Latest / Clydesdale Media Podcast / Athletes of the Age Group CrossFit Games | 1 Family, 2 Dreams, 1 Weekend, 2 Locations

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Athletes of the Age Group CrossFit Games | 1 Family, 2 Dreams, 1 Weekend, 2 Locations · Clydesdale Media Podcast

0:08
Let's go.
0:11
Let's go.
0:33
what is going on everybody
0:34
welcome to the Clydesdale
0:36
media podcast my name is
0:38
scott switch I'm the
0:38
Clydesdale I have with me
0:41
so many guests today I have
0:43
ashley and zoe fiala
0:47
close enough good enough
0:48
right and Tony Tursky old
0:52
friend back again we're
0:55
gonna talk a lot about the
0:57
age group CrossFit games
0:59
today and how we kind of
1:01
predicted this would happen
1:03
but you guys are an
1:04
excellent example of three
1:07
people who have made the
1:10
CrossFit games in two
1:11
different states on the
1:12
same weekend mother-daughter coach
1:17
and how you all have to
1:19
separate and go in
1:20
different directions on
1:22
maybe the biggest day of
1:23
your athletic career.
1:26
But I want to set the stage
1:27
first at what great
1:28
accomplishment you all have
1:30
achieved this year.
1:32
So first of all,
1:33
we're going to go with Zoe.
1:35
This is the first time you
1:37
have made it to semifinals,
1:40
let alone the CrossFit Games.
1:44
And you are in the 14,
1:45
15-year-old division?
1:47
Yeah.
1:49
How old are you today?
1:50
The second year.
1:51
I'm 15.
1:52
Okay.
1:53
Yeah.
1:53
So you're in the oldest part
1:55
of your bracket.
1:56
Yeah.
1:58
Ashley,
1:59
this is your first time to
2:02
semifinals and the games.
2:04
Correct.
2:05
Looking at your profile,
2:07
you've been at this a lot
2:08
longer than Zoe.
2:10
I'm a little older than her, yeah.
2:12
Yeah.
2:14
It looks like you've been
2:15
doing the Open since like 2012, 13-ish?
2:20
No, not that long.
2:21
I think this was my eighth Open.
2:22
Okay.
2:24
Yeah, I started CrossFit when I was 38,
2:27
I think.
2:29
Okay.
2:30
So I'm 46 this year.
2:31
Eight years,
2:32
and this was your first
2:33
semifinal and your first CrossFit Games.
2:37
Yes.
2:37
Back in the old days when they had AGOQ,
2:40
I made AGOQ a couple times, and then...
2:42
They changed it all, and we had top 10%,
2:45
and then semifinals was top 30,
2:47
and I hadn't made it to the
2:49
semifinals when they changed it.
2:51
CrossFit changed something?
2:53
Yeah, you know.
2:55
Every year?
2:57
Every year.
2:59
And then we have Tony, the wily veteran,
3:02
that this will be his sixth
3:04
CrossFit Games.
3:07
Yeah, fifth official, but yes.
3:10
Fifth official.
3:11
Yeah, fifth official.
3:13
i count 20 or something else
3:15
no uh my suspension in
3:17
2017. okay gotcha all right
3:22
cool uh so with that I
3:27
looked at your scores how
3:28
much competition is there
3:30
between the three of you
3:32
during because you all did
3:33
the same workouts during uh
3:36
semifinals right yeah yeah pretty much
3:41
How much competition between
3:42
the three of you?
3:45
The competition is a little
3:47
different because I'll
3:49
speak for both of them
3:50
because they call me old.
3:51
So I get to use like pretty
3:53
much my workout is more
3:56
similar to Ashley's as far
3:58
as loads and things like that.
4:01
But there is definitely a
4:02
good competition level
4:03
between all three of us.
4:05
But yeah,
4:07
they use heavier weights than I do.
4:12
So I did notice that not any
4:14
one of you dominated.
4:15
There was someone different,
4:17
one different events kind of throughout.
4:21
For sure.
4:23
What are the bragging rights like?
4:26
What was that?
4:28
What are the bragging rights like?
4:32
Yes.
4:33
We all just kind of mess
4:34
around with each other.
4:35
So I think whoever like wins
4:38
that certain workout,
4:39
like who had the top standing,
4:41
like we all just get to
4:43
like boast around and make
4:45
everybody else feel bad
4:47
because they didn't beat us.
4:48
But yeah, that's pretty much it.
4:51
I will be honest.
4:53
This year is like the...
4:54
This is the year that Zoe
4:56
is passing me up.
4:58
And so I used to always say, I got you,
5:00
Zoe.
5:01
I got you.
5:01
And I would brag about
5:02
beating her because I knew
5:03
it was only a small amount
5:05
of time before she was passing me up.
5:08
And this year it's happened.
5:09
So she usually gets bragging rights.
5:11
We can't keep up with her anymore.
5:13
No.
5:14
We as in both of us.
5:15
I can't keep up with her either.
5:17
No.
5:18
Yeah, I noticed she...
5:20
think she won event four and
5:25
three no and came really
5:29
close in three yeah yeah
5:37
but she she smoked event
5:38
four which one was that yeah
5:44
I can't remember.
5:46
They all become a big fog.
5:54
When you cover all the age
5:55
groups and all the elites
5:56
and all the teams,
5:57
it's all a blur at this point.
6:03
I've been watching this show
6:04
lately called Receiver.
6:06
There's a spot in there.
6:07
It's about the NFL receivers.
6:09
Their journey through the season.
6:11
The one...
6:14
the one guy was talking
6:15
about his father always
6:17
beating him on the
6:17
basketball court and that
6:19
he would always cry
6:21
afterwards because his dad
6:22
would beat him over and over again.
6:23
And the mother was like,
6:24
you have to let him win.
6:25
And he's like, no, when he beats me,
6:26
he beats me.
6:28
And then when the father,
6:29
when he beat the father,
6:30
the kid was dancing, um,
6:34
rejoicing because it meant
6:36
something to him.
6:38
Is that the philosophy that
6:39
you take Ashley?
6:41
A hundred percent.
6:42
Yeah.
6:42
I've never let her win.
6:43
Not once.
6:44
Yeah.
6:45
No way.
6:47
Cause I knew it would happen.
6:48
I knew she'd beat me eventually.
6:50
Right.
6:51
Yeah.
6:51
Does it mean that more when
6:52
you get the win Zoe?
6:55
What?
6:56
Does it mean more now that
6:57
you know that and when you get the win?
6:59
Oh yeah.
7:00
Well,
7:00
cause I always knew that she was like
7:02
that because we're both
7:03
like really competitive.
7:05
So she was never going to let me win.
7:06
So now that I'm,
7:08
winning it like definitely
7:10
feels good because I know
7:11
she doesn't want well like
7:12
she wants me to but I know
7:14
she doesn't want me to beat
7:14
her so yeah it does mean
7:17
something so I wanted to
7:20
quickly talk about you're
7:21
young in the sport and
7:23
you've seen all these
7:25
high-end young female
7:27
athletes have to take a step away
7:31
what, what are you doing?
7:32
And then I'll follow up with,
7:33
with mom and coach.
7:35
Like,
7:35
what are you guys doing to make sure
7:37
that that doesn't happen to you?
7:40
So for me,
7:41
I know like a lot of people at
7:43
my gym are like always
7:45
super supportive of me.
7:46
And like,
7:46
of course they want me to do well
7:48
and they have expectations.
7:49
But for me,
7:50
I just kind of have to set
7:51
aside everybody else's
7:52
expectations and set my own.
7:54
So then I know like if I'm,
7:57
do if I like complete my
7:59
expectation then I'm fine
8:01
and there's no reason that
8:02
I have to do better or
8:03
worse than that so I kind
8:04
of just try to focus on
8:05
myself even though I know
8:06
everybody's expectations
8:08
are out of support I just
8:09
kind of honestly ignore
8:11
them and just focus on what
8:12
I want myself to do and
8:14
stuff like that and that
8:15
goes for both what my mommy
8:16
and coach Tony put out for
8:17
me even though I haven't
8:19
told them that but yeah
8:23
Also, Zoe,
8:24
you have some support now with
8:26
your HWPO training, right?
8:28
Yeah, HWPO.
8:30
I just joined them this past
8:34
year whenever I made the games,
8:36
and they've definitely been
8:37
super supportive,
8:38
and that's great having HWPO now.
8:43
You know, if I could interrupt,
8:44
like probably when we heard
8:46
about these younger ladies coming
8:50
Struggling a little bit.
8:51
We weren't quite sure.
8:52
You know,
8:52
we don't know the whole story
8:53
behind what they're going through.
8:55
But, you know, we certainly spoke.
8:57
I certainly spoke with Ashley,
8:59
her dad and even Zoe when
9:01
she was there about being
9:03
careful that we don't do this.
9:05
And hopefully this does not
9:06
happen with Zoe.
9:08
So our expectations are
9:10
astronomical for Zoe,
9:11
but we don't put it out and
9:13
we don't put it on her.
9:14
We already know that she's
9:15
super competitive.
9:16
She's super good at what she does.
9:20
But we want her to have fun.
9:22
And sometimes it's fun.
9:24
Sometimes it's not so fun.
9:26
But we try to put it into
9:28
perspective that this is
9:29
just something that we do.
9:32
This isn't our life.
9:33
This is part of our life of what we do.
9:36
So mom and dad have done a
9:37
great job with Zoe and kind
9:39
of keeping her grounded as
9:40
best as you can with a 15-year-old.
9:43
But she's right now,
9:45
her abilities are just...
9:47
going through the roof every
9:48
day she's you know setting
9:50
prs and she's kicking her
9:52
mom's ass and kicking her
9:53
coach's ass all the time
9:55
and we knew it was coming
9:56
but she's uh she's very
9:58
well grounded and she's
10:00
very mature for her age but
10:02
um she's also still 15
10:04
years old so we got to be
10:05
careful with her do you
10:08
play any other sports or is
10:10
this is this what you're
10:11
all into right now
10:13
Um, right now,
10:14
this is what I'm all into
10:15
this past season after
10:18
doing the open and quarters in 2023.
10:21
And I did better than I expected.
10:23
I decided I was doing
10:25
volleyball and I decided to
10:26
quit volleyball this year
10:27
to focus on CrossFit and
10:28
just give it a good give it a good go.
10:31
And obviously that was a good choice.
10:33
But I do still play high school volleyball,
10:36
but I've quit club as of
10:38
the moment for CrossFit.
10:39
Yeah.
10:40
So is volleyball a fall
10:42
sport where you're at or a winter?
10:44
Well, for club, it's kind of like all year,
10:49
which is why I had a quick
10:51
club because obviously that
10:52
was taking too much time if
10:54
I was going to try CrossFit.
10:55
But for high school, it's fall.
10:58
Okay.
10:58
Yeah.
11:00
So for high school,
11:02
it's much easier to play
11:04
that because it doesn't
11:05
even interfere with a
11:06
CrossFit season at all.
11:08
Yeah, I mean,
11:10
it'll be – my high school
11:12
will start right at the beginning, like,
11:15
right before I'm going to
11:16
go to the games.
11:17
So it's, like, a little overlapping,
11:19
but it's not bad at all
11:20
because my high school coach is also,
11:22
like, super supportive.
11:24
Like, his wife was an Olympic lifter,
11:26
so he definitely gets it.
11:27
And, like, he wants me to pursue, like,
11:30
what my main interest is.
11:31
So he's good with dealing with me.
11:35
So, Mom,
11:37
are there any bumpers you're
11:38
putting up for her?
11:39
Or do you feel like
11:44
everything's in a good place?
11:46
I feel like she's pretty good.
11:47
I have to be honest.
11:49
She's a very mature kid.
11:51
She always has been.
11:53
And she's also very outspoken.
11:57
So when she needs a rest or
11:58
she wants to hang with her
11:59
friends or she just needs a sleep-in day,
12:03
like...
12:04
She's outspoken.
12:05
She lets me know, and we just go with it.
12:07
Like, it's fine.
12:09
So I let her pretty much
12:11
govern her training, rest time.
12:15
You know,
12:16
every once in a while she needs a
12:17
little push,
12:18
and every once in a while she
12:18
needs a little, like, just relax.
12:21
It's cool.
12:22
Yeah.
12:23
I don't have to do much.
12:24
I'm pretty lucky.
12:25
I have to be honest.
12:27
Yep.
12:28
Yeah, I think sometimes,
12:29
and correct me if I'm wrong,
12:32
because they have such a spotlight,
12:33
it becomes a bigger thing
12:34
than it really is.
12:36
I was a college swimmer,
12:37
and in high school,
12:38
I got close to burnout.
12:41
And I was doing four sports.
12:43
But swimming was my main thing.
12:46
And my junior year, I just was done.
12:48
And I just needed to take a step back.
12:51
I think it's more common
12:54
than we let people onto.
12:57
It's just because Hayley
12:58
Adams and Mal O'Brien had
13:00
all these followers and
13:01
this huge spotlight,
13:02
it became a bigger thing.
13:04
Sure.
13:05
Yeah.
13:06
And I think she experienced
13:07
the burnout with volleyball
13:09
pretty strongly.
13:10
Like she said, club was all year round.
13:13
She was on a very elite team,
13:14
like top 12 in the nation.
13:17
And it got to the point
13:19
where it wasn't fun for her anymore.
13:20
So she knows what that feels like.
13:22
And I think she's doing her
13:24
best to monitor so that
13:26
that doesn't repeat itself with CrossFit.
13:29
And I'm hoping that doesn't
13:30
repeat itself with CrossFit, too.
13:34
CrossFit Games athlete
13:35
Carolyn Prevost says hi.
13:37
Oh, that's your mentor, right?
13:38
Yeah,
13:38
she's one of my mentors for her and
13:41
Ty Jenkins for the team games.
13:44
Yeah,
13:45
she's actually my co-host on my
13:46
Sunday night show.
13:47
We talked about her mentorship,
13:49
and she loves it.
13:51
Yeah, it's cool to have them.
13:53
I'm glad that they were
13:54
doing that this year.
13:55
Yeah.
13:55
Yeah.
13:57
So Ashley, on the flip side of all this,
14:00
you've become quite the
14:02
overachiever as life has gone on for you.
14:05
You are now a doctor of chiropractic.
14:08
Correct.
14:08
And you didn't even start
14:09
that until your 40s.
14:11
Yeah, I get bored really easily.
14:15
I needed something new to do.
14:16
Yeah, and I just recently,
14:19
I've been in practice just
14:19
over a year now.
14:22
And you have two locations
14:25
at your two favorite places I read?
14:28
Yeah, you're good.
14:29
You definitely are good.
14:31
Yeah, so I own a yoga studio.
14:33
I've had a yoga studio in
14:34
town for 12 years.
14:36
So one of my chiropractic
14:37
offices is at the yoga studio.
14:39
And then the other at the CrossFit gym,
14:42
which are my two favorite places.
14:45
Are the majority of your clients,
14:47
CrossFitters?
14:48
Crossfitters and yogis and
14:50
now just friends of those people.
14:53
I operate almost all on word of mouth.
14:56
And so Crossfitters,
14:58
yogis and friends of them.
15:00
My chiropractor always says
15:02
that Crossfitters keep them in business.
15:05
It's helpful.
15:06
Yeah.
15:09
I wish I could get more
15:10
Crossfitters to do yoga.
15:11
They would have to see me less, but.
15:14
Good point.
15:15
Yeah.
15:17
Mobility or yoga just don't seem to mesh.
15:21
It really does mesh so well.
15:24
Oh, logically brain wise,
15:27
but there is such a resistance to that.
15:29
Oh yeah.
15:30
Talk to coach Tony about that.
15:34
I'm not a good Yogi.
15:36
I've tried,
15:36
but I haven't really put a
15:37
great effort into it,
15:38
but she can't get me in there.
15:39
Yeah.
15:41
Yeah.
15:42
So what was the inspiration
15:44
to go back to school?
15:46
I went back late to get my
15:48
master's degree and it
15:49
almost got me a divorce.
15:51
So I cannot even imagine
15:55
going back and getting a doctorate.
15:57
Yeah.
15:58
Well, so to be honest,
16:01
the way that I teach yoga
16:02
is very biomechanical.
16:04
I've done yoga therapy for
16:05
much of my life.
16:07
And sometimes I would need
16:11
outside help from the chiropractor,
16:13
the local chiropractor.
16:14
And I have a good
16:14
relationship with many
16:16
local chiropractors.
16:17
And I just started to feel
16:18
like I wanted to bridge
16:20
that gap between what I do
16:22
and what the chiropractors were doing.
16:24
I wanted to be able to do that as well.
16:26
So I just had it all in-house.
16:28
And like I said,
16:29
I get bored really easily.
16:30
I needed a change in my life.
16:33
My mom was retiring from her
16:36
longtime nursing career.
16:38
The kids were getting older.
16:39
My husband was ready for me
16:41
to bring in more money to the family.
16:43
So she was able,
16:44
my mom was able to help with the kids.
16:46
My husband was in full
16:47
support and it just worked out.
16:50
It was the right time.
16:50
Yeah.
16:55
So let's get to the big dilemma.
16:58
And we predicted this on my
17:01
show because I have friends
17:02
that are... So Rudy Berger
17:05
lived down the street from me.
17:07
He is a two-time 40 to
17:08
44-year-old champion in the
17:10
Masters Division.
17:11
And he has a daughter who is
17:14
phenomenal at CrossFit and
17:16
just turned 14.
17:18
When the Open came,
17:19
they both were top 10 after the Open.
17:23
And I was like,
17:24
this is going to come to a
17:25
head because they're going
17:28
to both want to compete on
17:30
the same weekend in two different places.
17:33
And a mom is the coach for both.
17:37
So she actually,
17:40
the daughter made the
17:41
decision to take a step
17:42
back this year and focus on
17:44
her cross country.
17:45
And so their dilemma went away.
17:48
But in your case, it did not.
17:52
Zoe kept going.
17:53
You both made the CrossFit Games.
17:56
And I read in your article
17:57
in the Morning Chalk Up,
17:58
the brief that they gave
18:00
you there is that, Mom, Ashley,
18:03
you didn't want to go to
18:04
your CrossFit Games.
18:05
You wanted to go watch Zoe.
18:07
And Zoe put her foot down.
18:10
Is that true?
18:12
That's 110% true.
18:14
I was like, there's no way.
18:16
Like,
18:16
my mom has worked way too hard for
18:18
way too long with CrossFit.
18:20
And, like, this is my second year.
18:21
And I'm obviously going to
18:23
have more years.
18:25
Like, if you don't go, then I don't go.
18:27
Like, it's more important.
18:29
Like, obviously,
18:30
it's amazing that I made it this year.
18:33
But it was more important to
18:34
me that my mom got this
18:35
opportunity to go than for
18:37
me to go this year.
18:38
but now we both get to go.
18:39
So it's all good.
18:42
So mom.
18:43
Yeah.
18:44
I will say that.
18:45
Oh, go ahead.
18:47
I, how does it make you feel that,
18:49
that your daughter feels
18:51
that way about your accomplishment?
18:55
Yeah.
18:55
I mean, it's awesome.
18:57
And it just, we're pretty close, you know,
18:59
and it feels good to have that support.
19:01
Um,
19:05
But I still, like, I'm still torn,
19:07
you know?
19:08
I'm going,
19:08
and I felt a big push from Coach
19:10
Tony to go, from my husband to go.
19:12
Yeah,
19:13
my husband and Zoe were just not
19:15
letting me.
19:16
Yeah, everybody wants her to go.
19:18
She's, like, the only, yeah.
19:20
And I want to go, like, 100%.
19:21
I want to go.
19:22
Like, I want to be there.
19:23
I'm so excited to make it.
19:25
But I know when I'm there, I'm going to be,
19:27
like, every moment I can,
19:28
I'm going to be watching
19:29
Zoe's live stream.
19:31
you know,
19:32
how focused am I going to be on
19:33
my things?
19:34
Because I'm going to want to be there.
19:36
I'm super proud of her.
19:37
Yeah.
19:38
That was kind of my follow-up question too,
19:40
is how focused are you
19:42
going to be on your own events?
19:45
Wondering what's going on in Michigan.
19:50
And that's, that is my worry.
19:51
It's been my worry the whole time, right?
19:53
Like I want to go, I want to be there,
19:56
but I know that I'm going
19:57
to be distracted and torn when I'm there.
20:00
But I did convince my son to
20:03
come with me to my games.
20:05
My son is two years older than Zoe,
20:07
doesn't like CrossFit at all.
20:09
He's the only one in our
20:10
family that doesn't do CrossFit.
20:13
But he's coming to be my
20:15
coach since Tony's going to
20:17
be competing too.
20:19
And so that'll be helpful to
20:21
have a member of the family with me.
20:24
So Zoe,
20:25
is it going to affect you when
20:27
you're competing to wonder
20:29
how your mom's doing?
20:31
Or are you able to like put
20:32
the blinders on?
20:33
I think I'm pretty good at
20:35
putting the blinders on.
20:40
Whenever I'm at comps,
20:42
I'm just super tunnel vision.
20:45
What am I doing?
20:46
Obviously,
20:47
I'm going to try to check in on my mom,
20:49
but just the way that I am
20:50
at competitions and even
20:52
with volleyball at tournaments,
20:54
I'm just super locked in on
20:56
what I'm doing.
20:57
So it'll probably be like when I'm,
20:59
whenever I'm like in between events,
21:01
like I'll probably shoot
21:02
her a text or at the end of the day,
21:03
we'll probably call each
21:04
other and debrief.
21:05
But while I'm there competing that day,
21:08
it's probably going to be like,
21:11
like I'm in locked in on
21:12
what I'm doing that day.
21:14
So.
21:15
Yeah.
21:15
I'm more worried about
21:17
Ashley competing than I am
21:20
for me than Zoe.
21:22
So I get to be with Ashley in Alabama and,
21:25
uh,
21:27
I get to listen to Ashley Walling.
21:31
And so hopefully I can be a
21:32
sounding voice to her.
21:34
But Zoe will be in good hands.
21:36
And I believe Zoe will.
21:37
She's that kind of athlete.
21:39
So is her mom.
21:41
Her mom is very focused and
21:42
very competitive.
21:43
But it was a hard sell to
21:46
get Ashley to go to the games.
21:48
It was.
21:49
But we all understood that.
21:54
It's crazy that not only did
21:56
you both make it,
21:56
it's both your first year.
21:59
Like,
22:00
it's your rookie season for both of you,
22:02
and it's a
22:04
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
22:06
to have your rookie year at
22:07
the CrossFit Games.
22:09
Yeah.
22:09
Yeah,
22:11
I didn't really think about it like that.
22:12
We knew kind of going in, Scott, like,
22:16
well, they won't tell you,
22:18
but I knew Ashley had a
22:19
really good chance.
22:21
I would have said 70-30 right there.
22:24
Zoe was probably a lock just
22:26
because she's done some
22:27
competitions out at Pit Team Throwdown.
22:29
She's competed against all these girls.
22:31
Last year,
22:32
she missed it by one spot going
22:33
to the top 30.
22:35
So we knew Zoe was going to
22:36
be pretty much a lock, if you will,
22:39
to make it.
22:40
But the fact that...
22:50
every time I get tony on he
22:52
he's just the big old mush
22:54
ball yeah that's why we
22:58
love him yeah it was a big deal
23:05
So,
23:07
and I'm going to try to come back to
23:09
you here, Tony.
23:10
Yeah.
23:11
You're coaching both these
23:12
athletes and there's got to be desire.
23:15
You want to be in both places too.
23:17
Oh, yeah.
23:21
But that wasn't, again,
23:23
Zoe would probably have let
23:25
that happen just as much as
23:26
she had let her mom.
23:27
So that really wasn't going to happen.
23:29
I told Ashley the fact that
23:32
both of us are going, I'm going for it,
23:34
that I got in.
23:36
I didn't know if I would, uh, make it with,
23:39
but I thought with the top 20, you know,
23:41
again, I've done this for a long time.
23:43
I thought with the top 20,
23:44
now that there's 20 guys going,
23:46
I thought I had a good, you know,
23:47
super good chance of, of making it.
23:49
Um, Ashley was the, um, the, the,
23:53
the factor that we didn't know, but, uh,
23:55
once I made it,
23:56
I knew I was going to go
23:58
just for the sake of the
23:59
gym and everything else.
24:01
And that's just what I do.
24:03
Um, but, uh,
24:05
In fact, when all three of us made it,
24:07
it was tough.
24:09
It was a tough choice.
24:10
We all understood what
24:12
Ashley was going through, and we did it.
24:16
Yep.
24:17
Zoe was the main reason why
24:18
Ashley is going for sure.
24:22
So I want to ask a couple
24:23
details about you as athletes.
24:27
Tony, you qualified ninth.
24:28
You would have qualified
24:29
under the old rules or the new rules.
24:33
Oh, trust me.
24:33
I let both of those guys know it, too.
24:38
Zoe, you qualified 13th, Ashley, you 31st.
24:42
Are you guys better
24:43
in-person athletes or online athletes?
24:46
What a great question.
24:48
I'm definitely better in person.
24:50
Like,
24:51
I will say I redid a couple of the
24:54
workouts and quarters and semis,
24:58
and I did better on both of
25:00
those workouts.
25:01
And I just think in person,
25:03
there's no need or you can't redo them,
25:05
but there's no need to
25:06
because you're with other people.
25:08
But like for quarters and semis,
25:10
it was pretty much just
25:11
like doing them by yourself.
25:12
So there's no like push.
25:13
You just have to go off yourself.
25:15
And I think that's a great skill to have,
25:17
but I don't really have it yet.
25:20
So I'm definitely way better in person.
25:22
So I'm excited for that.
25:24
Does being a team sport
25:26
athlete and competing in
25:28
volleyball club at the national level,
25:30
like your performance,
25:32
you have to base it on your opponent.
25:35
Yeah.
25:36
I think that's definitely a
25:38
factor because like you
25:39
have to level yourself to
25:41
whoever you're competing against.
25:44
And when you're doing an online qualifier,
25:46
you can't really do that.
25:47
So I think that's a big
25:49
factor with volleyball too.
25:52
Ashley, what about you?
25:54
I don't really know.
25:55
For a long time,
25:56
I was better online just
25:59
because I'm comfortable in my home gym.
26:01
I'm comfortable with my
26:03
pull-up bar and my people
26:05
and all of that.
26:06
But the last couple in-person comps,
26:09
I think I finally got used
26:12
to being beside another
26:14
competitor and actually racing someone.
26:18
Which and maybe having Zoe
26:20
like passing me up has
26:21
helped me with that, too,
26:23
because we train together all the time.
26:24
So having someone to
26:27
actually really compete
26:28
with in my gym and in my
26:29
training has made me better in person.
26:32
But I would say the last
26:33
couple of comps I've done,
26:34
I've started to feel like
26:36
in person is getting better.
26:37
Tony, what about you?
26:39
No,
26:40
Jimmy asked Ashley to hit the nail on
26:42
the head there.
26:42
She last time we went to NorCal Classic,
26:46
it was her first time.
26:48
I believe it was your first
26:49
time making the podium, right?
26:50
Not only that, she won.
26:51
Yeah.
26:53
And then she made the play.
26:53
So that pace of winning for
26:56
her was that was the first
26:57
time that she knew that she
26:58
really belonged in there.
27:00
Same thing was Zoe when she
27:01
went to pit team throw down
27:03
and competed against some
27:04
of the best athletes in her
27:05
age level and took second
27:07
out there and just did
27:08
phenomenal in Michigan.
27:10
But they finally got the podium.
27:12
But I also think that the reason why
27:15
this we as a group are
27:16
better um in competition is
27:19
because and I think the
27:21
girls will agree we hold
27:23
our athletes to the highest
27:25
degree of movements um I
27:27
know everybody wants to
27:28
tell you that but we put
27:30
our videos out there
27:31
everybody can see them we
27:32
don't you know I don't let
27:34
the girls get away with
27:35
anything you know Ashley's
27:36
they both move amazing but
27:38
if there's something that
27:39
they're not doing you know
27:40
or I'm not doing they tell
27:42
me or I tell them so we have a great uh
27:45
We have a great set of standards, uh,
27:47
not only for our athletes, um,
27:49
that compete for our,
27:50
but our members in the gym.
27:51
And so I think that
27:53
translates really well to
27:54
when we go to competitions,
27:56
we know how to move.
27:57
We know what to expect.
27:58
We know what the judges are going to want.
28:00
Um,
28:00
and typically we don't have a problem
28:02
in our movements.
28:03
They're not really looking at us for, um,
28:06
range of motion type things.
28:07
So, um,
28:09
I believe that's why I'm better in
28:13
competitions than I am, um,
28:15
in um qualifying and I
28:17
believe that's why the
28:18
girls are as well carolyn
28:21
has a question what are
28:22
your strengths and
28:22
weaknesses as athletes what
28:24
would your wheelhouse event
28:26
at be your wheelhouse event at the games
28:35
Well, my weaknesses, I would say,
28:37
are definitely the machines.
28:40
Although I do think I'm
28:41
getting way better with them,
28:42
especially that I just started,
28:44
or not just started,
28:45
but especially with HWPO,
28:46
their programming with
28:48
machines is like really good.
28:49
So I've noticed a big step,
28:51
but I don't think my
28:53
machines are still quite
28:54
where everything else is.
28:56
But it's getting way better.
28:57
I will say that.
28:59
My wheelhouse would be
29:01
something with gymnastics,
29:03
like handstand walks,
29:04
and then like a farmer carry.
29:07
I love farmer carries.
29:09
I can just hold on to those
29:10
things forever.
29:11
Before you go, Ashley,
29:14
why do all great athletes
29:16
start with the negative?
29:19
Well, that was the first question,
29:20
wasn't it?
29:21
What are your weaknesses?
29:23
I was just going in order.
29:24
The question was, here,
29:26
I'll put it up again.
29:27
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
29:28
Okay.
29:29
Maybe I'll just dial in.
29:31
Okay.
29:34
My strengths, well, farmer carry,
29:37
pretty much my wheelhouse
29:38
event is what I just said.
29:39
Farmer carry, love handstands,
29:43
anything gymnastics because
29:44
I used to be a gymnast.
29:48
But I also, like,
29:50
I'm not the strongest
29:51
person in the field.
29:52
Like, I'm obviously not going to win the,
29:54
like, one rep max event.
29:56
But I would say that's one of my strengths,
29:58
just because I can move weight for, like,
30:00
kind of how little I am.
30:02
So I would say that's one of
30:03
my strengths is weight, too.
30:06
Mom must have you bringing
30:07
all the groceries,
30:08
because you love farm work.
30:11
Yeah.
30:12
Dad does grocery shopping in our house,
30:14
so.
30:17
Well, Ashley,
30:18
we're going to give you the
30:18
same question.
30:20
Um, yeah.
30:22
So my, I'll go with strength.
30:24
See, I heard you.
30:25
Um, I also gymnastic stuff, uh,
30:29
body weight is, you know,
30:30
I'm a smaller athlete.
30:31
So pull ups, handstand walks, muscle ups,
30:35
like a dream event for me
30:37
would be pistols and handstand walks,
30:40
pistols and handstand walks.
30:42
And I will run away with it.
30:43
Yeah.
30:44
Um,
30:45
I am a smaller athlete,
30:46
so anytime we do one rep or heavy lifting,
30:49
it's usually me trying to hold on.
30:53
And then rowing, forget about it.
30:56
Like, bye, everyone.
30:58
I'll get off eventually.
30:59
Yeah.
31:03
Tony, what about you?
31:04
This is he.
31:05
You're going to hear a
31:06
common denominator between us,
31:08
between all three of us.
31:09
But my wheelhouse,
31:10
I know that if there's any swim at all,
31:15
For some reason, as an old guy,
31:17
for some reason, I can swim.
31:19
So anything with swimming
31:22
would be my wheelhouse.
31:24
Gymnastics, handstand walks,
31:27
some of those tougher movements,
31:29
bar muscle-ups,
31:30
anything gymnastic-y or on
31:32
the pull-up bar is where I
31:35
typically excel.
31:36
But give me a bike, a rower.
31:43
Those kind of things I'm not too good at.
31:46
I don't like the short, quick events.
31:48
I don't like the
31:49
seven-minute AMRAPs or those ones.
31:53
And plus lifting,
31:54
I don't lift much anymore.
31:56
So, yeah, those are my weaknesses.
31:58
But my wheelhouse, give me that swim,
32:01
and I'm good.
32:04
Are you hoping they repeat
32:05
or replicate the run-swim then?
32:08
Oh, I would absolutely love it.
32:09
They did it in 2017,
32:11
which I really I that was
32:13
my first ever event win.
32:15
But yeah,
32:15
I'm hoping that they give us some
32:18
sort of swim.
32:19
Anything at all.
32:20
Not really run.
32:21
Yeah.
32:22
Running is not really my my
32:24
forte anymore with my knees.
32:26
But yeah,
32:28
I would love to see the run swim run.
32:30
That'd be great.
32:31
Tony,
32:32
it sounds like you're put together
32:33
with duct tape and bailing twine.
32:35
Bro, and these guys, let me tell you,
32:38
those guys above the screen,
32:40
they don't feel sorry for me one bit.
32:43
My knees,
32:44
like these guys are on my ass all
32:46
the time to try to go with them,
32:48
and I have to literally tell them,
32:49
I'm tired, I can't do this again,
32:52
and then I don't.
32:54
but sometimes they still talk me into it.
32:56
But I train with these guys
32:58
as much as I can,
32:59
but I can't train with them
33:01
as much as I want to.
33:02
No way.
33:03
These guys do volume.
33:06
God bless duct tape.
33:07
Oh, hell yeah.
33:09
Thanks, Corey.
33:11
So you've mentioned that Zoe
33:14
is now with HWPO.
33:17
You've been working at Turn
33:19
2 with that programming.
33:21
Ashley, you and Zoe work out together.
33:23
Do you follow the HWPO?
33:25
Do you follow the turn two?
33:26
Do you put it in a hopper
33:28
and whatever comes out comes out?
33:32
No, I follow HWPO now as well.
33:35
Um, especially so earlier in the year, um,
33:39
before we got into the whole game season,
33:41
I would hit HWPO two or
33:43
three times a week.
33:44
And then I really like
33:46
working out with the gym.
33:47
So it was kind of a mix.
33:49
Um,
33:49
but right now we're trying
33:51
to get as much of the hwpo
33:53
training in as we can as we
33:55
prep for the games and it's
33:56
kind of sad because I love
33:58
working out with the gym
33:59
like I love our gym
34:00
community and it's awesome
34:02
and um like I actually told
34:05
a couple members I'll be
34:06
back soon we'll be back
34:07
soon you know uh but right
34:09
now fully it's a lot we're
34:11
trying to do the best we can
34:14
It's funny you say that
34:15
because I've talked to some
34:16
elite athletes,
34:17
and when we talked about
34:20
the young women stepping away,
34:22
they say they make sure to
34:24
do the class workout a
34:25
couple times a week because
34:27
that's what refreshes them.
34:29
For sure.
34:29
Yeah, for sure.
34:31
Even though they're doing
34:32
this other programming a
34:34
couple times a week,
34:34
they just drop into class for fun.
34:39
And I guess we do still do
34:40
that once or twice, so we hear in there.
34:42
Yeah, you do.
34:43
Yeah, you totally do.
34:45
And we all do.
34:46
We kind of jump in there.
34:48
Ashley and Zoe do HWPO from
34:51
Samantha Petrich.
34:53
They kind of coach Zoe along
34:55
a little bit with that.
34:56
Also, Sam does.
34:59
I will work out with him,
35:00
but I mostly represent Mayhem Athlete.
35:04
I've been doing Mayhem
35:05
Athlete for the last couple of years.
35:08
What's that?
35:09
Biggest rivalry in the sport.
35:11
Yeah,
35:11
so I want to make sure that... I
35:16
enjoy Mayhem Athletes.
35:18
I am a fan of them.
35:19
They do a great job with me.
35:23
But also, you got to remember,
35:24
we made the games pretty much as...
35:29
daily workouts,
35:30
like just our hour-long classes.
35:32
We train a little bit off to
35:33
the side during the year,
35:34
but once we make the games
35:36
is when we kind of lock in.
35:37
And this year we have an
35:38
extra month to train.
35:42
But we mostly, for the most part,
35:45
all of us throughout the
35:46
year do one single class,
35:47
if I'm not correct, right, ladies?
35:50
I mean,
35:50
these guys go Saturday and Sunday too.
35:53
They take one day off during
35:54
the week and they work out
35:55
Saturday and Sunday.
35:56
I do not.
36:00
I'm all over the place here,
36:01
but I was interviewing Saxon Pancheck,
36:04
who, after being injured last year,
36:06
came back and found a new
36:09
love for the sport.
36:10
And it's really with the
36:11
community and the gym that he belongs to.
36:14
He does a Sunday where he
36:17
invites all the members of
36:18
the gym to come throw down with him.
36:21
And they can do one workout, two workouts,
36:23
three workouts, whatever they want.
36:25
But it's just a way for him
36:26
to stay connected with the community.
36:29
Is that ever something you
36:30
would consider in the future?
36:33
If you're asking me, hell yeah.
36:34
I think as you sit there and say that,
36:36
I think that'd be a great idea.
36:38
And I know the girls would
36:41
love to do that too.
36:42
Plus,
36:42
I think our membership would like to
36:44
do that.
36:44
I don't know.
36:45
What do you guys think?
36:46
Well, I was just going to say that is one.
36:48
So we have a unique Sunday
36:50
programming at the gym
36:51
where there's a lifting class,
36:53
just straight lifting in
36:54
the early morning.
36:55
And then it's followed by
36:56
what we call Endurance Club.
36:58
And that's actually one day
36:59
that Zoe and I join in on
37:01
both of those classes.
37:02
And that's that's community gym.
37:05
And that is our Sunday with the gym,
37:07
which is awesome.
37:09
That's really cool.
37:11
Yeah.
37:13
So.
37:15
Let's put it out there.
37:16
You all three are competing in a month,
37:19
two months now, whatever it is.
37:21
Six months.
37:22
And who is going to finish the highest?
37:27
Zoe.
37:28
I don't know.
37:30
I think we're all going to do good.
37:32
I think we're all going to get there.
37:34
I finished 13th.
37:36
Mom finished 31st.
37:37
Tony finished ninth.
37:38
I think we're all going to
37:40
move up a few spots on the
37:43
leaderboard once we go.
37:48
Last year, Tony,
37:48
you finished one spot off the podium.
37:52
Yeah.
37:53
They say that's like kissing your sister.
37:56
Yeah, it was tough.
38:00
I would have told you going into it,
38:01
it wouldn't have made a difference,
38:02
but it did.
38:04
There was some...
38:07
There were some extenuating
38:08
circumstances that I will not go over,
38:10
but yeah, I, I was kind of bummed.
38:15
Yeah.
38:16
Any, any hopes for podium from the ladies?
38:20
Oh, for me, um,
38:22
Well, you know, let's be realistic.
38:26
Ashley competed against
38:27
13,000 women in her
38:29
category and happened to
38:30
finish 31st overall.
38:32
For that just to be her one
38:34
accomplishment is unbelievable.
38:37
For her to make the podium
38:39
is not something that I'm
38:40
sure she's going in and
38:41
thinking that can happen.
38:43
The fact that she wants to,
38:44
she already has her goal.
38:45
She wants to be in that last heat,
38:48
you know, somewhere around there.
38:49
I'd like to see...
38:50
Her goal somewhere would be
38:52
around the 23rd to 25th area.
38:55
I think that'd be an amazing
38:56
accomplishment for 13,000.
38:59
Zoe in-house competition,
39:01
she's so much better
39:03
amongst her peers and competing.
39:06
She has a level of
39:08
competition in her that you don't, I mean,
39:11
I'm telling you,
39:11
you just don't see it in athletes.
39:13
At all at her age and so
39:15
she's I think she has a
39:17
great opportunity to
39:19
compete for the podium podium.
39:21
I think if Zoe ends up in the top five,
39:24
it's going to be a great accomplishment.
39:25
However,
39:26
she will not be satisfied because
39:28
she never is with her with
39:30
her performances.
39:32
Me if I finish the top 10 Scott,
39:34
I'm going to be.
39:35
I'm going to be pumped.
39:36
That's that's realistically.
39:38
That's how what I would give
39:39
my girls as a goal and myself as a goal.
39:43
So my last question is for Ashley.
39:47
What plans are in place for
39:49
you to be able to watch
39:50
your daughter compete?
39:52
Is someone going to have a FaceTime going?
39:57
Are you going to be able to
39:57
pull the stream?
39:59
What's the plan?
40:00
Yeah, I mean, so the one thing,
40:03
the one bonus is, you know,
40:06
Pit Teen is putting on the
40:08
games for the teens.
40:09
And last year,
40:10
they had an awesome
40:12
competition for teenagers
40:13
that Zoe went to,
40:14
and their live stream was perfect.
40:17
It was beautiful.
40:18
And it was all, like, homegrown.
40:20
They had drones.
40:22
They had every event.
40:23
They had good announcing.
40:24
So...
40:26
Now that they have CrossFit Games support,
40:28
I can only imagine it's
40:30
going to be even better.
40:32
So I will be,
40:33
if I'm not on the competition floor,
40:35
I will be watching Zoe on
40:37
my little iPhone or my iPad.
40:40
And, yeah.
40:44
Well,
40:44
the nice thing about streams is you
40:45
can rewind them.
40:47
Yeah, but, you know,
40:48
that's not going to be good enough.
40:49
Yeah.
40:55
So just to finish up here,
40:57
this is a travesty in my opinion.
41:00
I said this a year ago when
41:03
they announced the same
41:05
date that this was going to
41:07
end up being a travesty
41:08
that either coaches or
41:09
family members would not be
41:11
able to be there to support
41:12
each other on this day.
41:16
What do you think the solution is?
41:19
My proposal is they should be combined.
41:22
You're only adding four
41:24
divisions to what Legends already has.
41:28
Combine all the resources,
41:30
pay for one building instead of two,
41:34
and let everybody compete
41:35
on the same floor.
41:37
And that way, coaches,
41:39
family members can be there
41:41
to support each other.
41:42
And the crowd will be even
41:43
bigger as more people are
41:45
in one place cheering everybody on.
41:49
I mean, I agree with that.
41:50
Also, if you think about,
41:51
so even if we were on two
41:53
separate weekends,
41:54
then we would be traveling
41:55
to two separate competitions, right?
41:57
That's just more money.
41:59
And that's the competitors
42:01
and the families.
42:02
You're not going to get
42:02
spectators to travel to two
42:04
different competitions, right?
42:05
right they're gonna pick one
42:07
so um and I think about the
42:09
sponsorships now they're um
42:12
the vendors you know
42:13
they're split uh our home
42:16
gym is gonna be watching
42:17
like they're gonna figure
42:18
out like which live stream
42:19
are we watching are we
42:20
watching tony and ashley or
42:21
watching zoe you know it's
42:22
just it's all so divided
42:24
just put us together uh
42:27
carolyn said that's too
42:28
much logic yeah yeah um
42:34
So we kind of we didn't know
42:36
this was going to happen.
42:38
We had no idea when it when
42:39
they when they when legends
42:41
Bob and Joe announced the date.
42:47
It was we were just totally bummed.
42:50
It was it was so
42:52
disappointing for us when that happened.
42:55
I know it was out of their hands.
42:56
I've talked to Bob and Joe
42:57
on other podcasts and we've, you know,
42:59
they're friends of mine.
43:00
I thought, you know, we could have,
43:02
it could have all been put
43:03
together or separate dates,
43:05
but I know it was out of their hands.
43:07
So I'm not going to,
43:08
not going to go to that part, but our,
43:10
I just wanted to mention
43:11
about our community at the gym.
43:17
Excuse me.
43:19
I know.
43:20
Well, it's our, we have 230 members.
43:25
We are doing what?
43:28
Fundraisers, T-shirt fundraisers.
43:34
And how fair is it for the
43:36
community to have to try to
43:38
support in two different
43:39
locations when they could
43:42
support Ashley and Zoe in one direction?
43:44
It would take less money for
43:45
the community to help support that.
43:47
Yeah, these guys,
43:48
you wouldn't believe our community.
43:50
Our community has just
43:52
stepped up for us three,
43:55
and they're helping.
43:56
We got a coach to go out with Zoe.
43:59
We're having a dinner.
44:02
Our community will probably
44:03
raise somewhere between
44:05
$5,000 to $7,000 in the
44:07
next month to help all
44:09
three of us make this
44:11
journey because it's not
44:13
something that each of us –
44:16
If we had to afford it, we can.
44:18
We just happen to have an
44:20
unbelievable community to
44:22
help all three of us out on this journey.
44:25
And we hope next year it can
44:29
be in the same spot or it
44:30
can be a little bit different.
44:32
But I just wanted to shout
44:33
out to our CrossFit members,
44:35
how incredible they've been
44:37
to us here at the gym.
44:39
Yeah,
44:40
it actually impacted this show a lot
44:41
because
44:43
Not as much as you guys,
44:44
but our goal this year was
44:45
to forego the elite
44:47
CrossFit games and put our
44:49
full support behind all the
44:50
age groups and go to both
44:53
the pit and to legends.
44:55
We appreciate it.
44:56
When they put them on the same weekend,
44:58
we had to make a choice.
45:01
we're not big enough to go
45:01
to both yeah and so it's
45:05
not only affecting the
45:07
families and the athletes
45:08
it's affecting the media
45:09
coverage too instead of
45:10
having more people cover
45:12
both events people have to
45:14
make the choice yeah
45:17
And so we had to make the
45:19
choice that we're going to Legends,
45:22
and we're going to be there
45:22
doing a full
45:23
behind-the-scenes like you
45:25
see at the Elite CrossFit Games.
45:27
We wanted to do that for both,
45:30
but we're only going to be
45:30
able to do it for one this year.
45:33
And I just want to say I do
45:34
appreciate you are one of
45:36
the best at covering the
45:38
Masters and the age groups.
45:39
You always have stuff out there.
45:41
You're always covering
45:42
what's going on in the Masters,
45:43
and I really appreciate that.
45:44
So thank you.
45:45
Well, it helps that I am a master.
45:48
I've been in the master's division myself.
45:51
And my co-host, Jamie Latimer,
45:53
is competing as well in the
45:55
40- to 44-year-old division.
45:58
So we had to go that way to
46:00
support her as well.
46:02
But it's going to be a blast.
46:03
I'll get to see Tony and Ashley.
46:05
Zoe, regretfully, I won't get to see you,
46:08
but good luck in Michigan.
46:11
I have a lot of friends up
46:12
there that run that Pit Teen Throwdown,
46:14
and they're amazing people,
46:16
and you're going to have a blast.
46:17
I know it.
46:18
So good luck.
46:19
Crush it.
46:20
I hope you have a great performance,
46:22
Ashley and Tony.
46:23
I'll see you in about six
46:25
weeks and hopefully get
46:26
some interviews with you
46:28
behind the scenes.
46:29
We would love it.
46:31
We would love it.
46:32
Thank you so much.
46:34
Maybe we'll catch some video
46:36
of Ashley watching Zoe from
46:39
behind the scenes.
46:40
It won't be hard to find.
46:43
Carolyn says best of luck to you all.
46:46
Thank you, Carolyn.
46:48
With that, everybody,
46:49
thank you so much for being here.
46:51
Shout out to CrossFit.
46:52
Let them know that this is a problem.
46:55
Let them hear your voices
46:56
because families should be
46:58
together and be able to
46:59
support each other through these events.
47:01
With that, everybody,
47:02
we'll see you next time on
47:04
the Clydesdale Media Podcast.
47:06
Bye, guys.