. Like you're
going to need your mind a lot more than you
will physically. You know, you can only run, but so long, Jasmine, Like,
(07:17):
you have to get your degrees. You have to you know,
work hard. And my mom definitely really implemented that also
because my mom is a professor at St. John's University,
academics is a really really big thing in my family. Um,
and I'm I'm super grateful for that. And that's why
I'm super grateful for the school that I went to.
They're amazing. That is amazing that you had so much support.
(07:37):
I've always wondered that, you know, how do you balance that?
I tell everyone all the time, I'm like, the way
I balance a lot of things that I balance is
through support, like through my friendships, through my relationships, through
my mentors, Like they support me so much. And when
I'm down and I just feel like, I'm like, you
know what, I don't feel like doing this, I don't
want to do it, they kind of push me and
they're like, Okay, just relax, take it a little bit
(07:59):
at a time, like it does all have to be today,
but just keep going, you know, and having that support
changes your life. Find people that fully support you on
are down with you all the way. It seems like
that's kind of the main component of getting through an
experience like that. I want to talk about the record
(08:19):
you broke. You broke the collegiate record as a sophomore
in which hold up you tell us a little bit
about that historic RaSE, like kind of walk us through it.
I honestly had no idea what was happening, because I
was young enough at that point that I was blissfully
ignorant and I just was running. So when I went
(08:42):
to Texas A and m I was only running a
two oh nine in the eight hundred and that's okay,
but it's not like great. And I have no idea
what happened. But my coach, coach friends Seek, came to
me and recruited me and said, you know what, we
see something in you. You want to recruit you, and
we want you to come here for a full scholarship
(09:03):
because you know, it's a lot harder to go away
to school because out of state tuition is so much
more expensive. And so I was super grateful for that,
and I was like, you know what, like, let's go.
I didn't even want to take an official visit there.
My mom actually made me take the official visit there
because I was like, Texas, Like what am I gonna
do in Texas? So I went to the school, visited it,
loved it. They offered me the full scholarship, and honestly,
(09:25):
I was just happy to be there, Like I was
just happy to be on the team. I was just
happy to be running there. You have these really high
ranked people going to this school. They're like winning nationals,
they're doing all these amazing things, and I'm like, what
am I doing here? And so it started to occur
to me that you know, I did have a lot
of potential, and I understood what they saw and me
(09:46):
my freshman year because I kept getting faster and faster
and faster, and I was like, oh, that's weird, Like
I've already dropped like five seconds in my time. And
you know, as you get faster and go to the
higher scale of track and field, like it's harder to
u get faster, like you're not gonna pr by five
seconds because that's a lot of time. You know, you're
only gonna pr by like a second or like a
(10:08):
tenth of a second or you know, just as long
as you're getting faster. And so my sophomore year that
I broke the record, we went to the meat. It
was a meat that I had, you know, pressure on
me like I normally do, but it really wasn't anything
like out of the ordinary. But I do remember just
believing in myself so much that day, Like I remember
(10:29):
just towing the line that day and just being like,
oh wow, like I feel great, Like I feel like
I can accomplish like anything right now. And I'm actually
a person that struggles a lot with anxiety. I struggle
a lot with being very nervous for my races like shaking,
and I was nervous, but just a normal nervous. I
wasn't overly nervous. And I finished and I saw everyone cheering.
(10:51):
So it's like a surreal experience because everyone's like cheering
for me and like clapping and standing up, and I'm
like looking around because I'm like, there's no way that
I just ran that time, Like there's that's like a
three second like pr Like there's like no way that
I ran that. And my coaches like yes, Jasmine, like
you just ran that, and I was shocked. And then
they announced that I had broken the collegiate record. I
(11:12):
didn't even think of that because I was like, oh,
like I don't even know what the collegiate record would be.
And that's when it started to occur to me that like, wow,
I can take this sport to another level. And that's
what I'm saying about the support, you know, like you
have support and having people like believe in you and
just give you a chance. I don't even know where
I would have gone, like without Texas A and M
(11:33):
you know, I was just running an okay time, um
and they really just took a chance on me. But yeah,
it was a very surreal, surreal experience, great coaching staff,
great everything that is so chills. I mean, it's like
lighting me up just to hear you talk about running.
It's so cool, and you know, honestly, it sounds like
(11:54):
you were running your own race. And then you looked
up and we're like, oh, and now that broke the records.
That day was honestly a blessing and a curse. It
was such a blessing because even now, like, I'm so
proud of that moment, and I couldn't have asked for
God to have given me just like a better day,
better support, and just like my coaches and my family everything,
(12:17):
everyone was so supportive and it was such like a
beautiful moment. But I think the only curse was remember
when I said I was very blissfully ignorant. That was
the day that everything changed and I wasn't anymore. I
knew exactly what was going on. I knew exactly my potential,
and that was the day that my pressure on myself skyrocketed.
(12:38):
Oh my gosh, it was like totally different. I was
kind of just running and like I don't know, just
trying my best, and you know, if I ran good
I ran good, but now it was different because now
I have a target on my back because now I
have the collegiate record, and like, girls know I'm fast.
You know track, you know who's good and you know
who's not because you could tell by their time. It's
(12:58):
it's very easy. You know, it's very easy to know
who's the best. There's no arguing about it. And so
that day definitely changed a lot of things for me.
Hearing you say that, like that was the moment that
you recognize your potential, I literally got chills because I
feel like that's like such an important moment that a
(13:19):
lot of us should talk more about openly and express
like those feelings and how it's you know, you have
this side that's very positive, but then you also have
this side that's kind of more challenging, and they kind
of blend together to create this really monumental experience. So
thank you for sharing that. Thank you know, I appreciate that.
After after you graduated college, so then you joined the
(13:40):
District Track Club, right as a professional runner. Can you
tell us about the club and you know, why did
you decide to join the team. You know, what kind
of work are you doing with them? Um? So I
decided to join District Track Club just because I loved
the coach. My coach's name is Tom Brum, Like I
loved him, and I loved my teammates. I loved how
(14:00):
diverse it was. Um, there's so many people on the
team that would just run for different countries. We all
are competitive because we want to do really well. Of
course we're professional athletes, but we're competitive in a supportive way,
you know, like I want you to run as fast
as you can because you're going to make me run
as fast as I can. So we're always challenging each other,
(14:21):
and you know, we're trying our best to just make
the most of each and every opportunity. And that's what
was really really important to me that my coach had
the same goal in mind. My teammates did, and so
did I. That makes me so happy to hear. Yes,
do you feel like there were any changes in your
physical and mental prep for college tournaments versus your professional races? Like?
(14:42):
What were those changes? Yes? For sure? For sure. You
know I'm always still working on that. You know, like
I said before, I struggled with anxiety from literally the
time that I was running track in seventh grade all
the way up till now you know, it's just I've
learned more so how to handle it and how to
handle it better and better. Um. It wasn't until again,
(15:06):
I was at A and M and I was struggling
because you know, my pressure skyrocketed after that collegiate record,
after I broke it, and I was constantly beating myself up,
and I was constantly nervous. And they said to me,
they said, Okay, I really think I really suggest that
you see a sports psychologist, like we have one here
at A and M that will help you. Like, I
(15:27):
highly suggest that you see them, because you're you have
so much potential and you're letting, you know, your fear
and you're letting your nervousness consume you and you're letting
it control you. And it wasn't until I went to
him that I started to realize, like, oh, like this
is anxiety, and like I'm actually just like a very
nervous person, not even just with track, just with anything,
(15:48):
like that's just how I think. I just plan ahead
so much and I'm naturally an overthinker. Um. And so
it was really about just like handling those moments. And
now I know Okay, Jasmine, when you're super nervous before
your race, I have a coloring book and I just color,
like I I don't even listen to music. I just
try to like take everything out and I literally just color.
(16:09):
And if I am listening to something, I'm listening to
Headspace and they're talking to me about something and just
telling me about my mindfulness and just telling me to breathe. Um.
I just know how to handle myself so much more
so it's easier. I'm not saying that all these things
are like a cure all. I'm just saying, like it's
going to take your anxiety down from a ten to
a nine because that's what you want. And then next
(16:31):
time it's going to take you down from a nine
to like an eight point five. But like you have
to constantly keep practicing those things. That's the main thing.
So when I get nervous for workouts, my coach is
gonna see me. He sees me doing my own thing.
He knows to leave me alone because I need to
handle it myself. Like there's nothing he can say to me.
You know, I gotta find what works for me at
practice so that way I can do it in the
(16:53):
big meat. So you know, you have to work on
your mind little by little to do well in the
bigger scale. Things. I relate to you so much. I'm serious,
Like the anxiety, it's it's hard toge when it when
it bleeds into every every life, every single thing. I
experience it all the time, So I mean, I understand
every time I do an interview, I also have to
(17:14):
take deep breaths. I get ready before me too. It
wasn't until I was talking on this interview that I
was like, oh my gosh, I have an interview. I'm
kind of nervous, like what am we going to talk about?
And yeah, you just know, you just see it right,
like you've seen it trickle down just into different parts
of your life. And it's not even something to hide
because I'm not ashamed to talk about it at all.
Like I'm proud to say that I have it because
(17:35):
I know how to handle it, and I don't think
that it's a bad thing about me. You know, it
can actually be a good thing. It can make us
more prepared, honestly than most people, just because we care
so much and like we want to make sure we're
on time and we're thinking about things clearly and we
say the right things, and you know, it can be
a good thing. I love that you're so vocal about
(17:56):
mental health, Like you're such a huge advocate for mental
health therapy, especially for athletes. So you know, why do
you think that therapy is beneficial for athletes? I just
found that it just helped me so much. It just
helped relieve me so much. You know. For example, I
find out that I was a people pleaser. I didn't
(18:16):
even realize that. I realized that there was so many
times that I said yes to doing something that I
did not want to do because I was doing so
many things for other people and I wasn't really taking
care of myself. And it wasn't until then that I
started being in therapy that I realized that. And he
started actually explaining to me boundaries. He was like, you know, Jasmine,
(18:39):
you have no boundaries with people. People think that they
can do whatever they want when you're around. You know,
even if they talked to a certain way, you kind
of just let it go because you're a very forgiving person.
He kind of taught me like, hey, this is how
you communicate this, and I realized I was a terrible communicator.
From that, like I didn't know how to stand up
for myself. I didn't know how to speak up for
(18:59):
my self. And those are already like three things my anxiety, communication,
and boundaries that he already helped me with, And that
has nothing to do with TRACK. It was just something
that helped me in my day to day life. And
that's what I feel like so many athletes need, like
they need that because it really does help you with
just like life issues. I talked about track probably five
percent of the time that I was with my psychologists,
(19:22):
because like there were so many other things that I
needed to work out first before we got to track stuff.
And you would have no idea how much that relieved
me by the time I came to a meet, you know,
because I just had so much weight lifted off my
shoulders because I was like, oh, like I don't have
to take care of everybody, and it's kind of just
coming into your own and teaches you, like to find
(19:43):
out more about yourself and teaches you, Okay, like so
I feel this way right now, Like why am I
feeling this way? Like, you know, you can only go
as deep with other people as you go with yourself.
That's what I've personally learned a lot in therapy. Huge, huge, huge,
So I am courage every athlete to go to therapy
because you never know, like there's people always have things
(20:05):
that they can work on. Anybody has things that they
can work on, and you don't know that it can't
help you, um in the track world or in any
athletic career that you might have. Yeah, that is so important.
I love hearing that too. It's like creating boundaries and
establishing them can help you break barriers. Yes, you know,
(20:25):
we're reading surveys before doing the interview, and we read
an n C double A Student Athletes survey from says
that black and Latin X athletes are more likely to
cite family or personal responsibilities as a barrier to training.
So we talk about being people pleasers are taking care
of other people. We had both forty of black and
Latin X compared to of white participants and of other
(20:49):
racial groups. And it's like you're not standing alone when
you think, Okay, why is everything so heavy on me?
And why do I jump to do these things? And
you know, I thought that was so interesting because it's
like for someone who might focus on being fast, what
creates better results is slowing down, going at the right
pace for you. So I love that really really comes
(21:11):
to the circle when you think about it. Yes, dig
into your mind like figure out like why do you
feel this way? Like why do I feel the weight
of the world on my shoulders? Because it's not just
this race. This race is lasting two minutes, So what
is really going on with me? Like why do I
feel this way? Is it external factors as internal factors?
Like what can I do? You know? And that's the
(21:31):
big question. I love that And I know that, you know,
all of our listeners and those especially younger athletes out
there are going to hear this and feel more comfort
knowing that the support is out there and it is
okay to ask for it. Yes, you know we're even
seeing that. You know, we have high profile athletes you're
are quitting championships right to protect their mental health, big
(21:53):
moments in their careers. How do you personally know, Jazz
when you need a mental health break? Like do you
go about it? Um? You know, I start to see signs.
You know, I'm not and I'm not a really lazy person.
I'm not a person that you know kind of likes
to just sit around. I don't really procrastinate things, you know,
(22:15):
I kind of just like to do things. I kind
of always like to be on the go. And I
can tell when I'm burnt out when I don't want
to do any of that, you know, and even when
I do little tips and tricks to help me, you know,
get on tasks, like say, like a lot of times
when you know I would be really overwhelmed, I took
one thing at a time, and you know, that kind
of builds up, builds up, builds up, and it helps
(22:37):
you create momentum. But sometimes that doesn't even work. I'm like, no,
I still don't feel any momentum, or like there's times
where I just don't feel focused, Like I literally can't focus.
All I want to do is go to bed. And
I've taken you know, those Um, I've taken those signs,
and I've said to myself, Okay, you know what, just relax,
like it's okay to give yourself a break. If I
(22:57):
actually feel really tired, I will will actually go taken
napp Like I've learned that about myself. Um, And that's
really the best way for me personally to handle rest,
because we all need it. We're going to deny it,
but we all need it. And sometimes we don't all
get seven eight hours of sleep, you know, and so
even if you do get seven and eight hours of sleep,
sometimes it's not enough. Sometimes you're still tired. It's that's
(23:19):
self awareness that have to have it. Can Yeah, that's
a great one for it to self awareness. That's how
I try and focus every every day of mine is
self awareness. That's how I think of wellness as well.
It's just it's it's an awareness of self care, knowl Yeah,
of just making positive choices for yourself. I want to
switch gears a little bit, um and get a little
(23:41):
a serious question for you. So, people of color, they
tend to experience a higher rate of imposter syndrome than
white people, and which just means that they, you know,
don't feel that they're good enough or that they don't
deserve everything that they've earned. Um, how do you see
the happening to athletes, especially athletes of color. I think
(24:04):
it's just very difficult because you know, you just don't
necessarily feel like you belong. And so I think what
was always really difficult for me was, even when I
was applying for college, people around me who were white.
They would say, oh, like, you're going to get into
(24:24):
college easier, like you're lucky. And I said, why why
am I going to get into college easier? And they said, well,
you're black, Like they're gonna take you because you're black.
And they just wanted to be diverse. Not because I'm smart,
not because I can run fast, not because of any
of the abilities that I have. It's purely because I'm black.
So they're going to give me a free pass, you know,
and let that slide. And I really, I think that
(24:47):
always really sat with me and really bothered me because
I would never say that about anybody else, Like I
wouldn't think that. And then I think that has led
me to believe like, oh, like I don't really belong here.
They just gave this to me because they feel bad
for me, you know, And that's not the case. Like
I had to find within myself and say to myself, no,
like I deserve to be here, Like I worked just
(25:09):
as hard as everybody else did to be here. I
did the work internally and I did the work externally
in order to be here today, Run my fastest, do
my best in my academics, you know, graduate as in
the top of my class that I can't like I
did what I needed to do to be here, and
I deserve it. I know that mental health is something
(25:30):
that a lot of athletes struggle with, and I know
I'm not wrong in that. I want to make sure
people don't feel like they're alone because I felt like
I was alone and I know now that I'm not,
and I want to make other athletes and show other
athletes like, listen, you're not the only person that struggles
with this. There's a lot of people that struggle with it.
How can we band together and make it better? Like,
what do you do that she can do? Like, let's
(25:50):
talk to each other, Like, let's be supportive with each other,
even if we don't go to the same school, Like,
how can we do that? How can we all band
together even as black women? How can we all be
and together and come together and come to a consensus
and be like, hey, like, let's build each other up.
You have to be a friend to get a friend,
and that's what builds connections. You know, you hear little
nicks and knacks all the time about feeling like you
(26:13):
don't belong here, and you just have to do the
internal work to realize that you do and don't let
that impostor syndrome gets you because it's not it's not true.
It's fake. And a lot of times when people try
to implement that and you, they're honestly afraid of what
you can be. And you have to realize that you
have to come to fruition with that, and you have
(26:35):
to seek the help and you have to do the
work in order to believe and say, hey, like, I
want to be here and I deserve to be here
just as much as anybody else does. Yes, ma'am, I'm
like ready to go back to college and trying and
be like, guess what it sounds like? You know, we
got affirmation it. It helps us so much when we
(26:55):
have that anxiety or that impostor syndrome. It's saying, you know,
just like you said, I did the work to get
here internally, I did the physical work to get here.
Making it the truth and really reinforcing that within yourself.
That is incredible advice to our athletes out there dealing
with imposter syndrome. Yes, it's hard, it's hard. I totally
get it. It's really hard, but you got to do
(27:16):
the work. That's all you can do. You've got to
do the work exactly, whether you're taking action or you're
literally having the internal dialogue. I love that. Yes, yes,
So in sports we can't always win. We all know that, right,
there are losses left and right. You can't always break records.
You can't always be the fastest or the best. How
do you deal with those setbacks when you don't hit
(27:38):
that goal, or you don't win the race, or you
don't break the record that you've been trying to for
so long? Do you have any specific strategies that you
use that you can share. You know, it's so tough,
but it's about doing the work like I talked about,
and just believing in yourself and saying, okay, even though
this didn't happen for me, I personally believe I've in
(28:00):
through enough trials and tribulations through track that I've seen
that a hundred percent of the time, a thousand percent
of the time, everything works out exactly the way it's
supposed to. Everything happens for the reason exactly that it's
supposed to happen for you know, and you might want
things on a certain time frame, and you might want
things to happen at this particular date, and it just
(28:21):
might not be meant to be. That's just might not
be how it's supposed to happen. But I guarantee you
something even better is going to happen from that, you know.
But you just have to believe and you have to trust.
I think for me, I'm very big in my faith, um,
and you know that really helps set the foundation for
me of like, Okay, it's not me that's controlling everything.
(28:44):
It's God. God's controlling this, and I don't really have
the power to change it. All I have the power
to do is seek the opportunities that He gives me,
do the most with those opportunities, and whatever happens from
that happens. But I have to learn to let go
because I am not in control. And that's probably one
of the hardest things I've ever had to accept in
my life, because I am a person that likes to
(29:06):
be in control, likes to be a perfectionist. But through
my faith, I just had to learn that. I just
had to say, you know what, you have to let go.
You got to relax. There was a lot of times
during my college career that I was supposed to win nationals,
but you know what, I had to have a conversation
with myself and say, you know what, Jasmine, just because
you work hard and just because you have the collegiate
(29:28):
record doesn't mean that you deserve to win nationals. And
it doesn't mean that you're supposed to win nationals because
guess what, everybody works hard. News flash, everybody's working really hard,
and everybody has a hard time, and everyone's doing that
the best they can to be number one all the time,
like you're not the only one doing that. Doesn't mean
that you deserve to do this. And that was a
very hard lesson for me to learn in my head.
(29:48):
And I said, Okay, things happen for a reason. And
you know what, my senior year, I ended up winning
nationals and we won the four by four so and
so we ended up winning twice back to back, and
that was probably the most azing way I could have
ever ended my college career. You know, So everything happens
for a reason in the time frame that it's supposed
to happen, and it's a great life lesson to you
(30:08):
to say, you know what, not everything is always going
to happen the way that I wanted to. In track
and field, and for the rest of my life. That's
just not how it works, you know. But you gotta
let go, and you've got to learn to say okay,
like I'm just gonna keep fighting, Like I'm just gonna
stand up, keep fighting and doing the best that I
can and trust me, like you all have that in you.
You all have that fight in you, and that fight
to succeed and be competitive and to want more and
(30:31):
to be hungry and to never be satisfied. We all
have that within us. You just got to find out
what you're passionate about, and you've got to find out
what you want. It's the main thing. You got to
find out what you want. What do you want out
of this? Like what do you want to get from this?
And that's the best way to handle it. I mean,
but just let us know when you're putting out this
audio book. You got a motivational speech, let us know
(30:53):
when this is happening, because the fashion is just right now, Jazz, Like,
I'm mean, I'm ready to run through a wall. It's
just things that I wish that someone had told me. Yes,
I wish that my younger self had known this also,
you know, because it's hard, it's hard out here. You know,
it's it's hard in this world. But you gotta be tough.
(31:14):
And sometimes like being tough isn't enough. Sometimes hard work
isn't enough. Just because you work hard doesn't mean you're
going to get what you think you're gonna get. That's
not always what happens. But you've got to be willing
to stand up and fight again and then fight again,
and fight again and fight again, because that's life. Like,
what are we gonna do. We're gonna give up. No,
we can't do that. You know, we can't do that.
(31:35):
So that's the best advice that I would give. It
is the best advice period. Thank you under armours. Sweat
the Details will be back after a short break. Welcome
back to Sweat the Details. All right, jack Man, this
(31:57):
is the part of the show we like to play
a little game with our guests. Okay, it's called keep
the paste paste space. I feel like every episode that's
gonna get more different. It's called keep the Pace. We're
just going to ask you, you know, a question about
things that keep you motivated while running, and then you're
(32:20):
just going to answer the first thing that comes to mind.
Does that sound good? Alright? Favorite pre run snack. Oh,
macaroni and cheese. It's not a snack, but that I
love macaroni and cheese. Yeah, that's the first that I've heard. Yeah,
best warm up exercise before race hinnees like hinees. Like drills,
like really fast drills. Um, gets me motivated and prepped,
(32:42):
kind of gets my blood like flowing, gets me like
excited and like loose. It's kind of fun. Favorite place
to go for a morning jog the park that's like
down my house. Um, it's like has like a bunch
of flowers, a bunch of trees. Virginia's like very pretty
with their nature and environment. So it's like right down here,
and I go for a jog and um sometimes a
(33:02):
bike ride and it's amazing, love it, awesome of it.
And the last one best way to celebrate a win,
ice cream has to be ice cream. I have to
get some ice cream. Cold Stone ice cream my favorite,
my favorite. Yeah, they chop it up and then they
mix it. Yes, yes, yes, Me and my friends will
literally go into the cold Stone ice Cream parking lot
and we'll just talk forever. Um, And that's what we
(33:25):
do whenever I celebrate like a big win or just
like I want to relax and decompress. Love it. It's
the best way. I love that. Yes, the wisdom is
so real. Thank you so much, Jasmine. That was a
lot of fun. Thank you guys for having me on
here so much. It was so fun. I really appreciate
the questions that you asked are so fun. You guys
are so fun. Thank you. Of course we loved having
you here. Yeah, you made it easy, Max. There's some
(33:47):
passion excitement. I mean, we could listen to you talk
all day. Thank you, Jasmine. Can you share where everyone
can find you on socials? Yeah, you can just find
me on Instagram. UM J A Z M I I
N E F R A A Y. That's my Instagram
and that's my main platform. Okay, so Instagram is where
(34:09):
it's at. Okay, Instagram is where it's at. Awesome, well, Jasmine,
thank you so much for being here with us. This
conversation was amazing and hopefully we can talk again soon.
Thank you, Thank you so much. Wow, Jasmine Fray is
the truth. I was right. My favorite part I think
(34:29):
of everything she said was her coaches guidance when and
her mother's guidance. Honestly, when they said that your mind
will outlast your bodies. Wow, coming from a professional athlete
or at the time, which was a collegiate athlete, a
young athlete, coming from someone who relies so heavily on
their bodies to be led by people that they trust,
(34:50):
and you know that she really really looked up to
for answers and for them to say what is truly
important is to take care of your mind and your
education blew my mind. It was so inspiring, makes me
so excited to you know, maybe one day bring a
child into this world and hopefully have them have the
same great guidance and know that they're in good hands.
What did you enjoy about the interview? Mag Yeah, I
(35:12):
mean I I completely just I just kept getting chills.
So when I tell you, like, I'm not even joking
when I say that, um, because when she said that
she found her potential during that race, that that was
like kind of a moment where she actually acknowledged that
she has this potential. I don't know, I just feel
it in my soul because I understand that have been
(35:34):
there where you have this moment that just honestly changes
your life and it's the first time that you actually
pay attention to how amazing of a person, of an athlete,
of a human you are. And to hear her talk
about that moment, it always just oh chills. The other
thing that kind of got me was when she was
talking about therapy and how those those three things you know,
(35:57):
that she found about boundaries and connection and that's huge.
I feel like therapy, mental health, these are all things that,
as she said, are very important on an athletic journey,
on a life journey, they can change your life in
so many different ways. And knowing that this is something
that we're talking about so openly and saying, hey, this
(36:19):
is important, it's just as important as going and doing
those stretches, as going and doing that warm up. All
of it connects and all of it is important. I'm
just feeling really inspired and I am not a runner,
but suddenly I'm like, maybe I'll go for a run today.
Maybe I'll go for a light jog. Yes, i might
just run through the wall. Then look all together, it's
gonna be a quick, short one. Oh my god, just
(36:43):
hold hands right through the Uh. Yeah, that was incredible. Well,
speaking of possibly going for a run, let's definitely do
this check in with our goals, because you know, the
weeks passed and I just I'm really really interested to
know what are your goals right now? What are you
working on? Meg? Well, let me tell you a little
about then that happened yesterday. I actually reached a goal
(37:03):
that I did not expect at all yesterday. So I've
had this goal to do a twenty four inch box
jump for two years now. I got to eighteen inches
and then I got to twenty inches. I hit a
twenty two inch maybe like three or four times in
the last year, and something about yesterday, my coach was like, hey,
you're doing those eighteen inches going up and down, up
(37:25):
and down, You're doing like ten Like, let's let's try
and inch you up just a little bit. See what happens.
I ended up first face planning into the wall on
my first attempt for the twenty inches, and I was like,
you know what, I'm not going to let fear win,
because every single time I do these box jumps, fear
wins ten out of ten times. I've never conquered that
fear and just pushed through it. I said, you know what,
(37:47):
let's do it. The second attempt, I got up on
the box and it was a little shaky, but I
did it, and I was like, I can do this.
Let's give it a third try. Third one landed, it stuck,
it stood up, and I just up crying afterwards. But
I just felt so proud, Like that was I just
didn't see it coming. I did not know I was
going to hit that box job. I felt so proud.
(38:07):
It was my last training session. I'm starting to taper
off this next week before my medication starts, so I
don't know, I just felt so excited about that, even
though I have an injury now. Um, it's just I
feel good. I feel positive. I love love love that.
You know, what is wold is that sometimes we can
create goals, and we can set goals, but we don't
(38:27):
make it necessarily a goal to check in and celebrate
our accomplishments. So if you guys are out there listening,
make sure you hit my girl with some hearts, some
hands up, some excitement, give us some love. As you
guys are seeing our posts on social like yeah, that
gives me life. The box stones are tough. It's like
you're once you get almost impersonal with that box and
(38:48):
you're not looking at it from far away. You're like
also to get eye It's like, wait, this did not
look that big from back there. What about your mom?
Let's hear all about your goals and what we can
do to help support you. I you know, had my
first sparring session in fight camp last week and it
was it was definitely a learning experience, and I'm trying
(39:09):
to really work on, you know, not beating myself up
because it's not my job to do that, but I'm
really working on watching my tapes and understanding how I
can be a better inside fighter. I am very much
a fighter at long range. I love footwork. I love
evading shots and giving a nice long encounter, but when
it gets up close and personal, it's a little bit
(39:31):
tough for me. So my goal, and you know, my
initial session today with my coach was just to really
stay on the inside, feel out, blocking and countering immediately.
So we hope to see some improvement there setting my
feet and really just biting down and down and just
going to war. So you know, as things get a
little bit more intense, I'm just really looking for just
(39:54):
looking for some love, staying staying in tune and staying
tuned with my fight camp. I love all the support
that I'm getting from everyone, all the community love that
I'm getting, So stay in touch with me. Let me
know how your own training is going. Let me and
Meg know how things are going for you. Guys. We
love to see your training and your life celebrations, your trials,
(40:14):
and we love to support you in that, so definitely
keep your eyes peeled for that. Guys, keep sharing with us.
We love it. Yes, let us know. And that's it
for this week's episode, but don't forget to join us
next week when we talk about goals and benchmarks and
how we can set ourselves up for success with creating
realistic objectives for our training. Thanks for joining us, fit Fam.
If you like what you heard on the show, subscribe
(40:36):
for free or follow the show on the I heart
radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen, and don't
forget to leave a five star rating and review. Until
next time, Stay inspired, stay motivated, and remember to always
sweat the details. Bye. If you liked what you heard
(41:02):
on the show, subscribe for free or follow the show
on the I heart radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever
you listen, and don't forget to leave a five star
rating and review. Sweat the details as a collaboration with
under Armour and I Heart Radio. Our show is hosted
by me Monica Jones and me Meg Boggs. Our executive
producers are Jess strip Stein, Just Sell, Louis Archbald, Molly
(41:22):
Sosha and Maya Cole. Our producers are Kelly and Tole,
Layla Cadrain, Emma Osborne and Alejandra Aaruvalo. And our sound
editor and engineer is Sarah Gible Alaska. Keep up the
latest news in women's fitness by following under Armour at
under Armour Women and at under Armour
What's going on fit fam. Before we get into this episode,
we want to give you a heads up that will
be discussing mental health challenges, including anxiety and depression. Now,
everyone's got their own story, but remember to take care
of yourselves and to seek out support to help you
through difficult times. The way I balance a lot of
things that I balance is through support, like through my friendships,
(00:20):
through my relationships, through my mentors. Like they support me
so much, and when I'm down and I just feel like,
I'm like, you know what, I don't feel like doing this,
I don't want to do it. They kind of push me,
you know. And having that support changes your life. Find
people that fully support you on our down with you
all the way. It helps so much. This is Sweat
(00:45):
the Details, a collaboration with Under Armour and I Heart Radio,
a sports and training podcast made for women by women
that puts our success in challenges at the front and center.
I'm Monica Jones. I'm a fitness coach, boxer, business owner,
and you a AT And I'm Meg Boggs. I'm a powerlifter, author,
body positivity advocate and mother. Every episode, Monica and I
(01:07):
will talk to athletes, trainers, and experts and learn more
about how the body mind worked together in training and competition.
In today's episode, we're very excited to be talking to
professional runner and u A athlete Jasmine Fray. During her
sophomore year at Texas A and M, Jasmine broke the
eight hundred meter collegiate record. Yes girl. The Long Island
native is now a member of District Track Club, a
(01:28):
running team comprised of dedicated professional runners training together and
motivating one another to achieve their career goals. Jasmine has
accomplished so much as a college athlete and now as
a team member of District Track Club, but competing at
such a high level as not without its challenges. So
Jasmine has been very vocal about her own struggles with anxiety,
and she speaks so openly about the importance of athletes
(01:52):
working with a support system to take care of their
mental health. Yes, she's just one of many athletes who
have struggled with mental health and competition. Man, I know
you've been open about some of the things you've experiencing competition.
What are some ways you've found helpful in managing nerves
and stress when you're competing? Well, For me, there's been
a couple of times that I've competed, and the only
thing that has really calmed me down right before the
(02:15):
competition kicks off, I have to be alone, like I
need space. I don't need anybody around me. I just
need an alone moment with myself, usually some headphones in
very just calm music, something very very calm, and I
just breathe, like I have to breathe. Just remembering that
(02:35):
is the only way that I can get through it,
because for some reason, I when I get really nervous,
I just I clam up and I stopped breathing. I
keep inhaling and inhaling and I never exhale. It's an
issue of mine. So I just know that I have
to keep breathing. If I'm not by myself, I'm not
consciously thinking of it. So that's really the only way
that I'm able to manage that. And what about you, Yeah,
(02:57):
saying breathing is huge. I lean on my coach for sure.
When it comes to fighting. It's a very singular athletes sport.
But having the support of coach and the reassurance and
actually having a routine, right, we talked about breathing before
being alone, having the headphones in the routine that we
(03:18):
can rely on is really what allows us to calm
our nerves and allows us to affirm what's really happening
right now, that we have been working really hard for
X amount of months, years, days leading up to competition
and we should feel more secure there. So you know,
for me, it's it's very much the same process of
zoning in on ourselves and our breathing, but also being
(03:40):
able to have someone support you and coach you through it.
Whether it's like your mom in the dressing room you're
coach letting you know the third set is going to
be the best set. So I feel the same way.
It's definitely it takes a little bit of a loan
time and centered nous, but it also does take a
little bit of support from U, t your family, the
people around you. Absolutely, I'm so excited we have such
(04:04):
a huge mental health advocate to talk to. Let's get
into the interview with Jasmine. I agree, let's get to it. Hello, Hello,
fit fam. We are so excited to have Jasmine Free
here with us today. Welcome Jasmine. Hi, how are you guys?
Thank you so much for welcoming me. I'm so excited. Yeah,
(04:24):
we're so excited to Um, let's start with how you
first got started with running. Can you tell us a
little bit about your journey into becoming a runner. So
I kind of started my journey with running a long
time ago, when I was about an elementary school. My
mom kind of used to tell me stories about how
she ran track and field. So she didn't even pressure
(04:45):
me or she didn't say anything to me really about it.
You would just tell me stories. And so I went
to her and I asked her. I was like, hey, like,
can you take me out of these sports and maybe
put me in track? And then I started running track
and I really like it. And then after that, in
seventh grade, I went to a club team, which is
(05:05):
a more like serious team, right before I went to
high school. UM, and that was such a big shock
to me because I was in C y oh before,
which is more just like an easy league and you know,
it's just more for fun. But for club team, they're
like really running, like they're girls that can like really run,
like kill it. And so they were killing me when
(05:27):
I first, you know, joined and I just had to
keep working, keep working, keep working, and actually my mom
was going to take me out of it because we thought,
you know, maybe this isn't a good fit for me,
Maybe this isn't what I'm supposed to be doing. The
track meet that she was going to take me out,
she said, okay, this is your last meet. That's the
meat that I prd. I ran my personal best by
(05:47):
thirty seconds, and then from then on it was kind
of just like a whole WorldWind of like getting faster
and faster and faster. And then that's when I went
to my high school, calumber Memorial High School on Long Island,
New York. I was born and raised in New York UM,
and then from there I was able to receive a
full scholarship at Texas A and M, and I ran
collegiately there. So it was just a great, great experience overall. Wow,
(06:11):
you know you were you were a college athlete and
that's extremely demanding keeping up with the academics as well
as the performance. So how was it for you balancing
college work and your actual performance on the team? Um,
it was hard at times when I first got to
the school. That's what I was actually really really worried about. UM,
And it ended up working out really well because Texas
(06:34):
A and M makes it a point to care a
lot about your academics, and so a lot of times
that I was struggling, I would have a tutor, Like
they would give me a tutor for pretty much anything
that I needed. People actually care about you, um, and
they actually want to see you succeed. And I really
really love that. And I think that was a huge
(06:55):
lesson to me because my coaches always cared before my
athletic perform They always set to me, you know, we
want to see you run really well, but Jasmine, like,
you have to get your degree because you know, in
the long run, your mind outlast your body. Like you're
going to need your mind a lot more than you
will physically. You know, you can only run, but so long, Jasmine, Like,
(07:17):
you have to get your degrees. You have to you know,
work hard. And my mom definitely really implemented that also
because my mom is a professor at St. John's University,
academics is a really really big thing in my family. Um,
and I'm I'm super grateful for that. And that's why
I'm super grateful for the school that I went to.
They're amazing. That is amazing that you had so much support.
(07:37):
I've always wondered that, you know, how do you balance that?
I tell everyone all the time, I'm like, the way
I balance a lot of things that I balance is
through support, like through my friendships, through my relationships, through
my mentors, Like they support me so much. And when
I'm down and I just feel like, I'm like, you
know what, I don't feel like doing this, I don't
want to do it, they kind of push me and
they're like, Okay, just relax, take it a little bit
(07:59):
at a time, like it does all have to be today,
but just keep going, you know, and having that support
changes your life. Find people that fully support you on
are down with you all the way. It seems like
that's kind of the main component of getting through an
experience like that. I want to talk about the record
(08:19):
you broke. You broke the collegiate record as a sophomore
in which hold up you tell us a little bit
about that historic RaSE, like kind of walk us through it.
I honestly had no idea what was happening, because I
was young enough at that point that I was blissfully
ignorant and I just was running. So when I went
(08:42):
to Texas A and m I was only running a
two oh nine in the eight hundred and that's okay,
but it's not like great. And I have no idea
what happened. But my coach, coach friends Seek, came to
me and recruited me and said, you know what, we
see something in you. You want to recruit you, and
we want you to come here for a full scholarship
(09:03):
because you know, it's a lot harder to go away
to school because out of state tuition is so much
more expensive. And so I was super grateful for that,
and I was like, you know what, like, let's go.
I didn't even want to take an official visit there.
My mom actually made me take the official visit there
because I was like, Texas, Like what am I gonna
do in Texas? So I went to the school, visited it,
loved it. They offered me the full scholarship, and honestly,
(09:25):
I was just happy to be there, Like I was
just happy to be on the team. I was just
happy to be running there. You have these really high
ranked people going to this school. They're like winning nationals,
they're doing all these amazing things, and I'm like, what
am I doing here? And so it started to occur
to me that you know, I did have a lot
of potential, and I understood what they saw and me
(09:46):
my freshman year because I kept getting faster and faster
and faster, and I was like, oh, that's weird, Like
I've already dropped like five seconds in my time. And
you know, as you get faster and go to the
higher scale of track and field, like it's harder to
u get faster, like you're not gonna pr by five
seconds because that's a lot of time. You know, you're
only gonna pr by like a second or like a
(10:08):
tenth of a second or you know, just as long
as you're getting faster. And so my sophomore year that
I broke the record, we went to the meat. It
was a meat that I had, you know, pressure on
me like I normally do, but it really wasn't anything
like out of the ordinary. But I do remember just
believing in myself so much that day, Like I remember
(10:29):
just towing the line that day and just being like,
oh wow, like I feel great, Like I feel like
I can accomplish like anything right now. And I'm actually
a person that struggles a lot with anxiety. I struggle
a lot with being very nervous for my races like shaking,
and I was nervous, but just a normal nervous. I
wasn't overly nervous. And I finished and I saw everyone cheering.
(10:51):
So it's like a surreal experience because everyone's like cheering
for me and like clapping and standing up, and I'm
like looking around because I'm like, there's no way that
I just ran that time, Like there's that's like a
three second like pr Like there's like no way that
I ran that. And my coaches like yes, Jasmine, like
you just ran that, and I was shocked. And then
they announced that I had broken the collegiate record. I
(11:12):
didn't even think of that because I was like, oh,
like I don't even know what the collegiate record would be.
And that's when it started to occur to me that like, wow,
I can take this sport to another level. And that's
what I'm saying about the support, you know, like you
have support and having people like believe in you and
just give you a chance. I don't even know where
I would have gone, like without Texas A and M
(11:33):
you know, I was just running an okay time, um
and they really just took a chance on me. But yeah,
it was a very surreal, surreal experience, great coaching staff,
great everything that is so chills. I mean, it's like
lighting me up just to hear you talk about running.
It's so cool, and you know, honestly, it sounds like
(11:54):
you were running your own race. And then you looked
up and we're like, oh, and now that broke the records.
That day was honestly a blessing and a curse. It
was such a blessing because even now, like, I'm so
proud of that moment, and I couldn't have asked for
God to have given me just like a better day,
better support, and just like my coaches and my family everything,
(12:17):
everyone was so supportive and it was such like a
beautiful moment. But I think the only curse was remember
when I said I was very blissfully ignorant. That was
the day that everything changed and I wasn't anymore. I
knew exactly what was going on. I knew exactly my potential,
and that was the day that my pressure on myself skyrocketed.
(12:38):
Oh my gosh, it was like totally different. I was
kind of just running and like I don't know, just
trying my best, and you know, if I ran good
I ran good, but now it was different because now
I have a target on my back because now I
have the collegiate record, and like, girls know I'm fast.
You know track, you know who's good and you know
who's not because you could tell by their time. It's
(12:58):
it's very easy. You know, it's very easy to know
who's the best. There's no arguing about it. And so
that day definitely changed a lot of things for me.
Hearing you say that, like that was the moment that
you recognize your potential, I literally got chills because I
feel like that's like such an important moment that a
(13:19):
lot of us should talk more about openly and express
like those feelings and how it's you know, you have
this side that's very positive, but then you also have
this side that's kind of more challenging, and they kind
of blend together to create this really monumental experience. So
thank you for sharing that. Thank you know, I appreciate that.
After after you graduated college, so then you joined the
(13:40):
District Track Club, right as a professional runner. Can you
tell us about the club and you know, why did
you decide to join the team. You know, what kind
of work are you doing with them? Um? So I
decided to join District Track Club just because I loved
the coach. My coach's name is Tom Brum, Like I
loved him, and I loved my teammates. I loved how
(14:00):
diverse it was. Um, there's so many people on the
team that would just run for different countries. We all
are competitive because we want to do really well. Of
course we're professional athletes, but we're competitive in a supportive way,
you know, like I want you to run as fast
as you can because you're going to make me run
as fast as I can. So we're always challenging each other,
(14:21):
and you know, we're trying our best to just make
the most of each and every opportunity. And that's what
was really really important to me that my coach had
the same goal in mind. My teammates did, and so
did I. That makes me so happy to hear. Yes,
do you feel like there were any changes in your
physical and mental prep for college tournaments versus your professional races? Like?
(14:42):
What were those changes? Yes? For sure? For sure. You
know I'm always still working on that. You know, like
I said before, I struggled with anxiety from literally the
time that I was running track in seventh grade all
the way up till now you know, it's just I've
learned more so how to handle it and how to
handle it better and better. Um. It wasn't until again,
(15:06):
I was at A and M and I was struggling
because you know, my pressure skyrocketed after that collegiate record,
after I broke it, and I was constantly beating myself up,
and I was constantly nervous. And they said to me,
they said, Okay, I really think I really suggest that
you see a sports psychologist, like we have one here
at A and M that will help you. Like, I
(15:27):
highly suggest that you see them, because you're you have
so much potential and you're letting, you know, your fear
and you're letting your nervousness consume you and you're letting
it control you. And it wasn't until I went to
him that I started to realize, like, oh, like this
is anxiety, and like I'm actually just like a very
nervous person, not even just with track, just with anything,
(15:48):
like that's just how I think. I just plan ahead
so much and I'm naturally an overthinker. Um. And so
it was really about just like handling those moments. And
now I know Okay, Jasmine, when you're super nervous before
your race, I have a coloring book and I just color,
like I I don't even listen to music. I just
try to like take everything out and I literally just color.
(16:09):
And if I am listening to something, I'm listening to
Headspace and they're talking to me about something and just
telling me about my mindfulness and just telling me to breathe. Um.
I just know how to handle myself so much more
so it's easier. I'm not saying that all these things
are like a cure all. I'm just saying, like it's
going to take your anxiety down from a ten to
a nine because that's what you want. And then next
(16:31):
time it's going to take you down from a nine
to like an eight point five. But like you have
to constantly keep practicing those things. That's the main thing.
So when I get nervous for workouts, my coach is
gonna see me. He sees me doing my own thing.
He knows to leave me alone because I need to
handle it myself. Like there's nothing he can say to me.
You know, I gotta find what works for me at
practice so that way I can do it in the
(16:53):
big meat. So you know, you have to work on
your mind little by little to do well in the
bigger scale. Things. I relate to you so much. I'm serious,
Like the anxiety, it's it's hard toge when it when
it bleeds into every every life, every single thing. I
experience it all the time, So I mean, I understand
every time I do an interview, I also have to
(17:14):
take deep breaths. I get ready before me too. It
wasn't until I was talking on this interview that I
was like, oh my gosh, I have an interview. I'm
kind of nervous, like what am we going to talk about?
And yeah, you just know, you just see it right,
like you've seen it trickle down just into different parts
of your life. And it's not even something to hide
because I'm not ashamed to talk about it at all.
Like I'm proud to say that I have it because
(17:35):
I know how to handle it, and I don't think
that it's a bad thing about me. You know, it
can actually be a good thing. It can make us
more prepared, honestly than most people, just because we care
so much and like we want to make sure we're
on time and we're thinking about things clearly and we
say the right things, and you know, it can be
a good thing. I love that you're so vocal about
(17:56):
mental health, Like you're such a huge advocate for mental
health therapy, especially for athletes. So you know, why do
you think that therapy is beneficial for athletes? I just
found that it just helped me so much. It just
helped relieve me so much. You know. For example, I
find out that I was a people pleaser. I didn't
(18:16):
even realize that. I realized that there was so many
times that I said yes to doing something that I
did not want to do because I was doing so
many things for other people and I wasn't really taking
care of myself. And it wasn't until then that I
started being in therapy that I realized that. And he
started actually explaining to me boundaries. He was like, you know, Jasmine,
(18:39):
you have no boundaries with people. People think that they
can do whatever they want when you're around. You know,
even if they talked to a certain way, you kind
of just let it go because you're a very forgiving person.
He kind of taught me like, hey, this is how
you communicate this, and I realized I was a terrible communicator.
From that, like I didn't know how to stand up
for myself. I didn't know how to speak up for
(18:59):
my self. And those are already like three things my anxiety, communication,
and boundaries that he already helped me with, And that
has nothing to do with TRACK. It was just something
that helped me in my day to day life. And
that's what I feel like so many athletes need, like
they need that because it really does help you with
just like life issues. I talked about track probably five
percent of the time that I was with my psychologists,
(19:22):
because like there were so many other things that I
needed to work out first before we got to track stuff.
And you would have no idea how much that relieved
me by the time I came to a meet, you know,
because I just had so much weight lifted off my
shoulders because I was like, oh, like I don't have
to take care of everybody, and it's kind of just
coming into your own and teaches you, like to find
(19:43):
out more about yourself and teaches you, Okay, like so
I feel this way right now, Like why am I
feeling this way? Like, you know, you can only go
as deep with other people as you go with yourself.
That's what I've personally learned a lot in therapy. Huge, huge, huge,
So I am courage every athlete to go to therapy
because you never know, like there's people always have things
(20:05):
that they can work on. Anybody has things that they
can work on, and you don't know that it can't
help you, um in the track world or in any
athletic career that you might have. Yeah, that is so important.
I love hearing that too. It's like creating boundaries and
establishing them can help you break barriers. Yes, you know,
(20:25):
we're reading surveys before doing the interview, and we read
an n C double A Student Athletes survey from says
that black and Latin X athletes are more likely to
cite family or personal responsibilities as a barrier to training.
So we talk about being people pleasers are taking care
of other people. We had both forty of black and
Latin X compared to of white participants and of other
(20:49):
racial groups. And it's like you're not standing alone when
you think, Okay, why is everything so heavy on me?
And why do I jump to do these things? And
you know, I thought that was so interesting because it's
like for someone who might focus on being fast, what
creates better results is slowing down, going at the right
pace for you. So I love that really really comes
(21:11):
to the circle when you think about it. Yes, dig
into your mind like figure out like why do you
feel this way? Like why do I feel the weight
of the world on my shoulders? Because it's not just
this race. This race is lasting two minutes, So what
is really going on with me? Like why do I
feel this way? Is it external factors as internal factors?
Like what can I do? You know? And that's the
(21:31):
big question. I love that And I know that, you know,
all of our listeners and those especially younger athletes out
there are going to hear this and feel more comfort
knowing that the support is out there and it is
okay to ask for it. Yes, you know we're even
seeing that. You know, we have high profile athletes you're
are quitting championships right to protect their mental health, big
(21:53):
moments in their careers. How do you personally know, Jazz
when you need a mental health break? Like do you
go about it? Um? You know, I start to see signs.
You know, I'm not and I'm not a really lazy person.
I'm not a person that you know kind of likes
to just sit around. I don't really procrastinate things, you know,
(22:15):
I kind of just like to do things. I kind
of always like to be on the go. And I
can tell when I'm burnt out when I don't want
to do any of that, you know, and even when
I do little tips and tricks to help me, you know,
get on tasks, like say, like a lot of times
when you know I would be really overwhelmed, I took
one thing at a time, and you know, that kind
of builds up, builds up, builds up, and it helps
(22:37):
you create momentum. But sometimes that doesn't even work. I'm like, no,
I still don't feel any momentum, or like there's times
where I just don't feel focused, Like I literally can't focus.
All I want to do is go to bed. And
I've taken you know, those Um, I've taken those signs,
and I've said to myself, Okay, you know what, just relax,
like it's okay to give yourself a break. If I
(22:57):
actually feel really tired, I will will actually go taken
napp Like I've learned that about myself. Um, And that's
really the best way for me personally to handle rest,
because we all need it. We're going to deny it,
but we all need it. And sometimes we don't all
get seven eight hours of sleep, you know, and so
even if you do get seven and eight hours of sleep,
sometimes it's not enough. Sometimes you're still tired. It's that's
(23:19):
self awareness that have to have it. Can Yeah, that's
a great one for it to self awareness. That's how
I try and focus every every day of mine is
self awareness. That's how I think of wellness as well.
It's just it's it's an awareness of self care, knowl Yeah,
of just making positive choices for yourself. I want to
switch gears a little bit, um and get a little
(23:41):
a serious question for you. So, people of color, they
tend to experience a higher rate of imposter syndrome than
white people, and which just means that they, you know,
don't feel that they're good enough or that they don't
deserve everything that they've earned. Um, how do you see
the happening to athletes, especially athletes of color. I think
(24:04):
it's just very difficult because you know, you just don't
necessarily feel like you belong. And so I think what
was always really difficult for me was, even when I
was applying for college, people around me who were white.
They would say, oh, like, you're going to get into
(24:24):
college easier, like you're lucky. And I said, why why
am I going to get into college easier? And they said, well,
you're black, Like they're gonna take you because you're black.
And they just wanted to be diverse. Not because I'm smart,
not because I can run fast, not because of any
of the abilities that I have. It's purely because I'm black.
So they're going to give me a free pass, you know,
and let that slide. And I really, I think that
(24:47):
always really sat with me and really bothered me because
I would never say that about anybody else, Like I
wouldn't think that. And then I think that has led
me to believe like, oh, like I don't really belong here.
They just gave this to me because they feel bad
for me, you know, And that's not the case. Like
I had to find within myself and say to myself, no,
like I deserve to be here, Like I worked just
(25:09):
as hard as everybody else did to be here. I
did the work internally and I did the work externally
in order to be here today, Run my fastest, do
my best in my academics, you know, graduate as in
the top of my class that I can't like I
did what I needed to do to be here, and
I deserve it. I know that mental health is something
(25:30):
that a lot of athletes struggle with, and I know
I'm not wrong in that. I want to make sure
people don't feel like they're alone because I felt like
I was alone and I know now that I'm not,
and I want to make other athletes and show other
athletes like, listen, you're not the only person that struggles
with this. There's a lot of people that struggle with it.
How can we band together and make it better? Like,
what do you do that she can do? Like, let's
(25:50):
talk to each other, Like, let's be supportive with each other,
even if we don't go to the same school, Like,
how can we do that? How can we all band
together even as black women? How can we all be
and together and come together and come to a consensus
and be like, hey, like, let's build each other up.
You have to be a friend to get a friend,
and that's what builds connections. You know, you hear little
nicks and knacks all the time about feeling like you
(26:13):
don't belong here, and you just have to do the
internal work to realize that you do and don't let
that impostor syndrome gets you because it's not it's not true.
It's fake. And a lot of times when people try
to implement that and you, they're honestly afraid of what
you can be. And you have to realize that you
have to come to fruition with that, and you have
(26:35):
to seek the help and you have to do the
work in order to believe and say, hey, like, I
want to be here and I deserve to be here
just as much as anybody else does. Yes, ma'am, I'm
like ready to go back to college and trying and
be like, guess what it sounds like? You know, we
got affirmation it. It helps us so much when we
(26:55):
have that anxiety or that impostor syndrome. It's saying, you know,
just like you said, I did the work to get
here internally, I did the physical work to get here.
Making it the truth and really reinforcing that within yourself.
That is incredible advice to our athletes out there dealing
with imposter syndrome. Yes, it's hard, it's hard. I totally
get it. It's really hard, but you got to do
(27:16):
the work. That's all you can do. You've got to
do the work exactly, whether you're taking action or you're
literally having the internal dialogue. I love that. Yes, yes,
So in sports we can't always win. We all know that, right,
there are losses left and right. You can't always break records.
You can't always be the fastest or the best. How
do you deal with those setbacks when you don't hit
(27:38):
that goal, or you don't win the race, or you
don't break the record that you've been trying to for
so long? Do you have any specific strategies that you
use that you can share. You know, it's so tough,
but it's about doing the work like I talked about,
and just believing in yourself and saying, okay, even though
this didn't happen for me, I personally believe I've in
(28:00):
through enough trials and tribulations through track that I've seen
that a hundred percent of the time, a thousand percent
of the time, everything works out exactly the way it's
supposed to. Everything happens for the reason exactly that it's
supposed to happen for you know, and you might want
things on a certain time frame, and you might want
things to happen at this particular date, and it just
(28:21):
might not be meant to be. That's just might not
be how it's supposed to happen. But I guarantee you
something even better is going to happen from that, you know.
But you just have to believe and you have to trust.
I think for me, I'm very big in my faith, um,
and you know that really helps set the foundation for
me of like, Okay, it's not me that's controlling everything.
(28:44):
It's God. God's controlling this, and I don't really have
the power to change it. All I have the power
to do is seek the opportunities that He gives me,
do the most with those opportunities, and whatever happens from
that happens. But I have to learn to let go
because I am not in control. And that's probably one
of the hardest things I've ever had to accept in
my life, because I am a person that likes to
(29:06):
be in control, likes to be a perfectionist. But through
my faith, I just had to learn that. I just
had to say, you know what, you have to let go.
You got to relax. There was a lot of times
during my college career that I was supposed to win nationals,
but you know what, I had to have a conversation
with myself and say, you know what, Jasmine, just because
you work hard and just because you have the collegiate
(29:28):
record doesn't mean that you deserve to win nationals. And
it doesn't mean that you're supposed to win nationals because
guess what, everybody works hard. News flash, everybody's working really hard,
and everybody has a hard time, and everyone's doing that
the best they can to be number one all the time,
like you're not the only one doing that. Doesn't mean
that you deserve to do this. And that was a
very hard lesson for me to learn in my head.
(29:48):
And I said, Okay, things happen for a reason. And
you know what, my senior year, I ended up winning
nationals and we won the four by four so and
so we ended up winning twice back to back, and
that was probably the most azing way I could have
ever ended my college career. You know, So everything happens
for a reason in the time frame that it's supposed
to happen, and it's a great life lesson to you
(30:08):
to say, you know what, not everything is always going
to happen the way that I wanted to. In track
and field, and for the rest of my life. That's
just not how it works, you know. But you gotta
let go, and you've got to learn to say okay,
like I'm just gonna keep fighting, Like I'm just gonna
stand up, keep fighting and doing the best that I
can and trust me, like you all have that in you.
You all have that fight in you, and that fight
to succeed and be competitive and to want more and
(30:31):
to be hungry and to never be satisfied. We all
have that within us. You just got to find out
what you're passionate about, and you've got to find out
what you want. It's the main thing. You got to
find out what you want. What do you want out
of this? Like what do you want to get from this?
And that's the best way to handle it. I mean,
but just let us know when you're putting out this
audio book. You got a motivational speech, let us know
(30:53):
when this is happening, because the fashion is just right now, Jazz, Like,
I'm mean, I'm ready to run through a wall. It's
just things that I wish that someone had told me. Yes,
I wish that my younger self had known this also,
you know, because it's hard, it's hard out here. You know,
it's it's hard in this world. But you gotta be tough.
(31:14):
And sometimes like being tough isn't enough. Sometimes hard work
isn't enough. Just because you work hard doesn't mean you're
going to get what you think you're gonna get. That's
not always what happens. But you've got to be willing
to stand up and fight again and then fight again,
and fight again and fight again, because that's life. Like,
what are we gonna do. We're gonna give up. No,
we can't do that. You know, we can't do that.
(31:35):
So that's the best advice that I would give. It
is the best advice period. Thank you under armours. Sweat
the Details will be back after a short break. Welcome
back to Sweat the Details. All right, jack Man, this
(31:57):
is the part of the show we like to play
a little game with our guests. Okay, it's called keep
the paste paste space. I feel like every episode that's
gonna get more different. It's called keep the Pace. We're
just going to ask you, you know, a question about
things that keep you motivated while running, and then you're
(32:20):
just going to answer the first thing that comes to mind.
Does that sound good? Alright? Favorite pre run snack. Oh,
macaroni and cheese. It's not a snack, but that I
love macaroni and cheese. Yeah, that's the first that I've heard. Yeah,
best warm up exercise before race hinnees like hinees. Like drills,
like really fast drills. Um, gets me motivated and prepped,
(32:42):
kind of gets my blood like flowing, gets me like
excited and like loose. It's kind of fun. Favorite place
to go for a morning jog the park that's like
down my house. Um, it's like has like a bunch
of flowers, a bunch of trees. Virginia's like very pretty
with their nature and environment. So it's like right down here,
and I go for a jog and um sometimes a
(33:02):
bike ride and it's amazing, love it, awesome of it.
And the last one best way to celebrate a win,
ice cream has to be ice cream. I have to
get some ice cream. Cold Stone ice cream my favorite,
my favorite. Yeah, they chop it up and then they
mix it. Yes, yes, yes, Me and my friends will
literally go into the cold Stone ice Cream parking lot
and we'll just talk forever. Um, And that's what we
(33:25):
do whenever I celebrate like a big win or just
like I want to relax and decompress. Love it. It's
the best way. I love that. Yes, the wisdom is
so real. Thank you so much, Jasmine. That was a
lot of fun. Thank you guys for having me on
here so much. It was so fun. I really appreciate
the questions that you asked are so fun. You guys
are so fun. Thank you. Of course we loved having
you here. Yeah, you made it easy, Max. There's some
(33:47):
passion excitement. I mean, we could listen to you talk
all day. Thank you, Jasmine. Can you share where everyone
can find you on socials? Yeah, you can just find
me on Instagram. UM J A Z M I I
N E F R A A Y. That's my Instagram
and that's my main platform. Okay, so Instagram is where
(34:09):
it's at. Okay, Instagram is where it's at. Awesome, well, Jasmine,
thank you so much for being here with us. This
conversation was amazing and hopefully we can talk again soon.
Thank you, Thank you so much. Wow, Jasmine Fray is
the truth. I was right. My favorite part I think
(34:29):
of everything she said was her coaches guidance when and
her mother's guidance. Honestly, when they said that your mind
will outlast your bodies. Wow, coming from a professional athlete
or at the time, which was a collegiate athlete, a
young athlete, coming from someone who relies so heavily on
their bodies to be led by people that they trust,
(34:50):
and you know that she really really looked up to
for answers and for them to say what is truly
important is to take care of your mind and your
education blew my mind. It was so inspiring, makes me
so excited to you know, maybe one day bring a
child into this world and hopefully have them have the
same great guidance and know that they're in good hands.
What did you enjoy about the interview? Mag Yeah, I
(35:12):
mean I I completely just I just kept getting chills.
So when I tell you, like, I'm not even joking
when I say that, um, because when she said that
she found her potential during that race, that that was
like kind of a moment where she actually acknowledged that
she has this potential. I don't know, I just feel
it in my soul because I understand that have been
(35:34):
there where you have this moment that just honestly changes
your life and it's the first time that you actually
pay attention to how amazing of a person, of an athlete,
of a human you are. And to hear her talk
about that moment, it always just oh chills. The other
thing that kind of got me was when she was
talking about therapy and how those those three things you know,
(35:57):
that she found about boundaries and connection and that's huge.
I feel like therapy, mental health, these are all things that,
as she said, are very important on an athletic journey,
on a life journey, they can change your life in
so many different ways. And knowing that this is something
that we're talking about so openly and saying, hey, this
(36:19):
is important, it's just as important as going and doing
those stretches, as going and doing that warm up. All
of it connects and all of it is important. I'm
just feeling really inspired and I am not a runner,
but suddenly I'm like, maybe I'll go for a run today.
Maybe I'll go for a light jog. Yes, i might
just run through the wall. Then look all together, it's
gonna be a quick, short one. Oh my god, just
(36:43):
hold hands right through the Uh. Yeah, that was incredible. Well,
speaking of possibly going for a run, let's definitely do
this check in with our goals, because you know, the
weeks passed and I just I'm really really interested to
know what are your goals right now? What are you
working on? Meg? Well, let me tell you a little
about then that happened yesterday. I actually reached a goal
(37:03):
that I did not expect at all yesterday. So I've
had this goal to do a twenty four inch box
jump for two years now. I got to eighteen inches
and then I got to twenty inches. I hit a
twenty two inch maybe like three or four times in
the last year, and something about yesterday, my coach was like, hey,
you're doing those eighteen inches going up and down, up
(37:25):
and down, You're doing like ten Like, let's let's try
and inch you up just a little bit. See what happens.
I ended up first face planning into the wall on
my first attempt for the twenty inches, and I was like,
you know what, I'm not going to let fear win,
because every single time I do these box jumps, fear
wins ten out of ten times. I've never conquered that
fear and just pushed through it. I said, you know what,
(37:47):
let's do it. The second attempt, I got up on
the box and it was a little shaky, but I
did it, and I was like, I can do this.
Let's give it a third try. Third one landed, it stuck,
it stood up, and I just up crying afterwards. But
I just felt so proud, Like that was I just
didn't see it coming. I did not know I was
going to hit that box job. I felt so proud.
(38:07):
It was my last training session. I'm starting to taper
off this next week before my medication starts, so I
don't know, I just felt so excited about that, even
though I have an injury now. Um, it's just I
feel good. I feel positive. I love love love that.
You know, what is wold is that sometimes we can
create goals, and we can set goals, but we don't
(38:27):
make it necessarily a goal to check in and celebrate
our accomplishments. So if you guys are out there listening,
make sure you hit my girl with some hearts, some
hands up, some excitement, give us some love. As you
guys are seeing our posts on social like yeah, that
gives me life. The box stones are tough. It's like
you're once you get almost impersonal with that box and
(38:48):
you're not looking at it from far away. You're like
also to get eye It's like, wait, this did not
look that big from back there. What about your mom?
Let's hear all about your goals and what we can
do to help support you. I you know, had my
first sparring session in fight camp last week and it
was it was definitely a learning experience, and I'm trying
(39:09):
to really work on, you know, not beating myself up
because it's not my job to do that, but I'm
really working on watching my tapes and understanding how I
can be a better inside fighter. I am very much
a fighter at long range. I love footwork. I love
evading shots and giving a nice long encounter, but when
it gets up close and personal, it's a little bit
(39:31):
tough for me. So my goal, and you know, my
initial session today with my coach was just to really
stay on the inside, feel out, blocking and countering immediately.
So we hope to see some improvement there setting my
feet and really just biting down and down and just
going to war. So you know, as things get a
little bit more intense, I'm just really looking for just
(39:54):
looking for some love, staying staying in tune and staying
tuned with my fight camp. I love all the support
that I'm getting from everyone, all the community love that
I'm getting, So stay in touch with me. Let me
know how your own training is going. Let me and
Meg know how things are going for you. Guys. We
love to see your training and your life celebrations, your trials,
(40:14):
and we love to support you in that, so definitely
keep your eyes peeled for that. Guys, keep sharing with us.
We love it. Yes, let us know. And that's it
for this week's episode, but don't forget to join us
next week when we talk about goals and benchmarks and
how we can set ourselves up for success with creating
realistic objectives for our training. Thanks for joining us, fit Fam.
If you like what you heard on the show, subscribe
(40:36):
for free or follow the show on the I heart
radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen, and don't
forget to leave a five star rating and review. Until
next time, Stay inspired, stay motivated, and remember to always
sweat the details. Bye. If you liked what you heard
(41:02):
on the show, subscribe for free or follow the show
on the I heart radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever
you listen, and don't forget to leave a five star
rating and review. Sweat the details as a collaboration with
under Armour and I Heart Radio. Our show is hosted
by me Monica Jones and me Meg Boggs. Our executive
producers are Jess strip Stein, Just Sell, Louis Archbald, Molly
(41:22):
Sosha and Maya Cole. Our producers are Kelly and Tole,
Layla Cadrain, Emma Osborne and Alejandra Aaruvalo. And our sound
editor and engineer is Sarah Gible Alaska. Keep up the
latest news in women's fitness by following under Armour at
under Armour Women and at under Armour
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