Tables Have Turned: Coach Cat Round 2

This Transcript is Autogenerated:

Kristi Wagner  0:00  
I think I was really nervous because all of a sudden I was like, quote, unquote, in the system. And I wasn't sure that that made me a good athlete, because I had experienced in my eyes like more success outside of the system. And so then going into this year, I had a lot of, I think anxiety about that, that I could only go fast or be the best version of myself existing kind of in this Saratoga vacuum outside the system like doing personalized things. Welcome to the other three years, a show for anyone who has an Olympic sized dream, they want to turn into a reality. Hi, and welcome to this week's episode of the other three years. This is a fun episode because it is part two of my conversation with my coach Eric Catalino, who I call cat. And we sat down on our return from the World Championships. And in part one, which was aired last week, I asked him questions, and he answered them. And in part two, he asks me some questions and I answer them, but he still share some wisdom because he's a coach. And that's what he loves to do. So there's a lot of fun tidbits in there. And I think we got some really good intel about coming back from the World Championships, the goals that lie ahead and how it's been for me being back. Can't wait for you guys all to hear it. Cats a fan favorite. So he's, he's back for another week. But before we get into that, I'm going to share an update on what is currently going on in my training. So I'm back in Saratoga. And I'm now like, more back into training. But still, I'd say not 100% sort of closer to like 80 90% then I think next week will be 100%. I'm being hilarious about this, but the percentages people really liked they bought it people talk to me about it. So last week was a good week, like a good week of training, definitely feeling more like myself and training, had some really, really good workouts like, was a little nervous to do an actual workout. But I did it and it was okay. And been doing some bike commuting, which is really fun riding my bike over to the boathouse in the morning. And it's funny because it takes kind of the same amount of time it used to take me to drive to the boathouse, but life is so much better on a bike. You're just out enjoying the air and the wind and the scenery and the morning. It's a nice warm up. Yeah, it's been really fun. Some of my teammates rode their bikes to Vermont and then raced at the Green Mountain had this weekend, which shout out to them. That is an epic weekend. Little jealous I didn't get to do that sounds super fun. And they crushed it the bike ride and the race, I instead went home to Boston and celebrated my mom's birthday, which was super, super fun. She's iconic and amazing. And it was really nice that some of our family and some of her friends just small get together. I was just really happy to be able to celebrate her because she is so special and so important to so many people. And we all deserve to be celebrated. But especially my mom and I got to see a few friends and one of my cousin's on Sunday. So it was really a good weekend. And then today is Monday and we did our triathlon again this morning. It was fun. The water was like, amazing, couldn't be better. And then the run was fun. The bike ride was fun. It was all 10 out of 10 Morning, this weekend. I am racing at this new race. They had it last year. It's called like the 1886 or audits and tuxedo Park, New York. And it's eight scholars, eight men and eight women and it's duel style racing in this park in this community. And it's like knockout round. So kind of like Henley, you win and advance and there's a cash prize. It's just really cool that different people are doing stuff like this. It's making rowing more spectator friendly. There's also kind of a big cocktail party after it so it's just supposed to be fun and a cool experience. I'm definitely still like getting back into training and the thought of lining up at a start line is a little intimidating. I'm not gonna lie, but I am trying to just stay in myself about it. And like, obviously, I'll race hard but I'm just gonna have fun And, and get to see some friends get to hang out. Rowing is supposed to be fun racing is supposed to be fun. And this is not the Olympic finals. So I think making it into more than it needs to be is not going to help me, you know, reach my end goals. And then it's like October Fall is here. And then we have another week. And then or then two more weeks. And then it's the head of the Charles which head of the Charles is like rowing Christmas in October. It's a race that doesn't really matter. Except this year, there's a $10,000 cash prize for the singles. Everyone cares so much about it, and everyone is there. And it's like, so fun to see all your friends and so fun to be there. But it's just so silly, but it's, it's fun. I love the Charles. I mean, everyone loves the Charles. And this year, I'm racing in the single and then we're racing in a Scullers eight of national team Scullers on Sunday in the champ eight, which will be both hilarious and super fun. I'm not sure the last time any of us swept but you know, we're gonna come out guns blazing like we do. And just excited to see Yeah, all my friends and hang out. So I'm excited to crush October. I think we're all going to crush October. It's a good month to crush. I just feel that way. I don't know why. So yeah, that's what's going on in my training. And that's how I feel about October. And now it is time for my episode, part two of my interview with cat post worlds. So let me know what you think. And yeah, enjoy it. Do you have any questions for me?

Eric Catalano  6:47  
Oh, I didn't know I was gonna. Or what's your first takeaway from living solo?

Kristi Wagner  6:57  
Oh, yes. So I live? I don't know if I? Well, no, I think I did. I think I said that I moved to a new apartment. So I live by myself now which cat told me that I would like and he was right. Like it. I only have a mild fear that a serial killer is going to come and murder me. But I had that before as well.

Eric Catalano  7:19  
So you also listen to a lot of like murder podcasts. And I read a lot of murder books. You're not helping yourself?

Kristi Wagner  7:28  
No. And I actually almost watched like a true crime TV show before bed the other day and was like maybe something lighter? No, it's it is actually really nice. And I wasn't sure, because this is kind of a weird year being the Olympic year and moving into a new place like I could if there is a resident resident residents housing, like within the Orion team, and I thought about maybe living there or trying to find a roommate or something. But I'm very fortunate to be like, in a financial situation where I could get my own place. And I just thought for my mental health and, and also to be a good teammate and a good you know, co worker and friend and all those things, like having my own space, I thought would be really important. So and I think it has been so far. And it's nice. It's like, kind of weird, but I think it's good. Yeah, because I talk a lot. So I think it's good for me to be quiet sometimes.

Eric Catalano  8:30  
Yeah. So I don't talk a lot. But pre Orion, I used to take the month of November and December and just like, go to Belize or Costa Rica, and just hang out there for like two months. And I don't speak Spanish. But I one time was down there and realize like, I haven't talked to anyone in like, weeks. I was like That's strange. That is. Yeah. So if you've made it through a day, good job.

Kristi Wagner  9:02  
Like, three hours. Not including sleep, what

Eric Catalano  9:06  
do you what do you do? I know you've always said you like to have a little bit of separation from rowing. Like what what do you feel like now are are some of the things now that you've kind of come home that you can do to get that little bit of separation?

Kristi Wagner  9:21  
Yeah, so that's something that I definitely am going to need to be careful about. Because I think now that I am have more time like, in fact today, just today, I said that I would coach the mods. I need to be careful about like not overloading myself and not just being at the boathouse all the time. So I think just cooking dinner or seeing friends or you know, making time for family and stuff. It's so easy to get caught up in I have to train I have to be in Saratoga on the weekends I have you know, like, I want to do well at the head of the Charles so like, I need to do this but I also think that having some time to see friends see family do other things is really important. And so I think just taking the time like now in the fall when we can, before everything gets crazy is is really important.

Eric Catalano  10:17  
How are you thinking about the head of the Charles is a big race and a fun race, but you're also trying to take some time off and like ease your way back in how are you balancing this? Like, I want to have a great race there. But at the same time, I want to take the necessary recovery time beforehand.

Kristi Wagner  10:34  
It's a good question. I think that I just have this weird feeling that everything is going to work out. Which I think I've said before, like, I don't know why. But I have this feeling. So let me let me backtrack. I think that this year, so let me backtrack even more, bring it all the way back, I'm sorry. So before the Olympia before 2021, I was very much out. This is kind of what I was pre alluding to earlier, but I was very much outside the system. I was not a national team athlete, I was not a training center athlete. I was a Orion high performance club athlete. And I did cats trading plan, I did a lot of things that we thought would make me a good rower and would make me fast and all this stuff. And it worked. Like I went pretty fast. And then I was in a boat with Jebi. And we worked, you know, with Greg, who's her dad, and we again did very personalized things of like, this is what's gonna make us fast. But then we went to the Olympics and had some, you know, highs and lows, whatever. And then coming into the new Olympic cycle, like, last year, I don't, I don't think was a failure. But I wouldn't consider it like full of a ton of successes. For me personally, I don't think that I failed, I just don't think that I did as well as I could have done. And I think I was really nervous because all of a sudden I was like, quote, unquote, in the system. And I wasn't sure that that made me a good athlete, because I had experienced in my eyes like more success outside of the system. And so then going into this year, I had a lot of, I think anxiety about that, that I could only go fast or be the best version of myself existing kind of in this Saratoga vacuum outside the system, like doing personalized things. But I feel like IPR on my 2k this year, didn't go as fast in the single as I wanted to go. But I went pretty fast and different doubles combinations. Like I didn't go as fast in the quad as I wanted to go. But we had good experience and good results. And overall, I think it was a successful year. So that gives me more confidence in I'm doing the right things. And I'm and if I just keep listening to the right people, like that's good. And that doesn't mean that I can just sit back and relax. Of course not like you have to keep working really, really hard. It's really, really hard to make. I think that's another thing that people don't realize, like, nothing is a given. And just because you made a team does not mean you're gonna make the next one. And yeah, of course you want to have confidence. But you don't want to be cocky. You don't want to have too much confidence. So I think it's a balance of those things. Now, I think I have to ask you, what was the question? Am I nervous for head of the Charles. So I realize that the goal is to go fast at the Olympics, and head of the Charles threw us a curveball, putting a $10,000 cash prize on the men's and women's single, which is amazing, and so great for the sport. And I'm super excited about it. And because of it all the scholars are going to be there racing in the single, which means we're also going to row an eighth in the champion on Sunday, which is so fun. And a really cool thing that I don't think has been done by like the US team before. So I'm really excited about that. So do I want to win $10,000? Yes. I think if you asked anybody racing in the champ single, do you want to win $10,000? They would say yes. Do I want to win $10,000 More, and sacrifice being in a good headspace going into the really important time of year and the really important training? No. And maybe there are athletes racing at the head of the Charles where that answer is not the same. Do I still think I can beat those people? Yeah, I do. I I mean, the thing is about this sport like, I have to be confident in myself, everyone has to be confident in themselves. And, you know, Yossi said, Don't say you're going to try to win the head of the Charles like, don't try actually do it. And like, you know, I agree, but am I going to? Was I going to come back from worlds and not take a break? And do head of the Charles specific training? Like, be in Boston every No, because I want to be here. Like, I love Boston, but I want to be here in Saratoga, I want to be with my team, I want to be with you. I want to be at work. I want to take time off, you know, those are my priorities.

Eric Catalano  15:38  
Yeah. What some of the differences with like being on Team USA and having that team versus like having a team of Orion athletes?

Kristi Wagner  15:49  
Well, I do think that because the national team structure has shifted, and we go to so many camps. So I probably spent more time in 2023, with a lot of my national team teammates than I did with some of my Orion teammates. Definitely some of the new people. Yeah. And so it for me, it felt much more like a team this year than it has in the past, which was really nice. Because I think especially in 2021, like because of COVID, we were so separate, like, I didn't even know the boys names. I don't know some of the girls names like I don't know, we were literally on the Olympic team together. And I didn't know them. And of course, I wanted them to do well. But yeah, the camaraderie wasn't really there. And now, I feel like I know a lot of people, I've spent a lot of time with them. And I've seen them work really hard. Like, I think that's how you sort of build this, like trust with people is going through the really tough workouts and the hard times and all that stuff, which is I've done with my Orion teammates, and that's why I have like, so much respect and so much admiration. And that's why I believe, like in all of them, because I've seen them, you know, like amazing moments. And now I have that from a lot of my national team teammates. Yeah. So I feel lucky, I get to have so many teammates. But of course, I still love Orion. And I think it's kind of fun that we can have like, sort of these rivalries between clubs. Like, I think it's kind of a fun thing. And I think it's good for the sport. And, you know, I'm obviously going to like root for my team. But yeah, I think we can be friends too. And,

Eric Catalano  17:34  
yeah, I thought it was a little bit of a different dynamic. And I'm not saying better or worse, but it's like a little different dynamic, when the US team like, is made up of a bunch of different boats, competing in different categories. So it's very easy to like, you know, line up the women's for and the women's quad and for everyone to be excited about just the speed, relative versus like, what at home at Orion, like everybody's rowing the single. And so that's one of the things that makes it that little bit challenging where we're saying, like, it's hard, you have to like, almost lose sight of the fact that you're competing against each other and try and compete against the time, which that was one thing that I really liked. Working with the US team is like, everybody was out there competing against the time, because you weren't actually competing against each other. So you could be like, super pumped when when the boat that was is next to you went beyond 98% or something, you'd be super pumped about that. And you know, it had nothing to do with whether or not they were faster than you or not like you could still be super pumped about them. Yeah. So it's interesting to think about how can we carry that into a scenario whereby we are all doing competing in the same event?

Kristi Wagner  18:58  
Yeah. And something that we talked about the other day was like, You should never root for someone else's failure, like someone else's failure does not give you success, right. And that's, I think, a thing. And I don't think it's like a malicious thing. But I think it's so easy to fall into, say you didn't make a boat that you wanted to make to then root for their success, when in reality, you should be rooting or sorry to root for their failure, because in reality, you shouldn't be rooting for their success. Like, you should want them to be the fastest boat that ever existed because you didn't make but like, it's so easy to then think, Oh, well then I want them to do badly, but like that's not productive, like or for you or for them. And I think that's kind of also what you're talking about. Like, yeah, yeah. It's a challenge. Having like, tons of really competitive time. If you fall in one space, yeah is a challenge. It is, it is you have to manage. I just have to be one of those challenging people.

Eric Catalano  20:11  
You do a great job. I try being challenging. Yeah, no, I mean, I think that is one of the more challenging things about, you know, coaching a program like this is like I expect that you guys will all be you know, that kind of type A ambitious and, and it comes out of everyone a little bit differently. But really trying to trying to recognize it. And then also recognize that when it comes out of people differently, make sure that it's not against each other, it's like that everybody is still trying to achieve what they what they want to achieve, but you know, how they, how they express their, you know, excitement, how they express their frustration, you know? And they're all the kind of person people who are going to who are going to let it out. And so managing that I think is is tricky. And my my I guess my other cat is, is we're all just trying to live. We're all just trying to live.

Kristi Wagner  21:20  
We are any funny stories you want to close with. Anything you want to make fun of me for

Eric Catalano  21:32  
I can't think of anything.

Kristi Wagner  21:33  
I don't feel like I've done that many

Eric Catalano  21:35  
things. Oh, not really. Yeah. Now we went. We're in for a bike ride. Yesterday. Our friend Ashley didn't really hit a cat but kind of almost ran over a cat.

Kristi Wagner  21:48  
Did she almost hit a cat? Well, she did hit it. Yeah, she tapped chapter. Yeah,

Eric Catalano  21:53  
that was pretty that was pretty weird. And, and we drove like rode our bikes through like a colonial fare. And Christy and Christy was like, This is my dream. This is all I want to do is be part of this colonial fare. Yeah.

Kristi Wagner  22:06  
Fun fact about me. I love the colonial things. When I was a child, I went to Seoul sewing school, and I made myself a colonial woman dress. And then I went to Easter. It was so cool. I'd pleats in like a petticoat. I didn't know that about you. Yeah, I love colonial things. I wish that I could just be like, so the thing is, I don't want to like work at a colonial fare or something. I want to like live the life live the life and that's what I feel like they were doing yesterday. Yeah, they were just living the colonial life. Although as like a woman, I wouldn't have been allowed to do anything. So except make your dress. Yeah. And churned butter. That was the other thing. I love doing churning butter. Joe and I used to like shake, cream to try to make butter, you know, and like a little cream packet. Cool. Well, thank you. All right. Thank you. Did you have fun? Yes. So thanks for listening. I hope that everyone really enjoyed this episode. I know that I always, like get so much from talking to cat. And I hope that everyone kind of got a lot out of it as well and can use some of his tidbits in your everyday life just like I do all the time. And before I leave you, I'm just going to share a quote of the week. It's from Dennis Kimbrough, and he said life is 10% What happens to us and 90% how we react to it. So thanks for listening. I hope you have a great week. See you next time.

I'd love to hear from you. So send us a topic suggestion or if you'd like to submit a question for our Ask Christy anything segment, head to our website, the other three years.com

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