Latest / Clydesdale Media Podcast / Paige Semenza | The Clydesdale Media Semifinalist Series

Transcript

Paige Semenza | The Clydesdale Media Semifinalist Series · Clydesdale Media Podcast

• 0:10
  I was born to kill it.
• 0:15
  I was meant to win.
• 0:16
  I am down and willing,
• 0:18
  so I will find a way.
• 0:19
  It took a minute,
• 0:20
  now it didn't happen right away.
• 0:22
  When it get hot in the kitchen,
• 0:23
  you decide to stay.
• 0:24
  That's how a winner's made.
• 0:26
  Stick a fork in a hater on
• 0:27
  my dinner plate.
• 0:34
  What is going on, everybody?
• 0:36
  Welcome to the Clydesdale Media Podcast.
• 0:38
  We're featuring the athletes
• 0:40
  of the 2024 CrossFit Games semifinals.
• 0:43
  And I'm so pumped to talk to
• 0:45
  Paige Semenza today.
• 0:46
  What's going on, Paige?
• 0:48
  Not much.
• 0:48
  How are you doing?
• 0:49
  I'm good.
• 0:50
  I'm good.
• 0:50
  I had a bad cold yesterday.
• 0:52
  It's starting to go away today.
• 0:53
  So we're in recovery mode.
• 0:56
  All right.
• 0:58
  So we talked like last November.
• 1:01
  Mm-hmm.
• 1:03
  And it was right after Rogue.
• 1:06
  And we had this conversation
• 1:07
  about that you had to
• 1:10
  decide what this year was
• 1:12
  going to be for you and
• 1:14
  either commit yes or commit no.
• 1:16
  And you used Rogue as a barometer.
• 1:19
  And obviously, because we're here,
• 1:22
  you committed yes.
• 1:24
  Yeah, I did.
• 1:26
  Yeah, there was...
• 1:29
  kind of a lot that happened
• 1:30
  in my personal life since Rogue.
• 1:36
  And it was really like,
• 1:40
  it took a lot of figuring
• 1:41
  out like what I wanted to do,
• 1:43
  still stuff that can make
• 1:45
  me pretty emotional.
• 1:46
  So I won't get into details, but yeah,
• 1:50
  I think this has been
• 1:52
  honestly one of like the
• 1:56
  clearest years I've had
• 1:58
  mentally with training, with competing.
• 2:01
  So there was a huge physical
• 2:05
  setback last year with my back injury.
• 2:07
  That was the huge question after Rogue.
• 2:11
  you know,
• 2:12
  being able to deadlift near
• 2:14
  nearly 400 pounds at Rogue,
• 2:15
  having not touched a
• 2:17
  barbell for a long time before that,
• 2:20
  that was kind of like, OK,
• 2:22
  my body is still responding to training.
• 2:26
  It still is in it.
• 2:28
  So the physical side of it
• 2:29
  was kind of there.
• 2:31
  The mental side was where it was like,
• 2:34
  you know, what is this year going to be?
• 2:36
  What is it going to mean for me?
• 2:39
  And through, you know, through December,
• 2:41
  through January, February,
• 2:42
  it was kind of figuring that out.
• 2:46
  And just finding a different
• 2:48
  meaning and purpose for this year,
• 2:49
  you know, every year.
• 2:52
  you're competing in CrossFit.
• 2:54
  It's like, oh, we're competing again.
• 2:56
  We're doing it again.
• 2:57
  We're doing it again.
• 2:58
  But it's not like that.
• 2:59
  It's every year is different.
• 3:01
  Every year has its own set of challenges,
• 3:05
  its own set of rewards and losses.
• 3:08
  And every year is different.
• 3:10
  So it's never been the same.
• 3:13
  And that's kind of the fun
• 3:14
  part about it is you find a
• 3:16
  lot of growth in
• 3:18
  in those types of challenges,
• 3:19
  in that unknown, in that uncertainty.
• 3:21
  So yeah,
• 3:23
  here we are again and feeling prepared.
• 3:27
  Yeah, it's like, gosh, every time you talk,
• 3:31
  I have like eight roads I
• 3:32
  want to go down.
• 3:35
  Whenever you're goal setting,
• 3:36
  if you don't have the right why,
• 3:37
  it just is never going to come, right?
• 3:40
  Yeah.
• 3:42
  And I thought that's what we
• 3:44
  were kind of getting at
• 3:45
  last November is you just
• 3:46
  had to find your why for this season,
• 3:49
  and it sounds like you have.
• 3:53
  Yeah.
• 3:53
  It's funny.
• 3:55
  Just, you know,
• 3:57
  yesterday I posted a story
• 4:00
  of just going and doing a
• 4:01
  zone two session and I
• 4:03
  posted my playlist that I listened to.
• 4:06
  And if I go back to last
• 4:08
  year and I look at
• 4:09
  playlists that were like, okay,
• 4:11
  this is what gets me fired up.
• 4:13
  This is what is motivating
• 4:14
  for me right now.
• 4:15
  This is what kind of gets me going.
• 4:17
  The music is amazing.
• 4:18
  a complete 180 from what I'm
• 4:21
  listening to currently um
• 4:23
  and it's like you just go
• 4:25
  through different phases
• 4:27
  right you just you get into
• 4:29
  different likes and
• 4:30
  dislikes and finding what
• 4:32
  works and finding what doesn't work um
• 4:36
  And that's kind of never ending, right?
• 4:37
  That's just evolving as a human.
• 4:40
  So it's kind of, you know,
• 4:41
  just a small little example there.
• 4:44
  But yeah, you know,
• 4:44
  you learn a lot from last year.
• 4:47
  You take those wins and you
• 4:48
  build off them and you take
• 4:50
  the losses and you use them
• 4:51
  as lessons learned.
• 4:53
  So it's just another year of doing that.
• 4:58
  So last year,
• 4:59
  one of my team members
• 5:01
  interviewed you after one
• 5:02
  of the events at, uh,
• 5:04
  in Orlando and you would
• 5:06
  kind of reveal it in that
• 5:07
  moment that you were
• 5:08
  dealing with a back injury and, um,
• 5:12
  and that you were just,
• 5:13
  you were just proud that
• 5:14
  you were where you had a shot.
• 5:17
  Right.
• 5:17
  Yeah.
• 5:18
  With everything that you're going through,
• 5:20
  you go to the games and
• 5:21
  it's your best finish ever.
• 5:25
  Right.
• 5:25
  Yep.
• 5:25
  18.
• 5:27
  Yeah, it was.
• 5:28
  Yeah.
• 5:29
  And then so that's how I got
• 5:31
  off guard in November when you were like,
• 5:32
  I need to take a step back
• 5:34
  and just decide because you
• 5:36
  have gotten better year
• 5:37
  over year over year every
• 5:39
  time you go to the games.
• 5:40
  Yeah.
• 5:42
  So health in the back is good now?
• 5:47
  Yeah, it took a lot of time.
• 5:50
  It took a lot of trial and
• 5:52
  error figuring out what is
• 5:54
  working and what isn't working as far as,
• 5:58
  you know, just mechanics with movement.
• 6:00
  I've had to kind of,
• 6:03
  rewire my entire squat mechanics.
• 6:07
  I ended up injuring myself
• 6:09
  pulling a bar from the floor,
• 6:11
  but what we've really come
• 6:12
  to find out is that my
• 6:13
  squatting seems to be the culprit.
• 6:17
  I tend to be very posterior
• 6:19
  chain dominant with my squats,
• 6:21
  not using a ton of quads,
• 6:22
  things like that.
• 6:23
  So needing to sit more
• 6:26
  upright in the squat,
• 6:27
  not letting my shoulders
• 6:29
  and my butt be so far away
• 6:31
  from each other.
• 6:34
  just so my low back wasn't
• 6:35
  taking so much of a load from the weight.
• 6:39
  And that's been a very slow process.
• 6:42
  But every day I go in,
• 6:45
  I make sure to really warm up my hips,
• 6:47
  my back.
• 6:48
  I sit in the bottom of a
• 6:49
  squat daily for five
• 6:51
  minutes or more every day.
• 6:53
  And it's really,
• 6:55
  really made a huge difference.
• 6:57
  I get some physical therapy
• 6:59
  done at least once a week.
• 7:01
  So I really have just been
• 7:02
  staying on top of it.
• 7:03
  And what a difference
• 7:07
  mentally it makes when you
• 7:09
  can prep for semifinals the
• 7:12
  way you're supposed to.
• 7:14
  Being able to hit the
• 7:16
  training pieces as they're written,
• 7:18
  being able to hit the
• 7:19
  volume at the right time,
• 7:20
  and being able to do it feeling healthy.
• 7:24
  Just mentally, it made me realize how...
• 7:30
  like much of a dark place I
• 7:31
  was in last year, having to, you know,
• 7:35
  find these, you know,
• 7:37
  having to figure out how to
• 7:38
  train without hurting myself more.
• 7:42
  And, you know,
• 7:42
  just mentally and physically,
• 7:43
  it was exhausting.
• 7:45
  So that's why after Rogue, it was like,
• 7:47
  I really just needed to take time to
• 7:52
  figure out if I can get
• 7:54
  healthy or if this was
• 7:56
  gonna be another year of
• 7:57
  battling this mysterious
• 7:59
  back issue that I can't
• 8:01
  quite seem to figure out
• 8:02
  yet or haven't found the
• 8:03
  solutions to yet.
• 8:05
  So fortunately, we've been really able to
• 8:09
  you know, figure it out.
• 8:10
  And it's been, it's been really awesome.
• 8:12
  It's been a lot of fun
• 8:14
  getting to train with a
• 8:18
  healthy body and just the right mindset.
• 8:20
  So it's been a really good prep.
• 8:22
  I mean, I've talked to you several times.
• 8:25
  It just feels like there's a
• 8:27
  weight off your shoulders this season.
• 8:29
  Yeah.
• 8:31
  You just seem different right now.
• 8:33
  Yeah, I think a lot with my personal life.
• 8:41
  I've had to make some changes.
• 8:42
  I've had to make some big changes.
• 8:45
  So I think that has a lot to do with it.
• 8:49
  Yeah,
• 8:50
  just trying to approach everything in
• 8:53
  a way that doesn't set me back even more.
• 8:57
  Just continuing to...
• 9:00
  I have a note with like my
• 9:03
  goals and you know, what are my purposes?
• 9:05
  Like,
• 9:05
  what is my purpose of training and
• 9:07
  competing this year?
• 9:08
  I have a note and I, I read that.
• 9:10
  pretty much every day.
• 9:11
  Um, and it just helps me get aligned with,
• 9:15
  okay, what, what do I need to do today to,
• 9:17
  uh, give my best, you know,
• 9:20
  bring my best self to the day.
• 9:23
  Um,
• 9:24
  some days are way better than others
• 9:25
  and I still have days that I struggle.
• 9:29
  Um, but yeah, I,
• 9:34
  there's been a lot personal
• 9:35
  life wise that I have
• 9:38
  been trying to grow through
• 9:39
  um and just be a better
• 9:42
  person so whether that's in
• 9:44
  an or out of the gym uh my
• 9:47
  back injury I think has
• 9:49
  really coming out of that I
• 9:53
  think um I can just see
• 9:54
  things a lot more clearly I
• 9:56
  can I'm a lot more
• 9:57
  self-aware with how I approach
• 10:02
  training how I approach
• 10:03
  people at the gym um so
• 10:06
  yeah it's it's been I I'd
• 10:08
  say a good six seven months
• 10:11
  of growth um yeah so yeah
• 10:17
  why and I'm I'm not trying
• 10:19
  to dive into your personal
• 10:20
  life and I'm not I've had
• 10:22
  12 back procedures so I
• 10:25
  understand back pain
• 10:26
  yeah like it is it is
• 10:29
  debilitating it is
• 10:30
  depressing like very in a
• 10:33
  very bad mindset and it is
• 10:36
  it is tough to get out and
• 10:37
  yeah like yeah you are not
• 10:41
  a good it's hard to be a
• 10:42
  good person when you have
• 10:44
  back it is and it's you
• 10:46
  know sometimes it just takes something
• 10:50
  to kind of snap you out of it.
• 10:52
  So that's kind of where I was at.
• 10:56
  I made a lot of changes with training.
• 10:59
  I now have a great training partner,
• 11:01
  and we train together
• 11:02
  nearly pretty much every day.
• 11:07
  So I've had to make some big changes.
• 11:08
  I get up at 6 a.m.
• 11:10
  We're in there for a good
• 11:11
  three hours together.
• 11:12
  Her name is McKenna Enslin.
• 11:14
  She'll be training.
• 11:15
  She'll be at semifinals this year as well.
• 11:18
  So this will be her second year.
• 11:20
  But we go to the same gym
• 11:22
  and she's a coach there.
• 11:23
  I'm a coach there.
• 11:24
  We've become great friends.
• 11:25
  She follows Misfit Athletics.
• 11:28
  So we have...
• 11:30
  I'd say something that's
• 11:31
  pretty special that not a
• 11:32
  lot of people have as far
• 11:34
  as training partners and, you know,
• 11:36
  friends.
• 11:37
  So I'm grateful to have her
• 11:39
  and she's a full-time physical therapist.
• 11:43
  So she's in for work at 10 a.m.
• 11:45
  Monday through Friday.
• 11:47
  So our time to train is in the morning.
• 11:50
  And a big change for me was
• 11:51
  getting up to go train with her at 6 a.m.
• 11:55
  And last year I struggled to
• 11:57
  want to get out of bed at seven.
• 11:59
  Like,
• 12:00
  you know,
• 12:00
  now I'm getting up at five consistently.
• 12:02
  So that was a huge change.
• 12:06
  Um, and it's been incredible.
• 12:08
  Like I, I,
• 12:09
  there's been no downside to it at all.
• 12:13
  You know, that's awesome for you.
• 12:16
  Yeah.
• 12:17
  So you,
• 12:17
  you mentioned misfits and one thing is,
• 12:20
  you know, that's,
• 12:21
  that's a group that's been
• 12:22
  very loyal to you and you to them.
• 12:25
  Um,
• 12:27
  And when I was at the games last year,
• 12:28
  I sat with Draw Your Dagger
• 12:31
  and those guys, and they love you.
• 12:34
  They're awesome.
• 12:37
  What is that relationship with Lake,
• 12:39
  and how much support do
• 12:41
  they give you through the season?
• 12:43
  Yeah.
• 12:44
  So, um,
• 12:46
  I've been with Misfits since 2018
• 12:48
  and I remember applying for
• 12:51
  the remote coaching
• 12:52
  application and I put on
• 12:53
  there that I wanted to make
• 12:54
  the games and I had like
• 12:56
  just signed up right before, uh,
• 12:59
  regional.
• 12:59
  So it was like right in for
• 13:01
  regional prep is right after the open.
• 13:02
  And, um,
• 13:07
  Yeah, like it was at that time,
• 13:08
  it was a long shot.
• 13:10
  And I was signed up with
• 13:12
  Gabe and Gabe was kind of
• 13:13
  just getting out of like
• 13:15
  the full time Misfit Athletics.
• 13:17
  He just started a full time
• 13:19
  job in cancer research.
• 13:21
  He has two kids.
• 13:22
  He has a family at home.
• 13:23
  So I think, you know,
• 13:25
  there's a lot of
• 13:25
  adjustments there for him
• 13:27
  as well when I first signed up.
• 13:29
  And he works with our Masters athletes.
• 13:32
  So I was his only individual at the time.
• 13:33
  And
• 13:36
  crazy enough that year I
• 13:37
  qualified and just every
• 13:39
  year since it's been, um,
• 13:43
  getting to know each other
• 13:44
  a little bit more and a
• 13:45
  little bit more and a little bit more.
• 13:47
  Um,
• 13:48
  and I've developed a really great
• 13:49
  relationship with Gabe, my coach, uh,
• 13:52
  and with, uh, Drew and Sherb and, uh,
• 13:56
  Jen and Ted.
• 13:57
  And, you know, they're just,
• 13:58
  they're this small little family and, uh,
• 14:02
  Believe it or not,
• 14:02
  like a lot of them have a
• 14:04
  few of them have known each
• 14:05
  other since high school.
• 14:06
  So like they're in and of
• 14:07
  themselves are very small
• 14:09
  core group of friends
• 14:11
  who've been doing this for a long time.
• 14:14
  So you just kind of like.
• 14:17
  you just either fit in or you don't,
• 14:19
  you just get along with them or you don't,
• 14:21
  or, you know,
• 14:22
  that's kind of how I think
• 14:23
  it is for any training camp.
• 14:24
  It's like, you got to find your fit.
• 14:26
  Um,
• 14:27
  and I was lucky enough that the first
• 14:29
  one was my fit.
• 14:30
  So, um, now Gabe is like a, you know, he,
• 14:35
  I can go to him about anything.
• 14:36
  I,
• 14:37
  talk to him about more of like, you know,
• 14:39
  personal life things and
• 14:41
  things outside of CrossFit
• 14:42
  than I do with CrossFit because, you know,
• 14:45
  a lot of the outside stuff
• 14:46
  has such an impact on what
• 14:47
  we do in the gym.
• 14:50
  And he was so helpful when
• 14:52
  it came to making a lot of
• 14:53
  these bigger transitions this past year.
• 14:55
  So yeah,
• 14:57
  my relationship with them has been
• 15:00
  uh awesome it's it's I feel
• 15:02
  just as close to them as I
• 15:03
  do with uh our gym like my
• 15:06
  owners here um you know
• 15:09
  they're also just great
• 15:10
  friends um and I would
• 15:13
  again not many people can
• 15:14
  say that um I also coach
• 15:17
  for misfit athletics I'm a
• 15:19
  remote coach um so you know
• 15:21
  they're more than just a
• 15:22
  training company to me they
• 15:24
  they're people that you
• 15:25
  know hopefully I can stick
• 15:27
  around with for a little
• 15:27
  while longer even when I'm done competing
• 15:31
  Well,
• 15:31
  a lot of people put out shirts this
• 15:33
  time of year to get support for semis,
• 15:37
  and you have one of the coolest.
• 15:39
  Thanks.
• 15:41
  I thought that – I think
• 15:44
  Drew came up with the logo.
• 15:45
  But, yeah, it's pretty sweet.
• 15:48
  I'd say it's – I mean, maybe,
• 15:50
  I'm just throwing it out there,
• 15:52
  a little nod to Taylor
• 15:53
  Swift since I think like
• 15:55
  four of six of our athletes
• 15:56
  are Taylor Swift fans.
• 15:58
  I don't know.
• 15:58
  Okay.
• 16:01
  So, yeah.
• 16:04
  So the design is so cool with the snake.
• 16:08
  I mean,
• 16:08
  the snakes are the one thing I am
• 16:10
  deathly afraid of.
• 16:11
  It is really cool.
• 16:13
  Yeah, I don't love them.
• 16:14
  I definitely don't love them either.
• 16:15
  But I think it speaks to
• 16:19
  exactly what we're trying
• 16:19
  to get across here.
• 16:22
  So yeah, I'm pretty excited.
• 16:24
  It was a decision between
• 16:27
  white font or black.
• 16:29
  And I was like, oh,
• 16:30
  I don't know what to go with.
• 16:31
  I know the white will stick out way more.
• 16:33
  And Drew was like, yeah,
• 16:35
  white will be more visible.
• 16:37
  Black says you're there to
• 16:38
  make a statement.
• 16:39
  And I was like, okay, black it is.
• 16:41
  So we're coming to compete.
• 16:44
  Yeah, we're coming to compete.
• 16:46
  Yeah.
• 16:47
  Are they still available?
• 16:49
  I don't believe so.
• 16:51
  You can check on the website,
• 16:52
  but I think it was just pre-sale.
• 16:54
  So last I heard that ended on the 9th.
• 16:58
  But I can always find out.
• 17:03
  Yeah.
• 17:03
  And they're a collector's item now.
• 17:07
  Yeah, it is.
• 17:09
  It is fun to see like year after year,
• 17:11
  there's a different shirt and it's,
• 17:13
  it's really cool when you
• 17:14
  can walk into the gym and
• 17:16
  almost every day,
• 17:17
  at least one person has a
• 17:19
  Semenza or an insulin shirt on.
• 17:21
  So it's cool that, you know, our gym rep,
• 17:25
  you know, supports us in that way.
• 17:27
  And we get to represent both
• 17:29
  our gym and Misfit athletics.
• 17:31
  And, um,
• 17:33
  Yeah,
• 17:35
  it's a special feeling when you walk
• 17:37
  in and you see people wearing your shirt.
• 17:39
  So Wadzomi says,
• 17:40
  black feels more like a tattoo,
• 17:42
  much better.
• 17:43
  That's a good point.
• 17:44
  Make it permanent.
• 17:45
  Make it stick.
• 17:46
  Yeah.
• 17:48
  So this year,
• 17:50
  the events have been released way early.
• 17:52
  Does that hurt training when
• 17:56
  you know what the movements are?
• 17:59
  No, I don't think so.
• 18:02
  It'll be cool to see some of
• 18:04
  the nuances figured out
• 18:06
  with this first weekend.
• 18:08
  Obviously,
• 18:08
  the run is going to be different
• 18:10
  for every venue.
• 18:10
  I feel bad for this.
• 18:13
  I think it's the Asia region,
• 18:15
  a bunch of zigzags.
• 18:16
  That's going to be tough.
• 18:19
  But it'll be figure out what
• 18:21
  the handstand walk is,
• 18:22
  what are the little things
• 18:24
  that we need to know ahead of time.
• 18:27
  I'll definitely be sick of
• 18:29
  these movements after semifinals.
• 18:32
  So right now training is
• 18:36
  it's still a mix and match of everything.
• 18:38
  It's still variety,
• 18:39
  but making sure that we hit
• 18:41
  the stimulus of what these
• 18:42
  workouts are going to feel like.
• 18:44
  So I know that you said
• 18:46
  before we got on the air
• 18:47
  that you were out running this morning.
• 18:49
  So did you get a chance to
• 18:51
  see Europe or were you busy
• 18:53
  doing your own thing?
• 18:55
  No, I didn't watch.
• 18:55
  We were at the gym this morning.
• 18:58
  So I only live like five minutes away,
• 19:01
  but I don't typically watch
• 19:02
  any of the events or
• 19:05
  regions going until maybe
• 19:07
  in the evening when I'm
• 19:08
  just kind of hanging out at home.
• 19:10
  I don't like to get too caught up in it.
• 19:13
  Okay.
• 19:14
  Yeah.
• 19:14
  You couldn't see much
• 19:15
  because they're not live streaming it.
• 19:17
  So it's with like an iPhone
• 19:21
  up in the stands.
• 19:23
  Um, so you can,
• 19:24
  so in Europe you can see
• 19:25
  that the clean and jerks
• 19:27
  and you run out the door
• 19:28
  and you see them come back in the door.
• 19:31
  Yeah,
• 19:32
  I have a feeling that's what it'll be
• 19:34
  like in Knoxville.
• 19:35
  Like this is where we were back in 22.
• 19:38
  So it is a cool venue.
• 19:40
  I really love the feel of it.
• 19:41
  I think it has a lot more of
• 19:43
  like an intimate feel than Orlando had.
• 19:47
  But I have a feeling it will
• 19:48
  take it like outside the
• 19:49
  venue and around.
• 19:51
  It won't be easy to see.
• 19:52
  Yeah, from being there a couple of years,
• 19:57
  there's no room inside for sure.
• 20:01
  like they can even do the as
• 20:03
  cory put it in the chat the
• 20:05
  dmvq line that but there
• 20:09
  are like loading docks
• 20:11
  right out where the finish
• 20:12
  line is behind that okay
• 20:15
  open up those like big
• 20:16
  garage doors and you can go
• 20:18
  right there okay I yeah I
• 20:21
  don't fully remember like
• 20:22
  what it looked like
• 20:24
  You know,
• 20:24
  we were only in the warm-up area.
• 20:26
  The warm-up area was pretty small,
• 20:29
  which is fine.
• 20:29
  I mean,
• 20:30
  day three will be pretty nice that
• 20:32
  it's just individuals.
• 20:34
  So it shouldn't be too bad.
• 20:37
  Yeah.
• 20:39
  And your cat has made his appearance.
• 20:41
  Yeah, she has.
• 20:42
  So...
• 20:46
  So, yeah, I,
• 20:48
  I don't know if I learned
• 20:48
  anything watching because
• 20:50
  of what you can and can't see.
• 20:52
  Yeah.
• 20:52
  And I mean, like, you know,
• 20:54
  you can test that workout multiple times,
• 20:59
  but if your run is a bunch of zigzags,
• 21:02
  obviously your, uh,
• 21:03
  your pacings are going to be different,
• 21:05
  you know?
• 21:05
  So, um,
• 21:07
  you could still get the feel of it.
• 21:08
  You could still, you know, figure out,
• 21:11
  you know,
• 21:11
  where you kind of hit the
• 21:12
  bottleneck of the workout, but.
• 21:14
  Ultimately, you kind of have to,
• 21:16
  it's one of those where you
• 21:16
  got to wait and see what it looks like.
• 21:19
  Yeah.
• 21:20
  Which is fine.
• 21:21
  Some, some women did some touch and goes,
• 21:24
  some didn't.
• 21:28
  Spicy.
• 21:30
  Some people waited till the
• 21:31
  last round to do the touch and go.
• 21:33
  Yeah.
• 21:33
  And that seemed to be like
• 21:34
  what paid off more than
• 21:36
  trying to do it earlier.
• 21:37
  Yeah.
• 21:38
  In the thing.
• 21:39
  So that's about it.
• 21:40
  Yeah.
• 21:41
  Yeah.
• 21:43
  I've talked with other
• 21:44
  athletes that this set of
• 21:45
  workouts are as classic
• 21:47
  CrossFit as it gets.
• 21:49
  You can drop them into 2015
• 21:50
  and they still work.
• 21:53
  Is that an advantage for you?
• 21:55
  I don't know.
• 21:58
  I guess we'll see.
• 21:58
  I do like the workouts.
• 22:03
  I don't feel like I feel
• 22:06
  confident with all of them.
• 22:08
  I like the,
• 22:10
  You look at our region, it's like, okay,
• 22:12
  our region is really, really fit.
• 22:16
  So my goal going in is just
• 22:19
  to finish in every event
• 22:22
  consistently as high as I can.
• 22:23
  So I'm not looking for...
• 22:26
  you know if I could hit a
• 22:27
  home run somewhere I'm I
• 22:29
  will but I i think with our
• 22:32
  region we have so many
• 22:33
  well-rounded athletes that
• 22:34
  it's it's a matter of like
• 22:36
  how high can you finish
• 22:37
  consistently to stay in
• 22:38
  that top 10. um so I i do
• 22:42
  fairly well when it comes
• 22:43
  to consistency I i think
• 22:45
  that's kind of like my
• 22:46
  strong suit is I can finish
• 22:49
  fairly consistent in most
• 22:50
  events um so that will just
• 22:52
  be my goal going in uh
• 22:55
  to to land myself on as high
• 22:57
  as I can on that
• 22:58
  leaderboard so what blows
• 23:01
  me away and and I'm I'm
• 23:05
  trying not to get you to
• 23:06
  give me the athlete answer
• 23:07
  but I'm going to say this
• 23:07
  what blows me away is that
• 23:10
  you are consistent and last
• 23:12
  year you were consistent
• 23:14
  not a hundred percent so
• 23:18
  yeah does that give you
• 23:20
  confidence that now that
• 23:21
  you are in better health
• 23:23
  and you have had better
• 23:24
  training that you have more
• 23:27
  confidence going into this season?
• 23:30
  Yeah.
• 23:30
  Um,
• 23:31
  I think last year I was still confident.
• 23:34
  Um,
• 23:34
  I had a really big hiccup on event two
• 23:37
  with the ring muscle ups and the go rock.
• 23:39
  Um, if I didn't have that hiccup,
• 23:41
  I was pretty solidified in the top 10.
• 23:43
  Um, and,
• 23:47
  I'm super excited to see how
• 23:49
  this year plays out,
• 23:50
  knowing that I've been able
• 23:52
  to hit training as well as I have.
• 23:56
  I feel healthy.
• 23:57
  I feel strong.
• 23:58
  I feel confident.
• 24:01
  I love that we're moving
• 24:02
  moderately heavy barbells
• 24:04
  for a lot of reps at a time.
• 24:06
  You're adding and running to that.
• 24:08
  You're
• 24:09
  You're adding in a ton of rope climbs,
• 24:12
  some box jump overs.
• 24:13
  Like I do love the
• 24:14
  combinations that we have here.
• 24:17
  And I've been hitting a lot
• 24:19
  of things that are
• 24:21
  considered weaknesses for me.
• 24:23
  Some of them are perceived weaknesses.
• 24:24
  Some of them are just
• 24:26
  weaknesses in general.
• 24:27
  So I'm really excited to see
• 24:29
  how that plays out this year.
• 24:31
  Um, again,
• 24:32
  I know it is a super fit region
• 24:34
  and it's really hard to say like, yeah,
• 24:37
  I'm shooting for top five
• 24:38
  or I'm shooting for top 10.
• 24:39
  Like I'm shooting to qualify
• 24:41
  and I have confidence that I can do that.
• 24:46
  Um, so it's exciting.
• 24:48
  I am excited for this year.
• 24:49
  Uh, I also, you know,
• 24:52
  wasn't putting a ton of
• 24:53
  pressure on this year.
• 24:53
  Um,
• 24:54
  just based on how the first half had
• 24:56
  started, um,
• 24:58
  So, sorry,
• 25:00
  just making sure that wasn't on.
• 25:03
  I kind of had a lot of
• 25:04
  uncertainty with how the
• 25:06
  year was going to play out.
• 25:08
  But with how it has played out, I'm ready.
• 25:13
  I'm ready to get going.
• 25:16
  I think what's interesting
• 25:17
  about the season is last
• 25:18
  year you had six people in
• 25:19
  your semifinal.
• 25:21
  So, like, if you hit a home run,
• 25:24
  you could have a bad event
• 25:25
  and it didn't hurt you as bad.
• 25:27
  Yeah.
• 25:28
  For example, Sidney Wells, right?
• 25:30
  Yeah.
• 25:31
  She wins an event, she loses an event,
• 25:33
  but it kind of all went out
• 25:35
  in the wash because a lot
• 25:36
  of people fell down the leaderboard.
• 25:38
  Now you only have 40.
• 25:40
  So consistency becomes more important.
• 25:42
  And every workout is so well-rounded.
• 25:45
  Like there are no
• 25:46
  monostructural only things.
• 25:50
  So like it is going to favor
• 25:53
  a consistent athlete like you, I think.
• 25:57
  So, yep.
• 25:59
  And it's just making sure that, you know,
• 26:01
  I stay in it mentally.
• 26:03
  I'm fueling properly.
• 26:05
  You know,
• 26:07
  I'm not an amateur when it comes
• 26:09
  to eating and fueling for these weekends.
• 26:12
  I know they catch up to you.
• 26:14
  And I think a lot of us that
• 26:17
  have experience kind of at
• 26:19
  the games level or, you know,
• 26:21
  multi-year semis level, you know,
• 26:23
  having three events on the
• 26:24
  final day is a –
• 26:28
  I think that's going to
• 26:29
  change the leaderboard up quite a bit.
• 26:33
  Some people just don't
• 26:34
  understand the stress and
• 26:36
  what stress does to you and
• 26:38
  how it can impact your performance.
• 26:40
  So yeah,
• 26:43
  I think that coming in with
• 26:45
  experience helps.
• 26:48
  I'll echo that with a quote
• 26:50
  from Saxon Pancheck.
• 26:51
  He said, Sunday is all,
• 26:54
  are there all execution events?
• 26:57
  and with the pressure of it
• 26:58
  being sunday and three
• 26:59
  events it is going to be
• 27:01
  the veterans that should
• 27:03
  handle that better yeah so
• 27:06
  um you know not my first
• 27:08
  rodeo I i tend to do better
• 27:13
  in competition than I do in
• 27:15
  training um I can just kind
• 27:18
  of level up a little bit which uh
• 27:21
  you know, is obviously an advantage.
• 27:23
  So I'll be trying to do that
• 27:25
  and just bring my best self.
• 27:27
  Do you get that from being
• 27:29
  an athlete your whole life?
• 27:31
  I think so.
• 27:33
  Yeah, playing division one sport,
• 27:36
  playing ice hockey, you know,
• 27:37
  you have your high pressure situations.
• 27:40
  So, you know, it's experience.
• 27:44
  Obviously,
• 27:44
  hockey is a little bit different.
• 27:45
  You're out there with a team of people.
• 27:48
  CrossFit here,
• 27:49
  it's you're out there on the
• 27:50
  floor by yourself.
• 27:51
  You know, if something goes wrong,
• 27:53
  it's on you.
• 27:53
  You got to correct it.
• 27:54
  You got to figure it out.
• 27:56
  Um, but yeah, I mean,
• 27:57
  we've had some high level games, uh,
• 28:00
  back in college that, you know,
• 28:01
  there's a lot of pressure on it.
• 28:03
  It's a lot on the line.
• 28:04
  It's either you, you block the shot or,
• 28:07
  you know, your season's ending.
• 28:08
  So, um, yeah, I,
• 28:11
  I definitely think that
• 28:12
  sport and the experience from, you know,
• 28:15
  my past with,
• 28:16
  with college and high school
• 28:18
  comes into play.
• 28:19
  Your alma mater's had a lot
• 28:21
  of high pressure games lately.
• 28:22
  Hey, they're doing all right.
• 28:25
  They are.
• 28:26
  It's so fun.
• 28:26
  It's so fun to see them winning.
• 28:29
  We didn't win back when I was there.
• 28:31
  Yeah.
• 28:34
  So this will be your first
• 28:35
  year with a training
• 28:36
  partner on the floor with you.
• 28:37
  Yeah.
• 28:38
  And back with you.
• 28:39
  Yeah, man,
• 28:40
  we tried really hard to get us
• 28:42
  both like either like, you know,
• 28:44
  obviously I wanted to be in the top 10.
• 28:46
  I want to be in that final
• 28:47
  heat to start the weekend off.
• 28:50
  But like next best thing would be like,
• 28:51
  we're both in 11 through 20.
• 28:53
  So we can be on the floor
• 28:54
  for the first event together,
• 28:56
  but it didn't quite work out that way.
• 28:58
  which is fine, you know?
• 29:00
  So either way, it'll be exciting.
• 29:03
  I think now, um, you know,
• 29:06
  last year McKenna was also
• 29:08
  following Misfit athletics
• 29:09
  and with my back injury, like I really,
• 29:13
  really kind of backed off
• 29:15
  of being around anybody.
• 29:16
  I just, it was,
• 29:18
  I didn't know how to handle it.
• 29:20
  I didn't know how to, um,
• 29:22
  approach training I didn't
• 29:24
  know how to approach being
• 29:26
  around other people when it
• 29:27
  came to training like it
• 29:28
  was just a lot and I
• 29:31
  obviously if I could go
• 29:32
  back I would try to change
• 29:34
  some of those things um
• 29:36
  because I feel like you
• 29:37
  know I not that I let
• 29:40
  anybody down but like you
• 29:41
  know McKenna is still a
• 29:43
  really good friend of mine
• 29:44
  and I want to see her
• 29:45
  succeed as well so um this
• 29:47
  year uh I really
• 29:51
  made a promise to myself
• 29:53
  that I wouldn't kind of go
• 29:55
  off into the dark side by myself.
• 29:58
  Um, I wanted to be able to be here,
• 30:00
  be present, be there for McKenna.
• 30:03
  I want to be able to just
• 30:05
  kind of be an example for her,
• 30:09
  but I also want to be a
• 30:10
  great training partner and
• 30:11
  she's a great training partner for me.
• 30:13
  So it's like, there's so much benefit to,
• 30:17
  you know, sticking it out.
• 30:19
  Um,
• 30:20
  And I think this year,
• 30:22
  like I've seen so much
• 30:24
  growth in her just through
• 30:25
  the season of training.
• 30:27
  Um,
• 30:27
  and it's fun to watch because obviously
• 30:29
  a lot of the things that
• 30:30
  she's going through, uh,
• 30:33
  even just as her second
• 30:34
  year are things that I've gone through,
• 30:36
  you know,
• 30:36
  just through the years of training and,
• 30:38
  um,
• 30:39
  sometimes I smirk because I
• 30:41
  know that she's got to
• 30:42
  figure these things out on
• 30:43
  her own and work through them.
• 30:45
  And I smirk because I've had
• 30:48
  to do that too.
• 30:49
  Um, and it's cool to see, you know,
• 30:52
  a young athlete like her
• 30:54
  just have no excuses.
• 30:56
  Like she sucks at something.
• 30:58
  Guess what?
• 30:58
  She's going to do it anyway.
• 30:59
  And she's going to work on it.
• 31:01
  Um, she is going to get frustrated and,
• 31:04
  um,
• 31:05
  she's gonna figure it out afterwards.
• 31:06
  And in those moments,
• 31:09
  I just like to be a support.
• 31:12
  I feel, you know,
• 31:14
  I don't feel like I'm
• 31:15
  obligated to do that.
• 31:16
  But like, I want to, like,
• 31:17
  I want to be there.
• 31:19
  It gives me purpose.
• 31:21
  And yeah, I, you know, as an athlete,
• 31:25
  she has so much potential.
• 31:26
  So it's like,
• 31:27
  why would I not want to see her succeed?
• 31:29
  Because like,
• 31:32
  it's not often you can find
• 31:33
  two athletes from the same gym.
• 31:35
  Um, number one from the same gym,
• 31:38
  just in general, but two,
• 31:40
  two athletes that get along
• 31:41
  so well that can, um,
• 31:44
  really succeed in the sport.
• 31:45
  So yeah.
• 31:48
  Yeah.
• 31:48
  I,
• 31:50
  so my next question is with someone like
• 31:51
  that in the back and in the
• 31:53
  warmup area and all that stuff,
• 31:55
  will it help relax you and
• 31:57
  make you a better athlete on the floor?
• 32:00
  Yeah, I think so.
• 32:01
  And I think I could say the same for her,
• 32:02
  like, um,
• 32:05
  we've really like,
• 32:07
  I practice what I preach.
• 32:09
  If I tell my athletes, my remote athletes,
• 32:12
  like, hey,
• 32:12
  you should be warming up on a
• 32:14
  machine for 15 minutes.
• 32:15
  Guess what?
• 32:16
  I'm warming up on a machine
• 32:17
  every single day for 15 minutes.
• 32:20
  And none of that kind of
• 32:21
  stuff changes when we get to semifinals.
• 32:24
  Like all of that,
• 32:26
  all of those small daily
• 32:27
  habits all come into play
• 32:29
  when you get there.
• 32:31
  So it's like,
• 32:33
  the warming up part of it is
• 32:34
  this is another day this is
• 32:35
  another training session
• 32:37
  the upside to semi-finals
• 32:40
  is it's either one two or
• 32:42
  three events a day so on
• 32:44
  the one and the two it's
• 32:45
  like these are very light
• 32:47
  volume days for us like
• 32:49
  warming up for one or two
• 32:50
  events a day is nothing you
• 32:52
  know at the games you're
• 32:53
  sometimes warming up for four events
• 32:55
  And it's like, OK, well, 12 to 15 minutes,
• 32:58
  four times in a day,
• 33:00
  like you're adding a lot of
• 33:01
  volume to your day.
• 33:04
  But that's how we do it here.
• 33:05
  And it keeps us healthy.
• 33:07
  There's you know,
• 33:07
  we don't have these nagging
• 33:08
  injuries going on.
• 33:11
  So, yeah, it's, you know,
• 33:13
  practice what you preach
• 33:14
  and you take your daily
• 33:16
  habits to game day because
• 33:18
  those are what made you fit
• 33:20
  in the first place.
• 33:23
  So I'm going to finish up with this.
• 33:24
  And that is in the Western,
• 33:26
  they're going to be in
• 33:27
  Carson and this iconic venue that is,
• 33:30
  you know, famous in CrossFit,
• 33:31
  but you're going back to someplace,
• 33:33
  you know, you know,
• 33:34
  you've qualified there before.
• 33:35
  Yeah.
• 33:36
  Do you think it's better that,
• 33:38
  that you can be comfortable
• 33:39
  where you're going or is it
• 33:41
  better to be someplace cool and iconic?
• 33:45
  I think it depends who you
• 33:47
  are as an athlete, you know, having like,
• 33:51
  I think at this point,
• 33:52
  there are a lot of athletes
• 33:53
  who have traveled to compete, you know,
• 33:56
  whether it was the year of sanctionals,
• 33:58
  and you're traveling to
• 33:59
  Brazil or France or Italy,
• 34:01
  like wherever it was, like,
• 34:03
  you've pretty much gotten
• 34:04
  yourself outside of your
• 34:05
  comfort zone at least a couple of times.
• 34:09
  So I think as an experienced
• 34:12
  athlete that shouldn't have much
• 34:14
  of a factor, like going somewhere new.
• 34:16
  I do love that we're going
• 34:18
  back to Syndicate.
• 34:19
  I thought the venue was great.
• 34:22
  I thought the organization
• 34:24
  did a really good job.
• 34:25
  I'm staying in the same
• 34:27
  exact Airbnb I stayed in two years ago,
• 34:30
  which will be nice.
• 34:31
  So yeah, I did try to,
• 34:33
  not that I'm being superstitious about it,
• 34:35
  but if there could be a
• 34:37
  level of comfort in there,
• 34:39
  you definitely want to have that.
• 34:42
  Yeah, I love the venue at Syndicate.
• 34:44
  I love the way the stands are elevated.
• 34:46
  It just gives it a cool look and feel.
• 34:50
  And it's intimate.
• 34:51
  It feels very intimate in there.
• 34:53
  Yep.
• 34:54
  Yeah, that's what I like about it too.
• 34:57
  So I'm excited to go back.
• 35:01
  Well, this is awesome.
• 35:02
  You're one of my favorite athletes.
• 35:06
  My kid just started playing ice hockey.
• 35:07
  Yeah.
• 35:08
  Good for you.
• 35:09
  It's going to be a lot of trouble for you.
• 35:11
  I like it.
• 35:13
  Hopefully he has fun.
• 35:16
  We will be rooting for you
• 35:17
  hard at syndicate.
• 35:20
  Good luck in everything.
• 35:21
  And I hope you have a great
• 35:23
  and rewarding season.
• 35:25
  Hey, thanks.
• 35:25
  I appreciate it.
• 35:26
  Thank you to everybody in the chat.
• 35:29
  Again, this is Clydesdale media podcast.
• 35:31
  We're featuring the athletes
• 35:32
  of the 2024 CrossFit game semifinals,
• 35:35
  and we'll see everybody next time.
• 35:37
  Thank you so much.