Determined Society with Shawn French | Adversity & Mindset - Crushing Records and Overcoming Setbacks: Angelina Napoleon's Journey to Success

Episode Date: October 17, 2023

Have you heard these myths about the importance of patience and trust in the process? Myth #1: Success comes overnight. Myth #2: Talent alone guarantees success. Myth #3: Setbacks mean failure. In this episode, our guest Angelina Napolean will debunk these myths and reveal the truth about how patience and trust play a crucial role in achieving success as a high school or college athlete. My special guest is Angelina Napolean: Angelina Napolean, a track and field star, is joining us on this episode of The Determined Society podcast. With her impressive accolades, including being named the 2022-23 Gatorade National Girls Track and Field Player of the Year, Angelina has proven herself to be an exceptional athlete. Currently a cross country runner at NC State, she has set records in the steeplechase and continues to push the boundaries of her performance. But what sets Angelina apart is not just her physical abilities, but also her mental strength and mindset. In this episode, she shares her experiences and insights on the importance of patience and trust in the process. Whether you're a high school athlete or a college athlete, Angelina's story and advice will resonate with you. Get ready to be inspired and learn how to elevate your game to new heights. "You have to have little wins to keep yourself going. It's all about the mindset and how you're looking at the process." - Angelina Napolean In this episode, you will be able to: Learn the secrets of elite athletes' journeys and successes, and discover how you can apply their strategies to your own athletic career. Navigate the challenges of transitioning from high school to college athletics with tips and insights from those who have been there. Understand the importance of patience and trust in the process of achieving athletic goals, and learn how to stay motivated even when progress feels slow. Develop mental resilience and learn how to overcome adversity, helping you stay focused and confident in the face of challenges. Gain insight into the significance of having a well-rounded athletic background, and discover how it can enhance your performance and open doors for future opportunities. Understand the importance: The overarching theme of this episode focuses on the importance of patience and trust in one's process. Angelina empathetically advises fellow athletes not to succumb to frustration when results are not immediate, but to remain patient and committed to their path. Furthermore, she underscores the significance of appreciating one's accomplishments, cultivating a positive mindset, and valuing the learning experience, thereby demonstrating the multifaceted nature of success in competitive sports. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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baseball player, football player, basketball player, or you're an entrepreneur, whatever the hell it is. I don't know. And you're sitting there and you're like, when is it my time? When am I going to win? I don't have it in me. I'm done. That person's just going to win.

And then you tell yourself, this decision that you make in your mindset, like she said, Angeloys said it was a shift in her mindset. She was no, she's not. I'm done with this shit. I'm going. They can keep up with me if they want, but I'm going to smoke this shit. Chad, half a lap lap.

So all of you sitting there thinking that you're losing, you may have a half a lap ahead of you, but then there's someone sitting right in front of you that you're chasing. It doesn't mean you're done. It doesn't mean you're done. It means right now, ladies and gentlemen, you have a choice to make. You could either say, you know what?

I'm going to submit to these weak-ass thoughts and I'm going to get beat, or I'm going to push through them, I'm going to get uncomfortable and I'm going to go because 200 meters away, that's your springboard to an amazing triumphant spring season, right? 100%. And I mean, it's, like I said, it's truly like the, whether it is a big win or it's a little win, you have to have little wins or, you have to have wins to have wins to keep yourself

going. It's 100% you do. So it's all about the mindset and how you're looking at the process. You have to enjoy the process, but you have to also enjoy the game. Southwest Florida is one of the most beautiful places on the planet to live. For those of you that are thinking of moving from other states to come to Florida, or even just moving to a different part of the state, I want you to think of a big, beautiful, luxury home. Contact Legacy Luxury Builders. They are a family-owned and operated luxury residential construction company. As a family-owned business, they believe in the power of building not just homes, but legacies.

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What's up, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of the Determined Society. I am your host and the mental performance coach for athletes, Sean French, and I have with me today, guys, an amazing athlete. She was the 2022 to 23 Gatorade National Girls Track and Field Player of the Year. Now cross-country runner at NC State, this girl is an absolute badass. She holds records for the steeple chase. And we're going to get down and into the physical performance, but also the mental and peak performance behind that that drives that physical performance.

So I'd like to welcome our friend, our badass, Angelina, Napoleon to the show. What's up, my friend? What's up? Thanks for having me. Dude, I'm Jack to have you, man. I've heard so many amazing things about you from our friend, Misty and Brad and, you know, up there and good old wherever the hell they are. Yeah, I don't know. Like, it's funny.

Like, I thought they lived in P. Pittsburgh and then they tell me no we're like here I'm like dude you guys are a bunch of liars I don't know where you're at yeah you can live next door to me for all I know yeah we're in the middle of nowhere so in the middle of nowhere awesome so why don't you tell everybody that's listening to right now a little bit about where the middle of nowhere is yeah and and and and take them through your childhood and how you became a runner yeah so I'm from like a small town uh in allegheny New York. It's about an hour and a half south of Buffalo to just give you perspective. And, you know, just growing up, I think just being around, I have two older brothers,

and just being around them and being around my parents who are extremely athletic and also just raised me, you know, to always be active and always be outside. That definitely, you know, created an athlete in me as a young child. So, um, yeah, I mean. That's awesome. How old are your brothers? Yeah. So I have two older brothers. My one oldest brother, Roman, he is 23. And then my second oldest brother, Gus, is 21 now. Oh, dude, you guys are like all really close in age. Yeah. And there's a high. So like the one thing that we're missing here is like a probably a highly competitive situation when you guys are going outside and you're playing because that's one of the things now that nowadays and and for those young athletes listening please don't get offended by it but y'all are soft like

you guys don't go outside and play like not as much as they used to be out running around like i'm part of the generation angelina's like when the lights went on the street lights that's when i knew i had to be back in my house for dinner and it's true but like also to you know kids defense is now like the world is different. The world is a different place. Like you can't just go and play randomly and ride your bike around because there's so many bad things that happen. So, but yeah,

I mean, I can just imagine, you know, you guys really competing when you guys are outside. Were they runners too? No. So actually, both my brothers played sports at a D3 level in college.

My oldest brother played football and then my second oldest brother played basketball. Nice. And I was the only runner. in the family. My dad, he was always athletic and so was my mom, but no running really in college or in high school too much within the family. Just now did your, did your parents, were they athletes in high school and college as well? Or they just athletic people? My parents always did athletics through high school. I think my dad was, my dad cheered in college as well. Oh, no way. Yeah. We're at.

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That's cool. Yeah. It is cool. And my mom, she did not do any sports in college, but she was always super active and actually got me into dance as a young, like, child. So I always did dance. I actually did dance all the way up until my senior year of high school. Oh, really?

Yeah. And I think that also played a huge role into the way I am also today just with mobility and overall athleticism. It's a great point, Angelina. I have noticed, and I have talked about this constantly. This is something like a mistake that I made growing up as an athlete is specializing too soon in pigeonholing

an athlete to one specific sport and activity. Whereas what you're saying is you did dance, you participated in the dance all the way up until last year, right? You're a freshman now, correct? Right. Yeah. I did it through my senior year, so I had to stop

once I got to college. Yeah, a little tough on the on the schedule. You probably don't have much time even for yourself now. We'll get into that. But like to your point, the mobility, right? And the flexibility. Yeah. Helps you so much.

Those two things right there, I would imagine, like really work together in making you the best running you could possibly be. What are your thoughts there? Yeah, I mean, 100%. I think also going into the steeple chase and hurdles, I mean, you have to have flexibility. you have to be limber when you're doing that. And 100% dance got me where I am there. And also I dabble on a little bit of high jump all the way through high school as well.

And I can tell you dance 100% help me, you know, get over that bar and work on my back flexibility as well. So, yeah. That's amazing. So in the fall, so the fall you did the cross country. Yeah. And then you did dance all year. And then in the spring, you did. You did track and field and you did the high jump there.

Yeah. And I also did indoor track too. So just kind of going all year around with running. Yeah. Okay. Fantastic. So that's awesome. So for those, and it's funny, you talk about flexibility.

My daughters, I have a seven-year-old daughter and a four-year-old daughter. They say, hey, daddy, will you do scary yoga with us this morning? And I'm like, I don't know, guys. I got to take your son. I mean, you're your son. your brother to baseball practice. I get a coach. I'm ready to go. My wife goes, do yoga with your daughters. And I'm like, all right, whatever. Wait until you see these videos. She took videos of me. And I am just having a blast with my daughters. And honestly, Angelina, I was hurting. Oh, yeah.

This was like kids yoga. And I'm like, even to the point where we're sitting down and I'm like breathing in and out, I'm like, wow, my shoulders are really tight. You can really feel how like just much I lack flexibility. So yeah, I was reminding that I today that I am not flexible. Yeah, and it is interesting too. Like just on the mental side too with dance, it definitely was just a huge stress reliever for me too. Just being able to go into the studio and just be with like in a non-competitive environment. I think definitely helped me mentally as well. You know, just kind of be able to go to practice.

But then later in the night, I could just chill. and be with, you know, just all my dance friends and my teachers who were the sweetest people ever. And just not in a competitive environment. And I always left feeling so much better and so much more confidence. That's a great point because people would think that peak performers like yourself, right, that go and play, you know, that run track or cross-country and are participate in big Division I college sports, that they're always wanting that competitive thing going. And that is not the case.

Like a lot of times, like I play baseball at LSU, like a lot of times like I just want to, I just want to downshift. Like I just want to mess around. Like, yeah, you all want to play cards cool. Like I don't want to put money on and I just want to play.

Yeah. You know, so, so what? Explain to every because like you, you mentioned mentally it helped you. Right. And as you know, a large portion of my focus is on the mental.

performance for athletes because I think it's the most important aspect of their game or their or their sport is the the five to six inches in between their ears. But walk the audience through how that disconnection from the competition helped you mentally and made you better for running your actual events. Yeah, I think it's all about staying calm. And that's what Dan did for me, just like on the contrary of running. I obviously would always feel much better after I ran, you know, just get my energy out. But it's just the disconnect of not being competitive and being in an environment where I can just relax and I can just move my body and get the more creative side of my brain going instead of the more competitive. We got to keep

going. We got to keep pushing through and hanging on, you know, for the last rep of a workout or something like that. So, I mean, when it comes to competition, And I think that helps me because, like I said, just being able to stay calm within the race and saying, like, you can still keep going, you still got it and everything like that. So it's just a good reset for your brain, honestly. I love it. I love it. This might be a hard question to answer. But you seem like a very well put together athlete, student athlete, very intelligent.

What did you learn about yourself while you were dancing? because, you know, you talked about the creative side of your brain. What did you learn about Angelina that maybe you didn't know going into your senior year? Yeah, that definitely is a tough question because, you know, we go deep here, Angelina. Yeah. Yeah. You know, because when you're dancing, you're obviously just, you're, you know, what I honestly learned was just to be in the moment. And I know that's not a lot about me, but it's actually something I,

just took away from dance that has helped me through running and just through life in general is to be in the moment. I remember my dance teachers would say, you know, you can be stressed about homework, you can be stressed about whatever, running, anything you want. But while you're in the studio, you're here for an hour, be in the studio and being with the people around you. And I think that's so important just in life, honestly, to really, really appreciate where you're at and who you're around. Okay. So that is about you. And I love that answer because you cannot be a peak performer without being present and in the moment. Right. You have to be so dialed into what's going on now. And if you think about other things in the past or the future, you know, you're not going to do very well in that

moment, right? Because your heightened sense of awareness goes up. Maybe your heart rate. goes up and now we're not running as efficiently. So I really actually love that answer. You know, be present, be in the moment. Be where you're feet are. I love it. All right, cool. So let's get into it, right?

Let's get into it. So the audience wants to know because a lot of, so pretend that nobody listening to the show right now knows what Steeplechase is. All right. All right. So Steeplechase is basically like, if you know 400 meter hurdles, it's just basically like that, a little bit less hurdles. and you do it for five laps around the track.

And then also, one of the hurdles, you're going straight into a water pit. Yeah, I mean, it's probably, especially because I do it, I feel like I could say this, it's probably one of the toughest events on the track, you know, because you're already tired and you got a hit,

I want to say there's, I honestly don't even know. I want to say there's five barriers on the track as well. Let me, like one, two, yeah, I think five. And, you know, you're already exhausted. Your legs are very fatigued and you still have to jump over the barriers with good form and make it to the end of the race.

And I have taken a stumble in the water pit before and it's not fun. But, you know, part of the race is finishing it. So that's also tough if you ever fall, you just got to kind of. get up and keep going. Yeah, I mean, it's definitely a tough race, but it's, it's fun and, and it's always a good time. That's awesome. Yeah. It's funny because you mentioned about the water pit.

I think I saw a video on your Instagram where you like jumped over the whole damn water pit. Oh, yeah. I honestly, I do sometimes jump over the pit. I have pretty long legs. So I'm fortunate I was like, I was like, what's going on? Like, how the hell is she doing this? Like that's not even an obstacle for her. She just leapt over that son of a bit.

Yeah. It's really cool. And actually, like, you do want to keep like a little bit of your foot in the water just to, you know, kind of break the fall. But, I mean, sometimes you get going so fast that you're just, you're right over it. So it got a lot of adrenaline. That's not. That's nuts. So had a great, great career in high school, great senior year.

Yeah. And did you break some records for Steeble Chase, right? Yeah. So I broke the New York state record and the national record, which I think like the national record is probably the big one that people would know. Yeah. Yeah. So I actually broke that my junior year and then I rebroke it again my senior year. You broke your own record. Yes. Well, actually, I was going back and forth. We had a lot of girls from New York that were very talented in Staplechase. And I mean, it made it such, it honestly made it so known because I was actually another girl broke my record from junior year who graduated with me as well.

Oh, wow. And then we were kind of going back and forth and I ended up breaking it at the end of my senior year. So I still hold it, but it was. That's exciting. Yeah, it was exciting. So what was the record before you broke at your junior year? and what was it when you got the record back? Yeah, so my junior year, I believe it was a 624.

And I actually think I just went right under that. My junior year, I was probably 623. Wait, stop, hold on. Five laps with hurdles in six minutes and 23 seconds. Yeah. Dude, I can drive a car that fast. Like, that's insane. Keep going, I'm sorry.

That's impressive. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was tough, though. Don't give me wrong. Jesus. Yeah. And then my senior year, I went 618 to break the record. Good God.

Yes, it was very, it was tough, but we got it done. What kind of training, what kind of physical training goes into something like that? Yeah, so, you know, I definitely think it's difficult because you want to hit the miles, but also I'm a mid-distance runner. I also focus on the 800, which is just two laps around the track. So, you know, I'm definitely focused on that, but I also have to cater towards, you know, mileage with even cross-country mixed in there too. So, you know, I was hitting probably about 55 miles a week around there. And then, you know, obviously I'm pretty strong into lifting.

Like, it's really important to me. and I would be lifting about three times a week, you know, just some pretty heavy lifts in there. And honestly, also I think it's so important just going again with like the flexibility and mobility. I would try to, you know, slide of yoga in there at least once a week just to make sure I'm, you know, limber and my back's not getting too messed up or anything like that. This is amazing. This is what I really enjoy about conversations like this, Angelina, is the fact that at such a young age, you were so active and you knew. the type of processes to put in place to make you as successful as possible and in all your performances.

Where did you learn that from? Yeah, I mean, just kind of going back to my family and, you know, obviously my brothers were always athletes through high school. And I definitely looked up to them. They were always lifting and in the gym. And, you know, just watching them do that, I think definitely kind of sparked something in me. And throughout 2020, actually, when we were in lockdown, I got really into lifting. And it was very important to me.

And I honestly kind of revolved my training more around lifting than probably running. And I had to tone that down a little bit because, you know, I'm definitely a runner. I'm not a power lifter. Right, right. You know, honestly, just like doing your research, I looked up videos. I would sit in the gym if I wanted to learn something. just look up the YouTube video. You know, everything's kind of out there for you.

If you want to learn how to do a power clean, you can look it up on YouTube and someone's going to teach you. And you just kind of work through the mechanics. And I think, you know, I look back on videos that I took of myself trying to weight lift. And I was like, why my form's horrendous in that. You know, like it's so bad. But you kind of just like learn through yourself. And you learn through other people too, watching other people in the gym, watching my

brothers left getting advice from them honestly just taking anything i could get grabbing at anything that's how i kind of wrote that training and you know then my junior year i had a recipe already and my senior year i followed that same recipe and it worked again so so why change it yeah why change it this is the thing like to have a process like that angelina is not normal for for high school athletes like I know a lot of really good baseball players that don't even know what the back of their hand looks like as far as the schedule goes. Like they can't they can't do it, right? Yeah. So let me ask you a question because and we'll get to a lot of the mental stuff too.

But how has been how is being so regimented and strategic in your process and planning? How did that help you going into NC State? because quite literally you don't own your time once you get to a Division I school. Right. Right. To walk us through that. How to prepare you? Yeah.

I mean, it definitely, I think time management is key. You know, I would be lifting in between, especially during COVID, you know, we had a lot of, I had a lot more free time just with online classes. You know, I would literally be sitting on an online class and sometimes be lifting while I'm listening. to my class. Of course. Yes, of course. Yeah, you know, that's normal. Hey, she's multitasking. She's a peak performer, ladies and gentlemen. Yeah. Doesn't mean she's perfect. I mean she's peak performer. Yeah, yeah. But, you know, once we got back into school, you know, my junior senior year, you know, on my, if I had a study hall, you know, I just, obviously I got to get my work

done. Of course, that's important. But I made time for that. And I think, you know, I, think during the day, I would, you know, sign out, go lift, come back to school, go to practice, and then after I had my night to, I would go to dance either at night or, you know, sit down, do some work. And I mean, honestly, high school wasn't as strenuous as colleges. College is a lot different, you know, just dealing with the studies and everything like that. It's definitely something I'm still getting used to. You know, I've only been here for a little under a semester. So it's definitely still something I'm working with, but definitely time management is so key in this whole process. Being able to know, honestly, just plan out your day.

You know, I'm going to lift between this time. I'm going to run between this time. And I have this much time to do my studying and what to-do lists are my friend. I mean, I make a ton of to-do lists and this is what I need to do. and I make sure to get it done, honestly. You know, it's super important because, you know, I work with a lot of athletes. I have a group of athletes that I work with every Sunday evening. You should come tonight if you want.

It's really cool. We get together and we have a Zoom and we just go through stuff. It's amazing. And then I also coach these athletes one-on-one, different athletes, not specifically them. But one of the things that I do immediately is go through time management. an organization, right? Because if we can't budget our time correctly, we can't get better. So it was funny, I was, I was talking to one of my athletes, he plays baseball in the SEC over at Missouri. And we had a one-on-one session two weeks ago. And we had another one this weekend. But the one prior, I said,

hey, listen, man, let's really get down Monday through Friday where you're going to be every second of the day. And we broke down his schedule from 6 a.m. wake all the way to 9.45 p.m. Like, he knows when he can go get his his prep work done if he has 11 to 12 break or if he gets out a little early he knows he can eat from 11 to 12 go down to the baseball field get his prep work in get 20 minutes of early hitting in and then hit with the team and then ready to roll like that is so important right and the fact that you were able to break down your day whether it's post it notes to do lists it doesn't matter whatever works for you how are you keeping track of these things you have a calendar or do you just have you just write it down in a binder yeah i have a good old fashion planner that's what i use

you pin the paper too yeah yes right here i have it right here in the paper got it you see that bad boy that's what i'm talking about yeah like that right there like to me electronic calendars freak me out no oh my gosh i cannot do electronic no no because i get i get notifications on the stupid phone why does this thing get a fucking vote like i know i know it's like what i don't get a vote like what does he get a vote? So like I'll get like a like a boom, you have something in 15 minutes. I'm like, yeah, yeah, whatever. Yeah. Right. I miss. When I first started doing my show, like I would almost miss podcast because this thing, this electronic calendar that my wife told me I had to use sucked. Yeah. Like I went back to old like paper, you know, pen to or pencil to paper.

Yeah. Go it up. I know where I'm going to be every single time. Like right there. So, okay. So, you know, 2023, Gatorade Player of the Year, let's talk about that accomplishment because, yeah, obviously, I'm sorry, and ladies and gentlemen,

national track and field player of the year for girls. Like, that's, that's ridiculous. Like, right? So, yeah.

Walk us through that year and some of the, and let's also talk about some of the things that are not so great, right? Let's talk about maybe some of the pressures,

the anxieties. Oh, yeah. I mean, because I would, I would imagine to think that, you're just not going through, you know, the season like, yeah, cool, whatever happens happens. No, definitely not.

Like, there's some anxieties, right? Yeah. So let's walk through some of those anxieties and then educate the audience on how you overcame them. Yeah. So, I mean, honestly, starting with the fall, my senior year, I definitely think, actually, take it back to my junior. Honestly, my fall, winter, spring, you know,

getting into my junior year, I was actually dealing with a little bit of an iron deficiency, which is very common in runners, especially female runners. But it took me out for a little bit. I was struggling with that for a while. Very tired? Yes, very. I was not finishing races. Shit, my wife don't run and she has an iron deficiency.

So I can see what it goes to her. I can't even imagine for a peak performer like yourself, you know, having to deal with that. Yeah. It was, no, you're all good. It was all just, you know, it was a lot for me to deal with. And I got through it, though. And, you know, my junior year was honestly just on the up and up. There wasn't a lot of pressure because I was kind of coming out of nowhere.

It's not like my sophomore year or my freshman year. I was on the scene at all. I was really under wraps. Not a lot of people really knew who I was at all. maybe throughout, you know, our local races, but it wasn't anything national or even statewide at all. I didn't truly make states and running until my junior year for track. So, you know, that was all on the up. And I knew I told my parents after my junior year track states, after I won, I doubled and I won.

I doubled and I won the 800 and the steeple at States. And I told them I was like, I mean, I don't know how I'm supposed to do that again next year. I was like, there's no way. I don't know how I'm physically going to be able to redo everything I did last year. There's just, it's impossible. I mean, it's there's so, and there's so much pressure on that. So that definitely was stressful, but I tried not to think. about it until it, you know, came around the next year. So follow my senior year. I was, I was,

you know, preparing all summer, getting ready, getting in shape, and it worked out. I went to states for cross-country, and I was definitely stressed, you know, trying to repeat that title is not an easy thing to do. But I did it, and the goal, honestly, for that year was to make now. nationals and cross-country. And once I got that goal done, you know, I was really satisfied with that season. So, and I knew going into my track season, my indoor, my outdoor seasons, those are my tough seasons. Those are the ones I had to be honed in on.

There was a lot of pressure there. And I actually fell into a little bit of a rut my indoor season. I wasn't PRing at all. I was working my ass off and I wasn't seeing the results of it. and it's really frustrating for me, you know, going out every day. And especially in New York, the weather's not good. And I'm out in 10-degree weather trying to get a workout done on the track that's covered in ice, slipping all over the place, you know, even getting on the treadmill.

It's just honestly maxing out our treadmills in the school because they're just, they're not high-tech ones. It's not like they're going as fast as I need them to go on my workouts for track. especially. So, you know, it's frustrating when you're going through that and you're not seeing the results. And, you know, I felt like I wasn't, what was I doing wrong? Was I not working hard enough? And actually, I went and I was so nervous for states, indoor states.

I was running the 1,000. And I ended up just, I ended up winning just by honestly, barely. I barely won. I remember walking off the track, shaking my head. It was an awful race for me. I felt like crap. I was just not even there. And I was so distraught because I knew my toughest season hadn't even begun.

So I was really frustrated. But I ended up figuring everything out. And I had actually slipped kind of back into an iron deficiency. and that's why I was just training for honestly nothing. My body wasn't keeping up with what I was doing. So that was definitely frustrating. And I'd say that's definitely a downfall of this is, you know, I'm working with, it's myself and my parents.

I mean, I don't have a lot of not, honestly, nobody in high school has a lot of help. it's you're just kind of seeing what you can do and and hoping that it works out. And sometimes it doesn't. And, you know, it's not like I have, I mean, here I have all the doctors or the help I could ever have and ever want and need. So it's very nice. But in high school, it's just not like that. So moving on to my spring season, the pressure was honestly kind of through the roof for me. I was expected, you know, break the national record again and do it better. I had run 206 in the 800 my junior year, and I was trying to break that again. And I'm coming off a season that I wasn't super confident in. So I kind of just put my head down and just kept working.

And it was tough. I lost a few races, but I just got up. And honestly, the first big race I won was. pen relays, I won the mile. And it's not even like I won it in a PR or anything. That race was all mental. And it was all about who was going to finish the last 400 meters as hard as they could. And, and who wanted it the most. And walk us through that. Walk us through that because there's some good shit here. Like, yeah. You know, like that wasn't even one of your big, you know, Like you said, was it like, so walk us through the last 400 meters.

Yeah. So during that race, you know, we kind of took it out slow. And I was honestly, I felt good. I was just hanging on the shoulder of one of the other athletes. And, you know, we got 800 meters in and I was like, I'm, I'm just going to go. There's no value in me sitting here. And, you know, everybody, we haven't expanded this group out at all. everybody was still in the race.

Everybody still had, you know, they could still win it. And so I kind of started pushing the pace. And that last 400 meters, I actually got passed up right going into the 200. And I almost, I kind of, you know, when you're in so when you're in pain and you're working hard, your brain kind of. your brain kind of turns off and you're like, oh, she's going to beat me. You know, I just don't have it in me today. It's so easy to give up when the going gets tough. It's so easy to do that. And I honestly, I just ran a race the other day and I did that. It was tough and my legs weren't feeling it and I couldn't move them any faster. And it was frustrating, but it happens. But in that particular moment, I said that and I was like, oh, she's going to beat me. And I just turned. it off. And I said, no, she's not. She's not going to beat me. I feel good. Why am I letting myself get defeated when there's 200 meters left in the race and she's two feet in front of me? I already

lost the race by telling myself that she won it already. She didn't because I switched my mindset and I, you know, I kind of just put the pedal to the metal and I just started sprained in the last 200 meters. And I thought to myself, whoever goes with me is going with me. And if they don't, you know, I got this one in the bag.

So that's honestly, that's what happened that last, honestly, 200 meters. And that was kind of the step forward into, you know, just on the up of my season. You know,

you don't, you definitely, when you're going through that hard, especially in indoor, I don't think I won maybe two or three races. I was at all the big races. I raced one big event called Millrose Games, and I nearly got dead last. And it was pretty crushing because actually there are professional athletes. They're competing in the same meet. So it's like you want to perform while you want to do good. and you nearly get dead last, and it's like, that's embarrassing for me. It's not even at my expectations.

It's so below my expectations that I was just crushed. So to come on with the win at Penrillas really boosted my confidence, and it is important to have those wins. There's definitely downs, but you have to have ups or else those downs just, keep going down and and you need to be able to build yourself up. And I'm not saying you have to win a race to build yourself up, but you have to have little wins, whether that's you have a good rep in your workout or, you know, you have a good run. Anything. You need to have little wins and you need to be able to be building yourself up even if, even if you think you're on a downward

spiral. Yeah. I love that. I mean, listen, because like, and I want everybody listening, To close their eyes and think about this, imagine that time where you're just sucking wind and you're tired, whether you're a runner, baseball player, football player, basketball player, or you're an entrepreneur, whatever the hell it is. I don't know. And you're sitting there and you're like, when is it my time? When am I going to win? I don't have it in me. I'm done. That person's just going to win. And then you tell yourself, this decision that you make in your mindset, like she said, Angelie said it was a shift in her mindset. She goes, no, she's not. I'm done with this shit. I'm going. They can keep up with me if they want, but I'm going to smoke this chick. She had half a lap left. So all of you sitting there thinking that you're losing, you may have a half a lap ahead of you, but then there's someone sitting right in front of you that you're chasing. It doesn't mean you're done. It doesn't mean you're done.

It means right now, ladies and gentlemen, you have a choice to make. You could either say, you know what? I'm going to submit to these weak-ass thoughts and I'm going to get beat or I'm going to push through them. I'm going to get uncomfortable. and I'm going to go because 200 meters away, that's your springboard to an amazing triumphant spring season. 100%. And I mean, it's, like I said, it's truly like the,

whether it is a big win or it's a little win, you have to have to have little wins or you have to have wins to have wins to keep yourself going. it's 100% you do. So it's all about the mindset and how you're looking at the process. You have to enjoy the process, but you have to also enjoy the game. I'm chuckling because this is what this whole thing's about. Like you're hitting on all these amazing points that a lot of athletes are just letting it go by them.

They don't understand that the most important thing that they have is loving the process. Yeah. And trusting in it. Like the real reward, if you think about this too, like you probably perform so much better when you think of, okay, the gift and the reward is the actual work. Yeah. The results just come. Right. You know, the reward is the weight room.

The reward is those days on the cold ass track when it's icing. You're trying not to slip. Yeah. That's where champions are made. Not in competition time. Not at all. No. Right?

No, and in fact, once you're at competition, it's too late for that. You have to trust the process. You have to trust your training. And to trust your training, you have to put in the work. You're not going to be able to trust your training if you're not putting in the work. If you're giving up halfway through, you know, yeah, honestly, if you're giving up, that's, and not only do you have to trust the process, but you do have to enjoy the game. too. And you have to be there for when the going gets tough. Because especially in running,

and this happens in all sports too, you know, you get tired, you get exhausted and it's so easy for like self-defeat and for your for your brain to say, oh, this is so hard. I'm, you know, I'm just not going to be able to finish. But that's where, to me, that's actually where champions are made if you can push past that. Hell yeah. Yeah. Let me ask you a question because there's that moment, right, where you're going through some like really bad shit.

Oh, yeah. When you're not feeling well in that season, you could easily just say, I'm done. This is just not going to be good. A lot of people try to leave that place of adversity too soon where I think that it's very important that if you're feeling a certain way, if you're feeling down, your body doesn't feel good and maybe you just feel like you're just garbage at that point yeah lean into those feelings i was going to say you definitely have to break that down too um like why are you feeling like that what i like to do you know if you change nothing nothing changes if my foot's bothering me

then i need to start doing some mobility um and if i'm slacking off on that then that's probably why my ankle or my foot's going to hurt me. You need to change something in your day to day because I think a lot of people get injured and then they're not changing anything to prevent that again. That's why I implement, you know, this is physical, merely physical, but that's why I implement yoga into my weekly cycle of training because it is important to do, you know, preventative measures to do that. And, you know, also we've all gone through injuries and stuff like that. And that's me changing something so that I don't get hurt. And a lot of people don't like to. Yeah. Angelina, you're different. You're special. I mean, the preventative. Before you said preventative,

I was thinking she's taking preventative measures so she doesn't get hurt. She's proactive. For those of you out there, peak performance, our peak performers, they are proverbs. They are They do not sit around and wait to get injured before they handle this shit. They take care of it right then and there. And the one thing that I love about your story is it's not perfect, right? None of it was perfect. And I think a lot of times young athletes and then even when I was an athlete and sometimes it bleeds over into my professional career in the show, if I hear something on a recording like, oh my gosh, I didn't like how I said that.

I beat myself up. I'm like, well, now this bad show. It was a bad show. I didn't, I wasn't my best. And that's not true. That's bullshit. That's a lie, right? The reality is peak performance doesn't mean perfect performance.

No. Yeah. And honestly, just like learning. I mean, it's so like just cliche, honestly, but it's just, it's so true. You learn something from all your mistakes and all the downfalls. And you also learn things from all your ups. I was actually just talking to my dad about this today. just like you can't linger on your downs,

but you also can't linger on your ups. So you just have to have a fair game and, you know, just really try to work through it. Love it. I love it. We're getting close to the end of the show, and I want to cover one more topic. Okay, I think it's really cool. Like being that athlete that accomplished so much,

your junior year and your senior year, you won the National Gatorade Player of the Year for track and field for girls. and then you get invited to the fucking espies like dude you're sitting there at that you're sitting there looking you're at the espies man walk everybody through that experience that is like the if you're an athlete

oh yeah dude that's the pinnacle like you're at the Oscars right like you're at the country music award you're like holy shit I'm on the red carpet I'm getting my black dress on I'm ready to roll so walk us through that tell us about that experience yeah I mean just like the the whole trip out to L.A. with Gatorade was was just insane. They treated us like like rock stars. Honestly, like we were just, I mean, it takes my breath away

because it was just like, you know, we show up there. I can see you lighting up. Yeah, I mean, it's crazy. It's like we were really treated like, you know, I mean, we're just in high school. And I mean, it felt like we were being treated like we were like professionals. And so then to go to the Aspies and to see professional athletes and to see, you know, athletes that, I mean, they have what you want, what you're craving for just for a career. So, you know, it's super cool to see, you know, Damar Hamlin walking right by me.

I was just going to ask you, dude, like not too far after his cardiac arrest on the field like that how cool is that you think i bet you he was pretty damn happy to be there too yeah and also you know just come from like go bills you know yeah i know yeah what a moment yeah what a moment um almighty yeah it was it was you know it's cool it's just they're they're living the life that everybody everybody wants and it's just cool to kind of see it don't get me wrong they put in a lot of work to get where they're at. But, you know, that's where everybody that I was with at Gatorade, that's where they want to be. And it was just really interesting to, you know, see everybody and see all the awards getting, you know, handed out.

You know, because that's where we want to be. That's cool. A couple more questions for you. Yeah. One pertains to being there in that moment, maybe after the photos shoot on the red carpet, it after all the photos with, you know, Damara Hamlin, you're sitting there in the room, right? Was there ever a moment where you just sat there and you just smiled and you got those goosebumps all over your body and you said, you know what?

God dang, girl, good job. Like, you created this. Like, walk us through that because being proud of oneself, I think is very easy when you're at the pinnacle. But I also believe that not enough athletes are proud of themselves in general, right? that experience with them. Yeah, I mean, I honestly really do get that. You know, people have asked me, you know, just like, do you realize, you know, you hold a national record or like you got this award?

Do you understand that? And I mean, I'm going to be honest, like, I really don't sit back enough to like let it just be like, wow, that is what I did because. And I agree. It's something I have to work on. as well, just like, you know, taking a step back and looking at that. But, you know, all athletes, especially when you're at a high level, you're surrounded by everyone else doing such great things. And especially in the running world, and especially being on a team like NC State, you know, they've won now two back-to-back NCAA cross-country titles. So, you know, everybody here is good.

everybody here has state titles, you know, awards, you know, whatever. Everybody here has that. So, you know, I don't, I don't really dwell on it too much because, you know, you're always, like I said, I just, I definitely have to, I definitely have to look at it a little bit more and say, wow, it is, it is cool because I won't be there for, I won't, you know, I won't be 18 forever and I'm not going to be living. in this time of my life forever. So I do have to spend more time reflecting on that. But also, you know, I definitely don't look into it too much because there is so much talent that I'm surrounded with constantly. Dude, that's such a great point because too many athletes rest on the shit that they did

previously. Yeah. And then we go to a big Division I program with a story tradition like NC State cross country with back-to-back national championships. So you know there's going to be more hardware in your future, right? I mean, yeah, I help. Good board willing, right? Like, let's go.

Let's win some more shit. Yeah. And also like, hey, you're not the big fish anymore. Like, you're just like everybody else is just like you. You know, you literally, when you get to a big program like you're at, no matter what sport it is, dude, look to your left, look to your right, look to your left. There's Angelina and Napoleon's everywhere. Everywhere. Yes.

And that's the exciting part. right? Right. It's one of those things that we weren't able to get to in this show. But I wanted to highlight it really quickly. It's like you know the work's not done. So let's not be seduced by the success year. Let's keep working, right?

Yeah. And I mean, yeah, that's what you want to. I wouldn't want to come to any other program where, you know, I am the big fish because it's just, you know, that's not what you're looking for in a program. You're looking for. you're looking to be kind of, you know, at the bottom and you got to work your way up. And when you do work your way up, it feels pretty damn good because you're surrounded by a lot of great athletes. So you've worked your way up.

And you know you've earned it at that point, right? You earned it. So amazing. Let me, before we land the plane here, before we, you know, in the show, and I want, I want you to give the audience a word of advice if they're an athlete. What would you tell them means the most in the transition from high school athletics and performance to becoming a collegiate athlete? Yeah. You know, and I tell myself this advice every day. I'm still learning it too.

But you have to be patient. And it's so simple, but it's so true. And you can put it with anything you do in life. You have to be patient. Nothing's instant. you're not going to show up, just like we were talking about, you're not going to show up here and be the best. It's not, it's just not going to happen. There's too many people.

There's too much going on for you to be the best in everything, and you have to work your way up there. And the only way to work your way up there is to be patient and to trust the process. I mean, yeah, it's very simple, but I, I use it in almost every day. I have to tell myself, I get too ambitious. And I'm like, why isn't this happening now? I've worked. I've been doing this for two weeks.

You know, not even two weeks. I've been doing this for. You sound like me, dude. Yeah. You sound like just every other peak performer. It's normal. Yeah. You're in good company.

Don't worry. Yeah. Yeah. You know, not even two weeks. You know, you're doing something for two months. And you're like, why am I not seeing the result of my work? And to that, I just have. have to say, just be patient with it. And if you know it works, it's going to work and follow,

follow the plan. So love it. That's it. That's it. Right. That's the mic drop. Don't give in too quickly. No one ever said there was a time limit on it. So listen, guys, I want to thank you for listening to the show and Angelina and Napoleon. Thank you so much for coming on. You have been such an amazing guest, an incredible conversation from an incredible young woman and athlete. I'm going to ask you all, that are listening right now to share the show out, you know, give us a nice review, you know, leave a comment for Angelina and wish her well. But, you know, again, just thank you so much, Angelina. And, you know, just hang out while we say goodbye to the audience. But until next time, guys, just be determined, trust the process and just get after your damn goals and stop listening

to the peanut gallery or the little thoughts in your head that say that you can't do the shit. Just go out there and work and get it. and done. Peace. Southwest Florida is one of the most beautiful places on the planet to live. For those of you that are thinking of moving from other states to come to Florida or even just moving to a different part of the state, I want you to think of a big, beautiful luxury home. Contact legacy luxury builders. They are a family owned and operated luxury residential construction company. As a family-owned business, they believe in the power of building not just homes, but legacies. contact legacy luxury developers.

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