WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Thursday Lunch: Tales of Two Pro Athletes

Episode Date: January 28, 2025

This week Jillian and Bella excitedly welcome you back to their lunch table after a long winter break with stories of their experiences as some of the best athletes in the country. Learn about everything from good sportsmanship to post-race nutrition. We really do have it all! Oh and a 12 minute mile is a lot harder than it sounds guys.

This is Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. I'm Jillian and I'm Bella and you're listening to Thursday Live. Okay, so today we're embarking on a journey. A journey I rarely embark on, which is telling stories about sports. Here's one thing you need to know about me when it comes to sports. I am inept. I am like I typically only really do things that I'm good at. And so because I'm not good at sports, that bleeds into. every area of my life. Like when people are like, let's play a game of capture the flag. Let's play Frisbee. Let's do a race down the street. No. Shut it down. Not even a race down the street. I won't do anything. I don't like it because I'm not good at it. So what's the point? Answer me. That's an interesting way of looking at life. Here's the thing. It serves me well most of the time. But when it comes to any sort of group game activity that requires physical exertion, I'm done for.

Okay. Because I suck. And you're going to be able to tell that from all the stories not to share with you today. Okay. Does yours have a similar theme or different? Um, well, I did I did a good amount of sports, but it was always kind of like, like, I ran for like 10 years. Terrible. But it was basically just because my best friend in second grade, her dad was the coach, and so she was going to do it. So I did it. And then we just kept, we switched schools together and everything. So I, we just kept running. That's horrible. Um, anyways, do you want to start us off with your appetizer story about it? My appetizer. And are we giving our food? Yeah, give us our food.

I have to say I'm a little bit of a villain in this story. I'm a villain in my appetizer story as well, so that's awesome. It's almost giving like, it's like a Caesar salad, but they put a lot of anchovies on it. And like lemon maybe too, so it's like, yeah. You're like, why is it fishy? It's not good. Anyway. Perfect.

So not a good Caesar salad. No. Why does it have so many anchovy? Anyways, here I am. Okay. I'm in, my gosh. I want to say like third or fourth grade. And we're at a cross-country meet.

Okay. Classic. And I have to say, I can't lie. I sucked. Oh. I didn't suck. I was not very good. I did get better later on.

But at this point, I was just very mediocre. You were dreaming big, but not big enough. Yeah, not really big enough. And I start off this race. I always did this really awesome thing that you're not supposed to do, which is when you start, you sprint as hard as you can. so you look like, so you're in the front. Yeah.

And then you actually fall behind immediately. Okay, yeah. And so that's already really embarrassing. So let's just say, I kept doing it. And every time my coach would be like, stop doing that. You're not going to stay up there. Stop. Nice.

And I'm like, I might one day though. But like, what if I just kept going? What if I just kept going at that speed? I'd win the first place. So anyways, I'm running and like literally 300 meters in. I'm like almost at the back. And I'm like, gosh. Oh my gosh.

And like, maybe like five people ahead of me is my friend, classic. Okay. And I'm not going to lie, I took advantage of her in the way that she's like, she's very much a pushover. So she ends this race. I end it maybe 30 seconds after her. Like, I kind of got up a little bit. And at this particular race, this wasn't normal, but they, as you came across the finish line, they gave you a card with a number on it, like the number you got.

Nice. Oh, so she, and honestly, like, I, we were in the 20s, so it was not that bad. Let's just say, I think she was 23. I was like 29 or something. She ends. We're both kind of at the finish together. I come in. I'm like, give me your card. Can we trade? Bella. Please trade, though. Please. Bella, you didn't earn it. Can we please trade though? Like, my parents are here. Like, I don't like, I just wanted to look at it. I'm like, please, John. She's like, I don't know. I'm like, please, can we trade? Please. What? And like, like, Also, imagine like a sweaty, horrible fourth grader just like, give me your card. Can we please just trade though? It's not even that big of a gap though. And like, I just like, can we trade? You are a villain. Yeah, that was really. And she did.

Like after, and I begged her and then she was like, okay. She probably tells people this story and she's like, I used to have this terrible friend, Bella. Anyways, so I made her trade cards and then she was like five places behind me and then I marched back to my parents. And I was like 23. Lucky number 23, which was also like. My birthday's March 23rd, so I was like, I bet you told her that too. And you're like, it's my lucky number. Give it. No, I literally probably did.

And yeah, she just kind of like moped around with her card. And I don't know why. Okay, I'm less of a villain in my story. So we're going to go with I'm also a Caesar salad, but just like a really tangy Caesar salad. But when you eat it, you're like, oh. Let's say you eat it and you feel like maybe there's E. coli in the lettuce. Oh. It's that lettuce that got recol.

Yeah, exactly. Like there's a possibility of E. coli. And you'll know why when I tell you the story. So I had trouble with this episode because obviously I didn't do sports. So what sports stories am I going to tell you? So for my appetizer, I'm going to do a short and sweet one that emphasizes something about me that I think you need to know, which is that I'm unbelievably anxious as a person. But not about the things that you'd think really matter, but about the things that are so minuscule, not a big deal. The sport of choice for me in fourth grade was four square. I was. as good at 4 square as you could be as a 9-year-old girl. Okay. So I would get up to the Ace Square or the King Square, depending on how you name them, every once in a while. And I would stay there and then I would leave. And it's just so classic. And as you got older with 4-square, the boys got more venomous and a little bit more sexist.

There'd be a lot more like, only boys are good at 4-square, and girls are only good at jump-ro. Wait, that's crazy because of my school, 4-square was the girls' game. Yeah, it was like that probably, but once we got more co-ed as a species, we were definitely like, yeah, we were definitely having arguments about only boys are good at four square though. And they were all like literally 25 pound boys hitting this ball around and being like, boys are by nature stronger. I'm like not right now though. And so I just remember there was this kid. I don't remember his name. and I was in the A-square

and I was doing my typical serve you know that was like cheap serves where you'd like serve it into their feet and then they're out I was doing one of those for sure and he was so angry at me that he was like do it again do it again that doesn't count

it's not a good serve and I remember being like I remember saying to him you're being a jerk and then passing the ball moving on eventually I got out of the A-square whatever for some reason you're being a jerk

stuck in my heart strong like I felt unbelievable amounts of guilt about it because I was like, oh, no, he's going to go to the guidance counselor and say, I'm going to end it because this girl called me a jerk in four square. I like, my mind took it to a place of unbelievable intensity. Wow, that's, you really blew that out of proportion. Yeah, and I went home and my mom was like, I remember her asking, did you have a good day? And be like, no, okay, I did it.

I didn't have a good day. And then going to bed and like being so unbelievably anxious going to sleep. Eventually, I just got over it because nothing ever can't move it. Shocker, nobody ever told the guidance counselor I called him a jerk, but it did feel like a swear word coming out of my mouth. You're being a jerk. You're being a jerk. Oh, my, I'm sorry. What made me say that? I can't believe it. Anyway, so you never apologized or anything? No, I didn't, but I probably forgot two hours later. He probably didn't even hear me. But I was, but I was, I literally thought like, I could be responsible for this kid's time. So, that's my story for the appetizer. Go ahead and

take us away with your big entree. My big entree. So in terms of food, I'm trying to think of something that like, okay, I guess I'm going to give food, but I want you to think you're looking at this plate of food and you're feeling nauseous. So imagine you're already feeling nauseous. Bean and toast. No, it's like, well, and it's like, I don't know, it's like chicken parm or something. I love chicken parm. Yeah, but like you're so like, your stomach is just so upset. And you're looking at it's like heaping pile and like the, the, like, the cheese is like coming off in one piece off the chicken. Like, you know what I mean. Yeah, I know what you mean. And just imagine you feel, you feel sick. So it's like it could be a good meal, but like you're like,

oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. It's like rotten chicken par. Yeah. Honestly, bad, soggy, rotty, rotty, soggy bottom chicky parm. Chicky pork. Anyway, this story actually, It actually takes place in a foreign country. So I don't know if you've ever heard of France or anything. I was there. I was 16, I believe. And so every year, when one of my sisters are I would turn 16, my dad will take us on this trip, okay? But there's a bit of a caveat.

Oh. You have to do something horrible. And that is the rule. You have to do something that is really hard. No, I refuse. So we are. here and we are running the D-Day Beach's

half marathon. My dad's doing the full marathon. I'm doing half because I'm weak. So we're about to run this race. I'm alone in France, by the way. I'm alone because my dad and his friend are running the marathon. I'm not doing that. I'm 16. So I run this race. It's like

13.6 miles, I think. Bella. It wasn't that horrible. It was low-key cute because well, it was like the 75th anniversary of D-Day. And for some reason, everyone there's, like, they think that, like, I storm the beaches. Like, they're like, America! Because our bids have, like, the flag on it of the country you're from. So they'd sit and be like, America, thank you. They're, like, waving American flag. Like, there was a celebration going on.

Anyways, that doesn't matter. I run this race. It was fine. At the end. I cannot believe you ran a half marathon. That's my biggest fear. My next story is going to look so terrible next to this. Well, this is more like the aftermath is the story in itself. The end of a race like this is the worst feeling you'll ever feel. When you have like one mile left, I would never know. You will beg God to let you die. And so I'm like running this and like, I just want to die. I want to die.

And one thing about me, I'm not an amazing runner, I never stop. I will never stop and walk during a race. So I'm like, holy, like my feet are concrete. I'm alone. I finish this race, okay? I turn it, I'm, I get to this tent. And I'm literally delirious at this point. My eyes are like, like, I can't see.

I get to this tent and the people are like, oh my gosh, there lies a bin of like chocolate bars that they've broken up into pieces. What? I don't know. They had all types of food. So I don't know why I go towards this bin of chocolate. And I'm just like, I'm eating so.

much of it. And then I'm like eating these orange slices. I don't know what's happening. It's literally shards of chocolate. You're delirious. I'm like literally like no water, nothing. Like I'm eating so much chocolate. And so you're in this like post-race area and I'm like now at this point, I'm stuffed full of chocolate and oranges. And I'm like, wait, like, where am I, my dad? Like, I don't, what's happening? And if you leave this like, this like area with the food and water and stuff you can't come back in. Oh. So I sit down, crisscross applesauce and I, like, I'm sitting there, like I'm trying not to throw up full of chocolate. I'm just like, I'm sitting down and I fall asleep, literally sat, crisscross applesau sat in the dirt. I fall asleep like Buddha or something.

And I wake up, I wake up because this French woman is in my face. Do you want some? Do you want? Well, she says something in French. I'm like, I don't speak that. And she's holding, I'm, I'm going to throw up thinking about it. She's holding like this custard. She's holding this horrible, well, it would probably be really good. She's like, it's French custard. You were like, I'm not eating custard. I was like, yeah.

I open up the lid and I'm looking at it. It's like jiggly. Like it's like flound kind of. And I'm just like, I'm like gagging at this point. And I'm like literally going in and out of consciousness because I've had no water. All I've had is chocolate. And now I'm looking at this custard. Custards. And it starts to get to the point where I'm like, I need help. So I'm looking around for like a paramedic. I don't know. And then thankfully, these two other people came out of the woodworks who were there with us who had run like the 5K and they were like, Bella, we were looking for you. They sound like that. And they saved me. But I felt nauseous for two days after that. And like the feeling like I can I can imagine the jiggly custard and that's it for me. This next story is going to make you feel.

like Superman. Are you ready? Yeah. Okay, my food is going to be like a small piece of chicken. Like if you were to have pieces of chicken on a plate, the smallest, measliest one, that's your dinner. That's your Andre. Are you ready to hear the story? Wait, that's it? Okay, I'm hungry, but okay. Yeah, I was too, apparently. So, man, that's, that joke will make sense once you hear my story. So we used to do this thing in ninth grade because PE is a required class if you want to graduate high school.

And so I was like, get it over with and do it in ninth grade. I did PE and we had Mile Monday. Oh. Mind you one mile Monday. On Monday, you would go out to the track and you'd run one singular mile. And every Monday I would wake up, I would like cry. Because I'd be like, I do not. I can't go back.

Can't do a mile. And it wasn't even every mile. Like, it wasn't even every Monday, mind you. It was like probably every two, three weeks maybe. It was sometimes. It was more frequent in the beginning and then less frequent at the end of the semester or the year actually. So you didn't know. You just wake up on Monday and be like, please, please, please, please, please.

Yes. And we had this thing at the beginning of second semester freshman year where we ran a mile and he took our time. Do you want to know what my time was? Yes. 12 minutes. Oh, that's not that bad. Hey, Bella, that's really bad. It's not that horrible.

Hey. I'm serious. I need you to understand that 12 minutes for a mile is very bad. And it was like, everyone else is finishing and like, this is PE, so it's not athletes, but like all these other non-athletic regular people are running like seven, eight, nine, nine at the max minute miles. I'm running 12. And minding the way that everyone's waiting. My strategy, my strategy for running a mile is. running like eight steps and then walking until I feel ready to run eight more steps. Literally that's

what I did was I would run right and be like oh I'm tired I'm walking so needless to say he takes he takes her time down. The visual I'm having right now is hilarious. Oh it's probably funnier honestly because like yeah and I'm struggling while it's happening it's horrible I once but I was also like in terms of academics very much an overachiever so he told the whole class that we had to get a sub nine minute mile to get an A on our mile. And I was like, oh, I actually can't. Like it actually, hey, it's actually not going to happen. So I spent, he told us at the beginning of the semester. So I spent the rest of the semester trying to butter him up. I graded all of our tests during my advisory period. I would sit there and grade all of his stuff. Like with a little red pen and be like, I'm grading so that I

could like get on his good side and he would not give me a zero for this mile. Because no way am I going to run a sub nine minute mile if a 12 is the best I could do. I'm not shaving three minutes off my mile time grow up. I don't even like it. So it's not like I'm something I'm motivated to do. It's like something I hate. And so we're getting to the end of the semester. I'm like, hey, coach, if I run a sub 12, as in like I had gotten 12, if I get anything lower than 12, can I get an A? And it worked. He said yes. He said yes, as long as you get lower than 12. And so the night before I'm like setting like this is my biggest final. Like I'm like, okay, if I run once 20, if I run 250 kilometers and then I walk the others. Wait, you're like, you're doing math to see how much you can

walk of it? Yes. I'm literally mapping out how much, like the most I can possibly walk and still get an A. Because I just need to get like an 1145 or something. Like I literally need to get just like sub 12. And I'm happy to report that the story has a happy ending. You did it? Because I got, I just know that I got an A. So I had to have gotten lower than 12. So you figured it out. The idea though, I don't know why I'm imagining you drawing the track on a piece of paper.

And you're like, so if I run this and then I can walk this much and then like on the third lap, like walk this. That's probably true. I remember getting to the end. I remember like the way that I do sports is that if I have even the twinge of I don't want to do this anymore, I obey. I obey. Like if I'm doing homework and I hear and I feel like, oh, I don't want to. read this anymore. I'm like push through. Do it. Wimp. If I'm doing something physical, are you kidding me? I'm immediately like, yes ma'am. At the first thought of doubt, you're like,

I'm not. Yes, ma'am. I'm not doing anymore. So like, I was proud. You can listen to your body. I was proud of myself because I would run and I would be like, I want to stop. And I'd be like, no, 10 more steps. So I do like 10 more steps and I'd be like, okay, big break, big walk. I still probably came in like freaking last place. Probably the other girls were able to pull it together for the final. But our final was a mile and I know that I got an A on it. And so at the end you won. Yeah, but it's a measly piece of chicken. It is. And it's probably like gray or something. Yeah, maybe undercooked. We both had to use your sauer and chicken. Shall we have a drink? Yeah, let's have a drink. Okay. For our drinks today, we're just going to share with you our number one

song for the year from our Spotify rap. Mine isn't crazy. Mine is, okay, so I actually have to caveat this. Technically, my number one song is never, I think it's never lose me or never going to lose me. by Flow Millie because I left it, I accidentally left it on overnight once when I was on Whip, I think. I left it on while I was sleeping because I listened to it one time and then I listened to it 174 times because it played for literally probably 10 hours. So I don't count that one as my main song. But my main song is what I, I would say that my drink would probably be like a monster. Like maybe the original, maybe like a mango flavor situation. It's a little bit. Something like, ooh, adults drink that, but it's like maybe not great for you mentally, physically at a soul level.

It's the song Rodeo by, I think it's pronounced La Pat, La Pat, La Pat, La Pat. L-A-H-P-A-T-L-A-T-A-T-L-A-Pat. I don't know. With Flomilly on it, actually. Oh, so. So you are a huge Flomilly fan, allegedly. Apparently. But I listen to that song over 100 times on purpose.

And that's going to be the drink for me. Go ahead. Well, for me, every single year my Spotify rap gets taken over by Chet Baker because I listen to it all the time. So all the songs except for the fifth one are Chet Baker. But I'm about to give credit where credit is due because it's because it's good. Period.

So my top song is Fair Weather by Chet Baker. Can't really describe it because it's jazz, but it's beautiful. What's the drink? It is like, it's got to be like a stiff drink. You know what I mean? Yeah. Like, you're like, it's probably like, I don't know, what's the gross drink that like Abbotts?

Yeah, it's like a Manhattan or something. You don't like that. Come on. But like, you're sipping it and you're like, is that how you feel about that song? So I'm describing it wrong, but like it's that type of drink that's like so sophisticated. That's what makes you feel like. Yeah, it makes you feel like you could drink a Manhattan and be like, yeah. And be like, yeah, I like this.

I actually do like it. What, I actually love how this tastes like the throat in my throat, though. It makes me feel like that type of person. Okay, perfect. Anyways, and that would be that. Sounds like we had a delicious meal. I had a zesty seizure salad with a measly piece of chicken and a monster. And I had an anchovy, overwhelmingly anchovy, seizure salad with bad chicken pork.

And in Manhattan. Yum. We always craft horrible meals. I hope one day we craft a good one. And then we should make it in real life. And then on the podcast. Does it sound good to you guys? Do you guys like a muck bang?

You want a bite? You want a bite? And then we send a bite to all our fans. Perfect. In an envelope. If you want to do that, just keep tuning in on Radio Free Hillsdale, 1.1.7. I have Thursday lunch every Thursday. Wow.

I'm Jillian Park. And I'm Bella. We'll talk you next week. Bye. Bye.