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H-Hour
“Certain countries would get their females pregnant” to gain hormonal advantages.
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Join the H-Hour Patron Community at patreon.com/hkpodcasts ***** Live-streamed to H-Hour patrons, this Icebreaker introduces Annasley Park - a British adventurer and former elite cyclist who, after overcoming career-ending injuries and an eclectic journey through sports and global exploration, became one of only nine women ever to row solo and unsupported across the Atlantic Ocean. https://annasleypark.com/
I run through patron questions submitted for Annasley, discussing the hardships of her ocean row and the last two years changing her perspective on life. Discussing cheating in sport, Annasley says cheaters “are only cheating themselves” and steal moments from those who sacrificed, while noting anti-doping scrutiny in cycling (2015–2019) and recounting a shocking claim that “certain countries would get their females pregnant” to gain hormonal advantages. She describes her most scared moment: capsizing 10 hours into her row amid strong winds and a mis-set centreboard. She shares loving six months in Auburn, USA, living outdoors, and says the outdoors improves her mental health through flow and testing conditions. She briefly addresses discrimination as a woman, and says she’d refuse support that violates her moral compass. This is a short episode, leading into the full podcast - H-Hour #281
Welcome back to Hey Chour. I lost my train of thought there for a second. I didn't know what the heck was going on, but now I do know what's going on. We've got Annalie Park in the studio ready for the icebreaker. Before we get onto the icebreaker, I'm going to be asking her questions submitted by Hey Chour patrons before we even started recording. Some of them are even watching a live link right now because that is a privilege of being a patron. Apart from supporting the Hue, you get to get benefits and freebies and live links and giveaways and such like by uh becoming a patron via patreon.com forward slash HK Podcasts. Cost about five a month. You get to submit questions for the guests. You get to watch live links if you want. You also get to submit questions into the live stream as the guest is talking for me to ask on the fly on air. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. Enough of the sales pitch. I hate doing it. What I do like doing is asking the questions to the guest, especially because sometimes, honestly, some of them are a bit awkward. Sometimes.
SPEAKER_01Oh, we like awkward. We like awkward.
SPEAKER_00I think you're gonna be safe. I think you're gonna be safe. But in the past, I am sitting here thinking, oh my god, I've got to ask that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, I love awkward questions, I think it really does, you know, provide a good icebreaker. Yeah, the cringier the better, I say.
SPEAKER_00Find out if you like these awkward questions. I'm only joking. I haven't seen these questions ahead. Okay. All right, so thank you for thank you for coming down today. I really appreciate traveling. Thank you for having me. And uh let's see where it takes us. Okay. Question number one from a person called Coke. Okay. Cool now. Are you a significantly better person due to the unique hardship you've experienced? Ooh, I suppose that is better relative to who you would have been otherwise, maybe.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think um I think this last year or last two years has definitely changed. Um, and I have a very different perspective uh from life um compared to when I was an athlete to what I am now as an expert and within the last two years that's changed. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Okay, okay. Uh because of the role.
SPEAKER_01Um yes, yeah. I mean, there was a lot that happened out on the ocean that I knew I needed to go out and face it.
SPEAKER_00Oh, you've got I'm gonna get into that, you know, we end up.
SPEAKER_01Um I I think um, you know, I think I'm a better person uh in regards to I mean, I've always had morals and uh principles that I've always stuck to, and they've kind of guided me throughout life, but um I definitely um have more of a better perspective of you know what I have in my life now.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, good to hear. Second part to that question. Good luck answering this one. Uh if yes, the answer is yes, would you say you're much superior compared to the average person? No.
SPEAKER_01Oh gosh. So many people, you know. No, so many people, every time they hear my story, they just go, Well, I can't tell you my story now. And that always breaks me because I always think, like, you know, we're all I always say we're all rowing an ocean of some kind, right? But like I'm my my story is yes, it's unique, as is yours, as is anyone else's. And I think you know, everyone has um uh a position and a place, and we're all equal, and uh, and I see people you know like that. So I think if I had uh a superior thought process, then um I wouldn't be a good leader, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_00I don't know about that. Really? I also don't know about everyone as equal bit. However, what I will agree with you on is um you are absolutely correct. Every everyone has got a unique unique experience. And this is something I also learned through uh you know hardships, not like your own, different. But in fact, that's not true. It wasn't through hardships, it was from it was from having people forced into high performance teams that I was running. Uh who I didn't choose. We on a team didn't believe they should have been part of the team. Okay, but we had no choice.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00And what I quickly learned was everyone has got value, right? And that comes from everyone's unique experience and perception of events. Yes. Whether you think they're extreme from a relative perspective or not, they know things that you don't know. Absolutely. Fact. Yeah. Fact. Even the find the most bland person who's had the most normal life ever in the world, yeah, they know stuff you don't know. They can offer you perspective and insights into stuff that you don't know, and that is it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I mean, I agree.
SPEAKER_01I mean, I I always sort of say to myself, you know, the the CEO and the person who changes the bins, they are equals, you know. The if if the bins didn't get changed every day and the toilets did toilets didn't get cleaned every day, then they wouldn't have, you know, a healthy environment that's, you know, giving everyone a great um time to be able to work as a team and also work efficiently. So yeah, for me, I've always had that mindset. And I think wherever I go, you know, leading teams, I know that I am not the best person for knowing everything. But I surround myself with people that are knowledge in that area that I'm not so good at. So yeah, I think it's important to be able to have that mindset.
SPEAKER_00I think it's really important, and it's uh it's very good that you do. Well done. Uh too many good, too many potentially good people do not have it. Yes, you know, yeah, and people are in positions to influence other people's lives in a significant way.
SPEAKER_01I know, it's such a shame.
SPEAKER_00And it all goes pear-shipped. Anyway, question two. Well, we don't A, one B, one question two. How do you feel about those who cheat in sports and other areas like politics?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I I really try and sort of stay away from the whole political uh arguments only because I can go down a rabbit hole and uh you know, don't want to upset your your viewers. Um yeah, with regards to sports, I mean I think people who are are cheating um uh only cheating themselves more than anything. And yes, you know, the the whole field are gonna have um, in a way, what's the word, it's gonna have repercussions across the whole sport. Uh, and that's the thing that really sort of upsets me is that you know, when somebody decides to cheat uh and and takes that sort of that moment away from somebody else who's done it, you know, sweat, blood, and tears throughout every trainer session, turned up and you know, turned up to a trainer session rather than a wedding or you know, a funeral or whatever, you know, like it's all those bits that I just I can't get my head around it. Um, so yeah, luckily for me, I was never sort of around um people, as I know, and that cheated in in my sport. But um, yeah, you do get really yeah. So I yeah, I mean, you know, my the people I was surrounded with um were incredible.
SPEAKER_00What were the years you were taking part in that sport that we will talk about in a bit?
SPEAKER_01Um I was uh in um what was it 2015 to 2019.
SPEAKER_00So okay, all right. It started to clean up by then.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean British cycling, you know, there was a lot going on with uh UK anti-doping and uh Wada. Um, you know, there was a lot of stuff happening with uh, you know, the British cycling team at that point. Uh and yes, I also did view that. Um, but you know, uh the people that um were being questioned, you know, are my teammates and I know that they were I meant the the the sport in general, not just the UK, but yeah, we can remember. Yeah, I mean uh you know with it there was there was people from other countries um and uh you know they would do things that I couldn't really understand. Um, you know, for example, and it's not um it's not un unknown, but you know, uh certain countries would get their their females pregnant um to have those um enhanced uh hormones and you know be able to train. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I did not know about that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and then they would, you know, if they could in time abort the the child um before.
SPEAKER_00So there's things like that that's oh my god, I did not know about that. Um what has no one done that you wanted to do?
SPEAKER_01Um that was a good question that you can mention. Um yeah, I don't know. That's a that's a tough question. I'll have to think about that one, I think.
SPEAKER_00Okay, all right. Uh when were you most scared?
SPEAKER_01Um I think uh probably there was an incident 10 hours into my row. Uh 10 hours. 10 hours into my row. Uh again, I don't know whether you'll want to touch on that. Um I'm more than happy to. It'd be a great story to to touch on.
SPEAKER_00We're on it now.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Uh so busy outline. Yeah. Uh I capsized my boat 10 hours into my roam. Um, and yeah, it was uh I knew that I was going into sort of quite hard um wind conditions. It was a funnel sort of wind system between Tenerife and Grand Canaria. And uh and I knew that I was going into a strong, strong bit of wind to get me off the island. And uh and yeah, there was that sort of uh ego piece in me that was uh saying, you know, I must sort of keep in this one line of direction. And uh and then there was the sort of intuition piece that was saying that there was something, you know, something was gonna happen, and I am leaning far too close to the other side of the edge. And uh and yeah, I just knew that you know I didn't set myself up correctly uh and had what's called a centerboard uh in the middle of the boat, sort of keeps the nose on course, and um, and yeah, I kept that in and a huge wave uh decided to um break just uh on top of me and it sort of yeah, capsized my boat, and uh and there's a whole sort of process and mindset in that um when you go through that. So we'll go into that in more detail, I'm sure.
SPEAKER_00We will. Yeah, we will. Okay. Um when living in America, how did it compare to the UK?
SPEAKER_01I loved America.
SPEAKER_00Whereabouts were you?
SPEAKER_01I was in a place called Auburn. Um, so a small like canyon uh called Lotus.
SPEAKER_00Auburn, like ginger.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um I'm not gonna say anything. Joking. Um but yeah, I uh I lived there for about six months. So I've got a one of my best mates who owns a white water rafting company called Whitewater Um uh Excitement. And um yeah, it was a it was a great time. I had a I lived in a hammock for six months, you know, had little rat snakes underneath my boat. I had you know birds waking up in the morning and seeing the birds and yeah, the river was my shower, and we had an open outdoor kitchen, and it was just the most incredible experience. But um yeah, when uh when my time was up, I knew that I hadn't got enough money to you know go and live a life at home in the UK. So that's when I went into the yachting, and there's a whole story in the yachting world that I can talk to you about as well.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, I didn't know about that bit. Okay. Oh, I know about the yachting bit. I didn't know about the American bit. All right, cool. Uh right, when no, this is question one from David. Uh, what is the most what is the worst emotional pain you've had?
SPEAKER_01Oh I think um when you either see your friends or your loved ones being hurt or going through a situation, that's the worst feeling I think anyone can feel. And um, I've had a few experiences of that, um, which has shaped who I am today. And um yeah, I think that's you know, it's not something that I um will share publicly, but one of those things that when you see people that you do love who go through that, and there's nothing you can do, it's out of your control, you just have to ride it out. It's um yeah, one of the hardest things, but actually, you know, as well, it's something that's driven me to do a lot of what I've done in my life and again give me that perspective of what life is about and you know how we should live it. And for me, this is the only way I know how to.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Uh when you're in the outdoors, do you find that your mental health improves?
SPEAKER_01Yes, it's my freedom. It's like, oh, I feel like I can breathe, you know, when I'm you know, not cold, wet, tired, and hungry, I feel uncomfortable. I feel um, I feel like there's something missing. But when I am in those elements and conditions where it's testing me and I'm feeling those bits of fear, and I can also think clearly, and I don't know, just being able to really tap into every sensation in my body, let the imagination run through and you know, exposing that intuition piece that's sort of guiding you, and yeah, I just I feel such a state of flow when I'm in that. That's my comfortable space. Um, yeah, it was my escape when I was. I don't know about you, but for me, education was like a real struggle. Like I have dyslexia. So for me, you know, formulating sentences and words and reading, and I was just constantly on the go whilst training as well. You know, I'd be up at five in the morning um training before school, then go to school and try and catch up on homework and my lunch breaks and my um, you know, I was in the library most of the time, didn't really have a social life, and then would train after at you know, Cheltenham, Bristol, Sirencester, you know, and we wouldn't be getting back till midnight. And I loved that. Like that for me was just my escape. Whereas school was just it was like a prison. I hated it.
SPEAKER_00But funny she mentioned that. We were talking on the last on the last interview with Alex, who was due just before you uh he mentioned flow state and uh uh how cleansing and healthy that narrowing of the focus does when it's a focus on something that has to have all your attention or else it goes pear-shaped. Be that running, be that surfing, be that I don't know, some extreme row, you know, uh be it uh uh yeah, anything that takes all of the or it needs all of the brain power to do it. It's whether it's indoors or outdoors, you know. And I outdoors is the best place, the best place the world to do it. Yeah. He talked about walking from I think it was Camberly. He walked from Camberly to Cornwall. Yeah. I'm gonna walk Camberly to Cornwall. Yeah, you know, and that was it, just no, no eck no like iPod, no nothing, just I'm gonna do this because why not? I'm gonna be in the elements, and this is all I'm doing, it's all I need to worry about, and just gotta get there. Doesn't matter how long it takes, and you just go and did it, and it's um yeah, totally agree. The outdoors and uh and focus in the mind.
SPEAKER_01What what do you feel like when you when you are in the outdoors? I knew you're gonna start asking me questions. I know, I saw it.
SPEAKER_00What do I want?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, how like how does the outdoors make you feel? I mean, you've been in in you know times in your life when you've you've been exposed to environments and you know things like that. Have you found yourself?
SPEAKER_00I I love the outdoor. I grew up in you know, I grew up in the Dallas Valley, as we talked about earlier. I I literally grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere. It didn't have my my evenings, were not, you know, my after school and the weekends was not going to the park. Yeah, it was going to see the cows, the sheep, the horses. Yeah, and sometimes a friend of mine would come who grew up on a farm on the opposite side of the valley. It was literally the outdoors, and we had to make our own fun. It was just imagination our own from blocking off dams to building this out of the other to talk out going for cycles or walking, what you know, just random, dangerous stuff. Dangerous stuff.
SPEAKER_01This is the thing, you know, these days, children are are not doing that. Then they're not, you know, they're not pushing these kind of limits in a way, you know. They're not outdoors and they're not they're not doing that, they're behind the screens.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, and yeah, yeah, I know what you mean. So I it means a huge amount to me. And that's before even the military side kicks, yeah. The military experience kicks in, you know. It's uh I I really miss living in the middle of nowhere with mountains. Yeah, I really do. I live in Chelmsford, it's flat as a pancake. The only thing flattened in Chelmsford is the the Netherlands. You know, that's it. That's it. But anyway, like one more question. Uh no, a couple more questions if we can fit them in. Um, hang on a minute. Sorry, sorry, there's a bunch more questions we'll have to get on to at the end of the podcast. Yeah. So those that sorry, that one that outdoors question was not David, it was Coke. And the emotional pain question was also Coke. You can blame him for that one. No. All right, another question from Coke here. What discrimination have you experienced due to being a woman?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's a very hot topic, and actually something that um, you know, I've had a lot of experience. I I've worked in a very male-dominated environment. Um, and I and I love working in a male-dominant environment because the I don't know whether we're allowed to swear on here, I'm a bit of a potty mouth, but um yeah, the the sort of like, you know, we we get we get shit done. And um, if there's a fallout, then you know, we'll have it out there and then and then it'll you know just carry on kind of thing. And you know, a lot of the time it's just like brothers and sisters together, and um, and that's what I really, really love. But yeah, um there have been times where um the discrimination card has come into play. And uh again, it's not something that you know I've I've sort of spoken publicly about. Um, and I think there's a time and a place, and like right now in my life, it's not really something that uh I feel uh is uh something that I want to be able to share yet. Um but yeah, it's again a driving force as to what has what I've experienced um and what I don't want to see uh in certain industries, in any industry actually. Um and I uh you know want to be able to say to females especially that I've I've experienced that, they're not alone. Um, and and yeah, it's just how do you move past that and change the narrative? Um, so yeah.
SPEAKER_00Okay. One more question, it's a slightly awkward one.
SPEAKER_01I love an Awkward gone, gone.
SPEAKER_00Uh all right. Are there any people or organizations you would never let support you? And there are examples given you. And I need to highlight these are not examples from you, these are examples from the question submitter. For example, Reform Party, Boris Johnson, just stop oil, etc. Polarizing types of things you talk about. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, yeah, I mean, if it doesn't fit, you know, if it doesn't relate to me, or if it doesn't, um if it doesn't morally sit right with me, then yes, absolutely. Um I'm a very open-minded person, um, and always like to judge a book by um how they treat me uh and my experience rather than hearing it from somebody else's perspective.
SPEAKER_00Good attitude, good my god, a rare attitude these days.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but yeah, I think um it's always good to have an open mind, but um, I'll always stick to my moral compass when it comes to certain things.
SPEAKER_00Good answer. Avoided specifying anything. Well done. Okay, that is the uh that is the icebreaker done. There are more questions left over, so for those watching the live link, we will add those to the end of the main podcast. Uh, if you listen to this on your podcast app, it's gonna roll straight into the next episode, which is again, honestly, for the full podcast, a full chat, we're gonna be talking about well, a lot of what we just mentioned too, actually, but in more detail, basically uh the significant the significant experiences in uh in uh in a life and um uh and learnings and wherever else the the conversation takes us. As you know, the conversational on a HR will take us everywhere, I'm sure. No rock will be left unturned. Sure went, it sure went. Um okay, let's take a pause.