Morgan Mitchell // Why off-track quests mean on-track personal bests

This episode of cz the A is brought to you by Carmex lip Bum.

There's always going to be someone that doesn't like you for whatever reason, and you just need to accept it like it's a reflection of them. You know, if you're happy with yourself and someone's coming at you for no reason, it's not your fault.

There's something that they are going through. I don't know.

You've always got so many different voices in your head telling you you can, you can't, You've been out of it for too long, And like, at the end of the day, it's my life and if I apply myself the way I know how.

To, I'm going to get there.

Welcome to the Sees the YA Podcast. Busy and happy are not the same thing. We too rarely question what makes the heart seeing. We work, then we rest, but rarely we play and often don't realize there's more than one way. So this is a platform to hear and explore the stories of those who found lives They adore, the good, bad and ugly. The best and worst days

Thanks for having me. I'm happy to be here.

I can't believe you just came from training what legend.

Yeah, yeah, I mean the schedule appears pretty full up in the GC for a training camp, so I had to rush home straight out of the gym.

But I'm here now, so I love that.

You were like, I'm sorry, It's like, do I look fair all? I mean, I'm like, mate, I'm back five days deep in lockdown. Like you're talking to the ultimate swamp creature right now? Is totally fine. I put makeup on for you. I was like, this is a famous Olympian, you know, like you need to get out the goods.

Well, I should have tried a little harder.

No, you look amazing and you have an actual excuse.

Relatable? I tell you.

I was asking my training partners in the car. I was like, oh, this is the first question. I'm a bit nervous. And they both said, and I've heard it quite a lot, is that I'm actually really selfless and generous.

That's a love Yeah.

Yeah, And then I was reflecting, I'm like, ahow, maybe I'm a little bit too selfful.

No.

Yeah, I think that would probably be the number one thing.

And honestly, like I get that there's all that started or whatever of being an athlete, being on TV, but at the end of the day, I'm just I think I'm pretty good at just being down to earth and being myself because I have a very honest family.

So I think it all just SEMs from that.

I love that. That's such a nice one I had on my list, like if you were struggling, you know you like to get drunk naked. I used to be a lawyer, so I researched, like really get deep into the internet. I'm like, let me find some shit to pull off. But that was such a beautiful answer. It's like, you know me, well, I would love to get to

Yeah, I think as a kid like I was six around the time of the two thousand Olympics and obviously they are in Sydney, so I think then everyone was just super sporty, right or everyone just cared about it because it was coming to Australia. Originally, I wanted to be a gymnast and a ballerina, but I was the biggest tomboy. I still don't really understand why.

That's amazing sand.

But both my parents were great, Like Mum was into horse riding, Dad was into basketball, So we've always been quite sporty. But Mum was awesome in the fact that she had us try everything, so you know, like she took us to chess classes and then I'd be learning piano, and then she loved painting, so we paint with her, and then we you know, do all the different sports because she wanted us to figure out what it was

The series.

Mate, like you need you don't even have equipment. I caught a bowl like be interesting.

I will say, like I've always been told I'm way better at ball sports because my sisters and I are plane at a prettyhig level with netball and basketball. But yeah, at the end of the day, I was like, no, running brings me so much joy, like the people you meet overseas, the experiences that you have, and just being able to run for yourself is a pretty good feeling, you know, as a kid, I was honestly, Mom would say, like my sisters would agree. I was pretty fair like I was, just you would have.

Thought I was a brother.

I would never wear skirts, never wear dresses. Nothing like that appealed to me. It was all about yeah, running, game boys and yu gi.

Oh, oh my god.

You know I had all these cards, like these Pokemon cards in my Dragon ball Z.

I pulled them out maybe at the end of last year, Like.

What, mate, you could sell those for so much money?

I think I could.

Everyone's saying like you could make so much money off of them, but I want to keep them just because it's funny. Like to me, it's fine.

I can't imagine you're playing Pokemon either.

But I have two half brothers and whenever we visit them, they just forced us to play. But I was a huge game when I was a kid, and then yeah, just out of it and again fell in love with running somehow.

Oh my gosh, well I love that. You know, being a kid is that time where you do kind of just play every sport and you don't have that layer of being fearful of looking silly, Like you know, as you become an adult, you get like I don't want to try that because like I might fall or I'll be bad at it. But as a kid, we kind of all explore everything and we don't care if we fall. And I love that so much. But many kids do kind of do athletics and netball, but not many of

What's funny is like I remember when I thought, oh, I love running, I want to be an Olympian.

When I was six.

I remember writing it down because like we obviously had to do school projects around that time that had to be Olympic and it was just like in my heart, I knew I'm going to the Olympics. How crazy is that? Like I look back on it and I just think, how, like how did I know? Because then when I got to high school that was out the window. It was all about partying and drinking. That dream was long gone. It's just my favorite story to tell because I remember

It popped up on the news.

This is back in twenty twelve, and they're like, oh Rio is the host city for the twenty sixteen Games. I'd been out of the sport for four years and I remember calling my coach, my first coach, Peter Burn, and I was like, hey, I'm back. I want to go to the Olympics in four years, and he kind of giggled. It was pretty funny. And honestly, we just

And then I get out.

I actually I have to act like a professional athlete. I've learnt so much along the way, and here we are.

Most people are just like, I'm going to do some contigu tour in Brazil and You're like, no, my way to get to Brazil is by being an Olympian, Like that's how I'm going to get there.

And that was the thing, like growing up with a single mum, we couldn't afford everything, and I knew running would be the only way I could get out of the country and actually explore. So for me, it was like such a humbling experience knowing, Wow, we did that. So yeah, I kind of knew my career path would always end up. I'd always end up in sport. But now that I'm older, now I'm kind of like, let's

Really, yeah, I think that's why you're such an interesting athlete, because you do often get that person who at six or Kathy Freeman then became an Olympian did track and field all through UNI didn't drink, didn't party, like, took it all so seriously, and like, I don't know if you know, my husband was Jana's Jana Pittman's training partner in the four hundred hurdles, so you probably have like a lot of friends in common, and he was in

And that's the thing.

It's funny, like I have a lot of my coach coaches a lot of younger kids, so they'd be like from eight to about fourteen fifteen years old, and they're all quite serious. But I'm like, guys, you don't get your childhood back, so don't feel guilty if you do want to go to a party over a race, or you know, if you do want to have a drink. I'm not your mum, I'm not encouraging.

I'm just saying.

I was like, you'll know the difference between running well and not running well. I was like, you're fifteen, and I trying to like just get them to understand that it's not the be all and an end all right now, Like it might seem that way, but there's a lot more to life when you're a kid. It's like you don't even have to pay bills or worry about anything, so please.

Lap it up. I enjoy that things change.

And that's just the way I've always thought is like I don't know, You've always got so many different voices in your head telling you you can, you can't, you've been out of it for too long. And I'm like, at the end of the day, it's my life, and if I apply myself the way I know how to, I'm going to get there. You know what I mean, Like, it's not rocket science.

Oh god, it's not rocket science. It is so obvious, but it does seem to become a really difficult thing for us to accept that. Yeah, even outside of sport, like I think a lot of us believe if we take our foot off the pedal for two seconds, like we're going to get behind and like, oh my god. But actually, the healthiest people or the people who have the best energy and momentum are the ones who step away from what they do and then come back to it.

Yeah. Yeah, And that's the thing.

It's like, sometimes you step away and you don't realize that there might be something else in store for you, you know what I mean.

I'm a big believer in everything happening for a reason. Oh yes, I love you hundred percent.

And sometimes I think what I've been what I've learned to accept is that like, the world's not all smiles and rainbows, right, you have to take the good with the bad, and that it's like okay to be sad, you know, and you've just got to roll with it and deal with it right then and there. And I think that's what's helped me kind of progress within my career as well, because I'm just like, yeah, I'm gonna have bad days, Like right now, I'm coming back from

I often say I love quotes because it's like my way of stealing what other people say better than.

Me, but.

Profound. So one of the ones that I love is beautiful. New beginnings are often disguised as painful ending. So if something feels really shit and it feels like that you know your world's crushing down around you, it's usually stuff's falling apart. So something better can fall together after. You just have to like keep focused on the positives and eventually they you know, you build back up.

That's literally how I think, right.

I love that you're speaking as if you're an eighty year old. You're like, you know my whole career wisdom. I'm like, how are you twenty six years old? You're amazing.

I told my best mate, man, that's just next door. I'm like, we're having a thirtieth this year.

For me, I'm basically there. Let's just get.

I'm thirty two and I'm like, so spill your wisdom, like, let's have a one on one counseling session right now. But this is why, I mean, it's so cool that your first Olympics in Rio you were twenty one, Like most of us at twenty one are in some gunn are outside of train station with like Bacardi brases, which actually I know you also were doing in Rio, so that's balance for you.

But I kind of got it out of the system, like we said.

Right, it's more just efficiency, like get it out of the way early and then you'll you can settle down later. What was that like?

It was so good at the time.

I thought I knew everything at twenty one because I'd been in a sport for about four years by that point or whatever. I just thought, yeap, I can do everything on my own. I'm a big girl now this and the other. And now I'm reflecting, I'm like, holy shit, I was only twenty one and I was being treated like I had to do everything on my own and like I just had to know the answer to everything

Win it maybe those assholes, like who were they?

I'm looking back, it was just such a cool experience because I remember thinking I wanted this since I was six years old, and for it to finally happens just like the most insane feeling like I can't put my finger on it, and then like to finally be able to celebrate with some of my best mates in Rio, with my family after parties, meeting all some athletes, like everything about it was just so cool.

I think you described it as it was like Christmas and Disneyland all in one of them, with Pokemon running around. But it's really interesting. I love speaking to athletes, particularly Olympians, because I think there's such a big emphasis in our society on success and progress and goals. But often as an athlete, you experience those concepts a lot earlier than other people might in their careers because of the nature of,

Yeah, it was pretty insane. Like at the time, don't get me wrong, it was the best experience ever. And I can say it now because I have had time to reflect on it, and I just thought, oh my gosh, I've just absolutely like screwed it up. This is my childhood dream and I couldn't even get it right and it's nothing like I thought it would play out in

Yeah, you might fall you have to settle for it.

But it's also like I come from a place where you've just got to be super grateful, right because things could be worse. I might not have ever qualified, or I could have been injured or sick or you know, it's just one of those things. Like I'm working closely with my psych now to understand that it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.

You're here for you, not one other person. It does not matter.

It's what you can do at the end of the day and what you want to achieve. And she's so good like if you fail or whatever, you pick yourself up and go again, right, Like there's always another opportunity. And that just made me realize, like this is just a journey. You know, You're gonna have highs and lows,

I'd say, I'm so glad that you guys do work closely with psychologists because of that, because you can beat yourself up, like you become I imagine, such a perfectionist, like the only goal is win, and so when you don't win, it's like anything other than winning probably in the moment feels like, oh I failed, even though you're still number two in the world, you know, like it's still a huge achievement. You just have to switch your

Yeah, it's such a small club and it's like, wow, it's pretty cool, but I can make the ex.

And like the other thing is when you do hit at twenty one, like such a high peak. I think often we see things and I get really fascinated by this in this podcast in general, often we see our goals is like a destination, and then it gets really hard if you reach the goal, because then you're like, oh,

Yeah, yeah, it was pretty funny. So after real like, I just was so mentally exhausted, and then twenty seventeen came and then I just had pretty bad mental health is sh And then twenty eighteen came, I lost my whole.

Team, like no one was really jelling.

And that was my last major competition as a four hundred meter runer, and that was the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast and I remember thinking like, I'm not enjoying the sport. I'm always sad. I don't even want to rock up to training. And in my head, I was like do I just want to quit or do I want to try something else?

Like I had no.

Coach, Like my best mame my training partner. He was helping formulate some sort of a program and then we trained together and hope for the best. And I'm trying to remember Commonwealth Games. An athlete that just listens to what the coach says. So when you don't have a coach, it was like, well, let's just go in and guess you know, you don't know if you don't.

Tryn't run that well.

And yeah, so I went away to Europe for about three months and I remember Luke Matthews. He got a bronze medal at the com Game from the eight hundred, and he was being coached by his mum. And I remember asking you just as just general question. I was like, hey, Liz, would you ever coach me over the eight hundred? And she kind of was like hell, She's like, yeah, random, you're a four hundred runner of but okay. I was like, all right, I was just asking when a way to Europe? Honestly,

By, Yeah, sure, so really health care kido.

Yeah.

And I was watching all my friends compete on the European circuit and I remember just watching them and I was like, wow, all my friends are pee being breaking records.

I knew then I didn't want to quit the sport. I wanted to try something else.

And the reason I did move it was just like the comparisons to Kathy Freeman and oh she's a wasted talent, and it was just the outside external pressure that I just couldn't deal with anymore. And how hard I trained just to get to fifty one too. I was like, look, it's not worth it. I think I can actually make me something else. I don't want to do this anymore.

With going from the four to the A, it's just completely different.

You're going from sprinting to middle distance, a completely different style of running training.

I went from fifteen.

Kilometers a week max till about eighty kilometers of running per week. Yeah, it was insane and along the way there were so many people just bullying me, and it was kind of looking back now, it was funny.

At the time, I was kind of focused, but I.

Was also distracted by it because I started to believe what they said. But I just said to Liz mat we're gonna do it. We're gonna do it, We're gonna do it. And it was so funny. At Nationals we medled and then you know, a few months later, I'm on the World Unis team, and then I'm in a massive Diamond League Grace in London, and that's where I got the qualifier and nearly round under two minutes for

My gosh, no.

One will ever understand the sigh of relief. I remember going back to my hotel super happy, but I just cried. I was like, finally, like when I put my mind to something, it's like anyone, if you put your mind to it, the results will come. And yeah, so for me it was just like WHOA, I finally think I've found my purpose.

Again with athletics. I don't want to quit.

I understand that it's going to take a few years to get to my end goal, but I'm ready for it, you know what I mean.

So, yeah, it was an interesting journey. You put it perfectly.

Going from the four to the eight is literally like going from football to network.

It's so hard to transition.

And I think Liz is such a good coach because she's patient and we just did it so well and we peaked perfectly, and she just said, if you do exactly as I say, we'll get there, and then we did.

It's just comes back to what was saying before about that willingness to be a beginner, Like it's not easy. And I think probably because you did it, you forget how hard and intimidating that is. But it is so extraordinarily overwhelming to put yourself out there when the world is looking at you to go screw it. I'm really good at what I do, but I'm going to leave that behind and start something that I'm not good at because I've never done it before, and try it anyway. That takes so much balls.

That's what that was.

The thing is like a lot of my friends from overseas, all the elite athletes and girls I was running against were so encouraging, like it just honestly, I reckon. That's another thing that got me across the line because I thought, Wow, these chicks are like Olympic medalists, well run on holders or whatever, and they're sending me random messages just wishing

So for me that was super humbling.

It's just like, Wow, you've got these armchair critics that just want to try and bring you down, and you've got some of the best athletes in the world rallying behind you. I think that's another thing that just kept me going. I thought, Wow, this sport's really really cool, Like you find some really good people in athletics.

It's awesome. It's like a big family.

Oh that's so nice. And that's also like one of the things I talk about. We're kind of mixing in the next section, which is NATA, and that's all the barriers or challenges that get in the way of your

I think, to be honest, like having a life outside of athletics, right because I remember thinking, Okay, I have a good team behind me that are supporting me. There's always going to be someone that doesn't like you for whatever reason, and you just need to accept it like it's a reflection of them. You know, if you're happy with yourself and someone's coming at you for no reason.

It's not your fault. There's something that they are going through.

And I think that's what I had to realize, and I thought, Okay, I've still got my whole life to worry about. Am I really going to waste all my energy on this one person or you know, however many people, I was like nah. So for me, it was like, yeah, get a hobby, do something else. When you're on the track, focus on it. But as soon as I step off the track, I'm like, I'm not a runner. I did not want to hear about athletics.

I couldn't, you know what I mean.

And I think that was a good thing. Is just having other interests in my life. That helped a lot because you'd come back to it and I'd be like, I mean, it's just running. Like I know, people a lot of athletes might think, oh, you know, you're not focused enough you're on this, and I'm like, no, no, i am, but I'm not going to waste all my energy when it doesn't need to be wasted.

Like you know. And I think that helped. And I think if you met my mum as well, you'd be like, oh, okay, it all makes sense. She's like God's gift to this earth.

Well, your God's give to this earth and she just made you so.

You know what mums are like, They're just awesome, and that was a thing.

I think it's just nice knowing that your parents and friends and family are always going to love you, whether you run fast or not. I think that's what helped get me through. And then working with Emma helped as well, because she really goes into the mind and she explains why we have self doubt and it stems from like the cave man days and all of this. So when she realized, oh, it's all just in my head, you're like, whatever, let's just get this ball rolling.

But yeah, you get over it.

Just quickly jumping in before we continue with today's episode because firstly, my lips have been getting so dry lately from recording and talking so much with the heating on now that it's winter. And secondly, because I found the ultimate solution to that problem and thought it would be

So and like we still get to travel the world.

Like I mean, obviously I'm not I decided not to, but like a lot of athletes can still travel the world and compete, like have some respect or like, you know, be grateful for what we've been given and the opportunities. Like you know, you hear of people's relatives, mum's dads or whatever, getting even just getting sick and being hospitalized, or even like hearing if people lose their sense of smell and taste.

I wasn't really like complaining about an Olympics.

So you can say that because it's like, I'm so grateful we can still run because a lot of people, like seeing my sister even last year, she suffered quite bad, like she lost her job and everything, and I've never seen her go through something.

It was just a very dark time for it, and it broke my heart and I.

Was a selfish one thinking oh, I've just got to run and I've got to train, and I was like, well, I don't there's no Olympics I should be there for. And that really put things into perspective for me. Yeah, I just seem yeah, being an athlete, we're still human for sure, but we do need to realize like we've got it pretty good. Because in my head, I'm like, well, if they can run an Olympics, run a Coachella, Jesus,

West Tomorrow Land.

I love that you're just like most athletes only know the world of athletics and there's nothing else that exists in their field of vision. And you're just like, mate, where Coachella at?

Like when you think about it, right, that's how like privileged we are as athletes. Like they're trying so hard to put this thing on.

I'm sure a.

Lot of music lovers want to go to the next festival like Austin City Limits or yeah, like Coachella or whatever. Are you sitting back like, well, it can be done, clearly, Apparently, I don't know. I just yeah, I'm excited to go.

Don't get me wrong, Oh yeah, absolutely, But I think it's so refreshing that you just have other things going on in your world, and it's it's fascinating to look at, you know, all the other activities and ambassadorships and ways that you use your platform for things other than athletics.

I think if you can't tell when now, I get bored quite easily. No, but I've always just enjoyed sport, and I think for me, like my training, I'll be on the track maybe three days a week, jogging another three days a week, and then I'll have a rest day.

But when i'm cross training, I try to cross train at least two to three days a week on top of that.

And that'll be whether it's boxing, basketball, in the pool, on the elliptical. I mean, it's like I just need to keep moving, I need to keep breathing, and I need to have fun. So if I don't want to do the elliptical, I'll go and play forty minutes of basketball. Just get three on stream. We'll all just you know, have a shoot around. And then I found forty five was awesome because it's like, wow, forty five minutes, I'm in,

But then I look at them.

Like, yeah, but it's my job, Like I have to be doing this, and like I have to stay fit. You guys, this is like a choice, and you know what I mean, Like that is so admirable to me that people are like, yeah, I want.

To get fit today, you choose this pain I have to be here.

Like, to me, that's just huge. It's so impressive.

And that's the thing I love about A forty five is like all the workouts are different, the community feel.

It's just so much fun.

You can pick whatever time you want to train and then yeah, you just get to meet so many cool people wherever you are as well, Like I'm going to the one tomorrow at Hope Island up here, and then they'll be in Burly Heads next week.

I don't know. That's the coolest part for me.

It's just like, yeah, I'm all about fun and just trying new things. And the quirkiest part of training is yeah, let's just keep it interesting.

I'm on the track. We're very specific. I want to have my gym days, which are like maybe two days a week. It's very specific. But all of the other.

Maintenance stuff, like all the cross training, I just think, oh, and I can't do anything. Let's just switch it up because it's all about just you know, staying fit. So yeah, that was cool. That was like when I got into the box and I was hitting that pretty hard and I got bored, and I was like, Okay, I want to be in the forty five gym at least twice a week doing one cardio, one strength because I feel

That's actually what I love about forty five that you can never get bored because the class is never the same, so you're always like, even in the class itself, you only do an exercise for like forty five seconds, so you can't even get bored in each exercise because you're just about to die and then you're like, oh, next one.

Yeah, and it's such a laugh.

Like We've got one of my best mates and we usually go to the Laudi alic One and it's just like a child like we're always bursting each other. For us, it's like a MENI Olympics every time you walk in one, because I always.

Win but obvious, I mean, obviously.

It's so funny. But two, it's just like we didn't even have to think. I love when you can just work out and not have to think about it, you know what I mean.

It's just like, yeah, come in versus me, we hook up Apple Watches. It's all.

Have you met Mark Wahlberg yet? Have you got to like to put that in the contract? I feel like you should. I feel like you should do it so that you could beat him and then be like, hey, I beat Mark Wahlberg like basketball.

I didn't even realize. I honestly would love to Purson in one on one.

I feel like that would be so amazing. I would want that would take like more viewers away from the Olympics, like we all just be watching that.

Yeah, I honestly back myself.

Inside a tip for any punters out there. Morgan backs herself just saying, what about when you're actually on the track, do you have any like superstitions or rituals, Like how often do you change your spikes? For anyone who doesn't actually know anything about athletics, like what's some of your day to day running secrets or you know, quirky things.

That you do.

I'll tell you what's funny.

This might be contradicting myself, but I don't really believe in superstitions. For me only because when we are on the circuit, obviously pre COVID, you're traveling every three to four days to different European countries to race, So the food's always different, the atmosphere is always different, the race is always different.

Everything is different. So I'm just like, let's just roll with it.

Like I'm not going to get into any strict regime because at some point it'll be thrown out and I don't want to crumble because of it. But what I finally realized is I always have to put my left shoe on first.

So is that a superstition? It just feels really weird.

That's kind of a ritual. Yeah.

Yeah, that's the only thing.

You always find me putting my left shoe on first, right when I just don't.

Feel right what it is. But I've picked up on it because one time I was like, oh, I'm like, let's just try it. Not doing that do it.

I'm like, yeah, screw all that stuff, But I have to put my left shoe on first, otherwise my wife just doesn't I don't know what.

It is, spirals out of control?

Yeah, but how did it come about?

I don't know.

That's fascinating. I always wonder, you know, when you're watch Nadal and he has to do his little steps onto the court and then he picks his weggie and then he picks his nose, and you're like, how did you figure out that that exact sequence? Like why the weggie before the nose? What if it was the other way around? Head, Like, how did you figure out that that was his order? Of those twenty five different things?

Let's you on first, that's all I asked for.

And what about being part of game changes? So I was actually really disappointed when I found out, and disappointed for you as well that you filmed like four years before it actually came out. So I'm sitting here going she was filmeding with Annie and like.

Chin, Yeah, no, it was honestly what a ride.

I honestly forget that it even happened now, Like so, yeah, it was straight after the Olympics. I flew to La to shoot for about four days. So this is back in twenty sixteen, and it started off as a small documentary that was the weirdest part like I remember Peter Siddle's wife had messaged.

Me like, hey, you can't do it, will you do it it? Okay, that's a small Dolockoan.

Why not? I'm free at that time. And then she mentioned James Cameron. I'm like, yeah, I'll definitely be there in LA.

I love Titanic, so yes, I will be there.

Literally, my mom was like, Morman, you loved that movie. It was mainly Selene Dear.

Oh obviously have you watched her carpool karaoke with James Corden. No, Oh my god, go watch it. I'll send you the link.

Dallas was my favorite.

Oh my god, then you'll love Salene. So they end up at some theme park in Vegas on this boat like singing Titanic. Amazing.

Yeah.

So I remember that was twenty sixteen, twenty seventeen. Didn't hear March and I'm like, oh, it's probably died down. But the trip to la was fun. Then they contact us, contacted us at the end of twenty seventeen. I'm like, oh, we want you in Canada for a premiere. We've found Arnold, We've found Serena, We've found Novac, Jackie Chan, Chris Paul and I'm like, hang away, do you have the right number? I'm like, what the f I was like, I was like, do I even still have a role? Want me in

Yeah, she's is she the hurt Locker director? Or is that his ex wife?

Oh? She's subject I know.

I'm like I should have fat checked.

Oh yeah.

Like and then that was twenty eighteen, and then twenty nineteen, they're like, oh, by the way, we're going to be on Netflix iTunes and this is all just before the world and I was kind of like, like, I've.

Got to run in America, Hollywood.

I was like, this has never really been a massive dream of mine, but yes, I'll go.

And then yeah, from there it just blew up.

And honestly, it was like the what I want people to know is just like they were the most incredible team to work with from start to finish, and James Wilks putting that together, It's just incredible. What he did where it started to what it became in the end was just like, whoa, that's mind blowing, Like he's hard work and the passion he put into it obviously showed when you watched it, and with the help of having James Cameron like it's massive.

Yeah.

For me, it was just like such a cool, humbling experience. But then I remember thinking, Hollywood's fun. You do meet a lot of people and you kind of realize, maybe it's not where I want to be right now, you know what I mean.

I think that's where it comes.

You know, it stems back to the mum and my sisters just remained humble because you know, anyone can chew you up and spit you out. So I just thought, yeah, good night, let's go to Doha. We've got world chance to focus on. Don't want to get caught up in that lifestyle just yet.

So that was good.

But how incredible I meant? We are good friends with Sidel and Anna. Do you know we have a vegan cafe matcha milk bow. You guys, Oh my god, that's our cafe.

Yeah.

Yeah, So we were watching the progression of the film very closely and it was just like mind blowing because none of us are actually vegan. We were just blown away by how the information that is actually really impactful is often packaged the wrong way and not communicated so that the masses and the mainstream don't consider going meet free a few days a week, which would also have it, you know, just as much change as less people going

Yeah.

Yeah, And I think that's how you start, right, It's like you don't want to force information down people's throats because no one likes that across any issue, right. But I was just like, at least just give it a crack or just try it, or you know, I'm like, I'm not here to force anyone to do anything, because I wouldn't want that done to me, but that it was quite funny. A lot of my friends are like,

You know.

That's like step one. You can't just expect people to jump into the deep end and swim right. And I think that's what Game Changes did really well, is just to get people thinking. Some people did just want to go straight into it, so I'm just wanting to explore. And it was, ah, that's actually really cool that they got their point across. So yeah, kudas to James Cameron and team.

I mean, they had great tools and they had the great Morgan Metell as part of it, which is obviously why everyone else said yes. I mean, let's be real, you you started at all? When did you go vegan? What was your kind of journey with plant based eating?

Pretty funny at the end of twenty fourteen, And.

Honestly, it was just an ex that tried every single diet under the sun. And he's like, hey, I never wanted to try it. I'm like, how old was I? I was like what nineteen twenty? Was like, I don't really want to do I don't want to do your kido diet, I don't want to do your high car bloke like I don't care.

Yeah, I can't imagine you're tolerating just being like, mate, come on, let's just eat.

Yeah. One day he comes in, he's like, we should go vegan. I just said yes.

I was like sure, And I think I don't know if it was to shut him up or something deep within my sub one just clicked.

But from that day on I just dropped everything and went vegan.

Yeah.

Really weird.

And then he started telling me the impact it had on the environment and the animals, and I think that's what broke my heart. You watch a few videos about the animals and I'm like, nah, I just but that is just you know, you start tearing up and it makes you really question like the choices you make in life. And for me, that was what got me across the line. And then I thought, oh, I'm still an athlete. I need to see a diet tissue if I want to take this seriously, because I had no idea what I

Like I've been vegan ever since Time Flies though.

I think that was what was so amazing about that film that there's a lot of information out there about, you know, why the environment will benefit why from an animal rights perspective, obviously vegan is the preferable lifestyle, but people don't actually think that from a performance aspect, like I think they think there's a sacrifice for athletes. But the fact that you are all elite athletes in this movie and it's still performing really well was like quite quite.

Yeah, yeah, exactly, And I think that was the other thing is like you obviously need the evidence, right, you can't just convince people without evidence.

So it was nice even meeting some of those athletes. I thought, wow, I.

Just feel like a little plug compared to some of them, like they put in I thought, that's just freaking amazing. But I always tell people, I'm like, if you want to go vegan, it's like anything. If you're seek you see a doctor. You want to get your teeth checked, You don't do it yourself and look in the mirror.

You go to a dentist. So if you want to change a diet, so your diet t ship.

Like, seek out the professionals, you know. But it just seems like you mentioned veganism, people just think it's dumb and stupid and you can't do it.

It's like, well, if you want to change with anything, you go, And that's what I did. I want to go find someone that knows what they're doing.

Yeah, get help, get professionals on board.

Because once you get the professional help, they give you all the information and then They tell you what you need to eat when you need to eat it. And I think that's why I ran so well in twenty sixteen as well.

With my dietitian. She was just like bang bang bang bang bang, stick to this and you'll be fine.

And then yeah, ran my pbe made the Olympics and was undefeated that whole season.

There you go, there, you go invest and you'll get the return.

The proof is in the plants.

I'll tell you what though, now, Like I know that you run much milk, but I don't know if you have any fronteurs.

Is that it? Yeah?

Sorry guys, Yeah, I would love one a sushi train because I just don't think there are enough in Melbourne, but a vegan sushi train, like I would want a vision one. But when you think about it, because like I love sushi, I was just like, why are there any sushi trains?

Or am I missing something? You know what I mean?

No, I don't think there are.

You've got the blueprint, you've started a restaurant. I'm just saying I had, I just don't know it to start.

Yeah, Like our big thing was looking at where those gaps were, Like what were the things that because all the kind of plant based or even vegetarian restaurants that already existed, not so much now, but when we first started in twenty sixteen were very woo woo hippie earth mother, which is amazing, but it's one category that's quite intimidating to certain parts of society that we also wanted to be able to access plant based eating. So we looked

Yeah, like there's only one place in Sydney or I can get good sushi and I'm not I mean other than this year.

I'm not usually in Sydney that often.

Yeah, Ida, if you as a book, sorry we've you know, we've just got off the track a bit.

So guys, in three months time, when you see a vegan sushi train open, it's a joint Mitchell Davidson protect.

To make sure you can get it rolling.

Rolling. There's little train rolling, get it rolling. Or the last section, which is actually probably the easiest one for you and I love, we've actually already touched on it. It's play ta And this is the part where we separate people's identity from their work and find out what they do just for joy, which is usually a lot more difficult to get it out of them, particularly because I have the privilege of speaking to people who love their job, which means they often don't feel like they

Yeah. So things I like love to do.

Yeah, just like that's not productive. So I think we don't give ourselves time to waste time, if that makes sense, like watch TV or read a book, or do puzzles or just stuff that you do that's purely for joy.

Well, don't judge anyone listening.

We're all judging.

So it's always been my dream to move to Spain at the end of my career.

Yeah, I just want to disappear and get off social media and just like fully immerse myself in Spanish culture. So I'm learning Spanish. It's like I love watching Spanish TV shows and movies. That's like my number one thing at the moment. And then I love playing piano when I'm home and hours on the piano and it's like, you know, you're so focused on it and just like playing songs that you forget that the world even exists.

Yeah. My final thing is sudoku. I don't really want.

To admit it, but it is no babe, you have no idea. If I wasn't wearing pajamas and I don't want to get up and show you my pajamas, I would go and get you all the sudoku books that are under my pillow.

Really, oh my, how much fun?

Is this?

So much fun? Do you know what it is? So I think when people are struggling to figure out what their platia is, I try and like get them to think about when they forget what time it is. And the only things that pull your brain in that much that you forget, like you disconnect from when you are and where you are are things that require enough concentration like Sudoku, like your problem solving, that you can't be doing anything else at the same time. But they're not so hard that you get tired.

Yeah.

Literally, I love it. Like I always have a book in my bag when I'm traveling, like always.

Oh my gosh, they're picking up.

On it because now the books are getting prettier and they've got like different graphics, and I'm like, oh my god, I need every book because because esthetically to me, they're so pleasing halfway through the first one, let me give me a break.

But then sometimes I get to the point where, like, you know, when you just want to win, you just do an easy one. When you want a bit of a challenge, you do a medium one. And some days I'm like, I just want you know, I want my mind to be stretched myself, and I'll go straight to a hard one. But I'll get to the point where I just can't get any further and I'll throw the book and be like fuck this like and I'll go back to easy so I can finish it the.

Back of the I'm just gonna have a peak.

Oh yeah, the answer is just need.

One number and then I'll be fine.

Yeah, I do the exact same thing that it's like easy when you just don't a thing medium, when you do.

A challenge, prove myself, I'm going to go straight to the elite lift. Yeah.

I never last on elite. I never last. I'm like, this is I don't want it to be this hard, Like I want a challenge, but I don't want to feel like totally you know, a moron. Second last question, what are three interesting things about you that don't normally come up in conversation.

Really interesting things.

I mean, you have neffer t as a tattoo. I know that.

Yeah, everyone loves it. I've attached on the inside of my lips. It surprises people.

Yeah, also because they don't last right.

Well they do apparently because mine's still there and I got it when I was nineteen. Let your teeth rubs, so do rub it not. I'm like, oh, if that's the case, let's just get yo. Now I'm stuck with YO.

Show me.

You always such a good one. Oh my god, that's the best.

It's not.

I was at the dentisty the other day and he was like, what what is tattoo?

This fixed?

Just let me alone, don't look, don't judge, do your job. But you know what, because people think that they dissolve after six months, people think you got that recently, so we're all judging you as if you got it now.

Literally, it didn't hurt at all. It was the weirdest feeling. It was just like, I don't even like, not even a scratch. Very interesting.

Like if I had known that would be the pain, I definitely would have something.

Else, which is good because you probably would have got like a full like character like a like a Pokemon on the inside, like a Bulbosare or something.

That'd actually be better because I've got Yo with an exclamation mark, so people think it says yolo and the other O just rubbed off.

If you it doesn't say Yolo, I'm dumb. I'm not that dumb.

I'm Yo dumb. I'm not Yolo dumb like those levels you know.

Oh my god, literally, I'm not.

That should be in your bio on Instagram. Well that's a good one. What are two other random interesting facts?

I don't know if this is interesting, but at the start of the year, I like literally broke like four of my toes what playing NERF guns. Then I smacked one on the side of the door, and then from running in shoes that were too small because I forgot some snakers, And I'm like, it's even interesting.

It's just disgusting, But it's so interesting.

You're an that you rely on having like non broken.

Toes, Like yeah, like I said, I had never been injured, and then I get this achilles injury and break like four of my toes.

Being also such an idiot that you broke them all separately. It wasn't like one fall.

Yeah, like when I had to tell my coach. The first time was playing with nerf Guds. She saw red. I was like, yeah, I don't think I can run for a few days. And now all the toenails are.

Falling off, so gross. Another interesting thing, actually I have nine there's nine of us.

Oh my gosh.

Yeah, that's when I was thinking about it the other day. I'm like, what is interesting about me? And every time I tell people that there's nine of us because obviously people and me ever really see Brittany my like.

She's like my best friend, but she's my younger sister. Like, no, there's nine. There's what two boys and seven girls?

Oh my gosh. So Christmas you're like, actually broke?

No, no, we all Yeah, one's like four in a chuka. Then there's us three chuca Yeah random, so random, right, But yeah, so there's nine of us, all like half.

But then I had my two full sisters, Live and brit and we're all of your apart and I in the middle child. Wow.

That's so cool. Oh well, last question, because I love quotes so much, as I mentioned, what's your favorite quote?

My favorite quote is you don't know if you don't try.

Oh my god. That's so you.

Yeah. Yeah, I'm just like, oh, fuck it, let's just do it.

Oh yes, I love it. So this whole thing, like platia, the whole thing of figuring out what you love to do. Like so many people, particularly when I was a lawyer, so many people would be like, I just don't know what I'm passionate about. And I'd be like, well, what have you tried? And They'd be like, well, nothing except what I do. And I'm like, mate, you're not going to figure out what you're joyful and passionate about if you don't just try random shit. So I love that.

Yeah, what kind of law if you don't have me asking me?

I did Mergen acquisitions, so really corporate like shares and yeah that's impressive. Just a lot of paper pushing.

Yeah yeah wow. How long did you do that?

For four years?

Oh my god? And then were you just like not want to try something else?

Yeah?

So it's such a long story, but there it was a total accident. I went to Africa, got a parasite, got really sick, couldn't drink coffee, discovered Matcher because I could have the caffeine, and then needed some for myself and my husband and I bought some. It arrived, it was two million serves too many for two people to consume by the due date, and so we started selling it and then it just took off and we got

And I'm that's so awesome.

I love people and I love storytelling, and I would never have known that unless I just went and tried something different, which is why that quote for me is like, that's what this show is.

Yeah, yeah, shout out to the parasite.

Shout out to go and get a parasite and see what happens. You drink coffee now, and yeah, yeah, that's also but I didn't for like six years. I had a drain of fatigue really badly, and so I had to quit alcohol, coffee, anything that was a real stimulant for your body, so like refined sugar. I had to just go and super super clean diet, lots of like naturalropathy like a puncture. Yeah, big health kick for like six years and then slowly sort of started to reintegrate

Honestly, when you really think about it, it's just running.

Like anyone can do it, anyone cannot do it, or anyone anyone can run. That's true. Not everyone can run in the Olympics'.

It's just too I love itak it down.

Well, thank you so much for joining and being such a breath of fresh air. Like what an absolute legend.

Thanks for having me.

Oh this has been so much fun, and we'll be following you so keenly in Tokyo, like partly for the running, partly for the after party. I just want to hear all about the party at the end.

Mexico. Let's be honest, that's where it starts.

Oh, you legend, Thank you so much, Thank you having new days Sarah again, I can't believe this woman is only twenty six and he's so relaxed and level headed about her incredible success on the world stage. I enjoyed getting to know her so much, and like I said at the beginning, truly hope I get to spend some more time with her in the future. And I hope she entertained you guys as much as she did for me.