Latest / Clydesdale Media Podcast / Alex Gazan | Athletes of the 2024 CrossFit Games

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Alex Gazan | Athletes of the 2024 CrossFit Games · Clydesdale Media Podcast

• 0:08
  I
• 0:33
  What is going on, everybody?
• 0:34
  Welcome to the Clydesdale Media Podcast.
• 0:36
  We are live with none other
• 0:38
  than Alex Kazan.
• 0:39
  What's going on, Alex?
• 0:41
  I just woke up.
• 0:43
  Yeah, yeah.
• 0:44
  And you've got a great big
• 0:47
  blender full of smoothie.
• 0:49
  I do.
• 0:51
  It's breakfast.
• 0:51
  Easy breakfast.
• 0:53
  Yeah,
• 0:53
  we got to let you get your nutrition in.
• 0:57
  I'm not usually that hungry in the morning,
• 0:59
  so having a smoothie just
• 1:01
  makes it easier to get calories in.
• 1:06
  My nutrition coach wants me
• 1:07
  to eat breakfast right away,
• 1:08
  but it is so hard for me to
• 1:10
  get up and immediately eat.
• 1:14
  Nobody wants to stand over
• 1:15
  the stove at wake-up time.
• 1:19
  Agreed.
• 1:20
  Um, so we haven't talked in a while,
• 1:23
  so I'm going to go back to
• 1:24
  a couple of things from
• 1:25
  last year's games and then we'll,
• 1:27
  we'll kind of move forward through that.
• 1:28
  But, um, last year was kind of,
• 1:31
  you have the games as
• 1:32
  you're coming out party.
• 1:34
  Yeah, I think so.
• 1:36
  Yeah.
• 1:37
  You, you won most improved.
• 1:40
  Was, was that a surprise?
• 1:43
  Uh, to win most improved.
• 1:45
  Yeah.
• 1:45
  Yeah.
• 1:46
  I think, like,
• 1:48
  I didn't obviously know who else.
• 1:50
  I kind of forgot that was an award,
• 1:52
  to be honest.
• 1:54
  I know they did Rookie of the Year,
• 1:55
  and then when they, like,
• 1:57
  started talking about Most Improved,
• 1:58
  I was like, oh, yeah, like,
• 1:59
  I guess that makes sense.
• 2:00
  So, like, it didn't shock me because, like,
• 2:03
  crunching the numbers, like,
• 2:04
  that was a big jump.
• 2:05
  But, yeah,
• 2:06
  I kind of forgot that that was a thing.
• 2:08
  Do you display that at all,
• 2:11
  or is that something you
• 2:13
  just kind of have?
• 2:15
  I have the belt in my garage,
• 2:16
  so I have a little wall
• 2:18
  where I put my signs and little things.
• 2:21
  So it's in the garage.
• 2:23
  Cool.
• 2:24
  Yeah.
• 2:27
  So we talked to you at the
• 2:28
  games last year.
• 2:29
  You had just started working
• 2:30
  with Chris Henshaw.
• 2:32
  Are you still working with him today?
• 2:34
  Yeah, yeah.
• 2:35
  So he's still my guy.
• 2:37
  He does all my conditioning programming,
• 2:40
  so running, biking, swimming.
• 2:43
  all that good stuff.
• 2:45
  And he's actually coming to
• 2:46
  Vegas at the end of the month.
• 2:47
  So I'm excited to see him.
• 2:49
  Cool.
• 2:50
  So you finished the games in fifth place.
• 2:55
  I'm sure you had to sit down
• 2:56
  with Justin and Chris, probably both.
• 2:59
  What,
• 3:00
  what did you learn from that year at
• 3:02
  the games and what did,
• 3:04
  what did it change in your
• 3:06
  training going forward?
• 3:08
  Um, there was obviously, like,
• 3:10
  all your holes in competitions, like,
• 3:12
  they always get exposed, so, um,
• 3:14
  my Olympic lifting, so, like, my snatch,
• 3:16
  like, that was one we already knew,
• 3:17
  but just another reminder that, like,
• 3:20
  we have to keep working on it, like,
• 3:21
  super diligently, um, my running, I was,
• 3:24
  like, middle of the pack,
• 3:25
  and so that was another thing, like,
• 3:29
  we need to be on that, um, but yeah,
• 3:32
  it was really just, like, uh, I mean,
• 3:34
  as most competitions are,
• 3:35
  you just go through each event, you-
• 3:37
  figure out where you could do better,
• 3:38
  where you did well, what's working,
• 3:40
  what's not working.
• 3:42
  So for me,
• 3:43
  really just like getting more
• 3:44
  fit all around technique work,
• 3:48
  things like that.
• 3:50
  So running is monostructural.
• 3:52
  It's very different than
• 3:53
  everything else you do.
• 3:54
  Snatching is a strength movement and it's,
• 3:58
  it's in a group with things
• 4:00
  that you're really good at.
• 4:01
  Is it more frustrating that
• 4:03
  you can't get that or can't get the run?
• 4:07
  Well, now snatching, like, obviously,
• 4:09
  I didn't display it very
• 4:10
  well at West Coast.
• 4:12
  Now it's, like, becoming... Now, like,
• 4:14
  my physical capabilities are there.
• 4:16
  So now it's just rewiring my head to, like,
• 4:21
  believe it and rewiring my head to, like,
• 4:23
  execute it.
• 4:24
  So I'm not as frustrated with that.
• 4:27
  Like, I...
• 4:28
  I know it will click
• 4:29
  eventually and it's starting to.
• 4:32
  So just having patience there.
• 4:35
  The running is frustrating
• 4:36
  because it's one of those things like,
• 4:39
  like with a snatch,
• 4:41
  like I know I have the
• 4:42
  physical capability.
• 4:43
  So it's more just like, okay,
• 4:44
  you need to like figure out
• 4:46
  how to make it happen.
• 4:47
  With running, like obviously like,
• 4:51
  You do have a certain physical capability,
• 4:53
  but you can improve on it.
• 4:55
  And so I get frustrated not
• 4:56
  being better than I am where I'm at.
• 4:59
  You just always want to be
• 5:00
  better than you are because
• 5:01
  it's kind of a slower
• 5:04
  progress rate than I was hoping.
• 5:06
  But still grinding, still working on it.
• 5:12
  That's really fascinating because...
• 5:15
  So I came from like a
• 5:16
  powerlifting thing when I
• 5:17
  jumped into CrossFit,
• 5:18
  and the Olympic lifts were
• 5:20
  so hard for me.
• 5:21
  Yeah.
• 5:21
  And I wanted to power them.
• 5:23
  I didn't focus on the
• 5:25
  technique it took to get them done.
• 5:27
  And so it was so frustrating
• 5:28
  that as a strong person,
• 5:30
  I couldn't get the lifts right.
• 5:32
  Oh, I totally understand.
• 5:34
  I think for the longest time,
• 5:36
  I was so frustrated because
• 5:37
  I didn't understand –
• 5:40
  how to fix it.
• 5:41
  But like now I'm learning
• 5:43
  the technique enough that I
• 5:44
  know how to fix it.
• 5:44
  So like while my placement
• 5:46
  at West Coast wasn't great,
• 5:49
  like for that event,
• 5:51
  finishing it and also
• 5:52
  having misses and being able to like,
• 5:55
  okay, you missed it.
• 5:56
  What happened?
• 5:56
  Like fix it was really big
• 5:58
  in the sense of a couple of years ago,
• 6:00
  had I missed a lift,
• 6:02
  the whole train would have
• 6:04
  fell off and I probably
• 6:05
  would have missed like 10 more times.
• 6:08
  So that part's getting there.
• 6:11
  Are you to a point where the
• 6:13
  ladder is easier or a one rep max?
• 6:18
  Well, I don't know.
• 6:23
  They're probably equal at this point.
• 6:25
  The girls are just really good.
• 6:27
  Like snatching now,
• 6:28
  there's just so many girls
• 6:30
  that are so good that
• 6:33
  To be honest,
• 6:33
  I'd still probably be average on both.
• 6:36
  I can hit around 200 snatch now,
• 6:39
  but now the big girls are
• 6:41
  throwing around 220, 225.
• 6:43
  So that is definitely, I think,
• 6:47
  a movement in CrossFit that
• 6:48
  has grown significantly.
• 6:52
  But the good thing is you
• 6:54
  have some things that
• 6:56
  you're the best in the world at.
• 6:59
  Right.
• 6:59
  And,
• 6:59
  and those home runs can offset if you
• 7:02
  can just stay in that like upper third.
• 7:06
  Yeah.
• 7:07
  Yeah.
• 7:07
  Yeah.
• 7:07
  My hope is to like be in the upper third.
• 7:09
  Cause I think like I was
• 7:10
  always in the middle,
• 7:11
  like with like all these events.
• 7:13
  So like,
• 7:13
  I want to at least get like up a
• 7:16
  little bit more.
• 7:17
  Yeah.
• 7:19
  So, so you move into the off season,
• 7:22
  you immediately then get an
• 7:24
  invite to rogue.
• 7:26
  You go do that.
• 7:27
  You put on a show.
• 7:29
  With the deadlift.
• 7:32
  You won two events at that event there,
• 7:34
  right?
• 7:35
  Yes, sir.
• 7:35
  I won the deadlift and the
• 7:36
  back squatting event.
• 7:38
  Yeah.
• 7:39
  So did that give you
• 7:42
  confidence at all going
• 7:43
  into the offseason?
• 7:44
  Because at that point,
• 7:45
  you didn't really compete after that.
• 7:47
  Yeah, of course.
• 7:49
  Like, it's always, like,
• 7:51
  very confidence-boosting,
• 7:54
  placing that well in the
• 7:56
  best women in the world that are there.
• 7:58
  And, of course, like,
• 8:00
  I also take it with a grain
• 8:01
  of salt that Rogue is, like,
• 8:02
  my bread and butter,
• 8:03
  and it probably always will be.
• 8:04
  Like,
• 8:05
  their programming is very
• 8:06
  strength-biased and skill-biased, whereas,
• 8:09
  like,
• 8:09
  a competition like Wadapalooza is
• 8:10
  very straight-up CrossFit, you know?
• 8:12
  So...
• 8:15
  Yeah, definitely confidence.
• 8:16
  I had a lot more like little
• 8:18
  injuries and just like
• 8:21
  things that I didn't expect
• 8:22
  to deal with this offseason
• 8:24
  that I had to.
• 8:25
  So we had like all these
• 8:27
  plans of like diving
• 8:28
  straight first and all
• 8:29
  these things and we didn't
• 8:31
  quite get to the way we had hoped,
• 8:33
  but still was able to like
• 8:36
  hit a lot of things, which is nice.
• 8:39
  so was the injury the reason
• 8:42
  you didn't really do any of
• 8:43
  the competitions after
• 8:44
  rogue or was yeah yeah I
• 8:47
  just wanted to like train I
• 8:50
  um I had a bone bruise in
• 8:51
  my wrist I actually got it
• 8:53
  right like my first workout
• 8:55
  back from the games I
• 8:57
  developed it um and bone
• 9:00
  bruises are really slow to heal um
• 9:04
  especially in your wrists
• 9:05
  where there's not a lot of blood flow.
• 9:07
  And in CrossFit,
• 9:08
  you use your wrists for everything.
• 9:10
  So I just was teetering this
• 9:11
  line for so long where it would be, like,
• 9:14
  kind of getting better,
• 9:14
  and then I'd piss it off.
• 9:16
  It'd be kind of getting better,
• 9:17
  and then I'd piss it off, like,
• 9:18
  over and over and over.
• 9:19
  And I couldn't snatch, which was, like,
• 9:22
  the one thing that I really needed to do.
• 9:24
  So I was thankful that
• 9:26
  didn't show up at Rogue other than, like,
• 9:28
  the light barbell.
• 9:30
  So it kind of just, like...
• 9:32
  It took a long time.
• 9:33
  I think at the end of October,
• 9:35
  I finally was like, okay,
• 9:37
  I'm not going to do
• 9:38
  anything that pisses it off.
• 9:40
  So I actually gave it that time.
• 9:43
  But by the time it was
• 9:44
  actually getting better, I just was like,
• 9:46
  I don't want to compete.
• 9:47
  I want to train.
• 9:48
  Now we need to train.
• 9:50
  So that was kind of the
• 9:51
  reasoning behind that.
• 9:53
  So you went to water Palooza,
• 9:55
  even though you didn't
• 9:55
  compete and you just kind
• 9:57
  of hung out and you did
• 9:58
  some activations with Reebok.
• 9:59
  What was,
• 10:00
  what was that experience like
• 10:02
  being on the other side for once?
• 10:04
  Oh, my gosh.
• 10:05
  So exhausting.
• 10:07
  I thought I thought I
• 10:08
  literally thought it was
• 10:09
  going to be like a vacation and like fun.
• 10:12
  And it was fun.
• 10:13
  Don't get me wrong.
• 10:14
  But like I was zonked by the end of it.
• 10:17
  And I remember like Justin was like,
• 10:19
  make sure like training is
• 10:20
  a priority when you go.
• 10:21
  And I was like, yeah, like, no problem.
• 10:22
  Like, I'm going to have so much time.
• 10:24
  It's going to be easy.
• 10:25
  It was not.
• 10:27
  I was like so tired.
• 10:29
  And I think just like so
• 10:31
  much walking and like so
• 10:33
  much social engagement.
• 10:35
  It was like it was exhausting.
• 10:37
  It is.
• 10:39
  So I call Waterpalooza the
• 10:41
  CrossFit family reunion.
• 10:42
  Yeah.
• 10:43
  Everybody's there.
• 10:45
  Like,
• 10:45
  you can't walk more than four steps
• 10:47
  without seeing somebody you know.
• 10:48
  And I imagine that after
• 10:51
  your performance last year,
• 10:53
  everybody recognized you
• 10:54
  walking through the crowds
• 10:56
  at Waterpalooza.
• 10:58
  It was definitely really sweet.
• 11:00
  Like, I'll ask for a few pictures.
• 11:02
  And yeah, it was very sweet.
• 11:05
  but even with all that,
• 11:08
  it is such a sensory
• 11:10
  overload with the lights
• 11:12
  and the music and the, like,
• 11:13
  it's being in a,
• 11:14
  it's like being in a dance
• 11:15
  club for 48 hours straight.
• 11:18
  Yeah.
• 11:18
  The music is loud.
• 11:19
  I remember too, like at one point,
• 11:22
  like you're just trying to
• 11:22
  like find somewhere to
• 11:23
  escape it and you really can't.
• 11:27
  Not at all.
• 11:29
  Yeah.
• 11:29
  We, um,
• 11:31
  I didn't get there this year,
• 11:32
  and it's actually probably
• 11:33
  the best year to miss
• 11:34
  because of all the rain and
• 11:36
  stuff like that.
• 11:38
  Yeah.
• 11:39
  But, man, the last two years,
• 11:40
  I just remember how
• 11:41
  exhausted I was just watching the event.
• 11:44
  So I can't even imagine
• 11:46
  having to do activations
• 11:47
  and all that stuff on top
• 11:49
  of it and the obligations with Reebok.
• 11:52
  So you get through Waterpalooza.
• 11:55
  The season starts...
• 11:59
  was were you good to go
• 12:00
  everything wrist was good
• 12:02
  going into the open yeah
• 12:03
  yeah I felt relatively like
• 12:06
  healthy for sure and so
• 12:10
  what did you set any goals
• 12:11
  for this season uh for
• 12:14
  which part all of it all of
• 12:16
  it I mean yeah yeah like
• 12:19
  obviously you want to do
• 12:20
  better than you did last year so like
• 12:23
  the podium is and was definitely a goal.
• 12:27
  But also like something
• 12:29
  that's really important to me is like,
• 12:33
  not placing all my eggs in
• 12:36
  the basket of like that's
• 12:37
  my goal and if I don't get
• 12:38
  it then like I lost so
• 12:40
  obviously just like making
• 12:41
  improvements all around and
• 12:43
  this year it's gonna be
• 12:44
  harder like I think the
• 12:45
  field this year is um
• 12:48
  there's a lot of really
• 12:49
  good women and obviously we
• 12:50
  lost like there's people
• 12:51
  that aren't competing but
• 12:53
  there's also a lot of
• 12:54
  people that are that are
• 12:54
  really good so um yeah just
• 12:57
  staying in the fight that's that's it
• 13:00
  And when Tia comes back,
• 13:01
  it shakes up the whole top
• 13:03
  of the leaderboard.
• 13:04
  Yeah.
• 13:05
  I mean, like I,
• 13:07
  I like the most realistic thing is like,
• 13:09
  we're all fighting for second.
• 13:11
  Like, I mean,
• 13:12
  if it's anything that she
• 13:13
  displayed at semifinals,
• 13:15
  like she's back and she's
• 13:16
  back full throttle, you know,
• 13:19
  she won six championships for a reason.
• 13:21
  Right.
• 13:21
  Yeah.
• 13:22
  Yeah.
• 13:23
  But it,
• 13:27
  I'm one of the few people
• 13:29
  that don't believe in absolutes, right?
• 13:31
  Sports is sports for a reason.
• 13:33
  We watch it for the drama,
• 13:35
  and anything can happen.
• 13:36
  Oh, for sure, for sure.
• 13:38
  But I just mean in the sense
• 13:39
  of if she's healthy and
• 13:41
  nothing horrific happens,
• 13:44
  if semifinals was any indication,
• 13:47
  she's back.
• 13:49
  At Rogue,
• 13:50
  I feel like she had a couple
• 13:51
  events where you could tell
• 13:53
  she was still training it back up.
• 13:56
  um like the back squats like
• 13:57
  I feel like in the past
• 13:58
  like she would have like
• 13:59
  not had to belt up so much
• 14:01
  and like just went faster
• 14:03
  but like you could tell she
• 14:04
  was being a little cautious
• 14:05
  and the deadlift like she
• 14:07
  wasn't wearing a belt again
• 14:08
  like a little more cautious
• 14:11
  but like I don't know just
• 14:13
  seeing her compete at the
• 14:14
  east like you could tell
• 14:16
  she was like ready like she
• 14:17
  was there yeah yeah I was
• 14:20
  at the east this year it
• 14:22
  was it was pretty impressive to watch
• 14:24
  Yeah.
• 14:25
  But enough about her.
• 14:27
  I'm going to come back to you.
• 14:28
  And kind of like something
• 14:30
  overarching with the sport.
• 14:32
  One thing that I've always
• 14:33
  admired with you is your
• 14:36
  work-life balance.
• 14:38
  Your work is training and
• 14:40
  getting ready for the games
• 14:41
  and competing in CrossFit.
• 14:43
  But you have such a good balance.
• 14:45
  And we're seeing so many
• 14:46
  cases where young women are
• 14:49
  having to take a step back
• 14:50
  from the sport.
• 14:51
  And we just found out this
• 14:52
  week that Emma Lawson
• 14:54
  almost didn't compete this year,
• 14:57
  according to her coach in
• 14:59
  his YouTube blog.
• 15:00
  Sorry, say that one more time.
• 15:02
  I'm sorry.
• 15:03
  So we learned this week that
• 15:04
  Emma Lawson almost didn't
• 15:06
  compete because of some stuff going on,
• 15:11
  like burnout and the mental
• 15:13
  struggle of all that,
• 15:15
  according to her coach in
• 15:16
  his YouTube blog.
• 15:18
  Yeah.
• 15:19
  So...
• 15:21
  is do you make a concerted
• 15:23
  effort with that work-life
• 15:25
  balance or do you do you
• 15:26
  feel that as well even with
• 15:28
  all that yeah I mean it's a
• 15:32
  hard sport I think like as
• 15:35
  a spectator especially like
• 15:37
  I used like I watched the
• 15:38
  crossfit games a couple
• 15:40
  years before I made it like
• 15:42
  I was there and
• 15:44
  I didn't follow like a training regimen.
• 15:46
  I just kind of like did what I wanted.
• 15:50
  It's really easy to like
• 15:52
  glamorize the life of a CrossFit athlete.
• 15:54
  And I was really guilty of it as well.
• 15:56
  Like you just see Instagram
• 15:58
  and you're like, wow,
• 15:58
  like that's like the most perfect life.
• 16:00
  Like you get paid to train
• 16:03
  and like work out and
• 16:05
  compete and all eyes are on you.
• 16:06
  Like, but like the, once you get,
• 16:11
  I feel like for me, like,
• 16:13
  this last year,
• 16:14
  like once you get to a certain level,
• 16:16
  you're no longer,
• 16:17
  it doesn't quite feel like
• 16:18
  you're climbing this mountain.
• 16:20
  It feels like other people
• 16:21
  are trying to drag you off the mountain.
• 16:26
  And I'm not even like the
• 16:28
  fittest on earth.
• 16:28
  Like I'm fit and I feel that way.
• 16:30
  So like I can imagine like
• 16:33
  Emma being on the podium a
• 16:34
  couple of times,
• 16:35
  like people just expect things of you.
• 16:38
  They expect you to be the best.
• 16:40
  And of course that's what you want too.
• 16:42
  but you can't control other
• 16:43
  people and training's hard.
• 16:46
  It's, it's not easy,
• 16:47
  especially like when you're
• 16:48
  sore and you want to go to
• 16:51
  a lake day with your friends,
• 16:52
  but you can't because you
• 16:54
  have three sessions you
• 16:55
  have to do and you're not
• 16:56
  going to be done by the time they leave.
• 16:58
  Like, it's definitely like, for me,
• 17:02
  the hardest part is like with my husband,
• 17:03
  like we don't,
• 17:05
  we used to do so much
• 17:06
  together on like the weekends.
• 17:08
  Like we'd go camping.
• 17:09
  We would,
• 17:10
  Like,
• 17:11
  we just would fly by the seat of our
• 17:12
  pants and, like, do all this fun stuff.
• 17:14
  And, like, now we can't.
• 17:17
  We have one day together,
• 17:18
  and I'm too tired.
• 17:21
  Like,
• 17:21
  I can't go on a hike because I don't
• 17:23
  want to exert any extra energy.
• 17:24
  And it's, like, real talk.
• 17:27
  Like,
• 17:29
  it's difficult because then you don't
• 17:30
  have those, like, things to bond over.
• 17:34
  CrossFit's really selfish.
• 17:36
  Like...
• 17:37
  there's just, it's,
• 17:38
  you have to do all the
• 17:39
  things you have to do.
• 17:40
  And yeah, it's definitely difficult.
• 17:43
  So this year,
• 17:44
  like I have caught myself
• 17:47
  feeling a lot of those feelings sometimes,
• 17:49
  but then like, for me,
• 17:50
  what always grounds me is like,
• 17:52
  you just have to do what you can do.
• 17:54
  And at the end of the day, like,
• 17:57
  you have to be okay with
• 17:59
  whatever that ends up being.
• 18:00
  And as long as you're stay
• 18:02
  true to who you are and to
• 18:03
  the people around you, then like,
• 18:04
  it's all going to be okay.
• 18:06
  Like I was,
• 18:07
  I had people that loved me
• 18:09
  before I did well in CrossFit.
• 18:10
  And as long as I stay true to myself,
• 18:13
  I'll have people that love
• 18:14
  me after CrossFit.
• 18:16
  So.
• 18:18
  is it, is it good for you that,
• 18:20
  that Jake isn't really a
• 18:21
  part of CrossFit?
• 18:23
  Like he's just your husband, your fan,
• 18:26
  or is, is,
• 18:28
  does that make it more
• 18:29
  difficult because you have
• 18:32
  this other thing you have
• 18:33
  to give so much attention to?
• 18:35
  No,
• 18:36
  I think like both ways would have their
• 18:38
  advantages and their cons.
• 18:39
  Like if he was a CrossFit games athlete,
• 18:41
  I guess he would also like
• 18:43
  just be in the same boat with me.
• 18:44
  Right.
• 18:45
  Like he would like,
• 18:46
  we would just be doing the
• 18:47
  same things and it'd be fun.
• 18:49
  And we used to work out
• 18:50
  together all the time.
• 18:51
  So I missed that a lot.
• 18:53
  That was how we met and like
• 18:54
  started dating was we would
• 18:55
  work out together at CrossFit.
• 18:57
  And so I'm really looking
• 18:59
  forward to that after I'm
• 19:00
  done competing is like
• 19:02
  going to classes again with him.
• 19:03
  And, but anyway, the way it is now, like,
• 19:06
  obviously it is nice,
• 19:08
  like for like job security,
• 19:10
  he has a different job and that's good.
• 19:14
  And like, he,
• 19:17
  he like has the ability to
• 19:19
  help take care of things
• 19:20
  that I just can't.
• 19:21
  But yeah, I just miss him.
• 19:24
  I miss like the quality time and his job.
• 19:26
  He works long in California.
• 19:29
  So we're,
• 19:30
  we do long distance during this
• 19:31
  part of the year,
• 19:32
  which part of it's good
• 19:34
  because I'm so busy with
• 19:35
  training and it helps me
• 19:37
  not feel pressure to like rush around,
• 19:40
  but it also sucks because
• 19:42
  then I'm training all day
• 19:43
  and I come home and I'm alone.
• 19:46
  So like,
• 19:47
  definitely pros and cons.
• 19:51
  So we'll,
• 19:51
  we'll come back to Jake in a second.
• 19:53
  But with that,
• 19:55
  I know that you and Justin
• 19:56
  have a really tight
• 19:56
  relationship and his whole family, right?
• 19:59
  Like I see,
• 20:01
  I see Instagram posts with you
• 20:02
  and Ivy and you and Jax and
• 20:05
  all of that stuff.
• 20:07
  How important is it for you
• 20:08
  to have a coach that, that is,
• 20:12
  that takes that more family
• 20:13
  approach to things?
• 20:16
  Well, to be honest, Justin's my only, like,
• 20:18
  coach, like, actual coach I've ever had.
• 20:21
  Like, obviously, I've had, like,
• 20:23
  coaches doing class at CrossFit, but,
• 20:26
  like, as far as, like, my coach, like,
• 20:29
  he was my first one,
• 20:30
  and obviously he set the bar really high.
• 20:34
  And so I guess it's just all
• 20:36
  I've ever known, like...
• 20:39
  I don't know what it would
• 20:40
  be like to have a coach
• 20:41
  that's not like that.
• 20:42
  And especially for me being in Vegas, like,
• 20:44
  where I don't have my family here,
• 20:48
  it is really nice because
• 20:50
  they are family.
• 20:51
  And, like,
• 20:52
  I just spent the day at the pool
• 20:54
  with Ashley and Ivy and my
• 20:56
  friend the other day.
• 20:57
  And, yeah,
• 20:59
  it's very nice because then I know, like,
• 21:01
  I have people in my corner
• 21:03
  outside of the gym.
• 21:04
  And it's very sweet.
• 21:06
  And it goes both ways.
• 21:07
  I mean,
• 21:08
  they moved and needed a place to
• 21:10
  stay and you gave them that
• 21:12
  place to stay during their move.
• 21:14
  Oh yeah.
• 21:14
  Yeah.
• 21:15
  That was fun.
• 21:16
  That was a good time.
• 21:18
  So it's cool that you guys
• 21:20
  have that relationship because,
• 21:22
  because a lot of the people
• 21:23
  only see Justin as the guy
• 21:25
  yelling on the sidelines.
• 21:27
  Right.
• 21:27
  And, and away from the competition floor,
• 21:31
  he's so laid back.
• 21:33
  And so, right.
• 21:35
  yeah yeah he definitely like
• 21:37
  in the CrossFit world like
• 21:38
  he he's just old school
• 21:40
  like he he calls it how it
• 21:43
  is he gets excited when
• 21:44
  it's good he gets pissed
• 21:45
  when it's not and it's just
• 21:46
  like very black and white
• 21:48
  and um I think for a long time like
• 21:53
  I didn't quite experience
• 21:54
  that as much because I was just like,
• 21:57
  I made the games and like,
• 22:01
  I was kind of like,
• 22:02
  but now it's like full throttle.
• 22:03
  Cause he's just so excited.
• 22:05
  And yeah, it's, he's awesome.
• 22:08
  It's really great.
• 22:10
  The other thing is,
• 22:11
  is he's brutally honest and
• 22:12
  he is so honest about how
• 22:15
  he feels that you can
• 22:17
  become a bulletproof
• 22:18
  athlete and that you could
• 22:20
  win the game someday when
• 22:22
  someone believes in you that much.
• 22:26
  Is there pressure with that
• 22:27
  or do you just soak it in
• 22:29
  as someone that actually is?
• 22:30
  It's cool that someone believes in me.
• 22:33
  both like of course there's
• 22:34
  pressure that comes with it
• 22:36
  because like he's invested
• 22:38
  so much time into me and he
• 22:40
  like you never want that to
• 22:42
  be for like nothing you
• 22:43
  know like you want him to
• 22:46
  also see the fruits of that
• 22:47
  labor and make him proud in
• 22:50
  that sense so yeah
• 22:53
  definitely both for sure for sure
• 22:58
  Yeah, and you say your family's in here.
• 23:02
  They're back in Oregon still, right?
• 23:04
  Yeah.
• 23:05
  Do you get to go back and
• 23:07
  see them much these days?
• 23:08
  Usually after competition.
• 23:10
  So I went after semifinals for a few days,
• 23:13
  and that was really nice.
• 23:14
  I ended up getting sick,
• 23:15
  which was a bummer.
• 23:18
  But usually after the games,
• 23:20
  I spent a couple weeks there.
• 23:22
  So not as much as I'd like,
• 23:24
  but I do get to see them.
• 23:28
  Do you miss Oregon at all?
• 23:30
  I miss the summertime there.
• 23:31
  I love the summer.
• 23:32
  There's like so many fun things to do.
• 23:35
  There's lots of like rivers
• 23:37
  and waterfall hikes and
• 23:40
  just like fun things.
• 23:42
  And here in the summer,
• 23:43
  it's like it's like a Minnesota winter.
• 23:46
  Like you're like hibernating
• 23:48
  because it's so hot out.
• 23:51
  So I definitely like best of
• 23:54
  both worlds would be nice.
• 23:55
  But yeah.
• 23:57
  So the Vegas summer is going to be hot.
• 24:02
  The Texas summer is going to be hot.
• 24:04
  Do you think that you're
• 24:06
  better prepared training in
• 24:08
  the heat in Vegas now in
• 24:10
  case there are outdoor
• 24:11
  events in Fort Worth?
• 24:14
  I mean, yeah, I think like physiologically,
• 24:18
  like there is that heat acclimation part,
• 24:22
  which I would hope that I'm ready for,
• 24:25
  but...
• 24:26
  Also, at the end of the day,
• 24:27
  I think a lot of it is just, like,
• 24:31
  not mental toughness,
• 24:32
  but you're more
• 24:34
  understanding of how it feels and how to,
• 24:37
  like,
• 24:37
  regulate your paces and what you're
• 24:40
  doing to accommodate for it.
• 24:43
  But I'm really curious.
• 24:45
  I'm not sure how many events
• 24:47
  they're going to pull off
• 24:47
  outside unless they wake us
• 24:49
  up at like 3 a.m.
• 24:50
  I don't know if you have
• 24:51
  thoughts about that,
• 24:52
  but I think they would have
• 24:54
  to do some crazy things to
• 24:56
  make it happen.
• 24:57
  And I just feel like that
• 24:58
  takes away from the show of it all.
• 25:04
  So I think there's probably
• 25:06
  going to be a run.
• 25:08
  there's a trail right beside the arena.
• 25:10
  And that just,
• 25:11
  it just seems to make sense.
• 25:13
  Yeah.
• 25:14
  I think there's,
• 25:15
  there's a pool close to the arena.
• 25:16
  Yeah.
• 25:18
  Because that's not like temperature.
• 25:21
  Correct.
• 25:23
  The only thing I think that
• 25:24
  could happen other than
• 25:25
  those two things are
• 25:27
  CrossFit always embraces
• 25:29
  the locale that they do it.
• 25:31
  And one big thing in Texas
• 25:33
  is Friday night football.
• 25:36
  So I, it, it would,
• 25:39
  kind of be smart or not to
• 25:41
  embrace that I could see
• 25:43
  them taking you to like a
• 25:44
  football stadium on a
• 25:46
  Friday night under the
• 25:47
  lights to do something just
• 25:51
  to like honor the Texas
• 25:53
  football tradition that'd
• 25:55
  be cool I've always thought
• 25:57
  that a really cool test
• 25:59
  would be a beep test like
• 26:00
  just a running beep test on
• 26:02
  a field with everybody yeah
• 26:07
  And you can even do like
• 26:08
  football type drills on a football field,
• 26:11
  right?
• 26:11
  Because if it's sprinty,
• 26:13
  then you don't have to
• 26:14
  really worry about the heat as much.
• 26:16
  Yeah, that's true.
• 26:18
  Right?
• 26:18
  Like a 40-yard dash and a
• 26:20
  vertical jump and just
• 26:22
  weird stuff like that.
• 26:24
  Yep.
• 26:25
  I don't know.
• 26:26
  They used to do that like in 11 and 12.
• 26:28
  Yeah.
• 26:28
  I don't know if they'd go
• 26:30
  back to doing that again.
• 26:31
  I'm not sure.
• 26:34
  but I think it'd be cool to
• 26:37
  do it in a football stadium.
• 26:38
  And there's a couple of them
• 26:39
  around the arena.
• 26:39
  Yeah, that would be cool.
• 26:43
  So those are my only thoughts with that.
• 26:45
  But I want to talk about,
• 26:47
  I watched the behind the
• 26:48
  scenes that Savan did from
• 26:51
  West Coast the first day
• 26:52
  released last night.
• 26:53
  Oh, cool.
• 26:54
  I'll have to watch it.
• 26:55
  I hurried up and watched it
• 26:56
  this morning so that if you were in it,
• 26:58
  I could address that.
• 26:59
  But you're in a lot of the
• 27:01
  very beginning of it.
• 27:02
  Okay.
• 27:03
  Okay.
• 27:03
  Where you're walking the run path.
• 27:07
  Oh, yeah, yeah.
• 27:08
  And he's asking you
• 27:09
  questions about the berm
• 27:12
  and all of those things.
• 27:15
  In that video,
• 27:16
  you were very excited about
• 27:17
  running the berm.
• 27:19
  And then they took it out.
• 27:21
  Were you disappointed with that?
• 27:23
  Oh yeah, of course.
• 27:24
  I thought, well, for multiple reasons.
• 27:26
  One, I like, I want to like,
• 27:27
  it's so iconic, right?
• 27:29
  Like the berm is like what
• 27:32
  CrossFit did when it was in Carson.
• 27:34
  And, um,
• 27:34
  so it would have been cool to
• 27:36
  experience that the same
• 27:37
  way that they did.
• 27:38
  Um,
• 27:39
  and then just for the sake of the event,
• 27:41
  like I tend to fare better
• 27:44
  when things are harder and
• 27:45
  more complicated.
• 27:46
  And, um,
• 27:48
  people tend to get weak and
• 27:49
  like give up on things like
• 27:51
  a double set of stairs and
• 27:53
  another hill and um I just
• 27:55
  think that would have fared
• 27:56
  a little better for me um
• 27:58
  but that's okay it is what
• 27:59
  it is and so my question to
• 28:04
  you you've been working
• 28:05
  with hinshaw right that is
• 28:07
  a long run yeah um
• 28:10
  did you feel the difference
• 28:12
  after the six or seven months you've been,
• 28:15
  it's actually been longer than that,
• 28:16
  I guess now, uh,
• 28:17
  10 months you've been with Chris.
• 28:19
  I think like my awareness
• 28:22
  with myself with running is a lot better.
• 28:25
  Like I can feel what I'm doing better.
• 28:27
  My technique's a little better.
• 28:28
  Um,
• 28:29
  I understand like my pacing a little
• 28:32
  better.
• 28:32
  Um, but we still have work to do.
• 28:34
  Like my,
• 28:35
  just my capacity is just not where
• 28:38
  we want it to be yet.
• 28:40
  When you're in one of your events,
• 28:42
  like event three, right,
• 28:46
  that you know that you're
• 28:47
  the best in the world at legless, right,
• 28:50
  and you attack that workout
• 28:53
  because you know that's yours,
• 28:55
  do you think you'll ever
• 28:56
  get to a point where a
• 28:58
  running workout you can attack?
• 29:00
  Yeah, that's the goal with everything,
• 29:02
  right?
• 29:02
  Like, if you want to get to a place where,
• 29:05
  like,
• 29:06
  the programming doesn't
• 29:07
  matter and you're just
• 29:09
  excited for all of it equally.
• 29:10
  And obviously there's going
• 29:12
  to be things that like
• 29:13
  you're more happy about than others.
• 29:15
  But like,
• 29:17
  I want to get to the point where like,
• 29:18
  I'm not even thinking about my placement,
• 29:21
  you know, like I just know it'll be good.
• 29:24
  Yeah.
• 29:24
  Yeah.
• 29:26
  Cause nobody wants to navigate a workout.
• 29:28
  You want to attack the workout.
• 29:29
  Totally.
• 29:30
  Totally.
• 29:31
  Um, so, so you go into that weekend and I,
• 29:35
  and I asked about goals and,
• 29:37
  and I wanted to follow up here.
• 29:39
  Your goals are to be better
• 29:41
  at the CrossFit games.
• 29:43
  Last year you won the West semi.
• 29:47
  Is that important to you still?
• 29:50
  Or does that not matter
• 29:51
  because it's not really the end goal?
• 29:55
  I was butthurt.
• 29:55
  Yeah.
• 29:58
  Uh, Justin was too,
• 30:00
  not in the sense of like, yeah,
• 30:01
  you're right.
• 30:01
  It doesn't matter.
• 30:02
  It's not the CrossFit games, but like,
• 30:06
  it was more in the sense of like,
• 30:07
  I had the capacity.
• 30:08
  It's like when you,
• 30:09
  when you know you have the
• 30:10
  ability to do something and
• 30:12
  you fail to do it, then like,
• 30:15
  I feel like it's okay to be upset.
• 30:17
  If you, if I was out there and I was like,
• 30:21
  I didn't get 350 on the
• 30:23
  snatch event and Olivia got 358.
• 30:26
  Like that's not realistic.
• 30:27
  That's not fair to be upset about.
• 30:29
  Like that's just not, not fair.
• 30:33
  But like for me,
• 30:34
  like I know that like I had
• 30:36
  the physical capability to
• 30:37
  do better on the snatch event than I did,
• 30:39
  but I allowed my mental
• 30:41
  block to get in the way.
• 30:43
  And so therefore like my
• 30:44
  placement was bad.
• 30:45
  That pulled me pretty much
• 30:48
  completely out of the pocket to win and,
• 30:51
  Um, and so like,
• 30:53
  it sucks when you know that just like,
• 30:55
  it was yours to lose and you lost it,
• 30:57
  essentially.
• 30:58
  And of course,
• 30:59
  I'm not taking anything away from Abby.
• 31:01
  I think she's a phenomenal athlete.
• 31:02
  Like, she was very consistent all weekend.
• 31:06
  But like,
• 31:08
  I also like I beat her in four of
• 31:09
  six events, you know, like, I just like,
• 31:12
  I happened to suck at one and
• 31:15
  that pulled me out which it
• 31:16
  is what it is so we were
• 31:17
  about her but like it's
• 31:20
  what second place is what I
• 31:21
  earned and just gonna use
• 31:23
  that for motivation you
• 31:24
  know it's funny because you
• 31:28
  and and you and abby are so
• 31:29
  different right like you
• 31:31
  have these home runs that
• 31:32
  you're gonna win and but
• 31:35
  with that comes the snatch
• 31:37
  ladder right where abby
• 31:39
  just was like even keel the
• 31:40
  whole weekend and
• 31:44
  And this,
• 31:44
  this is no disrespect to you at all.
• 31:47
  I was watching the event and it was the,
• 31:50
  both you and Abby were the
• 31:51
  quietest podium I'd ever seen.
• 31:53
  And you won two events.
• 31:56
  And I think it's because the,
• 31:58
  the bubble to qualify was
• 32:00
  so was changing every event.
• 32:02
  Yeah.
• 32:04
  that that's where all the
• 32:05
  attention went for the spectator.
• 32:08
  Yeah.
• 32:09
  Yeah.
• 32:12
  I remember watching like,
• 32:13
  cause it's always good to
• 32:15
  like go back and watch your
• 32:16
  events and like try to learn things.
• 32:18
  And I remember like,
• 32:20
  the last one I was like oh
• 32:23
  you can't even see me which
• 32:24
  is fine but like you're
• 32:25
  right like the attention
• 32:26
  was on the qualifiers which
• 32:28
  it's part of the show and
• 32:29
  hopefully that makes more
• 32:30
  people engaged and um yeah
• 32:33
  I know what you're saying
• 32:34
  which is insane because you
• 32:35
  won the event and we never
• 32:36
  saw you on screen I know
• 32:39
  but they showed me at the
• 32:41
  end lunging that's okay yeah it just it's
• 32:45
  I have lots to say about the
• 32:47
  media coverage of the events.
• 32:52
  They did do a couple of cool things.
• 32:53
  So I don't want to the,
• 32:54
  the rig cameras that they
• 32:55
  put in this year.
• 32:56
  Oh, I didn't see that.
• 32:59
  So like when you guys were
• 33:00
  on a row or a bike,
• 33:02
  they had cameras on the rig
• 33:05
  that they could with a remote control,
• 33:09
  like look down and pan over
• 33:11
  you guys from above.
• 33:13
  Oh, that's cool.
• 33:15
  And so it gave like a three
• 33:16
  shot instead of a one shot,
• 33:19
  which was way better than
• 33:20
  things they've done in the past.
• 33:22
  Yeah, it was really funny.
• 33:23
  I remember Adrian Conway is
• 33:25
  such a nice commentator.
• 33:28
  I remember.
• 33:30
  So I watched the snatch
• 33:30
  letter back and I don't
• 33:32
  think you could have said
• 33:33
  this any nicer of a way.
• 33:37
  essentially saying that I
• 33:38
  suck at snatching.
• 33:39
  He was like, not verbatim,
• 33:41
  but like close enough.
• 33:42
  He was like, you know,
• 33:44
  Alex is one of the
• 33:45
  strongest athletes in the game.
• 33:47
  And like you see in her
• 33:48
  clean and jerk and the
• 33:49
  deadlift and her bench press,
• 33:51
  the snatch is just such a
• 33:52
  technical movement that
• 33:53
  she's still working on mastering.
• 33:56
  And it was so good.
• 33:57
  I was like, thanks, Adrian.
• 33:59
  That's like the nicest way
• 34:00
  to tell me I suck.
• 34:02
  So the exact opposite of Justin.
• 34:04
  Oh, yeah.
• 34:06
  Yeah, I mean, he knows.
• 34:09
  We all know.
• 34:10
  Words didn't even really
• 34:13
  need to be said after that one.
• 34:17
  Speaking of media coverage,
• 34:19
  a couple times this year while watching,
• 34:21
  cameramen got in the way or
• 34:24
  they kicked the riser out
• 34:26
  from underneath trying to get a close-up.
• 34:29
  Have you ever had a
• 34:30
  cameraman get in your way on the floor?
• 34:32
  No, I don't pay attention.
• 34:36
  Yeah,
• 34:37
  this was like he almost tripped over
• 34:40
  the riser right in front of the athlete.
• 34:42
  Yeah, that's on them.
• 34:44
  They got to do a little better.
• 34:45
  Yeah, that was in Europe,
• 34:47
  so it didn't affect you.
• 34:47
  But wow, I was just like, man,
• 34:50
  don't you have a zoom on
• 34:51
  that lens where you don't
• 34:52
  have to be that close?
• 34:54
  Yeah, yeah, that's rough.
• 34:57
  So you finished the weekend, two wins,
• 35:00
  your butt hurt.
• 35:01
  Do you use that chip then to move forward?
• 35:04
  Do you need a chip?
• 35:07
  I don't need a chip on my
• 35:09
  shoulder just like
• 35:10
  obviously reminds you that
• 35:12
  like nothing is guaranteed
• 35:14
  so you gotta like you just
• 35:16
  have to show up you have to
• 35:17
  do your shit and like again
• 35:21
  this is like nothing to Abby but like
• 35:25
  I'm thinking about so many other athletes,
• 35:28
  too, that I'm competing against,
• 35:30
  not just Abby.
• 35:33
  The Games is different.
• 35:34
  The Games is 12 events,
• 35:36
  and a fifth place at
• 35:38
  semifinals is going to be a
• 35:41
  15th at the Games.
• 35:44
  And hopefully my first
• 35:45
  places will still be first,
• 35:47
  if not top five.
• 35:49
  So, like, the games is just different.
• 35:51
  It's a different animal entirely.
• 35:53
  And you can't... Like, for example,
• 35:55
  Arielle at semifinals last
• 35:57
  year got third.
• 35:58
  And then she got third at the games,
• 36:00
  you know?
• 36:01
  And...
• 36:04
  Laura got second at
• 36:05
  semifinals and then won the
• 36:07
  game so as much as like you
• 36:10
  want to carry all that into
• 36:11
  the games like you can but
• 36:13
  it's just different it's a
• 36:14
  different thing entirely.
• 36:17
  The one thing I had to learn
• 36:17
  as an analyst is you can't
• 36:20
  put a ton of weight into semis.
• 36:22
  Yeah.
• 36:23
  You just, because it's just a different,
• 36:25
  it's a different event.
• 36:26
  Yeah.
• 36:27
  And early on when I started this,
• 36:29
  I put way too much weight
• 36:30
  on it and made my
• 36:31
  predictions based on it.
• 36:33
  And they were always wrong.
• 36:35
  Yeah, no, it's true.
• 36:36
  Especially because in semifinals,
• 36:38
  it's really hard to test
• 36:40
  everything because you have six events.
• 36:43
  And there's always going to
• 36:45
  be something that's missed
• 36:46
  that is a big shifter.
• 36:48
  So, like, we had no handstand pushups.
• 36:50
  And handstand pushups can be
• 36:53
  a huge change for people.
• 36:56
  Or we didn't have, like...
• 37:00
  Burpees, thrusters, wall balls.
• 37:03
  There's so many movements
• 37:04
  that we didn't have that
• 37:06
  could change things up.
• 37:07
  So I agree.
• 37:09
  It's easy to feel like you
• 37:11
  have all the answers after semis,
• 37:13
  but there's so much more.
• 37:16
  The other thing is...
• 37:19
  you, you,
• 37:20
  you have a deeper field at the
• 37:21
  games that can mess, that can middle,
• 37:24
  you know,
• 37:25
  that someone's just good at this
• 37:27
  one thing.
• 37:27
  And they middle between you
• 37:30
  and Abby at the games.
• 37:32
  And now all of a sudden your
• 37:33
  lead on that win gets bigger.
• 37:34
  That's what I was saying about like,
• 37:37
  like I got a third on event two,
• 37:43
  but at the games,
• 37:44
  I'd probably be like 10th, 11th,
• 37:47
  you know?
• 37:49
  Um,
• 37:50
  if you get fifth, it might be like 15th.
• 37:52
  Like, cause you just, like you said,
• 37:53
  there's so many athletes
• 37:54
  that are so good that it
• 37:57
  just messes messes with stuff.
• 37:59
  So even when you look at Tia
• 38:01
  winning five events in the East,
• 38:03
  there were times faster
• 38:04
  than her on some of those
• 38:06
  events that she wouldn't
• 38:08
  win at the games.
• 38:10
  Right.
• 38:13
  Laura would have beat her on two events.
• 38:15
  I got her.
• 38:15
  Yeah.
• 38:15
  Yeah.
• 38:17
  So like as, as, as dominant as that looked,
• 38:21
  if the full fields there,
• 38:22
  she still would have been
• 38:25
  so dominant though.
• 38:26
  Cause all of her scores would have been,
• 38:28
  I'm trying to give you like, no,
• 38:30
  it's okay.
• 38:31
  I, I'm a, I'm a very, um,
• 38:35
  really like I don't sugarcoat shit.
• 38:37
  Like I,
• 38:38
  I don't like to go in with a false
• 38:42
  reality.
• 38:42
  And I know that,
• 38:45
  She's just on a different level.
• 38:48
  And, like,
• 38:48
  I'm not saying people can't be
• 38:49
  good and can't beat her in events.
• 38:51
  That's not what I'm saying.
• 38:51
  Like,
• 38:52
  I'm not counting myself out of events.
• 38:54
  But, like, as a whole, like,
• 38:57
  she's just where she's at.
• 38:58
  And I'm not there yet.
• 38:59
  Like, I'm not.
• 39:00
  And I'd love to be.
• 39:01
  And hopefully I can be.
• 39:03
  She's never going to have a 23rd.
• 39:06
  That's the problem.
• 39:07
  Yeah.
• 39:08
  Here's my problem is early on this season.
• 39:10
  I did not pick her to win the games in the,
• 39:13
  in the spin poll.
• 39:14
  Like I didn't have her
• 39:15
  ranked first and now I'm
• 39:17
  just hanging on to that
• 39:19
  prediction when I probably shouldn't.
• 39:22
  Who did you put first, Laura?
• 39:25
  I did not.
• 39:25
  I actually had Emma Lawson first.
• 39:27
  Oh, Emma's really good.
• 39:29
  She's very good.
• 39:31
  Yeah.
• 39:31
  I mean,
• 39:32
  she took second last year and she's
• 39:34
  young and still has that room to grow.
• 39:37
  Now,
• 39:38
  the news coming out this week doesn't
• 39:39
  make me feel solid in that pick now.
• 39:42
  Yeah,
• 39:42
  but maybe her coach getting on top of
• 39:45
  it now,
• 39:46
  the fact that she did do semis is
• 39:48
  a good sign.
• 39:48
  And that's a very,
• 39:51
  I don't know if you've had
• 39:52
  the opportunity to actually
• 39:53
  speak with her,
• 39:55
  but she's so mature and she's so kind and
• 40:00
  Like, you can tell she really, like,
• 40:02
  every time I've ever talked to her, like,
• 40:04
  I never got this sense of, like, oh,
• 40:07
  I'm just a CrossFit athlete, you know,
• 40:09
  and, like, I'm the best.
• 40:11
  Like,
• 40:12
  she just was so humble and sweet and
• 40:14
  kind.
• 40:15
  And, like,
• 40:17
  I guess my whole point of saying that is,
• 40:19
  like,
• 40:19
  if her coach recognizes that she's
• 40:20
  feeling a certain way, like,
• 40:23
  I would imagine that if any, like,
• 40:25
  duo could get through that,
• 40:27
  I would imagine it would be them.
• 40:31
  I notice that you're on social media,
• 40:34
  but you're not there all the time.
• 40:38
  I don't see a post a day.
• 40:39
  Other athletes,
• 40:40
  I do see that all the time.
• 40:42
  Yeah.
• 40:43
  I actually need to get better.
• 40:45
  It's hard.
• 40:50
  Making money as a CrossFit
• 40:51
  Games athlete means being a
• 40:52
  full-time athlete,
• 40:54
  a full-time social media person, and...
• 40:59
  it does not come naturally to me.
• 41:01
  So we're working on it.
• 41:03
  So let me throw this.
• 41:04
  I,
• 41:05
  cause I've seen you in the chats on kill
• 41:07
  Taylor.
• 41:10
  There are these things
• 41:11
  coming up now where like
• 41:13
  people are getting the
• 41:14
  opportunity to make money by competing,
• 41:17
  not by being an influencer or,
• 41:20
  Win prize money against Taylor.
• 41:22
  But then they did Taylor
• 41:23
  versus the world where
• 41:24
  Hopper and Dallin and
• 41:27
  Colton and Taylor did the
• 41:30
  quarterfinals together and
• 41:31
  they all won money.
• 41:33
  Yeah, I think that's cool.
• 41:34
  That's very cool.
• 41:37
  So I co-host a show with Carolyn Prevost,
• 41:41
  and she says that women are
• 41:43
  not as inclined to show
• 41:45
  their hand in the
• 41:47
  quarterfinals or semifinals
• 41:51
  as much as men are.
• 41:52
  Yeah.
• 41:53
  Do you agree with that?
• 41:56
  I'd agree with that statement.
• 41:57
  I don't really care as much.
• 41:59
  For me, it's not about showing my hand.
• 42:03
  For me...
• 42:05
  I like anything to minimize
• 42:07
  like that competition
• 42:08
  feeling sometimes is nice.
• 42:10
  Like,
• 42:10
  like obviously the idea of doing
• 42:13
  Taylor versus the world
• 42:14
  with a ton of girls would be fun.
• 42:15
  And like, that's really cool.
• 42:17
  Um, but you're also like, okay,
• 42:19
  that's a whole nother
• 42:20
  element of like competing.
• 42:21
  So you have to like be able
• 42:22
  to process those feelings and, um,
• 42:25
  deal with the stress of it.
• 42:26
  Um, yeah.
• 42:28
  Yeah, I don't know.
• 42:29
  I think girls tend to have
• 42:32
  more of a scarcity mindset of, like,
• 42:34
  there's only room for me and no one else.
• 42:39
  Whereas, like, I think guys can, like,
• 42:41
  kind of be a little bit more like, yeah,
• 42:43
  like,
• 42:43
  they can be good at that and I can
• 42:45
  still beat them.
• 42:45
  Whereas, like, girls are like, oh,
• 42:47
  she's good at that?
• 42:48
  Like, no.
• 42:49
  Like, it's weird, I think.
• 42:51
  Yeah.
• 42:52
  But I think that's just girl nature,
• 42:54
  which kind of sucks.
• 42:55
  Yeah.
• 42:57
  Let me phrase a question this way.
• 42:59
  If you had the opportunity
• 43:00
  to support yourself by
• 43:03
  going public with a group
• 43:04
  of girls to do
• 43:05
  quarterfinals or having to
• 43:07
  do more social media posts.
• 43:09
  Oh,
• 43:10
  I'd go public with quarterfinals for
• 43:11
  sure.
• 43:13
  Yeah.
• 43:15
  Cause I just watching it as an observer,
• 43:17
  those guys became so popular.
• 43:20
  Totally.
• 43:20
  And the nice thing about it
• 43:21
  too is like quarterfinals
• 43:23
  is stressful in the sense of like,
• 43:24
  when am I going to do each workout?
• 43:26
  How am I going to set it up?
• 43:28
  And like,
• 43:28
  if you do it in a setting like that,
• 43:29
  like it takes the thought element out.
• 43:32
  Cause you're just like, all right,
• 43:33
  like we're doing it in this order.
• 43:35
  It doesn't matter if I might
• 43:37
  have less of an advantage
• 43:38
  compared to the world.
• 43:39
  Like I'm doing it the same
• 43:41
  as these three ladies or
• 43:42
  these two ladies.
• 43:44
  And so like,
• 43:46
  we're at least in the same boat,
• 43:47
  you know?
• 43:48
  Yeah.
• 43:49
  And Hopper won $5,000,
• 43:51
  which is as much as you win
• 43:52
  for semifinals.
• 43:54
  Yeah.
• 43:56
  And I hope that we can come
• 43:59
  up with ways as third-party
• 44:01
  media to keep coming up
• 44:03
  with new ideas for ways to
• 44:05
  make athletes money and to
• 44:07
  make the sport more popular.
• 44:10
  Cause I think quarterfinals
• 44:11
  were some of the best
• 44:13
  programmed events that I wanted to see.
• 44:16
  And you couldn't because
• 44:17
  everybody did it online.
• 44:19
  Yeah.
• 44:20
  Yeah.
• 44:20
  Fair enough.
• 44:21
  Oh, also just a heads up.
• 44:23
  I just have to be done by nine.
• 44:24
  Is that okay?
• 44:25
  Yeah.
• 44:25
  We're going to be done by nine.
• 44:26
  Okay.
• 44:26
  Perfect.
• 44:27
  Yeah.
• 44:27
  I don't go over.
• 44:28
  I try not to go over an hour.
• 44:30
  Okay.
• 44:30
  I was just giving you a little heads up.
• 44:32
  Yeah.
• 44:32
  I'm not Savant.
• 44:33
  I don't keep you here for like six hours.
• 44:35
  Yeah.
• 44:36
  I normally don't mind.
• 44:37
  I just, like I said, today's just.
• 44:38
  Yep.
• 44:39
  All good.
• 44:42
  So, so shoot the club up says better hair,
• 44:46
  Emma or Gazan.
• 44:48
  I think, I think it's always Alex.
• 44:54
  Is he referring to Emma Carey?
• 44:56
  Emma Lawson.
• 44:59
  Emma Lawson doesn't have like unique hair.
• 45:01
  Yeah.
• 45:03
  I mean, Emma Carey kind of does.
• 45:04
  Right.
• 45:05
  She has curly hair, yeah.
• 45:06
  Yeah.
• 45:09
  So cool.
• 45:12
  So now your training is ramping up.
• 45:15
  You're getting ready for the games.
• 45:19
  How is that going?
• 45:20
  And you said Chris is coming
• 45:24
  at the end of the month.
• 45:24
  Do you have plans for that?
• 45:26
  Yeah.
• 45:26
  So him and my mindset coach
• 45:29
  are both going to be here and Justin,
• 45:31
  obviously.
• 45:32
  So I think they're going to
• 45:34
  put the hammer on me a little bit.
• 45:36
  And,
• 45:38
  but obviously like having them all
• 45:39
  here is such a blessing.
• 45:40
  And it's like, it kind of feels,
• 45:45
  I don't even know how to explain it.
• 45:47
  Like, but I'm like, oh my gosh,
• 45:49
  I have like three coaches
• 45:50
  here to like be with me.
• 45:51
  It's like kind of a surreal
• 45:52
  feeling where like,
• 45:54
  it really helps me to take a
• 45:56
  step back and be grateful.
• 46:00
  But don't get me wrong.
• 46:00
  It's going to be a hard week,
• 46:02
  and I'm going to be a hot
• 46:03
  mess express probably by the end.
• 46:07
  Do you still have to pinch
• 46:07
  yourself that you're in
• 46:09
  this position now?
• 46:12
  Like I said, yes,
• 46:13
  but also it's not as
• 46:15
  glamorized as I imagined.
• 46:18
  It's really hard.
• 46:19
  So it's like...
• 46:22
  both like I feel like after
• 46:23
  competitions when you're
• 46:24
  like meeting people and you
• 46:26
  get to see little girls
• 46:27
  that are like excited to do
• 46:29
  crossfit because of you or
• 46:31
  you get sweet messages like
• 46:33
  those are the moments where
• 46:34
  I'm like wow like this is
• 46:35
  so cool and I'm so thankful
• 46:37
  but when you're alone doing
• 46:39
  a shitty workout in the
• 46:40
  garage like don't really
• 46:43
  need to pinch myself for that one
• 46:45
  You know,
• 46:46
  it's funny because you say that
• 46:47
  because the buttery bros
• 46:49
  came to do a workout with
• 46:50
  you and I thought it was a
• 46:52
  great example of the,
• 46:54
  the shit work you have to do.
• 46:56
  It was a running workout on
• 46:59
  a really hot day out of your garage.
• 47:03
  Is, is that,
• 47:04
  and usually you're doing that
• 47:06
  without them there.
• 47:07
  Yeah.
• 47:08
  So did you feel that was a
• 47:10
  good depiction of your day normally?
• 47:13
  Yeah, that was a really good depiction of,
• 47:15
  like, games training and, of course,
• 47:16
  having people there is more fun.
• 47:19
  But, yeah, that was, like, a really good,
• 47:21
  accurate example of, like, a full day.
• 47:22
  Yeah, that looked brutal.
• 47:26
  And I hate running,
• 47:26
  so that's... Do you try to
• 47:31
  get out of the gym
• 47:32
  occasionally and do some
• 47:34
  training elsewhere?
• 47:37
  Give me, like, what do you mean elsewhere?
• 47:39
  Like...
• 47:40
  maybe go on a hike this day
• 47:41
  or a trail run as opposed
• 47:43
  to like just running down
• 47:44
  the street or does your
• 47:46
  schedule just not allow
• 47:47
  that uh my programming
• 47:49
  doesn't really allow it
• 47:50
  like training is training
• 47:53
  um I get out like I have a
• 47:57
  some friends at a gym right
• 47:59
  by my house so like
• 47:59
  sometimes like we work out
• 48:01
  together and that's fun but
• 48:02
  like no it's pretty black and white
• 48:07
  Yeah.
• 48:09
  Cause I was talking to
• 48:10
  Hattie Cano and like,
• 48:12
  if she doesn't get to the
• 48:12
  mountains every once in a while,
• 48:14
  like that,
• 48:15
  that is no good for her mental.
• 48:17
  Yeah.
• 48:17
  Yeah.
• 48:18
  And I like, yeah, for me,
• 48:22
  I guess like where I get
• 48:23
  the mental reprieve is like
• 48:25
  the days that I work out
• 48:26
  with the boys at like the
• 48:27
  gym over here and they're
• 48:29
  like really lighthearted and it's fun.
• 48:30
  And then just like soaking
• 48:34
  up all the other things on
• 48:35
  my rest day that I can, but,
• 48:37
  yeah training doesn't have a
• 48:39
  lot of wiggle room really
• 48:40
  do you still have a dog I
• 48:44
  do we have two actually um
• 48:47
  luna who I got from the
• 48:49
  pound after my pity passed
• 48:50
  away and then my husband
• 48:52
  found shadow he's like a
• 48:55
  dutch shepherd he found him
• 48:57
  on the side of the road on
• 48:58
  his way from california and
• 49:00
  he had no chip no collar
• 49:02
  and he's really one of the
• 49:03
  sweetest dogs so it's been cool
• 49:07
  Is it important that you
• 49:08
  have that companionship to come?
• 49:09
  Oh yeah.
• 49:10
  Especially when Jake's gone.
• 49:12
  Oh yeah.
• 49:13
  Oh yeah.
• 49:14
  Do they ever come to the garage with you?
• 49:16
  They love it.
• 49:17
  Like they get, if I lock them out,
• 49:19
  they'll cry the whole time.
• 49:23
  That's awesome.
• 49:24
  Yeah.
• 49:24
  Yeah.
• 49:25
  Yeah.
• 49:26
  I just have a little dog and he's just,
• 49:28
  he's the best.
• 49:29
  They are.
• 49:30
  What kind of dog do you have?
• 49:32
  He's a Chihuahua mix.
• 49:36
  Okay.
• 49:37
  He looks like a mini
• 49:38
  Rottweiler is what he looks like.
• 49:40
  Oh, interesting.
• 49:41
  That's cool.
• 49:42
  With big ears, and he's black and brown.
• 49:45
  That's really cool.
• 49:46
  But he likes to do tricks,
• 49:48
  and we have a lot of fun with him.
• 49:52
  But this has been awesome, as always,
• 49:54
  catching up with you.
• 49:56
  It was fun getting to know
• 49:58
  Jake last year at the games
• 49:59
  because he worked for us.
• 50:00
  Yeah, awesome.
• 50:01
  What,
• 50:02
  what I found really fun is he would be,
• 50:05
  he would go out to film a
• 50:07
  heat and he'd come back and
• 50:08
  I would look at all the
• 50:09
  footage and it's all Alex.
• 50:12
  I mean,
• 50:12
  that dude is 100% in love with you.
• 50:15
  I hope so.
• 50:18
  He married me.
• 50:20
  Uh,
• 50:21
  but I have so much footage of you from
• 50:22
  the games last year.
• 50:24
  Yeah.
• 50:25
  So much footage.
• 50:26
  Uh, he did a great job too.
• 50:28
  He's getting better and better.
• 50:30
  He enjoys it.
• 50:31
  I think it's fun for him.
• 50:32
  A good little something for
• 50:35
  him to focus on.
• 50:37
  It allows him to get his
• 50:39
  nerves settled at a
• 50:41
  competition like that.
• 50:43
  He is invested in how you do as well.
• 50:46
  Totally.
• 50:46
  For sure.
• 50:47
  It was great getting to know
• 50:50
  you both last year so much better.
• 50:53
  Thank you so much for your time.
• 50:54
  Of course.
• 50:55
  Anytime.
• 50:56
  And we will thank you to
• 50:57
  everybody in the chat for being here too.
• 50:59
  We'll see everybody next
• 51:00
  time on the Clydesdale media podcast.
• 51:03
  Bye guys.