August 10, 2024 • 30 mins
Description: Join Mia, Megan, and Annemarie for the inaugural episode of Table Talk. In this episode, our hosts dive into a variety of topics, giving you an insider's perspective on girls in sport. Topics Covered: Paris Olympics: What we loved about Paris Olympics and the exceptional coverage! Social Media Insights: How TikTok and other social media platforms provide a glimpse into the daily lives of athletes. The best TikToks, including a fun discussion about the best chocolate muffins. Athlete Seasons: The length and intensity of college seasons, Olympic trials, and the Olympics for athletes. Social Media and NIL Impact: The pressures of being "always on" for athletes due to social media and NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) deals. The issue of toxic positivity and the need to talk about the challenges and isolation athletes face. Parker Valby's candid discussion about the difficulties of college athletics. Nike's Responsibility: The role of Nike in ensuring safe sports environments. Criticism of Nike prioritizing profits over people. Kara Goucher's book, "The Longest Run," shedding light on the Nike Oregon Project.
Summer Updates: Megan and Mia share highlights from their summer. Mia talks about recovering from an ankle injury and the challenges of the healing process. Updates on their upcoming seasons with Iowa swimming and Georgetown running. Megan's insights on building connections with incoming freshmen during her senior season. Follow Us! Stay tuned as we follow Mia and Megan throughout their seasons, providing more engaging conversations and behind-the-scenes looks at their journeys in sport. Hawkeye Swim and Dive IG: https://www.instagram.com/hawkeyeswimdive/ Georgetown Track/XC IG: https://www.instagram.com/hoyastrack/?hl=en PEAC-train like a girl: https://www.instagram.com/peac_train_like_a_girl/?hl=en Parker Valbey IG: https://www.instagram.com/parkervalby/?hl=en PEAC-train like a girl website: https://sustainablelifelive.com/information-podcast
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Episode Transcript
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Music.
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Welcome to PEAK, Train Like a Girl, a podcast by girls in sport for girls and coaches in sport.
We're here to amplify your voice. It deserves to be heard.
At PEAK, we are a safe place for girls to hang out, learn, grow, and build community.
We empower girls in sport and coaches with knowledge, resources,
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and support we think is necessary in today's athletic atmospheres to thrive.
Join us for bold conversations about the experiences of girls in sport.
Our discussions will make you laugh, cry, cheer, get frustrated,
and hopefully rethink the future of girls in sport for generations to come.
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So whether you're walking, commuting, cleaning your bedroom,
moving into your dorm room, take us with you.
Follow us. It helps more than you can imagine. Check out our website and make
sure you share with a female athlete or coach you love.
Now, I'm super excited to introduce a new and hopefully ongoing feature at Peak
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Train Like a Girl podcast called Table Talk.
So I've invited two of my favorite female athletes, Megan and Mia,
to join me in the conversation today.
So thank you both for taking the time out of your full summer schedules to be
here. I really appreciate it.
Thank you for having us. I'm excited. Yes, thank you. I'm really excited to be part of this.
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Yay. So Table Talk is really kind of what it sounds like.
It's just open conversation among friends sitting around or on a table.
So what I'd love to start with is we are smack dab in the middle of what I think
is one of the most exciting and well-covered Olympics that we've had in a long time.
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And I think it is super coincidental that two of my most favorite things to
be watching right now are both swimming and track and field.
I know we just finished swimming track and field. There have been so many things
were like literally jaw dropping as you know, with swimming with Katie Ledecky.
And I just wanted to maybe get your thoughts or feelings around both the Olympics,
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the coverage, you know, what you think it means for girls in sport. So take it away.
Yeah, I can talk a little bit about swimming because it just came to an end this past Sunday.
Sadly, I wish it could go on for weeks, but that's a little tough.
But yeah, I do totally agree. The coverage was so amazing out in Paris.
It was so fun and easy to watch, and I loved going back and re-watching certain races or prelim heats.
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Because the thing about swimming in track, it's so fun. You get to watch the
prelims, the semifinals, and then the finals in a lot of these events.
So that's been super cool. And I think another thing that is so fun about the
Olympics is that a lot of times before a semifinal, before the finals,
they'll kind of show snippets, personal stories, or a one-on-one interview with
a lot of these athletes, which is just so interesting to learn about a lot of these girls'
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backstories in their lives and how they got to this point.
So it has been so fun, and I love watching the Olympics every four years. It's been awesome.
Yeah, I agree. This year, I feel like we have a lot more of like a personal
connection with the athletes as we're walking,
because like you said, we not only get the backstories that are like on the
production on Peacock itself, but I feel like with social media,
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we have been getting a lot of insight into like their day in the lives.
Lives there have been a lot of olympians that are using tiktok
which i find kind of funny because it's like yes they're competing
at the highest level and then we can also see them i don't
know if you've seen the chocolate muffin reviews but there's a lot of like behind
the scenes whether it's in the dining hall or just like the olympic village
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life that's really fun to keep up with and i think it does create like a good
balance and insight into seeing you know the best athletes in the world this
is the olympic after all and then you know just their fun day in the life like
eating at the dining hall together and reviewing muffins.
It just provides like the duality of what these girls really have in their lives.
Yes, I totally could not agree more. The TikTok scene, like those videos have
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been so cool to see because I've always wondered like, what does it look like
when they go to bed or like where are they actually staying?
So that has been super cool. And I think another thing that I noticed is that
a lot of these girls, like on the swim team, have been making cool videos about
like, oh, who do we wish we could run into in the Olympic Village?
And it's like Simone Biles or it's so cool like their stars talk about all these
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other athletes too which is so funny.
I think specifically with the swimmers, well, I may be a little biased in my
eyes, but I feel like the top two sports that are being covered this Olympics
are track and field and swimming.
Like something about the people competing.
I think these two sports have like the best personalities represented on the stage.
So I find swimming specifically really interesting because most of the women
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competing, aside from Katie Ledecky, obviously are like college athletes, which I find so cool.
I mean, as a college athlete yourself, like you're probably competing against
some of these girls and it's so amazing to see them like go to Paris and then
like then see them at a swim meet in Iowa. Like there's just such a difference there.
And I just think like it's so cool to have that insight from them and their
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personalities really show through. true.
Yeah, I think it's so true. And I think that one of the things I have not one
of my goals for this year is to figure the tick tock scene out not for me personally,
but I want to because enough people talk about it.
And I think for me to continue to be relevant in what I do as a coach,
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I also need to be able to relate to what my athletes are doing and seeing.
So that's something I'm going to really kind of try to figure out.
This year, I figured if I can figure
I can figure out like Instagram or a podcast. I can figure out TikTok.
I think TikTok would be run so smoothly for you, Anne-Marie.
You have such a podcast background now. I think it would be so fun. Yeah.
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And there's so much more you can do and see on it.
And I think that what you're both saying is that it humanizes who these athletes are.
And, you know, just the ability to look at somebody as...
A human before a high performer, I think is so important.
And I think that's something that some of the social media coverages and obviously,
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you know, some people have such big personalities, and that's their personalities,
whether it's, you know, this overconfidence,
which what some people see it, or maybe it's the,
you know, the the subtlety of really not saying anything that That really has
to, for me, that's more to do with a personality type and less to do with how
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competitive someone can be or can't be.
I think the thing that's interesting for me with both of these sports in particular,
these are the two sports that, you know, aside from basketball and maybe lacrosse,
I have the most connection to.
And you guys touched on it, is that we get to see the prelims,
we get to see, you know, the finals, and then we get to see, you know, the event.
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And then prior to this, we got to see the qualifications, right?
We got to see the swim trials. We got to see the track and field.
I think what people forget is what a grind it is.
And now keep in mind, some of these athletes who also were competing in the
NCAAs, then they also had to go to the qualifiers for the Olympics.
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They have been on overdrive for months.
And I do think we We sometimes forget that and people are like,
well, wait, they're doing two events in a day.
And I'm like, yeah, that is the life of a swimmer or a track and field athlete.
They're competing in multiple events.
You guys kind of think that also that sometimes people forget that these athletes are on 24-7?
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Yeah, I think, oh, Megan, you can go. Okay. Um, I think it's such,
like, I do believe it's overlooked.
And like someone in specific that always stands out to me with this and track
and field is Parker Valby.
Because not only I mean, obviously, Parker Valby is like highly appreciated.
And she's honestly brought so much more attention to the sport.
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Not only because she's attracting different demographics, because she's like,
this beautiful, spunky Florida gator.
But I think she definitely is overlooked in terms of
how much she really like myths to the sport and she
herself in interviews definitely like downplays it which at
points i'm like you should be giving yourself
the recognition you deserve but at the end of the day she has
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really gone through i mean racing the 10k and
the 5k this many time throughout indoor track
honestly i saw her back in january racing to
now at the olympics is so much work she hasn't
really had any off time and to now see her compete at this
high of a level and obviously still got the recognition she
deserves but really to recognize how long and
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how many miles she has put into this is really just
like such an interesting thing to see because she puts up a front of being like
this girl's like a very young like spunky girl but at the end of the day she
is one of the like most high level athletes in the sport at this time and she's
like i think she has such a good balance with that in terms of her personality
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and in terms of like how much work she puts in. It's so cool to see.
Yeah. What about you, Megan? She has been so cool to watch too. Wow.
I mean, I will say a lot of the, I agree with a lot of things that Mia just said.
It's so interesting because obviously we get to see it firsthand,
Mia and I competing at our respective colleges, but with track there's indoor and outdoor.
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So all year long with swimming, you have your, you know, NCAA 25 yard season,
and then you go right Right into the 50 meter pool from March until August.
So I do feel that besides like the trials, because there's a handful,
you know, there's a great percentage of people who do know about both track and swimming trials.
And then, you know, just a handful of people who are just watching the Olympics.
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But I do think it's definitely forgotten about that.
The NCAA season goes all the way until March, and then you don't really get
a day off because you're thinking about the Olympics next.
So I do wish sometimes there's two super fun, awesome sisters,
Gretchen and Alex Walsh, that both swim for Virginia. Yes.
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They're so cool. So we can get here in a couple of weeks and we all go back to school.
I do wish sometimes, just like you said with Parker, that they would kind of
explain how their year has gone and just what a journey it's been.
But yeah, yes, I would definitely say that sometimes it is a little bit overlooked.
Yeah, definitely. And I wonder if that's because I and I'm this is I'm going
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maybe a little to the right here.
I wonder if that has to do with this environment where these athletes or coaches,
it doesn't matter who it is, is trying to, quote unquote, market themselves.
So this idea of toxic positivity, where everything's always good.
And I really struggle with that, because I don't think every day is a good day. That's just me.
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Like some days, I have a bad day. And some days, I think you're allowed to have a bad day.
And some days, you know, there's there's seasons in life where you're struggling.
I don't know what that is, whether it's with injury or overload,
or I don't, I don't, again, I don't know what it is.
But I wonder if we live in a world where particularly someone who has a more public facing image,
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they have to tie it up in a neat bow for people to be able to consume it and
digest it in a marketable way. Do you guys think that? Yeah.
Yeah, I think definitely. I mean, I don't know what goes into like a Nike NIL,
but Parker Valby was Nike's first NIL athlete.
And I feel like with Nike just being such like an iconic, respected brand and
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running, they really wanted to choose someone that had like such a great image.
And I think a reason I've struggled to like support Parker Valby throughout her past few years,
and I feel like now I've recently gained a lot of respect for her, but
it's difficult to see at first someone that's always
like ahead of the pack by a minute and a half on the cross country course
like someone succeeding this well and then finishing a
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race and interviewing in such a way that it's like yeah
I really didn't put in much effort so for a long time I know me and a lot of
other NCAA runners have like had a hard time understanding how she's so amazing
and like had a hard time supporting her but at the Olympic trials she had an
interview after the 10k and that was the first time I saw her really own up
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to how much work she put in.
And she really gave herself, like she put herself off in a very mature manner.
And she really owned up to how much work she's been putting in and how much
it means to her and like the emotions that went into it.
And that was the first time where I was like, wow, this girl like really fights for it.
And I'm really happy to see her put the NCAA on the Olympic stage.
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Let alone in the top three in the 10k in
such a difficult packed event in the u.s and i think
that was a really good turn in her like
positive mindset because it was
so outwardly positive for so long that all of
us were kind of begging for her to show like some struggle and those races when
she was racing the pros was the first time where i really saw her work i saw
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the grit in her face and i was like this is what i like to see like this is
a good reason for her to be an idol for people now yeah what about you you, Megan?
What do you think? Yeah, that's so interesting. I did not know that kind of
background about her. That is, wow. So that's super interesting.
I would kind of say more so on what Mia touched on in the beginning,
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like the NIL deals and just deals in general.
So a lot of these college swimmers that have made the Olympic team,
these swimming brands are all kind of what she said,
just you're kind of touching into being powerful
and strong and just all of their qualities like
all of the time no matter what behind the blocks and practice you
know walking to class they've kind of used that marketing aspect
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for a lot of these commercials or you see on social media so I do think that
sometimes we don't really see kind of what you were saying Marie just like you
know maybe it wasn't your best semi-final you did something that you weren't
very happy with but you know there's a camera and there's a microphone right right away. Right.
So yeah, I definitely do agree with that. Yeah. And, and.
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Yeah. And I don't want to beat this to death, but I do think this is one of the reasons we're here.
And I, you know, Mia, I'm going to be really honest with you. I struggle with Nike.
I mean, I won't wear a Nike shirt. I won't wear Nike shoes.
I really struggle with, you know, and listen, me not purchasing a Nike thing
is not going to make or break Nike. Let me be perfectly clear. Yes.
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But it's kind of the little thing I can do. I really do believe,
in particular, with girls in sport, they're, they're, you know,
kind of big corporate America,
you know, safe face at all costs has really jeopardized the health and well
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being both physically and mentally and emotionally of a lot of female athletes.
And I really kind of want to go shame, shame to them.
And that's just, you know, and that goes way beyond the toxic positivity thing.
They're literally covering up things that are harmful to young women.
And, you know, they've been called out on it. And, you know,
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a little slap on the wrist for them or a firing of a coach here or isn't enough
to have people, you know, stop looking at them as, you know,
kind of the king of the track.
And yeah, I don't know. I struggle with that.
You guys, either of you have any feelings on that?
I'm not sure how well-versed Megan is in track and field history,
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but for any track and field fans listening, Nike has, for such a long time,
been the top dog in sponsorship, in racing. They have the top athletes. They always will.
But historically, they had a coach for one of their teams named Alberto Salazar.
And he, I mean, this is like so much Nike lore that anyone can research.
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Nike running is kind of just built in a toxic place. And I feel like it's going
to take so much more to undo it all.
I do think there are great athletes that come out of Nike programs.
But as a whole, just because it's such a corporate focused business and it's
not necessarily like a smaller running team that'll focus on the wellness of
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the individual and like there's not so much writing on the name.
There always will be like some darkness to it. But yeah, so I totally agree
that obviously doing like not you personally, not buying from Nike is not going
to do like a massive change to this huge corporation.
But I do think it's important to recognize that there are flaws in it. Absolutely.
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And like smaller programs can create amazing athletes as well and make them
strong individuals without focusing on the brand too much.
Oh, me, I think you're cutting out just a little. Sorry, you just cut out as well.
Yeah. So I think we lost a big chunk of what you just said there.
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So could you cut a little out?
But I agree with you. My not purchasing a Nike shirt or Nike shoes is not going
to make a difference to that company.
But I do think if there are more people in the arena, just holding them accountable,
even from the outside, I just think it helps people be aware of,
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That corporate entity, and I know that it happens in swimming,
too. I know that happens everywhere.
That corporate entity is in business to make money.
They are not in business to protect the integrity or the health or the well-being of an athlete.
So, Megan, do you have anything to kind of add in there as far as corporate
sponsors, NIL, and just the protection of athletes? plates?
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Yeah, I definitely think that with these bigger corporations,
like you guys both just said, that is something that can easily just get brushed
under the rug and not talked about.
But I really did not, or I guess I wasn't aware of this correlation between
Nike and what you just shared, Mia. So that is super interesting to me.
And I feel like now I'll be able to see that pretty clearly.
(18:49):
But wow, I did not really know that about Nike and Nike Running.
Yeah the nike oregon project was
actually shut down because of harm to
athletes yeah so the program that they started with
distance runners and listen we can't also you know negate the fact that distance
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running different than track and field and quite frankly i think swimming struggles
with the same you know distance running isn't you know it isn't the you know the you know that,
you know, the darling of the Olympics,
you know, they're barely even showing the 10,000.
And, you know, in a lot of places, you know, it's hard to even find that,
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you know, because people don't have the attention span.
And right, you know, you can't build these epic runners, because most these
runners, as Mia was saying, is they're only running the 15, or they're running
the five, they're running the 10, or they're running the marathon.
So it's not like a swimmer who has the the opportunity to, you know,
have multiple events where they're meddling, you know, that's typically for
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a distance runner, that's typically not what happens.
So Nike, as far as bringing, you know, light to these incredible athletes,
these distance athletes, they did a remarkable job there.
I appreciate that piece of it. It turns into a complicated equation,
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but I guess if we go back to what we were talking about in the beginning around
just the toxic positivity.
What is the responsibility of us or you as athletes and us as coaches to give
people space to be authentic and true to themselves?
I guess that's what it boils down to for me. What do you guys think about that?
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That. I could not agree more with that.
I think there just needs to be kind of like what we're doing right now,
just in what a common theme has been throughout all of our episodes,
just creating a space where that it's not such like you're stepping on people's toes, you're nervous.
It's just something that can be talked about and realized and understood.
So yes, I definitely agree with that point, Emery. What about you, Mia?
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Yeah, I definitely agree as well. You cut Cut out a little bit there,
but I think just having personality in the sport as a whole is bringing so many
more people into watching the Olympics and giving eyes on women in sport,
which is just so amazing.
Yeah, I agree. So as we get ready to kind of wind down our table talk here,
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I would love for each of you, Mia, why don't we start with you to fill us in?
What does your summer look like? What does it look like when you go back to school in the fall?
What do you predict from the season? Like, what do you need from us as a community
to keep you, you know, not only in check, but to also keep you able to share
your own feelings and emotions?
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Like, what do you need from a support perspective? So why don't you fill us in there?
In regards to this summer so focusing on my
training wise i was having a really good summer at the
start and then i went to oregon watched the olympic trials
which which was just amazing in itself but
while i was in oregon i hopped off the flat trails of illinois obviously and
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was running in the mountains and sprained my ankle pretty badly so i feel like
that's one thing that isn't talked about it's like a minor injury that really
does take a lot of time to heal so i've I've been out for about like five weeks
now, easing back in a running,
but my ankle just has taken a big toll on me.
And it takes nine weeks or so to heal a low ankle sprain, which I had no idea
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about. So be careful where you step.
But I'm still really excited to get back to school. I cannot wait to see my team.
We have had a few meetings this summer and my coach is really focusing on the
team bonding outside of the sport itself.
So we have a few local meets at the beginning of the season and we have a lot
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of like team bonding activities built around those meets.
So we have our second meet at Navy and then we're going to the beach afterwards all together.
And it's just like little things like that that I'm very excited for.
Not only getting back to racing, which I hope to do so for my first time in
about two years, which I'm nervous about, but I'm excited for.
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And just having like a really good team to work with this year. I'm super excited.
We have about 50% of the team is new.
So we have a lot of new faces to work with. Some really, really talented girls.
And overall, I'm just very excited.
Obviously, I'll stay open about my journey with injury.
I'm really hoping to stay healthy. And I'm working with my coach to get on the
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line this year because I really, really miss racing.
But honestly, just being open about my emotions through this injury process.
And then hopefully being able to cheer my team on and get out there myself is
what I'm looking forward to.
Love that. What about you, Megan? Oh my gosh, Mia.
We kind of have a very similar situation with a few of those things.
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This past summer, we ended finals at the beginning of May.
So I've been in Iowa City for about 90% of the summer just training.
And then I got to go home for the fourth and I'm home right now before visiting
some family until we go back to school. But kind of like what you were just
talking about, we have a pretty young team and there are only five seniors this year.
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So we want to, you know, really try and create a very, you know,
close, tight knit relationship with all these young girls and lead them.
You know, there is I don't think there really is a right way,
but the best way that we can, you know, just kind of be those leaders and mentors
that, you know, we have when we are freshmen.
(24:37):
Wonder you know wish we would have had so that's one
thing i would love from you guys if you guys have any fun team
things that you guys are doing you should totally share them oh my
gosh i'll let you know we have in any more
in any more table talk episodes i'll let you know i'll keep you updated on our
team bonding absolutely i'm so excited for those so we do have a few things
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lined up before the first week of school starts just as you know team bonding
taking them around the campus showing them their classes so things like that
but yes would love all of your guys's ideas and opinions.
And then for myself, I'm just looking forward to racing.
We kind of start up in October and we'll go until March and we start with some
more local meets, which I think will be good just to race as a team all together and I'm.
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Just have a fun little couple travel meets. And I think for myself,
this is my last year of swimming. I've been doing it for quite a long time.
So I think just trying to really, it's harder said, I mean, easier said than
done, but just really soak up every opportunity and chance that I get to do
what I love and what I've been doing for so many years.
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So it's still going to be, as we know, our seasons are a little bit long,
so it's going to be a long one. Yeah. Yeah, I'm excited.
I'm gonna, I'm gonna have a good year. Positive. Yeah.
Yeah, that is, that's amazing.
And I love that you both have, it's interesting, even though you're in different
(26:02):
sports, there are similarities to just the, the, you know, intense training
schedules and kind of what's required.
But also, I love that you both have the heart for bringing community and culture
and kind of the humanness back to sport. So I think that's super cool.
Something I started with our team a while ago is letting them pick a nonprofit
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that they want to do some work with.
So this year, there's an organization called The Haven, which is in the hometown that we're in.
And it is a shelter for abused women. in.
And we started last year, making
meals. So you sign up with this organization, and you bring a meal in.
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And we started it at the end of last year. And I think we ended up going through five cycles.
But I'll tell you, the interesting piece of this is that it's smaller groups of athletes.
So maybe it was like seven or eight athletes, they get to plan the meal,
which I love that we're centered around like food and community.
And you know, what does a meal look like, and Then we're cooking it together
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and then we're delivering it.
And it was just something that was so fun just because it was involved with
so many of the things that we talk about. Anyways, make sure you're fueling enough.
Well, you don't have to talk about we're planning a menu like it was.
So there were undercurrents of things that I wanted to focus on.
But then just also understanding, you know, the the privilege of being a college
(27:39):
or a high school athlete. And I don't I don't mean that in a well,
you're privileged to do that.
But I do sometimes think the grinds can make us not realize there's some people
who are just literally getting up and trying to get through the day. Right. And yes.
So I think that just kind of in it, you're not you're not saying these things.
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You're just you're doing this and you're helping. So I think like the connecting
with a nonprofit in your community and seeing what you can do as a team,
I think, is something that's super helpful.
And it's fun. I think there's a fun aspect to it, too. So that's like from a
team building thing, that might be something.
To look into just as you know, you got the Children's Hospital right there.
(28:22):
There's so many opportunities, I'm sure. Oh, my God. Yeah.
I absolutely love that. And I will be writing that down. Yeah. Well, awesome.
Thank you both for taking time out of your full lives and your full schedules
and your you know, your breaks to be here at Table Talk.
This is our first I hope that we can circle back and do this every you know,
(28:43):
five to eight weeks or so and just talk about topics that are current and what's
going on with girls in sport. I appreciate your insight.
I love that you've got your pulse on what's going on and different perspectives.
And I think that that's super helpful.
So thank you both again for your time and your energy.
Thanks everybody for listening and tuning in. Don't forget to follow us.
(29:07):
Don't forget to share our episodes.
Join us us on instagram at peak train like a girl
and take a minute to explore our website we
will drop to the links to things that we talk about at the show on the show
maybe what we'll do on this one is drop the links to the swim schedule at iowa
and the cross-country schedule at georgetown you guys can take a peek at what
(29:30):
megan and mia are doing i think that would be super fun so that would be so So fun.
Yeah. If that feels good to you both, I would love to do that.
And then they can follow you and cheer for you throughout your season.
And also, if I could just ask if everyone that listens to the podcast can give
us a follow and a five star rating.
(29:51):
It absolutely helps more than you can possibly know.
Music.
Music.
(00:10):
Welcome to PEAK, Train Like a Girl, a podcast by girls in sport for girls and coaches in sport.
We're here to amplify your voice. It deserves to be heard.
At PEAK, we are a safe place for girls to hang out, learn, grow, and build community.
We empower girls in sport and coaches with knowledge, resources,
(00:31):
and support we think is necessary in today's athletic atmospheres to thrive.
Join us for bold conversations about the experiences of girls in sport.
Our discussions will make you laugh, cry, cheer, get frustrated,
and hopefully rethink the future of girls in sport for generations to come.
(00:52):
So whether you're walking, commuting, cleaning your bedroom,
moving into your dorm room, take us with you.
Follow us. It helps more than you can imagine. Check out our website and make
sure you share with a female athlete or coach you love.
Now, I'm super excited to introduce a new and hopefully ongoing feature at Peak
(01:14):
Train Like a Girl podcast called Table Talk.
So I've invited two of my favorite female athletes, Megan and Mia,
to join me in the conversation today.
So thank you both for taking the time out of your full summer schedules to be
here. I really appreciate it.
Thank you for having us. I'm excited. Yes, thank you. I'm really excited to be part of this.
(01:38):
Yay. So Table Talk is really kind of what it sounds like.
It's just open conversation among friends sitting around or on a table.
So what I'd love to start with is we are smack dab in the middle of what I think
is one of the most exciting and well-covered Olympics that we've had in a long time.
(02:01):
And I think it is super coincidental that two of my most favorite things to
be watching right now are both swimming and track and field.
I know we just finished swimming track and field. There have been so many things
were like literally jaw dropping as you know, with swimming with Katie Ledecky.
And I just wanted to maybe get your thoughts or feelings around both the Olympics,
(02:28):
the coverage, you know, what you think it means for girls in sport. So take it away.
Yeah, I can talk a little bit about swimming because it just came to an end this past Sunday.
Sadly, I wish it could go on for weeks, but that's a little tough.
But yeah, I do totally agree. The coverage was so amazing out in Paris.
It was so fun and easy to watch, and I loved going back and re-watching certain races or prelim heats.
(02:55):
Because the thing about swimming in track, it's so fun. You get to watch the
prelims, the semifinals, and then the finals in a lot of these events.
So that's been super cool. And I think another thing that is so fun about the
Olympics is that a lot of times before a semifinal, before the finals,
they'll kind of show snippets, personal stories, or a one-on-one interview with
a lot of these athletes, which is just so interesting to learn about a lot of these girls'
(03:19):
backstories in their lives and how they got to this point.
So it has been so fun, and I love watching the Olympics every four years. It's been awesome.
Yeah, I agree. This year, I feel like we have a lot more of like a personal
connection with the athletes as we're walking,
because like you said, we not only get the backstories that are like on the
production on Peacock itself, but I feel like with social media,
(03:42):
we have been getting a lot of insight into like their day in the lives.
Lives there have been a lot of olympians that are using tiktok
which i find kind of funny because it's like yes they're competing
at the highest level and then we can also see them i don't
know if you've seen the chocolate muffin reviews but there's a lot of like behind
the scenes whether it's in the dining hall or just like the olympic village
(04:02):
life that's really fun to keep up with and i think it does create like a good
balance and insight into seeing you know the best athletes in the world this
is the olympic after all and then you know just their fun day in the life like
eating at the dining hall together and reviewing muffins.
It just provides like the duality of what these girls really have in their lives.
Yes, I totally could not agree more. The TikTok scene, like those videos have
(04:26):
been so cool to see because I've always wondered like, what does it look like
when they go to bed or like where are they actually staying?
So that has been super cool. And I think another thing that I noticed is that
a lot of these girls, like on the swim team, have been making cool videos about
like, oh, who do we wish we could run into in the Olympic Village?
And it's like Simone Biles or it's so cool like their stars talk about all these
(04:47):
other athletes too which is so funny.
I think specifically with the swimmers, well, I may be a little biased in my
eyes, but I feel like the top two sports that are being covered this Olympics
are track and field and swimming.
Like something about the people competing.
I think these two sports have like the best personalities represented on the stage.
So I find swimming specifically really interesting because most of the women
(05:10):
competing, aside from Katie Ledecky, obviously are like college athletes, which I find so cool.
I mean, as a college athlete yourself, like you're probably competing against
some of these girls and it's so amazing to see them like go to Paris and then
like then see them at a swim meet in Iowa. Like there's just such a difference there.
And I just think like it's so cool to have that insight from them and their
(05:34):
personalities really show through. true.
Yeah, I think it's so true. And I think that one of the things I have not one
of my goals for this year is to figure the tick tock scene out not for me personally,
but I want to because enough people talk about it.
And I think for me to continue to be relevant in what I do as a coach,
(05:54):
I also need to be able to relate to what my athletes are doing and seeing.
So that's something I'm going to really kind of try to figure out.
This year, I figured if I can figure
I can figure out like Instagram or a podcast. I can figure out TikTok.
I think TikTok would be run so smoothly for you, Anne-Marie.
You have such a podcast background now. I think it would be so fun. Yeah.
(06:18):
And there's so much more you can do and see on it.
And I think that what you're both saying is that it humanizes who these athletes are.
And, you know, just the ability to look at somebody as...
A human before a high performer, I think is so important.
And I think that's something that some of the social media coverages and obviously,
(06:43):
you know, some people have such big personalities, and that's their personalities,
whether it's, you know, this overconfidence,
which what some people see it, or maybe it's the,
you know, the the subtlety of really not saying anything that That really has
to, for me, that's more to do with a personality type and less to do with how
(07:03):
competitive someone can be or can't be.
I think the thing that's interesting for me with both of these sports in particular,
these are the two sports that, you know, aside from basketball and maybe lacrosse,
I have the most connection to.
And you guys touched on it, is that we get to see the prelims,
we get to see, you know, the finals, and then we get to see, you know, the event.
(07:26):
And then prior to this, we got to see the qualifications, right?
We got to see the swim trials. We got to see the track and field.
I think what people forget is what a grind it is.
And now keep in mind, some of these athletes who also were competing in the
NCAAs, then they also had to go to the qualifiers for the Olympics.
(07:49):
They have been on overdrive for months.
And I do think we We sometimes forget that and people are like,
well, wait, they're doing two events in a day.
And I'm like, yeah, that is the life of a swimmer or a track and field athlete.
They're competing in multiple events.
You guys kind of think that also that sometimes people forget that these athletes are on 24-7?
(08:13):
Yeah, I think, oh, Megan, you can go. Okay. Um, I think it's such,
like, I do believe it's overlooked.
And like someone in specific that always stands out to me with this and track
and field is Parker Valby.
Because not only I mean, obviously, Parker Valby is like highly appreciated.
And she's honestly brought so much more attention to the sport.
(08:33):
Not only because she's attracting different demographics, because she's like,
this beautiful, spunky Florida gator.
But I think she definitely is overlooked in terms of
how much she really like myths to the sport and she
herself in interviews definitely like downplays it which at
points i'm like you should be giving yourself
the recognition you deserve but at the end of the day she has
(08:55):
really gone through i mean racing the 10k and
the 5k this many time throughout indoor track
honestly i saw her back in january racing to
now at the olympics is so much work she hasn't
really had any off time and to now see her compete at this
high of a level and obviously still got the recognition she
deserves but really to recognize how long and
(09:16):
how many miles she has put into this is really just
like such an interesting thing to see because she puts up a front of being like
this girl's like a very young like spunky girl but at the end of the day she
is one of the like most high level athletes in the sport at this time and she's
like i think she has such a good balance with that in terms of her personality
(09:38):
and in terms of like how much work she puts in. It's so cool to see.
Yeah. What about you, Megan? She has been so cool to watch too. Wow.
I mean, I will say a lot of the, I agree with a lot of things that Mia just said.
It's so interesting because obviously we get to see it firsthand,
Mia and I competing at our respective colleges, but with track there's indoor and outdoor.
(09:58):
So all year long with swimming, you have your, you know, NCAA 25 yard season,
and then you go right Right into the 50 meter pool from March until August.
So I do feel that besides like the trials, because there's a handful,
you know, there's a great percentage of people who do know about both track and swimming trials.
And then, you know, just a handful of people who are just watching the Olympics.
(10:19):
But I do think it's definitely forgotten about that.
The NCAA season goes all the way until March, and then you don't really get
a day off because you're thinking about the Olympics next.
So I do wish sometimes there's two super fun, awesome sisters,
Gretchen and Alex Walsh, that both swim for Virginia. Yes.
(10:41):
They're so cool. So we can get here in a couple of weeks and we all go back to school.
I do wish sometimes, just like you said with Parker, that they would kind of
explain how their year has gone and just what a journey it's been.
But yeah, yes, I would definitely say that sometimes it is a little bit overlooked.
Yeah, definitely. And I wonder if that's because I and I'm this is I'm going
(11:04):
maybe a little to the right here.
I wonder if that has to do with this environment where these athletes or coaches,
it doesn't matter who it is, is trying to, quote unquote, market themselves.
So this idea of toxic positivity, where everything's always good.
And I really struggle with that, because I don't think every day is a good day. That's just me.
(11:27):
Like some days, I have a bad day. And some days, I think you're allowed to have a bad day.
And some days, you know, there's there's seasons in life where you're struggling.
I don't know what that is, whether it's with injury or overload,
or I don't, I don't, again, I don't know what it is.
But I wonder if we live in a world where particularly someone who has a more public facing image,
(11:51):
they have to tie it up in a neat bow for people to be able to consume it and
digest it in a marketable way. Do you guys think that? Yeah.
Yeah, I think definitely. I mean, I don't know what goes into like a Nike NIL,
but Parker Valby was Nike's first NIL athlete.
And I feel like with Nike just being such like an iconic, respected brand and
(12:12):
running, they really wanted to choose someone that had like such a great image.
And I think a reason I've struggled to like support Parker Valby throughout her past few years,
and I feel like now I've recently gained a lot of respect for her, but
it's difficult to see at first someone that's always
like ahead of the pack by a minute and a half on the cross country course
like someone succeeding this well and then finishing a
(12:35):
race and interviewing in such a way that it's like yeah
I really didn't put in much effort so for a long time I know me and a lot of
other NCAA runners have like had a hard time understanding how she's so amazing
and like had a hard time supporting her but at the Olympic trials she had an
interview after the 10k and that was the first time I saw her really own up
(12:56):
to how much work she put in.
And she really gave herself, like she put herself off in a very mature manner.
And she really owned up to how much work she's been putting in and how much
it means to her and like the emotions that went into it.
And that was the first time where I was like, wow, this girl like really fights for it.
And I'm really happy to see her put the NCAA on the Olympic stage.
(13:17):
Let alone in the top three in the 10k in
such a difficult packed event in the u.s and i think
that was a really good turn in her like
positive mindset because it was
so outwardly positive for so long that all of
us were kind of begging for her to show like some struggle and those races when
she was racing the pros was the first time where i really saw her work i saw
(13:40):
the grit in her face and i was like this is what i like to see like this is
a good reason for her to be an idol for people now yeah what about you you, Megan?
What do you think? Yeah, that's so interesting. I did not know that kind of
background about her. That is, wow. So that's super interesting.
I would kind of say more so on what Mia touched on in the beginning,
(14:00):
like the NIL deals and just deals in general.
So a lot of these college swimmers that have made the Olympic team,
these swimming brands are all kind of what she said,
just you're kind of touching into being powerful
and strong and just all of their qualities like
all of the time no matter what behind the blocks and practice you
know walking to class they've kind of used that marketing aspect
(14:22):
for a lot of these commercials or you see on social media so I do think that
sometimes we don't really see kind of what you were saying Marie just like you
know maybe it wasn't your best semi-final you did something that you weren't
very happy with but you know there's a camera and there's a microphone right right away. Right.
So yeah, I definitely do agree with that. Yeah. And, and.
(14:46):
Yeah. And I don't want to beat this to death, but I do think this is one of the reasons we're here.
And I, you know, Mia, I'm going to be really honest with you. I struggle with Nike.
I mean, I won't wear a Nike shirt. I won't wear Nike shoes.
I really struggle with, you know, and listen, me not purchasing a Nike thing
is not going to make or break Nike. Let me be perfectly clear. Yes.
(15:10):
But it's kind of the little thing I can do. I really do believe,
in particular, with girls in sport, they're, they're, you know,
kind of big corporate America,
you know, safe face at all costs has really jeopardized the health and well
(15:30):
being both physically and mentally and emotionally of a lot of female athletes.
And I really kind of want to go shame, shame to them.
And that's just, you know, and that goes way beyond the toxic positivity thing.
They're literally covering up things that are harmful to young women.
And, you know, they've been called out on it. And, you know,
(15:51):
a little slap on the wrist for them or a firing of a coach here or isn't enough
to have people, you know, stop looking at them as, you know,
kind of the king of the track.
And yeah, I don't know. I struggle with that.
You guys, either of you have any feelings on that?
I'm not sure how well-versed Megan is in track and field history,
(16:13):
but for any track and field fans listening, Nike has, for such a long time,
been the top dog in sponsorship, in racing. They have the top athletes. They always will.
But historically, they had a coach for one of their teams named Alberto Salazar.
And he, I mean, this is like so much Nike lore that anyone can research.
(16:35):
Nike running is kind of just built in a toxic place. And I feel like it's going
to take so much more to undo it all.
I do think there are great athletes that come out of Nike programs.
But as a whole, just because it's such a corporate focused business and it's
not necessarily like a smaller running team that'll focus on the wellness of
(16:56):
the individual and like there's not so much writing on the name.
There always will be like some darkness to it. But yeah, so I totally agree
that obviously doing like not you personally, not buying from Nike is not going
to do like a massive change to this huge corporation.
But I do think it's important to recognize that there are flaws in it. Absolutely.
(17:19):
And like smaller programs can create amazing athletes as well and make them
strong individuals without focusing on the brand too much.
Oh, me, I think you're cutting out just a little. Sorry, you just cut out as well.
Yeah. So I think we lost a big chunk of what you just said there.
(17:42):
So could you cut a little out?
But I agree with you. My not purchasing a Nike shirt or Nike shoes is not going
to make a difference to that company.
But I do think if there are more people in the arena, just holding them accountable,
even from the outside, I just think it helps people be aware of,
(18:04):
That corporate entity, and I know that it happens in swimming,
too. I know that happens everywhere.
That corporate entity is in business to make money.
They are not in business to protect the integrity or the health or the well-being of an athlete.
So, Megan, do you have anything to kind of add in there as far as corporate
sponsors, NIL, and just the protection of athletes? plates?
(18:28):
Yeah, I definitely think that with these bigger corporations,
like you guys both just said, that is something that can easily just get brushed
under the rug and not talked about.
But I really did not, or I guess I wasn't aware of this correlation between
Nike and what you just shared, Mia. So that is super interesting to me.
And I feel like now I'll be able to see that pretty clearly.
(18:49):
But wow, I did not really know that about Nike and Nike Running.
Yeah the nike oregon project was
actually shut down because of harm to
athletes yeah so the program that they started with
distance runners and listen we can't also you know negate the fact that distance
(19:10):
running different than track and field and quite frankly i think swimming struggles
with the same you know distance running isn't you know it isn't the you know the you know that,
you know, the darling of the Olympics,
you know, they're barely even showing the 10,000.
And, you know, in a lot of places, you know, it's hard to even find that,
(19:31):
you know, because people don't have the attention span.
And right, you know, you can't build these epic runners, because most these
runners, as Mia was saying, is they're only running the 15, or they're running
the five, they're running the 10, or they're running the marathon.
So it's not like a swimmer who has the the opportunity to, you know,
have multiple events where they're meddling, you know, that's typically for
(19:53):
a distance runner, that's typically not what happens.
So Nike, as far as bringing, you know, light to these incredible athletes,
these distance athletes, they did a remarkable job there.
I appreciate that piece of it. It turns into a complicated equation,
(20:13):
but I guess if we go back to what we were talking about in the beginning around
just the toxic positivity.
What is the responsibility of us or you as athletes and us as coaches to give
people space to be authentic and true to themselves?
I guess that's what it boils down to for me. What do you guys think about that?
(20:35):
That. I could not agree more with that.
I think there just needs to be kind of like what we're doing right now,
just in what a common theme has been throughout all of our episodes,
just creating a space where that it's not such like you're stepping on people's toes, you're nervous.
It's just something that can be talked about and realized and understood.
So yes, I definitely agree with that point, Emery. What about you, Mia?
(20:59):
Yeah, I definitely agree as well. You cut Cut out a little bit there,
but I think just having personality in the sport as a whole is bringing so many
more people into watching the Olympics and giving eyes on women in sport,
which is just so amazing.
Yeah, I agree. So as we get ready to kind of wind down our table talk here,
(21:21):
I would love for each of you, Mia, why don't we start with you to fill us in?
What does your summer look like? What does it look like when you go back to school in the fall?
What do you predict from the season? Like, what do you need from us as a community
to keep you, you know, not only in check, but to also keep you able to share
your own feelings and emotions?
(21:42):
Like, what do you need from a support perspective? So why don't you fill us in there?
In regards to this summer so focusing on my
training wise i was having a really good summer at the
start and then i went to oregon watched the olympic trials
which which was just amazing in itself but
while i was in oregon i hopped off the flat trails of illinois obviously and
(22:02):
was running in the mountains and sprained my ankle pretty badly so i feel like
that's one thing that isn't talked about it's like a minor injury that really
does take a lot of time to heal so i've I've been out for about like five weeks
now, easing back in a running,
but my ankle just has taken a big toll on me.
And it takes nine weeks or so to heal a low ankle sprain, which I had no idea
(22:24):
about. So be careful where you step.
But I'm still really excited to get back to school. I cannot wait to see my team.
We have had a few meetings this summer and my coach is really focusing on the
team bonding outside of the sport itself.
So we have a few local meets at the beginning of the season and we have a lot
(22:48):
of like team bonding activities built around those meets.
So we have our second meet at Navy and then we're going to the beach afterwards all together.
And it's just like little things like that that I'm very excited for.
Not only getting back to racing, which I hope to do so for my first time in
about two years, which I'm nervous about, but I'm excited for.
(23:10):
And just having like a really good team to work with this year. I'm super excited.
We have about 50% of the team is new.
So we have a lot of new faces to work with. Some really, really talented girls.
And overall, I'm just very excited.
Obviously, I'll stay open about my journey with injury.
I'm really hoping to stay healthy. And I'm working with my coach to get on the
(23:31):
line this year because I really, really miss racing.
But honestly, just being open about my emotions through this injury process.
And then hopefully being able to cheer my team on and get out there myself is
what I'm looking forward to.
Love that. What about you, Megan? Oh my gosh, Mia.
We kind of have a very similar situation with a few of those things.
(23:55):
This past summer, we ended finals at the beginning of May.
So I've been in Iowa City for about 90% of the summer just training.
And then I got to go home for the fourth and I'm home right now before visiting
some family until we go back to school. But kind of like what you were just
talking about, we have a pretty young team and there are only five seniors this year.
(24:16):
So we want to, you know, really try and create a very, you know,
close, tight knit relationship with all these young girls and lead them.
You know, there is I don't think there really is a right way,
but the best way that we can, you know, just kind of be those leaders and mentors
that, you know, we have when we are freshmen.
(24:37):
Wonder you know wish we would have had so that's one
thing i would love from you guys if you guys have any fun team
things that you guys are doing you should totally share them oh my
gosh i'll let you know we have in any more
in any more table talk episodes i'll let you know i'll keep you updated on our
team bonding absolutely i'm so excited for those so we do have a few things
(24:57):
lined up before the first week of school starts just as you know team bonding
taking them around the campus showing them their classes so things like that
but yes would love all of your guys's ideas and opinions.
And then for myself, I'm just looking forward to racing.
We kind of start up in October and we'll go until March and we start with some
more local meets, which I think will be good just to race as a team all together and I'm.
(25:20):
Just have a fun little couple travel meets. And I think for myself,
this is my last year of swimming. I've been doing it for quite a long time.
So I think just trying to really, it's harder said, I mean, easier said than
done, but just really soak up every opportunity and chance that I get to do
what I love and what I've been doing for so many years.
(25:42):
So it's still going to be, as we know, our seasons are a little bit long,
so it's going to be a long one. Yeah. Yeah, I'm excited.
I'm gonna, I'm gonna have a good year. Positive. Yeah.
Yeah, that is, that's amazing.
And I love that you both have, it's interesting, even though you're in different
(26:02):
sports, there are similarities to just the, the, you know, intense training
schedules and kind of what's required.
But also, I love that you both have the heart for bringing community and culture
and kind of the humanness back to sport. So I think that's super cool.
Something I started with our team a while ago is letting them pick a nonprofit
(26:29):
that they want to do some work with.
So this year, there's an organization called The Haven, which is in the hometown that we're in.
And it is a shelter for abused women. in.
And we started last year, making
meals. So you sign up with this organization, and you bring a meal in.
(26:53):
And we started it at the end of last year. And I think we ended up going through five cycles.
But I'll tell you, the interesting piece of this is that it's smaller groups of athletes.
So maybe it was like seven or eight athletes, they get to plan the meal,
which I love that we're centered around like food and community.
And you know, what does a meal look like, and Then we're cooking it together
(27:13):
and then we're delivering it.
And it was just something that was so fun just because it was involved with
so many of the things that we talk about. Anyways, make sure you're fueling enough.
Well, you don't have to talk about we're planning a menu like it was.
So there were undercurrents of things that I wanted to focus on.
But then just also understanding, you know, the the privilege of being a college
(27:39):
or a high school athlete. And I don't I don't mean that in a well,
you're privileged to do that.
But I do sometimes think the grinds can make us not realize there's some people
who are just literally getting up and trying to get through the day. Right. And yes.
So I think that just kind of in it, you're not you're not saying these things.
(28:01):
You're just you're doing this and you're helping. So I think like the connecting
with a nonprofit in your community and seeing what you can do as a team,
I think, is something that's super helpful.
And it's fun. I think there's a fun aspect to it, too. So that's like from a
team building thing, that might be something.
To look into just as you know, you got the Children's Hospital right there.
(28:22):
There's so many opportunities, I'm sure. Oh, my God. Yeah.
I absolutely love that. And I will be writing that down. Yeah. Well, awesome.
Thank you both for taking time out of your full lives and your full schedules
and your you know, your breaks to be here at Table Talk.
This is our first I hope that we can circle back and do this every you know,
(28:43):
five to eight weeks or so and just talk about topics that are current and what's
going on with girls in sport. I appreciate your insight.
I love that you've got your pulse on what's going on and different perspectives.
And I think that that's super helpful.
So thank you both again for your time and your energy.
Thanks everybody for listening and tuning in. Don't forget to follow us.
(29:07):
Don't forget to share our episodes.
Join us us on instagram at peak train like a girl
and take a minute to explore our website we
will drop to the links to things that we talk about at the show on the show
maybe what we'll do on this one is drop the links to the swim schedule at iowa
and the cross-country schedule at georgetown you guys can take a peek at what
(29:30):
megan and mia are doing i think that would be super fun so that would be so So fun.
Yeah. If that feels good to you both, I would love to do that.
And then they can follow you and cheer for you throughout your season.
And also, if I could just ask if everyone that listens to the podcast can give
us a follow and a five star rating.
(29:51):
It absolutely helps more than you can possibly know.
Music.
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