What’s the “energy equilibrium” of your inner circle? (Plus: Kristi’s top 3 rowing books)

*Automated Transcript Provided*

Kristi Wagner  0:03  
There have been a few big changes in my life recently. And, honestly, it's really hard for me to talk about on the podcast, I've kind of been putting it off. It's just kind of scary to like, put yourself out there. But I started this podcast to share my story. And obviously, nobody knows what's going to happen in the future. And when I started, I didn't know what was gonna happen in my personal life. And it would be great if everything was just great all the time. That's not what happens. You know, things happen in life. And things happen in rowing, and I just have to share it as they come. Welcome to the other three years, a show for anyone who has an Olympic sized dream, they want to turn into a reality.

Hello, and welcome to this week's episode of the other three years.

This week, I am going to share a longer update of how things are going and all of the exciting rowing things that are coming up for me and the rest of the US rowing team. And then I'm going to share my personal reviews and recommendations for what I think are, well, just my top three rowing books that I really think can be enjoyed by both rowers, and non rowers.

To learn more about the sport, and also be inspired by other stories from this super cool sport that doesn't have a lot of media attention, or, you know, books or movies or anything about it. There have been a few big changes in my life recently. And honestly, it's really hard for me to talk about on the podcast, I've kind of been putting it off and harder for me to just talk about in life to especially care to talk about on the podcast, because I know people listen to it, which is good. It's just kind of scary to like, put yourself out there. But I started this podcast to share my story. And obviously, nobody knows what's going to happen in the future. And when I started, I didn't know what was going to happen in my rowing life, but also my personal life. And it would be great if everything was just great all the time. And that's not how that's not what happens. You know, I've things happen in life. And things happen in rowing, and I just have to share it as they come. So a few weeks ago, Chris and I broke up. And it was both a long time coming and also a little bit sudden and shocking, I don't really feel the need to get into it in a lot of detail. But I'd say that basically our paths are no longer heading down the same path.

And we didn't really want the same things anymore. And I think sometimes in life, you can really love and care about a person. But maybe that means separating yourself from that person. Because that's what's best for everyone. So in real life, man. It's not super fun sometimes. But I'm doing a bit better. And obviously, I've been a bit distracted and working through how I feel. But also knowing that it's been an IT is an important time in rowing. So I can't let myself just like completely fall apart and get super in my own head. And I just have been really appreciative of my family, friends and teammates for being super supportive of me like both the people that I've told and the people that I haven't told people have been really nice to me. And people are just nice in general. But I've definitely been more on edge than I normally am and the kindness and care of it. Others have shown me has been really appreciated and helpful and just makes me see the good in the world and from other people. So this past weekend, I moved out of our house with the help of my amazing family who drove all the way to Saratoga, just to help me move and then they brought a bunch of my stuff back to store and my parents asked for me.

And I put all my other stuff into the boathouse temporarily because the new place I'm gonna live, I can't move into until after we get back from Europe. So I guess I am technically homeless right now, which is actually a little exciting. The move was hard and sad, but I do feel good that it's done. And now I feel like I have more mental space to focus on rowing, which is good because it really is almost go time and rowing. After moving all my stuff this weekend in Saratoga, I drove back to Princeton with Lauren, my Orion rowing and national team teammate. And we drove from Saratoga to Princeton, which goes by the Newark Airport. But in terms of car parking and everything, it's just easier to go back to Princeton. And then we got on the team bus and drove back to Newark. And we flew direct to Milan on Sunday night. The flight was actually not that bad. I was sitting in the back of the plane surrounded by these elderly Italian tourists who are actually very kind and very good seatmates.

So I watched them, I had an aisle seat, which was great. And I watched the movie iteration of the Judy Blume book, are you there? God, it's me, Margaret, which I haven't read since I was like, I don't know, maybe Middle School. And it was so good. It was so cute, great plain movie, I would say like, not too heavy, but entertaining and feel good, but not like too emotional. It was really, really cute. And it was very well done. And then I slept for most of the flight, which was nice. I actually did sleep. I woke up a little before we landed and watched a little bit of Moneyball, I really don't know why I just put it on. And then we were in Milan. And then customs went really smooth. Our bags came out pretty quick. We did have to wait a little bit for our bus to come. But I did some beading bracelet making with some of the other girls. So the beaded bracelets, like everyone. And I don't know everyone, like a lot of people. I've been seeing all of this Taylor Swift concert content on social media. Like so much of it. I really want to go I have FOMO or whatever of these Taylor's this Taylor Swift concert. And and if you haven't seen it, one of the big things that people do at these concerts is make beaded bracelets that say like, whatever Taylor Swift lyrics on them. And I thought it would be fun for the women's team to have beaded bracelet making. And you can just write whatever you want on it like something inspirational or something, whatever, whatever you want. So if I had a bunch of beads on Amazon, and last week in Princeton, we had a little bracelet making night which was good, wholesome team bonding fun. But I had a ton of leftover beads because I bought a lot and so I brought some of them here and honestly the bead, the bead, beading and bracelet making has been, like really fun for me and I'm normally really fidgety. Like I like to fidget with my fingers. So it's actually a really good activity for me, like at night before bed or something just like make a bracelet. It's like mindless but I don't know I've really enjoyed it. So I did already post on my Instagram but if anyone wants a bracelet let me know and please let me know what you want it to say on it. Otherwise I will just write literally something so random, but back to my travel day. So it's Monday morning, we've just arrived in Italy the bus comes it's like an hour drive to Aruba. Back to the Leonardo DaVinci hotel. And this is my third stay here so it's nice. Coming back to a place that I really no familiar seen. Sophie is my roommate and our room is great. It's a little on the sunny side in the afternoon. So we should to be careful about closing our blinds so that our room doesn't really heat up before bed but knock on wood or something the AC seems to be working and I slept really great last night but then we went over to the boathouse rigged up our boat did like a little Arrghh little row. I was like deliriously tired, but I don't want pretty good and then it's just dinner, then right to bed. The first night's sleep after international travel is always amazing. Like you're so tired. I probably could have slept for like 15 hours I slept for like 10 So I showed the sleep stays good because it was really good last night. So now we are in Aruba for a little over two weeks. Just training really hard and tuning up everything before we go to Serbia for the World Championships. So not the whole team is in Aruba. It's basically though I think the whole women's team and then the men's teams small boats so the men's team big boats are Inveraray say Italy, which is like an hour away. It's actually where we raced at the Second World Cup so there's a lot

Have the team here, but not like the whole team. There are a few boats that women's boats that aren't here. But basically everyone is here. So we get to do pieces against a lot of different boats, and it'll be really fun. And I'm just really excited, I feel like the team is doing pretty good. vibes are good spirits are high. I've always thought about energies, like group energies in an interesting way. I feel like in any group, there's this energy equilibrium, that basically means that some days, some people can be energy givers. And other people can be energy suckers. And it kind of lands you in this equilibrium. And not everyone is always like a giver, or a soccer. And it's unrealistic to think that everyone can be in a good mood all the time, because we're all humans and things happen. And sometimes we're not in a good mood. And that's okay. Sometimes, you know, sometimes you're in a bad mood, and that's fine. But you are sometimes in a good mood. And you can't be in a bad mood all the time. So like, you just have to realize that you can't fall into the pattern of being an energy sucker every day. And I've just really been trying to like focus on that, like, I think it's okay, if I've been a little bit off because of things that have happened in my personal life. But I really am trying to get back to, you know, flipping the switch and being the energy giver so that I can balance out the equilibrium. I had my time. And that's good. And I'm, and it's good to take time when you need time. But then you have to be able to like get back to that place of finding the balance. So that was definitely enough personal sharing for one episode of this podcast. Thank you for listening. I appreciate it. It's hard to talk about how you feel in general, but especially into a microphone, knowing that people are gonna listen to it. So thanks in advance for listening. And, yeah, thank you. So a little bit of a flip here, I am going to share my recommendations, and then a little review of my top three rowing books. So for context, I love reading, in general. And I should clarify, I think that listening to an audio book is also kind of reading, but I have actually read all of these books, like in print form. And because I love reading, and I love rowing, I have read basically every rowing book that I've been able to find. And to be fair, that is not a super long list. Because it's rowing. And there are some that haven't been great, but I will say that I do really appreciate anyone writing a book focused on rowing, because there isn't that much attention given to this sport. And I don't I think a lot of people don't know about the sport. So anything that people can do to kind of share stories and share like, the sport is good. But that doesn't mean that I've like loved every rowing book that I've read.

So these three are really good if you're a rower, but even if you're not a rower, they're just like really good inspirational stories about the sport but like more about the people in the sport. And they do a good job like explaining things about the sport and about racing and about the Olympics and stuff. But you don't have to be a rower to understand any of these books and to get something out of them.

So number three is the book that kind of catapulted rowing onto the quote unquote, a main stage and is coming out as a major motion picture, I believe on Christmas Day this year. It is the Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown. So if you don't know, the Boys in the Boat is the story of the 1936 Olympic champion, US Men's eight. So the boat was made up of all students from the University of Washington, the men's crew was a whole book from the University of Washington. And that was like the heyday of true amateur sports. So it was not uncommon for a boat to like be from a college program that was actually common practice at the time. And they really were amateurs like the story is this really compelling story focused on this one guy, Joe Rance, but all of them are kind of come from nothing people with crazy backgrounds that came together in this really cool way to find like the ultimate success in this sport, and then they kind of go

Go back into like obscurity. And it's, of course important to them and important to their families that they had this like Olympic champion moment, but it's just so different than things are now. I mean, I don't think any rowers, like are superstars because they weren't an Olympic gold medal. But it is just a different experience.

 And the book also has a lot of interesting historical information about rowing, but also just like Olympic sports in general, because it was the 1936 games, which were in Berlin, Germany, and how like Hitler and the Nazis kind of successfully covered up there, like inhumane treatment of the Jews and other minorities to host this vibrant Olympics and what that's all about and kind of like this facade of the Olympics sometimes. So it's a really good book and good story. And I think he also does a really good time, a really good job like describing rowing and describing what you're looking for in rowing.

So many people have read Boys in the Boat already, it's been a super popular book. And it has certainly spread knowledge of the sport across America.

And to be completely honest, it took me a long time to read it. Like I think four or five people gave me copies of Boys in the Boat before I finally read it. But it is really good. And it is a good story. And I would really recommend it for both rowers, and non rowers, especially before the movie comes out. It's always good to read the book before you see the movie.

Second on my list of recommendations is the red rose crew by Jean by Daniel Boyne. So the red rose crew is the story of the 1976 US women's Olympic rowing team, specifically the eighth. So 1976 was the first Olympics that included women's rowing. So these women were pioneers of the sport.

And they did come away with a bronze medal at the Olympics. And the book is about their journey coming together in 1975, and 1976. It's just a really good story. It's inspirational and uplifting. And the individuals are all like, it's, it's really cool. And it has also been a really cool experience to get to, like meet a lot of the women in this book.

 
I read it a long time ago. But it's, it's been really cool for me. And I would really recommend red rose crew to anyone but especially a girl or a woman who has national team aspirations. And I think it's important to know, like, where you come from, and your history. And in a lot of ways these women, like we have to thank them, because they're part of the reason that I get to chase my dreams and my teammates get to chase their dreams. And I get to spend my time trying to go really fast and a boat because of the actions and the struggles and stuff that these women faced and without them and their advocacy for women's rowing in this country, like who knows where we would be and of course, there's a lot of other people that have been on that journey, but they played such like strong roles and, and it's just a good story.

Um, my third recommendation, or I guess number one on my list, I was going 321 got a little confused there is a assault on my Casitas by Brad Allen Lewis. So Lewis road to a gold medal victory in the 1984 games in LA in the men's double with his partner Paul Enquist, and the book is his account and story of his own experience, both failing and achieving the ultimate success within this crazy sport. So he made the 1980 team but obviously didn't race due to the boycott. And then in 84, he was really trying to make the single, didn't win singles trials. I'm kind of giving away the book here. But then he went to Camp got cut at Camp joined up with anguished in the double. And they were able to find success there. But the path was like not linear or easy. But they were still able to have, you know, their best race on the day that it mattered. So this book was recommended to me at my first rowing development camp us around development camp when I was just a little child in the sport, and I still have the same copy of this book. And I've read it so many times that a bunch of the pages are falling out. And it's not that I love it. To be fair, I've never met this man. It's not that I love him or think that he is, whatever, or think that everything he did was like, right. But I just love his story. And I love that he didn't take no for an answer and didn't let failure stop him. He kept finding a way, and ultimately it paid off. So it's just been inspirational to me and I think can be inspirational, to everyone to. If you really want something and you're really fighting for it like you can find a way no matter what.

I should note that both the 1984 Men's double and the 1976 Women's aid were coached by Harry Parker, who's probably one of the best drawing coaches in the history of the sport, definitely in the US. And he was the longtime coach of the Harvard men, just a detail that we shouldn't overlook here. So those are my top three rowing book recommendations. They are all great stories, and I hope you read them all and enjoy them. If you have a book that you think I should have mentioned, let me know. I'm always on the lookout for new rowing stories, and really sports stories in general. And if you want a longer list, just let me know because I do seriously have read so many rowing books.

Our ask Kristi anything this week comes again from the Skidmore College rowing team. I'm Molly Sullivan. I am a rising junior at Skidmore on the rowing team. And my question is how do you recover from failure? Ooh, a tough one. That is a very good question. I think that time heals all wounds, I will say. But I also think that obviously, in like life, and in sport, we fail at things. But I think if you can see those things as just steps along the way, instead of necessarily failure, then you're going to be more successful in life. So I try to have my feelings when you know, a practice or a race or something in my life doesn't go the way I want it to. Because I in the past, I really tried to keep things bottled up, and it's not good for you or your skin or anything. And now I just tried to really, like, have the feelings I'm gonna have, if I had a bad performance, like, almost like mourn it a little bit, and then or like mourn a goal that I did not accomplish, and then find out what's next. Because like, there's always a next step. You know, even if it's not the direction you thought you were gonna go in, there is still something to do next. Our high performance director says you can either be happy or sad for 24 hours. And sometimes I need more than 24 hours, but I try to abide by that as best I can. That was a good question, though.

Sincerely future you is a super cool podcast, also on the bright side network, hosted by Jessica McKinley. And Jessica is a certified life and business coach, which is amazing, and just super cool. And in her podcast, and in life, she helps other women to reverse engineer their lives and get the most out of themselves in life and business. I just think that's really cool. And like me, Jessica is in the business of inspiring others to not only have big goals, but to achieve them. So if you like this podcast, you'll probably like her podcast, because it's kind of the same thing just with different inspirations. A fiber life is an awesome podcast hosted by Lisa Mitchell. A few years ago, Lisa and her husband Greg quit their stressful corporate jobs, sold their suburban house and moved to a farm on an island in the Pacific Northwest, which is a lot on its own. But then they bought a herd of guanacos which are kind of like alpacas but I think a little bit more intense. I've learned from the podcast, and they raise the guanacos on their farm for their fiber. Lisa and Greg didn't know anything about farming or raising guanacos or anything when they did this. They just did it. And pets, insane and super cool. So on their podcast, they stare stories about what's happening on their farm, but they relate it all back to life. And it's just it's a really fun story. They're great. Lisa is super inspiring. And their podcast is fun and sometimes silly but always really heartfelt and it's absolutely worth a listen and that's it for the show today.

Thanks for listening to the podcast. I really appreciate everyone that listens. Stay tuned for some super fun guests in the next few weeks. And as we get closer to racing at the World Championships, I'll share some previews of what's going to happen there in both my book class, the other book classes who to look out for what I think is gonna happen. And to end the show this week, here's a quote from Arthur Ashe. You're never really playing an opponent, you're playing yourself your own highest standards and when you reach your limits, that is real joy. Thanks for listening. Have a great week. 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

Transcribed by https://otter.ai