Latest / Clydesdale Media Podcast / Arturo Torres | Clydesdale Semifinalist Series

Transcript

Arturo Torres | Clydesdale Semifinalist Series · Clydesdale Media Podcast

• 0:11
  Hey, hey, chill.
• 0:13
  Let's go.
• 0:13
  I was born to kill it.
• 0:14
  I was meant to win.
• 0:15
  I am down and willing,
• 0:16
  so I will find a way.
• 0:18
  It took a minute,
• 0:19
  now it didn't happen right away.
• 0:20
  When it get hot in the kitchen,
• 0:22
  you decide to stay.
• 0:23
  That's how it win us, man.
• 0:24
  Stick a fork in the heater
• 0:26
  on my dinner plate.
• 0:33
  what is going on everybody
• 0:35
  hope you enjoyed the hype
• 0:36
  music because this guy's
• 0:39
  back second year in a row
• 0:42
  semi-finalist arturo torres
• 0:44
  what's going on man how's
• 0:45
  it going just hanging out
• 0:47
  yeah so we talked to you
• 0:49
  last year your first trip
• 0:50
  to semifinals get to follow
• 0:52
  up with you again this year
• 0:55
  My first question to you is last year,
• 0:57
  you came into semis in 39th
• 1:01
  position in the off season.
• 1:04
  They announced they are
• 1:05
  cutting the field from 60 to 40.
• 1:12
  Any trepidation,
• 1:14
  any fear that they're
• 1:17
  cutting it down to that?
• 1:18
  And your placement last year
• 1:20
  was right on that line?
• 1:23
  Yeah, no.
• 1:24
  So whenever I heard they cut it down,
• 1:26
  I was like, man.
• 1:27
  So what made me happy is, okay,
• 1:30
  I would have still made it last year.
• 1:33
  So that kind of gave me some peace.
• 1:35
  And at the same time,
• 1:36
  I don't know if it's true
• 1:38
  or if it's something that I
• 1:38
  just keep telling myself,
• 1:41
  but I tell myself that I'm
• 1:42
  just getting started.
• 1:43
  So I was like, I made it this year.
• 1:45
  I would have still made it
• 1:46
  even with the cut line at 40 last year.
• 1:49
  um and I'm just gonna get
• 1:51
  fitter you know obviously
• 1:52
  everybody is too uh but I
• 1:55
  mean I was confident that I
• 1:56
  was gonna be much fitter
• 1:58
  this year than I was last
• 1:59
  year so uh but I mean there
• 2:01
  were there were I was like
• 2:01
  man it's gonna be tough uh
• 2:03
  it's gonna be really tight
• 2:04
  and it was you know I think
• 2:05
  I finished 37th uh so I
• 2:08
  mean it was close again you know
• 2:10
  Yeah.
• 2:12
  So if people don't remember
• 2:13
  our conversation last year, you led,
• 2:16
  you led like a crazy life
• 2:18
  leading up to your CrossFit world.
• 2:20
  Like you, you went to Texas, Texas A&M.
• 2:25
  You went to Bible college.
• 2:27
  You went to Alaska to be a
• 2:31
  salmon fisherman.
• 2:31
  Yeah.
• 2:33
  You then came back, finished college,
• 2:36
  and then you kind of jumped into it.
• 2:38
  So you jumped into this a
• 2:41
  lot later than others.
• 2:42
  Do you feel your window is
• 2:45
  smaller and you've really
• 2:46
  got to get after it to get there?
• 2:49
  Yes,
• 2:50
  but that also kind of like gives me hope.
• 2:53
  I think it gives me more
• 2:54
  hope than if I had started sooner,
• 2:57
  if that makes sense.
• 2:58
  So let's say I had been
• 2:59
  doing CrossFit for 10 years.
• 3:01
  And this is where I'm at, uh,
• 3:03
  versus I've been doing it for five years.
• 3:06
  I feel like I still have
• 3:07
  some room to climb and improve.
• 3:08
  Um, versus if I've been doing it longer,
• 3:11
  I'd be like, well, maybe I reached,
• 3:13
  maybe I've gone as far as I could go.
• 3:16
  so we talked about last year
• 3:18
  being 39th place the year
• 3:20
  before that you were 538th
• 3:23
  in your region so you made
• 3:25
  like huge leaps from from
• 3:27
  that year to last year how
• 3:30
  much fitter do you think
• 3:31
  you are today than you were
• 3:32
  last year so that is a
• 3:36
  really tough question to answer um
• 3:39
  Because I had a few,
• 3:42
  I'm not going to call them setbacks,
• 3:43
  I don't really believe in setbacks,
• 3:44
  but I had some challenges
• 3:47
  going into these
• 3:48
  quarterfinals that made me
• 3:50
  feel like I wasn't as fit
• 3:53
  as I wanted to be going into quarters.
• 3:56
  About a month before quarters,
• 3:59
  my back started acting up
• 4:01
  and I took some time off to
• 4:04
  kind of alleviate that.
• 4:05
  As soon as I was getting better,
• 4:07
  I got in a small car crash
• 4:10
  And it wasn't major,
• 4:11
  but I think maybe like just
• 4:13
  the impact kind of like
• 4:14
  tensed everything up.
• 4:16
  And man, I think six weeks ago,
• 4:19
  I could barely put on my shoe.
• 4:22
  Going to work, I couldn't, you know,
• 4:23
  I'm a coach at Lifetime,
• 4:25
  and I couldn't demo any of the movements.
• 4:27
  I was just in so much pain.
• 4:30
  And I had to take about
• 4:32
  three weeks off of lifting
• 4:34
  going into quarters the
• 4:36
  week before quarters.
• 4:38
  I think I that Monday I
• 4:40
  lifted the 45 pound bar for
• 4:42
  the first time.
• 4:43
  Then Thursday I did some 20, you know,
• 4:47
  like so I had to take a lot
• 4:48
  of time off about a month
• 4:50
  going into quarters.
• 4:51
  And so I didn't have a lot
• 4:52
  of confidence before that.
• 4:55
  I mean,
• 4:55
  I was I feel like I was riding
• 4:56
  really high.
• 4:57
  And then that just kind of
• 5:00
  was an unfortunate, you know,
• 5:02
  so I don't I don't really know, you know,
• 5:04
  how much fitter I am because of that,
• 5:06
  you know, that little
• 5:09
  Do you remember what I
• 5:10
  called you at the end of
• 5:11
  last year's episode?
• 5:13
  The most interesting man.
• 5:15
  Uh, that's great.
• 5:17
  The most man in the world.
• 5:18
  Yeah.
• 5:19
  So I'm looking at your off
• 5:20
  season and just in typical Arturo fashion,
• 5:26
  uh,
• 5:27
  it didn't go as smoothly as
• 5:31
  one would have hoped.
• 5:32
  So first of all,
• 5:34
  I'm at Masters Fitness Collective.
• 5:36
  We got Corey Leonard in the chat.
• 5:38
  I was rooming with him, hanging out there,
• 5:40
  and all of a sudden,
• 5:41
  you tapped me on my shoulder.
• 5:42
  And I didn't even know you
• 5:44
  were going to be there,
• 5:45
  but I got to meet you in
• 5:46
  person and talk to you
• 5:48
  there at Masters Fitness Collective.
• 5:51
  That shows how late in the
• 5:52
  game you've kind of jumped into this.
• 5:55
  You got to try out the baby Masters.
• 5:57
  Yeah.
• 5:59
  Yeah.
• 6:00
  So, so how did that go first and foremost?
• 6:03
  Uh, it went really well, um,
• 6:05
  really well run competition.
• 6:06
  Uh, I was really, I mean,
• 6:09
  I knew there was going to
• 6:09
  be some high caliber athletes there.
• 6:12
  Uh, but the,
• 6:13
  the guys that won first and second, man,
• 6:15
  they were, they were after all weekend.
• 6:17
  They were some, uh, you know,
• 6:19
  just a really good competition,
• 6:20
  really high level, uh, of athletes.
• 6:24
  Um, yeah, just a great experience overall.
• 6:26
  Yeah.
• 6:27
  Yeah.
• 6:28
  And you ended up just off
• 6:29
  the podium in a very,
• 6:31
  very tight competition.
• 6:33
  Yeah, is what it felt like.
• 6:35
  I can't remember if I finished fourth,
• 6:36
  fifth or sixth,
• 6:37
  but it was somewhere in that range.
• 6:38
  I felt like I like I was close,
• 6:40
  but I just missed out.
• 6:43
  So then, and actually Wad Zombie jumps in,
• 6:47
  talking about our sponsor, Thick Boy.
• 6:50
  Arturo is a thick boy.
• 6:51
  Dude is jacked.
• 6:53
  See him in real life, man.
• 6:54
  Those biceps,
• 6:55
  I think they give Hulk Hogan
• 6:56
  a run for their money.
• 7:01
  But you're one jacked individual.
• 7:02
  We're going to talk about
• 7:03
  that in a second.
• 7:04
  Thank you.
• 7:04
  Thank you.
• 7:05
  So then you finished Masters
• 7:08
  Fitness Collective.
• 7:09
  I think looking at your Instagram,
• 7:10
  you did a couple local comps,
• 7:12
  but then you go for Waterpalooza.
• 7:16
  And this is where it gets typical Arturo.
• 7:19
  We can't go a straight line.
• 7:20
  Yeah.
• 7:22
  You were the athlete that was invited to.
• 7:28
  then said, oops, we made a mistake.
• 7:30
  You're uninvited.
• 7:33
  And then, well,
• 7:34
  we need to make this right.
• 7:36
  We're going to re-invite you.
• 7:38
  Yeah.
• 7:40
  So can you walk us through that,
• 7:43
  what was going through your
• 7:44
  head at the time?
• 7:47
  So it all happened really, really quickly.
• 7:50
  So I do the qualifiers, I think,
• 7:53
  back in October.
• 7:54
  Yeah.
• 7:56
  I actually finished 13th in
• 7:58
  the qualifiers before I
• 7:59
  received a pretty decent
• 8:01
  penalty for not extending
• 8:03
  my hips on some on some deadlifts,
• 8:06
  which I thought I did.
• 8:08
  Um, but you know, who cares?
• 8:09
  You know, the video is out there.
• 8:10
  Maybe I'll post it and let
• 8:11
  you guys be the judge.
• 8:13
  Uh, but either way, I finished 13th.
• 8:14
  I received a penalty that
• 8:15
  pushed me back to 24, uh, to 21st.
• 8:18
  So I was like, well, okay, I'm out.
• 8:20
  I think it was new year's Eve.
• 8:23
  I received a message saying, Hey, um,
• 8:26
  I received an invitation
• 8:27
  for water Palooza.
• 8:27
  And I'm like, you know, shoot, uh,
• 8:30
  it's really short notice.
• 8:32
  Uh,
• 8:32
  Maybe if I can raise a
• 8:34
  little bit of support,
• 8:36
  then maybe I'll go.
• 8:38
  And ultimately, I was like, you know what?
• 8:40
  CrossFit is what I love.
• 8:41
  This is what I want to do.
• 8:44
  It's going to be a great experience.
• 8:45
  No matter the cost, I need to go.
• 8:47
  So I accept the invitation.
• 8:50
  And then, yeah, a few days later,
• 8:52
  they're like, I booked my tickets,
• 8:54
  booked my hotels,
• 8:55
  do all that super quickly.
• 8:57
  And then a few days later,
• 8:58
  they hit me with the, hey, just kidding.
• 9:02
  And, um, yeah, no, it just, it just,
• 9:05
  you know, the whole thing kind of sucked.
• 9:06
  Um, you know, cause after, after that,
• 9:11
  that initial, just kidding, you know,
• 9:13
  I reached back out and I was like, Hey,
• 9:16
  um, you know,
• 9:17
  do I really need to cancel everything?
• 9:19
  You know, you can, you know,
• 9:19
  you can do the RX division.
• 9:21
  I was like, you know, no, thank you.
• 9:22
  Not interested.
• 9:23
  Um, and there, and so I asked him,
• 9:25
  do I cancel everything?
• 9:26
  Do I not?
• 9:27
  And so I was kind of on the fence.
• 9:28
  Do I cancel my flights hotels?
• 9:30
  And they didn't answer.
• 9:31
  There was like a 12-hour
• 9:33
  dead window of silence.
• 9:34
  And I messaged everybody I could,
• 9:36
  their Instagram, their emails,
• 9:37
  everything.
• 9:38
  And that was probably the hardest part.
• 9:40
  And they've apologized for that,
• 9:41
  saying that they could have
• 9:42
  handled that better.
• 9:44
  They said that they were
• 9:44
  talking amongst themselves.
• 9:45
  They were trying to figure
• 9:46
  out the best solution.
• 9:47
  But I was in the dark for 12 hours.
• 9:50
  So I canceled everything.
• 9:52
  I canceled everything.
• 9:54
  And then...
• 9:55
  literally an hour after I
• 9:56
  cancel everything,
• 9:57
  they reach back out and they're like, Oh,
• 9:59
  you know,
• 9:59
  we talked amongst us and we're
• 10:01
  going to make room for you.
• 10:02
  I was just like, great.
• 10:06
  Did you,
• 10:07
  did you lose money in the process?
• 10:08
  Because sometimes when you cancel,
• 10:10
  you have to pay a fee.
• 10:11
  So I lost about maybe like two,
• 10:14
  $300 in a non-refundable hotel deposit.
• 10:18
  Uh, and they did help me rebook at a, uh,
• 10:22
  At another hotel,
• 10:24
  which was a little bit cheaper,
• 10:25
  so that was nice.
• 10:26
  But I lost maybe like a $200 or $300.
• 10:29
  Yeah, that was it, though.
• 10:31
  That was thankfully.
• 10:35
  Man, that just seems crazy.
• 10:37
  Communication in CrossFit is
• 10:39
  just not great.
• 10:42
  This isn't even CrossFit HQ.
• 10:43
  This is an event outside of that,
• 10:47
  but in the CrossFit space.
• 10:48
  But man, just let people know.
• 10:51
  Yeah, that was it.
• 10:52
  And, you know, they said they would.
• 10:53
  They said, you know, I was like,
• 10:55
  just please don't ever do
• 10:56
  that to another athlete.
• 10:57
  Just keep them, you know,
• 10:58
  keep communicating.
• 10:59
  If you're figuring it out,
• 11:00
  just let me know that
• 11:01
  you're figuring it out
• 11:02
  because I don't know what's going on,
• 11:04
  you know?
• 11:05
  Right.
• 11:07
  So you end up competing.
• 11:08
  You go to Waterpalooza.
• 11:10
  What was the experience like?
• 11:12
  It was honestly, it was unbelievable.
• 11:14
  I mean, as soon as I get there, I was like,
• 11:17
  okay, this was worth it.
• 11:19
  You know, they had a really nice,
• 11:20
  like little beach VIP experience.
• 11:22
  Uh,
• 11:22
  I got my haircut and my beard trimmed
• 11:24
  on the beach.
• 11:26
  Um, and yeah,
• 11:28
  and then I just got to
• 11:29
  compete the next few days against,
• 11:31
  you know, some of the best,
• 11:32
  which is something that you
• 11:33
  only get to do a few times a year.
• 11:35
  Um, and so that experience in itself was.
• 11:38
  uh, unforgettable.
• 11:39
  And I, you know,
• 11:40
  I didn't do as well as I wanted to,
• 11:42
  but there was glimmers of hope.
• 11:44
  Um, I think workout two, I took,
• 11:46
  I think eighth place.
• 11:48
  Uh, and that was after,
• 11:49
  and that was with some, uh, some costly,
• 11:52
  no reps that shouldn't have been no reps.
• 11:54
  You know,
• 11:54
  the head judge came and they were
• 11:56
  telling me that I wasn't
• 11:57
  doing a two foot takeoff on my burpees.
• 12:00
  Uh,
• 12:00
  but a two foot takeoff wasn't required.
• 12:04
  Yeah, I know, I know.
• 12:05
  But anyways,
• 12:07
  there was some glimmers of hope and yeah,
• 12:10
  it was an overall just, you know,
• 12:11
  another great experience
• 12:13
  and just kind of building
• 12:15
  confidence being on that bigger stage.
• 12:18
  So I know last year when we talked,
• 12:20
  you said that you didn't
• 12:22
  have a lot of big game experience.
• 12:25
  Like going to semifinals,
• 12:26
  that was your first major
• 12:28
  competition of your career.
• 12:32
  With Wadapalooza,
• 12:33
  you will get the added
• 12:34
  effect of it's raining.
• 12:36
  It's not raining.
• 12:38
  We change the workouts.
• 12:39
  We change them again.
• 12:40
  We change them a third time.
• 12:42
  And all of that,
• 12:43
  you have to kind of just go
• 12:44
  with the flow.
• 12:47
  So what did that do to teach
• 12:49
  you like almost unknown to no, no,
• 12:52
  unknowable in an extreme setting?
• 12:56
  so I didn't so the whole
• 12:58
  workout changes I think
• 12:59
  didn't affect me a ton
• 13:01
  obviously um you know like
• 13:04
  prepping for some of those
• 13:05
  events would have been
• 13:06
  different um I think the
• 13:09
  two biggest takeaways was
• 13:11
  like one, I need, uh, I need a coach.
• 13:14
  I need somebody who's gonna, you know,
• 13:16
  be there to, you know, like, so, so,
• 13:17
  you know, we do change events.
• 13:19
  We do.
• 13:20
  Okay.
• 13:20
  Let's talk.
• 13:21
  I need somebody to talk,
• 13:22
  talk through that with me.
• 13:23
  You know, uh, what's our plan.
• 13:24
  What's our strategy.
• 13:25
  Uh,
• 13:26
  because doing that on my own is
• 13:28
  difficult.
• 13:29
  Uh, and then also I need somebody,
• 13:31
  you know, whether,
• 13:32
  whether it's a coach or
• 13:33
  just somebody to be there to support me,
• 13:34
  I was on my own.
• 13:35
  Uh, nobody went with me.
• 13:38
  And so, um,
• 13:39
  in between events I was
• 13:41
  rushing around to get food
• 13:42
  uh I was uh you know
• 13:44
  looking for um I left my
• 13:47
  water bottle on one of the
• 13:48
  tents and I couldn't find
• 13:49
  the tent and I was dying
• 13:51
  after event two and I spent
• 13:52
  about an hour crawling
• 13:53
  around uh asking you know
• 13:55
  people where I could find
• 13:56
  my water bottle and uh and
• 13:58
  that was all just stuff
• 13:59
  that could have you know
• 14:00
  where I could have been
• 14:01
  resting and recovering
• 14:03
  Like,
• 14:03
  I think I need I need somebody there to,
• 14:05
  you know, just to help support me.
• 14:08
  And so those are my two biggest takeaways.
• 14:11
  If like I want to compete
• 14:12
  seriously and I want to
• 14:13
  actually have a chance of doing well,
• 14:15
  I need a coach and I need
• 14:17
  and whether it's my coach
• 14:18
  or somebody else,
• 14:19
  I need somebody who's going
• 14:19
  to help support me with the small stuff,
• 14:21
  too.
• 14:24
  So when you say coach,
• 14:26
  I get the part at the event, right?
• 14:28
  Just to kind of like help
• 14:29
  you talk through stuff.
• 14:31
  Do you currently do all your
• 14:33
  own programming and all of that stuff?
• 14:35
  No.
• 14:36
  So as of maybe like,
• 14:38
  so because of that experience, you know,
• 14:40
  I had a talk with,
• 14:41
  I actually had a talk with
• 14:42
  Tristan yesterday.
• 14:44
  I don't know.
• 14:45
  He's an Ascend athlete coach, Jacobs coach,
• 14:49
  and Kelly's coach.
• 14:52
  Tristan Patrick.
• 14:53
  Yeah, Tristan Patrick.
• 14:54
  We have a show together on this channel.
• 14:56
  He what?
• 14:57
  We have a show together on this channel.
• 14:58
  Oh, really?
• 14:59
  Okay.
• 15:00
  I need to watch it then.
• 15:00
  I like both you guys.
• 15:03
  So I had a talk with them at Waterpalooza,
• 15:06
  kind of telling them.
• 15:06
  And he was actually there to
• 15:08
  talk me through some of the stuff too.
• 15:09
  So I really appreciate him for that.
• 15:12
  And so
• 15:13
  know we started talking like
• 15:14
  uh you know I need a coach
• 15:15
  I need somebody who's going
• 15:16
  to be there and uh and one
• 15:19
  of the ascend coaches
• 15:20
  ascend athletes coaches is
• 15:21
  uh brady who was on my team
• 15:22
  last year for a semi-finals
• 15:24
  uh even though I went
• 15:25
  individual and I love brady
• 15:27
  brady's always been you
• 15:28
  know team arturo uh very
• 15:30
  supportive and and a great
• 15:32
  coach and so um not long
• 15:35
  after guadalupalooza um
• 15:37
  And I, well,
• 15:39
  we competed against Brady at
• 15:41
  TFX and at TFX,
• 15:42
  we talked a little bit more about it.
• 15:43
  And so for probably about
• 15:45
  the last two months now,
• 15:46
  maybe a little bit more,
• 15:47
  Brady's been my coach.
• 15:50
  Yeah.
• 15:51
  TFX seems to be a great
• 15:52
  place for the Ascend team to,
• 15:54
  to grab athletes.
• 15:55
  Yeah.
• 15:57
  Yeah.
• 15:58
  Last year they got Madison
• 15:59
  McElhaney there.
• 15:59
  They got Hattie Cano there.
• 16:01
  Yeah.
• 16:03
  They, they, they killed it.
• 16:05
  Yeah.
• 16:06
  Yeah.
• 16:07
  Well,
• 16:07
  I think it was,
• 16:08
  was it last year where
• 16:10
  Jacob Marlowe and Kelly
• 16:11
  Baker both won the pro division?
• 16:15
  I believe so.
• 16:16
  Yeah.
• 16:16
  That's a great way, you know,
• 16:18
  a great way to gain
• 16:19
  athletes is having your athletes just,
• 16:21
  you know, dominate.
• 16:23
  Yeah.
• 16:25
  That's cool that you're with them.
• 16:26
  If you ever see Tristan,
• 16:28
  you have to start calling
• 16:28
  him coach Krispy Kreme.
• 16:31
  Okay.
• 16:31
  Okay.
• 16:32
  Are you going to share the
• 16:34
  story behind the nickname?
• 16:36
  So we followed Kelly through
• 16:39
  last season from start to finish,
• 16:43
  and he was a major part of
• 16:44
  that because he was our coach.
• 16:45
  So we got to know him,
• 16:47
  and he had a shirt that was
• 16:49
  for Einhorn CrossFit,
• 16:50
  but it was in the logo of Krispy Kreme.
• 16:53
  Yeah, I've seen it.
• 16:55
  And so the chat started
• 16:57
  calling him Coach Krispy Kreme.
• 16:59
  Okay.
• 16:59
  It has stuck.
• 17:01
  Okay.
• 17:01
  I like it.
• 17:04
  yeah he likes it too so it's
• 17:08
  pretty cool yeah so then so
• 17:10
  I didn't even know you did
• 17:11
  tfx how did that go for you
• 17:14
  uh it went well I think I
• 17:16
  finished hmm once again I
• 17:20
  think I finished fifth um I
• 17:23
  finished fifth and I felt
• 17:25
  once again I felt like I
• 17:26
  just missed out on the
• 17:26
  podium uh so let I guess
• 17:29
  let me say this going into
• 17:31
  the final the final event
• 17:33
  Third?
• 17:34
  Oh,
• 17:34
  I think it might have been second
• 17:36
  through fifth.
• 17:37
  We're like, I mean, we were, I think,
• 17:39
  within 10 points of each other.
• 17:40
  I mean, it was just a really tight battle.
• 17:44
  So we all had a shot for the podium.
• 17:47
  William Leahy was crushing it.
• 17:49
  And so I don't think any of
• 17:50
  us could have caught up to him.
• 17:52
  But there was a really tight
• 17:53
  race between second and fifth.
• 17:54
  And I don't know where I was
• 17:56
  going into the final.
• 17:57
  But yeah, I think I finished in fifth.
• 17:59
  The final wasn't a great
• 18:00
  A great event for me.
• 18:01
  Rope climbs aren't my jam.
• 18:04
  And so, yeah, so I think I finished fifth.
• 18:09
  So it's funny because I ask you how you do,
• 18:12
  and you don't know the exact placement.
• 18:15
  And so I want to ask you is
• 18:17
  it's truly the off-season.
• 18:19
  Is it –
• 18:22
  Is it that you're there just
• 18:23
  to learn and experiment and
• 18:26
  get to know yourself better?
• 18:27
  Or are you truly trying to
• 18:29
  get a placement?
• 18:32
  I think it's more the first.
• 18:36
  Definitely Wadapalooza was the first.
• 18:40
  I think TFX,
• 18:42
  I did want to do a little
• 18:44
  better at that one.
• 18:45
  Wadapalooza was just,
• 18:47
  it was so last minute.
• 18:48
  These guys had weeks to prepare.
• 18:50
  I had a few days.
• 18:52
  You know,
• 18:52
  it just wasn't – I was going to
• 18:53
  do what I could do.
• 18:55
  TFX, you know,
• 18:56
  I think I did want to do a
• 18:57
  little bit better there.
• 19:00
  But it was still, you know,
• 19:01
  priority still learning and
• 19:03
  growing and gaining some
• 19:05
  competition experience.
• 19:08
  Yeah,
• 19:08
  what I love is the athletes that use
• 19:09
  those competitions to push
• 19:12
  the envelope to find out, you know,
• 19:14
  what is my capacity on this?
• 19:16
  What is – so then when you
• 19:17
  go into the real –
• 19:19
  the real season, you know,
• 19:22
  you know what you're capable of.
• 19:24
  Yeah.
• 19:25
  Yeah.
• 19:25
  I think that's a smart way to go.
• 19:27
  Yeah.
• 19:28
  And there were mistakes made, you know,
• 19:29
  there was a, yeah,
• 19:31
  the snatch event kills me.
• 19:34
  Cause I was one rep away from, you know,
• 19:36
  from really doing, from doing really,
• 19:38
  I did well, but really doing well.
• 19:40
  I had about 15 seconds to do
• 19:42
  one more snatch at 185 and I rushed it.
• 19:46
  And then I think I missed
• 19:47
  twice and it was just like,
• 19:49
  Yeah, looking back, it's just like, okay,
• 19:52
  learn your lesson, take your time,
• 19:55
  watch the clock, you know, don't rush.
• 19:58
  There's always lessons.
• 19:58
  Every competition I learn something.
• 20:03
  How much – it's not every
• 20:08
  day you do a three-day competition.
• 20:10
  Three days at a high intensity, right?
• 20:13
  Yeah.
• 20:15
  I go to a lot of
• 20:15
  competitions and see people
• 20:17
  on that Sunday just run out of gas.
• 20:21
  Yeah.
• 20:22
  Is that something you have
• 20:23
  to like keep doing to get better at or?
• 20:26
  Yeah.
• 20:29
  And I would say you,
• 20:30
  you just described what all
• 20:34
  my shortcomings have been
• 20:35
  in every competition and
• 20:37
  what one of my goals is in
• 20:38
  the off season.
• 20:39
  And it's to, uh,
• 20:41
  it's to train more under fatigue.
• 20:44
  Um,
• 20:45
  I think early on in my CrossFit career,
• 20:48
  you know, I never, I would never hit,
• 20:50
  you know,
• 20:50
  the same body part or the same
• 20:52
  stimulus two days in a row.
• 20:54
  But it feels, you know,
• 20:56
  to get my body time to recover,
• 20:57
  but it feels like in these, you know,
• 20:59
  these bigger comps and
• 21:00
  these three day comps,
• 21:01
  they intentionally want to
• 21:03
  crush a certain body part
• 21:06
  and then have you do it later, you know,
• 21:09
  under fatigue.
• 21:10
  And so, so now, you know,
• 21:12
  a big part of my off season has been,
• 21:14
  training under, you know,
• 21:15
  training and movements and
• 21:16
  certain things under
• 21:17
  fatigue because that's been, you know,
• 21:21
  I can have a really great start,
• 21:23
  but then I can't finish.
• 21:25
  I just, you know,
• 21:25
  I can't hold on to the rig anymore.
• 21:27
  My grip is shot or, you know,
• 21:29
  stuff like that.
• 21:33
  So last year we also talked
• 21:34
  about at that point in time,
• 21:35
  you had lost 14 pounds
• 21:37
  going into semifinals.
• 21:40
  Are you still trying to get
• 21:42
  lighter or was that like,
• 21:44
  were you in a good place?
• 21:45
  Now you're just trying to hold.
• 21:48
  Yes.
• 21:48
  That,
• 21:49
  so I was very happy with where I was at.
• 21:50
  I was sitting around 195.
• 21:51
  Um, I weighed myself.
• 21:55
  So, you know,
• 21:56
  after I tweaked my back and I had to take,
• 21:58
  you know,
• 21:58
  three weeks to a month off of lifting,
• 21:59
  um,
• 22:01
  I was under one 90 for the
• 22:03
  first time in a really, really long time.
• 22:06
  Uh, cause I mean, I,
• 22:07
  I couldn't squat heavy.
• 22:08
  I couldn't lift heavy.
• 22:09
  I was still doing Metcons
• 22:11
  and stuff like that.
• 22:12
  Uh, so I lost a few pounds.
• 22:13
  I don't know where I'm at now,
• 22:14
  but I'm happy.
• 22:15
  I feel good.
• 22:16
  I still feel strong.
• 22:17
  Uh, I feel light.
• 22:18
  So, um, yeah, I'm,
• 22:21
  I'm happy with where I'm at.
• 22:23
  Cool.
• 22:23
  So now it's just trying to, to hold that,
• 22:26
  hold that line.
• 22:28
  Yeah.
• 22:29
  Yeah.
• 22:31
  I also wanted to show everybody that,
• 22:36
  you know, you semi-final athletes,
• 22:38
  it's expensive to get there.
• 22:40
  And you have a GoFundMe out there.
• 22:41
  So I'm going to share that.
• 22:44
  Yes, I have a GoFundMe.
• 22:45
  I haven't posted it yet.
• 22:46
  I'm going to share it.
• 22:48
  I'm going to share it.
• 22:50
  Oh, you found it.
• 22:51
  I did.
• 22:52
  Nice.
• 22:53
  Awesome.
• 22:54
  That's my job, Arturo.
• 22:56
  Yeah.
• 22:57
  Yeah.
• 22:59
  So I haven't shared it.
• 23:00
  I'm going to share it today.
• 23:03
  Yeah.
• 23:03
  So Arturo has a GoFundMe and
• 23:05
  for not sharing it,
• 23:06
  you already got some cash in there.
• 23:08
  Yeah.
• 23:09
  Yeah.
• 23:09
  I shared it with my,
• 23:10
  with my alpha people and they are very,
• 23:12
  very sweet and supportive of me.
• 23:14
  So yeah, we got some, we got a good start.
• 23:18
  So you have that out there.
• 23:19
  If people feel the,
• 23:21
  that they want to help you get to semis,
• 23:23
  um, you live in Texas,
• 23:26
  you got to get to California, right?
• 23:28
  Yeah.
• 23:29
  Um, and that that's not a cheap trip.
• 23:33
  I just looked at it today.
• 23:35
  Um,
• 23:36
  cause I found out I finally got
• 23:37
  approved for credentials
• 23:39
  and now I got to figure out,
• 23:40
  can I afford it?
• 23:41
  Yeah.
• 23:42
  Yeah.
• 23:43
  And it's just,
• 23:44
  I liked last year that we
• 23:45
  had about two months, you know, to like,
• 23:48
  you know, buy stuff,
• 23:49
  plan ahead and stuff.
• 23:50
  This is a quick turnaround.
• 23:52
  It is very quick.
• 23:55
  Um, and so.
• 23:58
  Yeah,
• 23:59
  it's gofundme.com backslash F
• 24:02
  backslash help dash me dash get.
• 24:06
  There's dashes between every word.
• 24:08
  Help me get to the 2024
• 24:10
  CrossFit semifinals if you
• 24:12
  want to donate.
• 24:14
  And we'll put the link in
• 24:15
  the description for you today, too.
• 24:18
  Thank you.
• 24:21
  So I want to, now that the,
• 24:23
  the tough stuff's out of the way,
• 24:26
  I got to ask a question.
• 24:28
  Um,
• 24:31
  what is the deal with cheeseless
• 24:35
  macaroni and cheese?
• 24:37
  Uh, okay.
• 24:40
  So there's a, there's a great story there.
• 24:42
  I think it was Thanksgiving.
• 24:44
  We had a Thanksgiving potluck for, um,
• 24:46
  for cross request.
• 24:48
  And, um,
• 24:50
  And I brought macaroni and cheese.
• 24:53
  Keep in mind that I made it
• 24:55
  the night before.
• 24:56
  I knew I wasn't going to
• 24:57
  have time the next day to make it.
• 24:59
  And when I made it the night before,
• 25:01
  I put my heart and soul into it.
• 25:04
  I really did.
• 25:04
  It took me about an hour and
• 25:06
  20 minutes to make from scratch,
• 25:11
  put some bacon in there.
• 25:14
  It was delicious.
• 25:16
  And I actually had to save
• 25:18
  half of the sauce in
• 25:19
  another container because
• 25:21
  it was too cheesy.
• 25:22
  It was, I was like, man,
• 25:24
  this is too cheesy.
• 25:24
  I'm going to overwhelm
• 25:25
  people with the amount of cheese.
• 25:27
  Well,
• 25:28
  something happened when I put it in
• 25:29
  the fridge between that day and the next,
• 25:32
  because when I reheated it
• 25:34
  and served it for the potluck,
• 25:36
  there was no cheese to be found.
• 25:40
  Yeah.
• 25:40
  I even brought my backup
• 25:41
  cheese and I put the backup
• 25:43
  cheese in there.
• 25:43
  Um,
• 25:44
  but it just wasn't the same
• 25:46
  as the night before.
• 25:47
  And so everybody started
• 25:50
  giving me crap about,
• 25:53
  there was no cheese.
• 25:54
  And one of the girls said
• 25:56
  that there were butter
• 25:57
  noodles and either way, yeah,
• 26:02
  there's a redemption arc
• 26:03
  coming where I'm gonna make
• 26:06
  macaroni and cheese for them again.
• 26:07
  I'm gonna give them a little
• 26:09
  sample and they're gonna love it.
• 26:10
  And then that's all they're gonna get.
• 26:11
  They're not gonna get any more.
• 26:13
  Just to prove it's a thing.
• 26:16
  Exactly.
• 26:16
  Just to make them want it,
• 26:17
  and now they can't have it.
• 26:22
  Yeah.
• 26:22
  Well,
• 26:22
  I want to finish up today with
• 26:24
  something that I know is
• 26:25
  really important to you,
• 26:26
  and that is you have an
• 26:27
  Instagram called Journey to the Cross.
• 26:29
  It actually is your CrossFit
• 26:33
  Instagram account.
• 26:36
  But in that,
• 26:37
  you also talk about your faith.
• 26:39
  You do words of the day.
• 26:41
  You do a lot of things like that.
• 26:47
  How is it that now you're
• 26:49
  getting invited to bigger competitions?
• 26:52
  How is that platform helping
• 26:54
  you spread the word?
• 26:57
  So, I mean, ultimately, like,
• 26:59
  that's the whole reason
• 27:00
  this journey started was, you know, to...
• 27:04
  to create, you know, to,
• 27:05
  to land this platform so that I can have,
• 27:08
  you know, so I can share my, my story,
• 27:10
  my message with the world.
• 27:11
  I think, uh, I think I have a really,
• 27:13
  you know, really awesome testimony.
• 27:15
  I feel like I have a lot to say,
• 27:16
  a lot to share, uh,
• 27:18
  which I've kind of changed
• 27:20
  my mind about this and I'll tell,
• 27:22
  I'll kind of go into detail on that.
• 27:24
  Um, it was like, you know,
• 27:25
  who cares if I have something to share,
• 27:27
  if nobody wants to listen.
• 27:28
  Um, recently I've kind of
• 27:31
  changed my mind about that
• 27:33
  you know God's kind of
• 27:33
  reminded me like look it
• 27:35
  doesn't matter the size of
• 27:36
  your audience you know be
• 27:37
  faithful in the little you
• 27:39
  know and you know and I'll
• 27:40
  give you I'll give you much
• 27:41
  I'll trust you with more
• 27:42
  and so um so I've kind of
• 27:44
  changed my mind about that
• 27:46
  um and then um so I mean
• 27:49
  the goal is to you know the
• 27:50
  goal is to impact the world
• 27:51
  you know for Jesus for
• 27:52
  Christ that's that's the
• 27:54
  whole reason I wanted you
• 27:55
  know I began this um
• 27:59
  If you can see,
• 28:00
  I kind of took a little
• 28:01
  break too from posting.
• 28:02
  I haven't been posting a lot recently.
• 28:03
  I've been just kind of
• 28:05
  focusing more inwardly
• 28:08
  because I had another fear
• 28:10
  kind of like on this journey.
• 28:13
  I realized that at a certain point,
• 28:15
  I don't know when,
• 28:17
  I started focusing more on the,
• 28:20
  the training aspect and the,
• 28:21
  the CrossFit aspect of, of, uh, of,
• 28:24
  you know,
• 28:24
  what I wanna share and not enough on the,
• 28:27
  you know, on the internal aspect and,
• 28:28
  you know, my relationship with Jesus.
• 28:30
  And so my fear was that, you know,
• 28:32
  maybe I'll accomplish
• 28:33
  everything that I wanna
• 28:34
  accomplish in CrossFit,
• 28:35
  but I'm gonna get there and
• 28:37
  I'm gonna have nothing to say.
• 28:38
  Um, so the past few months I've, uh,
• 28:42
  you know, I've kind of re
• 28:44
  I guess I've kind of
• 28:45
  reprioritized some things.
• 28:46
  And so now every day, you know,
• 28:47
  I make sure I don't go to
• 28:48
  bed without doing some
• 28:49
  devotionals and some journaling.
• 28:51
  Uh,
• 28:52
  because what I have to say is just as
• 28:54
  or more important than what
• 28:55
  I want to do in the CrossFit world.
• 28:58
  And,
• 28:59
  and that looks like sitting down with
• 29:02
  the word journaling, what you're reading,
• 29:04
  um, things like that.
• 29:07
  Yeah.
• 29:08
  Yeah, exactly.
• 29:09
  Um,
• 29:10
  Yeah.
• 29:10
  And then reflecting,
• 29:11
  I think reflecting is a
• 29:12
  really big part too,
• 29:13
  because I can read all day,
• 29:14
  but something happens when I,
• 29:16
  when I journal and when I
• 29:17
  like really sit down to
• 29:19
  express my thoughts and put
• 29:20
  them on paper.
• 29:21
  And then it kind of gives the day meaning,
• 29:23
  like what was today about?
• 29:24
  Uh, what did we learn?
• 29:25
  How did we grow today?
• 29:26
  Um, that's been, that's been helping a lot,
• 29:29
  really process things.
• 29:32
  it's funny you say it that way because, um,
• 29:35
  I was talking to Gabby Spence.
• 29:36
  She was one of our
• 29:37
  interviews last week on Thursday,
• 29:39
  and she was talking about
• 29:41
  how prayer changed for her.
• 29:44
  And it became more of a
• 29:46
  reflection of the day, uh,
• 29:48
  with her and God together.
• 29:49
  And it didn't have to be
• 29:51
  like the perfect words.
• 29:53
  It didn't have to be all the stuff.
• 29:55
  It just was like,
• 29:57
  they go over her day
• 29:57
  together and talk about
• 30:00
  what they can do better, what they,
• 30:02
  what they need grace for, what the,
• 30:03
  you know, all of that.
• 30:05
  I love that.
• 30:08
  Yeah, I love that.
• 30:09
  That's, I mean, it's similar.
• 30:11
  Like I call it,
• 30:11
  I call journaling kind of like a debrief,
• 30:13
  you know, just a debrief with God.
• 30:15
  Like, you know, what, like I said,
• 30:16
  what did we learn?
• 30:17
  What did we get out of today?
• 30:18
  Is there anything you want for tomorrow?
• 30:20
  Um, Corey Leonard says, uh,
• 30:25
  everybody needs the word, my brother.
• 30:27
  Good on you.
• 30:29
  Yeah.
• 30:29
  Amen.
• 30:30
  Um, yeah, absolutely.
• 30:32
  So.
• 30:37
  and it's,
• 30:37
  and you kind of already answered it.
• 30:39
  Cause one of my questions
• 30:40
  was going to be is you're in this sport,
• 30:42
  right?
• 30:43
  Where, you know, you, you have, you had a,
• 30:49
  you've become like a jacked athlete,
• 30:51
  right?
• 30:53
  And, and it's hard,
• 30:57
  it's hard to be humble and
• 30:59
  do these things at the same
• 31:01
  time and to give God the,
• 31:06
  hit because everything is God's right.
• 31:08
  We're all gods and
• 31:09
  everything that we accomplish is his.
• 31:11
  And how do you remember to
• 31:14
  give him credit for all
• 31:15
  that and not like self reflect?
• 31:19
  So,
• 31:20
  and that was actually a battle that I
• 31:22
  had recently.
• 31:23
  Uh,
• 31:23
  and I actually talked about it with our
• 31:25
  roommate maybe less than a week ago is,
• 31:27
  you know,
• 31:27
  so going into quarters because
• 31:30
  of everything I had going on, you know,
• 31:32
  it was a big, um,
• 31:35
  I give God all the credit.
• 31:37
  You know, all it was was, you know,
• 31:38
  I just had to keep trusting,
• 31:40
  keep hoping and believing
• 31:41
  and be patient and obedient.
• 31:43
  You know, every day just, you know,
• 31:44
  don't do that.
• 31:45
  You know, trust God.
• 31:47
  It's going to be OK.
• 31:49
  And if I'm honest,
• 31:51
  I wasn't super happy about my mentality,
• 31:54
  about being surprised when
• 31:56
  I was close to making semis
• 31:57
  and I made semis.
• 31:59
  But that's just kind of like
• 32:01
  how I went into it was I'm
• 32:02
  just going to trust God.
• 32:03
  I'm going to do my best.
• 32:04
  I'm going to hope it's enough.
• 32:05
  And so going into semifinals,
• 32:09
  I wanted to change that mindset.
• 32:10
  I wanted to change it to, you know,
• 32:12
  let's go and take it.
• 32:13
  You know what I mean?
• 32:14
  I wanted to be a little more aggressive,
• 32:15
  a little more whatever about it, you know,
• 32:19
  kind of like, you know,
• 32:20
  have a more warrior
• 32:21
  mentality and not that the
• 32:23
  warrior mentality is not
• 32:24
  going to be there,
• 32:25
  but it's just going to be
• 32:26
  different because every
• 32:27
  time I started thinking that way,
• 32:29
  like I'm going to go and take it,
• 32:30
  I'm going to go and grab it.
• 32:32
  I felt
• 32:34
  I don't know.
• 32:34
  I felt like some opposition, like that's,
• 32:36
  maybe that wasn't how God
• 32:37
  wanted me to feel about it.
• 32:39
  And so I started praying
• 32:39
  about it and it's like, that that's,
• 32:42
  I don't think that is how
• 32:43
  God wants me to approach semifinals,
• 32:45
  even though it sounds great.
• 32:47
  I think he wants me to continue to,
• 32:50
  you know,
• 32:50
  just walk in that humility and
• 32:52
  that trust.
• 32:53
  And we're going to go and
• 32:54
  we're going to do the best we can,
• 32:55
  but we're going to trust
• 32:55
  God to keep us healthy and
• 32:57
  to be able to perform at our, you know,
• 32:59
  at our highest level, um,
• 33:02
  And, you know,
• 33:02
  keeping it about him and not
• 33:04
  making it about me.
• 33:07
  Have you reached out to
• 33:08
  other athletes that share your faith?
• 33:13
  No, I can't say that I have.
• 33:18
  Because I look at this year, right?
• 33:20
  Emma Carey takes a step back
• 33:22
  because she needed to
• 33:23
  change her priorities, right?
• 33:25
  She takes a whole season off
• 33:27
  to get her priorities right.
• 33:30
  Ariel Lohan talks all the
• 33:32
  time about that it's God's plan.
• 33:35
  Whatever happens on the floor,
• 33:37
  there's no need for her to
• 33:38
  get upset or to get worked
• 33:41
  up about it because God has a plan.
• 33:45
  You know,
• 33:45
  Cole Sager's been around the
• 33:46
  space a long time and
• 33:48
  always talks about that.
• 33:50
  I just...
• 33:52
  I know like early on when I
• 33:54
  got into CrossFit,
• 33:56
  there were organizations
• 33:57
  like FaithRx and Graham
• 34:01
  Holmberg had one here in Columbus.
• 34:05
  I can't even remember what
• 34:05
  it's called now because
• 34:07
  it's been so long.
• 34:09
  You don't see that stuff anymore.
• 34:12
  I'm wondering where it went
• 34:14
  and why it went away.
• 34:16
  Yeah.
• 34:17
  Yeah.
• 34:18
  And I mean, it could be,
• 34:20
  could just be that I mean it
• 34:21
  is it's really easy to get
• 34:23
  lost in the fitness side of
• 34:25
  crossfit and kind of forget
• 34:27
  about the other stuff like
• 34:28
  I said I mean I i feel like
• 34:30
  I have a really intimate
• 34:31
  relationship with you know
• 34:32
  with god and and you know I
• 34:34
  feel like it even happened
• 34:35
  to me like I said I mean I
• 34:36
  probably went months
• 34:37
  without you know really
• 34:38
  picking up my bible or
• 34:40
  being intentional about my
• 34:41
  jesus time and uh you know
• 34:43
  just you know because I had
• 34:45
  a good goal I had I had a I
• 34:47
  had good intentions
• 34:49
  But just the sport of CrossFit, you know,
• 34:53
  just kind of overshadowed
• 34:54
  the fate part of my walk.
• 34:58
  Yeah.
• 35:00
  Yeah.
• 35:00
  Wad Zombie makes a good point, too,
• 35:02
  that it went away because
• 35:03
  the athletes separated
• 35:04
  themselves from the affiliates.
• 35:06
  Because those were very affiliate-driven.
• 35:09
  And they had...
• 35:11
  you know,
• 35:12
  that like subgroups and different
• 35:13
  affiliates.
• 35:14
  So, um,
• 35:15
  cause we had a Bible study in ours
• 35:17
  based under Graham
• 35:18
  Holmberg's organization.
• 35:20
  Oh, really?
• 35:21
  Yeah.
• 35:22
  Yeah.
• 35:24
  But that's,
• 35:25
  that's actually an excellent point.
• 35:27
  Um, well, Arturo,
• 35:28
  this has been awesome as always.
• 35:31
  You're,
• 35:31
  you're one of my favorites to talk to.
• 35:34
  Um, hope you do well out in pass in, uh,
• 35:37
  Carson this year.
• 35:38
  Yeah.
• 35:39
  Yeah.
• 35:39
  No, I'm excited.
• 35:41
  Um, hopefully I find a way to get there.
• 35:43
  Um, if not,
• 35:46
  I will be reaching out to
• 35:47
  people from here to talk to
• 35:49
  them during the weekend.
• 35:50
  So, uh,
• 35:51
  maybe we'll DM you during the weekend.
• 35:53
  Yeah.
• 35:53
  I got a spot on the,
• 35:54
  I got a spot on the floor.
• 35:55
  If you, uh, if you need a place to,
• 35:58
  as long as you don't snore.
• 36:02
  Yeah.
• 36:04
  I'll wear my airwave.
• 36:06
  There you go.
• 36:07
  There you go.
• 36:08
  You can make something happen.
• 36:10
  uh yeah because what zombie
• 36:11
  says out in california you
• 36:13
  can just pop a 10 anywhere
• 36:14
  nobody really cares yeah I
• 36:16
  mean probably yeah fit in
• 36:19
  yeah well with that
• 36:21
  everybody thank you so much
• 36:22
  for being here thank you
• 36:23
  arturo uh as always it's
• 36:25
  been awesome talking to you
• 36:27
  and good luck at semis
• 36:28
  we'll see everybody next
• 36:29
  time on the clientele media
• 36:32
  podcast thank you guys bye