High Performance Mindset | Learn from World-Class Leaders, Consultants, Athletes & Coaches about Mindset - 2: Getting After It with Olympian, Entrepreneur, and ESPN2 Analyst Carrie Tollefson

Episode Date: August 26, 2015

Carrie Tollefson is an Olympian, elite middle distance runner, and ESPN2 analyst who is all about "getting after it." She is a 5-time NCAA Champion and national record holder. She started C Tolle Run, www.ctollerun.com, and inspires athletes of all ages with her regular videos and authentic spirit. Carrie reveals her big dream that scares her and provides insight into the high performance mindset. Her passion and authenticity is contagious. 

Welcome to High Performance Mindset with Dr. Sindra Kampoff. Do you want to reach your full potential, live a life of passion, go after your dreams? Each week we bring you strategies and interviews to help you ignite your mindset. Let's bring on Syndra. And today's episode is sponsored by Worldwide Access Solutions Incorporated, a 24-7 clear advantage, a call center providing inboard and outboard services, and a licensed life and health insurance agency. You can visit them at wasi.com. That's W-A-S-I dot com. Welcome, Performer Nation, to High Performance Mindset. Today, I'm really jazzed that we have Keri Tollefson,

an Olympian and elite middle distance runner from St. Paul, Minnesota. So Keri was born and raised in Dawson, Minnesota. She's a 13-time state champion in high school. And I didn't know this, Carrie, but your five cross-country titles was a national record for the most consecutive titles, which still stands today. Yeah. And she attended Villanova University. She was a five-time NCAA champion, post-collegiately three-time U.S. champion. And she represented the U.S. in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

She is proud to be a global Reebok running ambassador. And now what I really love to watch her do is she's on camera for See Tali Run, which is an online weekly program. She's an ESPN2 analyst. She's on all of the major networks as a commentator, and she does media coverage for New York road racers. So currently, Carrie lives and trains in Minnesota with her husband, Charlie, and their two children, Ruby and Everett. And she inspires and motivates people to get after it through her public speaking and her training camps. So, Keri, I'm really excited that you are our first interview on High Performance Mindset. So I'm really excited. And what I want you to do is to start and just tell us a little

bit about your passion and what you do. Well, thank you so much for having me. This is awesome. And congratulations on your first podcast. You know, my passion is just to live life the best I can. And, you know, I've been fortunate enough to be to have some fast wheels. So, you know, my mom and dad and my grandparents gave me some amazing genes to be able to run fast. But, you know, I think more importantly, it's taught me so much about how to be a strong woman, a strong, you know, person and just to kind of have some kind of purpose in my life and to be passionate about things that I love to do. So running is right there up on top. But, you know, my family and my faith and and, you know, my work comes, you know, right there as well. So it's just been a really fun journey that I've been on. Excellent. Carrie, tell us about a time that you failed and what you learned from it. You know, I think there's a lot of times where you feel like you failed. And I don't know if we can classify every single one of them as failures. But,

you know, I've had plenty of times where I wish I could have done better. And I think that's what makes me a good athlete is constantly trying to up my game a little bit. But one of the biggest disappointments in my life was probably missing the 5,000-meter Olympic team in 2004. I'd been running really well. I just had run 15.04 on a really tactical race, so I thought I could have run a really fast race if I had been in a race that was set up for it. And I ended up finishing sixth at the Olympic trials when I was clearly one of the favorites to make the team. And, um, you know, that was, that was something that really

struck hard for me. And, um, I went into drug testing that night and I had to sort of kind of suck it up real fast and, and, you know, turn around real fast because I had another race at the Olympic trials and that was a 1500 meters. So even though the race that I thought I'd make the Olympic team in didn't happen, I still had a second chance, which was an amazing opportunity. So how did that change when you race the 1500? I'm kind of going through what you did in the race before. How did that really actually motivate you to be at your best in the 1500, which that's the race that you made the Olympic team in, correct? Exactly. Yep, yep. So I mean, I was at probably the lowest point in my career at that moment, just mentally thinking, how am I going to come back and try and race a lot of the same girls that had run the 5k or even some that

were faster than me that were coming up from the 800 and then some fresh girls that hadn't run anything at the trial. So, you know, I sort of had to just wrap my brain around making that team. And that was the goal of the 2004 Olympic trials. Did it matter if it I sort of had to just wrap my brain around making that team. And that was the goal of the 2004 Olympic trials. Did it matter if it was the 5k or the 1500? Absolutely not. Because for the rest of my life, I can call myself an Olympian. Was I there in my best event? Maybe not. But, you know, it just, it showed me a lot about myself to tell you the truth that I could come back from such disappointment and persevere and sort of run a race. I led basically from start to finish and much to my coach's dismay, I did that. And, you

know, it was a really good life lesson, to be honest. Yes, I'm so thankful I made it to the Olympics, but I know I'm a tough person because of that moment in 2004. Awesome. Tell us about a time that you would consider your best moment. And this could even be in running or, you know, what you do now with commentating and being on TV. But tell us, you know, that best moment and why it was so awesome for you. You know, I would have to say probably having my kids was my best moment. You know, everyone says it's just like running a marathon.

And I ran a marathon four months after having Everett. And there is nothing the same as running a marathon and having babies. I'm sorry. You know, maybe other people have a little easier labors, but or deliveries, but I can't say that having a baby. But you know, I think that I really learned a lot from my running career and from my professional career as a commentator. But, you know, I think that I really learned a lot from my running career and from my professional career as a commentator. But, you know, going into having my children, I think I had to use all of those different mindsets and be ready for the totally unknown. Even when I was, you know, having my second child and sort of having that same experience as having Ruby and then having Everett, I think when I'm a runner, I kind of know what to expect because I go to the

track and I have these moments that are similar to racing. But when you go into the delivery room, I don't care if it's, you know, your eighth baby, I think they're all different and you really can't prepare for it. So that was your best moment because it gave you two beautiful children that I love to actually, you know, watch and hear about on See Tali Run. Yeah, it was an amazing experience. And I loved every minute of it. And I hope we have some more. Excellent.

Tell us about an aha moment that you had in your career and how it can help listeners learn something. You know, an aha moment, I guess, would maybe be I had a big tumor in my heel right after I won my very first NCAA championship at Villanova. And they found the tumor beforehand. And it was right in my calcaneus, so right below my ankle bone. Wow. And we didn't know if it was cancerous. We needed to test it going after we went in. So the doctors allowed me to run through my cross-country season.

And I ended up winning that year. And I think that was my aha moment. I had not a moment of life or death. I mean, it could have been if it were cancer, thank goodness it wasn't. But I had a moment where this is the time, you know, you don't know, I didn't know how I would be able to rebuild that heel, they were putting donor bone in it. So it was a big surgery. Um, but I think it at an early age of, you know, my early twenties, I was like, this is now or never. And it was really a good thing for me to go through, even though, um, it could have been a lot worse. I think that I really learned a lot about myself and how I can come back. Cause I

came back and won four more NCAA championships and just. And just sort of defied the odds. So that was my aha moment, I think. That you can come back from injury and still be at your best and that you can really do anything that you put your mind to. Exactly. So that actually kind of goes to our next question. So here at High Performance Mindset, we believe that your dreams should scare you. And if they don't scare you, they aren't big

enough. Yeah. Yeah. So what is, you know, one dream that you're going after that you're getting after right now? What would you love to do? Yeah. You know, it's like, that's a hard question because there's a lot of things that I think I'd love to do. To be honest, I'd love to make another Olympic team, but I don't think I have it in my heart to train that way. So I'd say maybe an attainable or maybe a little more realistic dream right now would be to continually work on my broadcast career. I'd love to make it to the Olympics as a broadcaster. You know, and I think I'm working as hard as I can. I'm not, you know, as polished as other people are. But I believe that I have the traits to do it and the

talent to do it. And I think I just have to keep on working and doing my reps like I did in practice. I'm not going to lose the Minnesota accent. So if anyone is annoyed by that, or any, you know, station is annoyed by that, sorry, take it or leave it type thing. But that's one of my biggest, I think, dreams. And also maybe one of my, it's the scariest thing here on camera, you can't really make a mistake. And you know, we all do. And everyone gets to see that then. So it is scary. Well, and when I love what when I watch you on air, what I love actually about you is your authenticity, you just really show up as you.

And I'm curious, you know, how do you work to show up as you? You know, even with this pressure of being sort of perfect and saying things every right, correctly, but how do you still show up as you and kind of deal with that pressure? You know, I think, again, running has just taught me so much about me. And it's given me a lot of confidence. You know, some races are going to go well. Some are going to totally blow up. Some are going to be, you know, okay. And I think that's exactly how life is as a professional outside of track and field. And I sort of feel like that. I think you're going to have a lot of people that criticize people that are on air. But the second that camera goes on, it's amazing to sort of feel that you're jazzed

up again, just like I was at the at the start line. And, you know, I think one of the big things I have to learn is that it's okay to go against the grain. I'm Minnesota nice. I love to raise people up. And that's one of my biggest things right now is trying to be a critical and be analytical when it comes to racing and other runners and be analytical when it comes to racing and other runners and be politically correct at the same time, but also give people the knowledge we need to learn about our sport. So it's kind of a fine line, but I'm trying as hard as I can to have a female voice in a really male dominant world. And absolutely, you know, we have 50% of the athletes in track and field are female and 50% are male. And we have, rarely do we have a female voice.

We have pregnant women running at our U.S. National Championships. And I just think it's really important for us ladies to get in there, whether it's me or another commentator. So, yeah, kind of a roundabout answer there. But I'm trying as hard as I can to just bring myself to the camera and take it or leave it, really. I mean, that's how I live my and take it or leave it, really. I mean, that's how I live my life. If you like me, great. If not, I'm sorry, but I'm not really changing for too many people because I'm pretty comfortable in my skin. I love, you know, how you're saying about reps just like as an athlete. And there's some really cool research that to become an expert and be really good at what you do, it takes 10,000 hours. And that kind of reminds me of just

like being out there doing the reps just like a runner. You didn't get to be an Olympian without those 10,000 reps and really putting your heart and soul in those 10,000 reps. So I love that. Yeah, I'm trying. When I sent you the top 10 traits of high performers, is there one that you would say that you, you know, completely exhibit? Which one of those do you say? Yep, that's that's a strength of mine. You know, when I read through those, I feel like all of us elite athletes have to have a little bit of every single one of them. Absolutely. But for me, I think it was the first one, being gritty, you know, I just think that kind of said it all for me. I, I want to go after my goals. I'm not afraid of failure. I'm not afraid of adversity, but I think I'm not afraid because

I've been through it. And, you know, I was, I was lapped at the Olympic trials in 2000. Um, I finished last before I have had injuries, um, but I have also had success. So, you know, I think, yes, talking about reps again, but I think just being able to go through the ebbs and flows and the ups and downs and just learning all of that and learning what's really inside and what's in your heart, that's really taught me a lot about myself. So I think number one, being gritty is the big thing for me. And that reminds me of your see Tali run, get after it. You know, they're very similar. And which one of those traits do you see yourself continuing to work on?

Oh, you know what, number five stuck out to me, to they can we control the controllables. You know, I think I'm always trying to, like I said, take it or leave it like trying to think that, you know, I am giving everyone the best I can. But I think for me, even when I'm when I was trying to come back from the kids, having babies and trying to compete, I was so nervous about what everyone thought about me. And, you know, that I am this fast runner and that I should be able to perform. And, you know, it doesn't happen like that. You have to put the work in no matter how talented and how gifted you are, you still got to work hard. And I was so consumed with, oh, I'm not going to be able to run 15 minutes. I got to start at 17 minutes and I couldn't really wrap my brain around it being okay to be slow. And I think that

really hurt me. Now I'm okay with it because I think I let myself be okay with it. But I think it really took away from you really getting back and doing some great things like Dina Castor and Kara Goucher and some of the amazing mothers have done. They have put that aside and they slowly came back. But for me, it really hurt my career. Sure. So the control of controllables, it's so important because what I see, even elite athletes, you know, they sometimes focus on things they can't control, which doesn't help us be at our best every day. No. And, you know, I think even again, and I'm probably speaking above actually how I actually feel, but when it comes to commentary and I do see some of the, I try not to read the negative comments, but there are some times that are

helpful for me to give me a little kick in the butt. But yeah, you know, I try really hard to just know that I am working hard at it. And you're not going to please everyone. And I think that's in life in general. But even my family, you know, I want to do so well for them because they've had so much fun watching me succeed and help me through, you know, upset times and whatever, failures. But I sometimes have to just remember this is for me. And, you know, I don't need to run for anyone else, but it is hard. It is. Tell us about one or two things that you use to stay kind of mentally fresh at your best. You know, I do a lot of visualization and I think it's, it's really

just kind of continued on since my racing career. You know, I try to just wrap my brain around the task at hand and sort of think through my strategy. And, um, I'm learning how to do that in the TV world, trying to study properly and efficiently and not think too much and stuff like that. But when I was, when I was competing, I really used a lot of visualization and a lot of mental preparation for those big events. And, um, and my, my workouts, you know, workouts are sometimes forgotten about, but those are really the, you know, your, your dress rehearsal for your big events and my workouts. You know, workouts are sometimes forgotten about, but those are really your dress rehearsal for your big races.

So I tried to really focus on that and to mentally see the point of why my coach Dennis Barker was having me do a workout like that and then apply it to my race. Yeah, awesome. Did you know that 99% of Olympic athletes use visualization? I love it. So it makes sense that that's one of Olympic athletes use visualization? I love it. So it makes sense that that's one of your kind of go-to mental strategies. And you can use that exactly now as you're commentating on TV, just imagining yourself being successful.

Lots of really cool ways that it impacts you positively. Okay, so we're going to go to the speed round. Uh-oh. And what I'd like you to do is just tell us the first thing that comes you positively. Okay. So we're going to go to the speed round. And, uh, what I'd like you to do is just tell us what the first thing that comes to mind. Okay. So if you could recommend any book or resource for the audience, um, what would it be? And why do you choose that book? Um, you know, I'd love to say that I have a bunch of books that I I'm reading right now, but to be honest, the Bible, you know, it always gives me great feedback. It always gives me the positivity. And my faith is really a lot of my visualization ends in prayer. So, you know, for me, I am a strong Christian, so I like the Bible.

Excellent. Excellent. And what is one word that people use to describe you, Carrie? Oh, besides goofball, maybe passionate, passionate about life, running, you know, motherhood, wife, being a wife. Awesome. And what is the best advice you have ever received from somebody? You know, one of my coaches in college said, don't think and just run. And I think that was a big thing for me. You know, a lot of times I overthought too much stuff and or those negative thoughts came in my mind. And when I could clear my brain or have my positive word cues, just simple thoughts through a race or a workout, that's what really, really helped me. So don't think and just

run was a big, big thing for me. And what is one quote that you live by or that you think applies to you and could apply to the listeners? Oh, I hate to say it. If you watch my show every week, you might get sick of it. But Get After It has always been a favorite of mine. It still is. You know, I say it all the time. But I think if you say Get After It, you can't really just not get excited about what you're getting after. So for me, Get After It, and I used to say a lot in my mind, got to get it going because it's just like, oh, I just got to get it going. So those are two quick little mottos.

But, you know, I've had a lot in my time, but I think those two are ones that have really stuck with me. And what advice would you have for the listeners of Performer Nation? You know, I think you just need to have fun in life, you know, find what makes you tick. I think that's a really big thing for me. It was running and I'm so thankful that I was able to travel the world and do some amazing things, but it wasn't always the best moments in my life that has defined it. You know, I think you, I really learned a lot about myself through my failures or through the times that didn't go as well as I wanted. And so

I think if you can find what makes you tick, you are going to be a really happy and driven person. And it's maybe going to be a roller coaster ride, but just enjoy it and have fun. You know, we only have one life to live. And I know it's cliche, but it's so true. So I try to wake up every day with a smile on my face and, and just go about life, you know, as happy as I can. Um, and I can tell that, that you live by that just from watching you. So Carrie, thank you so much for being our first interview on High Performance Mindset. And where would you tell the listeners to find more about you, um, and to follow you? Yeah. You know, the easiest place is at ctolleyrun.com.

Um, and Facebook, you can just go to my, my personal page is Carrie Tullison, but ctotallyrun.com. And Facebook, you can just go to my, my personal page is Carrie Tullison, but ctallyrun.com. Julie Magnuson is the director of the show and she is great with social media and she keeps everyone informed whether I'm doing ctallyrun stuff or anything else. So I think that's the best place to find me. And a performer nation.

Let's get after it. That's right. Thank you. If you enjoyed today's episode, jump over to iTunes and rate the podcast for us. When you do that, it allows us to reach more great people like you who are interested in the high performance mindset. It'll take three seconds or so, and I'd be so incredibly grateful. Thank you for listening to High Performance Mindset. Are you signed up for Sindra's weekly email with free mental tools and strategies for high

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