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Runners only with dime Harley Runners only with dom Harvey and Dame Lisa Carrington g'day mate thanks for having
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me thank you oh no no thank you so much for coming over um this is an honor uh We've interviewed
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we've spoken a few times over the years um on my radio show and it's great to
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have you over I'm on it yeah it's uh funny because I think that the edge was
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one of my first kind of interviews I did after I won my first world Champs back in 2011 so yeah thank you for having me
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said about very low for future radio interviews okay are you ready for the awkward um introduction uh this is this
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is this is lengthy uh Dame Lisa Carrington The Goat in the boat Golden Arms lady on the lake which which one do
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you prefer of your necklace lady on the lake I'm beaten in over 10 years of kayaking
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five Olympic Golds and one bronze 12 World titles first Maori to win an Olympic gold is that accurate
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yes that was in 2012 but we've had many more it seems nuts that no one won a
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gold before you yeah uh how big sportswoman of the year 2016 2017 2018 2019 and 2021. presumably you would have
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got 20 20 you had it not been for covered uh Helberg sportswoman of the decade and at the halberg Supreme Award
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winner 2021. my God that's exhausting yeah yes and the thing is you're not
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like you're not winding down I feel like you're just sort of getting started
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you've still got so much to give yeah I I mean I guess I'm 33 and um I guess there's an expectation that
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athletes uh particularly women maybe don't go as long and I think after Tokyo
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Olympics last year I guess I decided that you know what I think there's more I haven't necessarily
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I've managed to keep improving over the last 10 or so years so so it's been
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um I mean I'm super fortunate to have good people in my corner to help me kind
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of pave that way and um yeah it's good yeah do you think female athletes for the
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most part is the generalization don't go as long because they have a break for
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kids or they retire early yeah I so there's uh you know that is one thing I think we want to have families and
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um it does get obviously harder as you get older but and also um yeah maybe maybe Sports a thing that we
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shouldn't continue to do not I guess it's a CSU yes yeah I mean it's not always a hard thing
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to maintain as well the level of commitment um and I guess in a way sacrifice um but I think I've found a way to
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really enjoy it and I when I get I guess the enjoyment and the ability to improve all the time is really addictive
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to kind of just keep charging along yeah um there's something I wanted to bring
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up early on uh you and I we were direct messaging backwards and forwards on Instagram and um you about a week ago
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you sent me a message asking sort of the line of questioning and what the podcast
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is about then you explained to me um this is what you said you said I want to make sure it's a good one for you and it
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got me thinking are you are you um are you a perfectionist are people pleaser or is it something else uh I think these
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yeah there's always a bit of perfectionism and especially being um in in sport what I do I think
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I guess you think that Perfection will equal good performance um but obviously over time I've realized that we've kind
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of got to keep away from that kind of thinking um but yeah I guess um I want to do a good job I want to
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share a good message um yeah oh my God so I saw a TV interview as well with your um with your
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husband Bucky and he made a you were talking about what your go-to meal to make as some pizza or something like
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that and he made some throwaway remark about you being good at everything you do so are you is it exhausting being
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and maybe I just don't do the things that I'm shitty I don't know yeah yeah
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no I don't I guess um you know you have good people that you know pump you up so yeah that's cool
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and and um another thing I wanted to bring up about you being here today for this podcast
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um can you say no are you good at saying no or good enough at saying no to things
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uh uh it is it is tricky but but um prioritize my training so I will say no if it impacts that because
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um to me that is super important our unless it's you know a family thing or something that's really important to me
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um but yeah I when I can justify it and also I like doing things that are meaningful so yeah
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yeah because you straight after this you're going out for a dinner with your
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husband um I I I don't know what I've never seen you at a restaurant so I've got no idea
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what going out for dinner with Lisa caring Dame Lisa Carrington looks like but I'm guessing you get asked for
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selfies do you like do you say no if it's at an environment like dinner or do
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you just like grip your teeth through it get it over and done with and then get back to your meals I think I don't know
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I feel like kiwis are mostly respectful yeah and um I I guess when I don't I mean not
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that I get asked for selfies heaps but maybe like if I'm out for dinner maybe
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there'd be one or two but I think you know that's fine I guess um I don't get to you know people may
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not be will not meet me again you know and I would appreciate I would be scared to ask someone for a selfie so I respect
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the courage yeah respect the courage for sure I think I reckon you're a bit of a
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people pleaser probably yeah yeah and I I feel like I'm exactly the same of you
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know I've been up before with some um some well-known people and they'll be
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like oh do you mind now's not a good time and yeah I sit there thinking to myself the explanation that you've given
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is probably longer than what taking a photo would have would have been yeah that's right I know you're right I think
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it is um yeah I like I don't want people to think badly of me but also it's it's not much
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time you know do you care about what people think yeah absolutely it's I mean it's something
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that I will I'm always working on I think it's um what do you mean like from an
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Outsiders you're probably near to as perfect the person you could get I just
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uh you don't know me yeah I think I think that's it though um I you know not doing things because I'm
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afraid of or not saying something um I'm always trying to work on that not caring yeah right yeah you care so much
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yeah I think so yeah yeah um oh okay before we get any further um what's your relationship like with
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running it is the podcast says do you have a relationship with running at all as a part of your training regime do you
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ever run for fun to clear your mind or if you're not really around since school
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uh yeah I do run every now and then for training for sure and we can't I can't
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take a kayak everywhere so um it's definitely a tool that I use when I haven't got access to a boat
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um and yeah I mean I do I don't run a lot so when I do run I can I'm prone to niggles so
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well like Achilles or knees I'm a kayaker so um just like if I run too fast or run two days in a row I get a
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sore foot right oh is that what you mean by a mic because you never do any sort of like
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League stuff or feature uh running yeah so look I'll run every now and then maybe a 30 minute if I'm coming into the
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season I'll run for 30 or 40 minutes and maybe that's twice a week but if I run
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consecutively it's not um I don't have the probably the technique and the fitness
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for it the resilience for it yeah okay well we've took that off so now running is hard so um your specialty
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event um the K1 200 so the k for kayak yeah yeah they could collect 200. so you've
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been undefeated in that event for how long now like 10 years 11 years yes since I started competing in it in
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2011. yeah and and that takes you around about 40 seconds so it's like 20 seconds
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per 100 meters which is if I was sprinting on land against your water I think I'd probably just be marginally
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quicker than you which is insane insane yeah I mean it's I love I mean I love
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that event because it's it's you know it's not yeah 100 meters which is 10
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seconds but it's you know you've got to have a little bit of Fitness um it's all about power so it's a full
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expression of uh my the physicality of power really and and if I may just do like um another land to water comparison
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if I do say a 100 meter sprint it doesn't hurt at all you get to the Finish it's not long enough to hurt but
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as soon as you start to get around that bend on the track it starts to hurt so yeah is it the same with you when does
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it start to hurt in the yeah about 50 meters to go right so I guess things start seizing up
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um and ultimately at that point it's trying to stop the boat slowing down too
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much so technique's really important and just keeping the boat moving right you
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just lose power in your arms absolutely yeah right um okay a bunch of dumb questions to get
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through um first of all the the kayak looks so slim what does it weigh it looks 12
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kilos 12 kilos yeah so that's not much at all yeah so that's the standard
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weight you can't if you're a gram under um you're disqualified yeah so we we
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train at 12 kilos elbows at 12 kilos um now would I or the average person fall out like a focus yeah
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absolutely really is it that difficult to balance yep it is um for someone who's never paddled
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before absolutely that's that's one thing I love about um I I've had another Athlete on the um the
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podcast recently Hamish Kerr who's like New Zealand's best high jumper one thing
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I love about what he does and what you do is that the sports that every New Zealander gets to get to go at like
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everyone at Primary School get to go at the high jump um every New Zealander has at some point
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been in a kayak yeah maybe you're in dinner rail or on holiday somewhere you
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hire one it looks fun you do it for a couple hundred meters yeah arms hurt so everyone has like an idea of just how
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difficult it is yeah it's um yeah I mean it's yeah I guess it's so it's super
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challenging and uh I guess because we are we're sprinting so our boat is designed to go as fast as possible so
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you'll have the recreational kayaks which are super easy and then as you get
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more Performance Based it gets more challenging yeah now um you need a strong upper body obviously
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um a leg muscle is important at all yeah absolutely how why uh I guess it's like
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uh they're an engagement so we use our legs to drive our body so it's kind of as our blade goes in the
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water use our leeks to initiate the the stroke and so your legs are sort of shuffling you're still sort of shuffling
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around yeah up and down yeah yeah yeah so yeah they are important whilst they're not
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they don't need to be incredibly strong they have to and also stability in your
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core your hips those types of things yeah wow now um just yesterday while I was doing some research for for this
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Podcast chat today I watched a clip um from the TV show Mad Eye ten years ago so this is before your first gold medal
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um before you know before you release a [ __ ] cat so how how do you think you've changed as a person from that
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young woman full of Hope and promise to to you know the household name in New Zealand's most successful Olympian ever
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uh I guess just experience I've just um but when you see that clip do you feel like the same person now does it
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feel like a lifetime ago uh it doesn't really I mean I'm still training in that same gym
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um right now but yeah I know it is it is a lifetime ago I think um it's just every year because we work
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so hard on mental skills and physical training and those types of things always growing and changing so
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absolutely a different person um but same you know yeah same Lisa yeah but just adjustments yeah so you so your
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family like your mum and dad they're still together and they seem to have from you know from what I see on TV they
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seem to have every four years they seem to they get a little bit older each time they seem to have a wonderful
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relationship in your nana as well so that would they see you now and think oh it's just the same old Lisa oh I yeah I
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think so maybe our conversation's a bit more mature um but yeah I I and you know always go
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home and Mum and Dad are always mum and dad and you're always you know I'm
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always the um yeah younger daughter youngest daughter yeah oh that's special
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and um you've got the same coach as what you had then Gordon Walker yeah uh how
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how has that relationship changed between then and now how does he coaching now like um like does it um I
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mean does his opinion count and you deciding to go for another few years and go to the Paris games yeah I yeah I
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think from like being a young athlete and figuring out how to be an athlete be an adult
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um and to now I think our relationship I can be I'm able to be a lot more honest
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with him he's able to be a lot more honest with me especially around feedback and what I can work on So You
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Know and I guess that's just with he's he's grown as a coach and at the same I've managed to kind of keep
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growing as an athlete so I'm I mean I'm super fortunate to have someone like him
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that has such passion and just knowledge around um coaching around looking after the
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athlete looking after the physiology um you know the whole holistic picture so like from from what I can gather
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about you you're extremely driven so he he's he never has to put a rocket up
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your ass or anything like that is it more like sort of yeah like talk Talking you
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down or being like a psycho psychologist in a way do you know what I mean yeah uh
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he he never has a problem um telling me to slow down it's more so he's very much
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but also he I'm I guess I'm also difficult in a way because I ask for you
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know so why is our training like this what what are the reasons behind it because I really want to understand why
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what I'm doing you know what am I doing to my body how is my body going to change
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um and he's got all those answers that can help me when I'm you know be similar
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to you going for a run or you know I'm paddling for two hours on the water I'm
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like why am I doing this but I know exactly why I'm doing it what it's leading towards
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um so you know he's he's happy to give me those answers and I'm sure it's he
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repeats himself weekly well I suppose that's what makes you um a good athlete
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right asking asking the why rather than just doing it yeah and I I for me I just
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I want to do it well and I want to turn up and I don't want to waste time um and for me you know I would like on
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Google Maps you know I always try find the most efficient way to get somewhere and that's with training it's like
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what's the most efficient way I can do this and you know I'll only have so much
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time in the day your energy and the data put into physical training so I've got
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to make the most of it and worth pointing out you're worth five minutes early to get here today okay so I
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mentioned before that you were this kind of surprised me you're the first ever
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Maori male or female um to win a gold medal how connected are you with your roots are you quite I know
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you've done or you're doing Maori studies at Uni yeah yeah yeah so I've
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I've finished my studies and I think um yeah I'm connected as I can be I think
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it has a lot to do with you know there is a point obviously in our history where our you know grandparents
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moved away from being Maori and it wasn't okay to be Maori so for me the connection it's there and I am still
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working on reaching back and figuring out how I can connect more yeah because I'm kissing your dad or maybe maybe not
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her maybe he would sit on the cuspect yeah your grandparents they would probably at that age where you get the
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strap at school for speaking Maori yeah absolutely it's shockingly yeah and unbelievable and also
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um my dad's grandparents you know it was they would have to leave their home
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because it wasn't okay to practice Maori custom um so if you think about what it's it's
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amazing you think um what you know I guess your ancestors had to do or your you know your
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whakapapa where you've come from and think wow I'm so privileged to be here
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today because of what you know those people with my family have done for me so yeah it's very cool
00:17:00
and now we're on that let's um yeah let's go right back to little Lisa so so
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your parents both School your dad's a principal your mum's a teacher yeah
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that's right and that's the school they they're at the school that you went to
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yes yeah they're still there what school is there wild turkey Valley School right
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or Porter key yeah and and your mum um she she made you play netball from like the age of five yeah yeah coach the team
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did you want did you want to play were you reluctant I I don't remember no I think I yeah I think netball I
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don't remember not wanting to do it I think I really loved it especially right
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up until um I was about 16. um and that's when I kind of nibble to that late yeah yeah yeah so I think too
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like I was making um Bay plenty teams and those types of things honestly you weren't [ __ ]
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okay yeah I wasn't going to be a silver Fern or anything but I made uh like under 17
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um probably not tall enough okay and you've got um um two older brothers is that all the Carrington
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siblings yes and what do they do uh so my oldest brother Sean he's a driller in
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Wellington and my middle brother Brett he's on the Gold Coast as a personal trainer right are they all as driven as
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you or not to the same degree like where do you think your drive comes from is it
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a I don't know yeah um my oldest brother he's super mellow and then my middle brother he's uh super
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motivated so I think I've got a bit of both and yeah I don't I guess my drive
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comes from just wanting to do a good job and I think when your experience I guess positive affirmation when you're
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doing something you're like okay this is quite cool I enjoy this especially with
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kayaking I think so I'm doing all right I'll keep keep going just chipping away
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so and then that kind of builds I think the motivation or the uh whatever it is the drive and you can
00:19:01
grow it yeah and and success um and succeeding is a very addictive drug isn't it yeah you get a taste of
00:19:07
that and you just want more yeah and I I think it's like putting what putting it in so it's not necessarily I
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guess winning winning gold medals is amazing but I guess it's not putting the pressure or trying to get the that
00:19:24
adrenaline or that motivation from the gold medal it's like well we spend most
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our time training um and you know races uh big ones are every four years so and also I think if it's just for the
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middle it's a little bit Hollow so I think so how many minutes about Holland uh I
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think that it has to be more than the middle or for me anyway like it's low water process yeah yeah the process and
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um I think the middle or the outcome not isn't always written before you get
00:20:01
there so I think the acceptance of of winning and of losing is a complete possibility
00:20:09
um so it's about I guess about doing for me about doing kayaking because I love
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uh doing it with the people that I'm doing it with I love the growth the challenge the opportunities
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and yes it is also to compete so there's more than just the middle I think so
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you'd be under what circumstances would you be like okay going going to the Olympics and um not not doing well like
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if you if you did a good time and you know it's a time that you're happy with
00:20:36
maybe a personal best and you didn't meddle you'd be okay with that I don't
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know if I'd be I wouldn't be okay with it but I think the the lesson would all the
00:20:47
you'd have you'd have to be you know I think they're giving it everything right
00:20:52
yeah that's it that's it I think it's also you know something that my mum you
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know I asked her like why did you get us into sport especially you know quite early
00:21:02
um especially team sports she said well I wanted you to learn how to be a good winner and a good loser and I think it's
00:21:07
like yeah she didn't need to worry about the losers not yet anyway um so I I guess it's it's not always
00:21:16
about the result yeah um there's got to be more than that and there's only one
00:21:19
winner and I think you want everyone that's lining up to be like I'm gonna
00:21:24
win that gold medal today or I want to try at least then you're competing against the best
00:21:29
people you'll ever be able to compete against and that's I think that's the
00:21:32
best thing yeah so how did you end up in a clinic it's a I don't know it seems like an unusual
00:21:37
sport to gravitate towards it's not the easiest sport you know what I mean yeah
00:21:41
no um so I started surf life saving as I as a kid um we moved to ohope beach um and my parents wanted me to meet my
00:21:51
brothers uh to learn how to be in the ocean and be safe since we were living there and so in Surf life saving there's
00:21:58
a surf ski and I happen to do pretty well at it and dad knew obviously knew that kayaking was in
00:22:06
the Olympics um knew that there was a correlation between uh uh surfsky pad Langan
00:22:13
that's almost like a surfboard that you set on in your paddle uh it's basically
00:22:17
it's like a kayak it's quite Skinny It's really it's really unstable as well and you compete in the
00:22:25
ocean short races maybe 400 on 700 meters in the ocean yeah so you're held them when you were doing that uh from
00:22:32
the 8th 13 I think my earnestersky um yeah and thought it was just a good thing to do especially for cross
00:22:39
training or you know in the winter it's cold yeah off season training cold to
00:22:43
get in the in the ocean on a surf ski and also Ian Ferguson was holding a kayak Camp
00:22:51
um I think which is really close to where I live I lived yeah you would have had no
00:22:57
idea I'm guessing at that age who um food was Ian Ferguson I think I did maybe dad said something
00:23:05
he's like oh this guy you know he's won medals and it's like okay it's amazing so it was a real full
00:23:10
circle moment after the Tokyo Olympic games where um you passed Ian Ferguson as like the
00:23:17
the most successful New Zealand Olympian of all all time yeah yeah that's crazy
00:23:21
and that's kayaking yeah when did that sort of sink in for you that realization that oh my God I got
00:23:28
this training session from Ferg's kayaks was it one of those was it an miq or was
00:23:33
it like um shortly afterwards it's like when did that moment sort of hit you
00:23:38
yeah it's a big thing it didn't really um I guess I once I'd finished and
00:23:46
got all the medals I had and after Tokyo the journalists were telling me so how does it feel to be the most secreted
00:23:54
Olympian and I was like uh yeah and I mean some people were asking me before the games it's like what is it like
00:24:00
going into maybe being the most um honestly I'm getting clearly thinking about the pressure you're under I don't
00:24:10
know how you can be so ice cold about it all yeah I think it's it's avoid I guess
00:24:15
in a way it's we when I you know these big events I'm not at home so I'm not tuning in to the
00:24:22
radio or reading uh newspapers or on social media um reporting on you know what I'm up to
00:24:30
so I I like that I don't have to read into that yeah and you I so I read um okay so you went to the foods kayak
00:24:39
training camp thing and then um you trained um like on a river and you had like an online coach
00:24:45
uh yeah so I I sorry and that kind of stage I was mixing between my um my coach my Surf Club coach and a coach
00:24:56
here in Auckland who was that at that stage I guess this was my last year at high school and I was traveling I got
00:25:04
packed for the junior worlds team um so yeah just training on my own I don't
00:25:10
you know I wasn't training that hard compared to what I was doing now like you come on well I suppose was that you
00:25:18
weren't training hard because you had other normal teenage things to do or just because you didn't know what how to
00:25:24
train properly yeah absolutely not knowing how to train I guess I had a I was given a piece of paper and it was
00:25:31
like Yep this is what you've got to do and so like what sort of thing like do two
00:25:35
minutes half yeah two minutes at eighty percent right uh one minute off or something like that yeah so I mean I
00:25:43
wouldn't really know what that meant now now if someone just handed me to piece
00:25:46
of paper and say well um okay like what am I trying to build here but I guess I don't know if a
00:25:52
perfect training program would have even been necessary would not have been necessary at my age and also I was doing
00:25:57
a lot of it on my own um and it was through kind of through winter because I was heading over to
00:26:04
um the junior worlds which I think it was in August in Czech Republic so I I guess I didn't have a heap of motivation
00:26:11
if I was tired but one thing that I like is that if I was training um I was allowed to take the car to
00:26:18
school so that was I didn't I did not want to catch the bus what were you like in secondary school
00:26:27
like we were you quite social did were you even to let the after school party scene or anything like that or yeah I
00:26:33
yeah I definitely my friends yeah we yeah so I really enjoyed hanging out on the weekends parties and that type of
00:26:40
thing but I also was quite involved with surf life saving and on the weekends I was heading up to mount maunganui to uh
00:26:49
train with I joined the mount maunganui Surf Club and I was training up there with them so yeah I I guess I did I you
00:26:57
know I missed things like my um year 13 high school ball things like that but I guess I've
00:27:06
you know I was especially once I left school I wasn't a part of that University scene that all my friends
00:27:12
went it was really everyone went to University went to Dunedin um and you know that was just what I was
00:27:19
I moved here to Auckland and I began training full-time yeah are you still friends with like good friends with any
00:27:27
of them now and most of your friends sort of like kayakers and the same sort of circle or step yeah and I've I feel
00:27:34
fortunate I've got some still really good friends from home so um a bunch of them are you know whether
00:27:41
they've been in sport or that type of thing and a bunch have moved home so it's nice to have those connections but
00:27:47
yeah I mean I do spend a lot of my time with my training partner with my teammates it's just that natural I think
00:27:53
um yeah like whatever you're doing you know people spend time with their work
00:27:56
group or whatever it's just what naturally happens your old friends you make them call call your Dame though
00:28:01
right of course how cool is that um can we for a second touch upon um like your body and Body Image
00:28:12
um there is like one of your nicknames I mentioned at the beginning of this golden guns
00:28:17
um seems like this whenever you see an interview like there's a lot of talk about about you know yeah you know about
00:28:22
how you look and you've got like a body that is perfect for functioning at the
00:28:27
absolute highest level for what you do um I mean does it does does it bother you people even like mentioning it or
00:28:34
bringing it up uh I guess are you self-conscious about it yeah I'm definitely self-conscious about it I
00:28:40
think I you know it's not normal to see someone like me walking down the street
00:28:46
and especially if I'm in a singlet what do you mean just because you you can't
00:28:50
reject yeah yeah so I guess um I don't really enjoy being looked at like that and
00:28:57
whether people um are doing it or not I guess I do feel self-conscious because that's something
00:29:03
that people will say to me yeah so I I guess it's it's about not caring about
00:29:11
what people think um loving who I am and that's something that I think that we I'm constantly
00:29:18
working on so yeah I'm guessing um knowing you as well is what I do which is is not that well um but you
00:29:25
know if someone says to you man you're you're jacked or whatever you'll be like
00:29:27
oh thanks and laugh it off but I mean like the you know do you sort of eye roll on the inside that someone would
00:29:32
even bring it up uh I don't know I think it's and what context or how the how
00:29:39
it's coming across um I think if it's um joking or yeah it's I guess it's it's
00:29:47
interesting that that has to bother me um but yeah it definitely and I don't
00:29:53
always like being talk you know I guess the attention I don't want the attention
00:29:57
so I'll just wear a t-shirt or a long sleeve or something so I can just people
00:30:01
just see me for me yeah yeah I I've got some female friends that are scared to go to f-45 because they're
00:30:08
like oh no I don't wanna I don't want to do any weights because I might get like
00:30:10
biceps look you know you look at you you've been you've been working day in
00:30:14
day out bloody hard for like a Dozen Years um and and you know [ __ ] your body does
00:30:21
what it needs to do to be the absolute best in the world yeah absolutely and I think that's part of it it's like this I
00:30:28
I do work really hard and I don't love going to the gym and I love paddling um and I love being strong and I love
00:30:36
being fast powerful so absolutely and this is yeah if this is what my body turns into because those are the things
00:30:43
I love it's it's I guess that's just a representation of what I've done yeah
00:30:48
um do you binge at all yeah should we both see our current numbers on the count of three
00:30:55
okay okay one two three what yeah that's a 20 kilo bar and 220 plates either side yeah wow just for one though
00:31:07
right that's yeah yeah and I haven't done a max bench press for a while but
00:31:14
um yeah um yeah I mean my and we do bench pull which is not like a bar uh like lying
00:31:25
flat right on a horizontal on a bench and lifting as well so that's stronger
00:31:30
for me yeah um so yeah but I mean it's awesome to be strong absolutely when you and your husband move into a
00:31:38
house like you were helping them yeah with the fridge would I read in an interview somewhere yeah it's a little
00:31:43
bit annoying sometimes I'm just tired from Chinese like can you help me um okay then yes retired from training
00:31:51
so what is um like what does an average day look like for you so so we're recording this in
00:31:56
November um so it's sort of an easy easy time at the moment or yeah so the the week is it
00:32:04
flows Ebbs and flows so um like today uh as a Wednesday um I peddled for two hours this morning
00:32:12
and then I went to gym at 11 and we did some kind of stability rotational kind of strength training
00:32:20
um and then I have the rest of the afternoon off so that's that's just today okay so two hours this morning so
00:32:27
what time are we talking I'm on the water at seven okay so you get to get up
00:32:31
at six have a breakfast yeah yeah and I mean we I mean we're in Auckland uh and
00:32:36
New Zealand so uh it gets windy so we have to get and we're not on super early
00:32:41
at least it's late um but most of our training's done around then what's what what's involved
00:32:47
in that two hours uh so this morning because it was two hours it was just like an endurance
00:32:52
um endurance pedal just paddling around Lake pupuke around and around what sort of effort you talked before about okay
00:33:01
I have like a like a low endurance level so like a running equivalent of just going for a
00:33:08
long easy route yeah okay yeah that's right building cardiovascular fitness you enjoy that yeah I do yeah yeah
00:33:14
especially when you're fat and I think you might I might not enjoy it if I go a
00:33:19
little bit too hard at the start and then I you know burnt too many matches and I'm crawling home but
00:33:25
um yeah Pace it well and it's good yeah do you know the matches where does the
00:33:29
mattress analogy come from because I've heard that as well I think I heard it
00:33:32
from Cameron Brown yeah um I don't know actually um just a something we say if you've um yeah yes
00:33:44
how would you explain it to anyone that's listening there hasn't hasn't
00:33:47
heard the match's analogy before um I guess it's it's you know you only
00:33:52
have so many matches so if you don't want to burn them all yeah so you can go
00:33:55
easy go easy forever but you do a long burst and that's like burning a match
00:33:58
yeah if you start too hard uh burning your energy I guess it's like um putting
00:34:03
gas on the fire then you've got no more uh energy to burn yeah so when you're
00:34:08
doing your 200 events you're building the whole [ __ ] box all at once that's right yeah oh yeah so
00:34:14
you go for two hours then you go home have a have a shake or some breakfast or something yeah that's right you go home
00:34:20
um some breakfast and then and a coffee and then I'm back in the gym for how
00:34:25
long another couple of hours an hour in the gym yeah so it ranges you know depending on what we're working on
00:34:31
what's the phase of training um yeah and I guess and another day like a Monday we uh on the water in the
00:34:38
morning for just over an hour back in the gym at 11 and then back on the water in the afternoon around 3 3 30 for uh
00:34:46
for some sprints so it's you it's always at least two trainings each day mostly yeah yeah yeah
00:34:54
yeah except for a Saturday where we do a long a long pedal um longer than two hours oh two hours as
00:35:00
long yeah so who's who's out there doing it when you're doing this two hours is
00:35:04
it is it just you or there are others yes I have a okay so I'm training in the high
00:35:10
performance women's team so we have a number of other females um and we was around I guess and yeah we
00:35:18
we go training man this is what it takes eh yeah and I suppose um I don't know if you think of it this way
00:35:29
but it's like you know we we see you on TV every four years most new zealanders
00:35:33
I know you've won like 12 World titles or whatever but new zealanders don't
00:35:36
really know about the world Champs we know about the Olympics and the club games yeah so you're not a Commonwealth
00:35:40
Games events so every four years we're like oh is it carrier that's still
00:35:43
kicking ass we don't see the um 1 200 days in between where you're working twice daily to get that Peak
00:35:52
every four years yeah so it's a lot of time in the shadows yeah that's right
00:35:56
and well I guess um that's what I guess that's what sport is you know you're not always going to be
00:36:04
in the spotlight and I don't know that um I guess that's not where the work's done
00:36:10
you know the work's done um in the shadows or in your own time on the water and the gym
00:36:15
and being proud of yourself yeah so do you do you have like a rest day each week or anything like that yeah
00:36:23
yeah so uh Sunday yeah Sunday's our rest day and I mean if we do one training
00:36:28
session on the Saturday even most of Saturday is the rest days so so what's like I mean you're married man you've
00:36:34
got a dog about it but what does an average Saturday night look like so you might go after dinner with some friends
00:36:39
yeah yeah great dinner with some friends um or have a barbecue love we love barbecuing so I have people over
00:36:48
um or literally just watching Netflix yeah and right now the rugby so oh my God how good the women's rugby that game
00:36:56
the semi-final game last weekend phenomenal oh my gosh it's just been so amazing watching them yeah um and I feel
00:37:04
you know everyone jumps on the bandwagon it's like oh they're so amazing but even
00:37:09
me like I'm like man I feel so privileged to be able to you know have had conversations be able to chat with
00:37:15
these girls um especially uh being an Olympian alongside some of the sevens players who
00:37:20
are in the team so you feel that extra connection you're like man that's so
00:37:24
cool I love it yeah that's really good um I heard you um like when you're at
00:37:28
the Olympics you stay off social media yeah yeah you do yeah it's yeah I I think it's a huge distraction for me in
00:37:36
what way um I guess that's not where my mind needs to be in a way so um it's looking outward looking at what
00:37:45
what's happening um in the world or what other people are going through and particularly if you
00:37:51
follow the other Olympians or Olympic accounts or those types of things sporting accounts you're
00:37:58
saying uh you know lots of sport coming up all the time so it is incredible it's
00:38:03
distracting um and it's hard not to uh get so feel the pressure when you see it oh God yeah
00:38:11
and so you used to have news sites as well like yeah so when you're in Tokyo
00:38:15
you're not on stuff.co.nz no no way yeah because of that reason it's just puts
00:38:20
too much too much pressure yeah and I don't need to read um the expectation of well Lisa
00:38:27
Carrington might when you know be the most decorated Olympian after this Olympics she may win a gold medal
00:38:33
tomorrow you've got to watch it so I think that's yeah that's kind of it
00:38:38
brings it right in front of me that wow what if I lose um what if someone's saying this but
00:38:45
what if I don't meet that expectation absolutely do you have those sort of moments of um
00:38:50
self-doubt what do you do you have a dream do you have a dream where where you're peddling and you just can't move
00:38:58
the boat or yeah uh honestly I've had running dreams before and I'm like I'm
00:39:04
oh there's no pressure on me no one gives a [ __ ] about what I do I'm running
00:39:07
for personal best and that's it but I sometimes have dreams that I'm at the
00:39:11
start of a race and that goes off and I just can't move yeah um I don't have dreams like that but I I
00:39:17
definitely have had dreams where I can't run away um but uh yeah I I guess it yeah I do
00:39:24
have doubt and I guess that's kind of the you know that little birdie or that
00:39:31
fear that's just sitting there it goes what if you're not good enough and I guess in a way it's like
00:39:37
being okay that you know that's also a part of me that I have dealt and I have
00:39:41
a fear that I may fail um but it's kind of having the tools and go well actually I'm doing it because I
00:39:47
just want to see how well I can go like what can I do can I step up to the plate
00:39:54
um am I good enough I guess you know maybe I'm not but it doesn't matter hmm
00:40:00
I suppose that's like you're um you're in a critical you're getting a voice and
00:40:04
it but is it mostly good that that in a voice uh I think I think it could be better I
00:40:13
yeah I think you know I guess in in sport it's always like what what's next especially with
00:40:22
what I've uh what I've managed to do is constantly have that growth over the last
00:40:28
um 10 or so years and it's like okay how can I do it better how can I improve
00:40:32
that's not good enough okay my expectation today my training session was to meet this standard I didn't meet
00:40:38
it so does that mean I'm not good or does that equal does that mean I'm not
00:40:42
gonna perform and at the next Olympics or those types of things so and also it's
00:40:49
um and then just the normal immature [Music] being a human thoughts like I'm not
00:40:56
smart enough I need to if I'm going out in public I need to dress well look good
00:41:01
put makeup on do my hair all those types of things so yeah there's always there's
00:41:07
always that little critic but it's kind of just managing it okay that's that's
00:41:12
how I feel but what what am I here today was that actually important yeah what do
00:41:18
you have you had to put a percentage on it like what percentage do you think is um like negative and mean to yourself
00:41:21
like that and what percentage is yeah yeah you're good Lisa you got yeah I think owning it and the tighter I am the
00:41:29
brick it risk it's really tough yeah so um as the weeks go by and as I we do
00:41:36
like a month training cycle um so we do three weeks on one week off kind of thing and so by week three yeah
00:41:44
it's really tough to stay on top of those thoughts yeah that's amazing by the way thank you for
00:41:51
sharing that it's so it's so good to hear that coming from you because your
00:41:54
Lisa [ __ ] you're you're yeah it's amazing the more the minds um I want to get to this shortly you've
00:42:02
seen Sports psychologists over the years have have you ever seen a psychologist like just for your own personal self or
00:42:07
has it always just been a sporting one uh amazing thing is up and I would have the
00:42:11
same sport psychologist since I started so um and yeah it is mostly personal I guess because sport whether I think
00:42:22
who you are who you bring to sport or physical performance um is so important so yeah there may be
00:42:30
some performance aspects of psychology but mostly it's who you are so we're I'm
00:42:36
constantly working on being better trying to drop like um what's expected of me uh if I
00:42:46
accidentally upset someone um if I you know people judge me because of my muscles or
00:42:53
that type of thing so constantly working on you know what what am I most afraid of what are the behaviors and habits I
00:43:01
do that um have been crafted to protect myself and from that fear so if you have a like a bad interaction
00:43:11
with someone do you like to think about on the drive home or later that day when
00:43:15
you're in the shower you're like oh yeah right run through you might how you
00:43:19
could have handled that differently yeah absolutely it's so normal it's not good
00:43:22
though I I started seeing a therapist a few years ago and she told me whenever you find yourself having negative
00:43:28
thoughts or thinking just and you catch yourself doing it just pause and ask yourself is this helpful and it never is
00:43:35
and then yeah it's easier said than done though isn't it absolutely and I think
00:43:38
it's also what state you're only tired like have you had a good night's sleep
00:43:44
um and but you must you said it said it's worse for you like the inner voice
00:43:48
and the inner critic when you're when you're tired you I'm guessing you're
00:43:51
more tired than most people like you're waking out twice twice a day yeah I guess it's a different tired yeah
00:43:58
I mean I can't speak for someone that works super hard during the day like it's a different thing so I mean I'm
00:44:05
physically tired yes and uh for me my body is um it is my job so I will uh rest and
00:44:16
recover because that's what's going to make me better do you um do you know much about
00:44:22
imposter syndrome do you think there's like a like a degree of that with you or
00:44:25
not yeah not really I don't know too much about that but I mean yeah I guess you've got for me it's
00:44:35
I try to keep myself so grounded um and and I think too that's like a kiwi thing and maybe it's not always so
00:44:41
good because we're like oh we don't want to speak up too loud we don't want to
00:44:44
shine too much because someone will drag you down and um so but also it's kind of
00:44:52
I think for me if you know I I think I can do better at being um being comfortable with being strong
00:45:01
being a woman being being good at what I do yeah oh absolutely you deserve to be
00:45:07
and um you're you're a journaler as well right you you Journal Dave yeah
00:45:12
absolutely yeah how does that look for you is it first thing in the morning is it lasting at night yeah yeah I mean
00:45:18
something that's always stuck is first thing in the morning so you know wake up
00:45:22
make a coffee um and journal and I think like there's I've trialled little bits and pieces of
00:45:30
um you know doing it in the evening and different times of the day but it's just
00:45:35
so easy from I'm a morning person so if I want something to stick I've got to do
00:45:39
it in the morning it's like doing the emails that you've got to get back to someone okay I'll do
00:45:44
it in the morning so so um so when you journal in the morning is that um is it like I'm just
00:45:52
trying to get a grasp of it sort of dear diary there's a sort of mapping out your
00:45:57
day or is it just writing down what you what you're grateful for is it like a
00:46:00
gratitude journal or yeah like it's it's kind of all those things so um I'll probably touch on
00:46:06
um the day before uh what went well uh and then I'll yeah go into the day ahead
00:46:12
and I'll be like okay what am I um what am I looking forward to um often now it's uh especially because
00:46:21
I'll if it's a really busy day I'll be like hey you got this you can turn up
00:46:24
just be in the moment have um I guess have a I know a concept for the day like how I'm gonna approach it
00:46:32
so for this morning I guess I wrote something like I had a long session this morning so it's okay just stay in the
00:46:41
moment enjoy being on the water for two hours uh what working on my technique um making the most of the moment uh then
00:46:48
it's enjoying having you know a breakfast and coffee with a friend just enjoy that and I always write today's
00:46:55
going to be a good day really that's how you sort of end it yeah yeah how long have you been doing
00:47:01
that uh I think since oh a little while so maybe since uh 2015. oh [ __ ] ages yeah like diligently
00:47:11
and religiously yeah wow yeah it's a really like I because I really love coffee
00:47:21
picks me up in the morning so especially when I'm overseas so I'll take you know
00:47:26
we have I'll grind my own beans and I'll make a little Brew um that's the whole process yeah that's
00:47:32
the process and then just sitting down uh writing it out and so I I don't know
00:47:38
it's something that really anchors me for the day and I find that you know for
00:47:42
me planning is super important and I find I have to not that I'm incredibly good at it but it's something I know I
00:47:49
need to do to stay on top of everything um uh so I'll plan so I'll just what
00:47:55
have I got today okay cool when I'm gonna eat when am I gonna have my rest make the most of the rest and looking
00:48:00
forward locking your head it's like oh man it's going to be a busy week so
00:48:06
when I need to go to bed early those types of things yeah yeah what sort of time are you in bed uh I you know it
00:48:12
does range a little bit but I am mostly asleep by 9 30. yeah yeah that's so cool about the journaling um
00:48:19
something else that you said that's just been it's been playing on My Mind
00:48:23
through this this whole chat um just that you worry about um like what people think about you
00:48:28
because I'm thinking like you I I can't imagine anyone would ever have a bad word to say about you do you
00:48:36
know do you mean like Strangers Like New zealanders in general or do you mean like people that you know yeah both
00:48:41
probably I think it and maybe that's what I've curated just to be not too
00:48:47
outspoken um to not have sides or particular opinions on things um not to you know really piss people
00:48:56
off um and I I love those people because they this is not important no it's not me
00:49:09
yeah and I think also I know that I'll prob I might change my mind what I say
00:49:13
isn't always going to be maybe what I believe the next day so um if I'm gonna say something I've got
00:49:19
to be sure that it's the right thing that's unbelievable like you're one of
00:49:24
the most loved people in New Zealand like no one no I'm I mean this like sincerely like a
00:49:30
everyone adores Dame Lisa character like for you you know as I said like we don't
00:49:36
we don't see you in the shadows like we don't see you day in day out we we see
00:49:39
you every four years but you're smiling you usually got a gold medal so it's
00:49:44
amazing that you'd worry about what people hey so you know that people like people love you are you just worried
00:49:50
that you'll say the wrong thing and they'll turn on you yeah and or I'll
00:49:54
hurt someone you know I think it's not nice to be on the other end of something
00:49:58
that someone said and it been yeah not nice at all so I I guess but that's um you know that's a work on just not to
00:50:08
no I would I don't want the thing is I don't want to take anything away from
00:50:12
someone um but I'd love to uplift them so yeah at the very least I don't want to take
00:50:19
anything away yeah I like that I like that a lot so my um during my radio career like it was my sort of job to be
00:50:27
kind of polarizing and poke the beer a little bit and push boundaries and um I'm in a space now where I I don't have
00:50:33
to do that and I don't want to do that and I like the sort of conversations I'm
00:50:36
having now and I'm probably the same as you like I just don't want to Life's
00:50:39
hard enough for people I so I don't want to do anything that's going to make
00:50:42
anyone feel bad yeah and I I think too it's something that I've I really have
00:50:48
enjoyed it's something I've learned over the years is just learning to have
00:50:52
empathy for people you know what their situations and I think when I can really maybe someone does something super
00:50:59
strange I don't understand but go well actually I don't know what they're going
00:51:03
through and it doesn't have to bother me just let it go yeah yeah well that's
00:51:08
cool well um during the uh the Olympics in Tokyo last year after one of your gold medal
00:51:13
ones you made a speech and I I tried to find it online um I couldn't find it
00:51:17
online but you said something like um you've got like a love hate relationship
00:51:21
with the sport do you remember that you said you love it or you had and you hate
00:51:24
it at the same time maybe the 500 event yeah yes the camera 500 what's that mean exactly
00:51:32
um it is the toughest race um so it demands everything from me so uh for me to race that race the way that
00:51:45
I can I have to be incredibly confident it is going to hurt and I just have to push all the boundaries so for me I love
00:51:54
it because it pulls me into a space that I'm afraid to go into physically mentally
00:52:00
and mostly it is probably I'm just afraid of hurting because it's a it's a
00:52:07
minute 50 give or take and um in some cases it gets comfortable for maybe the first 20 seconds yeah and then
00:52:14
and then it's it is a tough race because you have to have a good strategy around
00:52:19
it you don't just go and go as hard as you can there's a pacing element to it
00:52:23
but you're still sprinting so yeah oh that makes perfect sense I think anyone that does any sort of um
00:52:31
sport regardless of what the level they're at if they try and do the best they can I think everyone can probably
00:52:36
relate to that the feeling of like putting yourself willingly in The Hurt Locker absolutely and I I am not one to
00:52:42
put myself in a place where I might fail or um it's going to hurt so that's why that event is so it's kind of
00:52:53
it's helped me kind of realize my potential yeah can we spend a little bit of time
00:53:00
talking about your partner and your dog yeah so your your husband you're married
00:53:04
now right yes I am you guys got married in March oh congratulations how was the wedding it was great yeah I
00:53:12
guess at that time we could only have a hundred people um at the wedding so it's crazy we're not in that world
00:53:19
anymore um but yeah it was the Wicked day um yeah the the foods the my family my
00:53:27
friends um yeah it was the coolest time yeah so what's his name you call him bucky bucky
00:53:33
yeah Michael and you guys have been together for like a million years yeah since I was 20. so before before you
00:53:40
were dameless before the golds before all that she's been with you through your entire career yeah yeah yeah he has
00:53:46
what's the um what's the the meat cute how did you guys how did you guys meet
00:53:49
was it Love at First Sight yeah uh so yeah we met through uh mutual friends um he also did uh surf life saving so I
00:54:00
knew who Bucky was he's a little bit older than me so as a 16 year old I was
00:54:05
like he was you know he was on the beach and he was winning races and I was like
00:54:09
hmm how old was he like 20 yeah or 22 or something like that yeah so you know I think yeah
00:54:17
and so maybe and then I don't know like four years later it was I knew who this
00:54:23
guy was and um yeah we just hit it off yeah it's amazing yeah well it's it's so good that
00:54:30
he's been there you know before all the success before everything else and how
00:54:34
um so he's got sort of a bit of an understanding about the sport yeah but like not the same level as you coach
00:54:41
Gordon Walker or other people around you so when you're when you're in your hotel
00:54:45
room at Tokyo or wherever it happens to be and it's the day before an event and
00:54:48
you're a bit stressed or whatever like what sort of conversation do you have
00:54:51
with him over the years you know what how I react and I think I just want when we're
00:55:00
having a conversation it's kind of I don't know it's whatever I feel in the
00:55:05
moment it's just like what are you up to you know how's the water um and if he'll kind of wait like what
00:55:12
I'm prepared to go into um and all right let's use the lead conversation yeah yeah but
00:55:20
I'm at the moment means so much um I've worked so hard and I guess it's
00:55:32
the fear of you know what could happen um I could win Wow that's scary but um
00:55:38
but that's the that's the relieving result right that's the best case
00:55:42
scenario yeah exactly that's a best case scenario but there's plenty of other
00:55:46
things that could happen too but what is because I mentioned the Hamish coup the
00:55:50
high jumper earlier and um he finished 10th at the Olympic Games last year which is the best result for a New
00:55:55
Zealand male high jump River and in the tournament just before that I think the World Champ so maybe one before that he
00:56:00
did what's called a no jump so he had three attempts didn't get any of them
00:56:04
and he was talking to his um psychologist about that and Mexico just like what's the worst thing that happens
00:56:09
that is it it's no jump so you're getting and it's like it's not the it's
00:56:13
not actually that big a deal for you what is the what's the worst thing that
00:56:16
could happen uh just falling out of the boat yes we're literally falling out and
00:56:21
not not uh not starting yeah not starting not finishing yeah but you come on that's an irrational worst case
00:56:27
scenario yeah absolutely yeah and I think how many I don't know the last time I fell in on the lake but yet that
00:56:34
that is what could happen athlete ever what a way to end your career but real realistically though
00:56:43
like I I know that mine's a tricky thing and the mind can play terrible tricks on
00:56:47
you but the worst case scenario is you have a shocker of a race and you finish in the middle of the field yeah really
00:56:52
yeah absolutely and I think you know as that will be disappointing um or would be disappointing but
00:57:01
I guess you just have to process it and figure out um okay so what's important is it
00:57:06
winning yeah I mean that is that would be awesome but it didn't happen today so
00:57:11
I and I think like hey Mr like through experience there's some stuff some worse
00:57:16
things that happen I guess as and the older you get the more you experience and the more things you can draw on and
00:57:21
go remember that time that I did this and that was absolutely fine yeah yeah absolutely
00:57:29
um it was also an article on NBC that committed compared you to Simone biles like the American gymnast
00:57:35
um do you like do you read articles like that does it make you feel good are you
00:57:40
okay just sort of brushing it aside how do you feel about it yeah I mean I do remember the interview and it's kind of
00:57:45
I guess the opportunity was that it was an American um article and to you know have their
00:57:52
reach but I think yeah I mean it was awesome that I think it was more so for the sport to
00:57:58
recognize that you know that kayaking is a big sport um and you know to be compared to to her is
00:58:08
awesome that I can get that recognition and our sport get the recognition yeah so cool
00:58:13
um there was um oh another thing about you so um your favorite quotas from um President Roosevelt the man in the arena
00:58:22
yeah yeah I I want to tell us to ask you like why is that your favorite quote because to me that feels like a speech
00:58:28
about someone who's tried and failed and yeah and basically trolls beating up on
00:58:32
someone that you know what I mean yeah so I guess that as I every kind of uh moment I go through there'll be
00:58:41
different things that draw on and something that takes me back to 2019 when um I was just figuring out
00:58:51
um you know how to perform what if um I guess it what that quote did for me is it allowed me to be okay with just
00:59:00
trying uh if I fail it's gonna be fine um and I guess that gave me confidence
00:59:07
encourage that it's it's just okay to stand up and perform or and be the best
00:59:13
regardless of what the results exactly and I think you know what's amazing you
00:59:18
know is that there will be certain quotes or things that resonate uh different periods of or phases in your
00:59:26
life sorry that was something I remember um in 2019 I was listening to brene Brown a lot and she was yeah
00:59:36
and yeah that was something spoke about yeah so I loved it I really resonated in that moment so is it still
00:59:44
your favorite quote now three years on was it a different one now I don't I can't it's Pro it won't be that one and
00:59:50
I can't think of one for you right now but um yeah there's um there's one which is
00:59:56
all it's always been relevant I think it goes along something like um at you're never the same or it's never
01:00:04
the same river and you're not the same man something like that uh so you know even though you're never
01:00:12
going to be the same person yeah if you're walking the same you're never yes
01:00:16
never the same person never the same river so yeah we're always changing yeah
01:00:21
saying the world differently all the time yeah I I think change is good too it's one of those ones one of those
01:00:27
things we often it's used um is is an insult in a way like someone will say you know say I've got some old
01:00:33
friends and they asked me to go out I'm like I don't want to go out tonight
01:00:35
they'll be like you know you've changed I feel like and I feel like it'd be
01:00:39
worse to say you're you're the same you know I feel like we're all changing all
01:00:43
the time and I think that's a great thing but I think too like there's obviously some foundational
01:00:49
um there's always going to be your values and I think that they will never change but the way you see the world
01:00:55
will change through experience um yeah and I love that because I think that's all we're trying to do is
01:01:04
just see the world see more of the world and especially through other people's
01:01:09
perspectives and I think that's what's awesome about working with people having
01:01:13
my teammates I get to see how they view it not just how my way is the only way to do something yeah
01:01:20
yeah are you are you kind of a control freak in a way when you're on the water
01:01:25
when it comes to yeah yeah I think so um yeah absolutely yeah I I don't mean
01:01:30
that a negative one as well it's like there's definitely some control elements
01:01:33
because um there's always going to be a standard that I have to hold because that's what
01:01:38
performance is I'm not there just to just to have a good time um I'm there to get the most out of the
01:01:44
moment to to be better but I think that's what's great is like can you is
01:01:49
there an ability to keep what's most important but be flexible Yeah well yeah
01:01:53
so one of your gold medals that you won in Tokyo that was with a part that was a
01:01:56
K2 yeah Caitlyn Regal yeah yeah now I was I was um thinking about her that must have been
01:02:03
like were you quite um empathetic empathetic with her because it's like you you win all these events I mean
01:02:09
suddenly you're in a vote with another person if you don't win everyone's gonna
01:02:13
everyone's gonna be like well we know it's not Lisa like were you were you
01:02:17
sort of aware of that or not really not really um I think it's kind of because like the
01:02:23
dude is it something that she spoke to you about at all like the nerves and the pressure on her yeah absolutely no
01:02:29
that's not something that um I ever spoke to her about I think you know we because we train together and
01:02:36
she is an incredible athlete so yeah yeah we uh I mean she's she's a proud
01:02:44
mum right now so when we were training together um you know we weren't neck and neck all
01:02:49
the time so I knew that you know she she could do it she has the goods and so you
01:02:56
know I remember we were uh I just finished the K1 200. um so in this same day and I just
01:03:05
remember going up the warm-up Lane and and she's like Lisa whatever you've got
01:03:11
it's all good I just I'm just happy I just want you in this boat so for me that just released
01:03:18
me from being scared that maybe I was a wasn't going to be able to give everything I could to that moment oh my
01:03:24
God I just finished oh so if anything you thought you would be the weakest link in that boat yeah be fatigued yeah
01:03:30
yeah right so I think what she did for me in that moment she's like no actually
01:03:33
it doesn't matter we can you know let's just enjoy it I trust you and so
01:03:41
well I guess what's so special is that she could do that for me and then I could be there completely without you
01:03:48
know what I'm not even thinking about what if I don't have all the energy I
01:03:51
need oh I feel stupid now that what a dumb thing to think you know but that's
01:03:55
from uh like the armchair perspective of a New Zealand that watches kayaking every four years yeah I mean yeah I
01:04:02
guess as you know we all have different ways of um of dealing with it and uh or in
01:04:08
seeing what's yeah what yeah I mean she would have been under heap of pressure
01:04:11
because in that day I had four races and I was on the water off eating um ice invest on people were shuffling
01:04:20
me around so her responsibility was to make sure she knew you know what we were doing for our warm-up getting me on the
01:04:26
water making sure so she was in the you know in the room uh watching me finish my racing in the K1 200 you know so
01:04:34
absolutely yeah wow so so the next few years what does that look like for you so um there's the Paris games in 2024
01:04:43
yes that's right and you'll be 30 30 35 30 yeah three four five yeah yeah how
01:04:52
are you feeling about that you're obviously like I'm guessing it's a
01:04:55
conversation you have with you coach Gordon yeah and was it part of the decision-making process yeah I think you
01:05:00
know hey I guess what's awesome is he wasn't I I thought that I couldn't keep
01:05:07
going after 30 I think all right why just because you pass your physical pain yeah because that's what I thought
01:05:14
um no one had been in our New Zealand female had been in the sport for longer than
01:05:20
I don't know 27 or 26. well then but then in the last game Andrea Commonwealth Games Andrea Hughes yeah
01:05:28
she's 37 I think no she's got a baby yeah so um do you draw sort of strength
01:05:35
and inspiration from like you know older females and how old is Valerie as well he must have been see 36 30 yeah seven
01:05:42
maybe yeah so absolutely I think it's just that's what I mean I feel like
01:05:47
there's also financially it's more um feasible for us to continue being an
01:05:53
athlete especially in a a non-professional sport in the sense we're not rugby we're not Cricket
01:06:00
um so I bet with the support of you know sport Museum high performance sport we can keep doing what we love and sponsors
01:06:07
obviously because is it is it okay that I'm guessing the money's not great
01:06:11
I went to I went to Andrea's house and there's there's a lady that has spent
01:06:16
like 20 years as an Elite Sports person it's a beautiful house that she's got in
01:06:19
Christchurch but um that's largely because of her partner and his job lucky you is the money okay for Dame Lisa
01:06:27
Carrington uh look at if you had like a job or a career right yeah absolutely but I that's um the
01:06:34
thing is that I have had performances and sponsorship or Partnerships uh align because there are is the
01:06:44
performance so for me I've been I know that I'm fortunate to be able to have
01:06:48
those Partnerships and they have made it possible for really for me to continue and be able to put all my effort into
01:06:57
paddling yeah and not worry about the other stuff yeah exactly yeah okay so what's going to happen after well I
01:07:03
haven't you know I guess those are the things it's it's going to be okay
01:07:05
because I have those people those businesses that support me yeah and also like just the attitude and the drive
01:07:12
that you've got that you put towards everything you do you you must have the
01:07:16
the confidence or the self-belief that whatever you do it's going to be okay
01:07:19
and you're going to be a success yeah I guess it's just got to be right it's got
01:07:24
to be meaningful um and yeah yeah okay so so dream case scenario um you go to uh Paris in 2024.
01:07:35
um how many events do you do there I guess at this stage I I thought yeah I would love to continue
01:07:41
to do the K1500 which um was what I'm absolutely gunning for and then uh then the rest is dependent
01:07:50
on teammates yeah so um we're building such uh an amazing group of uh women at the moment and we
01:07:59
had a really great world champs this year and I think we will we just we still have to qualify so uh next year we
01:08:06
have to qualify for the Olympics in August so we have to place in top eight in the world to do that so there to get
01:08:13
more I want more women more people at the Olympics so I we can do more events yeah amazing so so okay so I so ideally
01:08:22
um you go to Paris um you you do as well as what you can yeah and then there's the plan to retire
01:08:27
after that or yeah look I guess I I don't know yeah I think I absolutely want a family and
01:08:35
um what that means and I don't know it would be really tough or for me personally and I woman still do it but I
01:08:43
haven't done that and I've had children I've been able to go back to their
01:08:47
careers um so I guess for me that would be a really challenging thing to to do is do both so I don't
01:08:57
simultaneously yeah I think that would be really tricky and um but yeah to have a family would be
01:09:03
awesome um do you think it'd be difficult to do well I mean a lot of people do manage to
01:09:06
do both in different sports do you think it'd be difficult just knowing the the
01:09:10
amount of effort that you have to put in to be the best you can be at the sport you don't feel like you could do both
01:09:15
successfully yeah I think yeah because of the what I put in I put myself first yeah but in saying that like I don't
01:09:23
know who I'm gonna be or how I'm going to feel about that decision um in two years time so yeah I think
01:09:30
it's totally down to the situation down to the person um and obviously you can do it so but
01:09:37
it's scary yeah and it's scary and ideally I mean it's all hypotheticals
01:09:42
here how many kids do you want have you discussed this with Bucky uh yeah I think
01:09:46
I mean I think two would be good yeah as I guess as we get older um I can't have like a I don't know like a
01:09:56
rugby team or anything like that I reckon you'd be a great I mean I was going to say I reckon you'll be a great
01:10:06
mum but it just seems like a redundant thing to say because it's like whatever
01:10:09
you do you're going to be amazing is I'm an amazing act yeah oh I think I mean
01:10:15
there's there's so many amazing people out there and I think you know we talk
01:10:18
about um me being a Dame and that type of thing and what's awesome about going to
01:10:24
those kind of Ceremonies is that you get to see and witness other new zealanders you
01:10:31
know getting a new order of Merit and you know the other um awards that are given and I'm like
01:10:38
man these people have saved lives they've changed um you know they've created new
01:10:44
solutions to support I know people in poverty and I'm like man I've just done
01:10:49
my I've just looked after myself and got a few middles but these people are saving lives so I mean there are you
01:10:57
know like there are I know that what I do I'm so privileged to do and um I guess I'm not yeah I just know that
01:11:05
there are still some way more people doing awesome things out there uh you're
01:11:10
too modest well in with a couple of quick fire ones um what makes you angry uh what makes me angry
01:11:18
um when I'm tired and the dishes haven't been put away right did you do you say do you
01:11:26
think um like Bucky would get your worst behavior yeah yeah yeah it was just a bit sad I think it's natural in any
01:11:33
relationship it's like yeah it's like you save your worst behavior for the
01:11:37
people that you love the most it's the most [ __ ] up thing but it's just human
01:11:41
nature what would um what's your worst habit uh oh where's habit um I mean I'd I have a few like and I'd
01:11:50
probably I don't clean I don't keep my car clean enough is it a sponsor's cat yeah
01:11:58
well it's really it's a really thing about having keeping it a little bit messy is that I've
01:12:04
always got something I need you know it's like man I forgot my shoes yet there's some gym shoes in there
01:12:13
hoodie in there yeah you know well it's probably not the best circumstances to
01:12:16
do so but give your sponsors a plug who who Who's the car sponsor oh a Toyota
01:12:20
yeah that's awesome how long have they been on board a few years now um yeah awesome they've given I've got a
01:12:28
hybrid at the moment which I'm really enjoying um saving me a better better petrol which is good what other
01:12:36
what other brand Partnerships have you got are you still with beef and lamb no so not with beef and lamb anymore but um
01:12:41
I mean they were awesome they're an awesome they were an awesome sponsor and
01:12:45
helped me go so far yeah it was a great campaign yeah yeah absolutely um I mean I don't want to forgive anyone
01:12:52
but like no and that is um under armor that would have been awesome um are you actually your parents did
01:12:59
like an interview on breakfast TV your dad's cut it out I know I know I it was
01:13:04
so funny I remember getting back from overseas I'm like is that mine mine they're like oh no no they gave it to me
01:13:12
you know yeah um who else is it uh and I like people like evalu which is a skincare brand
01:13:19
which is awesome so um obviously being out in the sun all the time yeah you need that yeah yeah
01:13:25
and um you mentioned you always have it about having the dirty car what would Bucky say your worst habit is not
01:13:30
packing the dishwasher properly are you knives up or knives down uh I like to knives up cleans them oh high stabbing
01:13:39
chances oh no but that's just not the sharp ones oh yeah yeah yeah yeah okay I
01:13:44
just thought I just put things in there and it doesn't make sense and yeah plates bowls wherever and um this one's
01:13:51
probably quite a serious one to finish with we should go to earlier but um um like have there been like adversity
01:13:58
or tough times like I'm thinking when the Lisa Carrington book comes out what's the what's the chapter or the
01:14:03
thing that's going to be like the hook line that gets you know printed before
01:14:06
it comes out what because from an outsider's perspective and again we only see you every four years it just seems
01:14:12
like it's been a you know from one pick to another but I'm I'm sure it hasn't
01:14:15
all been that way yeah um this is always a tough one I guess you know like it's
01:14:22
I think there's always tough moments I think [Music] um and like you say stop being tough when
01:14:30
you figure out how to get through it um I guess I'm I'm I'm someone I'm pretty
01:14:37
fortunate I haven't had to go through huge adversity um but I I think I guess the challenge for me is just
01:14:45
trying to trying to perform at the highest level and still be a normal human um and I guess it's accepting that yeah
01:14:56
I'm probably going to do some really strange things for performance or because you know what striving and
01:15:03
stepping outside the box is I'm is not going to be normal because I don't sit
01:15:07
in the box so for me what do you mean exactly strange things for performance oh yes yeah I was thinking about it that
01:15:13
doesn't sound that great um no so I guess it's I don't know whether it's you know like putting my
01:15:18
myself first so um maybe not going out and hanging out with friends because you know I'm just
01:15:26
prioritizing them prioritizing yeah and prioritizing my yeah me and looking after myself
01:15:32
um and from I guess my job yeah so and I I guess the work I have to do is constantly about how
01:15:42
much am I holding myself back is there more to unlock am I can I do this better where where are the gains that I'm gonna
01:15:49
get so the exploration of uh getting the most out of myself is I mean that is tricky but you have to put yourself in
01:15:57
some challenging situations to kind of let go not care what people think uh fail because those are the moments that
01:16:06
you kind of learn the most oh 100 yeah you learn more from your fails than from from anything else well when you're
01:16:12
under so much pressure you're like wow why like where is this feeling coming
01:16:17
from why why am I reacting in this way why am I so afraid to do this is it because
01:16:22
you know if I fail it I think when I think of failure I kind of think about the gym and doing an exercise there I
01:16:28
look I can't do I'm like no no not doing it you know but I'm like no you know
01:16:34
like Jim my gym trainers put it in there because it's good for me you know it's
01:16:38
okay it's okay to look [ __ ] it's okay to fail you know yeah yeah yeah yeah oh
01:16:44
yeah I suppose the thing that's been for you at the gym it's like for most of us
01:16:47
it's like everyone's self-conscious but most of us at the gym it's like I like
01:16:52
to tell myself everyone's self-conscious about how they look so they're not
01:16:55
looking they're worried about themselves but you're Lisa [ __ ] character so
01:16:59
people probably are looking at you yeah and I guess you know and it's also it's
01:17:05
you're kind of acting like an idiot or failing or um being a goofball you know like it
01:17:12
really it's good for your teammates and so doing things that are challenging or
01:17:19
people laugh at you kind of go like kind of drops the barrier of your connection
01:17:24
with your team and you can build each other up and yeah you know work together because I guess what I've learned is I
01:17:31
cannot do this on my own I need people and I want people because it's as much
01:17:37
as times it's hard because it's easy to go you know what I'm just going to go
01:17:40
off and do this on my own I'm going to do it my way I'm going to control it the
01:17:43
way that I want to control it no one can distract me um that's in the moment while that might
01:17:48
seem good it's definitely not as fun as doing it with people yeah I 100 oh that's great well
01:17:57
um you've been so generous with your time um it's almost like six o'clock in the
01:18:00
evening now so what's the plan now you're meeting your your husband after
01:18:03
work and going out what's the plan yeah we're going out to dinner I actually
01:18:06
does this happen often um every now and then I mean because I mean coverts happens so going into work
01:18:12
hasn't been as often for them um but yeah I enjoy it because he works in britomat so going down there's I love
01:18:19
the food in Auckland so um we have such amazing restaurants and he told me the name of the restaurant
01:18:25
but I forgot I'll come see you there oh that's great well I think we're cons
01:18:35
after today we need to work on that inner voice that in a crowd absolutely but I feel like that's not just you or
01:18:40
me that's everyone that's listened to that's got a yeah silence that voice
01:18:44
somehow yeah or maybe not silence it but maybe [ __ ] a bit of light on I'm good
01:18:50
enough you know I'm I'm strong I I can do this and um just believing in yourself a bit more
01:18:58
yeah that's coming from Lisa Carrington New Zealand's most successful Olympian of
01:19:03
all time yeah you have you have those um those thoughts imagine what the rest of us have uh like I think yeah I mean
01:19:12
we all do right like it's just human to be oh man I'm not good enough what if I
01:19:17
do what if I fail so yeah I mean it's something that we all need to work on and I'm and it's it's crazy you think I
01:19:26
mean it's something I've thought about in the last year it's like I don't talk
01:19:29
to myself that nicely and um and I always knew it you know there's always you know a lot of beer you know
01:19:37
be nice to yourself be kind you're like yeah okay yeah but what does that mean
01:19:41
it's like man if I really listen to how I'm talking to myself I'm not smart
01:19:46
enough um you know I'm not tall enough um all those things it's like wow okay
01:19:51
that's the subtle things you know yeah well that's a great message and I I know one
01:19:58
of the things that you like to um you know like be a better person today than what you were yesterday and I can
01:20:03
honestly say someone that's knowing you and interviewed for you for the first
01:20:06
time 10 or 11 years ago um not that there was anything wrong with you at all you were lovely
01:20:12
um but I think you're a better person now than then for sure yeah I mean it well it was like 11 years ago yeah
01:20:18
absolutely I think we've I've done a few things yeah haven't just Damon Lisa
01:20:24
Carrington thank you so much for your time can't tell you how much I appreciate it cool thank you Dom and
01:20:28
best of luck for the future okay thank you [Music] thank you