The Mindset to Do Hard Things w/ Allison Grubbs

Podcast – Steph Gaudreau

Allison Grubbs seemingly came out of nowhere when it comes to rucking. Last year, she participated in her first GORUCK selection, and this year, she finished the GORUCK Selection as the only participant left standing. Allison’s insight, wisdom, and mindset got her to where she is today, and she brings along a message of hope and tranquility that is incredibly inspiring.

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Key Takeaways

If You Want to do Hard Things, You Should:

1. Remember Allison’s advice to chill out and enjoy the moment
2. Find a community that supports your ambitions
3. Stay calm and believe in your ability to do whatever you set your mind to

Doing the Hard Stuff with Allison Grubbs

Allison Grubbs is an endurance athlete and adventurer who is only the second woman ever to complete the GORUCK Selection. Her journey from a self-proclaimed ‘average’ swimmer as a child to where she is today is a testament to her incredibly strong mindset and determination.

Cool, Calm, and Collected

Allison spent her childhood and teenage years swimming but never considered herself an athlete. Even today, she does not identify with the elite athlete status that her achievements have brought. Through a calm, cool, and collected mindset, Allison has shown that she knows how she operates and runs towards that any chance she gets. Her goals are to finish, keep moving, and be calm in stressful situations. She hopes to be a role model for other ‘badass babes’ in her community.

Chill Out and Enjoy the Moment

Allison and I have a lot of parallels in our stories. But what I find so remarkable about Allison is how she stays calm under pressure, knows herself, and goes for what she wants.

If you have a big dream or a big goal, Allison is proof that it is totally possible to achieve anything you put your mind to. Her personal process and fitness journey inspire anyone who knows it, which is why I brought her to the podcast today so that you, as the listener, can get to know her strength firsthand.

How does your mindset impact your goals? Share your thoughts with me in the comments below.

In This Episode

• A look back at Allison’s fitness background (5:15)
• Exploring the differences between endurance training, CrossFit, and more (20:32)
• What it is like to experience the GORUCK Selection (32:09)
• Why going for the most challenging possible thing can give you a sense of drive (43:13)
• Learn what it is like to get to the end of the GORUCK Selection as the final participant (1:00:55)

Quotes

“As I have progressed in the endurance events, endurance community, it’s just forward movement. Thats how I think of it now.” (24:02)

“Most of the time, I just want to finish. That is almost always my goal, is just to finish something.” (30:31)

“Everyone asks after that, ‘Why did you quit?’. Honestly, I have no idea. I was just really okay at that moment with being done and letting her go.” (50:43)

“Part of this year that was so stressful was knowing that I could do it, but always feeling like nothing was good enough.” (54:04)

“There is so much community support. I feel like these are my people. I don’t know why, but they have accepted me, so it just feels right, it feels good.” (1:04:03)

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FYS 389: The Benefits of Rucking for Women with Michael Easter

The Mindset to Do Hard Things w/ Allison Grubbs Transcript

Steph Gaudreau
Have you ever witnessed a feat of athleticism and strength that leaves you really changed and wondering how that person accomplished what they did something that leaves you inspired and forever changed in a positive way? That’s exactly how I felt about today’s podcast guest when I witnessed her completing an incredibly challenging, very daunting event called GORUCK selection. In this episode, she’s going to be sharing her journey, how she prepared for such an event, and what her mindset really was to get her through. I know you’re going to feel so inspired by this episode.

Steph Gaudreau
If you’re an athletic 40-something woman who loves lifting weights, challenging yourself, and doing hardship, the Fuel Your Strength podcast is for you. You’ll learn how to eat, train and recover smarter, so you build strength and muscle, have more energy, and perform better in and out of the gym. I’m strength nutrition strategist and weightlifting coach, Steph Gaudreau. The Fuel Your Strength podcast dives into evidence-based strategies for nutrition training and recovery. And why once you’re approaching your 40s and beyond, you need to do things a little differently than you did in your 20s. We’re here to challenge the limiting industry narratives about what women can and should do in training and beyond. If that sounds good, hit subscribe on your favorite podcast app. And let’s go.

Steph Gaudreau
What’s going on? Welcome back to the podcast. Thank you so very much for being with me today. And before we go into the episode, just want to ask if you love the content on this podcast, please hit subscribe on your favorite podcast app. If you’re watching on YouTube, hit subscribe over there as well and ring the bell for more notifications. Your support in that way is so incredibly powerful. And it means so much because it helps new people to discover the podcast and the topics that we talked about on this show.

Steph Gaudreau
Today on the podcast, we’re doing something a little bit different. Instead of just talking about nutrition and training. We are so lucky to have Allison Grubbs joining us on this show. I became aware of Allison last year when she participated in her first GORUCK selection. And this year, I was able to watch as she went through that event for a second time and ultimately finished.

Steph Gaudreau
And I knew right away that she was somebody I really wanted to bring on the podcast. Because I think she has a lot of insight, a lot of wisdom on her mindset is incredible. And I really thought that you as a listener could benefit so much from hearing Allison’s insights, her process, her journey, and everything that she’s accomplished. So thanks for being with me on this episode. And I can’t wait to introduce you to Allison Grubbs. Without further ado, let’s go ahead and jump into the episode. Hey, Allison, welcome to the podcast. Hello, good morning.

Allison Grubbs
Good morning.

Steph Gaudreau
I’m so glad that you’re with me. We’re recording this show the day after Thanksgiving. And we talked before we recorded all the delicious foods we like to eat. And you know, just spending the holiday decompressing a little bit. So thanks for spending the time with me and being here. And I’m so excited to ask you. I have so many questions about a lot of things. Hopefully, this will give the good listeners also some insight into how they can do hard things as athletic folks out in the world as women kind of pushing the boundaries of athleticism. So I appreciate that you’re here.

Allison Grubbs
Thanks for having me.

Steph Gaudreau
Where do we begin? Where do we begin? Well, I will say I, I’ve been sort of loosely following what you’ve been up to for the last couple of years. And I won’t give all the spoilers away. But I will say when we were watching you in your second selection, and we’ll talk about what that is soon for the listeners if they’re like, What is that, but we were watching you in your second selection. And we’re on our phones in the living room because GORUCK was streaming this event. And we were glad this was like the best reality TV I think I’d ever seen. And as the time ticked by in this event, we were just we were so compelled and so glued to our screens. And were so just excited to see you there doing what you were doing. And it was very magical. And then at the end, when you were sort of talking about why you were doing what you were doing, and we’ll talk about that later, too. I was just I was crying. I mean, it was amazing. I was like who’s cutting onions in here because I just thought it was so amazing.

Steph Gaudreau
For the good listeners, give us a little bit of background into you. Have you been athletic your whole life, a sporty person, and what have you participated in? And, and we’ll kind of take it from there.

Allison Grubbs
Well, I would not describe myself as very athletic. So I was a swimmer from the age of five to 17. But I was never, I was never really good. I was probably good until I was about 12. And then that awkward, like puberty years had and you either got really good or you just stay the same and I just kind of stayed the same. So I wouldn’t really call myself athletic, I was a swimmer, I couldn’t throw a ball, I couldn’t run, I couldn’t do any of those things. Um, so I was really all I did was swimming. And then once I went to college, they didn’t have a pool there. They had a very tiny pool. So then I just kind of did, like free weights and machines and that kind of stuff. Until I found CrossFit when I was like 23-24. And I was obsessed with CrossFit. Like, I think most people kind of get obsessed with CrossFit. I was absolutely obsessed with CrossFit.

Allison Grubbs
Probably for like four or five years. And then through CrossFit, because a lot of the CrossFitters at that time, like the big names like Lindsey, Lindsey, Venezuela, and Tommy Hackenberg. And, those guys, and they had done this thing called SEAL Fit Kokoro. And I saw that and I was like, like, I want to do that one day, but I couldn’t do a pull-up at the time. And part of the requirements to get in was to do like six dead hang pull-ups. And I was like, you know, I’m just never gonna be able to do that. And then 2017 rolls around, and it turns out, I can do some dead hang pull-ups.

Allison Grubbs
So then I signed up for kicker that kind of like started this endurance type thing because that’s a 48-hour. It’s like the seal version of selection. That’s a lot more like team-based, but it’s still 48 hours, it was the longest I’d ever done anything for indefinite trains. I didn’t have a coach, but I trained like myself for it pretty hard, harder than anything I’ve done before. And then like through that I found adventure racing and things like that.

Allison Grubbs
And yeah, just kind of gotten to all this weird stuff. So like, like, I used CrossFit to train for a lot of things, but it just wasn’t, I think I kind of realized like, I’m not, I don’t have like the skill or the body awareness to be a professional cross fitter. So I’m good over the long haul. I like short, short, Sprint’s I’m just not that great at so once I found the endurance things I was like I might do, okay, here, and I might enjoy it, because there’s not that pressure of, you know, like you have to like sprint or, you know, be really good at everything, you can just kind of be average, which is what I consider myself is pretty average. Like, I’m not really bad. I’m not like really good. I’m just right in the middle.

Steph Gaudreau
Yeah, I totally understand that part of the athlete’s brain as well, where you’re like, Oh, not that great. And of course, any time you pull up to an event or something like that, you you know, you have to think about your own state of readiness and your preparedness to perform. And whether it’s a competition or an event. And of course, there are different shades of that that, you know, sometimes it also depends on who shows up that day and how we measure ourselves against the rest of the field and, and that sort of thing. But I can’t imagine. I can’t imagine knowing now what I know that you have accomplished thinking, Oh, you’re you know, you’re not that great athlete. You’re an amazing athlete. But I’m curious if you go back to when you’re swimming.

Allison Grubbs
I mean, I really enjoyed it all. So I was homeschooled from second grade on and so like all of my friends, like all three of my friends, were on the swim team. So I mean, that was kind of like my, my only social outlet that I had. And then, like I say, I was really bad at anything on land. So it was kind of like, if I stopped swimming, I would I guess I wouldn’t have anything, is it like, how it’s kind of hard to put myself like back is like, you know, 12-13. But I mean, at least now that’s kind of how I would see it is like, that’s like, those are my people. And this is the only sport I can do even though I’m not great at it.

Allison Grubbs
But I was also like, like I said I wasn’t the worst. Like there was always somebody worse than me. So they’re like small victories would come up here, there. And so, I mean, I knew I didn’t want to do anything. And you know, I kept getting like, little positive feedback here and there. And so, I mean, I’m, I’m assuming that’s why I stuck with it. But yeah, that I did.

Steph Gaudreau
For sure. I mean, I think that points to potentially your ability to connect to a motivator that was something beyond just the pure extrinsic know, oh, I’m winning, or oh, I’m here, because anyone who participates in athletics, you know, you’re kind of, especially if you’re competitive, you’re doing swimming, right, you’re going to compete and go to meats and things like that. But it sounds like you were able to connect to something that was a little bit more intrinsic. That drove you. And whether that’s like being with your friends or finding something else, that was fun. That’s super interesting.

Allison Grubbs
It’s hard. It also becomes, it just becomes like part of your life, like when I had to quit when I went into like, so I did Community College from 15 to 17. And then I transferred to do my last two years in nursing school. And so when I had to quit at 17, that was like a whole.

Allison Grubbs
I mean, I definitely remember to go I don’t want to say obviously wasn’t a midlife crisis, but it was this identity crisis because like swimming is, and I think for most of the swimmers I swam with, like, it was kind of the same thing where it’s like, swimming is who we are, like, trying to be like, Okay, what do I do now? Like, if I’m not a swimmer, and I’m not in the pool, like six hours a day, like, what do I do?

Allison Grubbs
Like, it was just really, I don’t know, I don’t, I don’t want to say I was depressed but I was just like, I just very lost. Like, I don’t, I don’t know what to do with myself. And that’s kind of why I started going to the just like, you know, regular gym. But that’s just, it just got kind of boring. I still stuck with it for years, because then that was all that I had was, you know, the normal gym. So I don’t know, like, I’ve always needed that outlet to do something. And yeah, but swimming was gone. I was like, I don’t know what to do with my son.

Steph Gaudreau
Yeah, I think a lot of people can relate to that, you know, even if it’s when they’re older adulthood, or maybe they decided to have a family or their career changed. And now it took them away from a particular sport or activity that they really love. And they feel a little bit, a little bit of a sense of being kind of a boat without a sail and not really knowing where to go.

Steph Gaudreau
And how that can be really confronting and really confusing and, and even sad. And so I’ve heard that I hear this from a lot of people who listen to the podcast and people in my community, which is, you know, I’ve lost touch with this thing that I really like to do, and I’m sort of like what else is there? So it’s interesting that you bring that up. What about CrossFit for you ticked that? I don’t know, tick that box in your brain that you really liked.

Allison Grubbs
You’re in your own lane. At the gym, I really didn’t like talking to people, I just kind of did what I did. And if someone would come up to me and say something, I would just kind of get annoyed. But be nice and tolerate it. Because that’s what you do. So CrossFit with the whole group thing is like, I don’t, I’m really like not into that. But it turns out I am.

Allison Grubbs
So I think I went in I did my first class. The first workout ever was Helen. So I never ran like, what am I guess I have really bad body awareness. So doing a kettlebell swing was funny. That was kind of like a joke. But you know, I try. And pull-ups, obviously, I think I did, like jumping pull-ups or something.

Allison Grubbs
And then the running. I mean, I did what I could. But I don’t know if I could do a 400 without like, walking a little bit. Like, that’s just how bad it was. But, um, I was so sore after that one workout, which, which now I think I would look at it and be like, That’s just laughable. Like, how was I sorted that, but I was so sore. And I was like, This is good. Like, I haven’t been sore. And years, because I’ve been doing the same, like, gym routine for that long. And so and I love it, like, I love being sore left feeling like I did something. So I went back, I think like two more times that week.

Allison Grubbs
And, you know, I sucked just as bad those two times. And that was kind of it. I was like, I’m, I’m kind of really enjoying, like, going and doing the class and like competing against people and being really sore. So actually, I think I went and canceled my gym membership. Like later that week. I was like, Okay, I found CrossFit. And then I mean, that’s I don’t know, as far as like a new like competitive edge. And at that time, CrossFit was definitely competitive. But I was still considered like, pretty decent. The first couple of years. Now, I think it’d be like the bottom of the barrel.

Steph Gaudreau
Well, they completely, you know, gave so much traction, and you were talking about 2008. I mean, that was pretty to see that in a magazine in 2008. Was that magazine probably pretty, pretty ahead of its time, or pretty plugged in? Because I mean, that was such an early day. Right? And I think 2010 When I started I did my first open in 2011. Okay, yeah, I think I, I want to say reasonably, maybe I came in in a 100th place or something. And I thought, which is good. Yeah, I thought, wow, next year, I, you know, get a full year of training under my belt. And next year, who knows? Maybe I could make it to regionals. And then it just kept growing and growing and growing. And of course, there are so many more people that my my position only got worse and worse over time.

Steph Gaudreau
But yeah, it definitely has that element of you can still compete against yourself and other people, but there’s also sort of that team dynamic to it sometimes which, right, yes, is super interesting. And you’re you know, you’re kind of I think there is something to be said for suffering in a controlled, relatively controlled setting together with other people that you’re doing hard stuff and that is you.

Allison Grubbs
It’s hard to explain what that feels like until you actually do it and how, how cool that can be. That was so the year I did Kokoro, in 2017, my gym, this was like the last year my gym was going to try for like a team spot at regionals. And I don’t want to say I won a place on the team. I performed well enough, I had a place on the team to go. And I gave it up because regionals that year were like two or three weeks after Kokoro and I was so beat up. And I had a Europe vacation planned already.

Allison Grubbs
That I was like, as like, yeah, we’ll like to give it the alternate was one of my best friends. And I was like, you know, have it like you’re gonna perform better than I can. And that was the last year they did the six-person team. And then it went like a super team and all this stuff. And I was just like, in hindsight, I’m kind of like, that might have been really cool.

Allison Grubbs
Maybe I should have tried a little bit harder to do that. But you know, it is what it is. Yeah, there’s a good time. And that’s fine as she probably they honestly did do way better because I wasn’t on the team.

Steph Gaudreau
Well, you probably would have brought your own strengths to the mix, right as it’s hard to say. So after you did Kokoro, and SEAL Fit, and then you kind of went on this trajectory of adventure racing and more endurance events, what did that phase of your life look like in terms of the skills that you were developing, or just how it was a different beast than something like a, you know, an hour-long CrossFit class is a different kind of hard than 48 hour Kokoro Camp or a GORUCK challenge or something like that. So where did you have to go in terms of your training, in terms of your mindset, to step into this new, very different type of pursuit?

Allison Grubbs
I think, was the adventure racing, it was just more like, okay, there’s gonna be random stuff, and you just kind of need needed, you need to be prepared for like, the random stuff. So adventure racing, I really had no idea what I really didn’t know what to expect. I was kind of like a last-minute alternate on a team. And I was like, let’s do it. And so mountain biking was one of the things and I hate I hate bikes. I really hate bikes. But I bought a bike. I got this, I got decent, but anything technical was just awful.

Allison Grubbs
But just like, I think just being more prepared to do like impulse things like alright, like, like, buy the bike, like, do what you can, like, find the trails, like put the time in, I think it’s shifted a lot at that point, like, okay, an hour just isn’t going to cut it anymore. Like if I’m, if I’m gonna, like, make this kind of my thing I need to kind of be good.

Allison Grubbs
Or at least average, be able to do a variety of things. So like, you know, biking, cycling, swimming, running at the same time, like CrossFit is so good at like that. Just like overall body preparedness, I guess. So I kept doing CrossFit through all of it. But yeah, it just got to more randomness. So the biking, one of the endurance things I did was an Ironman. So I started cycling, which is also awful. I hate cycling

Allison Grubbs
Not just cycling, by cycling for the distances that you have to do in an Ironman, a whole different beast on your body. I just how people like cycling, I just don’t know. Everything about that hurt. Um, I think it was, it was interesting because I come you put certain things up on on a pedestal like, or, like, you know, an Ironman is the pinnacle of what fitness can be like, that’s kind of how I grew up this, like, Oh, my God, an Ironman. And so, you know, when I started training for that, it was like, All right, like, I got to swim, bike and run, like, all the time.

Allison Grubbs
And I stressed out a ton about the Ironman, and then I went to do it. And I was like, I just saw a lot for nothing. Like not that the training didn’t pay off. But it’s essentially like 13 hours. Like, for me, it was 13 hours of just moving consistently like nothing was super hard. It was just movement. So it’s kind of like as I’ve like, progressed, I guess, and the endurance events, endurance community.

Allison Grubbs
It’s just forward movement. I guess that’s kind of how I think of it now. It’s like, I like training-wise, I like to do some like short and fast things and heavy things and whatnot, but I just try to keep moving. And that’s really what I aim for is just keep just keep moving. And if I know there’s going to be a skill, though, I should probably practice like mountain biking, then, you know, I might something might I might have to like to shift things around. But you know, same same kind of thing. Like, like I’m probably just going to try to get on and aim for like the on time on a time on the saddle or things like that.

Steph Gaudreau
I was gonna say we have a lot of parallels in our stories. I never did swimming when I was a kid but I did participate in sports and played soccer and things like that. And we both kind of got into CrossFit. And you know, there’s some overlap there. It sounds like in a time when you were saying Lindsay Valenzuela and Tommy Hackenberg and stuff. I was like, I know who that is. Right. There’s Rebecca Voight and all these earlier CrossFit, you know, standouts, and then the one thing that’s different? Well, one of the things that is sort of routine for us is I raced mountain bikes for eight years. So that was my jam.

Steph Gaudreau
But yeah, it sounds like, you know, through all of that you sort of set your mind to whatever the task that lay ahead was and just kind of focused in on what you had to do to make that happen. I’m curious, while still working full time, how did you? How did you carve out that time? How did you make it happen training and priority-wise, for the different things that you were doing, knowing they’re not short? They’re not short events, typically. And even in your training sessions, you know, you’ll probably do some longer training sessions. So how did you fit in and sort of prioritize and make that happen? When do you have these really big events coming up?

Allison Grubbs
What did I do, I mean, for those events, I feel like I would, you know, going back like beyond like, two years ago, beyond two years ago, um, I would always prioritize like CrossFit II workouts, I would do what I could, like sleep was always sacrificed. It just was, like, if I got like, four or five hours, like during the day, like, that’d be pretty good. Um, but I would usually just try to do like my longer things outside of like, work days, but I mean, to be honest, there’s a lot.

Allison Grubbs
A lot of my training isn’t like really long, like training sessions, even when I was training. So I did like a 200-mile Ultra like in Scotland, um, I ended up DNFing, which, that’s like, story that was like, last year. So it was like, I didn’t want to hurt myself. Um, so I did, like, kind of call it soon. But training for that. I did like an hour on the true form runner, like maybe every day, maybe every other day. Um, because I kind of learned when I first started doing CrossFit and running, I was hurt all the time. Like, I’m just like, pushing it too much, too fast.

Allison Grubbs
And so I really don’t feel like I tried to do too much. I tried to do too much in between, like work schedules and stuff. So I mean, like, I was telling you, like, my routines kind of shifted over the years as far as like sleep, and, and workout. So when I feel like I can do it. So I just tried to prioritize, just like, moving like, if I got one thing done well, I was happy with that. And what I think I’ve found, just throughout training the last few years is if I feel good about it, then it’s fine, then I’m happy.

Allison Grubbs
You know, I’m not gonna go into the next training session feeling like a pile of crap or whatever, for not doing something. So it was kind of like, as long as I felt good about it myself. It was it was fine. So, um, yeah, I usually ended up just waking up really early, getting to the gym doing what I could, with as much energy and time as I had.

Allison Grubbs
And then just, you know, shower and get back to work. So yeah, it’s London, looking at nurses like half the time. They’re not like the healthiest people either. So when I was like, Yeah, I woke up at noon, so to work out and they’re like, What are you talking about? Like, all right, I’m doing something, right?

Allison Grubbs
Because, yeah, like no one else was awake at noon workouts like, okay. Yeah, I don’t know, you just, I think at least for me, I just figured out what I like I needed to do to feel good about it and then did it? Mm hmm.

Steph Gaudreau
Yeah, that’s super interesting. I mean, it sounds like you’ve built up a really great base over the years as well. And then sort of, you get to find that, that middle ground, I guess, between you what you need to do to maintain certain things, you know, certain aspects of the training that may maybe need to come up a little bit but sort of almost taking that minimalist approach to some degree, where you’re, you’re also being able to manage the recovery, the wear and tear on your body, that sort of thing by pulling back and kind of only doing what you have to do.

Allison Grubbs
And I think just like for me, like I say, I consider myself pretty average. So if I were, you know, an elite level athlete like doing this stuff, I mean, first off, I would hope I’m not working full time if I was the only athlete doing the stuff, but you know, needs must. And that might change things like if I, if I suddenly had all this time to go, like, you know, do with 30-mile trail run or something, then like for sure, like, you know, I would do that, but just with like the time and like the goals that I have for most of these things, like, most of the time, I just kind of want to finish. Like, that’s almost always my goal is just to finish something. So I feel like that, you know, it takes a bit of pressure off like I’m not trying to place amongst like the top people, I’m just trying to, you know, finish at you know, decently average place.

Steph Gaudreau
And that you you’re doing before we dive in, if you listen to this episode, and you’re like, Okay, I am ready to get to work, I want to take my strength, muscle energy, and performance and take it up a notch, I want to take it to that next level, I want to feel like a badass, but at the same time, do it in a way that works with my physiology, as an athletic woman over 40 with coaching and community support. And go ahead and check out Strength Nutrition Unlocked. This is my group program, we’re going to lay out the framework for you and guide you as you implement and really customize it to all the things that you’re doing your preferences, your likes, and the places you want to go with it, then go ahead and get onboard, you can start your process by submitting an application at StephGaudreau.com/apply. We’d love to hear from you and see you inside the program.

Steph Gaudreau
Let’s kind of shift I guess a little bit into talking more specifically about Goruck and about selection since I know a lot of people who listen to this podcast are more familiar now with rucking and even go rock as a company. But I’m I don’t think many of them know what selection is. So tell us sort of how you got interested in involved in rocking from that point in your journey. And what planted the seed for you that selection was something you wanted to do.

Allison Grubbs
Um, this is fun. I feel like I was just talking about this the other day. Um, I so after Kokoro um, so when I finished that there was one other woman that finished and I want to say maybe a month afterward, she sent me this link to this article that was like, What’s harder go rogue selection or Kokoro. And I never heard a selection. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a guard before either. But she was like, Do you want to do this next year? And I was like, No, not really.

Allison Grubbs
And so it kind of like it. I kind of pushed it back. But it was just always, it was always there. Like, like when someone brings an event up, it’s kind of always in the back of my mind. Like, maybe especially because I knew it was 48 hours. It was kind of another Ask kicker. Like, I was just curious, like, you know, I’ve never heard of this thing before. It’s I just did this 40-hour event. Like maybe I could do that one.

Allison Grubbs
So as soon as his class finished, I signed up for selection. And then this, this guy was kind of dating and he was like, you know, like, you might want to do an event and just kind of like see, like what it’s about. It’s like okay, fine, like I’ll try one so I signed up for the brag heavy because it was like, at least how I interpreted it was it was like the next hardest thing so yeah, so my friend got me.

Allison Grubbs
My friend got me thinking about Goruck again, which got me to sign up for selection. And then that guy got me into the BRAC heavy and then I finally got my first ruck finally, like, December of 21, or something, um, and started rucking and I had like a different I had some other like training program where I was just like rucking and ruck shuffling and doing all this stuff that I mean, I don’t know, I don’t really know what I was doing whatever it told me to do. Um, I know went into the brag heavy, it was not at all what I was expecting.

Allison Grubbs
Because, again, I think I kind of come from more of like a, like, not a team-based type of event. Like, I wasn’t really expecting it to be that much of a team-based thing. And I think in my head, I was so kind of like, you know, like, I’m just, I’m just here, like, like, I’m just here to get experience for selection. Like, that’s all I’m here.

Allison Grubbs
Like, still just very like, alright, this is a training opportunity. And that’s it. Um, but then, you know, I made a couple of good friends from that. And I didn’t actually meet Joe Baker there, but I saw him. And one of my friends had actually mentioned Joe Baker before, and I was like, alright, well, I’ve seen him. So that seems like meeting him almost. So I’ll reach out.

Allison Grubbs
So now I reached out to Joe and then Joe kind of kind of like he became my coach and helped me with all the it’s just mostly weird. It’s like going from like, not doing any wrecking to using a wreck for workouts and using sandbags. And I mean, it’s just really different to go from using a barbell and you know, doing all this other like random stuff to it’s like, Alright, you’re gonna do a wreck swing is like, what is a wreck? Swing? Like, how do you hold your How do you do this? Or a crab walk with your Ruck on?

Allison Grubbs
Is it on your front or back? Like just these these questions that would come up? Where I’m like, I really have no idea what it’s just a different, like, it’s something that I think people really do, like capable of doing. It’s just like, Alright, how, how do you do this with this equipment? So Joe was great with that with that aspect. And then just, you know, because I then brag, which, you know, doing the GORUCK events.

Allison Grubbs
I mean, I’m gonna say for myself, I don’t think they prepare you for selection, because they’re just so different. They’re so different. Like, I almost have a harder time in the events than they do at selection. Because I, as I’ve worked now, for the last couple of years, I’m like a really bad record. I don’t walk fast. I don’t particularly like enjoying it.

Allison Grubbs
Like, it’s not my favorite thing to do. And carrying coupons is not, like really fun for me. So. So like, I struggle with events sometimes. But I love PT, like that’s the whole like CrossFit, it like, you know, the stuff I love and the water aspects like I love that kind of stuff. So there’s parts of selection, where I’m like, This is great, like I’m having a really good time. And then events, you don’t necessarily get the same opportunity. Like just being told what to do. That’s, it takes a lot of the stress off of you like in events, you know, you have your team leads and things like that. And you don’t have to deal with that as selection.

Allison Grubbs
They just take over who’s great. Like me, it’s great. So you had you didn’t start rocking until a couple of years ago, more or less? Yeah, yeah.

Steph Gaudreau
When you first started you just said, you don’t think you’re particularly good at rucking. I mean, I guess that’s all by the way, I love your mug or mug says kick today in the deck, which I think is amazing for those that aren’t lists that aren’t watching.

Steph Gaudreau
You want the visual, but when you started rocking and then you you know you kind of had to get get on board with that relatively quickly quickly. Because there’s you know, a huge element of that even in no matter what go wreck challenge people are going to do for those for those who don’t know, you know, there’s going to be a certain amount of rocking. So how did you how did you start and then sort of where did you progress up to with just your rocking in terms of how much you were carrying and how far you were rucking for?

Allison Grubbs
You know, the first year when I started training, I probably only did the minimum like 30 pounds. It’s just hard when you go from not having anything to suddenly heavy weight on your back. It was just kind of like it’s like, alright, everything hurts. This is really uncomfortable. Like how can I make it easier and it’s just now for, it just never got.

Allison Grubbs
Um, but I knew it’s just one of those things where it’s like, you know, I have like, I have to do it like it is what it is I have to do it the first year, after my first election attempt when I said like, you know, I really didn’t read that much. When the words came out of my mouth, I was like, alright, I probably could have read more. I just felt kind of dumb there. But the first year I really did not ruck that much like I would walk my dog like two miles on pretty flat terrain. It was never that heavy. It was like 30 I think occasionally I might do like 50 pounds. Like it wasn’t it wasn’t much. You know, Joe would program like, you know, the occasional 12 miler and things like that.

Allison Grubbs
Like I would do the things that were programs with weight but usually like not much more than that, like, like now I call it like my extra credit stuff. Where I would like you know, add in more rucking or heavier rucking. But the first year, I really didn’t do a whole lot of extracurricular rucking.

Allison Grubbs
But yeah, I really didn’t do a lot of it in the first year. And that’s really what liked that first year when I quit. Like, that’s really a big reason. Like, like, what brought me down was the coupon like a coupon carry, like a four-mile coupon carry like that destroyed me, like physically, I was not doing well. But like, it’s it was the first mental hit, I really took the first selection that I did. And that just wore me out. They wore me out, which I think led to my quitting shortly after that.

Allison Grubbs
I mean, I think, at least up until that point. It’s never gone poorly for me. I like I just like doing things just there are things I just never thought I’d be able to do. Like I never thought I’d be able to do curl, like the first thing I ever did. Because I never thought I could do pull-ups. You know, and then I could, um, you know, stay awake for 24 hours, like doing any of that stuff. Like I’ve it’s all stuff I never thought I could do. But then I did it. And it was like, Oh, this what I thought would be the hardest part wasn’t even the hardest part.

Allison Grubbs
Um, I mean, I can’t say like, why I’m drawn to that kind of thing. I like, I liked the challenge. I like, I like to push myself I like to have a goal. And the selection was definitely like, you know, a big goal, like, Alright, I have to do, you know, here’s this PT test, they lined out like I like if I can do the PT tests, I can, you know, keep going. And mentally, like I think swimming, you know, for being like as average as I was like swimming in particular thoughts that me up really well because you just keep going like you’re in your own head for the whole, like you’re always you’re in your own head, you’re staring at a line in the bottom pool.

Allison Grubbs
He just gets you really good at just going like to kind of blocking out things around you and just going and I think swimming has set me up really well for endurance, things like that, because that’s kind of what I grew up doing was just kind of shutting things down and just focusing on like what I was doing, because that’s really all that you could do.

Allison Grubbs
Oh, so mentally swimming sent me a ball for that. Other things like, like, I think my parents were really they were really good. Like, you know, looking back, I don’t know if parents these days would do it, but they would like to make me it’s kind of like how bad do you want to get some practice. And like, I’d have to take like two buses to get to the town that the pool was in, and then I would have to run like rent like them to like the mile and a half to the pool, and then I would get there, maybe 45 minutes late. And then the coach would like to yell for being late. And he was like, and just having to swallow that, like, you know, I just took two buses, and I ran a mile and a half to get here like I obviously want to be here. So kind of like just choking that back. And just like taking it.

Allison Grubbs
I think that really came into play like selection in particular, because you’re getting yelled at all the time, usually for things out of your control. And no, I think swimming set me up really well. Like, why? Why I do the hardest, I don’t, I don’t know. But I feel like if you’re gonna do it, if you’re gonna take the time to do it, you might as well just go balls to the wall.

Steph Gaudreau
Well, it’s interesting and great that you know that about yourself. And I think there are going to be people listening to this who have more of a well, I’m going to kind of ease in and see what things are like mentality. And that works really well for them. Because they can gradually feel more successful and more confident in what they’re doing. And it sounds like for you, you know that about yourself now as having this lifetime of participation in different athletic pursuits and different things is, when I set the challenge, I set the bar high.

Steph Gaudreau
That means I adjusted my training and I aligned to meet that everything starts to point toward that objective, which is, is great to know that about yourself a nine, I asked that question, you know, knowing there’s no one right or wrong answer. It’s just always really fascinating to see how people are so different. And I guess the point is sort of knowing how you tick, and then being able to, to kind of run toward that sounds really cool.

Steph Gaudreau
It’s funny I don’t know what’s wrong with me or why it’s always I attribute most of it to just swimming like swimming, changing something in my, in my, in my mind that just made me want to be more capable of doing those type of things is when I because it just snaps so bad.

Steph Gaudreau
So for anyone who doesn’t know, and I’ve kind of talked about this a little bit on the last podcast I did on rocking, but you know, in terms of Goruck events, you’ve got the light, you’ve got the basic, you’ve got the tough, you’ve got the heavy, and those sort of are different time domains and lengths of rocking and things like that. And the idea is, we’ve kind of come together as a team, like you said earlier, there’s team leader, you know, you’re sort of is the common goal is to get everyone to finish. And then you have selection, which is a base basically the opposite. Not that.

Steph Gaudreau
So when you started thinking about selection and the things that you were going to have to do, and sort of the different beast it was even from the Bragg heavy that you did, what were some of the things that I guess stuck out in your mind as you were going along, maybe through the training or through the first event where you sort of had to battle. That difference, right of you know, they’re trying to get me to quit, they’re trying to get me to go home and turn it to turn in and say I’m not I’m not doing this. Where did you have to go with your mind to make that happen?

Allison Grubbs
Yes, funny. The first year I tried it, I fully expected it to make it to the end but I did not. Because when I thought about it, I was like well, why are they quitting? Like why would I want to quit? Like, quitting doesn’t seem like an option. Like I don’t know why I wouldn’t make it. Like I’ll pass the PT test. Although there’s always that anxiety about the PT test, I was like, you know, there’s no reason I shouldn’t pass it. Um, so there’s no reason why I should want to quit. And then you know, we have like that four miles. It was just like a four-mile ruck carry like a 60-pound bag.

Allison Grubbs
It shouldn’t have been the worst but it absolutely crushed me and you know, we finished that. And I still don’t think I was thinking about quitting but we got into like the next thing and you know, Rachel the other girl was so far ahead, and I was like, you know, like, I’m not making the standard, like, I know, I’m not, I’m just sucking when I’m really far behind, I’m not making a standard. It’s like, you know if she runs with this opportunity and passes, then like, I’m okay with that, like, Good for her. And I quit. And I was like, it was like, What did I do?

Allison Grubbs
You know, like, in hindsight, is everyone asked after that, you know, like, Why? Why did you quit? Like, honestly, I have no idea. Like, I was just really okay in that moment with being done, and like letting you know, letting her go. But the whole year of training up to that point, it never crossed my mind that that would even be a scenario where we’re, I just quit. So. Um, I don’t know, because it’s not like I wasn’t taking it seriously. But I don’t think I was, it’s just an event, I feel like you have to be fully invested in it to pass it. And I don’t think I was taking it like quite seriously enough to do so. So the next year. So then obviously, at this point, now I’m like, Okay, I know what it is to quit, especially at the 24-hour mark, when, you know, there’s two of us left, I had no good reason to quit. Other than, you know, I wasn’t at the top of my mental game.

Allison Grubbs
And so, so I knew that feeling. And I knew what it was like to deal with the aftermath of it. And also, I knew going into the second year, like when that was over, and we were at headquarters, like eating burgers and stuff. Jason and I forget who else was there, but they were like, you were right there were like, We have no idea who you are, or where you came from, or like you’ve done no events.

Allison Grubbs
But like you, you were so close to finishing and they’re like you just need like, just do more events come back. And you know, and go for it again. Because you’re so close and I think the saying that where I was like okay, they think I can do it. And like obviously I was doing really well. So I just need like that’s what I need to do I need to do more events and like really just focus on Goruck. So you know, coming back around, I just made 2023 Like the year of Goruck like two weeks after that. I did my first HTB which was awful.

Steph Gaudreau
For the people who don’t know what HTB is, can you just briefly describe that?

Allison Grubbs
As soon as I said it, I was like I should probably think an HTB is heavy, tough, and basic in one weekend there are usually four to five hours between the events but so it’s the 24 hours followed by a 12-hour followed by like a fiveish hour event.

Allison Grubbs
For a lot of people, HTB is kind of like their big event of the year but I was feeling so bummed out after the election I was like, let’s just do it the stars aligned, and transportation lines and it happened and it was the year of go wreck started there and so so I did that I did some more like Pearl Harbor events.

Allison Grubbs
I did all the Bragg events. I really didn’t sign up for anything that wasn’t going wreck except one event and I made sure it was like really like pretty early in the year so when an impact anything but it just everything escalated at that point like it just became more of that obsession to get the training in.

Allison Grubbs
You never feel like you’ve done enough that part of this year that was so stressful is knowing that I could do it. But always feeling like nothing was good enough. I never felt like I could train enough I couldn’t you know I couldn’t run enough I was doing all these extra push ups and push ups and lunges and all these things since like I just don’t know if it’s enough and like sleep wise, I mean I could a lot of sleep out during work days and stuff.

Allison Grubbs
You know, taking sandbags and rocks on vacay on vacation like trying to work out at like 4 am in a parking lot. Like it’s just it’s really just stressful. The rucking weight? Usually, I would aim for like, between like 75 and 100 pounds and it would be doing laps up and down this hill behind my house.

Allison Grubbs
Everything just got heavier. And I definitely like I don’t want to say I hurt myself. I like that, you know, that sudden, like, you know, jump in weight and jump in training? Like, I saw my physical therapist quite a bit. We’ll go with that. It was, it was stressful. But there’s that new drive like, Alright, I know I can, like multiple people think I can do it. I think I can do it. I just need to put in, like the time and the energy and, you know, go for it. And if you know, yeah.

Steph Gaudreau
And we were talking amongst ourselves thinking, how I mean, does that make it easier? knowing you’re the only one? Or does it make it harder, knowing you’re the only one because now cadre is trying to get only you know, you’re the only one who can be focused on to really push you to try to get you to meet the standard, and ultimately, see if you have what it takes to make it through? It goes dark overnight. Obviously, they’re they’re not live-streaming. I’m assuming at that point, you’re doing the long walk, at some point throughout the night, and into the morning. And when we got the broadcast back in the morning, we’re like, she’s still she’s still going. So how was it knowing that you were then the only remaining person? Were you invigorated by that? Did it present another level of difficulty? Was it you back in the pool? Again, kind of staring at the line? What was that? Like?

Allison Grubbs
It was great. I mean, I don’t want to say it was great. It was, um, you know, the, the nice thing about selection this year is I feel like I was like, my goal was to be mentally there. Like, I feel as though when I quit the year before I like, I just lost control of like, my thoughts and emotions and, and I quit and I wasn’t, I wasn’t thinking. And so this year, I wanted to go into it being very present. And just like, you know, able, able to, like acknowledge emotions, and people and things and all that. And shockingly, I feel like I really was like, I felt very, like, in tune with everything the entire time. So I mean, my first slot when I, when I knew that they were going to drop it, my first thought was like, oh, like, that sucks. Because we had chatted a little bit during the 24-hour mark.

Allison Grubbs
And, I mean, I didn’t know a ton about him. But like, I knew you don’t get to like our 30-something without it, meaning something to you. And so for him to get dropped. At that point, I was just like, at first I just felt really bad. I was like that. Like, that’s just heartbreaking. Like I can’t imagine being dropped at that hour. And then once it was official, I was like, alright, this isn’t that bad.

Allison Grubbs
Because part of what kind of sucked, especially leading up to that 24-hour mark is we were both good at different things. So if we got to something that he was really good at, like wrecking or carrying things, he would always take like, I was always the loser in that scenario. And then things would like more PT-ish type movements like I was better at it. So having him gone was way better for me. Like, as far as the event goes, it was way better for me because now I wasn’t, I wasn’t, you know, always in second place, because I was the only person there. So it’s me it was actually really nice to be by myself. Because the contrary there’s there’s enough cadre at that point anyways, it doesn’t matter if like, you know, I have four of them on me or like all of them on me especially in the dark too. It’s just a lot of voices, a lot of lamps in your face.

Allison Grubbs
Like it didn’t it didn’t make a difference. So it was actually it was just nice, because it’s like, Okay, now it’s just me, you know, I’m not, you know, it’s not, you know, go be was the number 26. It wasn’t like, you know, catch up to 26. It was, you know, alright, you have five minutes to get to the river, like go, and that I preferred that a lot more. A lot less stressful the way is still very stressful, but it was less stressful than being like, alright, like, I have to meet this guy. It’s actually his fine. And then like you said, I’m really used to being I train alone, I do most of my stuff alone. Like, I’m really not super used to like team events. So it was actually it was totally fine. Even myself.

Steph Gaudreau
Super interesting. So toward the end of the event, the CADRE are all asking, you know, why are you doing this? It’s kind of the homestretch right, we assume we’re sort of going up that ladder, that hill one more time and getting to the top and they’re sort of grilling you, you know, why it sort of shifts right before that they’re trying to get you to almost quit, and then there’s a shift in, in what they’re doing in they are, they’re kind of getting you to sort of tap into the why.

Steph Gaudreau
And assuming I’m assuming and to try to just like give you that connection points and get you to finish. And they had to keep repeating, you know, sort of why are you here? Why are you here? And I’m wondering if you can kind of walk us through what you said and ultimately, what that purpose was, you know, what, what did you connect to in that moment?

Allison Grubbs
Yeah, that was actually probably one of the most stressful parts because I was, and this is gonna sound dumb, but I was trying to think of a way to say it, where it could be like two words like something really short. And, like, my why I felt like there was there’s just no way to get it into two words. And so when they were asking me, I was just, I think I said, like, you know, friends and family and like, wishing out I’m a big version of things like sure, maybe, um, but when I think I was heading, you know, starting to head up the hill. And, and Jason was like, when he got like, really close and everything he’s like, that’s not what you told me earlier. And I was like, I think I even said, I can’t fit that into two words.

Allison Grubbs
So, um, so no, it actually, I mean, what it turned into being is when I went the year before, because I went in as kind of the Dark Horse. Like they said, No one knew who I was, I’ve done one event. I think I knew I needed Joe because he’s my coach, like, he has to know me. And I knew like one other person.

Allison Grubbs
And, you know, I really, when I got back to like, social media and stuff, like, there was so much support from so many people. That, you know, I just, I had no idea who they were, but like, they, they had like, signs and everything. And they were like, you know, cheering me on, and they all like, there’s so much support after that, that really drove me like keep going and to try again and everything and then seeing those people at events, and just how encouraging they were and how just how much like they really wanted me to do it.

Allison Grubbs
I had fully expected to do garlic and then just kind of have selection and then like leave because that’s what I had done so many times. It’s like, Alright, I’m gonna do this event and I’m gonna take off. And yeah, it’s just is there’s so much community support that I was. I was like, alright, like, I I feel like these are like, these are my people. Like, I don’t know why, but they’ve accepted me.

Allison Grubbs
So yeah, this just just feels right, it feels good. Like, I wanted to, like, do right by them, because they’ve really had my back the whole time. So at the 24-hour mark, and the 24-hour mark, when Jason was asking us what our why was, I was like, Well, you know, after last year, like there was so much support for me and for what I was doing and you know, just like, you know, she could be she could be like the next woman to do this. And like you know, we think she can get this far.

Allison Grubbs
And it’s like I want to do it like I want to do it for the community and for the people and you know at the time I don’t think it was necessarily like just for women but I think being the second female to do it like it is special. So it’s like like yeah, like I’m gonna check I’m gonna do this.

Allison Grubbs
That’s really kind of what it turned into. I want to do this for for the community and for the women in the Badass Babes girl community, which is another thing people can look at Badass Babes. But, yeah, like, I want to be that person that people can look up to, like, you know, I’m getting yelled at and doused with buckets and all this stuff, but it’s doable, like, you know, just keeping that forward momentum. Like it’s doable and like, watch me do it.

Steph Gaudreau
And we did, and as you know, you were coming into your final moments of the event. It was, it was just really awesome that you had so much support in on the, on Instagram in the comments, and we were saying, you know, I really want to inspire other women and girls in this community. And, and some so many people are like, you know, I’m a guy, and she’s inspiring me, which I thought was cool.

Steph Gaudreau
But it was, it was amazing to see just your sort of strength of mind and your composure, and, your presence in that moment came across the screen. So powerfully, I was lucky enough to stand next to you at the event in November. So we just had the HTB, the Recon Raider HTB here in SoCal, I did the basics, I was I was not ready yet for for a heavy or a tough, but in roll call, we sat next to each other in line, because our last names will start with G. And during roll call, anyone who was doing the HTB had to hold your rocks over your head.

Steph Gaudreau
Now, again, you’re at the end of you know, basically a whole weekend of this, you’ve already gone through the 24 hours already gone through the 12 hours. And the rest of us are kind of standing there. And I could just see out of, you know, my periphery, I can see other folks who had been doing the HTV as well. And those packs seem really heavy and are really, really tired. And I could see you out of my left periphery and you were just standing so still and so calm. And I just thought all right, I want to be like Alison because…

Allison Grubbs
It’s funny, like I do. I mean, there’s two things like I really like suffering and silence is something that Cleves says a lot and I don’t like I’m a very, I’m a quiet person, like I don’t really like like talking or making a lot of noise or whatever. So I love that phrase, like just suffering in silence. But, um, I mean, part of it too, is like being like, I want to be like that role model for people, like, you know, like, you can do it just like, be quiet and breathe and, and do what you can’t, like, do what you can. And you know, when you can’t then you know, take a breather and get back up and like, it’s fine. It’s fine. I just want to be I’m a calm person, but I want to make sure that comes across that I like that I’m calm, like you can be calm in stressful situations.

Allison Grubbs
Well, there’s still a lot more Goruck. Um, I have I have a list of things, there’s a list of things. Um, there are some things that I’ve just seen that I just kind of want to try. Like there’s like the go-read like the DECA fit stuff. Like just I guess more like fitness stuff would be kind of fun, like the High Rocks, you know, kind of like to just try him. Like I say, I’m not like an elite fitness athlete, but I like to see what it’s about. Um, there’s, there’s always more endurance events. I’ve just never kind of gotten around to train, um, that I just, you know, I kind of want to like mark off my list, I guess.

Allison Grubbs
There are some long swims. But I’ll hold off on that there’s like some, there’s like some really good swims that I kind of like to do once my shoulders like an Okay, again, there are some longer swims I want to do. Um, but, I mean, I’m kind of just going, I don’t know, like, Whatever, whatever comes up, there’s no I will say there’s nothing like selection that I’m, I’m super worried about that. I think I might have to train for two years in order to make it. There’s just a lot that I feel like I didn’t have the opportunity to try this past year past two years, that I just kind of want to go see what it’s about.

Allison Grubbs
So yeah, there’s definitely, I was going over my calendar last night, and there’s definitely a lot I want to do. And we’ll see if I can fit it all in. But nothing is as stressful as selection training. But it’s something that I mean if something comes up that, you know, looks super awesome, then. I mean, 100% Yeah, cuz I don’t know, I love I mean, I love training. I love training, I love training with like, you know, a purpose in mind. So right now, the training purpose is just to kind of be ready for whatever comes up. But yeah, if something big came up, like, I’d be honest, that’d be about it.

Steph Gaudreau
It’s totally possible. It’s doable. And I know you’ve said many times on this episode that you don’t think you’re an elite athlete or anything like that. But I can I can tell you this, you definitely stand above the rest in in some really singular ways. And I’m just really grateful for you being here and sharing your experiences. And I’m really looking forward to seeing your next adventure. I think it’s going to be great. So thanks for being with us.

Allison Grubbs
Thank you for having me. Yeah.

Steph Gaudreau
If there any one last thing you could share with anyone? Any last thought that you have to leave with the listeners now’s the time. That’s pressure.

Allison Grubbs
I don’t know. Just chill out.

Steph Gaudreau
Have fun. Right?

Allison Grubbs
Right. Have fun. Enjoy. Enjoy the moment. I don’t know. Just do it. Do what you can in that moment. Yeah. Yeah, that’s, that’s really all you can do. It’ll work out.

Steph Gaudreau
Truly, really well. Thank you so much for being with us, Allison. I really appreciate it.

Allison Grubbs
Oh, thank you. You’re welcome. Thanksgiving recovery.

Steph Gaudreau
All right, have a good one.

Allison Grubbs
Thanks. You too.

Steph Gaudreau
It truly was an honor to stand next to Allison during the Goruck event that I was at with her in November. And that Goruck basic. But really to watch her in motion was incredible. And just to see how cool calm and collected and focused she was, was really inspiring for me as someone who loves athletics and loves to challenge. So thanks for being with me on this episode. I hope you walk away feeling very much inspired. And even if you also don’t fancy yourself an athlete, then you can take something away from Allison’s point of view.

Steph Gaudreau
Of course, if you would love the show notes for this episode, make sure you visit StephGaudreau.com. Also, please hit subscribe on your favorite podcast app or streaming service or on YouTube. It really does help for the show to grow and reach new people. And if you’re over 40, you want to build muscle, get stronger, and perform better both in and out of the gym. But you need a plan. You need strategy coaching and support and frankly, the stuff that you’re still trying to do from your 20s isn’t working anymore and you know it but you’re not sure what to do instead, so please go ahead and check out Strength Nutrition Unlocked. This is my signature group program where we walk you through the fuel of your strength framework to help you prioritize and take action. So you start reaching your goals that much faster. You can find out more, see our student success stories, and apply at StephGaudreau.com/apply. That does it for this episode. Until next time, stay strong.

Steph Gaudreau
And you said you know kind of we all go through that wonderful puberty period where everything gets weird and our bodies change. But you said you know, you’d never you didn’t really improve past a certain point. And I’m wondering, this, I think this is an interesting question for people to to hear the answer to is why why did you keep doing it? If you felt like, you know, for a lot of people there they want to continually see improvement, I guess. And if not, they think well what’s the point? So what kept you coming back to swimming and participating in swimming even if you felt like you weren’t improving maybe on the same trajectory as your peers?

Allison Grubbs
CrossFit, I the I still remember in like 2008 I was in like a doctor’s office reading a magazine and like CrossFit was on there and as I I should try that as I should do it. And I was every year I’d make like resolutions like birthday resolutions like all right, for this year, like my 23rd birthday. I’m gonna sign up for across my class. And I think that’s how it started I signed up for one it’s like, I’m probably not going to like it. Because I’ve never done a group class before. So like swimming. Like you’re on a team, but you’re doing your own thing like you’re not you know, you’re you’re in your own lane. Even with your you know, when you’re with other people in that lane.

Allison Grubbs

I think I definitely could have liked I didn’t do the things that you do and go recommend that I hate doing so like keep on carrying and rucking.

Steph Gaudreau
For those who don’t know what’s a what’s coupon in rucking lingo, or Goruck lingo.

Allison Grubbs

Like oh, like a sandbag. So you have your rock, you have a sandbag in a jerrycan, water, bladder, awkward things, awkward things in addition to your wreck, which are awful.

Steph Gaudreau
So you decided to sign up for selection? Because he wanted to do the hardest thing there was? What do you think? Is that part of your your brain? Or you’re thinking that is like, you know what? Fuck, like starting with the easiest thing and building up over time. I just want to do the hardest thing. What do you want about that? drives you in a really positive way? Because some people would hear that and they would go out hell no, I would die. This just sounds this is not a no-go zone for me. But for you. It sounds like that is the thing that again, tickles that part of your brain. So do you have any insight there as to that decision-making process?

Steph Gaudreau
Well, we were, as I said, at the top of the show, we were watching Goruck on Instagram, they were live-streaming, as much of the selection event as possible. And we started really watching kind of, I would say before the 24-hour mark, but it was you and another candidate, still going at that point. And we saw that he decided to, you know, or he was dropped from the event. And so we knew it was just you left.

Steph Gaudreau
Yeah, and in a team type of environment, a group environment like those events, maybe a selection is its own thing. But the other types of go recommend, you know, the more calm in, in composed in sort of together, you are I mean, that affects the group dynamic that affects how people feel. And we have that human connection, and how contagious that can be in a good way and also a negative way. And knowing that you can have that power of influence over others and be that quiet leader. It was just it was really cool to be able to do that event alongside you and to see you in action in person. I really I was really very starstruck and I was so grateful that you agreed to come on the podcast you know, looking forward now that you’ve completed your you’ve completed selection, you’ve done your other Goruck events, you do your HTV very recently, you know, what is on the horizon for you is as you look forward in your, in your next pursuit, what’s the next challenge for you?

Steph Gaudreau
I love that. I love that. Well, I’m so glad that you joined us. I think that people can learn a lot from how you approach training, how you have really approached things mindset-wise, and I love what you just said there about having a purpose for what you’re training for, and how that can help guide and sort of move you in that forward direction. And you have a lot of wisdom to share. And I definitely know you’re inspiring to Yes, so the greater community but also to to women, and saying, hey, you know, if you have a big dream, you have a big goal.

The Mindset to Do Hard Things w/ Allison Grubbs | Steph Gaudreau.