Latest / Clydesdale Media Podcast / Carleen Matthews | The Athletes of the 2024 Legends Masters CrossFit Games

Transcript

Carleen Matthews | The Athletes of the 2024 Legends Masters CrossFit Games · Clydesdale Media Podcast

• 0:13
  Let's go!
• 0:35
  What is going on, everybody?
• 0:36
  Welcome to the Clydesdale Media Podcast.
• 0:39
  My name is Scott Switzer.
• 0:39
  I'm the Clydesdale.
• 0:41
  We are here highlighting and
• 0:42
  celebrating the athletes of
• 0:45
  the 2024 Legends Masters CrossFit Games.
• 0:49
  And I am so happy to have
• 0:51
  with me old friend, Carleen Matthews.
• 0:53
  What's going on, Carleen?
• 0:54
  Hi.
• 0:54
  Thanks for having me.
• 0:56
  Yeah.
• 0:57
  So, you're back to the games again.
• 1:00
  Yeah.
• 1:02
  Excited?
• 1:02
  Yes.
• 1:04
  Yeah.
• 1:04
  Um, I think the, uh, excited,
• 1:07
  but also it's still like four weeks out.
• 1:11
  So there's still that, um,
• 1:12
  a lot of work to be done
• 1:14
  kind of feeling so.
• 1:16
  It's funny because, you know,
• 1:18
  I've done a lot of
• 1:19
  interviews this week already.
• 1:21
  And a lot of athletes are
• 1:22
  talking about how because
• 1:24
  they're Masters athletes,
• 1:24
  they don't do the six-hour days anymore.
• 1:28
  It's like an hour here,
• 1:29
  maybe an hour there.
• 1:31
  And then when everybody made the games,
• 1:32
  like there's a switch that flips.
• 1:34
  Like I've made the games.
• 1:35
  Now I got to put in all the work.
• 1:37
  Yeah.
• 1:37
  Yeah.
• 1:40
  Yeah, I mean, I don't really have that.
• 1:43
  But I definitely, like, have worked hard.
• 1:47
  And I will not be the person to say that,
• 1:50
  like, I don't train hard all year round.
• 1:53
  I definitely do.
• 1:55
  But a little bit more, like, specific,
• 1:58
  right?
• 1:58
  Like,
• 1:59
  now that the games are coming and the
• 2:00
  closer they get, it's just more specific.
• 2:03
  You know, more time on, like,
• 2:06
  you got to spend more time in recovery.
• 2:07
  You got to spend...
• 2:09
  you know,
• 2:10
  more time doing some skill work
• 2:13
  and specific stuff.
• 2:15
  So it's still a little different.
• 2:18
  So how do you find time for
• 2:20
  all that as a mom, a business owner,
• 2:23
  and an athlete?
• 2:25
  Yeah, good question.
• 2:26
  Yeah, I mean, that's even, like,
• 2:30
  the other day somebody was like, oh,
• 2:31
  can you, like, come see me, like, to get,
• 2:34
  like, some body work and stuff.
• 2:35
  And I was like, I literally have –
• 2:38
  Zero time.
• 2:39
  So yeah, I mean,
• 2:42
  I'm very lucky and grateful
• 2:44
  that we have my daughter in like a
• 2:47
  daycare right now.
• 2:49
  So she's gone during the day,
• 2:51
  three days a week.
• 2:52
  And so that helps.
• 2:54
  I have two or I have three
• 2:58
  other coaches that help me.
• 3:01
  But my husband does a lot for me.
• 3:03
  So he works two days on, four days off.
• 3:08
  And the four days off,
• 3:10
  if I like really need him
• 3:11
  to pick up a class,
• 3:12
  he'll pick up a class.
• 3:15
  But it's long days.
• 3:16
  Like I coached 6 a.m.
• 3:18
  and I coached the last class
• 3:20
  at 6.30 to 7.30.
• 3:22
  And then, you know, put my daughter down.
• 3:25
  And then by then it's 8.30, 9.
• 3:28
  And I'm just like finally
• 3:30
  able to decompress.
• 3:33
  But I don't know.
• 3:34
  I figure out how to get it
• 3:36
  in and cram it in here and there.
• 3:38
  Yeah.
• 3:40
  So you hear some of these
• 3:41
  like elite athletes talking
• 3:43
  about getting 10,
• 3:44
  11 hours sleep in a night.
• 3:46
  That doesn't seem possible in your life.
• 3:49
  It's not.
• 3:49
  Yeah.
• 3:50
  It's, um, something that I'm working on.
• 3:52
  Uh, I would, I would be really,
• 3:55
  really happy with eight.
• 3:57
  Um, and that would be a goal, but, uh,
• 4:00
  six to seven is, uh,
• 4:03
  is usually when I'm at and it's not ideal,
• 4:05
  but, um, it's reality.
• 4:07
  So.
• 4:09
  So just to add some texture
• 4:10
  to all this that we've talked about,
• 4:12
  you own a gym, CrossFit St.
• 4:16
  Helens?
• 4:16
  Yes.
• 4:18
  In Oregon?
• 4:19
  Yes.
• 4:20
  And your husband is a firefighter,
• 4:22
  correct?
• 4:23
  Correct.
• 4:25
  So he has that two days on,
• 4:26
  four days off schedule
• 4:28
  because of being a first responder.
• 4:29
  Mm-hmm.
• 4:32
  So being a business owner
• 4:35
  and him being a first responder,
• 4:36
  that's a lot of stress.
• 4:38
  Yeah.
• 4:40
  Um, how old is Charlotte now?
• 4:42
  She will be four in September.
• 4:44
  Wow.
• 4:47
  So the easy time for kids.
• 4:54
  Yeah.
• 4:54
  Right now we're in the thick of it.
• 4:57
  We're actually on, um,
• 4:59
  she's definitely having a day today.
• 5:01
  I'm like, what happened?
• 5:03
  Like, who are you?
• 5:04
  What happened?
• 5:06
  Um, so it's been very challenging.
• 5:10
  It's funny.
• 5:10
  I just finished an interview
• 5:12
  with Kenzie Riley.
• 5:14
  Her oldest is four as well.
• 5:16
  And I was telling her that
• 5:18
  when my daughter was small,
• 5:20
  we used to call like 6 to
• 5:23
  7.30 the gang green hour.
• 5:26
  Because getting her settled
• 5:28
  for anything was nearly impossible.
• 5:31
  Yeah.
• 5:34
  Yeah.
• 5:36
  We have more like...
• 5:40
  7 a.m.
• 5:41
  to, like, 7.30 at night is our hour.
• 5:45
  Like I said,
• 5:46
  I'm very lucky to be able to
• 5:48
  send her to school.
• 5:51
  But she is a handful.
• 5:53
  She's very, very busy.
• 5:55
  Like, we just had CrossFit kids today.
• 5:57
  And I'm like, okay, cool.
• 5:59
  Like, let's run them.
• 6:00
  Like, jumping, all kinds of things.
• 6:04
  And it just doesn't even...
• 6:07
  it doesn't even make a dent.
• 6:08
  Um, so like my husband's like,
• 6:10
  we gotta go.
• 6:11
  And so like, cool,
• 6:12
  take her to the skate park somewhere,
• 6:14
  like run it out.
• 6:16
  We have her in swimming and
• 6:17
  that makes her a little bit more tired,
• 6:19
  but not enough.
• 6:22
  Um, she's very, very busy.
• 6:24
  And so it's a lot.
• 6:27
  Is, is that the, um,
• 6:29
  cross to bear for two fit parents?
• 6:31
  I might be, you know,
• 6:33
  I mean like people are like,
• 6:34
  what do you expect?
• 6:35
  You were like bouncing
• 6:36
  around the entire time you were pregnant.
• 6:38
  I was like, yeah, that's true.
• 6:40
  Yeah.
• 6:40
  So you pressed on those jeans.
• 6:42
  Yeah.
• 6:43
  Yeah.
• 6:45
  Um,
• 6:46
  so what are your favorite times with,
• 6:48
  with Charlotte?
• 6:49
  Like when you have like the
• 6:51
  perfect day with her, cause let's,
• 6:54
  let's end on a good note.
• 6:55
  Cause like I love my daughter to death and,
• 6:57
  and the, she's 23 now.
• 7:00
  So that four year old stage is long gone.
• 7:02
  Yeah.
• 7:04
  Yeah.
• 7:04
  I mean, I definitely, um, you know,
• 7:06
  like lately, like,
• 7:08
  as much as she is like wild
• 7:11
  and crazy and feral, but, um, she is like,
• 7:14
  you know, the moments where she's like,
• 7:15
  hug.
• 7:17
  Um, and, and so like, that's so nice.
• 7:19
  I like got back from a
• 7:21
  training at Fort Vancouver
• 7:23
  yesterday and I met them at
• 7:25
  the grocery store and, um,
• 7:28
  And she was, like, hug,
• 7:29
  and she was so happy to see me.
• 7:32
  But I love that she is able
• 7:35
  to be in the gym with me.
• 7:36
  And sometimes she will just, like, watch,
• 7:40
  and I don't know she's watching.
• 7:42
  And then later on in the evening, she'll,
• 7:46
  like, do exactly what I did.
• 7:49
  So, like,
• 7:49
  that's really cool to watch that
• 7:51
  and to see, like,
• 7:53
  we were doing box jumps today.
• 7:54
  And so like,
• 7:55
  that's really exciting for me
• 7:56
  to watch her just like fly
• 7:58
  up on a 20 inch box.
• 8:00
  Um, so yeah, I mean, she's great.
• 8:03
  Uh, she just, you know,
• 8:04
  there's lots of moments that, um,
• 8:08
  that are challenging,
• 8:09
  but she's doing 20 inch box
• 8:12
  jumps at four.
• 8:13
  Oh yeah.
• 8:15
  Wow.
• 8:16
  CrossFit games won't be in 2038.
• 8:17
  Yeah.
• 8:19
  Yeah, we just got to get her focused.
• 8:22
  Yeah.
• 8:24
  Well,
• 8:24
  this is your sixth trip to the
• 8:27
  CrossFit Games.
• 8:28
  Yeah.
• 8:30
  Isn't that crazy to just say?
• 8:32
  Yeah, I mean,
• 8:33
  it is because there's a lot
• 8:36
  of times where I'm like, oh, well, yeah,
• 8:38
  like six times, I guess.
• 8:41
  Like somebody just asked me the other day.
• 8:42
  They're like, how many times?
• 8:43
  I'm like, well, three individual trips.
• 8:45
  And then this will be my third Masters.
• 8:47
  And they're like, so six.
• 8:48
  And I was like, yeah,
• 8:49
  but I don't really like
• 8:51
  ever say it that way.
• 8:52
  So it's kind of funny,
• 8:54
  like thinking about it.
• 8:56
  And, you know,
• 8:57
  when they talk to like the
• 8:59
  elite athletes and they're like, oh,
• 9:01
  this is your fourth time or
• 9:03
  like you're like not a rookie anymore.
• 9:06
  And like you're the you're an OG.
• 9:08
  And I'm like, oh, I guess kind of them,
• 9:11
  too.
• 9:11
  But I just don't really like
• 9:13
  see it like that.
• 9:13
  So.
• 9:15
  Yeah.
• 9:15
  I think,
• 9:16
  I think we need to change that
• 9:17
  perspective because you have a job,
• 9:22
  you own a business, you have a child,
• 9:25
  you have a lot of things
• 9:26
  that you're balancing in
• 9:27
  life that you can't do what
• 9:28
  the elite athletes do.
• 9:30
  And that's okay.
• 9:31
  Yeah.
• 9:32
  Yeah.
• 9:33
  And I, I mean, I was very ready.
• 9:35
  I was ready when I leveled up to masters.
• 9:41
  I was just done like,
• 9:44
  know putting in all that uh
• 9:46
  time and work and like my
• 9:48
  body was just ready to be
• 9:50
  done um so like I'm very
• 9:54
  grateful for the masters
• 9:55
  division and like and I
• 9:56
  love it I think it's great
• 9:58
  um you know so I have no
• 10:01
  like I wish I was still
• 10:02
  there nothing like I don't
• 10:05
  wanna I do not I'm not there I'm like
• 10:09
  i don't do the things that
• 10:11
  they can do like I can't do
• 10:12
  that anymore so um yeah I'm
• 10:16
  really grateful for where I
• 10:17
  am now I'm happy with that
• 10:21
  so five years ago you
• 10:23
  entered the masters
• 10:24
  division as at the youngest
• 10:26
  point of the 35 to 39 and
• 10:29
  you took second yeah now
• 10:31
  you're in the youngest part
• 10:33
  of the 40 to 45 44 year old division
• 10:37
  does that put extra
• 10:38
  expectations on how you're
• 10:40
  going to perform this year?
• 10:42
  Um, no, I mean, it makes me like hopeful.
• 10:46
  Right.
• 10:47
  Um,
• 10:48
  and that was the intention with last year,
• 10:50
  like taking a year off, um,
• 10:52
  knowing that I would be on
• 10:53
  the younger end of the next year.
• 10:55
  Um, but there's some really fit,
• 10:59
  strong girls in my division.
• 11:01
  Um, and, uh,
• 11:06
  I've been out of competition
• 11:07
  for a little bit.
• 11:08
  And so it's weird.
• 11:10
  I don't really like right now.
• 11:12
  I don't really have a lot of
• 11:14
  expectations put on myself.
• 11:17
  I'm just really happy to be there.
• 11:18
  Because I didn't know that
• 11:21
  if I if I would be there this year,
• 11:24
  and so I'm like,
• 11:26
  I'm super happy to be there.
• 11:27
  Um,
• 11:30
  I've worked really hard and
• 11:32
  I feel really fit.
• 11:34
  And so it's kind of like, you know,
• 11:36
  I considered, um, you know,
• 11:40
  through like the open and
• 11:41
  semi or in quarters and semis,
• 11:43
  I considered like, well, if I'm not like,
• 11:46
  you know,
• 11:46
  if I don't have a chance and I'm
• 11:48
  like lower 30, 40,
• 11:49
  however many they're taking, um,
• 11:53
  if I'm on like the low end of qualifying,
• 11:55
  like, I don't know if I'm going to go.
• 11:58
  And then I realized that like,
• 12:01
  this is not given, like,
• 12:03
  this is not given and it's
• 12:04
  not guaranteed.
• 12:05
  Um, and so like any,
• 12:07
  any masters athlete that
• 12:09
  has ever like questioned, um, like,
• 12:12
  should I go or not?
• 12:14
  And like, express that to me.
• 12:15
  I'm like, go, like go,
• 12:17
  because we don't know if
• 12:19
  there'll be next year.
• 12:20
  And literally that's been like, since,
• 12:24
  since I went in.
• 12:26
  um, at 35 to 39, I, I was like,
• 12:29
  I don't know if there'll be a next year,
• 12:31
  you know,
• 12:31
  I don't know what's going to happen.
• 12:33
  Cause when I went in 2019, um,
• 12:37
  I was like a month away
• 12:40
  from trying to get pregnant.
• 12:43
  Uh, so, you know, for me then it was like,
• 12:46
  I don't know, I don't know if I'm gonna,
• 12:49
  you know, want to do this again.
• 12:50
  Um, so, you know,
• 12:53
  I feel like you gotta like
• 12:54
  take advantage of it.
• 12:56
  Um,
• 12:57
  I definitely earned my spot and, um, yeah,
• 13:01
  I'm just, I'm just happy to be there,
• 13:03
  but I also don't want to
• 13:05
  just go and just participate.
• 13:07
  So like I want to compete, um,
• 13:10
  and I want to do the best I can, but, uh,
• 13:14
  yeah, it's weird.
• 13:14
  I don't have any huge
• 13:16
  expectations on myself this year and I,
• 13:19
  I don't want to put any on
• 13:20
  myself cause that's when I do the best.
• 13:24
  most of the people I've spoke to this week,
• 13:26
  this is their rookie year.
• 13:29
  The first time they're ever
• 13:30
  going until tonight with
• 13:31
  Kenzie and you and the
• 13:33
  person I'm interviewing next,
• 13:34
  you've all been to the
• 13:35
  games before any advice for
• 13:38
  these first timers heading to the,
• 13:40
  to their first.
• 13:43
  Um, I think that like, you know,
• 13:45
  it's the same thing that
• 13:46
  everyone talks about is like,
• 13:47
  just soak it in.
• 13:48
  Right.
• 13:48
  And it's really, really hard to do that.
• 13:51
  Um, I do feel like,
• 13:53
  I didn't really fully get to
• 13:55
  do that my first two years.
• 13:59
  And then the third year was
• 14:01
  like I had to pull out early.
• 14:03
  So, I mean, yeah, I mean,
• 14:06
  I think that that's like a
• 14:07
  big thing is like try and
• 14:08
  just like enjoy the process
• 14:10
  and have fun with it.
• 14:12
  But also like, you know,
• 14:14
  know that you're there to work hard.
• 14:18
  So it's going to be fun.
• 14:22
  Um,
• 14:23
  who are you taking to Birmingham with
• 14:24
  you?
• 14:24
  Uh, that's a good question because, um,
• 14:28
  this year is going to be really exciting.
• 14:30
  Um,
• 14:30
  I have my husband and daughter for sure
• 14:33
  will come.
• 14:34
  And then, um,
• 14:35
  my mom and my sister and my niece, um,
• 14:39
  I have my coach coming with
• 14:40
  me and then I have a group of six.
• 14:45
  members from the gym,
• 14:47
  a group of two members and
• 14:48
  then another group of two,
• 14:50
  and then possibly two more.
• 14:52
  So it's like, like 12 people from my gym,
• 14:55
  which is the most I've ever
• 14:57
  come to watch me compete, um,
• 14:59
  at the games.
• 15:01
  Uh, especially, you know,
• 15:02
  it's like a big travel.
• 15:04
  And so it's really, I'm really excited,
• 15:07
  like for that,
• 15:08
  to have so many people
• 15:09
  there to support me and like, get to like,
• 15:12
  continue, um, to be a part of my journey.
• 15:16
  That's incredible.
• 15:18
  The more people we can get there,
• 15:20
  the better chance that this
• 15:23
  becomes a big festival type event.
• 15:26
  Yeah.
• 15:28
  And so it's cool that you're
• 15:30
  not the only person telling
• 15:31
  me you're bringing a big group of people.
• 15:32
  So if everybody does that,
• 15:34
  it could be with 450
• 15:37
  athletes and then they all
• 15:38
  bring a good chunk of people.
• 15:41
  That's going to be awesome.
• 15:42
  Yeah.
• 15:42
  Yeah.
• 15:45
  So I wanted to talk a little
• 15:47
  bit about Big Fish.
• 15:49
  We've talked to you about
• 15:50
  that in the past.
• 15:52
  You did it last year.
• 15:52
  We had you on the show
• 15:53
  talking about that experience.
• 15:56
  I read some of your stuff
• 15:57
  about this year where you did it again.
• 16:00
  And the thing that got you
• 16:01
  through was seeing your
• 16:02
  husband and your daughter
• 16:04
  kind of come support you during that.
• 16:06
  And for people who don't know,
• 16:07
  it's a 24-hour test.
• 16:08
  30-hour.
• 16:08
  30-hour test.
• 16:08
  Mm-hmm.
• 16:15
  Do you want to give a quick
• 16:16
  explanation as to what it
• 16:17
  is and what it's for?
• 16:18
  Yeah,
• 16:19
  so the Big Fish Foundation helps
• 16:23
  support veterans after they
• 16:27
  come back and they're
• 16:30
  really there to help bring
• 16:34
  you know,
• 16:34
  just like bring people together
• 16:36
  and do lots of,
• 16:38
  they do lots of different things.
• 16:40
  They don't just do like
• 16:42
  these like 30 hour grueling events,
• 16:44
  but they do the,
• 16:48
  they do a fundraiser and
• 16:50
  that's what I've participated in.
• 16:52
  And so they actually just did one.
• 16:54
  So this year I didn't do it.
• 16:57
  I don't think I've done it
• 16:59
  since I spoke with you.
• 17:03
  But, uh,
• 17:05
  so this year I didn't do it
• 17:06
  because it's kind of like,
• 17:08
  I either do big fish or I do the games.
• 17:12
  Um, I'm worried that I,
• 17:15
  I worry too much that it's
• 17:16
  like such a long grueling
• 17:18
  event that it's kind of like a beat down.
• 17:20
  Um, but, uh, when I did it, um, last,
• 17:26
  I did it last year and, um,
• 17:30
  It was really fun.
• 17:31
  It was Miranda and Julien were there.
• 17:36
  We had Fern there.
• 17:42
  We had a lot of like really cool,
• 17:46
  Brooke Entz was there, Brista as always.
• 17:52
  And so it was really cool
• 17:53
  event working with like teamwork.
• 17:57
  So we have relied a lot on our team
• 18:00
  We did a lot of things in
• 18:01
  pairs and in teams of six or whatever.
• 18:06
  But the 30 hours is, you know,
• 18:09
  you get to a point where you, like,
• 18:11
  have a breaking point.
• 18:14
  And, you know, it's nice to have.
• 18:18
  It was really cool because I did have,
• 18:22
  like, my husband and Charlotte there.
• 18:24
  And it was kind of always
• 18:27
  where it would be, like,
• 18:29
  it's getting hard, it's getting hard.
• 18:31
  And then like,
• 18:32
  I would come like back to
• 18:33
  the house and like, they would be there.
• 18:36
  Um, so that was cool.
• 18:37
  And then just to get to have, um,
• 18:40
  her watch me do something like that.
• 18:43
  Uh, you know,
• 18:44
  I don't think she understands, right?
• 18:46
  Like she doesn't understand,
• 18:47
  she doesn't get it, but eventually like,
• 18:50
  it's something that, you know,
• 18:51
  we will watch
• 18:53
  we watched some of the stuff
• 18:55
  from this past year and like,
• 18:57
  she knows Tosh.
• 18:59
  And so I'm like, Hey, there's Mr. Tosh.
• 19:01
  Do you remember Mr. Tosh?
• 19:02
  And like, so she remembers that.
• 19:04
  And it's super cool.
• 19:05
  Like my daughter got to like
• 19:08
  meet and hang out with Nicole Carroll.
• 19:10
  Like not a lot of people get to do that.
• 19:14
  And so like, that's really cool.
• 19:16
  Like when she grows up,
• 19:17
  I'm going to be like, yeah, like you,
• 19:18
  like here's a picture of
• 19:19
  you and Nicole Carroll.
• 19:20
  Yeah.
• 19:23
  And so that's really cool for me.
• 19:25
  That whole,
• 19:27
  the Big Fish and Tosh and Nicole,
• 19:29
  you know, what they're doing is amazing.
• 19:31
  And this year we sent out a
• 19:34
  athlete from street parking,
• 19:38
  a girl that I've done some
• 19:39
  training with and knew that
• 19:41
  she would be a really good fit.
• 19:42
  And she was a really good fit.
• 19:44
  Um,
• 19:45
  and so she got to experience it this
• 19:47
  year and, uh, it was really,
• 19:49
  really cool to be able to like, uh,
• 19:51
  hear all the takeaways that
• 19:53
  she took from it.
• 19:54
  Um, and just sit her here, her experience.
• 19:58
  Cause she's like a mom and a
• 20:00
  business owner and like similar,
• 20:01
  you know?
• 20:02
  And, um, so it was, it's, it's really,
• 20:05
  it's a great, um,
• 20:10
  it's obviously a great foundation,
• 20:12
  but like that, you know, whole, uh,
• 20:15
  30 hour event was, is, you know,
• 20:20
  you learn something about
• 20:21
  yourself that you like,
• 20:23
  can't learn from just,
• 20:26
  sometimes you can't even
• 20:27
  learn it from 24 hours.
• 20:28
  Like it's going to take you
• 20:29
  the full 30 hours to really
• 20:31
  get that completely life changing.
• 20:34
  Yeah.
• 20:35
  Um, and you know,
• 20:35
  there's a lot of times too, where like,
• 20:37
  I'll like, I'll,
• 20:40
  you know, we'll talk about, uh,
• 20:41
  I don't know, like, like, Oh,
• 20:43
  somebody is like talking
• 20:44
  the other day about 60
• 20:45
  minutes of burpees or whatever.
• 20:47
  And they're like, people are like,
• 20:48
  I could never do that.
• 20:50
  Like, Oh, like that's,
• 20:55
  that's like nothing.
• 20:56
  Right.
• 20:57
  Like 60 minutes.
• 20:59
  I've done like 30 hours, you know?
• 21:01
  Um, and I think the mental, um,
• 21:06
  You know,
• 21:07
  the mental toughness that you
• 21:08
  build from stuff like that
• 21:09
  and just sitting through
• 21:12
  adversity and sitting in
• 21:14
  your shit is something that
• 21:18
  you can't train for that.
• 21:20
  Like, you can't train for that.
• 21:22
  You have to just experience it.
• 21:24
  And so I'm very grateful to
• 21:25
  have experienced that stuff
• 21:27
  because it's made me a
• 21:29
  better athlete and is
• 21:31
  likely one of the reasons why I...
• 21:36
  you know, am still competing today.
• 21:40
  It's funny because I, now I,
• 21:41
  every time I talk to you now,
• 21:42
  I want to go in three
• 21:43
  different directions and I
• 21:45
  got to pick which one first.
• 21:46
  Nicole Carroll is one of the
• 21:47
  coolest people on the, on the planet.
• 21:49
  And not many people make me
• 21:51
  nervous anymore because of
• 21:52
  doing this for so long,
• 21:54
  but I was at the games in
• 21:55
  the media pit and she came
• 21:56
  up and leaned on the
• 21:57
  barricade right beside me.
• 21:59
  And I got nervous.
• 22:02
  So she's just like super cool.
• 22:05
  Somebody I respect deeply in this space.
• 22:07
  The other thing is you talk
• 22:09
  about like sitting in your
• 22:10
  shit for 30 hours.
• 22:13
  You,
• 22:14
  we did this story when we first met
• 22:16
  you years ago and you
• 22:18
  talked about your recovery
• 22:19
  journey and now you're,
• 22:21
  you're paying that forward
• 22:23
  with holding recovery
• 22:26
  classes at your gym.
• 22:28
  So talk about sitting in your shit.
• 22:29
  Like, you know what that's like.
• 22:32
  Yeah.
• 22:34
  And to say that this event
• 22:37
  changes your life after
• 22:38
  what you've been through in
• 22:39
  your life means so much.
• 22:43
  Yeah.
• 22:45
  So paying it forward now,
• 22:47
  how important are those
• 22:48
  classes that you do at your
• 22:50
  gym for people in recovery?
• 22:54
  Um, they're really important.
• 22:56
  I'm like,
• 22:57
  I'm like going to get emotional about it.
• 22:59
  Um,
• 23:00
  We actually have a, um, we have,
• 23:05
  we just had a situation
• 23:06
  where we have had an athlete, um,
• 23:09
  who's really struggling in our program.
• 23:11
  And, um, And, you know, like,
• 23:16
  I really truly believe that, um, he needs,
• 23:20
  he needs our program.
• 23:22
  Um,
• 23:22
  and I will continue to open up our
• 23:24
  program for him.
• 23:25
  Um,
• 23:27
  uh, as long as he's willing.
• 23:29
  Um, but, uh, so yeah, that our,
• 23:33
  our program's very like, it's, um,
• 23:36
  very close right now and like very, uh,
• 23:40
  just like very emotional.
• 23:42
  Um, but yeah, uh, you know, our program,
• 23:46
  uh,
• 23:47
  we continue to like offer free CrossFit,
• 23:50
  um, for people in recovery and, um,
• 23:53
  you know being able to find
• 23:55
  another an outlet um for
• 23:59
  those who are in recovery
• 24:01
  um is very important uh the
• 24:05
  support we have for um our
• 24:09
  athletes is really big so
• 24:11
  our entire community is
• 24:13
  very supportive of our program
• 24:17
  Um, and that, you know,
• 24:18
  I've had some of our
• 24:20
  athletes talk about it before that.
• 24:22
  Cause they eventually kind
• 24:23
  of like transition out,
• 24:25
  they transit transition out
• 24:27
  from the free classes to
• 24:28
  the paid classes because
• 24:31
  they are able to do that.
• 24:34
  And it's,
• 24:34
  and it's really just whenever
• 24:35
  they're able.
• 24:37
  Um, and so, you know, the,
• 24:39
  the comments have been like, I,
• 24:40
  I was scared to go into the
• 24:42
  normal classes because I
• 24:43
  was scared people would
• 24:44
  look at me as like,
• 24:46
  I was one of the recovery athletes and,
• 24:48
  um,
• 24:48
  our community doesn't look at people
• 24:50
  like that.
• 24:51
  Um, so I'm very like, that's amazing,
• 24:55
  you know, from our community.
• 24:56
  Uh, but.
• 24:59
  I'm sorry,
• 25:00
  I don't even know where that
• 25:01
  question was going,
• 25:03
  if I answered that question or not.
• 25:04
  Let me ask you a follow-up,
• 25:06
  because I live here in Ohio,
• 25:07
  and Dale King is also doing
• 25:12
  something very similar to that.
• 25:14
  Have you ever been in
• 25:15
  contact with Dale and
• 25:17
  talked about these types of programs?
• 25:19
  Yeah.
• 25:20
  I mean a little bit,
• 25:21
  I've tried to contact him.
• 25:22
  I would really, really,
• 25:23
  really like to be able to get out and, um,
• 25:25
  see him after like the
• 25:28
  documentary came out.
• 25:29
  I was like, go, I was like, let's go.
• 25:32
  We're going to take a team out.
• 25:34
  Um, and I was like asking like,
• 25:36
  like what's the deal on the teams?
• 25:39
  Um,
• 25:40
  I would like to take a team out to the
• 25:41
  gauntlet.
• 25:42
  Um, but I would also like to, uh,
• 25:46
  get connected with him and
• 25:48
  hear some of his, um, you know,
• 25:52
  best practices and, um,
• 25:55
  just like more about what
• 25:56
  he's doing because yeah,
• 25:58
  I think what he's doing is amazing.
• 26:00
  And, um, I try to, um,
• 26:03
  Basically his program and
• 26:04
  the Phoenix are the two
• 26:07
  like programs that we like
• 26:08
  really model off of you
• 26:09
  know And like would want to
• 26:11
  be doing what they're doing
• 26:12
  You know our program just
• 26:15
  ends up being is is me
• 26:18
  offering and doing what I
• 26:20
  can to like give back to
• 26:23
  the community and You know
• 26:26
  to give people what I was given And
• 26:31
  uh, share with them what I have, you know,
• 26:34
  um, I don't know.
• 26:35
  We had a,
• 26:36
  we had a new girl yesterday and she, um,
• 26:39
  she said, I don't,
• 26:40
  I don't listen well and I
• 26:41
  don't pay attention well,
• 26:42
  but for some reason, when you speak,
• 26:44
  I listen.
• 26:46
  Um, and that was really cool.
• 26:48
  Like to know that I have
• 26:49
  that impact on people, um, it,
• 26:52
  it means a lot.
• 26:54
  And, uh, it was very powerful in a,
• 26:58
  you know in a in a place of
• 27:00
  feeling like I um you know
• 27:03
  invested a lot into an
• 27:05
  athlete and um you know I
• 27:08
  just didn't get it this
• 27:08
  time um but you know
• 27:13
  there's there's other
• 27:15
  athletes that are getting
• 27:16
  it um and that have uh so
• 27:20
  It's, um, you know, it,
• 27:22
  it's an up and down, right?
• 27:23
  Like, like I said,
• 27:25
  like I will invest and like put my, like,
• 27:29
  I really like,
• 27:29
  I put my heart out for these people.
• 27:31
  Um, and you know,
• 27:34
  sometimes they're going to
• 27:35
  get it and grab on and
• 27:36
  sometimes they're not and
• 27:37
  they're not ready yet.
• 27:39
  Um,
• 27:40
  but I know that, Oh,
• 27:41
  I actually have a cool story.
• 27:43
  I know that I do have an impact on people,
• 27:45
  um, and that they'll take something.
• 27:48
  So this weekend I, um, competed, uh,
• 27:52
  at a recovery throw down.
• 27:53
  Um,
• 27:55
  so it was another recovery program in
• 27:57
  our area and they, um,
• 28:00
  just did a competition,
• 28:01
  a team competition for,
• 28:03
  to raise money for their program.
• 28:06
  Um,
• 28:06
  So I met a kid there who I
• 28:09
  used to work at a treatment center.
• 28:11
  Um, when I was right out of college.
• 28:14
  So that was like, I don't know, 2008.
• 28:17
  Um,
• 28:20
  And he came up to me and he was like,
• 28:21
  what's your name?
• 28:22
  I was like, Carlene.
• 28:23
  And he was like,
• 28:24
  did you used to work at DePaul?
• 28:26
  And I was like, yes.
• 28:27
  He was like, I was a client there.
• 28:30
  He's like, I remember you.
• 28:31
  And it was when I first started.
• 28:34
  It must have been 2010
• 28:37
  because it was when I first
• 28:38
  started CrossFit and I
• 28:39
  started taking the clients
• 28:41
  to the CrossFit gym.
• 28:43
  And so I was like, oh,
• 28:44
  did we go to CrossFit when
• 28:46
  you were there?
• 28:47
  And he was like, yes.
• 28:48
  And so he, um,
• 28:51
  he got that experience when
• 28:52
  he was 15 and he's now 27.
• 28:55
  Um,
• 28:56
  and he hasn't been clean the whole time,
• 28:59
  but, um, he, he came back to CrossFit.
• 29:03
  Um, and so that was really, really cool.
• 29:06
  I was like super excited.
• 29:08
  I've been telling everyone the story.
• 29:09
  So, um,
• 29:10
  that was really cool to know that
• 29:12
  like I had that impact and, um,
• 29:13
  he remembered me, um, from, you know,
• 29:18
  14 years ago.
• 29:20
  Well, that's awesome.
• 29:23
  That Dale King documentary
• 29:25
  may be the most impactful
• 29:26
  thing I've seen in the last
• 29:27
  year to my life.
• 29:29
  And one thing you learn in
• 29:30
  there is recovery is not a straight line.
• 29:32
  Yeah.
• 29:33
  Like it is just not.
• 29:36
  And that's why that
• 29:37
  documentary is so emotional
• 29:39
  because it's not a straight line.
• 29:41
  yeah what you guys are doing
• 29:43
  you and him and the phoenix
• 29:46
  needs to be done and you
• 29:48
  should be applauded for all
• 29:49
  the efforts you guys are
• 29:50
  putting in yeah it
• 29:52
  definitely you know um you
• 29:55
  know I just have I have a
• 29:56
  lot of athletes that are
• 29:57
  like I wouldn't like this
• 29:59
  this is part of my this is
• 30:01
  part of my recovery you
• 30:03
  know like meetings great
• 30:04
  yeah I go to meetings but
• 30:05
  like I need this
• 30:08
  Um, you know, I'm working with a guy who,
• 30:11
  um, that's exactly it.
• 30:12
  Like, he's like, I need this.
• 30:14
  Like,
• 30:14
  this is part of his treatment program,
• 30:16
  like part of his recovery,
• 30:19
  part of his program includes CrossFit.
• 30:22
  Like if he's not showing up regularly,
• 30:24
  like I can talk to his PO, you know, like,
• 30:27
  Hey, he's not showing up.
• 30:29
  Chances are likely he's not
• 30:30
  doing good if he's not showing up.
• 30:31
  So as long as he's consistent with us,
• 30:33
  like coming five days a week, then I'm
• 30:36
  Like chances are likely he's doing good.
• 30:40
  It's amazing what,
• 30:42
  how many great things
• 30:43
  CrossFit can do for people.
• 30:45
  Yeah.
• 30:45
  In all facets of life, not just recovery,
• 30:48
  but just the community
• 30:50
  itself is so amazing.
• 30:52
  Yeah.
• 30:53
  Well, Carlene,
• 30:55
  I've taken up 30 minutes of your time.
• 30:56
  I promised you it would only
• 30:57
  be 30 minutes.
• 30:59
  I want to thank you so much
• 31:00
  for being on tonight.
• 31:02
  Good luck at the games.
• 31:03
  We will be there.
• 31:05
  We were granted access to do
• 31:06
  a behind-the-scenes of the
• 31:08
  Masters CrossFit Games.
• 31:10
  So just like the elites get that,
• 31:12
  we're doing it for the Masters athletes.
• 31:14
  So we will be there chatting
• 31:16
  with you in the back and in
• 31:18
  the warm-up area and
• 31:20
  wishing you all the luck in the world.
• 31:22
  That's cool.
• 31:23
  You're lucky because I asked
• 31:25
  if they were going to do
• 31:25
  any media passes for anyone
• 31:27
  else and they're not.
• 31:28
  So you guys are lucky.
• 31:30
  It took me a long negotiation to get this.
• 31:35
  That's great.
• 31:37
  Well, thank you so much for being on here.
• 31:39
  And thank you to everybody for joining us.
• 31:42
  We will see everybody next
• 31:43
  time on the Clydesdale Media Podcast.
• 31:46
  Thank you.