Latest / Clydesdale Media Podcast / Haj Bell | The Athletes of the 2024 Legends Masters CrossFit Games

Transcript

Haj Bell | The Athletes of the 2024 Legends Masters CrossFit Games · Clydesdale Media Podcast

• 0:08
  Chill, chill, hey, hey, chill,
• 0:12
  let's go I was born a killer,
• 0:15
  I was meant to win I am
• 0:16
  down and willing so I will
• 0:18
  find a way It took a minute,
• 0:20
  now it didn't happen right
• 0:21
  away When they get hot in the kitchen,
• 0:23
  you decide to stay That's
• 0:24
  how a winner's made Stick a
• 0:25
  fork in a hater on my dinner plate
• 0:34
  What is going on, everybody?
• 0:36
  Welcome to the Clydesdale Media Podcast,
• 0:39
  where we are featuring the
• 0:40
  athletes of the 2024
• 0:43
  Legends Masters CrossFit Games.
• 0:46
  And I am so honored and
• 0:47
  privileged to have with me Haj Bel.
• 0:50
  Haj, how are you doing?
• 0:51
  I'm good.
• 0:52
  How are you?
• 0:53
  I'm good.
• 0:53
  I'm good.
• 0:54
  I want to learn a little bit about you.
• 0:58
  CrossFit seems to be
• 0:59
  something that's very
• 1:00
  important in your life.
• 1:02
  Mm-hmm.
• 1:04
  Uh, you are a coach.
• 1:06
  Yep.
• 1:06
  You met your husband in CrossFit.
• 1:09
  I did.
• 1:09
  Yes.
• 1:10
  So,
• 1:11
  so how do you like hang out at a gym
• 1:13
  and meet a guy?
• 1:15
  Well,
• 1:16
  I wasn't hanging out at the gym and
• 1:17
  meeting the guy.
• 1:19
  So it was 2013 I started as
• 1:23
  a New Year's resolution.
• 1:25
  So it was like beginning of the year.
• 1:27
  And at that time,
• 1:29
  we had like very extensive on-ramps,
• 1:31
  actually.
• 1:32
  So it was really cool.
• 1:33
  I had a pretty big class.
• 1:34
  And then when we graduated
• 1:35
  to the other side, you know,
• 1:37
  there was a little bit of hand-holding,
• 1:39
  but he was just my coach.
• 1:41
  And, you know, we just...
• 1:45
  I went to school for design.
• 1:46
  He was an engineer.
• 1:47
  We kind of just...
• 1:48
  hit things off from the very beginning.
• 1:50
  And, you know, as things progressed,
• 1:51
  we got closer and closer.
• 1:52
  We eventually started dating.
• 1:54
  And, you know,
• 1:55
  as soon as we started dating,
• 1:56
  he could no longer be my
• 1:58
  coach because it was just
• 1:59
  like it went from like coaching to, well,
• 2:02
  why are you picking on me?
• 2:03
  Or, you know, well, I'm doing it this way.
• 2:05
  So but, you know,
• 2:07
  we just kept we still have
• 2:09
  a very strong passion for
• 2:11
  CrossFit and just living a
• 2:13
  healthy lifestyle both inside
• 2:15
  and outside the gym.
• 2:16
  And it's just something we now,
• 2:17
  12 years later,
• 2:19
  try to instill in our daughter as well.
• 2:21
  Our daughter's three years old.
• 2:23
  Her name is Charlotte.
• 2:24
  And, you know,
• 2:25
  I try to bring her in here
• 2:27
  with me whenever I can so
• 2:28
  she can just kind of watch
• 2:29
  me coach and sometimes train.
• 2:32
  It's a little difficult to
• 2:33
  train when you have an
• 2:35
  agenda and there's a toddler around.
• 2:36
  It's just a little bit more about her than,
• 2:39
  you know, you got to get done.
• 2:40
  But she's definitely just as
• 2:43
  into it as my husband and I.
• 2:45
  That's awesome.
• 2:46
  Yeah.
• 2:47
  Kids just watch you and they
• 2:49
  want to emulate you.
• 2:50
  And yeah,
• 2:51
  the best example is just being fit.
• 2:53
  Right.
• 2:57
  Oh, we lost her for a second.
• 3:00
  Hopefully that was just a
• 3:01
  phone call or it was,
• 3:03
  we're on airplane mode now.
• 3:04
  So all good.
• 3:06
  All right.
• 3:07
  Um,
• 3:08
  so the next part I wanted to talk about
• 3:11
  is the,
• 3:12
  the coolest thing about the
• 3:13
  masters athletes is that they,
• 3:16
  Many of you work full time.
• 3:18
  You have families.
• 3:19
  You have so much going on in your life.
• 3:21
  And you have to master not
• 3:22
  only being a great athlete,
• 3:24
  but balancing all that stuff.
• 3:26
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 3:28
  So how do you manage all that?
• 3:33
  You know, things shift constantly.
• 3:37
  You're a mom or just, you know,
• 3:38
  career driven or whatever the case,
• 3:40
  everyone's story is different,
• 3:41
  but it's just about
• 3:42
  prioritizing your time.
• 3:44
  You know, there are days where.
• 3:48
  You wake up at 3.45 in the
• 3:49
  morning and go get it done
• 3:50
  and you're home by 6.30
• 3:51
  before the rest of the
• 3:52
  family's up just to make
• 3:54
  breakfast and get the kid
• 3:55
  and the husband out the door.
• 3:57
  And then there's days where
• 3:58
  you didn't go to sleep late.
• 3:59
  So you stay in and you sleep
• 4:02
  and you get the rest that
• 4:02
  you need and you try to fit
• 4:04
  it in somewhere else throughout the day.
• 4:08
  I like working out.
• 4:10
  I love coaching.
• 4:11
  I think, you know,
• 4:12
  it doesn't necessarily feel like a chore,
• 4:15
  even when this is my first
• 4:17
  time competing at the Games.
• 4:19
  I'm trying really hard to
• 4:20
  just kind of focus on,
• 4:23
  at the end of the day, to work out.
• 4:24
  I know what I need to work
• 4:25
  on at this point.
• 4:26
  I know what my strengths,
• 4:26
  what my weaknesses are,
• 4:28
  and it's just about
• 4:28
  literally prioritizing the time.
• 4:32
  I have also found,
• 4:33
  and I think what has helped
• 4:34
  me in my training throughout the years is
• 4:37
  Intensity is way more
• 4:38
  important than volume.
• 4:39
  When I was younger,
• 4:41
  competing at regionals back
• 4:43
  in 2017 and 2018,
• 4:45
  we stressed a lot of volume
• 4:47
  and longer workouts and
• 4:49
  just getting it in.
• 4:50
  And I just thought if I
• 4:51
  didn't get two and a half,
• 4:54
  three hours of sessions in,
• 4:55
  I was going to fall behind
• 4:57
  against everyone else
• 4:58
  that's just getting...
• 4:59
  better and better,
• 5:00
  the more time that they put in.
• 5:02
  And honestly, as I got older,
• 5:03
  I just realized I only have
• 5:05
  so many reps left in my
• 5:06
  body and they just have to
• 5:07
  have some meaning and
• 5:09
  intention behind them.
• 5:10
  So scaling back on the
• 5:12
  volume and just kind of
• 5:14
  focusing on intensity and
• 5:15
  skill and moving well has
• 5:17
  really helped me kind of
• 5:20
  steer the course and not
• 5:21
  just overdo it for sure.
• 5:24
  I think that's a global
• 5:25
  theme that's going on in
• 5:27
  CrossFit across the board
• 5:28
  is that you don't need to
• 5:30
  put in all the volume.
• 5:32
  And I think Dave Castro said
• 5:33
  it beautifully in a lot of
• 5:35
  his interviews that at most at the games,
• 5:38
  you're going to work out
• 5:39
  for an hour in that day.
• 5:40
  You need six hours of volume
• 5:43
  to be ready for one hour if
• 5:47
  you're doing it with intention.
• 5:49
  Right.
• 5:50
  Absolutely.
• 5:51
  Absolutely.
• 5:52
  So you prescribe wholeheartedly to that.
• 5:57
  100%.
• 5:57
  Yes.
• 5:59
  Um, the,
• 5:59
  I think the longest workout I've done in,
• 6:04
  you know,
• 6:05
  And over a month is maybe 20 minutes long.
• 6:08
  That's not like zone two, you know,
• 6:09
  just kind of sit there and
• 6:10
  lubricate the joints and
• 6:11
  things like that.
• 6:12
  But I try not to go anything
• 6:15
  above 20 minutes because, you know,
• 6:17
  everything's going to be three, four,
• 6:19
  12 minutes tops.
• 6:21
  And even like two a days and
• 6:23
  things like that,
• 6:24
  they don't come often over here.
• 6:26
  I know that that's important
• 6:28
  when it comes to comp time.
• 6:30
  I did compete at semifinals once.
• 6:34
  with my team back in May at
• 6:36
  Syndicate Crown.
• 6:37
  And there was, you know,
• 6:38
  two a days every day.
• 6:39
  For the first day,
• 6:40
  we actually had three workouts.
• 6:41
  And that was something that
• 6:43
  was a little humbling for
• 6:47
  me because I try not to, first of all,
• 6:49
  I don't have the time to do
• 6:51
  two a days all the time.
• 6:52
  But when I do, you know,
• 6:53
  I still keep them short.
• 6:55
  And there was two days
• 6:58
  long workouts on the same day paired with,
• 7:01
  you know, a really heavy lift.
• 7:02
  So I had to, you know,
• 7:05
  make sure I was fueled right.
• 7:07
  And it was a little outside
• 7:08
  of my comfort zone,
• 7:09
  putting that much volume in a day,
• 7:10
  but it was definitely
• 7:12
  useful for me going into
• 7:14
  the next phase of my competition.
• 7:15
  And just knowing that I have
• 7:16
  to really prepare and fuel
• 7:18
  myself the days leading up
• 7:20
  to it to make sure that I can, you know,
• 7:23
  hang with the volume.
• 7:26
  So whenever you find out you
• 7:29
  make the games,
• 7:30
  there's got to be a natural
• 7:32
  inclination that like, man,
• 7:34
  I've got to change this and
• 7:36
  I've got to tweak that and
• 7:37
  I've got to do more.
• 7:39
  Yeah.
• 7:40
  How do you hold those reins
• 7:42
  in to tell yourself, no, you don't.
• 7:44
  That's not what got you here.
• 7:47
  um I get some help sometimes
• 7:50
  so craig he's uh the owner
• 7:52
  of branford crossfit where
• 7:54
  I train and he is also
• 7:55
  competing at the games too
• 7:56
  and he is uh he's competed
• 8:00
  prior um individual team
• 8:02
  all that stuff regionals
• 8:04
  games um so he's he's been
• 8:06
  around he knows a lot about
• 8:08
  you know when to
• 8:11
  went to add the volume and
• 8:12
  went to reel it in.
• 8:13
  And I kind of just like,
• 8:14
  I don't want to say blindly follow,
• 8:16
  but I trust his direction.
• 8:17
  And he'll see me over there,
• 8:19
  like trying to add a little
• 8:20
  extra to my e-mom or something.
• 8:21
  And he'll just be like, no, no,
• 8:22
  like you're not going to
• 8:24
  forget how to do butterfly pull-ups.
• 8:25
  You're not going to forget
• 8:26
  how to do ring muscle-ups.
• 8:27
  It's all about the accessory
• 8:29
  work and all the other
• 8:31
  stuff and the time under
• 8:32
  tension and just trying to stay healthy.
• 8:34
  And again,
• 8:35
  enjoy it because sometimes when
• 8:37
  we feel the pressure of
• 8:39
  needing to maintain, um,
• 8:41
  or get better.
• 8:41
  I mean, there's a month left.
• 8:43
  I don't really think I can
• 8:44
  get any fitter in a month,
• 8:45
  but I can certainly develop more skills.
• 8:50
  It's funny.
• 8:50
  I was watching Ariel Lowen's
• 8:52
  day in the life today.
• 8:54
  And in that she was talking
• 8:55
  about how like the most
• 8:57
  there's ever been of chest
• 8:58
  to bar pull-ups in any games is 90.
• 8:59
  Right.
• 9:02
  Why does she need to do more
• 9:04
  than 90 reps of that
• 9:06
  movement in her training week?
• 9:10
  Because any more than that,
• 9:11
  you're just overtraining.
• 9:14
  Yep.
• 9:15
  And I was going to talk to
• 9:16
  you about Craig because I
• 9:17
  saw that he was the owner
• 9:18
  of your gym and a
• 9:21
  well-known OG CrossFit Games athlete.
• 9:25
  Do you lean into him a lot
• 9:26
  for that advice and those tips?
• 9:30
  Yeah, I do.
• 9:31
  I always lead with like, sorry to bother,
• 9:33
  but would you do this or this?
• 9:35
  But he's also a pretty good coach.
• 9:39
  You know, he's been doing this for so long,
• 9:41
  and he just has that athletic background.
• 9:43
  I actually never played sports growing up,
• 9:47
  regular sport or team sport.
• 9:48
  I just really was always
• 9:49
  very athletic and competitive.
• 9:52
  So to me, I learn quickly,
• 9:55
  but it doesn't come naturally.
• 9:56
  I just need a little bit of guidance,
• 9:58
  and he's really good at
• 9:59
  giving quick cues to everyone.
• 10:02
  But, you know, he understands me.
• 10:04
  He sees when I get...
• 10:05
  overwhelmed with a workout
• 10:07
  or something like that.
• 10:08
  And he has to just kind of tell me like,
• 10:09
  all right,
• 10:09
  maybe here we do singles or
• 10:10
  here we do this.
• 10:12
  Um, so it, it, but,
• 10:14
  but we're totally different
• 10:15
  athletes at the same time.
• 10:16
  So, um,
• 10:18
  he helps I i ask for
• 10:21
  assistance too but I think
• 10:23
  that a lot of times it's
• 10:24
  just about trusting your
• 10:25
  own fitness too and knowing
• 10:27
  yourself um and knowing
• 10:29
  when to you know push a
• 10:32
  little bit just to see what
• 10:33
  you have versus listening
• 10:34
  to your coach which maybe
• 10:36
  not everyone would say that
• 10:37
  but I think that um there
• 10:39
  is value in uh you know
• 10:42
  sometimes making mistakes
• 10:43
  or following direction but
• 10:46
  um you know he's
• 10:49
  He's a father of three kids.
• 10:50
  He has a toddler as well.
• 10:53
  And he's doing tons of other
• 10:55
  things outside of the gym as well.
• 10:56
  But I think it's a great
• 11:00
  testament to you really
• 11:01
  don't have to spend three hours.
• 11:03
  And it wasn't until I
• 11:04
  started to train with him
• 11:05
  that I saw that it was more
• 11:06
  about quality versus quantity.
• 11:09
  So I trust the programming.
• 11:11
  I do the same programming as
• 11:12
  everyone else here at the gym.
• 11:14
  I just insert, you know,
• 11:17
  what I need to do on the
• 11:19
  side but and that is where
• 11:20
  the guidance from him comes
• 11:21
  in but I'm working
• 11:23
  alongside the members every
• 11:25
  day do you have a training
• 11:27
  partner do you do classes
• 11:29
  and then just accessory um
• 11:33
  We all get training partners, you know,
• 11:35
  you kind of just always
• 11:36
  gravitate towards someone
• 11:37
  that pushes you or is
• 11:39
  always like chasing you.
• 11:41
  There's quite a few at the gym that,
• 11:45
  you know, I train with on the regular.
• 11:47
  There was a really close
• 11:48
  friend of mine that just recently,
• 11:50
  unfortunately, switched gyms,
• 11:51
  but he was on my team for regionals.
• 11:54
  I'm sorry, semifinals, regionals, whatever,
• 11:56
  the same thing.
• 11:58
  So we trained a lot together.
• 12:00
  But it ends up being a lot
• 12:02
  of just you versus the
• 12:02
  clock because we're all
• 12:04
  just kind of at this point
• 12:05
  running our own race.
• 12:08
  So with that,
• 12:10
  you've been around a long time.
• 12:11
  You've been on a team at a
• 12:16
  very high level.
• 12:17
  Do you have enough race
• 12:18
  experience that when you
• 12:19
  get to the CrossFit Games
• 12:21
  that you'll be able to race it out?
• 12:24
  Or do you want to just have
• 12:26
  blinders on and go down your lane?
• 12:30
  I think there's going to
• 12:31
  have to be a combo of the two,
• 12:33
  which goes back to my statement about,
• 12:34
  you know, listening to your coach,
• 12:36
  but at the same time,
• 12:37
  it's just kind of like
• 12:38
  pushing the limits just to
• 12:39
  see how far you can go.
• 12:40
  I know what my row time, my 5K, my 10K,
• 12:44
  you know,
• 12:45
  but there's the adrenaline aspect of it.
• 12:47
  There is the how far or how
• 12:50
  deep can I go down this
• 12:52
  rabbit hole and how hard is it going to,
• 12:55
  take for me to climb back out.
• 12:56
  So I think knowing yourself
• 12:59
  as an athlete is important.
• 13:00
  There are workouts where I
• 13:02
  will be able to glance over
• 13:05
  and hopefully not get intimidated.
• 13:08
  But there are other workouts
• 13:09
  where I'm going to know
• 13:10
  where I stand and there's
• 13:11
  no sense in redlining really early on,
• 13:14
  despite everyone being ahead of me,
• 13:16
  because it's not always the
• 13:18
  first couple of minutes.
• 13:20
  Yeah.
• 13:22
  So
• 13:24
  just to like follow up on
• 13:26
  that though I am if in all
• 13:28
  of these things like that I
• 13:29
  think about the games and
• 13:30
  you know this will be my
• 13:31
  first time competing
• 13:33
  individual in general so
• 13:36
  that in itself is a little
• 13:37
  um like uh intimidating for
• 13:41
  me because I've always been
• 13:42
  on a team and I'm not by
• 13:44
  any means saying team is
• 13:45
  easier because it's not I
• 13:46
  personally think it
• 13:47
  maybe harder because you
• 13:48
  have other people relying on you,
• 13:50
  but I've always been on a team.
• 13:51
  So I've never gone to this level.
• 13:54
  I've actually never even done a individual,
• 13:56
  like a local comp individual.
• 13:58
  So this is like my first
• 13:59
  time ever competing by myself.
• 14:02
  It'll be interesting.
• 14:03
  I think it'll just be like a
• 14:04
  big learning experience for me,
• 14:06
  but I have to, like you said,
• 14:07
  just know when to like use
• 14:11
  the other athletes as, you know,
• 14:13
  a pacer or, and then just
• 14:15
  trust that I know myself as
• 14:17
  an athlete as well and when
• 14:18
  I can push it I'll push it
• 14:21
  well nothing like picking
• 14:22
  the crossfit games as your
• 14:23
  first big individual
• 14:24
  competition not even your
• 14:27
  first individual
• 14:27
  competition I figured I
• 14:29
  might as well try it out
• 14:31
  yeah why not give it a go
• 14:33
  um are you equal parts
• 14:36
  excited and nervous
• 14:38
  Yeah, I'm very, very much excited.
• 14:40
  I think this is really cool.
• 14:43
  I like to think I'm a big
• 14:45
  part of the community.
• 14:46
  I try.
• 14:47
  Like I said,
• 14:47
  I'm in the classes all the time.
• 14:48
  I think a lot of the people
• 14:49
  just see like what I do and
• 14:53
  that I'm very passionate for it.
• 14:55
  So I think it's just a big
• 14:57
  like representation of not just me,
• 14:59
  but just like my community
• 15:01
  and all of my like family
• 15:02
  and friends outside of the
• 15:03
  gym too that just know how
• 15:06
  much it means to me.
• 15:06
  So I think that goes a long way and
• 15:08
  I have friends that don't
• 15:09
  even CrossFit that just, like,
• 15:11
  call me up and ask me about this stuff.
• 15:13
  And they're just wondering, you know,
• 15:16
  how are they going to watch
• 15:17
  me and all that stuff.
• 15:17
  And I think that that's really cool.
• 15:20
  That's super cool.
• 15:21
  And that's how we grow support, too,
• 15:22
  right?
• 15:23
  Your passion.
• 15:23
  Yeah.
• 15:24
  Share it with friends and family.
• 15:25
  So...
• 15:27
  A lot of the team athletes I
• 15:28
  talk to don't even think
• 15:30
  individual when they go
• 15:31
  into the season because
• 15:32
  they have committed to
• 15:33
  three other people that
• 15:34
  this is what they're doing.
• 15:36
  But because of the way this
• 15:38
  season laid out,
• 15:40
  was it always a goal to try to do both?
• 15:45
  Um, not necessarily.
• 15:47
  No, the goal was always to try individual.
• 15:49
  I mean, I, I turned 35 in August,
• 15:52
  so I'll be 36 in a couple of days.
• 15:55
  And I knew I was like, okay, you know,
• 15:56
  I'm going to be the younger
• 15:58
  of that age group.
• 15:59
  I might have a shot.
• 16:00
  We'll see what happens.
• 16:01
  I'm going to focus on what I
• 16:02
  need to focus on.
• 16:03
  Um,
• 16:03
  but I did have a close training partner,
• 16:05
  Zane, and, um,
• 16:08
  he competed last year at
• 16:09
  semifinals as an individual, um,
• 16:11
  and we would just like talk
• 16:12
  back and forth but there
• 16:13
  was not really much set in
• 16:14
  stone until uh later on
• 16:18
  last year we just you know
• 16:20
  when you meet the right
• 16:21
  people you just kind of you
• 16:22
  just connect and then
• 16:24
  they're all great athletes
• 16:25
  and we just started working
• 16:26
  out together and things
• 16:28
  just progressed and it was
• 16:29
  more of like uh um
• 16:33
  The main goal was individual.
• 16:36
  They knew that everyone
• 16:37
  understood that they were
• 16:38
  all very supportive.
• 16:39
  But let's give it a shot for team.
• 16:41
  It'll be fun.
• 16:42
  We were just going into this for fun.
• 16:43
  And it really was.
• 16:44
  I mean,
• 16:45
  like the training leading up to it
• 16:47
  was fun.
• 16:48
  The open was obviously the
• 16:50
  open is what it is.
• 16:51
  It's always just like head down and grind.
• 16:54
  The quarterfinals team was a lot of fun,
• 16:57
  but it was.
• 16:58
  I think out of all the
• 16:59
  qualifiers that I did,
• 17:01
  because I was basically
• 17:01
  doing a qualifier like
• 17:02
  every other weekend, was the hardest one.
• 17:05
  Because again,
• 17:06
  you've got these people just...
• 17:10
  you know,
• 17:10
  we're all leaning on each other here,
• 17:11
  so you don't want to let anyone down.
• 17:13
  And you always end up just
• 17:14
  pushing a little bit harder
• 17:15
  when there's other people in your corner.
• 17:18
  So, no, they were very,
• 17:20
  very supportive of my decision.
• 17:21
  I didn't know what I was
• 17:25
  getting myself into,
• 17:25
  to be honest with you, neither did they.
• 17:31
  You know, I tried my best to not, like,
• 17:32
  overdo it with training the whole season,
• 17:36
  just because once the Open started,
• 17:38
  it was always something
• 17:39
  that we were kind of trying
• 17:42
  to stay focused on.
• 17:43
  But it was a little
• 17:44
  challenging after team
• 17:45
  quarterfinals to try to
• 17:47
  And we figured out when we
• 17:48
  found out we made it,
• 17:50
  I still had my qualifiers to go through,
• 17:52
  but we we needed to get to work.
• 17:54
  You know,
• 17:54
  it's not just about making it there.
• 17:56
  It's about showing up when you get there.
• 17:58
  So it was just like team
• 17:59
  training one day qualifier
• 18:02
  for individual the next day
• 18:03
  back to team training.
• 18:04
  There was one day where I did a qualifier
• 18:08
  in the morning and then we
• 18:09
  did team training in the afternoon.
• 18:11
  So it was just like,
• 18:12
  they worked their schedule
• 18:13
  around me and they were
• 18:14
  very supportive during my portion of it,
• 18:17
  which made it more fun.
• 18:17
  And obviously that makes the
• 18:19
  team grow closer together too.
• 18:23
  But would I do it again?
• 18:25
  Probably not.
• 18:26
  I would probably focus on
• 18:27
  team or individual just
• 18:30
  because it is a lot
• 18:32
  physically and mentally too.
• 18:33
  And obviously time away from my family.
• 18:36
  Yeah,
• 18:37
  there were a handful of athletes I
• 18:38
  talked to that were trying to do both.
• 18:42
  Whether it was individual
• 18:44
  semis or even individual
• 18:46
  games both way or team individual.
• 18:50
  And I don't think anybody made it.
• 18:52
  I don't think anybody made games on both.
• 18:56
  Yeah.
• 18:58
  For all the people that tried.
• 18:59
  Yeah.
• 19:00
  Yeah.
• 19:01
  I mean, if you got it,
• 19:02
  you might as well try it.
• 19:04
  But I do think there's
• 19:06
  something to be said about, you know,
• 19:07
  not spreading yourself too thin.
• 19:09
  And you don't want to do that too.
• 19:11
  So I wanted my team to know
• 19:13
  that I was there 100% for them.
• 19:17
  And they also were 100% very
• 19:19
  supportive of me when I
• 19:21
  needed it to be just about me.
• 19:24
  And I think it couldn't have
• 19:26
  gone any better.
• 19:27
  It really couldn't have.
• 19:29
  I think going to semifinals
• 19:31
  for me was a huge learning
• 19:34
  experience because the sport has changed.
• 19:38
  It's evolved.
• 19:39
  It's gotten harder.
• 19:40
  It's gotten bigger.
• 19:40
  And when I was at regionals 2017, 2018,
• 19:43
  there were smaller regions.
• 19:50
  The margin was much wider in
• 19:52
  terms of everyone's fitness level,
• 19:55
  whereas we went into the
• 19:58
  weekend 21st and we walked
• 20:00
  out at the end of the weekend 21st.
• 20:02
  It wasn't like no one
• 20:04
  stopped getting fitter than us.
• 20:06
  Everyone was just there.
• 20:08
  Everyone is so good nowadays
• 20:09
  and the workouts are just
• 20:11
  getting more and more.
• 20:12
  advanced and grunty.
• 20:14
  And when you're on a team, it's just,
• 20:16
  it's not even about your fitness level.
• 20:17
  It's about your
• 20:18
  communication and those
• 20:19
  little mini seconds of just
• 20:21
  missed reps and the no reps
• 20:24
  or like the non-synchronous movements.
• 20:28
  So yeah, it's the, I thought, you know,
• 20:33
  leaving that weekend, it was,
• 20:34
  I had a lot of information
• 20:36
  in my pocket to kind of
• 20:38
  dissect and go through and learn from.
• 20:41
  So Jody Lynn asks,
• 20:43
  does Hajj compete against Jamie?
• 20:45
  What age category is Hajj in?
• 20:46
  So Jamie is my co-host.
• 20:48
  She is actually competing in
• 20:51
  the 40 to 44-year-old division.
• 20:52
  Hajj is competing in the 35 to 39.
• 20:57
  Just clearing that up for Jody.
• 20:59
  Okay.
• 21:02
  Fight for the fittest comes
• 21:04
  in with a big fan of Hajj.
• 21:06
  Good luck at the contest.
• 21:08
  thanks guys yeah I competed
• 21:10
  there last year it was a
• 21:12
  lot of fun tons of fun I
• 21:14
  want I'm actually trying to
• 21:16
  convince my team to sign up
• 21:18
  again this year but we'll
• 21:19
  see what happens we're
• 21:20
  waiting till till I finish
• 21:22
  the games and then we'll
• 21:23
  see how we feel but it was
• 21:24
  a good time yeah I really
• 21:25
  love those guys we had them
• 21:27
  on weeks ago and uh love
• 21:30
  the the concept of that
• 21:31
  that a competition um
• 21:35
  One connection I have kind
• 21:36
  of with you as I was
• 21:37
  researching you is at CrossFit Brantford,
• 21:42
  one of the other coaches
• 21:43
  was one of our very early
• 21:45
  analysts on this show like four years ago,
• 21:48
  and her name is Diane Stone.
• 21:51
  Oh, I love Diane.
• 21:52
  She's the best.
• 21:54
  So, yeah,
• 21:54
  we had her on as an analyst way
• 21:56
  back in the day when we
• 21:57
  were first starting out.
• 21:58
  Yeah.
• 21:59
  I love Diane,
• 22:00
  and I didn't know that
• 22:02
  connection until I was researching you.
• 22:05
  Yeah, no, she's super cool.
• 22:08
  I actually met her husband
• 22:10
  first at I used to coach.
• 22:12
  I used to coach like all over the place,
• 22:13
  but I used to coach at this.
• 22:15
  Jim,
• 22:15
  a couple of towns over and I met him
• 22:18
  and he's really super cool laid back,
• 22:20
  just like her, of course.
• 22:21
  And his name is Charlie.
• 22:23
  And I call my daughter Charlie.
• 22:25
  So when I met him, I was like,
• 22:26
  you are my second favorite, Charlie.
• 22:28
  And then I met his wife
• 22:29
  shortly afterwards.
• 22:30
  And I was like,
• 22:31
  you are you two are just so cool.
• 22:32
  They're very cool people.
• 22:34
  I met their daughter as well.
• 22:36
  I've coached her a few times.
• 22:37
  Hannah, she's really cool.
• 22:39
  Diane brings a lot to this
• 22:41
  community as well.
• 22:42
  And she's very like all,
• 22:44
  all heart all the time.
• 22:46
  Yeah.
• 22:47
  She's great.
• 22:48
  So, so with,
• 22:51
  I'm going to go past the team thing.
• 22:53
  Let's walk through your season real quick.
• 22:55
  So,
• 22:57
  so you went through age group
• 22:58
  quarterfinal and you finished the 30th.
• 23:00
  Yeah.
• 23:03
  Under, yeah.
• 23:04
  Some, somewhere around there.
• 23:05
  Yeah.
• 23:05
  Yeah.
• 23:06
  And then in semifinals,
• 23:07
  you improved a little bit up to 26th.
• 23:10
  But the turnaround for that
• 23:12
  for you had to be insane
• 23:15
  with doing team and individual.
• 23:18
  And then like it had to be week, week,
• 23:21
  week, week, bam, done.
• 23:23
  Yeah, it was every other week, basically.
• 23:27
  Whereas if I was just doing individual,
• 23:29
  I would have had a month
• 23:30
  break between the qualifiers,
• 23:32
  but I didn't because of the
• 23:33
  team in between.
• 23:35
  And then my semifinals was
• 23:39
  two weeks before the team semifinals.
• 23:43
  Yeah, I mean, honestly,
• 23:45
  every qualifier was...
• 23:50
  A little different.
• 23:51
  I prefer a little heavier
• 23:53
  weight and higher skill.
• 23:54
  So I always like the open, you know,
• 23:57
  I think everyone is just
• 23:59
  everyone can do a burpee.
• 24:00
  It's just a matter of who's faster.
• 24:03
  But when it gets to like the
• 24:04
  higher weights and the ring
• 24:07
  muscle ups and the higher skill movements,
• 24:08
  that's where I tend to kind of.
• 24:11
  hopefully step it up because
• 24:12
  those are the things that I
• 24:13
  try to work on.
• 24:15
  But I actually,
• 24:17
  I don't know how everyone
• 24:18
  else feels about this.
• 24:20
  I really, really enjoyed the
• 24:23
  semi-final workouts to the
• 24:26
  age group semi-final workouts.
• 24:28
  I thought they were a lot of fun.
• 24:30
  I don't think everyone thinks the same way,
• 24:32
  but you know, I don't necessarily,
• 24:35
  it's like, it's so weird.
• 24:37
  Ring muscle-ups have always
• 24:38
  just been like a big weakness of mine.
• 24:40
  And then this past year I was just like,
• 24:42
  well, enough's enough.
• 24:43
  So I just kept working on
• 24:45
  them and it really wasn't
• 24:46
  just doing ring muscle-ups.
• 24:48
  It was just all the other stuff,
• 24:49
  the ring supports,
• 24:50
  the negatives and all that stuff.
• 24:52
  And the ring muscle up ended
• 24:53
  up being my best finish out
• 24:55
  of all of them.
• 24:56
  So, um, I was pretty happy about that,
• 24:58
  like super ecstatic.
• 25:00
  Um,
• 25:01
  and then also just the heavy barbell
• 25:04
  and I, we get along.
• 25:07
  Yeah.
• 25:07
  I, uh, I,
• 25:08
  I think CrossFit workouts are
• 25:09
  like Chinese restaurants
• 25:11
  just because one person loves it.
• 25:12
  Doesn't mean everybody loves it.
• 25:14
  Right.
• 25:15
  Right.
• 25:15
  Right.
• 25:15
  Yeah.
• 25:16
  Um,
• 25:17
  And depending on your skill set,
• 25:19
  you're going to love
• 25:19
  something different than
• 25:20
  someone else is going to love.
• 25:22
  But it's cool that it didn't
• 25:24
  fit your needs.
• 25:26
  What are your reasonable
• 25:27
  expectations for the games?
• 25:29
  As you're a rookie,
• 25:31
  you look down the list of
• 25:32
  perennial semifinal
• 25:34
  athletes that are going to the games,
• 25:37
  some former games athletes.
• 25:39
  Yeah.
• 25:43
  It's tough to say.
• 25:45
  I honestly have...
• 25:47
  This may sound weird,
• 25:47
  but I have no expectation.
• 25:49
  I'm trying not to have any
• 25:51
  expectations because I
• 25:52
  don't want to... I'm just
• 25:54
  going to have fun with whatever it is.
• 25:56
  I mean,
• 25:56
  there's only so much I can do to
• 26:00
  get myself there.
• 26:03
  Just to go back to the whole open season,
• 26:06
  when I got to my quarterfinals,
• 26:08
  semifinals, or I'm sorry,
• 26:09
  age group semifinals, I was kind of like,
• 26:12
  finally I can catch a break
• 26:13
  because I did struggle a
• 26:14
  little bit on the...
• 26:16
  quarterfinal workouts um you
• 26:19
  know and I was thinking
• 26:21
  it's because of it it's
• 26:22
  because I'm doing team too
• 26:23
  and my body's not
• 26:24
  recovering enough so like
• 26:25
  the self-doubt starts to
• 26:26
  come in um but I think once
• 26:28
  I get there I have to just
• 26:29
  kind of trust myself um
• 26:31
  take it all in I am there
• 26:33
  at the end of the day so
• 26:35
  and just have fun I mean
• 26:37
  everyone there is like
• 26:39
  obviously we're like
• 26:41
  just as passionate as I am about it.
• 26:42
  So it's not like I'm going
• 26:43
  to be around people that
• 26:44
  don't have the same, you know,
• 26:46
  interests as me.
• 26:47
  I think, I think it'll be cool.
• 26:48
  I think it'll be such a
• 26:51
  different experience than I'm used to.
• 26:53
  And I'm very much looking forward to it.
• 26:55
  Just being by myself there.
• 26:58
  it's hard to have any
• 26:58
  expectation when you don't
• 26:59
  even know what the workouts are,
• 27:01
  how many workouts are going to be like,
• 27:04
  and nothing's been released.
• 27:05
  Are you someone who would
• 27:07
  prefer they don't release
• 27:08
  any of the information?
• 27:09
  Absolutely not.
• 27:10
  No, I need to know.
• 27:11
  I'm very typing.
• 27:13
  I need to know everything.
• 27:16
  Um, like, I don't know that it's not even,
• 27:20
  I don't want to practice them all.
• 27:22
  I just need to know what I'm
• 27:23
  getting myself into.
• 27:24
  Um, yeah.
• 27:27
  Because then I know where I'm at.
• 27:30
  That's it.
• 27:31
  Then I'll know where even if
• 27:32
  I if it ends up being
• 27:33
  something I can't do,
• 27:34
  then it is what it is.
• 27:36
  But like, you know,
• 27:37
  I'm not going to figure it
• 27:38
  out in two weeks.
• 27:39
  But yeah,
• 27:39
  I definitely am a person that
• 27:40
  needs to know what,
• 27:43
  what I'm getting myself into my husband,
• 27:45
  when we first met,
• 27:46
  he was actually very competitive.
• 27:49
  And then just, you know, through our paths,
• 27:51
  our linear paths, we stayed with CrossFit,
• 27:53
  but I just, you know,
• 27:54
  kept getting more
• 27:55
  competitive and he's just
• 27:57
  focused on just staying
• 27:59
  healthy and fit for as long as possible.
• 28:01
  But he doesn't even look at
• 28:03
  the workout ever.
• 28:04
  He just walks in.
• 28:06
  And his shoes just happen to
• 28:08
  be shoes that he can run in
• 28:09
  or climb a rope in.
• 28:10
  And he always has his jumper open.
• 28:12
  He will never look at the workout.
• 28:13
  He just, he's there for the day.
• 28:15
  Whereas I'm like, I need the whole week.
• 28:18
  I need to know what I'm doing this day.
• 28:19
  And, you know,
• 28:20
  and that's just a big part of, you know,
• 28:23
  prioritizing my time and
• 28:25
  when I'm going to fit it in too.
• 28:26
  So knowing what I'm getting
• 28:27
  myself into is kind of
• 28:28
  important for things like that.
• 28:31
  i hear you and I'm a lot
• 28:33
  like you like I am type a
• 28:34
  and I want to know but it
• 28:36
  is bad for me to know
• 28:39
  because you cherry pick I
• 28:40
  don't cherry pick I just I
• 28:42
  will run it through my head
• 28:43
  5 000 times before I do
• 28:46
  yeah well you know what
• 28:48
  you're right we are very
• 28:49
  similar because I do the
• 28:50
  same thing I i if it I for
• 28:53
  sure will be stressed out
• 28:54
  if it is something that I can't do um
• 28:58
  But I'd rather know still.
• 28:59
  I don't want to show up that
• 29:00
  day or that weekend and
• 29:03
  just get a workout thrown
• 29:04
  at me every time.
• 29:05
  I just don't think I
• 29:06
  mentally could... I don't know.
• 29:09
  I say I don't think, but who knows?
• 29:10
  Maybe I would thrive off
• 29:12
  under that scenario.
• 29:13
  You never know.
• 29:15
  I mean, we don't even... We got, you know,
• 29:19
  a welcome kind of info
• 29:21
  package email thing.
• 29:23
  that said we had to check in
• 29:25
  on wednesday and then our
• 29:27
  athlete briefing is
• 29:27
  wednesday night at 8 30 and
• 29:30
  then we're we're competing
• 29:32
  thursday friday saturday
• 29:33
  sunday so that's the extent
• 29:34
  of information that I have
• 29:36
  um that makes me nervous
• 29:38
  right then and there
• 29:38
  because it's like well I
• 29:39
  got a toddler and I want to
• 29:40
  be sleeping at nine o'clock
• 29:42
  at night but I know I won't
• 29:43
  be so I really hope the
• 29:44
  first workout these are the
• 29:45
  things that are going
• 29:45
  through my head doesn't
• 29:46
  start till like nine or
• 29:48
  noon you know and it's not like a sunrise
• 29:51
  Who knows?
• 29:52
  One year at Waterpalooza,
• 29:53
  we had literally a sunrise swim at 6 a.m.
• 29:57
  on the ocean.
• 29:58
  Not swim, I'm sorry, a 5K run on sand,
• 30:03
  and we had to run in the
• 30:04
  water every 400 meters.
• 30:05
  And we didn't know what the
• 30:06
  workout was until the night before.
• 30:08
  My anxiety was through the
• 30:11
  roof up until I saw the workout.
• 30:13
  And then I saw the workout and I was like,
• 30:14
  God, I hate this workout,
• 30:16
  but at least now I know
• 30:16
  what I'm getting myself into.
• 30:19
  Yeah, I'm terrible.
• 30:20
  Even with these interviews,
• 30:21
  I run interviews through my
• 30:24
  head the night before.
• 30:26
  Well, I'm glad you do,
• 30:27
  because I had no idea what to expect.
• 30:30
  It's gotten to the point
• 30:30
  where I don't even do the
• 30:33
  full research on anybody
• 30:34
  until the day of.
• 30:36
  Okay, that's good.
• 30:37
  Or I won't sleep.
• 30:39
  Right,
• 30:40
  you have too much stuff going on in
• 30:42
  your head.
• 30:42
  I get that, I get that.
• 30:44
  And today I'm doing five of these.
• 30:45
  That would have been a
• 30:46
  disaster if I was trying to
• 30:48
  run five interviews through my head.
• 30:50
  Yeah,
• 30:50
  calling me the wrong name and asking
• 30:52
  me about the wrong people.
• 30:53
  That wouldn't have been fun.
• 30:56
  True.
• 30:57
  Don't want that to happen.
• 30:58
  So who are you taking to
• 31:00
  Birmingham with you?
• 31:03
  My husband and my daughter
• 31:05
  are coming for sure.
• 31:06
  My mom came to semifinals this year.
• 31:10
  So my mother-in-law is
• 31:11
  coming this time to
• 31:12
  Birmingham and she's pretty
• 31:13
  excited about it.
• 31:14
  I'm excited she's coming.
• 31:16
  I think that's really cool.
• 31:18
  And then I think just like some friends,
• 31:21
  obviously Craig's family
• 31:22
  will be there as well.
• 31:23
  But there's some friends
• 31:24
  from the gym that have been
• 31:27
  talking about coming down
• 31:29
  and looking at hotels.
• 31:30
  But for sure, my husband and my daughter.
• 31:33
  Yeah, we got to pack that place.
• 31:35
  Make this a big event.
• 31:38
  We should.
• 31:38
  We really should.
• 31:40
  Yeah.
• 31:41
  Well, I'm going to be there.
• 31:43
  I'm going to do, we got permission,
• 31:46
  full access to do a behind
• 31:47
  the scenes documentary of
• 31:49
  the entire Masters CrossFit Games.
• 31:52
  So Ellie Hiller and myself
• 31:54
  will be backstage interviewing people,
• 31:57
  just having conversations,
• 31:58
  not really interviewing.
• 32:00
  And then we'll have some
• 32:01
  videographers catching
• 32:02
  footage of on the floor to
• 32:05
  put that all together after
• 32:06
  it's all over for you all to enjoy.
• 32:09
  That's awesome.
• 32:10
  That's really cool.
• 32:11
  I really appreciate you doing this.
• 32:13
  And I'm really,
• 32:14
  really stoked at how the
• 32:15
  competition is just the
• 32:17
  direction it's going for sure.
• 32:20
  Yeah.
• 32:20
  Well,
• 32:21
  I want to thank you so much for
• 32:22
  taking the time out.
• 32:23
  I could,
• 32:23
  I could talk to you for another half hour,
• 32:25
  but I'm trying to keep
• 32:26
  these so they're manageable.
• 32:29
  It's been a,
• 32:30
  it's been a treat getting to
• 32:31
  know you and I can't wait
• 32:32
  to meet you down in Birmingham.
• 32:35
  Awesome.
• 32:35
  Yep.
• 32:36
  Thank you to everybody.
• 32:38
  You too.
• 32:39
  Thank you to everybody in the chat.
• 32:40
  I will be back later today
• 32:42
  with more of these interviews.
• 32:43
  We'll talk to you all later
• 32:44
  on the Clydesdale media podcast.
• 32:47
  Bye guys.