Latest / Clydesdale Media Podcast / Megan Apostoleris | The Athletes of the 2024 Legends Masters CrossFit Games

Transcript

Megan Apostoleris | The Athletes of the 2024 Legends Masters CrossFit Games · Clydesdale Media Podcast

0:11
Hey, hey, still.
0:13
Let's go.
0:14
I was born a killer.
0:15
I was meant to win.
0:16
I am down and willing,
0:17
so I will find a way.
0:19
It took a minute,
0:20
now it didn't happen right away.
0:21
When it get hot in the kitchen,
0:23
you decide to stay.
0:24
That's how a winner's made.
0:25
Stick a fork in the head of
0:27
my dinner plate.
0:34
What's going on, everybody?
0:36
Welcome to the Clydesdale Media Podcast,
0:38
where we are highlighting
0:39
the athletes from the 2024
0:42
Legends Masters CrossFit Games.
0:45
And I'm so excited to have
0:46
with me Megan Apostolaris.
0:49
Hi.
0:50
Did I get that right?
0:52
Yeah.
0:53
I was going to comment.
0:54
I was just waiting for the
0:57
appropriate time.
0:59
Nice.
0:59
So, Greek?
1:01
Yes.
1:04
How far back do you go to Greece?
1:07
Who first came to Canada?
1:09
So I pretty much only have
1:11
the last name and I can say
1:13
a couple of swear words.
1:16
So it was my grandparents.
1:19
They moved from Greece.
1:21
And so I'm like third generation.
1:23
So it's, you know,
1:24
aside from the like loud
1:28
and the cool last name,
1:30
I don't have that much Greek left in me.
1:33
Okay.
1:34
Um, but it's, I love the, I,
1:37
for some reason, the last names of,
1:38
of Greek, um,
1:40
descendants is just awesome.
1:42
I think it's cool.
1:43
Yeah.
1:44
Glad I had it.
1:45
Yeah.
1:46
Um,
1:47
so this is your second time back to the
1:50
CrossFit games.
1:52
Yeah.
1:52
Feels like my first again,
1:54
because it's a new event this year,
1:55
which is kind of cool.
1:57
Are you excited about the
1:58
changes they made?
2:00
I am actually like, it feels different,
2:05
but I genuinely feel like
2:07
it's the best thing for
2:09
both the sport of CrossFit
2:12
and for the masters who
2:14
compete in CrossFit.
2:15
I think it was a good idea.
2:16
Good, a good move.
2:20
So you have been doing
2:21
CrossFit since almost the beginning.
2:25
Yeah.
2:25
Yeah.
2:26
So I want to know what it's
2:28
like to do this thing for
2:32
15 years and then get your
2:34
first qualification to the
2:36
CrossFit Games.
2:38
I don't know.
2:39
It's a good question because for me,
2:46
I'm super goal-oriented,
2:48
and I actually never wrote
2:49
down the goals.
2:51
want to go to the CrossFit
2:52
Games as a masters because
2:54
until this year it seemed
2:57
so impossible to make it
3:00
into the top 10 purely by
3:04
online qualification and
3:05
that's not because I never
3:07
thought I was not good
3:08
enough it's just like legit
3:09
the stars have to align for
3:11
10 people to get picked to
3:14
go through that to get to
3:15
go to the games like this was
3:19
like logistics and criteria
3:22
of online qualifications.
3:24
So to answer your question,
3:26
like it was something like
3:28
I kind of always,
3:29
I never thought it could happen,
3:32
but I always knew it could
3:33
happen kind of thing.
3:34
If that makes sense.
3:38
So when it did happen,
3:39
were you caught off guard?
3:42
Were you, or were you just excited that it,
3:45
that it, that it did?
3:46
It was,
3:48
It was a roller coaster
3:50
because the way it happened
3:52
was I in the end I got to
3:55
go because of another and
3:56
another athletes penalty.
4:00
So and she was a friend of
4:02
mine and still is,
4:03
and she's coming to the games this year,
4:04
which is amazing.
4:06
But I was at the end of last year's semis.
4:10
I was sitting like in 12th
4:12
and she was in 10th and
4:13
then she got a penalty and
4:14
then it bumped me up.
4:17
So it was just like, well,
4:19
I guess this is happening.
4:20
Like I, it was more just like,
4:23
it was very surreal until I
4:26
got to Madison and was like, holy smokes,
4:30
I'm at the games right now.
4:31
Like it was really a roller
4:34
coaster and very surreal
4:35
until the moment I was there.
4:39
So a lot of the people I'm
4:40
talking to this week have
4:42
never been there.
4:43
This is their rookie year
4:45
because to be honest, we're, we're,
4:48
we're bringing more people
4:49
to the games finally.
4:50
For sure.
4:51
And, and deservedly so.
4:53
Yeah.
4:54
What is the advice you would
4:55
give to those people after
4:57
experiencing it last year?
4:58
Um, advice probably said,
5:05
take it all it's like holy
5:07
smokes you're at the games
5:08
right now um and it's
5:10
really easy to get very
5:14
stressed out I think the
5:15
experience I had last year
5:18
will be quite different
5:19
than the experience this
5:21
year um because last year
5:24
you're with a group of 10
5:26
only in your age and you're
5:28
kind of like with them for
5:30
every event and you're in
5:31
the corral with only those 10 girls and
5:35
a bunch of them were
5:36
veterans pre-rookies I was
5:38
one of them and so like it
5:40
was a very kind of like it
5:42
was cool and everyone was
5:43
super friendly um but I
5:46
think it's going to be very
5:47
different this year where
5:48
we're going to have 40 of
5:49
us so there's going to be
5:50
this like wide range of
5:51
girls to sort of roll with
5:53
which I think is going to
5:54
be really fun but I guess
5:56
yeah it would just seem to
5:58
take it in like and people
5:59
gave me this advice last
6:00
year like the games there
6:01
should be no pressure like
6:03
your your training got you
6:04
there and the games is just
6:05
a chance to enjoy like the
6:07
fruits of your labor and so
6:09
that's my plan for this
6:11
year um but it was like it
6:15
was hard to do that last
6:16
year where it was like
6:17
whole like you're almost
6:18
like star struck when
6:20
you're there or I was anyway
6:25
I met you last year at Legends.
6:29
You were one of the funniest
6:30
people I ran into at check-in.
6:33
Very memorable running into you.
6:36
You seem to love to compete.
6:38
Yeah.
6:42
Is that regardless of the
6:44
size of the stage?
6:44
You just love to compete?
6:47
Yes.
6:48
I do love
6:53
and I compete ever since I
6:55
was a kid like I remember
6:58
very distinctly when I
7:01
graduated from elementary
7:02
school our teacher gave us
7:05
all nicknames and my
7:08
nickname was the competitor
7:09
even um I just always
7:14
drive to be the best.
7:16
I don't know where that came from.
7:18
My parents, I guess, upbringing,
7:20
I don't know,
7:21
but I just really take a lot
7:23
of pride in everything that
7:24
I do and I'm really disciplined.
7:26
And then when it gets to
7:27
time to like game day,
7:29
I just really want to showcase.
7:31
And in that environment
7:33
where there's like the
7:34
crowd and music and other
7:35
people to sort of look and
7:37
see what's going on, like I just,
7:39
I very much do my own thing and like,
7:42
you know, do my own workout, but I just,
7:45
I just mostly love just the
7:47
vibe of a competition.
7:51
So I we're into this a
7:53
little bit that we're
7:54
having a little technical
7:55
issue with your mic.
7:57
Okay.
7:57
So I think because you have
7:58
your phone standing on its end.
8:00
Yeah.
8:01
It's interfering with when you talk,
8:04
sometimes it's muting your mic.
8:06
Can you turn it to the side?
8:09
And then there we go.
8:12
Yeah.
8:14
Yeah.
8:14
And I think it sounds great.
8:17
What it was doing is just
8:18
muting your mic like every third word.
8:20
Oh, weird.
8:22
Yeah.
8:24
So.
8:24
So now you love to compete.
8:29
What was your what was your
8:30
athletic background?
8:32
Growing up,
8:33
I didn't play any real sports
8:35
until I was like a young teenager,
8:37
like 13.
8:37
And then I started playing hockey.
8:39
And I also played softball.
8:41
And when I grew up in a very,
8:43
very small town,
8:43
there wasn't a lot of like
8:46
opportunity for women's hockey.
8:47
And I'm also like old
8:48
because I'm a master's.
8:50
So I played hockey with boys
8:53
until I was university aged.
8:54
And then I played varsity
8:56
hockey at university.
8:58
And then I found CrossFit after that.
9:02
Um, but like, I didn't consider my,
9:06
like now that I do CrossFit
9:07
and I'm fit from CrossFit,
9:09
I don't feel like I was
9:10
even fit before CrossFit.
9:12
You know what I mean?
9:13
Like that's,
9:14
I would attribute all of my
9:16
athletic gains to CrossFit
9:18
a hundred percent and weightlifting.
9:20
So how did you find it?
9:23
It's so weird.
9:24
So I worked at a gym,
9:27
like a mainstream gym early
9:31
on in like 2004.
9:33
And there was a coach there
9:34
and he would run these boot
9:36
camps and they were so fun and so hard.
9:39
And I'd be like, Brad, his name is Brad.
9:41
Where do you get your ideas?
9:42
He's like, oh,
9:42
I get them from this like website,
9:44
CrossFit.com.
9:45
And I was like, oh, cool.
9:46
And then fast.
9:47
And then I kind of
9:49
i moved into a sort of
9:50
another chapter of life
9:51
where I became a police
9:52
officer and several years
9:54
went went by like it got to
9:55
be around 2008 2009 and I
9:58
was in a normal gym again
10:00
just being bored doing the
10:01
same old stuff and I saw a
10:03
guy across the gym doing
10:05
kipping pull-ups and for
10:07
whatever reason like I saw
10:08
him doing kipping pull-ups and
10:10
that made me think of those
10:12
boot camps and then I got
10:14
home that night and googled
10:15
crossfit edmonton which was
10:17
where I was living at the
10:18
time and there was a gym
10:20
just sort of close by I
10:22
looked it up and it said
10:25
there was a fundamentals
10:26
class starting like the
10:27
next day and I was like oh
10:29
cool so I you know gps'd it
10:32
I'm driving there and I'm
10:33
like I'm thinking I'm going to like
10:35
a gym like a mainstream gym
10:38
because I don't know yet
10:39
really what a CrossFit gym
10:40
looks like and so I'm like
10:42
getting led on my GPS like
10:43
into this weird industrial
10:45
area and I'm like what is
10:46
going on and like I get to
10:48
the address and there's
10:49
like there's no sign or
10:50
anything I open the door I
10:52
like peek in and obviously
10:53
like it looks like what I
10:54
now know to be a CrossFit
10:56
gym just like a wide open
10:57
space and I'm like this is
10:59
weird and then the coach is there and
11:02
his name was cam and I'm
11:04
like hey I'm here for the
11:05
fundamentals course and
11:07
he's like yeah cool like
11:09
you're the only one signed
11:10
up and I was like okay um
11:13
and it was quite expensive
11:14
in my mind back then and um
11:17
I was like do you mind if
11:18
like I just try like one
11:20
session before I pay a
11:21
couple hundred bucks
11:23
and he's like yeah yeah sure
11:24
so he went through
11:25
everything with me like the
11:26
movements and then we were
11:27
gonna do a wad and I was
11:29
like well can you do it
11:30
with me I don't want to do
11:31
it alone and um he was like
11:34
sure and the wad was fight
11:36
gone bad I remember it and uh
11:40
And we did it together.
11:41
And after that, I was like, wow,
11:43
I just need to keep doing this.
11:45
And that gym was called CrossFit Lineage.
11:48
And it was in Edmonton, Alberta.
11:50
And I went there for several months.
11:52
And then my job,
11:53
I was transferred to Ottawa, Ontario.
11:57
And even before I moved, I'm like Googling,
11:59
like, where can I do CrossFit?
12:00
And so after that one day at
12:02
CrossFit Lineage, I was like,
12:04
I was hooked.
12:05
And I haven't stopped since then.
12:08
Fight Gone Bad and I have a
12:10
very bad relationship.
12:12
I don't like it anymore.
12:13
It's not one of my favorite workouts now,
12:15
but I just remember
12:16
distinctively it was that
12:18
workout that sold me on CrossFit.
12:21
I have thrown up a couple
12:22
times in CrossFit,
12:24
and it has either been on a
12:26
team where I pushed too
12:28
hard to help my team out or
12:31
Fight Gone Bad.
12:33
Oh, man, that's so funny.
12:36
I want to know from you,
12:38
why was I memorable at Legends and funny?
12:40
Why was I funny?
12:42
Well, one, you just are.
12:46
I think you have that
12:48
extrovert kind of vibe.
12:52
And when I was going through
12:53
the line in the check-in,
12:54
everybody was afraid to be
12:56
on camera or afraid to talk.
13:00
And you had no problem with it at all.
13:02
You,
13:03
and you actually like kept talking and
13:05
it was, and it was really cool.
13:07
I really enjoyed that time.
13:09
I remember the lineup.
13:10
Now that you say the lineup,
13:11
I totally remember it.
13:12
Cool.
13:13
Yeah.
13:14
So, uh, so yeah, so you,
13:18
you find CrossFit and
13:20
eventually you become a gym owner.
13:23
Yeah.
13:24
That's very recent though.
13:26
Okay.
13:26
So what was that journey to that?
13:29
So until, so from like,
13:32
I'll say my beginning, so like 2008,
13:34
2009 to like 2017,
13:38
all I did was the class WOD.
13:40
That's all I did.
13:41
I would come in,
13:42
do the class WOD and then leave.
13:46
And then 2017,
13:46
I was a master's and after the open,
13:48
I was like, wow,
13:49
like I actually did really
13:50
well in this year's open.
13:53
I can't remember I think I
13:54
was like ranked 403rd in my
13:57
age group which was 35 to
13:58
39 at the time and I always
14:00
remember back then you
14:02
needed to make top 200 to
14:04
like get to quarters or
14:06
semis or I think it was
14:07
called the age group online
14:08
qualifier at that time and
14:10
I was like wow I'm 403rd
14:11
and I just do the class
14:13
like maybe I could be good
14:14
at this so then I kind of
14:15
found some people and
14:17
um started like doing extra
14:20
training and like getting
14:22
better and then the next
14:23
year was 2018 and I
14:25
remember I had to be top
14:26
200 and 2018 I finished 200
14:30
201 like legit I was 201st
14:32
and I was like what the
14:34
hell and then 2019 I like
14:37
really dialed it in and
14:38
like did even more and
14:40
started tracking my macros
14:41
and like getting really
14:42
into it and training harder
14:43
and harder and harder and then um
14:46
So 2019, I like really crushed the open.
14:49
I did really well.
14:50
I finished like 15th in the
14:51
open or something.
14:53
And then went to the age
14:54
group online qualifier.
14:55
And from there,
14:56
it used to be they would
14:57
take 20 people to the games.
15:00
But that year, for whatever reason,
15:02
they changed it to 10.
15:04
And I think I finished like, you know,
15:06
somewhere in the teens.
15:07
Like I would have made it
15:08
had they not changed it.
15:09
So I was like, oh, man.
15:11
And then...
15:13
You know, I just kept training,
15:14
kept doing my thing.
15:15
I had got transferred again at one point,
15:17
I think, like with my job, whatever.
15:20
I just kept training.
15:21
And then, I don't know, like each year,
15:25
and then I aged up to 40 to 44.
15:28
And a couple of years in,
15:30
I ended up qualifying for the games.
15:32
And then, yeah,
15:33
I transferred to Nova Scotia,
15:34
which is where I live now.
15:36
uh for work in 2021 and the
15:40
area that I moved into
15:42
didn't have a crossfit gym
15:44
um but it had a gym that
15:45
like there were some people
15:46
there doing wads and so I
15:48
was training there
15:50
obviously and I was like
15:52
this needs to be a crossfit
15:53
gym like there's none here
15:54
there's an opportunity um
15:57
And I met my business partner,
15:59
who's also my coach now.
16:02
He was heavily involved in
16:03
the sport of Olympic weightlifting.
16:06
So we became friends through that.
16:08
And one day I just like we
16:09
were out chatting and I was like,
16:11
we like this gym needs to
16:13
be a CrossFit gym.
16:14
You want to open one?
16:15
Ha ha ha.
16:16
Just joking around.
16:17
And he didn't really say anything.
16:19
He's a man of few words.
16:21
He didn't say anything.
16:22
He just kind of giggled.
16:23
But then like three weeks he he
16:25
came back to me and he was
16:26
like hey you know that idea
16:27
about like opening a
16:28
crossfit gym he's like I
16:30
think we should do it and
16:32
so I was like okay and so
16:34
the owners of that gym at
16:35
the time were kind of
16:36
looking to get out of it
16:37
like it was more of a hobby
16:38
for them um so we bought
16:40
the gym we turned it into
16:42
an affiliate in 2022 early
16:43
2022 started running classes
16:48
and just growing it sort of
16:51
slowly organically.
16:52
And then actually the reason
16:54
why I was rudely late for
16:56
our podcast today was
16:58
because we just recently
17:00
moved locations into this
17:02
big new facility.
17:04
We have like the nicest
17:05
CrossFit rig I've ever seen.
17:07
Like I love it so much and we just moved.
17:09
So it's growing, it's doing well and yeah.
17:13
And it's crazy that I now, you know,
17:16
own a gym.
17:17
Yeah,
17:18
you and Training Think Tank are on
17:19
the same gym schedule now.
17:21
Are we?
17:23
I don't know if you saw that yet.
17:24
Training Think Tank this
17:25
weekend just reopened their new location.
17:28
Did they?
17:28
That's really cool.
17:29
Yeah, man, it was so much work to move.
17:31
It was crazy.
17:33
I can't believe like Travis
17:35
mayor and max and all like
17:37
right before the games
17:38
decided to move locations.
17:40
Yeah.
17:41
I didn't know that.
17:42
That is crazy.
17:43
I, I would say,
17:44
cause everyone gets confused.
17:45
They don't really know that
17:46
the masters games is now at
17:48
a different time.
17:48
So they're like, Oh my God,
17:49
don't you have to like be at the gate?
17:51
Like, are you leaving?
17:52
Like, you know, and I'm like, no,
17:53
it's at the end of August.
17:55
Thank God.
17:56
Because I'm just gassed from moving.
17:58
And I, you know,
17:59
so I'm glad I have a few
18:00
more weeks to just get back
18:01
in the routine and
18:03
Well, you got your, uh,
18:05
odd object training in.
18:07
Oh man.
18:07
I was actually thinking
18:08
about that when I was
18:09
lugging those rubber mats around,
18:10
trying to place them.
18:12
I learned that they each weigh 92 pounds.
18:14
And so I was just like, yeah,
18:15
this is games training.
18:16
Like 92 pounds.
18:19
Yeah.
18:20
And I almost wish I didn't
18:21
know that because it made it worse.
18:22
Someone, the guys we bought them from,
18:24
they were like, yeah,
18:25
these each weigh 92 pounds.
18:26
I'm like, oh man, like that's so heavy.
18:30
I moved my old gym twice and
18:31
I was always the guy who
18:32
set the new floor and like, I just,
18:35
you just do it.
18:36
Cause you,
18:37
but I never knew they were 92 pounds.
18:39
Now, you know,
18:39
and it's going to make it worse.
18:40
I'm sorry.
18:43
Um, so, so gosh, I have so much.
18:48
So are you still in law enforcement?
18:50
I sort of am.
18:51
So I was a police officer for 17 years.
18:54
And then just for personal reasons,
18:57
a few years ago,
18:58
I retired and I'm going to
18:59
use that term loosely.
19:00
I retired from being a police officer,
19:03
but the very next day I
19:04
went back to work with the
19:05
same organization, but as a civilian.
19:08
So I do currently work for
19:10
the Royal Canadian Mounted Police,
19:12
but I'm no longer a police officer.
19:15
I do like a civilian job.
19:17
Everything's from behind a computer.
19:18
I do security screening for
19:20
other federal departments.
19:22
So I'm going to ask
19:23
questions just because of my naiveness.
19:26
Yeah.
19:27
Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
19:29
Yeah.
19:30
What I know of it here in the States.
19:32
Yeah.
19:32
What I learned on Dudley
19:33
Do-Right as a kid.
19:35
Yeah.
19:37
Did you ride a horse?
19:38
So I did,
19:40
but only because I did a ceremonial duty,
19:43
which is called the musical ride.
19:44
And it's a show where you
19:46
are on horseback in that
19:47
outfit like that you're picturing.
19:50
And we traveled around
19:52
Canada and the world
19:53
putting on like a cool,
19:54
like choreographed on
19:55
horseback like thing.
19:57
But normal people in the RCMP,
20:01
that's the acronym for the
20:02
Royal Canadian Mounted Police,
20:03
Normal police officers that
20:06
work for the RCMP don't.
20:07
We're police officers on the
20:09
road patrolling just like everybody else.
20:12
But we also have a large
20:14
number of us who work in
20:15
like national headquarters
20:17
doing more like behind the
20:19
scenes policing as well.
20:21
Similar, I would say to like the FBI.
20:23
So there's a few different elements,
20:25
but like there's definitely
20:27
the majority of RCMP
20:29
officers who are in a police car,
20:31
like arresting bad guys.
20:33
um which is you know yes but
20:35
but what you're picturing
20:37
like the mountie dudley do
20:38
right all that like that is
20:40
a thing um but it's it's
20:41
ceremonial now in nature
20:44
you know right now I cannot
20:45
not picture you in the
20:46
outfit I can send you a
20:48
cool photo after the podcast
20:51
That's all I can picture.
20:52
Yeah.
20:53
Like it's legit.
20:54
We had trading cards.
20:55
Like when I was on the ceremonial duty,
20:56
like it's like you're a
20:58
rock star when you're on
20:59
this and you have trading
21:00
cards and they're with my horse.
21:02
Like it's pretty cool.
21:04
So the other question I had for you,
21:05
that's way off topic is
21:08
your tattoo is so awesome.
21:10
Thank you.
21:12
So I was scrolling back to
21:13
your Instagram and, and as you go back,
21:16
you put it together in pieces, right?
21:18
Yeah, I did by accident.
21:20
Yes.
21:21
So what is the significance of it?
21:24
And because you do kind of
21:26
talk about it in the post
21:27
when it finally gets finished.
21:29
yeah um so it started off
21:32
literally as just like me
21:34
being a kid wanting a tiny
21:35
little maple leaf on my
21:36
shoulder and it was red and
21:38
it was like this big um and
21:40
that's what I got from just
21:41
some random tattoo studio
21:43
that you walk into on the
21:44
street um and then after
21:46
that I was like oh I kind
21:47
of wanted to look more like
21:48
artsy fartsy so then I went
21:50
to another just like random
21:51
tattoo studio and they kind
21:53
of like made um
21:55
some like cool lines on it
21:57
and like at the time I was
21:58
okay with it um but then I
22:00
got kind of tired of it and
22:01
I just wanted more and I
22:02
eventually did want like a
22:04
full sleeve um and then my
22:07
cousin had this beautiful
22:08
tattoo and I said alex
22:09
where did you get that
22:10
tattoo and he told me from
22:12
this guy named damon
22:13
rowenchild and his tattoo
22:16
studio is called urban
22:17
primitive and I always get
22:19
it mixed up with born
22:20
primitive so I'm like
22:21
Urban primitive is the name of it.
22:24
And so I looked him up and
22:25
he was in Ontario,
22:27
which is where I was living at the time,
22:28
but a few hours drive.
22:30
So I made an appointment with,
22:31
to go see him.
22:33
And he's this like guy
22:35
that's in his probably late fifties,
22:37
early sixties now,
22:38
kind of like a hippie ish kind of guy.
22:41
And he believes that getting
22:43
a tattoo is almost like a
22:44
spiritual journey because
22:47
i don't know all these
22:47
reasons um but I was like I
22:49
want you to make my tattoo
22:51
like cover up this other
22:52
one but make it cool and I
22:53
wanted to incorporate some
22:54
flowers of the birth months
22:57
of each of my family
22:58
members like my mom my dad
22:59
my brother and me um so he
23:01
just like and he's like a
23:02
legit artist like he
23:04
freehand drew all the uh
23:07
flowers on me and then did
23:09
these like cool like I
23:10
don't know if you can see
23:11
it they're like all like
23:12
geometric lines and he did
23:14
this all freehand
23:16
um and when you go to him
23:18
you like he has this
23:19
beautiful home in the woods
23:20
and you you're at his home
23:22
and you can stay in like a
23:23
room there and they feed
23:24
you him it was him and his
23:25
wife they feed you like
23:27
organic food and and you
23:29
just like hang out while
23:30
they do this tattoo so he
23:32
he did like just the
23:33
shoulder part at that point
23:34
because it takes forever
23:35
because it's all like tiny
23:37
little dots I don't know if
23:38
you can see it it's all
23:39
just like dot work everywhere um
23:43
So yeah, it takes a long time.
23:45
And then,
23:45
so he did that part on my shoulder.
23:47
And then the next like a year or two later,
23:49
I went back, he finished like the sleeve.
23:51
And then there was like one
23:52
little part here that he had to finish.
23:54
So I went back to see him
23:55
like multiple times.
23:57
And like now we're like
23:59
really good friends.
24:00
Like we're very on the same
24:01
page with a lot of our beliefs in life.
24:03
And I almost feel like he's
24:04
like a family member now.
24:06
So everyone's like, oh,
24:06
are you going to get, you know,
24:07
more tattoos?
24:08
I'm like, well, I have, if I, I can't,
24:10
I could never cheat on
24:10
Damon at this point.
24:12
so um so yeah it's so funny
24:16
because when I got mine the
24:17
same guy did all the parts
24:19
of mine yeah and like I
24:21
would never go to anybody
24:22
else because I i love it so
24:24
much totally and I want to
24:27
finish the sleeve someday
24:28
too yeah mine's like up
24:30
over oh yeah cool and then
24:33
like into here and yeah but yeah
24:37
When you find a cool artist
24:38
like I almost I know that's
24:39
like I almost wish I had
24:41
only Damon's work like on
24:43
me like he incorporated his
24:45
into my old one that was
24:46
done by just some Joe Schmo
24:48
um but I wish that uh I
24:51
sort of wish it was just
24:52
Damon's work because he's
24:53
just like to me it's just
24:55
like so much better than my
24:56
original but anyway it's
24:58
life it's a journey.
25:00
I was going to do it the way you did it,
25:02
like piecemeal it and use
25:04
different artists.
25:06
You do not want to do that.
25:07
You want to go to the same
25:09
guy and make it because
25:11
nobody wants to work on
25:12
somebody else's artwork.
25:13
No.
25:14
And I feel like maybe you've
25:16
experienced this as well, but like.
25:18
I feel like the way Damon,
25:19
like he's such an artist that like,
25:22
I feel like what he draws
25:23
on me is like reflective of
25:25
our chats and like he gets
25:27
to know me and then know, like,
25:28
I don't know.
25:29
It's just like a different thing.
25:31
Yeah.
25:32
Yeah.
25:32
It becomes a relationship for sure.
25:34
Oh, big time.
25:35
Yeah.
25:37
So.
25:37
scrolling through your Instagram,
25:39
two other things stuck out to me.
25:40
Actually, like every time I got,
25:42
it was like another flip surprise, but,
25:45
um,
25:46
but I loved how your hair got shorter.
25:48
Yeah.
25:50
Like, and then bam, it goes really long.
25:53
Yeah.
25:54
Um,
25:54
but the other thing that surprised me
25:57
was you boxed.
26:01
I mean, once, yeah.
26:05
Are you that person that's like,
26:06
I'll try anything?
26:07
Or is that out of character for you?
26:12
The boxing thing.
26:14
So there's this cool event,
26:16
and it was organized by two
26:18
really cool guys named
26:19
Scott and Matt Whitaker
26:22
called Fight for the Cure.
26:23
And it was organized by them.
26:26
I forget when the first one was.
26:28
Eats.
26:29
several years ago,
26:31
and the intent of it was to
26:33
raise money for the city of like Ottawa,
26:36
Ontario is where I was living at the time,
26:38
but it was to raise money
26:39
for the Ottawa Cancer Foundation,
26:41
which is an organization
26:42
that just helps people deal with cancer.
26:47
So what it is,
26:48
it's called a white collar boxing match.
26:52
And they take,
26:53
it started off really small
26:54
and now it's huge.
26:55
So they take people from the
26:57
community and train them
26:59
from zero to like a fight.
27:02
It was nine months of
27:03
training twice a week.
27:05
um and you have to fundraise
27:08
the whole time and the goal
27:10
of it is to raise money for
27:11
this organization and the
27:13
fight is like a gala black
27:15
tie event at a cool venue a
27:18
table like it's fancy fancy
27:20
um and I just happen to and
27:22
you have to try out for it
27:23
but a lot of it is like who
27:25
you know and I just I kind of just
27:28
someone recommended me um
27:31
and like this again kind of
27:33
like the games like the
27:34
stars have to align because
27:35
they have to be able to
27:36
find a suitable opponent
27:37
for you that's within
27:38
certain age ranges and
27:39
weight but anyway it ended
27:42
up lining up for me to be a
27:43
part of this and I just
27:46
like anything I got really
27:48
into it and it was so cool
27:50
it was terrifying I didn't
27:52
particularly particularly enjoy boxing um
27:58
because it was very much
27:59
like I'm not very relaxed
28:02
and it was really like
28:04
boxing's like dancing where
28:05
I'm like I like to learn
28:06
how to clean and jerk
28:07
because you do this step by
28:08
step by step like you don't
28:09
have to interact with
28:10
another human um so I found
28:13
the training really hard in
28:15
the same way that I found
28:17
like scenario based
28:18
training for police work
28:19
really hard like I always
28:20
felt like I was acting
28:23
But then boxing,
28:24
like fight night came and I was like,
28:25
let's go, like it's game time.
28:26
And I brought it and I ended up like,
28:28
it was a really good match.
28:31
I ended up winning,
28:31
but like it was really close and awesome.
28:33
And it was probably the
28:35
coolest thing I've ever been a part of.
28:37
But after it, everyone's like,
28:38
so are you going to continue boxing?
28:40
And I'm just like, no, I'm not.
28:42
Like, I didn't really enjoy the sport.
28:44
But, like,
28:45
the event and the experience and
28:47
everything that I got out of it, like,
28:49
it was an unbelievable experience that,
28:51
like, I will never forget.
28:53
Up there with the games, like,
28:54
it was epic.
28:56
That's really cool.
28:57
It was super cool.
28:59
So how would you compare the
29:00
training for boxing with
29:02
the training of CrossFit?
29:04
The training,
29:06
so my CrossFit training
29:07
obviously really helped.
29:09
Like I was the fittest
29:10
person by far there.
29:13
The other guys had a lot of
29:14
catching up to do and they
29:15
did become much fitter over
29:17
the nine months.
29:19
I just added the boxing training on,
29:21
like onto my current training.
29:23
And I was also training for
29:24
a big weightlifting meet at
29:25
the time as well.
29:27
Boxers are extremely fit.
29:29
Like it blew my mind how, like it was very,
29:33
very hard work.
29:35
The fitness level of people
29:37
that fight is out of this world.
29:40
So if anything,
29:41
the boxing training really
29:42
helped my CrossFit training,
29:44
but my CrossFit training
29:46
helped my boxing training as well.
29:47
Not the fighting part of it,
29:49
but the fitness part of it for sure.
29:52
Yeah.
29:54
So we're up on the 30 minutes.
29:55
Gosh, I could talk to you all afternoon.
29:57
Yeah.
29:58
But I know you have a busy day going on.
30:01
How many are you taking
30:03
anybody with you to the games this year?
30:05
So I'm taking my coach.
30:07
Do you want to come say hey?
30:09
Oh, he's back.
30:09
He just walked in the door,
30:10
but he hates being on
30:11
camera or on video or in photos.
30:15
My coach for sure will come.
30:17
Last year,
30:18
my brother also came and one of
30:19
my super good friends, Sue,
30:21
she also came.
30:22
I would love both of them to come again.
30:24
I'm not sure.
30:26
either of them will be able to.
30:27
I hope they can.
30:30
I would prefer fewer people.
30:31
Like a lot of people bring
30:32
like their whole family.
30:33
I get really stressed out by
30:35
that because I feel like I
30:36
have to make sure
30:36
everyone's happy all the time.
30:38
So if it ends up just being my coach and I,
30:40
that's totally cool.
30:42
He is my business partner.
30:44
And so he knows we're just, we're close.
30:46
We're like family.
30:47
So that's just fine as well.
30:51
When you were at Legends,
30:52
were you by yourself?
30:54
When I was at Legends, no.
30:56
Actually, my same girl, Sue,
30:59
who came with me to the games,
31:01
also came with me to Legends.
31:03
So she was there as well.
31:04
But my coach didn't come to
31:06
Legends because I can't remember why.
31:08
I think he had to stay back because no one,
31:10
with the gym,
31:11
there was something with the gym,
31:12
so he couldn't get away.
31:13
But yeah, my girlfriend, Sue, was there.
31:17
Well,
31:17
the reason I ask is you didn't seem
31:19
nervous at all compared to
31:22
everybody else.
31:23
Yeah maybe like I've just
31:26
I've done a lot of
31:27
competing like I you know
31:29
like I've been doing
31:30
CrossFit for a lot of years
31:32
and I think it's just
31:34
because I've done a lot of
31:35
competing and you know this
31:38
isn't supposed to sound at
31:40
all negative but the games
31:44
like that I went to last year was like
31:47
there was there's no other
31:48
competition like it like
31:51
the attention to detail the
31:52
magnitude what I saw there
31:54
like it blew my mind like
31:57
so it almost and again not
32:00
in a negative makes all
32:01
other competitions seem not
32:04
as scary do you know what I
32:05
mean like but I always I've
32:07
always wanted to do legends
32:08
and I have for years but
32:11
just one sec john hey can
32:13
you just wait on that john
32:18
He was drilling.
32:18
I'm like, it's going to be too loud.
32:21
But yeah,
32:21
it just makes all the other
32:24
competitions seem a little
32:25
bit less scary.
32:26
But not that that's bad.
32:29
But yeah,
32:29
I didn't feel nervous for Legends.
32:31
I just was like excited to
32:32
be there because it's a
32:33
competition I've always wanted to do.
32:34
And because I had an invite,
32:36
I didn't have to do the qualifier.
32:37
So that was like such a bonus.
32:40
Oh man, online qualifiers are so hard.
32:43
Like the logistics of them.
32:46
Yeah, my co-host, Jamie, hates online.
32:51
I do too.
32:52
It almost makes it not worth
32:54
it because you go out,
32:56
like it happened to me a
32:57
couple of times in 2023
32:59
when I was qualifying for the games.
33:01
There was one workout at
33:02
least in quarters and
33:03
another workout in semis
33:05
where I had to redo them
33:07
because of something ridiculous.
33:08
Like the rower screen was
33:10
like blurry on the video,
33:11
like just something where
33:12
you're just like, oh man, like,
33:14
and everything has to be measured.
33:15
And like, what if the camera doesn't work?
33:17
Like, it's just,
33:18
it takes a bit of the fun out of it.
33:20
Like I really, really, really hope.
33:22
And like maybe this move, um,
33:25
with the legends guys taking over,
33:26
like it would be so cool if
33:28
we could qualify in person or online,
33:31
like depending on what your
33:32
needs or ability,
33:34
like if you could travel to qualify,
33:36
it would just be, it'd be cool.
33:38
So we've done some research into this,
33:41
the 35 to 49 year old
33:43
masters athletes have a
33:45
collective 3 million
33:47
followers on Instagram.
33:48
Yeah.
33:49
Like that's a lot of eyes.
33:51
I know.
33:52
If we can just get them all to this event.
33:55
Yeah.
33:56
Labor Day weekend.
33:57
Yeah.
33:58
To come, to watch, do whatever they can.
34:00
Yeah.
34:01
And show that this can be a big festival.
34:04
Yeah, and, like, I mean,
34:05
let's be serious here.
34:07
Like, it's different.
34:09
It's different than the games,
34:10
the individuals.
34:11
Like, it's a different thing,
34:12
and you almost can't compare it.
34:14
Like,
34:15
but it doesn't mean that it's not
34:17
significant to a large number of people.
34:20
And, like, we're masters.
34:22
Like, we have...
34:24
Most of us,
34:25
we have some disposable income available.
34:28
I would guess that the
34:30
majority of Masters would
34:31
so much rather travel to
34:34
qualify for the games in
34:35
person somewhere than do it at home.
34:38
I just think there's so much
34:40
that can be done with it.
34:40
And I really,
34:41
really hope that this move
34:44
with Legends will be
34:45
pushing that in that direction.
34:48
Yeah.
34:48
And for the spectators of
34:49
the games this year,
34:50
the barrier to entry is so
34:52
much less than it is.
34:54
Yeah.
34:55
It's cheaper to go to this
34:56
event than it is to go to the games.
34:59
Yeah, totally.
35:00
So, yeah, you're not watching Jeff Adler,
35:02
but you're still getting to
35:03
watch Will Morad,
35:05
and you're still getting to watch...
35:07
Totally.
35:08
So, well,
35:11
I wish and I maybe they are I don't know.
35:13
I wish that CrossFit or I don't know who,
35:17
maybe I'm saying it wrong
35:18
but I wish that CrossFit or
35:20
someone could do almost like a
35:23
know like in the nhl
35:24
sometimes they do like the
35:26
old timers they bring back
35:27
like there's so many
35:29
amazing masters athletes
35:31
and I think for a lot of
35:32
years it almost feels like
35:34
oh like masters like it's
35:35
lame or whatever like I'm
35:37
not gonna do the masters
35:38
but there's so many good x
35:39
games athletes now that
35:41
like it would be so sick if
35:43
they'd all come out and and
35:45
and and compete like it'd be awesome
35:48
Your division's stacked with
35:49
former games athletes.
35:50
Oh, man.
35:51
And the 35 to 39.
35:54
And if the games, as the individual ones,
35:58
age out kind of and then become Masters,
36:00
it's only just going to get
36:01
better if everyone wants to
36:02
stay involved.
36:04
I just think it's going to
36:05
just get better and better and better.
36:06
That's my hope anyway.
36:07
Well,
36:08
the 40 to 44-year-old division has
36:09
three former podium winners.
36:11
Totally.
36:12
Oh man.
36:13
Last year, my division, like the 10 of us,
36:16
it was all like, it was like Sam Briggs,
36:18
Becca Voigt, Miller.
36:19
Like it was all these legit beasts.
36:22
Like it was just,
36:24
it was so cool to be there
36:25
with those girls.
36:26
Like anyway.
36:27
Yeah.
36:27
It was awesome.
36:28
Yeah.
36:29
Well,
36:29
I want to thank you for taking time
36:31
out of a busy day, moving your gym,
36:32
and still doing this with us.
36:35
We're going to be in Birmingham.
36:36
We got permission to do a
36:38
full behind-the-scenes documentary.
36:41
Sweet.
36:42
Ellie Hiller and myself will be backstage.
36:44
Cool.
36:45
Chatting with you guys in the warm-up area,
36:47
the corral.
36:47
Amazing.
36:49
And we're going to put
36:49
together a really cool
36:51
documentary after the fact
36:52
for you guys to be able to go back.
36:54
That's amazing.
36:56
Well, from the bottom of my heart,
36:58
thank you for caring so
36:59
much about the Masters athletes.
37:02
I think some, you know,
37:03
there's a vibe that like, oh,
37:04
no one cares about Masters.
37:05
I know that's not true,
37:06
but things like this really
37:08
help in getting content out there.
37:10
So thank you very much for
37:12
doing these interviews and
37:13
for coming and having a
37:14
vested interest in all of us.
37:15
It's awesome.
37:17
Well, thank you, Megan.
37:17
It was a joy meeting you last year.
37:19
Can't wait to see you again this year.
37:21
Likewise.
37:22
Good luck on the move.
37:23
Thank you.
37:24
And we'll see you really, really soon.
37:25
Thank you so much.
37:26
I'll see you soon.
37:27
All right.
37:27
With that, everybody,
37:28
thank you in the chat for being here.
37:30
Thank you for watching.
37:31
And we'll be back next time
37:32
on the Clydesdale Media Podcast.
37:35
Bye, guys.