The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast by CTS

Inspiration Lessons from Olympian and Paris-Roubaix Winner Alison Jackson (#237)

• CTS • Season 5 • Episode 237

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Overview:
Canadian Olympian and Paris-Roubaix winner Alison Jackson is one of the most dynamic and entertaining riders in the pro peloton. But inspiration to train and compete at her best doesn't always come easily. Learn what inspires Alison, what she does to find or create inspiration when it doesn't come naturally, and how you can draw on the same skills and techniques she uses to inspire yourself to greatness.

Topics Covered In This Episode:

  • How the Olympics inspired Alison to start cycling
  • Finding motivation in playfulness
  • Motivating yourself to get started when you don't want to
  • Finding the inspiration to train when the going gets hard

Host
Adam Pulford has been a CTS Coach for nearly two decades and holds a B.S. in Exercise Physiology. He's participated in and coached hundreds of athletes for endurance events all around the world.

Guest Bio
Alison Jackson is one of the most recognizable Canadian professional cyclists, not only because wins races all over the world, but also because her dance moves have made her a social media sensation. She is a two-time Olympian, the first North American cyclist to win Paris-Roubaix, and multi-time Canadian National Champion. For 2025, she will race for the EF Education-Oatly Pro Cycling Team. Alison works with CTS Coach Adam Pulford.

More About Alison Jackson:

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Speaker 1:

From the team at CTS. This is the Time Crunch Cyclist podcast, our show dedicated to answering your training questions and providing actionable advice to help you improve your performance even if you're strapped for time. I'm your host, coach Adam Pulford, and I'm one of the over 50 professional coaches who make up the team at CTS. In each episode, I draw on our team's collective knowledge, other coaches and experts in the field to provide you with the practical ways to get the most out of your training and ultimately become the best cyclist that you can be. Now on to our show. Now on to our show. Welcome back, time Crunch fans.

Speaker 1:

I'm your host, coach Adam Pulford, an inspired, well-trained athlete. It's tough to beat and tough to keep down, and don't hear me wrong on that. Well-trained is a big part of that equation, but to be inspired adds another level to your training and racing and life. On this podcast, we focus a ton on the training side of things most of the time, but today we're going to talk about the other stuff, the mental side, how to overcome adversity and how to get up when you're down. We'll also talk about how inspiration plays a huge part, or is the cornerstone of it all, when it comes to being an athlete. I'm here with no other than the inspiration guru, herself winner of the Paris-Roubaix FEMME stage, winner of the Vuelta España, multi-time national champ from Canada and two-time Olympian, miss Allison Jackson. Allison, welcome to the show.

Speaker 2:

Thank you.

Speaker 1:

So for those who somehow may not know you, can you tell us a little bit of who you are, where you're at and maybe what team you ride for?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, maybe, what team you ride for? Yeah, um, yeah, well, uh, I mean, I've been around for a few years now. I've put 10 years in the bag as a, as a pro cyclist, which is nuts. Uh, I am just as energized about this job and career as when I started. I love what I do.

Speaker 2:

Um, I love the people in places and the chaos of the bike racing and the chaos bit of lifestyle that's moving around, um, but yeah, um, yeah, I uh have a pretty, maybe extreme blend of like really serious race side and also really fun serious race side and also really fun silly side. Um, that, yeah, I don't know, is seen very often in professional sport on the cyclist side. Um, but yeah, I really just love what I do and I think if you love what you do, um, you're gonna go far and have a long career and come away with just like a yeah, happiness from the the journey of it. So, yeah, I raced for this is my second year now on ef education. Only the pink team in the peloton. Um, we got our new 2025 kit with diamonds on it. Um, graph always does like uh like diamond encrusted diamond encrusted.

Speaker 2:

It's in the thread. Yeah, exactly. Um, we also had the option to replace all our teeth with diamonds. I said no, but uh, yeah, we'll see if, uh, richard carapaz does or not.

Speaker 1:

Oh man, Um well, perfect, Uh, I can't wait to see the new kit. And um, all jokes aside, you grew up in an environment that wasn't really all about bike racing, right?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, no, not at all. I mean I, yeah small town, small farm town in rural Alberta. Uh, farmtown in rural Alberta, uh, yeah, I was back there for the holidays and it's just yeah, full snow. It's not really conducive to bike riding like. When I grew up, what did I even see cyclists out on the road? No, um, was that ever something I aspired to be? No, um. And even now when I go back, um, I mean now I get to be called hometown hero because some of the Olympic stuff, um, and even now when I go back, um, I mean now I get to be called hometown hero because some of the olympic stuff, um. And even when the imperial bay actually, um, phil, found its way over to my small town, but, yeah, on the farm, when I'm there, I'm asked to do chores just like everybody else. I'm no hero. Um, yeah, so it's quite, quite a different upbringing, um and uh, and an interesting balance to what my life is like now in Europe.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, totally. And the reason I bring that up and for our listeners, just full disclaimer here uh, Alison is not a time crunched cyclist, Um, she has plenty of time to ride her bike and uh, but her, her story, and the way, the way she races, like, like she said, she, she, she's basically a dynamic duo within herself in those two elements of, um, you know, being very focused and serious when it comes to bike racing, uh, combined with uh, spinning up that energy and being a little wacky. I want you to learn from those two sides and inspiration is that thread that kind of weaves through it. So, Allison, let's talk about inspiration and, just in a general term, for all athletes elite athletes, time crunch athletes, anything in between what role do you think inspiration plays in any athlete's life?

Speaker 2:

yeah, I think, you know, really is that that's like why all the times we start sport. Or, you know, like for me it was the olympics I saw people competing in the o and doing things that were amazing and like to think that, whoa, someone from Canada, someone from some small town, saskatchewan, some other place, that could go do something that seems like so elite, that takes so much time, skill, but they accomplish like great things, like a gold medal, wow. So I think, even like from early days, like being inspired by athletes, uh that, yeah, hone in such a skill, uh, that doesn't either, doesn't happen off the couch, um, yeah, I think that's where, like most of us even like get into, like why do we start something? You know, it's like that inspiring moment yeah, that inspiring moment.

Speaker 1:

And then it you know it weaves all over from uh, motivation, drive, why do you do what you do?

Speaker 1:

And I did a podcast with another one of my athletes um uh, heather fisher where we talked about knowing your and if you know your why of why you're racing, why you're at the, you're you're towing the start line, why you're doing the VO two intervals that you just want to die during but if you know your why, you'll get through it, you'll get through the hard times.

Speaker 1:

And I think, in that way, when you're setting up goals for yourself, if you're a self-coached athlete, or if you have a coach, or if you have a team director and people around you and you're you're setting stuff up for the year, you have to you. First of all, those people have to believe in you. They have to, uh, make sure they're on that, that same train of where you're going, otherwise either kick them off or ask them. Ask them why they don't believe in that. Right, and that's all part of it too, and that kind of polarity of how we inspire, how we base it in kind of realistic expectation. We'll get there here in a second, but that inspiration is, it's almost like the core nucleus of I don't know the quantum energy that spins up an athlete. My weird analogy and opinion.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that was a very sciencey take, but yes, Thank you.

Speaker 1:

So, allison, I mean, how does inspiration play a role specifically in your life? And then, second is, how do you get inspired? I want to hear about, like, the process of how you get yourself revved up and ready to go.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you know what I think there are. There are so many places to look for inspiration, um, and honestly, I find it everywhere and I think that's like I get. I can get so energized, motivated, inspired in so many ways. Um, you know, yeah, I think my teammates like one of the best things about having our team camp we are early season team camp in November, like we've all just sort of started. But I see my teammates and like, oh, yeah, they're, they're waking up early, they're, they're doing the core, they they're, um, you know, having the full carb breakfast. Um, they're, yeah, laying down to rest after, like they're taking these things serious.

Speaker 2:

And I just think like, oh, wow, it is amazing that these humans are choosing the way they live their lifestyle for this big goal, that it's going to take all these little things all year long to make, you know, the major goal happen. And, uh, I mean, I get so inspired by even just seeing them. You know, sometimes in the discipline there is joy and sometimes in the discipline there's just discipline and both sides I'm just, you know, you have to be like wow, like wow, they enjoy this so much. Or just like wow, they're doing it because they know that there's a reason to do it. Um. So for me, like having my team and my teammates um inspire me all the time, or and also like keep me in check of like, oh, I see them doing this and like what can I do? Or, as well, you know, or that's right, I, I'm keeping my habits um good and I see that in them and so, yeah, just that inspiration.

Speaker 2:

I think I mean I've always, really I've always been inspired by doing something legendary or something really extra, and I mean that's in my personality, a little bit to like be a little bit extra. A little bit to like, yeah, be a little bit extra. Um, but I think I love the story that comes out of it. Um, I love just like pushing the boundaries and just seeing, like what is possible or what you can discover. So I'm always really inspired by people um, you know, musicians, other people that when they're really excellent at what they do, even people who like love bugs and biology and they spend so much time learning and trying to understand, like a real passion for something, even if it's totally different than mine, I just I see that passion and that fires me up. So, yeah, I really think you can like look for inspiration in everywhere, in so many corners of life in this world.

Speaker 1:

I fully agree with that, and I think, in order to do that, you need to have your eyes open, you need to be aware of that, right, right. And I think too, in in the pursuit of, like inspiration and the pursuit of, um, kind of that greatness, or honing you know the greatness, honing your craft, um, you start to become aware of that too, and then you can see it in people, you can see it in things, you can see it in processes, um, and.

Speaker 2:

And then all of a sudden, it's like oh, it is everywhere, right, and that, and that leads to more inspiration, right for yourself and being curious, because I I think for me in my career, by being curious and oh, because I mean cycling wasn't something I wanted to do, but then finding kind of a little bit pathway there and be like, oh, like what if? Or like what have I tried? Or like, oh, this could be interesting. And if you close doors for yourself already by like closing your curiosity, then I, yeah, you're closing off doors of being inspired, or yeah, like potentially a great story.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, no, I agree. I think one thing to tease out there too, is when you're saying you, you know you get inspired by your teammates and their discipline and their work ethic, um, the culture right. When you're around that, when you're around good people, when you're around like-minded people, it inspires you to become better yourself. So iron sharpens iron in that way and for anybody listening to this it they could think oh great, well, you're a professional athlete with a team, good for you, you have that, but you need to learn from that. But then, choosing to stay on, you know teams that have really good culture and that fit both personality and ambition and goals. I mean that's part of the gig too. So I think, for anybody listening here, start looking for your teammates.

Speaker 1:

You know training partners, um, you know coworkers that support your goofy, silly, hobbit of things uh, habit of things, not Hobbit of things Um, and and also like communicate with the family, like get them on board and and work together. You know it's a two-way street to. You know carve out. You know if you only have five hours of training, maybe this year you carve out an extra hour in the week or a morning on the weekend where you can get your training in, but again it's like getting that team together to to help sharpen everybody, and I think that's a really good takeaway from what she was just talking about.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, even I had.

Speaker 2:

I had a roommate in the past couple of years that and she's not a pro athlete, she has full time job, whatever but she was so good, every day she always did this 20 minute workout and she was so good, every day she always did this 20 minute workout and sometimes I'm like I think she's like more disciplined than me because she never missed it or she had this like challenge with herself that she wanted to do like there's like 100 push-ups every day and she would do it like throughout the day, like, and I was like this girl is amazing, even though I mean her okay, 20 minutes or like maybe every day I'm trying to make like a six hour, four hour every day, um, but I mean that doesn't matter, but it was like the intention or the motivation and you see that in someone else and that was so inspiring and motivating to me, like doing well with what they have you know.

Speaker 2:

So again, yeah, and if you can, for me that was so motivating just having the person that was like in my space all the time, um, being really disciplined and motivated, and that was really inspiring for me just being like well, I'm the professional athlete, I better get my workout in. I can have discipline too. So yeah, creating your team around you, for sure.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah. So I mean all this is like good pump up, you know vibes and everything that we have going on, but the reality is it's like everybody has some low times too. So when the going gets shitty, when it's cold, it's raining, you're like, oh, I don't really want to crash again today. Or it's the cold dark of Canada. Um what. How do you stay inspired when stuff's just going sideways?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, again, there are so many stories out there. You know, sometimes like, yeah, I've had where I had to do like trainer workouts, like four hours on the trainer, and like sometimes it takes me a long time to get like the motivation to get on. But what, what will I do? Well, sometimes, um, I can inspire myself by myself, like remember what you have done and then like wow, if, like this will translate to that and okay, like maybe that's the play, or it's like reading a story, like maybe it's out of it.

Speaker 2:

You know injury, and you have an example, a story of like um, uh, uh, hayman, uh, who he? He was injured before before he was on um perry ruby and he just did so many trainer workouts and then that was the final year, or like he'd done he raced for like 11 years or whatever, and then, um, yeah, he finally won. So then you're like, well, all of his training was like based on the trainer, like he was so motivated, like there's a way that you can like take injury into celebration or or whatever. So I would just like, yeah, look for other stories, even if it's like day by day. You just like pick a new story that you're just like wow, and then you can take that feeling with you, you know, on on the bike or in the training yeah, no, that's, that's it, and I think too in that way.

Speaker 1:

I mean, I don't know if you remember if I shared this with you, but remember the Niels van der Pol speed skating dude that just won all the medals at the Olympics? This is recently, it's like the previous winter. Anyway had this manifesto like 62 page, because people were like, how did you do it? He's like I'll tell you how I did it. He's nordic, so he writes a 62 page training program of everything that he did and it blew up the internet for like a hot minute and for us coaches, nerds in particular.

Speaker 1:

Like I read the whole thing and I was like this is brilliant because it was down to the juicy detail of how he laid out his training program, how he would lay out every session of it, like every minute of every session, like this guy's got it dialed man, and for me that was like inspiration of like. As much as I maybe want to cut corners here or there, whatever it's like, this guy honed his craft. He spent his whole life doing this and he was famous for like training for five days and taking two days off in a row. Essentially, he was so lonely during training that he shifted his rest days to Saturday and Sunday and then train like five to eight hours a day, monday through Friday, but he wanted to hang out with his girlfriend and his friends on the weekend. Olympic multi-time medalist yeah.

Speaker 2:

I mean, I'm a big like preacher of you got to keep it fun. If you keep it fun you can do the hard stuff.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, that's it for sure. And I think too, like it's that shift of mentality look for the fun, look for the joy, and and almost this is what I see in you too. First, when I'm watching you, say, on television, or kind of read your body language and stuff, is when other people are like whoa is me and oh, it's really shitty out. Like the camera comes up on you and you're like cause, it's just it. It like softens the mood, it lightens things up. You know what I mean. And to make a joke or to to, to, to be able to like change that just a little bit, it lightens up people around you as well, you know, and so that's that's one way of doing it. I mean, of course, you have the boring things of like setting personal goals and having role models, and you know the team dynamics and stuff that we've talked about super important. But I think the ownership lies within the self in order to kind of be that catalytic energy to just change the mood when, when it gets a little somber.

Speaker 2:

Totally yeah, and I love to do that.

Speaker 1:

So how'd you learn it? I mean, was it family? Was it you just watched a bunch of Saturday night live? I mean, where, where does where? Does that come from.

Speaker 2:

Well, I think, I mean I also I think why I'm I am good at sport, uh, is because so I'm curious about it, but I'm curious in a playful way and then, in a playful way, you have an openness to discover maybe right like tactics or a different angle on how to be successful. If you're too stuck in rules, then I, then it can get a bit frustrating, or, yeah, you don't have this like perspective on like oh, what about this? Or like um, and I really think, just like my yeah, I mean, I've always done life by passion and even when I race it's by heart, um, but I really think, like kids, you know, when we learn something, it's play and we play and we can play and be successful. And I think sometimes, when we turn adults or professionals, we think we have to be serious to be successful, but actually we can be very successful with still having that play in that play.

Speaker 2:

If we keep that play, I think we will have a longer career, a longevity, because, um, it's not getting tiresome or burdensome, um, we're, we're still like being able to accept the joy and being able to manage the stress and pressure that we have of job and work and racing. Yeah, so I think it's just like being able to keep that playfulness and yeah, then being able to like take soak in those successes, but also not soak in the successes, and then being able to move on with that all in your bones and being able to also let like failures and disappointments let it go, um, and not have that sink in too much, cause you're you're able to move on to the next thing and accept a new, like adventure and challenge.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I on podcasts uh speeches I've given to groups of people I say adults. They forgot how to play.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

And then they need to play more. When I do skill sessions on the bike with juniors, they're I mean, it is very different than adults. Adults are standing there like this and soaking in the information and being a very good athlete. Juniors are like I'm going to go jump on this boulder and I'm going to hop on, and then, oh, I crashed in the grass, oh, I got to pay attention. I would say somewhere in the middle, right, but what adults?

Speaker 1:

can learn is like take some time to play Instead of just like getting the time in, go hop around on in the grass. Go like just learn maybe how your bike moves a little bit, and then I mean there's a whole cascade of things. But like just play, have a ride where you're just being playful, yeah, being goofy and I think you have to be brave to be bad at something new.

Speaker 2:

And when we adults we have found a niche that we're where we're good and even if we've started athletics and we're like, actually it's because I'm good and I'm going to get a coach, because I can get better, and then you don't want to revert back to not being good at something, because that's an awkward sort of feeling and as kids you're so used to just like you have to be bad at something new and then over time you will get better. And I think we forget that as adults or we also just really like the feeling of being good, and so we're not as open to be bad at something as we learn. And yeah, I think that's like maybe in our mind. We just have to, yeah, we have to be brave, have the courage to just to be bad and look a bit goofy or silly as, like we learn, but we'll get through that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, totally so. In my intro, you know, I also said you know, an inspired, well-trained athlete is, you know, hard to beat, hard to keep down. Well-trained athlete is, you know, hard to beat, hard to keep down, and I, you know, well-trained as part of it, you still need to do your training. You can think all the positive thoughts, but unless you get her done, you're not going to have the fitness, you're not going to have the routine. So, that being said, allison, question to you is if a listener right now is like, yeah, sure, she's an elite athlete, must be nice, but sometimes I don't even have the inspiration to do my 75 minute interval session because it's cold, dark January. I hate the trainer, like all the reasons I have to do my training. I'm not inspired. What do I?

Speaker 2:

do now.

Speaker 1:

What's your advice?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, well, I mean, I have those moments as well. And yeah, sometimes it's being able to take a step back and looking at the big picture and, you know, doing it just based out of discipline, like, and yeah, it might not be pretty or whatever, but just do. Um, even sometimes when I'm like, wow, I'm so tired, I'm gonna do this workout, and I'm you know, I'm meant to do it at threshold and all I can manage is tempo. But for myself, I give myself positive feedback from that, because I'm like good job, alice, you did something. And like, you know that consistency and stuff is going to build, um, you know compound. Or like, oh, I'm supposed to do three hours today and actually, um, maybe I whatever came up and now I'm only going to be able to do two. But well, I did two and at least like you're doing.

Speaker 2:

And I think then the next time that comes around, or when you're like, oh, I'm so tired, I can't imagine doing this workout. But then you do it and you're like, oh, actually I did it. And then you're like, wow, okay, I'm going to keep that in mind for next time. Then, next time you come, you're like there's no way I'm going to do this and you're like well, maybe remember that last time. Okay, well, you know the use yourself as the inspiration. Like you're you, you collect these reference points that you can use to help yourself in future times. Um, yeah, and sometimes it's just not pretty.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, straight, yeah, straight up, yeah. And I think, too, like some of the advice I give to athletes is um, take action before you let your emotion dictate anything, right? So I feel it's like eh, here's the workout plan, let's just start. And two, was some of your, your training some days?

Speaker 2:

I'm like, okay, just go out, let it come to you, take a nice long warmup and and before you hit the intervals, then make the decision, use the warm-up rule as you're bad yeah and sometimes you open up right yeah, sometimes I also I've had to do like an hour and a half warm-up because it's like sometimes it just like takes long enough, where you get into like a feel and then okay, my body gets it, and then okay, then we can try.

Speaker 2:

And then, oh, okay, well, okay, my body gets it, and then okay, then we can try. And then, oh, okay, well, maybe I'll just do like one of three. Okay, well, maybe I can do two of three. Well, maybe I can do half of the third one. Oh, I did the third one. You know like just these little like mind games to like help yourself get through, or like we've had it before where even both of us have been caught in the winter, and it'll just be like that little phone call while you're on the trainer warming up, just to get over that 20 minutes at first, like 20 minutes is the hardest, so just like call the friend, catch up, just get a few like good feeling, like social endorphins, but until the physical endorphins kick in, and then do the workout.

Speaker 1:

That's right, that's right, until the physical endorphins kick in and then do do the workout. That's right, that's right. I um a couple of different occasions I have called AJ when I start my warmup and then we usually we usually talk for like 45, 60 minutes or so, and then I like look down, I'm like oh man, I'm almost done with my ride.

Speaker 1:

This is awesome. So yeah, good, good distraction for sure. So yeah, I guess in that way, you know, we're not saying if you can dream it, you can achieve it. There's more to that, right, like sure dream. I think that's really important. You have to let your mind, you know, play and dance and go places to get some of these like legendary things, as AJ already alluded to, like one of the things that really inspires her and motivates her is swinging, big swinging for the fence right. And sometimes, when she comes with those goals, I'm like, hmm, that's a pretty big goal.

Speaker 1:

But then we start to think and work with people around her as well as her team manager, her director, other teammates. It's like how do we get that done Right? Then we go through kind of that detailed line item thing of how we're going to do this within the race, the progressive buildups, all of these things, and really it comes back to having the realistic expectations and also the aggressive but realistic, actionable goals, goals, and so when you're dreaming up something big, cool, write it down. Then you want to work with good people around you, you want to work with your brain and you want to figure out that process of how to get there and the that. That's what we call process goals. So in your dreaming process, allison, do you ever do you constrict yourself? Do you set a time and place to dream Like where do the dreams come from, where do the goals come from? And am I right in that you come up with some pretty wacky shit and then it's up to the rest of us to help you get there?

Speaker 2:

Yes, because I think when you dream your goals, you can't put a ceiling on it. You know there's a way where you can be practical, like this makes sense. Or like could I win Paris-Roubaix again? Probably Could I win the Tour de France. Well, that might be like an extreme, but like, don't stop yourself from the dreaming and then see if you can create a plan with, yeah, that your experts and and uh, professionals to try to get there. But I think you have to like, um, you know, in order for a canadian to have won perry ruby, no male or female in north america has ever won this race. You race. No Canadian has ever won a monument. Why would it be me? Why not Sometimes in order to be the first. That's hard and you have to dream big and be a bit crazy or wild, even this film about the girl in the sea.

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah, yes, we wanted to talk about that and that didn't make it into the outline, so let's talk about that now. Um, okay, so young woman in the sea I believe is the title of it right and I watched it over holiday break, uh, with kristin and her parents. Her parents actually were the ones that were like we need to watch this and we're like, okay, we, I didn't know anything about it. We watched it and I'm like, oh yeah, I remember vaguely this story and go allison, what did we learn from it?

Speaker 1:

I mean that oh, I sent it to you and I was like watch this.

Speaker 2:

And you're like already I've already have and I was so inspired by this story, um, but also how, the character who is the legend in the story and she's the one that she's the first woman, the first person to swim across the english channel and but also all the barriers of like, no, well one, girls don't do swimming. Like, oh, in, in australia they did, but girl, you know, they don't do swimming even they, whatever, they made it to the olympics but then they weren't allowed to train for three weeks before then because the boys were using the pool, like. There's just so many things that they had to overcome. But I think what was so um it it.

Speaker 2:

But it wasn't her making that happen for herself, it was actually her mom who, right, would be, even in a decade or a generation before her, that would have even less opportunity. But for her to see that something could be possible, we're going to push beyond some boundaries. So she starts, she opens the pathway and then, and her sister, her, this girl's older sister, gets accepted into, like the swimming program which creates now like a place that she can dream to go to. She gets it. You know, she's like the second one that's following that pathway and it takes, like those people before, to create an environment and culture, to then support her to do something outstanding and amazing.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and to bring some context to that, this has taken place like in the like 1940s or something like that, yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, was in the twenties. Yeah, um, german immigrants, new York city they be. They become the sisters, become swimmers. She is the first woman to um uh swim the English channel. And there is um her coach sabotages her. There's sabotage at the Olympics like one uh. Paris Olympics, the first pair Olympics, um V I I, so eighth Olympics. Maybe, man, we're going to get butchered for rambling on like this, but the main message is watch the movie young woman in the in the sea, because the inspiration of like athletics, overcoming adversity, women in sport and in some of those like crazy things that are kind of still occurring with the suppression of like, not supporting women and in the equal opportunity and equal pay, I mean man it's an incredible movie.

Speaker 1:

I'm glad we watched it. I'm glad I sent it to you. I'm glad you already watched it even before it happened.

Speaker 2:

But if you want some inspiration, that is one film that everybody should watch yeah for sure, and I think, like what goes on to say, that you have to dream bigger than what you see is possible sometimes. And that's where we I mean for women, that's where we grow women's sports, where we see now what's possible that we haven't seen before. And so I think when we set goals, we have to have a realm of that. But I think for me, this year, what I did, I did an audit of my life of 2024. And basically I used my camera roll to sort of remember, like, what happened in all these months and you see the ups and downs of your life, because you have to figure out. You have to first see where you're at to know where you can go, like where have you come and first see where you're at to know where you can go, like where have you come, and then where can you go. Because if you don't know where you are right now, then I think it's it's hard to like figure out the next steps or maybe even see the trend of where it's possible for you to go. I think even when we look at some of the goals that we set for last year, you know if we reach them or not, but then, oh, use those as stepping stones to be like oh, actually now this could be a goal, or how we can use these things to rearrange what is possible or what we would need to do or change in order to make that goal happen. We would need to do or change in order to make that goal happen. Um so, and I thought that was so fun.

Speaker 2:

Some things that I pulled out of that was like I saw all these photos of me at bike races, even bike like vuolta, great race for me last year. I was flying every day. I always said to the team I feel amazing, I mean, I won, you know, the first stage, the first grand tour stage that the team had won yet. Um, and but but you know what? There's other races before that, like newsblood, so like opening weekend in belgium. That's kind of a nothing race for me, like I don't have particular memories of it, but I see photos of it. Yeah, it's muddy, it's whatever. I'm smiling so big, like it looks like.

Speaker 2:

I love bike racing and I was like you know what, even in the moments that aren't my highlight moments of the year, I love what I'm doing and that for me was like a little check-in. That was like you know what, I love it, whether I'm losing or I'm winning, and I think that is a really powerful um, like motivator or centering for me to be like well, okay, I mean, in the next years, yeah, I'm going to keep bike racing because I love it, I'm gonna enter um, that must have been really fun. I'm gonna these other races that, even if they're not like my key races of the year, I am looking, I'm really looking forward to them and performing in these races.

Speaker 1:

So, um, yeah, figuring out where you come from and then that helps you figure out where you, where you can go next and where you can set your next goals and and I mean that's a really good summary point and I think, however you do it, looking at your camera roll or looking at the 900 hours of data from training for Alison, for example, and being able to establish where you're at, where you want to go, where you've been and that's how we determine uh, the, the plans, the objectives, the goals and the the a priority races for uh athletes, athletes like Alison, athletes like that are on her team, and then we work from their strengths and weaknesses, um, athlete phenotypes, the type of rider that they are. Alison's an all arounder, okay, and when what she was saying before is like some of those classics races, that's prime for her. She's an opportunistic rider. She's super crafty. If they make a super hilly Tour de France like, that's not her jam as much, but then she can look for good races within the stage itself. That's how we start to shore up the strengths, weaknesses and make those goals. So, just a little bit behind the scenes, work on there, but use your camera roll to decide. So to bring this thing home.

Speaker 1:

I think it's really important to recognize that inspiration, as AJ said, inspiration can come from literally anywhere, and it's not to say that we want to become robots and feel nothing. We're humans, feeling and feeling. Every emotion is is rich. You should feel that, however, you can take action. You can take action and just like starting to ride your bike before you let the emotion take over, okay. Or you can, when it's just like shitty all around, you can crack a smile and be like you know what I'm riding my bike, or whatever comes to you is just like. Change the mood, change them. Watch Alison racing, you'll. You'll see it, okay. So those, those are my summary points. Alison, is there anything that you want to add?

Speaker 2:

to that yeah, keep, be open to play, open to play, be curious. Uh, and then, and by being curious and being playful, I think you'll find inspiration in a lot of different corners, um, maybe in surprising people in and places that isn't you know. You don't have to be inspired by athletes to be an athlete. You don't have to be inspired by musicians to be a musician.

Speaker 1:

You can find, you can see, um, a lot of like great qualities in the people at home and around you, um, and and use that to inspire you for your goals and to do the hard things yeah, and one thing that just popped in my head right now is like, as you're finding that inspiration in that process is like, get other good people around you and I think, a good training partner, you know good people, like in that cultural space, iron sharpens iron. So like, get around good people and you'll, you'll get pumped up with them. I think that that's also super important. So, alison, if people want to get pumped up from afar and they want more AJ in their life, where, where do we find you? Where on the socials? Do you have a website, a radio talk show? I don't know? Yeah.

Speaker 2:

We're working on that radio talk show.

Speaker 1:

AM 1090.

Speaker 2:

Just kidding, just kidding and every other episode will be like a recap of the edmonton oilers nhl game. Um, yeah, no, just. I mean instagram is uh where I post all my best stuff. Um that at alley action jackson. So a-l-i action jackson. Yeah, you'll find lots of fun stuff there. You can always post about what next races are coming up, also, like the fun goofy side around racing. If you want more of the really race stuff, then yeah, the team page is EF Education. Oatley is the bike team. So, yeah, follow us along, cheer us on, come meet us out at the bike races and, um, yeah, bring some donuts.

Speaker 1:

Well, you heard it folks. Uh, get to some bike races, bring some donuts and um follow every, every inch of the way by following the team and AJ on Instagram. Allison, thank you for taking time. Thanks for joining us today and just sharing some of your knowledge and inspiration with our listeners. I know everybody will soak it up and definitely benefit from it.

Speaker 2:

My pleasure always.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for joining us on the time crunch cyclist podcast. We hope you enjoyed the show. If you want even more actionable training advice, head over to train rightcom backslash newsletter and subscribe to our free weekly publication. Each week you'll get in-depth training content that goes beyond what we cover here on the podcast. That'll help you take your training to the next level. That's all for now. Until next time, train hard, train smart, train right.

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Adam Pulford

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