Kaitlyn: Okay, so in our previous interview (See above: Instagram September 2022), you said that life was pretty easy growing up, you wanted to challenge yourself and you wanted to do hard things. So, after college graduation, you went on to complete the Pacific Crest Trail, hiking over 2600 miles solo. What was the motivation behind completing such an adventure, and just talk about the experience?
Anna: Yeah, so, kind of like I said in the previous interview, the large motivation, I think, during the COVID time, like everyone's home, and I think a lot of people had a lot of time to reflect. And I kind of decided that I wanted to do something kind of beyond the typical mold. I felt like, like my whole life, the next step had been pretty, pretty obvious, like it is for, you know, a lot of people when they're younger. You know, like you finish high school, you go to college, then you get a job or whatever. But for me, I just felt like it had kind of been a little bit on easy mode to an extent because of tennis. Like, I was going to go D1 to a good school; it was just kind of like which school I was going to have, like a full ride scholarship. It's just like where am I going to go, like what am I going to major in? And then kind of, I had everything; I had done the internships, so I was ready to get, you know, a decent job after college. But I just kind of felt like everything had been a little easy, and I wanted to do something to break the mold, to really challenge myself and just to kind of, I don't know about proving to myself I could do like something hard, but kind of that was kind of the sentiment.
Also, in that time during COVID, like, I did a few things that I was really proud of, and kind of, and also like my parents weren't very into outdoorsy things, so I didn't have much experience. Like a lot of people ask, like, have you done this, have you done that? And I'll be like, no, like, I've never gone skiing; I've never done, like, water sports; there's a lot of things I have not done. And like hiking and dabbling in that was one of them. So my best friend Sophia and I, I'm actually at her house right now, like, we went backpacking in the Smokies, and we did like a 4-day, like 22 or 23-mile trip in the Smoky Mountains. So it is tough hiking, but we thought we were so sick, like going like six or seven miles a day, like we thought we were like hardcore, you know?
And for a first-time experience like that, that is that is sick, you know, but it's just, just it's just kind of cute to think back on everything.
So we did that, and then I did a 50k trail run in Zion, actually, the same place, like the same city as where the Red Rock tournament is. So it's kind of, kind of funny now whenever I go back. And it's funny, actually, I'm not playing Red Rock this year, but that race coincides with the tournament this year, so I was thinking about going and just not playing women's doubles and doing like the 60k or something, but then I was like, ah, but then like what if I like do well in mix? I was like, that's bad. But then Joola has a trip to Asia planned that week, so I didn't have to make that decision.
But yeah, and then I also did, like, to kind of prove to myself I could do the PCT, I knew I needed to be able to endure a little misery and kind of prove to myself that I could. So Florida has, like, pretty close to my house, like a 62-mile trail, and it's flat, so it's not too hard, but at the time of year I did it, like in December, it was watery; like, I walked through like 42 miles of water. And I, it was so, and I did it; it was tough. I actually finished on Christmas Day, and I was so emotionally drained that I think I, I was vegan at the time, and my little sister had finished all my vegan butter when I got home, and I cried about it. Like, I was so emotionally drained, but I got through it. So then I was like, okay, I can do the PCT because with my start date being late because of NCAA, I had to be able to move pretty fast, like 20 miles a day from the jump, with how water sources work out there; there's a lot of nitty-gritty to it. But yeah, I just wanted to do something hard; I wanted to challenge myself.
I definitely did not love hiking as much as most people on the trail, and that came with some extra challenges. Like, I think I faced burnout earlier to an extent. Everyone deals with a sense of burnout, and like, a lot of people were really sad about finishing, and that's great; I'm happy for them, like that's awesome that they loved it so much and they were sad. I did have a great time, but I was like, get me off this trail. I was like, I was actually in a terrible mood on the last day for, like, the first half of the day because I was so annoyed because how it works with it being kind of still COVID restrictions, to an extent, it's like you couldn't normally finish the trail at the Canadian border; you can go five more miles into Canada and then you can get out from there, you can kind of find civilization. But the way it worked, because of COVID, Canada would not let you cross into the border, so you got to the Canadian border, and you have to hike 30 miles back to the Canadian border. You have to come back out 30 miles, so I was in a rotten mood that I was going to finish and not be done.
I was in a terrible mood; I was such a Debbie Downer that day, but once I got close to the finish, like, I was happy, and then, you know, you have to turn around and do 30 more miles. But it was funny, I was actually in such a rotten mood the last day because I was like, I have to do 30 more miles; I'm not even done; this is so BS. So it was fun; it was a good time; it feels like a different life, like a different person kind of who did that. That's what my tattoo is about; I get asked a lot about my tattoo. It's the symbol of the trail.
Kaitlyn: Yeah, your tattoo for anyone that doesn't know, I think it's on your thigh?
Anna: Yeah, I'll show it; I'll just, it's a little, it's a little baby tree.
Kaitlyn: I love it. Such a good reminder of it because that is, I don't know, that's just such an amazing life experience, and when you get older like me, time starts to dwindle. Like, you don't have those that ability to have three-month blocks to just do it.
Anna: Yeah, it was a convenient time in life, and everything. I think I've generally been a very, very lucky person, not that hard work doesn't lend itself to luck, but I definitely acknowledge that I'm a very lucky person, so everything worked out really well for me.
