Curiosity, Courage, and Connection: Lessons From a Mother-Daughter Hybrid Fitness Competition

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Transcript: Curiosity, Courage, and Connection: Lessons From a Mother-Daughter Hybrid Fitness Competition

Season 12, Episode 27  | April 21, 2026

Jamie Martin

Welcome to Life Time Talks, I’m Jamie Martin.

 

David Freeman

And I’m David Freeman.

 

Jamie Martin

And in this episode, we are talking about hybrid training together. If you have been on social media, you’ve probably seen some things about hybrid fitness training. It’s everywhere right now. Athletes of all ages and abilities are taking on this challenge. And today we’re really excited to have a long-time Life Time team member with us who has lots of experience coaching and competing in hybrid events, including multiple HYROX competitions. And she recently did the event with her 80 year old mom.

 

Jennifer Walter

82 year old mom. She wants every year of that.

 

Jamie Martin

Claim it all. Claim it all.

 

David Freeman

Coming to the stage, we got Jennifer Walter. She’s a mom of three, a caretaker of the best dog ever. What’s the dog’s name?

 

Jannifer Walter

Jojo.

 

David Freeman

Jojo. OK, so best dog ever, Jojo, who brings more than a decade of high-level coaching and a Life Time of competitive grit to everything she does. She spent 10 years coaching high school sports, including soccer, track, and gymnastics, and has spent the last 17 years with Life Time as a performance coach and personal trainer, helping athletes of all levels unlock their full potential.

 

An accomplished endurance athlete, Jennifer has completed 11, y’all, 11 marathons in two 50-mile trail ultra marathons. Just a little something, right? And has more than 15 years of triathlon racing under her belt. Highlighted by, once again, y’all, something else, one Ironman finish and numerous age group wins. She’s a decorated bike racer with podium results. across, my gosh, what’s this word here? I wanted you to say it out loud for everybody, criterion. Yo, you’re in it, you’re it. Mountain biking, including two state titles and finishes at a legendary Leadville race. Here we go, we’re gonna finish off strong here. Jennifer is also a fierce HYROX competitor with 10 race finishes and three appearances on the world championship state, her passion for sport, coaching and personal challenge fuels her mission to inspire others to discover what they’re truly capable of.

 

Jannifer Walter

That was really nice to hear.

 

David Freeman

Well one, when you actually say it out loud, it’s like, yes, I’m all about quite the right. Yeah, not only the resume. I really need it that spell check on mine. I’m like, am I going to say this right? Criterium.

 

Jannifer Walter

You just say crit. Crit racing.

 

David Freeman

Crit? Yeah. What I mean, I got to know what is crit racing?

 

Jannifer Walter

Imagine a set course and you’re in a pack. There’s a lot of strategy of who’s going to break, who’s going to sprint, what your team is doing. It often can be very physical. Yeah, it’s dicey and it’s strategic and moves fast. Very different than road racing, right? Where you’re still in a pack and someone’s going make a break, but you’ve got space. And the peloton breaks up. You’re just in it.

 

David Freeman

Yeah, it’s that into the thick of it. We’re about to do a little bit of that now. We’re gonna have some strategy around this conversation. You ready?

 

Jannifer Walter

I’m ready for it.

 

David Freeman

Welcome, welcome. Let’s get into it.

 

Jamie Martin

Yeah, we’re super excited to have you, Jen. This is going to be such a, like, I just love the story of like you and your mom doing this race together. And we’re to get into all of that. But I want to start by like, let’s talk about how you got into hybrid fitness in the first place. Like kind of what brought you there, both whether it was from coaching first or competing, but you obviously have an athletic background. So how did you get into hybrid?

 

Jannifer Walter

You know, I’ve always been the kid who needs to move and who wants to be strong. In second grade, my nickname was Muscles. I mean, that, yeah, which wasn’t really appreciated as a girl at that time in the seventies. Anyway, I always, those things were easy for me. So moving was easy, lifting things easy. I think the, you know, you get through high school, you’re looking for something. That’s when triathlon picked up, marathon and picked up. Those were logistically easy for me.

 

But then Life Time came into play. That was 17 years ago. I was telling somebody else this story. I used to sneak into the club. Bad, you don’t want to do that. But at that point, it always got paid, right? But it was always a little bit behind. And so I finally went to the group fitness person and said, hey, I think you should just give me a membership and I’m going to do good things for your club. She goes, well, I’ll pay you. I’m like, wow, that’s bonus. So I got exposed to a whole lot of new things. And then cycling picked up.

 

I always loved jumping into any class that was going on. Again, lifting was easy. Somewhere in there, pre-pandemic, one of the trainers who I, Alec Blenis, you know Alec Blenis. So he says to me, Jen, you’re too good to stay inside this club. And I thought, didn’t, I mean, I’m older athlete and I train with all the younger people, right? And I love it. They just make me so much better. And he’s like, why don’t you do something?

 

Well, he had just come off HYROX. And had just taken the world record away from Hunter for the Murph and all these things. And I’m like, could that really be me? And it was the coolest thing to go, okay. So he put me through a run through, loved it, and thought, this is really, really hard stuff and it’s a puzzle I have to figure out. I’m just a curious person. I want to figure it out and want to see how much I can improve. What’s it going to take? And that just started the journey.

 

And then of course, being a coach, it’s not that different. I mean, it’s functional training. want hybrid as beautiful combination of heavy things, range of motion, functionality, mobility, and high heart rate, high VO2. That’s just longevity. And so that part fit really nicely for me. And then coming off the bike and kind of had closed up a lot of to-dos in that sport. And not that I’m done with it, but I was ready for, I left it in a good way and I’m ready for the next thing. And this was easy to step into, hard to execute, but easy to step into.

 

David Freeman

I mean, when we were breaking down just the resume, if you will, of all the different events that you have done, you have to have a different type of mindset. So can you speak a little bit about your mindset and what comes naturally to you? Remember, obviously, the outsider. That mindset when it comes into what it is that you do, when you’re doing an ultramarathon or a marathon or any of these events, what’s that mindset like for you?

 

Jannifer Walter

I think it’s important to note that I’m an ADD athlete. So what I know from a very young age, just, I’m most at peace when I’m moving. I’m not someone who over trains, which really surprises people. I’m very smart about how I do things, but I’m intrigued. Also, I’m very influenced by friends. You know how it is like, hey, we’re going to go do this thing. We’re going to do a marathon there. I think I’ll jump in and do that. And then it goes back to a curiosity of, okay, what does that look like?

 

What if I did one more mile, what if I did one more rep, what would that feel like? It’s not,  it’s gotta be intentional. And I’m far too old to be random and getting hurt, but I would say over time, it had to fit in with raising kids, it had to fit in with working my Life Time. And then I’m so fortunate to have been able to coach programs that facilitate, that would leverage an opportunity for me, like the Cycle Club program, working with Run Club, the various groups, the power role class that I coach. I, all these things, and then now, hybrid, but there’s a curiosity there, and it never fails me. Like, what if? And I get tired, I take days off, I get tired in the end of my vacation. But it’s really exciting to see, okay, what can the body do? Now I’m at an age where I’m like, well, if not, now when? Like, what are we waiting for? I really like to be authentic. If I’m gonna ask athletes to give me their best, know that I’ve been there, and I know what it looks like, and I’m gonna reward you for that, and you’re gonna feel great about it, that’s highly motivating for me.

 

Jamie Martin

Yep. Well, just be able to speak from your own experience and be able to share strategies from that. I was just thinking about, had a conversation on the podcast a while ago with Courtney Dauwalter, the ultramarathoner, and she was amazing. And she talked a little bit about this idea of the pain cave. Cause it’s like, you’re pushing yourself constantly. And it’s like, how do you keep going? Even when you’re in that space where it feels really hard, how does that, like when you get to those moments and races, what is that like for you and how do you overcome that? Cause you’ve been through some big races.

 

Jannifer Walter

It always comes. Yeah. When I look back at the two ultras, that was on the Superior National Trail, really rugged. And then the two Leadvilles, which you’re familiar with. The first go at it is usually pretty traumatizing for me. I prepare, I do the training camps, I get out there, I see what I’m doing, and I have a plan A and I have a plan B. But where my brain goes is typically chaotic of I’m chasing, I’m behind, I’m not gonna make the cutoff.

 

I go home and I have that event and I go, okay, now I gotta do the brain work. I gotta figure it out. Usually it involves Brene Brown. Or it involves myself. I go, okay, all right, this is where I gotta be, gratitude, okay, got it. And then I go back with a different mindset and I have all the, sort of the trauma of that and I can’t leave something unfinished. If I left it and I don’t go back to finish up that business and walk away on my terms, it doesn’t sit well with me.

 

I’m either afraid, and that’s a problem. I don’t like to make decisions based on fear. I like to make them based on sound information. Do the work, go back, and wow, the second time through, like on the trail run, it was happy. Hard, but gratitude and happy. I knew right where I was at. Leadville, the second time I did that, full of appreciation. In fact, my words on that were, hello, fear, you’re just what I needed. Like, okay, I got that one done. Not what’s up next, can I handle it?

 

I can handle it, how am gonna do it? That’s just this stuff. I didn’t handle it when I was younger. Younger, the body just went. Friends, you do things for friends and a beer.

 

David Freeman

Yeah, when I look at what it is that you’ve accomplished and what I’ve witnessed in person when I actually, when I lived in Minnesota and was able to witness what it is that you did, you have this special connection with a community of individuals that you’re coaching. And even those who aren’t in the class, you got people watching from outside that want to be a part of it too. What is it about in all the years of your coaching that’s so special about human connection and getting people to move?

 

Jannifer Walter

That’s a great question and I couldn’t have answered that a while back. I just know that when I was a kid and I got recognized for something that was authentic, it inspired me. And I was also, think probably we can say of my generation, raised in a time when you hustled, you worked hard, you don’t sit around, otherwise you get chores. mean, stay busy. I think that part of some of that was just built in. And I had an older sister to follow.

 

As a coach, I just see potential. I see potential, and even in high school, I’m like, let’s not waste our time out here. Don’t you want the satisfaction? Can I show you what I want, and you’re going to feel it? And that takes a lot of energy that empowers me, like it fuels me, but I can’t not see it. And so when we have wins, whatever that is, somebody gets a box jump, somebody recovered, and they’re starting to run again. Somebody figure out a wall ball. Like, do you see what you just did? I point that out every time.

 

You’re struggling with something new, but can you talk about where you’ve come from? Like, that’s my job, to help them see what they can’t see. I’m coaching ARORA Fit right now. Amazing human beings who are leading the way and teaching me so much. At the rally of, not doing it wrong, you’re gonna do it this way. We’re gonna figure out a progression. We’re gonna figure out where you’re at.

 

It’s so exciting and that stuff is bottom line quality of life. Like that’s an awesome responsibility. As a coach, if you don’t see that, what are you doing? You’re bringing them there, but you’re not showing them how it applies. That’s just awesome and I take that very seriously. And they reward me with their energy and authentic work and integrity. And then they tell me, like you made a difference in my life. Like, whoa, that’s big.

 

Jamie Martin

Well, I’m assuming, I mean, I haven’t been to one of your classes. I know you have all worked together for a long time, but like there has to be just like this sense of camaraderie, not just with you, but with each other in the class too. Just like cheering each other on when those moments of like, got the box job or the wall ball, whatever it is. Like there’s that, like we’re here for each other. That sense of accountability and like celebration of one another and what we’ve done.

 

Jannifer Walter

I ask them to elevate. And I think if you’ve coached kids, you know that you’re going to find the one who needs a little extra, and you’re going to find the one who’s the leader. And then you balance out who can handle what. And you leverage that. If there’s 40 people in my class, 45 people, I don’t have a problem with it. I know who’s capable of what. I pay attention. And asking people to manage, or I’ll make captains for the day, and they get reward for that.

 

Also, high five, you’re in this together. This is how this is gonna feel. It’s gonna suck, but it’s gonna suck for all of you. So let’s acknowledge that, let’s get fuel from that. Yeah, this is just how I live life. And to bring that to that, and man do they show up for each other. It’s beautiful. Yeah, I think the people that are watching, like we finish every ARORA Fit class with a dance, we’re working on some line dancing. No kidding, people line up, I’m like be brave, just step in, be brave and do it. Yeah. They trust me and I take that really seriously. And yeah, and community. then connections come out of that and other activities and then challenges. Whether that’s LT games or HYROX or you’re to jump into a half marathon, whatever it is.

 

David Freeman

I mean, you said something that’s just, it naturally comes to you as far as the work, have to get up, do something, you had inspiration from your sister, and then we mentioned it little earlier, your mother at 82 years young and going through HYROX with her from the mindset of the woman who birthed you that raised you and to get across the finish line with her, like, can you explain how that experience was?

 

Jannifer Walter

So unexpected. Her group, she trains at 6 a.m. Now she’s, I’ve convinced her like, how about an 8 a.m. class? Why do you have to come to 6 a.m.? It’s so busy and loud and I can actually coach you with all that. But it was her group, she would go over and it was farmer’s carry. We got a couple kettlebells and we’re bracing and we’re gonna walk around the track. She has no idea what those weights are. She’s farm girl and she’s that little stubbornness has done well for her.

 

So she goes over and pick up 16 kilograms, so that’s 35 in each hand. She grabs them and she starts walking around the track. And no kidding, I saw much, much younger people look at her, put their light ones back and grab heavier. Just by her doing it. She has no idea what she’s doing. She’s doing what she does. So it was her group who said, Mary, why don’t you do HYROX? Why don’t you do HYROX? Jen, why don’t you do HYROX? I Mom, and I thought, whoa.

 

It didn’t even occur to me. We didn’t have that kind of relationship where we shared things. Her job, four kids before she was 25, get the food on the table, get the kitchen cleaned up, we stick to our chores, we have to be in bed at this time. You better have done your homework. There was no margin. And she got us to all of our activities. But that thing of let’s have an experience, that was part of that generation, at least in my world. It was very functional, it was very practical.

 

And I would say we weren’t close for most of our life. Respectful, love, mom, all that. But to share this, and I prepped it with, we have to be good for each other. If I burn out, I bring this team down. If you do too much, you’re gonna bring the team down. And it was just about eight weeks of how are you feeling? And this is a woman who at 76 came into my class for the first time. She was fully retired.

 

She comes in and she sees one of the gals in there who’s a year older than her who’s running. And all of I see mom running around the track at 76. I’m like, that’s my mom. What’s happening? She goes, well, Hill was running, so I should run. I’m like, okay, there’s peer — that’s your peer group. There’s not, right? We inspire each other.

 

Jamie Martin

Had fitness been part of her life prior to that? Like I really I think you and I had met prior to this and I was like it really wasn’t part of her day-to-day when you were growing up, right?

 

Jannifer Walter

And I was thinking about that because I certainly knew parents who would join the gym and play tennis or they were on the golf league. That was not mom. Mom was very busy with kids and with getting us to our activities. She walked a lot, had a double knee replacement in her early 60s and yeah, curves. I remember she went to curves and she would do that, like try that out.

 

But mostly like a lot of people I think of that time struggling with weight. Are we eating fat or are we not eating fat? Carbs, not carbs. Like, what’s protein?

 

Jamie Martin

All the back and forth that happened too with that information.

 

Jannifer Walter

Yeah, I think that was just messy times in her head. And I remember the kids gave her one of these, like a gift, a coupon book, like, hey, we’re gonna do a 5K together. It never happened. That was several years ago. And I thought, wow, your first time getting to a start and a finish line is gonna be HYROX on a huge stage with 12,000 other people. And so preparing her for, it’s gonna be busy, it’s gonna be loud. You look at me. You trust me, I’m gonna trust you.

 

We have a plan. So we had a plan A and a plan B. And then mom did plan C. Which was she went out really fast. I’m like, the fans. This is a woman who would prefer at six a.m. to be in the corner. Don’t look at me. I nothing to see here. I’m just gonna do my work head down. Doesn’t have a lot of words. All of a sudden, no kidding, she’s high fiving people. She’s like waving. I’m like, what is happening?

 

I said, you gotta slow down. You have got to slow down. Because I don’t have a plan for going this fast. I don’t know what will happen. So we had a plan of 230 to 245, and she did it in 212. Yeah. She’s hamming it up with the mic guy. I’m like, I’m over here killing myself on the roll, or waiting to switch out with her. And I hear her back there talking. I’m like, save your energy. That was amazing. And touching.

 

That’s not something, we didn’t grow up without touching. We held hands, I’m like, we gotta get through the merge, and you’ve done that, the HYROX, you gotta get through the merge into the rocks, you gotta get out of the rocks zone, and trusting me that way, like, it changed everything in our relationship. I don’t know if she can speak that clearly about it, but there’s a glow and a confidence that she has now that she hasn’t had. It’s beautiful. And I feel close to her at 82 and 59, like, I feel close to her.

 

Very special. And to finish it, my gosh, the tears and the hugging and . . . I mean, it was everything you would want, but to be clear, that wasn’t the relationship we had growing up. And a complete surprise to get out of my comfort zone and do that. Wow. And we’ll see if we do it again.

 

Jamie Martin

Right. think just for our listeners, mean, to think about what is, what does it mean to take on a HYROX, right? Like what is, I mean, not everybody knows what a HYROX competition looks like. So walk us through what the format is. So people understand like what you two did together and how you divided up the course.

 

Jannifer Walter

And David, you did a doubles too, right? Okay, so this is my first doubles. And it’s a real different race. You’re doing it single, you kind of sit in that threshold, zone three, four, three, four, three, four, the entire time. If it was on the gas, not too much, you gotta come back down. And you definitely go to dark places in your head. With a partner, you still have to do all the running, which ends up being five miles. And that’s split up by one case between a variety of events, eight different events.

 

But you get to split the event work. So for example, we got our 1K done, we get to the skier, the plan, since I’m the more fit athlete at this time, I started in the ski, switched out, she did a middle section, I finished it while her heart rate was coming down, and then we took off for the next run. On the push, we had a plan. She was gonna do roughly six and a half meters, I take over, I do 12, she comes back in. Now, she just did the whole thing, she just kept pushing, I’m like, man, we, don’t blow up. I kept saying we gotta get back out and run. I just don’t like this running thing.

 

Jamie Martin

Still gotta do that part.

 

Jannifer Walter

Yeah, so figuring out how to, and we practiced that. We did run-throughs and we practiced and that’s not intuitive to her. So when I ask the question, how are you feeling, you ask me that question as an athlete. I’m gonna tell you what’s happening, what’s not happening, what I need, what I’m feeling with my blood sugar. Like these are not mysteries to me. For mom, well, my thighs are a little sore. Okay, but you feel good. Well yeah, I could do more. I’m like, we’ve been at this for two and a half hours already in our run-throughs. Yeah, was a lot of prepping of that. And for the environment, and you know that’s a charged environment.

 

David Freeman

Well, I mean, you kind of just said it, like the transformational experience in itself, when you have that energy around you. And we’re saying within the HYROX space, go into one of your classes. It’s just this connection of people being together and getting through something hard together. The dope part that I’m going back to is, once again, the woman that raised you and this element of this exists, this obviously was in there the whole time. And for it to now be showcased on that scale and that level and to experience it.

 

Jannifer Walter

To wait that long. So when she was growing up, they had half-court basketball at the school she went to. It’s just a pastime. mean, there were no leagues or anything. Got married at 19, four kids by 25. Like, now you’re rolling. Now you’re just keeping your head above water. And she sat back and watched us. I don’t know what her thoughts were, if she wanted to do those things or not. She just dealt with whatever was in her face at the time. Like, I got deal with this, I got to deal with that.

 

I don’t . . . I didn’t sense that, but again, I’m a kid. I wouldn’t ask that question. But I will say when I first started watching her workout at 76 in my space, and I’m the coach and she trusted that, I’m looking at her going, that’s where I get it from. Like her range of motion, are you kidding me? You’ve got a full range of motion squad at 82, your knee to ground at 82. Like she knows how to break. She’s really coachable and wants to get it right. Which, I don’t know exactly where that comes from, but I see it, I’m walking around going, my gosh, anytime I didn’t feel close to my mom, like we are just not whatever, I’m walking around going, wow, I am so your daughter. Yeah. Yeah.

 

Jamie Martin

Well, yeah, to see parts of yourself that you’ve known for a long time all of sudden reflected in There it is. Like, OK. That’s a really cool thing to have happen.

 

Jannifer Walter

Yeah, to be 82 and find out something about yourself and having someone to lead you. I grew up with Title IX. I had lots of women leading. My daughter, can’t even imagine not having activities available to her. Yeah, so there, yeah, she’s pretty amazing.

 

David Freeman

Yeah, you were saying obviously got involved with your classes at 76 or six years later during that six year time frame. I know you did obviously beyond that six year time frame even before that you were in all these different events and I remember you saying you go into that dark place or the mental piece. Did your mother ever pop up in your head during challenging parts of the races? And if so . . .

 

Jannifer Walter

My mom, when I was racing, my thing, my mom was the one who watched the kids so I could do the things. I mean, that was a big one. And she, wow. And part of that is give me a job, I wanna feel needed. I mean, I think my kids are amazing, so they have a good relationship. But I was very aware if I didn’t have her, I wouldn’t be doing the thing. And I tried to be respectful of that and grateful for that. But again, also trying to keep my head above water with working in three kids.

 

No, it never popped into my head that I would love to see mom do something physical. It would pop into my head, like, there’s so much potential of life for this woman that she has just given to everybody else.

 

And I think that’s her comfort place. mean, think, you know, that’s, there’s a love language there, right? But now that she’s, to get this, to give this to her and go, let’s go have an experience. And man, she grabbed a hold, she thrived on it. And the woman who, now she walks in the club and like, hi Mary, what’s your plan today? And I’m like . . .

 

David Freeman

So now flip it. The model behavior of what you saw for so many years and then being a mother yourself as far as how did you evolve in that space knowing what you wanted to do with your children?

 

Jannifer Walter

Oh, my kids are movers. Their father, athletic. Genetically, they’re movers, they’re athletes. What I wanted for them, well, they grab it, get them signed up for things. You do everything. You don’t like soccer, you’re gonna do this. Eventually, the two bigs landed on hockey, and then because small schools, played all the sports. And then the little guy who’s 18 is a baseball guy and basketball, but it was, sport teaches you so much. In fact, I’ve mentioned to you, Jamie, about the whole sport as an equalizer.

 

It does not matter what kind of car you drive. It doesn’t matter how old you are. I’m not interested in what you did yesterday. Here’s what we’re doing today, and let’s be smart about it, make the plan, but you’re accountable in that moment to you, and it’s very empowering for someone who for myself who didn’t come from money, but I was around it to be able to go, this is where I belong, and I’m seen and I’m valued, and it does not matter that I drive the old junker car, right? It just doesn’t matter.

 

But to take that into coaching, you come through the door and you come into my class, doesn’t, here’s what I’m asking of you, here’s what I need from you, here’s what your team needs for you, and it’s amazing who will step up for that, including my mom. Like, here’s what I need from you, here’s the modification, here’s what I’m looking for, here’s the reminder. And she steps up.

 

Jamie Martin

Pretty amazing. Yeah. Just to think about that.

 

Jannifer Walter

What if you had people in your life who said, I want you up here? as a way of, and you trust them.

 

Jamie Martin

That’s just how you can operate and function in the day to day, right? Up here.

 

Jannifer Walter

What if you don’t have that person? Where do go with that? Who’s your inspiration? Where’s that potential? And I do think of that with mom. She didn’t have that person. So to get into class in a world that I understand and to be able to coach her to that. So sport is the equalizer.

 

Jamie Martin

That’s so interesting, because I think about sports. Our kids both play sports. I think about sometimes, you play to the level you’re challenged to in many cases. So if I’m in a class, and I see these other, and people are kind of giving a 50% effort versus the 100%, you might gravitate towards that if that’s what the bulk of people are doing. It’s like on the basketball court. If you’re playing a team that’s much better than you, you’re going to try and level up. Versus if I’m playing a team that’s worse than us, I might play down because I can get a little sloppy or I can do things. I don’t have to be as precise, but like, how do we always be leveling up versus the other direction? Does that make sense?

 

Jannifer Walter

Yeah, and it brings up a good question. Do you think, and I have my opinion on it, surprise, but do you think the athlete can level up just by their own internal drive?

 

Jamie Martin

I think so.

 

David Freeman

Yeah, and I think it is possible. The reason why is if they have a clear understanding, and once again, this is when they’re coming into their athletic ability and their awareness to their athletic ability, and that invite going back to the environment, the environment can really level you up. I.e. use your mom as an example when she picked up the 16 kilogram. The other people could probably already do it, for whatever reason they weren’t doing it, but they saw it and then they started to level up.

 

Jamie Martin

If she can I can, right?

 

Jannifer Walter

Alright, now go to your kids. Because your kids are in sports. What if they’re on the team like you were just talking about and there isn’t that challenge to level up? Either it’s not put in front of them, they don’t have the athletic understanding and the issue. How does that kid level up?

 

David Freeman

From my history of what I’ve seen, whenever I use my daughter, for example. So she plays up three ages. So she’s nine, she plays with 12 year olds because she was bored or she did not feel challenged in her normal age group. then she’s doing the things, but she’s not doing at the level that she can. So when we changed the age group that she was in that was more competitive for her and speed and all that, she leveled up. going back to the environment, I don’t know if most kids will probably, they all, we’re her parents too, so was a little bit of that tapping into, but I don’t know of most kids, they’re still trying to figure out themselves. I think it’s possible.

 

Jannifer Walter

I think it’s possible. You get that outlier every now and then.

 

Jamie Martin

I think it’s a certain personality that’s really that like you just see that probably not just on it with sports But probably other aspects of their lives to where they’re really driven and motivated or what?

 

Jannifer Walter

And then you have parents who see it and who have athletic backgrounds who can go, I want to see you thrive. I don’t want to see you bored.

 

Jannifer Walter

Yeah. So how do we challenge it? It’s interesting. I have, my older daughter plays tennis, so more of an individual sport versus a team sport. And she is like one of those kids who like, wants to get better at this sport. And so like, she constantly wants to be pushing herself or like, like I told you last night, I ended up at Life Time until like eight o’clock. I should have been home an hour earlier than that, but because they asked her to stay after and she was like willing to do it, but she had coaches who were willing to push her. So it’s like, who’s going to like, they were willing to work with her so she could push it and work on that thing. So I think it’s certain personality types I think are more inclined than others.

 

Jannifer Walter

Yeah.

 

David Freeman

Who are you surrounding yourself with? That’s a big piece too. So if you got good coaches, for example, if the team is losing, the team is losing because they haven’t figured it out yet, but the coaching is great. I’m not removing my kids from that team. Why? Because this is every team you go to, you’re not going to be winning. They need to know what losing feels like, deal with adversity, make the changes. Perfect example, Harley again, my daughter. She thrives in anything that relates to speed.

 

So track, good soccer, I can run pass anybody. Equalizer going back to what you said basketball. No, you gotta slow the game down a little bit. You gotta be able to run with the ball. So when she wasn’t able to use her superpower, which is speed, it shifted her way of how she had to think. And then once again, they weren’t winning games. They were losing. So the frustration started to set in. Like, ha, this is gonna be good for her. Sweet spot. And it took, man, third season now and it’s starting to click. That’s the beautiful part.

 

A lot of times what we do is we try to dictate the life of our kids. Within that, because we want them to always feel like what winning feels like and what good is or safe. I mean, speaking from experience, right? You need to go through the challenges, the adversity, because when you are alone in that solo sport or alone in that race, you know now how to fight through versus give up.

 

Jannifer Walter

I think everybody who comes into life, whether it’s briefly that we talk or it’s a longer relationship, I’m learning something from them, if I’m paying attention. Whether I like it or I don’t like it, I’m learning something. So with my kids, it was, you don’t like the coach? Well, you talk to the coach. I can’t go talk to the, you gotta be accountable.

 

Jamie Martin

You have to learn how to communicate what’s going on and have a conversation.

 

Jannifer Walter

And also, maybe I don’t even like that coach. Doesn’t matter. Because you got to finish this out. But that’s tools for your toolbox. Now you know the difference. What kind of athlete are you? What do you need to thrive in? If the coach isn’t giving you what you want, you know that about yourself. As is an adult, particularly at Life Time. There’s hundreds of classes. Go find who fits for you. If the culture doesn’t work for you, that’s fine. Go find a culture that works, because it’s out there.

 

Jamie Martin

Absolutely. How have you seen like since the race was this was in November. What has your mom what did your mom say about it right afterward? What has her perspective been on it from since finishing it or like? What were her takeaways if she shared any with you?

 

Jannifer Walter

Well, I ask lots of questions. We were at dinner right after the race. It took forever. Because we had some media stuff, and she has her fans, apparently. And I’m like, I was there. I mean, whatever. That’s awesome. So we’re at dinner. And no kidding, she’s having a glass of wine. I haven’t seen my mom drinking an entire glass of wine in decades. People are coming up to her. This is you in this Instagram.

 

And I’m like again, hey, and all of sudden she just starts talking. Like this is what she does. Yeah, so then I said, well, would you do it again? That’s a lot of work. She didn’t say no though. So then people, she gets back to the club and they’re all asking her, are you gonna do another one? And it’s such a big thing to commit to something that big without having a plan. So I said, hey, you wouldn’t rule it out though, right?

 

I mean, you look at the fitness you have, I we talked. We talk creatine. I mean, how do we use carbs? You tell me you don’t need any food, guess what? We’ve out here for an hour and a half. You need some sugar, here you go. You gotta eat this before we get into the rock zone, whatever it is. It’s like, it’d be a shame to let that, well, I’m not gonna stop working out, Jennifer. I’m like, and I know that, but would you like to see what could happen next? It would be interesting. I mean, I could see it. So I don’t know where that leaves us exactly, but it wasn’t a no.

 

 

David Freeman

Who was your inspiration growing up? I mean, you’ve done all these races and obviously the background from there, always going back to what I would have applied at this time, muscles. Right? back to that, who was your inspiration over the years?

 

Jannifer Walter

Wow, I had coaches. I can remember my gymnastics coach way back when as a little kid. The best day of the whole summer was always obstacle course day. I get to move fast and I’ve got good skills. It doesn’t matter that I can’t do a double back. You what I can do? I can move fast through this. That was just exciting to me. And I had coaches who saw that. I said mom was logistics for sure. And she knew enough, keep this girl moving.

 

My soccer coach, my first soccer coach, Title IX for Wayzata, she saw something that I thrive on, I know that. So inspiration, my gratitude for mom getting me in things, huge. There’s also this curiosity of I’m coaching the class, I’m talking big about whatever, I wanna have a story. I wanna understand this authentically and then surround myself with people who are gonna help me get there.

 

I’m not the person who would go out for hours and just do a run by themselves. No, I figure out how can I keep engaged with people? Like I need the people. And through that energy, think other people then come around and then we’re sharing something together. So inspiration, don’t know. A curiosity to understand, a curiosity to solve the puzzle. That really drives me. And at a certain point, like, you know what, I do want this on my resume. I wanna know what this feels like.

 

I wanna be in that group who finishes Leadville and gets the buckle. I want that. And reminding myself when I’m out there, you want this, let’s go. And it just, it’s now it’s like, what’s gonna happen? What if I do one more burpee? Where will my heart rate go? I’ve never fallen over from a squat being fatigued, so what if I just did one more? What would happen? Right? Versus I’m tired.

 

David Freeman

What if, I like that?

 

Jamie Martin

Yeah, that’s a great mentality.

 

Jannifer Walter

You’re not old enough yet.

 

Jamie Martin

No, I know. like, just love like, there’s things you brought into it. very early when we were talking, I wrote down curiosity, because that feels like it’s been a really core component of your story as being willing to kind of see what you could do next, right? And being willing to step into the unknown, discover, learn, refine, and then go back again and do it again and continue to learn and get curious about all these things and, and doing it, doing that, having that curiosity with the support of surrounding yourself with the right people it sounds like.

 

Jannifer Walter

Well, it’s amazing there are people that actually want to do things. Hey, you want to go whatever it is. People rally. You put the opportunity in front of them and they rally. That’s pretty cool.

 

Jamie Martin

All right, we have covered a lot of ground. Is there anything we didn’t get to or any like part of the story about with you and your mom or just your own story that you want to talk to before David leads into his mic drop moment, that surprise moment?

 

Jannifer Walter

Do we have trust issues? think it’s really important that people hear that message. You’re not limited. The question, what if? What if I just am brave enough to walk into that class? What if I can just laugh at myself and go, wow, I suck at this? It’s not easy, but life isn’t easy. And I don’t know where we got the idea that it’s a straight shot because it’s so not. It’s messy.

 

Get in there, get a little messy and see what happens and empowering. I mean, if you can do that work, I look at my mom, I’m like, you did that. Is it really that hard to manage these tasks over here now? Yeah, be adventurous, be curious. It’s never, ever, ever too late for that. There’s so much knowledge out there. I’m ready, David, go.

 

David Freeman

Simple, probably got to the tip of your tongue. What’s your non-negotiable as a coach?

 

Jannifer Walter

If I’m giving you something and we trust each other, why would you not do the best for you? It’s not to please me. The end of the day, I see you for an hour. It’s an amazing hour. Can you live with yourself at the end of the day if you don’t give yourself the best? That’s non-negotiable for me. People often ask me, who’s your ideal client? What niche?

 

They assume it’s a high performance. It’s not. It’s that person who’s willing to go there and be courageous and face themselves with the failures, with the embarrassment. When my mom started doing burpees, she fell backwards and she could laugh at herself. That’s huge.

 

Jamie Martin

Don’t take it too seriously.

 

Jannifer Walter

Right. So I think it’s that. you know, because you deal with, when you encounter someone who’s just going to be this, and I meet them where they’re at, like, OK, we’re not pushing this. That’s fine. But we can’t go any further either. So what fills me is a person being courageous enough to look inward and go, let’s see what happens. I really respect that.

 

David Freeman

Authentic effort. Love that.

 

Jamie Martin

Mhm. Well, Jen, we want people to be able to connect with you if they want. You’re on Instagram at CoachJenW. Is there anywhere else where they can find you? They can probably see photos from your race and other things that you’re doing, huh?

 

Jannifer Walter

Yeah, that’s all on there. Yeah, reach out. Message me. You have a thought. You have a question. You have a curiosity. It’s not hard to answer those questions. Or direct people. Not a hard thing.

 

Jamie Martin

Well, Jen, thank you so much for joining us for coming on. We’re so grateful.

 

Jannifer Walter

I’m thrilled. This is, yeah, feels great. Thank you both.

 

David Freeman

Absolutely.