Transcript
Natalie Tyner: All right. This is kind of crazy. But welcome to A &N's Track Talk. So we are just going to somewhat dive in. you know There's going to be a lot of uninterrupted banter, I should say, but for the most part, dive into like journey of college athletics, how we navigated everything and just everything that it threw at us and how we kind of took it and went with it and have grown and learned and yeah, share all that experience with you. First off, I'm Natalie.
Natalie Tyner: and I am the N in A and &N. I am so excited to just kind of start this podcast journey. This is new to both of us, but we listen to so many podcasts and we're like, hey, we got to somehow get our stories out there to everybody and hopefully help all of you with our stories.
Alex: Hi, Natalie. I'm Alex. still laughing at the intro music. I love it. What what an absolute bop. And we are so excited to be here trying out this new experience. know we've been through a lot of different adventures together over the years. So we are so excited to share what we have learned through our college athletics journey.
Natalie Tyner: Yeah, we have learned so much and we've been through so many interesting things together that are just like funny. like We have some funny stories to share, but we also have some very like heartfelt emotional stories and then like just straight up lessons that we've learned.
Natalie Tyner: But that is all to come. In this episode, it's all about just us kind of introducing ourselves, you guys getting to know us. And we'll kind of dive into explaining the podcast, giving you guys some heads up on what's coming and just having fun, having a conversation. Nothing crazy.
Alex: Yes, and so first to give you guys some background on how Natalie and I know each other, were a college teammates at UNC and roommates many times over the years.
Alex: Shout out, Chobie, our favorite roommate and four -legged friend.
Natalie Tyner: Yes, he's best
Alex: so to get started, Natalie, do you want to tell us about your background to start things off?
Natalie Tyner: Yes, yes. Thank you. Again, I am Natalie. Currently, I am a coach, so I coach runners just from all over the world, and just kind of working on helping them reach their goals. Also, further background, Alex and I ran cross -country and track together, so that's how we know a ton about running.
Natalie Tyner: by take it way back. I grew up in North Carolina and started running cross country and track in high school. After seeing you know some success with it, I decided I wanted to do it in college. So my senior year I signed with UNC and ran cross country and track there for all years.
Natalie Tyner: And it was super awesome to just be able to represent my home state and just an amazing place in general and an incredible university. I mean, what other university can say that UNC stands for University of National Champions?
Natalie Tyner: Just saying.
Alex: Yes!
Natalie Tyner: So like we said, that's where we met Alex and I. And we grew so much in our time together. That was just a crazy wild ride there.
Natalie Tyner: And I ended up getting my degree in college in exercise and sports science and a minor in coaching education, which is kind of what led me into the coaching and really to where I am today.
Natalie Tyner: I just love being able to help people and just make everybody's lives a little bit easier with what I have learned and what I can share. And yeah, we just have so many lessons that we had to learn the hard way. And I'm excited to kind of share those stories so that you guys can hear more about how to get through those hard things and realize that one, you're not alone and two, that we can learn from all of this.
Alex: Absolutely, yes. Having been there to witness your entire journey over our four years, Natalie, I'm so excited to listen to the ways that you apply, everything you've learned through that.
Alex: And even though I've been there to witness it, I think I continue to learn from you and what you're doing now. So I'm excited to learn from you.
Natalie Tyner: So sweet.
Alex: And I know you will certainly help a lot of people. And yeah, you know, similarly, I think for me, running has just been a place where I've been able to learn so much about myself throughout the years.
Natalie Tyner: here
Alex: I'm definitely starting out with my high school team, Neighborville North.
Natalie Tyner: Haha!
Alex: I'm still a huge huskey fan, but that experience played such a big role in my athletic development. And I think more than anything, it helped me gain confidence as a leader and a teammate and just taught me so much about like working to contribute for something so much bigger than myself. So after a very long recruiting process in high school, because I was a little bit indecisive, I found my home and committed to run cross country and track for UNC. So made the journey to North Carolina and throughout that time at UNC, there were definitely a lot of highs and lows and
Alex: I did struggle a lot with injuries throughout my career, which was really challenging both physically and mentally. but ultimately I learned a lot about learning from my setbacks and also prioritizing my body and long -term health. And I, I, in spite of all those challenges, I am definitely going to be always incredibly grateful for my time at UNC.
Alex: all the lessons I learned, and of course, the lasting relationships that I formed through that. And I think through that experience, um I had so many interactions with the medical community throughout my own health journey, and that has really inspired me to where I am now, which is applying to med school. And I really want to, in my future career, help especially women, but all people advocate for themselves and their long -term health needs.
Alex: So I'm so excited to continue on that journey.
Natalie Tyner: Oh, yes. I'm so excited for your med school journey. I mean, on top of watching you grow in all of these years, I mean, you're gonna do amazing things in med school. And we need more doctors like you not hating on doctors, but just in general, we need more doctors like you who are just have been through the depths of everything and are just excited to help people on another level and be willing to listen and grow and actually listen to the stories and the lessons.
Natalie Tyner: So yes, okay, this is so fun. I'm so excited to go into all of this. okay, I also want to share a little fun fact about Alex and
Natalie Tyner: Both of us, us.
Alex: but
Natalie Tyner: Okay, we're both so competitive, like, but at the same time, if you think about it, I don't know very many athletes that aren't really competitive.
Alex: Mm hmm.
Natalie Tyner: I mean, I don't know. I think there's a balance between it, but yeah, we've had our fair share of competitive moments that were not even really that intentional, but just kind of happened at the same time.
Natalie Tyner: Like, I don't know if you remember this, this first run that we ever went on together, Alex, and
Alex: i remember
Natalie Tyner: I think it's pretty memorable. I mean, we got up at 530 in the morning, and it this was during our freshman year orientation. We got up at 530 in the morning, and me being like this North Carolina native and UNC, I was like, Oh, I know where to go.
Natalie Tyner: Yeah, I had no clue where to go. I was just like, I saw this trail when I was driving in, let me let's go there. And so we, I started leading us down this greenway, and we're about
Alex: I remember.
Natalie Tyner: three minutes down a hill like being going downhill for three minutes and I was like I kind of looked around at the group and I was like guys we've been going downhill for three minutes. And they were kind of like, yeah, yeah. And I'm like, um, am I not the only one that's like slightly concerned that we've been going downhill for three minutes? Like, I'm a little concerned. But yeah, so we, we kept going and Alex and I, you know, we were just kind of pushing the pace. I don't think there was any harm here or intent. It was just like,
Natalie Tyner: Just kind of chillin having fun, but I think low -key like competitive at the same time and probably running way faster than we should have but On the way back because we didn't out back So, you know, we had to go up that hill that we were going down for a long time And yeah, that that was the day that I learned that Chapel Hill is not quite as flat as my hometown and Alex probably learned the same thing because Chicago's not very hilly either but It was just crazy time. Like that was our first time meeting each other. So this is our first time introducing ourselves on the podcast, but our first time meeting each other was this 5 .30 in the morning run that we did down a hill and then uphill. So crazy time.
Alex: Yes, that was that was quite the adventure to start off our UNC careers. I also remember like we were in this wooded area, and we were running into these spiderwebs.
Natalie Tyner: Oh.
Alex: And our much taller teammates were low -key clearing the way for us at the spiderwebs, which I'm not complaining. um But yeah, what a day.
Alex: 5 .30 AM, starting the day off right. Definitely feeling it on the hill on the way back up.
Natalie Tyner: I mean, it was a great run. we We got some great experience out of that. um Honestly, I blocked out the whole spider web thing. i I mean, I think that shows you that my fear of spiders is greater than my ah
Alex: Mm
Natalie Tyner: trauma from running up that hill so uh that says something about me but it was a crazy time it was a fun time and a great way to you know start off our first run together but okay now that we've shared a little bit of background on us let's talk a little bit i mean we've kind of hinted at it quite a bit but i want to like actually dive into like
Alex: hmm.
Natalie Tyner: why we're really here and just sharing our stories but also like what is the point here. So we've had our fair share of challenges and struggles um can be competing on a top university brought a lot of highs and also a lot of lows and you know honestly we just want to be able to share those experiences with you.
Alex: Yes, absolutely. I think like we've already touched on, we've definitely had to learn a lot of lessons the hard way. And in reflecting on my journey, there's just so many things that I wish I could have told my younger self.
Alex: And she was pretty stubborn.
Natalie Tyner: So true.
Alex: some of our former teammates or just wonderful athletes and coaches who have so many experiences and so much knowledge to share. And so can't wait to get started.
Natalie Tyner: Yes, and if you're listening and you're like, oh, I want to share a story, we would love to hear from you too. you have any questions or topics you'd like us to cover, whether you're a high schooler listening, thinking, oh, I'm about to go into college and I want to know more about this, or you're in college and you're like, I'm struggling, I want to know more of your experiences,
Natalie Tyner: or you're out of college and you have things that you just, you know you went through too and you want to hear more about. It doesn't matter really, just if you have anything and you really relate, please reach out, leave us a message through whatever platform you're on or you can also follow us on Instagram. So the main page that will be for this podcast is called Nat's Sport Prep. So that is another thing that I want to talk to you about.
Natalie Tyner: Um, I have been super passionate about helping others learn from my experiences. Of course, that's why we started this podcast. But I also have been kind of thinking of ways of like, okay, how can I really dive deep into learning these lessons?
Natalie Tyner: And like Alex said, like we're so stubborn in high school, maybe we'll listen, maybe we won't, but how can you at least get this message out there to people a way that they can kind of learn material and just apply it. And so 2025, I'm going to put out a course in January for high school athletes and parents to help them prepare for all that college brings.
Natalie Tyner: And Alex, you know how angry it makes me when other athletes or parents or coaches, whatever, say, college is tough. College is different. Freshman year is hard. And then they don't give you any advice on how to help you through that. So bear with us because I'm here, Alex is here to give you advice on these things. We don't want to just leave you wondering what you're going to struggle with, although we can't predict any of your struggles, but we don't want to leave you wondering like, how can I deal with this stuff? How can I learn from this? And yeah, there are things that you have to sometimes learn on your own, but there's no reason we cannot prepare you and give you the skills you need to succeed and manage
Natalie Tyner: the demands of college. So that was a lot. But if this is something that you're interested in, please follow on Instagram, join the email list, follow us on our podcast, leave a review, comment, all that stuff, however that works. But keep in touch with us for sure.
Alex: Yes, amazing. Can't wait for all that. And before we finish up, we wanted to give you a sneak peek of what to expect for our next episode. So get excited. We will be diving into Natalie's story and the biggest lessons she's learned, which in short are advocating for yourself and learning from your failures.
Natalie Tyner: Yes. Oh my gosh. Okay. So low -key a little bit nervous because I have so much to say and it's sometimes just so hard to get your point across. So be prepared that next week's episode is going to be much longer than this one. But I am super excited because I do have a lot to share and I am really, really passionate about it. And Yeah, I'm just really excited to talk to you about it. we hope that you are excited as we are. And thank you so much for joining us for our first episode of A &N's Track Talk. So exciting.
Alex: Yes, and don't forget to subscribe. Leave your reviews or comments and share this podcast with your friends, teammates, anyone who you think would benefit from this knowledge. And we are so excited to start this journey.
Natalie Tyner: Yes, until next time, this is Natalie.
Alex: And I'm Alex.
Natalie Tyner: Thank you!
