Latest / Hurdle with Emily Abbate / 218. Brooke Wells, CrossFit Athlete
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: People can be like why me, and then I'm like
- 0:02Speaker 1: why not me? Like why can I be the fittest
- 0:04Speaker 1: on earth?
- 0:19Speaker 2: Hey?
- 0:19Speaker 3: Everybody, Emily A body here. You are listening to episode
- 0:22Speaker 3: two hundred and eighteen of Hurdle, a wellness focused podcast
- 0:27Speaker 3: where I connect with everyone from your favorite athletes to
- 0:29Speaker 3: top experts and industry CEOs about their highest highs, toughest moments,
- 0:34Speaker 3: and everything in between. We all go through hurdles in life,
- 0:37Speaker 3: and my goal through these discussions is to empower you
- 0:40Speaker 3: to better navigate yours and move with intention so that
- 0:44Speaker 3: you can stride towards your own big potential and of
- 0:47Speaker 3: course have some fun along the way. For today's episode
- 0:52Speaker 3: two hundred and eighteen, I am chatting.
- 0:55Speaker 2: With the one, the only Brook Wells.
- 0:57Speaker 3: When I say that I've been looking forward to this
- 0:59Speaker 3: conversation for what feels like forever. I have emails in
- 1:03Speaker 3: my inbox trying to set up this interview from like
- 1:06Speaker 3: three years ago, and I'm so happy that it coincides.
- 1:10Speaker 3: Which such a landmark comeback year for Brook. For those
- 1:14Speaker 3: of you that are out of the loop, Brook is
- 1:16Speaker 3: a CrossFit athlete and.
- 1:18Speaker 2: She recently came in fifth place.
- 1:21Speaker 3: She is the fifth fittest woman on Earth according to
- 1:25Speaker 3: CrossFit Now, Brook is not the first.
- 1:27Speaker 2: Crossfitter I've had on the show.
- 1:29Speaker 3: You've heard from the likes of Rich Frohning, Tia Claire Toomey,
- 1:33Speaker 3: Catherine David's daughter, Annie Thoris's daughter. So hopefully by now
- 1:38Speaker 3: you're familiar with the sport, But if you're out of
- 1:41Speaker 3: the loop, of course, Brooke gives us the rundown on
- 1:44Speaker 3: what CrossFit is and of course why she loves it
- 1:47Speaker 3: so much, and also gives us the intel on how
- 1:50Speaker 3: she got into the sport in college and the sacrifices
- 1:54Speaker 3: that it required of her as she became one of
- 1:58Speaker 3: its top athlete. But without a doubt, the highlight of
- 2:02Speaker 3: today's conversation is Brooke talking to us about her big comeback.
- 2:06Speaker 3: She had a massive elbow injury last year at the
- 2:10Speaker 3: Games and was able to not only rehabit, but do
- 2:13Speaker 3: so in such an awesome way, reaching new heights that
- 2:17Speaker 3: she has never seen before. If you two have ever
- 2:22Speaker 3: been down and out, if you've ever struggled with injury,
- 2:24Speaker 3: or you're dealing with a hurdle moment in your life,
- 2:27Speaker 3: trust me this episode is for you. Brooks attitude Brooks
- 2:31Speaker 3: optimism is absolutely beautiful. Make sure you're following along with
- 2:36Speaker 3: Hurdle over on social it's at Hurdle Podcast. I of
- 2:39Speaker 3: course am over at Emily a Body. And while you're
- 2:42Speaker 3: at it, make sure you're subscribed to the weekly Hurdle newsletter.
- 2:46Speaker 3: The link to do that is in the show notes.
- 2:49Speaker 3: With that, let's get to hurdling.
- 3:02Speaker 2: Today.
- 3:02Speaker 3: I am sitting down with eight time at CrossFit Games
- 3:06Speaker 3: athlete Brook Wells.
- 3:08Speaker 2: How you doing today? Brook?
- 3:10Speaker 4: I'm doing good? How are you?
- 3:11Speaker 2: I'm good? I'm amped to snag some of your time.
- 3:14Speaker 3: You have been a crazy busy human recently coming in
- 3:19Speaker 3: just fifth at the CrossFit Games.
- 3:21Speaker 2: How do you feel?
- 3:22Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean that was super exciting.
- 3:24Speaker 1: It's been like a really long year in journey this time,
- 3:27Speaker 1: so it was just like it was so amazing.
- 3:30Speaker 2: So amazing.
- 3:31Speaker 3: Well, for those that may be a little unfamiliar with CrossFit,
- 3:36Speaker 3: why don't we just give them a little info on
- 3:40Speaker 3: I would say the point like, what is the goal
- 3:43Speaker 3: of being a CrossFit athlete for us?
- 3:45Speaker 1: As like competitors, you kind of just want to be
- 3:48Speaker 1: like I mean, they claim to be the fittest on
- 3:50Speaker 1: earth because we train everything like it's so we never
- 3:53Speaker 1: know what we're gonna do at the CrossFit Games. It's
- 3:55Speaker 1: always constantly varied, and it's functional movement, lots of gymnastics, cardio, weightlifting,
- 4:03Speaker 1: pretty much anything that you can imagine that has to
- 4:06Speaker 1: do with fitness we test.
- 4:08Speaker 3: So I feel like CrossFit gets a bad rap as
- 4:10Speaker 3: then it's all about just lifting obscenely heavy weights.
- 4:14Speaker 2: I did it for a while and I loved it.
- 4:17Speaker 3: If you could destigmatize the sport a little bit, what
- 4:19Speaker 3: would you say is your favorite part.
- 4:22Speaker 1: My favorite part is just like always like it's always different,
- 4:25Speaker 1: Like you come to the gym, the class is going
- 4:27Speaker 1: to be different, Like the workouts are always like super varied,
- 4:31Speaker 1: and like it's gymnastics, weightlifting, and cardio, so it's like
- 4:35Speaker 1: you're getting everything every single day. And so I think
- 4:39Speaker 1: that's probably my favorite part. And my friends all the
- 4:41Speaker 1: time they like associate the sport of crossed it with
- 4:45Speaker 1: like CrossFit classes, and it's just like a little bit different,
- 4:48Speaker 1: as in, like you can scale everything. You don't have
- 4:51Speaker 1: to like be fit to start, you can start anywhere.
- 4:55Speaker 1: So I think that's that's like a big myth that
- 4:58Speaker 1: people think you have to be fit in order to start.
- 5:00Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I love that concept of being able to
- 5:03Speaker 3: scale everything.
- 5:04Speaker 2: I remember when I started CrossFit.
- 5:06Speaker 3: God, the amount of things that I was doing, like
- 5:08Speaker 3: not OURX, it didn't even matter because I was learning
- 5:10Speaker 3: all these new skills. And to your point, it really
- 5:13Speaker 3: does help stave off boredom because there's a lot happening
- 5:16Speaker 3: and it's always different.
- 5:17Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure for me, like going to a globogym
- 5:20Speaker 1: and just like hitting machines can get repetitive and boring,
- 5:22Speaker 1: but that's like never the case with CrossFit. It's just
- 5:24Speaker 1: always different, I know.
- 5:26Speaker 3: And I love what you said also about not having
- 5:28Speaker 3: to be like a really skilled athlete to begin. Going
- 5:32Speaker 3: to cite some crazy numbers here, they probably could be
- 5:35Speaker 3: outdated because who knows how often they're updating the CrossFit
- 5:39Speaker 3: Games website. Yeah, we're talking to someone right now who
- 5:43Speaker 3: supposedly has a backsquat of three forty five, a clean
- 5:48Speaker 3: and jerk of two fifty five, a deadlift of four
- 5:51Speaker 3: hundred and thirty two pounds, and a snatch of two
- 5:54Speaker 3: hundred and fifteen pounds.
- 5:55Speaker 2: How accurate are those so?
- 5:57Speaker 1: Actually, they weren't accurate all until this year when we
- 6:00Speaker 1: went into like the cross of Games to check in.
- 6:02Speaker 1: They're like, broke, you have an updated this since like
- 6:05Speaker 1: twenty fifteen, so can you go ahead and do that.
- 6:07Speaker 1: So the announcers aren't like saying, my clean and jerk
- 6:10Speaker 1: is like one hundred and fifty pounds, So they are
- 6:13Speaker 1: very up to date.
- 6:14Speaker 2: They are very up to date.
- 6:16Speaker 3: Was that kind of a mind trip to have that
- 6:18Speaker 3: moment where you heard or looked at what was put
- 6:21Speaker 3: down previously and you realized, Wow, look how much I
- 6:25Speaker 3: have progressed since the last time that we sat down
- 6:28Speaker 3: and reiterated these numbers.
- 6:30Speaker 1: Yeah, it's honestly crazy, Like I mean, it's just crazy.
- 6:34Speaker 1: I can't even fathom thinking back to like eight years
- 6:36Speaker 1: ago when I kind of started.
- 6:38Speaker 4: It's just it's been a long journey, all right.
- 6:42Speaker 3: So eight years ago when you kind of started, why
- 6:45Speaker 3: don't you bring me back there and talk to me
- 6:47Speaker 3: a little bit about what life was like before you
- 6:51Speaker 3: really dove headfirst into CrossFit.
- 6:53Speaker 1: Yeah, so I probably started about ten years ago. Eight
- 6:56Speaker 1: years ago was my first CrossFit games, but I started
- 6:59Speaker 1: when I was in high school. I was actually I
- 7:02Speaker 1: asked my dad to like get me a membership too,
- 7:04Speaker 1: just like Globo Gym, And it was kind of like
- 7:07Speaker 1: the thing in high school to go there and hang
- 7:08Speaker 1: out with your friends, not really prioritize exercise, just like
- 7:12Speaker 1: have fun. So he's like, you can have a cross
- 7:15Speaker 1: it or nothing. So I was kind of almost like
- 7:17Speaker 1: forcing across it because he knew that, like if I
- 7:19Speaker 1: was in the class environment with a coach, I would
- 7:22Speaker 1: be like actually getting things done. So the first cross
- 7:27Speaker 1: the class I ever did, like, I was obsessed and
- 7:29Speaker 1: in love with it. And I was like a senior
- 7:31Speaker 1: in high school, really focused on track, and I enjoyed
- 7:36Speaker 1: cross it a lot more. I saw more potential and CrossFit,
- 7:39Speaker 1: so I kind of shifted my focus to acrossfit and
- 7:43Speaker 1: it just two years later, I was a sophomore in
- 7:46Speaker 1: college and going to my first Cross the Games.
- 7:49Speaker 2: Wow.
- 7:49Speaker 3: So you really got into the competition circuit rather quickly.
- 7:56Speaker 3: So I'm assuming then that you saw a lot of
- 8:00Speaker 3: success early on despite actually loving the modalities and the workouts,
- 8:05Speaker 3: you were really good at them.
- 8:07Speaker 1: I just felt like I was kind of natural at
- 8:09Speaker 1: a lot of things. I was naturally strong. I never
- 8:12Speaker 1: lifted before, but it came kind of easy at first.
- 8:16Speaker 1: So yeah, I mean I just I was very competitive,
- 8:19Speaker 1: and I think that's what I also loved about CrossFit
- 8:22Speaker 1: is if you want to go in and try to
- 8:24Speaker 1: like compete every single day against the clock, against yourself
- 8:27Speaker 1: or even against like other class members, it's just like
- 8:31Speaker 1: it's always available to compete.
- 8:32Speaker 3: So I loved that, right, Like it can be whatever
- 8:35Speaker 3: you want to make of it. Did you at first
- 8:38Speaker 3: walk in and face any of those same intimidating fears
- 8:42Speaker 3: that we kind of touched on a little bit before, Oh.
- 8:45Speaker 4: Yeah, for sure.
- 8:46Speaker 1: I mean like I didn't even know what a snatch
- 8:49Speaker 1: was when I walked in. Like there's a lot of
- 8:51Speaker 1: things that took a lot of time, like muscle ups
- 8:53Speaker 1: that took me years to get a muscle up. So
- 8:56Speaker 1: I mean like I was very intimidated by a lot
- 8:58Speaker 1: of the movements when I first went in, but I
- 9:00Speaker 1: started scaled and then eventually got to where I am today.
- 9:05Speaker 3: I feel as though that's kind of refreshing to hear
- 9:07Speaker 3: for someone, for anyone really, no matter what's sport you're
- 9:10Speaker 3: interested in, Like you just placed fifth at the CrossFit Games,
- 9:14Speaker 3: third American, and it's like, wow, even this excellent athlete
- 9:21Speaker 3: today that we see in front of us, took a
- 9:23Speaker 3: while to get some of the critical skills that now
- 9:26Speaker 3: you're knocking out.
- 9:27Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure. I think people a lot of the
- 9:29Speaker 1: times think it all comes easy, but it doesn't. Maybe
- 9:32Speaker 1: when you first start, it feels like you're pring every
- 9:35Speaker 1: day and that's like the most awesome feeling, like it's
- 9:37Speaker 1: so fun.
- 9:38Speaker 4: But I mean we all get to like.
- 9:39Speaker 1: A point where it takes a lot, Like you hit
- 9:43Speaker 1: a certain weight and then it takes so long to
- 9:45Speaker 1: gradually build that it doesn't just like come natural at
- 9:49Speaker 1: that point.
- 9:50Speaker 3: When you were in college, you said going to your
- 9:52Speaker 3: first games as a sophomore, can you talk about integrating
- 9:55Speaker 3: your training into your schooling or was it kind of
- 9:58Speaker 3: integrating your schooling into your training.
- 10:00Speaker 1: Yeah, I kind of realized that my priorities were to
- 10:04Speaker 1: make the cross the games, and just like get a degree.
- 10:07Speaker 1: I wasn't like trying to be an A plus student,
- 10:10Speaker 1: So I mean school in training like now that I
- 10:13Speaker 1: don't have to do that. Thinking back, I'm like, I
- 10:16Speaker 1: honestly don't know how I functioned doing both of those.
- 10:18Speaker 1: I would go to like swim or something at like
- 10:22Speaker 1: eight am, and then have class at nine and then
- 10:26Speaker 1: go to class for like four hours and then be
- 10:28Speaker 1: at the gym until it was time to do homework
- 10:30Speaker 1: and go to bed. Like it was just like constant
- 10:34Speaker 1: doing one of the two.
- 10:36Speaker 3: And you were a college student, So where did any
- 10:40Speaker 3: semblance of a social life fit in.
- 10:42Speaker 1: Yeah, that was one of the things that like really
- 10:45Speaker 1: took a back seat because it just had to. I
- 10:48Speaker 1: was just kind of like picked and chose, like when
- 10:51Speaker 1: I was going to like go out or something, but
- 10:53Speaker 1: most of the time it would be like maybe one
- 10:56Speaker 1: night a week or just like in my off season.
- 11:00Speaker 3: Oh my god, I can't even I cannot even imagine.
- 11:04Speaker 3: So you go to your first CrossFit games. What was
- 11:07Speaker 3: that experience like for you? And I'm sure so different
- 11:12Speaker 3: than fast forward eight years later, the kind of hype
- 11:15Speaker 3: and with the hype and the notoriety you have now,
- 11:18Speaker 3: how did it feel as a total beginner.
- 11:21Speaker 1: Well, honestly, I was so extremely shocked that I had
- 11:24Speaker 1: qualified for the games. When I was a sophomore. It
- 11:27Speaker 1: was my first individual regional for across it and I
- 11:32Speaker 1: was nineteen years old. Kind of went in with the
- 11:35Speaker 1: intention that I was just going to try to get
- 11:37Speaker 1: top ten and then I ended up winding my regional.
- 11:40Speaker 1: It was just like holy crap, Like I trained for
- 11:43Speaker 1: regionals but I hadn't even like fathomed the thought of
- 11:46Speaker 1: going to the game, so I hadn't even like swam
- 11:49Speaker 1: yet and like trained that. So it was it was
- 11:51Speaker 1: honestly a big shock, and like it was cool because
- 11:54Speaker 1: I was just having so much fun. I didn't have
- 11:56Speaker 1: any expectations on me, so it was a really cool
- 12:00Speaker 1: year in that sense.
- 12:01Speaker 2: The question kind of arises, which is better.
- 12:06Speaker 3: Is it better to go into a situation and feel
- 12:10Speaker 3: like there are no expectations or do you feel like
- 12:13Speaker 3: you perform better now that so many more eyes are
- 12:17Speaker 3: on you and what you have going on.
- 12:19Speaker 1: Honestly, I think it's a balance because I love that
- 12:22Speaker 1: I do have a little bit of pressure because I
- 12:24Speaker 1: have these like sponsors that are so supportive, and I
- 12:27Speaker 1: put pressure on myself just because I've gone previous years.
- 12:30Speaker 1: But then when it gets to be like too much
- 12:32Speaker 1: to handle, I kind of remind myself, like, I perform
- 12:36Speaker 1: the best when I'm having fun and I don't have
- 12:39Speaker 1: a ton of expectation, So if it gets like a
- 12:42Speaker 1: too much pressure, then I kind of just remind myself
- 12:45Speaker 1: of that.
- 12:45Speaker 3: We all have strategies or tools or things that we
- 12:48Speaker 3: say to ourselves to navigate those tough moments in those hurdles.
- 12:52Speaker 3: Where does your mind go when you're on like the
- 12:54Speaker 3: fifteenth of twenty muscle ups and your biceps are burning
- 12:57Speaker 3: and you're like, oh, what the hell am I doing here?
- 12:59Speaker 4: Yeah?
- 13:00Speaker 1: Yeah, So we actually did like a whole like noble
- 13:01Speaker 1: campaign over like my motto, and it's been like, this
- 13:05Speaker 1: is when it counts. So like when I'm super tired
- 13:10Speaker 1: in a workout, or I get nervous before a competition
- 13:14Speaker 1: or something, I just remind myself, like, this is when
- 13:16Speaker 1: it counts, Like all the training that I've done before,
- 13:19Speaker 1: this doesn't matter until now, Or like when the workout's
- 13:23Speaker 1: easy in the beginning, like that's not when it matters.
- 13:25Speaker 1: It starts to count when it starts hurting.
- 13:27Speaker 2: It starts to count when it starts hurting. Wow, that's intent.
- 13:31Speaker 3: So you go through that first Crosswick Games experience and
- 13:34Speaker 3: what would you say your biggest takeaway is from that
- 13:38Speaker 3: knowing that, Yep, I'm definitely going to come back and
- 13:40Speaker 3: do this again.
- 13:41Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, My first Cross of Games was like
- 13:44Speaker 1: one of the hardest Cross the Games I've ever done,
- 13:46Speaker 1: even to this day. It was just like brutally high
- 13:49Speaker 1: volume and I think probably what I took away the
- 13:52Speaker 1: most was to just like believe in myself and have
- 13:55Speaker 1: more confidence, because going into your first year, you kind
- 13:57Speaker 1: of always feel like like you don't belong, you know.
- 14:00Speaker 1: So I was honestly really surprised that I had made
- 14:04Speaker 1: it that year. But I obviously made it that year
- 14:06Speaker 1: for a reason. I mean I qualified, I did all
- 14:09Speaker 1: the work, and I put it in, So why not
- 14:11Speaker 1: feel confident being there amongst the fittest in the world.
- 14:14Speaker 3: That's such an important takeaway as well, because how often
- 14:18Speaker 3: do we step into situations and we are the only
- 14:22Speaker 3: thing doubting ourselves. Yeah, when you look around and you
- 14:26Speaker 3: can say for a fact, like I am standing here
- 14:28Speaker 3: with the fittest in the world, I qualify to be
- 14:31Speaker 3: here with the fittest in the world. So I have
- 14:34Speaker 3: to take this to be true, that I am amongst.
- 14:37Speaker 2: The fittest in the world. But I'm sure that never
- 14:39Speaker 2: gets old. I mean that's such a big sentence.
- 14:41Speaker 4: Yeah, it really is.
- 14:42Speaker 1: I Mean I feel like that every single time I
- 14:44Speaker 1: take the floor, Like you can't really fathom that I'm
- 14:46Speaker 1: like standing next to these girls, but I've worked so hard.
- 14:51Speaker 1: And another thing I kind of tell myself is like
- 14:54Speaker 1: people can be like why me, and then I'm like
- 14:56Speaker 1: why not me? Like why can I not be the
- 14:58Speaker 1: fittest on earth?
- 14:59Speaker 3: I would also imagine that as the years start to progress.
- 15:03Speaker 2: And you get more and more immersed in.
- 15:06Speaker 3: This CrossFit community, that comparison probably follows you along the way.
- 15:12Speaker 3: How did you stay focused on your training on your
- 15:15Speaker 3: journey as you continued to work your way up in
- 15:18Speaker 3: the sport?
- 15:19Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I feel like I like compare myself
- 15:22Speaker 1: almost every day when I have training partners, and that's like,
- 15:26Speaker 1: but it's in a good way, Like it's a healthy
- 15:28Speaker 1: way because I think they pushed me, and I'm kind
- 15:30Speaker 1: of like, Okay, well I trained with Tia Claire Toomy
- 15:33Speaker 1: and she's the fittest on earth, so it's really good
- 15:37Speaker 1: to kind of have her as like a benchmark and
- 15:39Speaker 1: just kind of like try my best to be like
- 15:42Speaker 1: as close to her as I can. And so I
- 15:44Speaker 1: think comparison it can be very harmful, but it also
- 15:48Speaker 1: can be good if you use it to help yourself.
- 15:50Speaker 2: Definitely.
- 15:50Speaker 3: So for you, you graduate from college eventually two years
- 15:55Speaker 3: in and where do you decide is going to be
- 15:58Speaker 3: the best.
- 15:58Speaker 2: Move for you in your training.
- 16:01Speaker 1: So after college, I wasn't exactly sure where I wanted
- 16:03Speaker 1: to go. I ended up moving back to Tulsa, Oklahoma
- 16:07Speaker 1: for two years because I went to high school there
- 16:10Speaker 1: and I was just kind of comfortable there. I knew
- 16:13Speaker 1: the gym, so I moved there. It was really good.
- 16:16Speaker 1: I had always trained by myself, so like, up until
- 16:20Speaker 1: two years ago, I trained completely on my own. I
- 16:23Speaker 1: had like remote programming sent to me from a coach,
- 16:26Speaker 1: so like training partners wasn't really like a huge thing
- 16:29Speaker 1: two years ago. So after I had stayed in Tulsa
- 16:33Speaker 1: for two years, I have a twin sister and she
- 16:35Speaker 1: lived in Memphis, Tennessee, and so we just wanted to
- 16:38Speaker 1: live together. There was no point of us being a
- 16:40Speaker 1: part anymore, and we both had the option to move,
- 16:43Speaker 1: so we kind of randomly just picked Nashville, Tennessee.
- 16:47Speaker 4: And.
- 16:50Speaker 1: My friend Will Morad I didn't even know him at
- 16:52Speaker 1: the time, but he lived here already, so I kind
- 16:55Speaker 1: of like just hit him up and was like, do
- 16:57Speaker 1: you want to train together? So we started training together,
- 17:00Speaker 1: and then I wanted to have a new coach, so
- 17:04Speaker 1: I reached out to Shane and Tia, so they ended
- 17:07Speaker 1: up moving here we have like this whole group now,
- 17:10Speaker 1: so we have like this huge, like CrossFit training mecca
- 17:14Speaker 1: that just kind of created in the last two years.
- 17:18Speaker 3: I'm enamored by the idea that for so many years
- 17:22Speaker 3: you were among one of the fittest humans in the
- 17:25Speaker 3: world and you were doing it all on your own.
- 17:29Speaker 1: Yeah, it is kind of crazy to think back, like
- 17:31Speaker 1: now that I have like the best training setup I
- 17:33Speaker 1: could literally ever imagine. It's hard to think, like there
- 17:37Speaker 1: will be days that like maybe someone isn't on the
- 17:40Speaker 1: same schedule and I have to train by myself. I'm like,
- 17:42Speaker 1: I have to train by myself? Are you serious? And
- 17:45Speaker 1: then I think back and I'm like, I've trained by
- 17:47Speaker 1: myself for like six years.
- 17:49Speaker 2: This is seriously impressive.
- 17:51Speaker 3: What would you say helped you keep showing up for
- 17:54Speaker 3: yourself when it was just you on your own.
- 17:56Speaker 1: I mean, honestly, it comes just down to discipline and
- 17:59Speaker 1: how motivated I would I mean, motivation comes and goes,
- 18:02Speaker 1: but I was just super determined to like keep going
- 18:04Speaker 1: back to the CrossFit games, and that's really what made
- 18:08Speaker 1: me keep showing up. I mean, back in college that
- 18:11Speaker 1: was definitely the hardest time to show up every single day.
- 18:14Speaker 1: Because there was always like temptations of like just wanting
- 18:17Speaker 1: to go hang out with friends and be like a
- 18:19Speaker 1: college student. But yeah, I mean, I just I learned
- 18:23Speaker 1: a lot of discipline in college and just training on
- 18:26Speaker 1: my own.
- 18:26Speaker 3: Really, do you ever look back at those years and
- 18:28Speaker 3: wonder what would have happened if you kind of like
- 18:31Speaker 3: embrace the college lifestyle a little bit more?
- 18:33Speaker 2: Do you ever wish that maybe you.
- 18:34Speaker 1: Had sometimes, Like I just like I'd never want to
- 18:38Speaker 1: like miss out like a major fomo. I think it's
- 18:40Speaker 1: so worth it and so much cooler to like have
- 18:43Speaker 1: the lifestyle that I had and like kind of have
- 18:46Speaker 1: the success that I worked so hard for in college
- 18:49Speaker 1: kind of set me up for where I am today.
- 18:51Speaker 1: So I wouldn't take it back. But I definitely like
- 18:54Speaker 1: think I missed out a little bit. But that's just
- 18:56Speaker 1: kind of a sacrifice that I'm willing to take.
- 18:59Speaker 3: And I would imagine that it's easier to be diligent
- 19:03Speaker 3: when you are surrounded with like minded people. Talk to
- 19:06Speaker 3: me about how it feels and what the benefits are
- 19:08Speaker 3: about having training partners in Nashville.
- 19:11Speaker 1: There's like so many benefits, Like I can't even really
- 19:13Speaker 1: pick one, but this is the first time I've actually
- 19:15Speaker 1: had a coach in person. So just having eyes on
- 19:18Speaker 1: you every single day kind of like hold you accountable
- 19:21Speaker 1: and on days that you might come in like tired,
- 19:23Speaker 1: like it makes you give your one hundred percent because
- 19:26Speaker 1: you have someone on watching you all the time. But
- 19:29Speaker 1: I mean having training partners like it truly keeps it
- 19:32Speaker 1: a lot more fun because it can get really boring
- 19:35Speaker 1: just kind of being in the gym like eight hours
- 19:37Speaker 1: a day. So when you have people around you with
- 19:39Speaker 1: the same goals, it keeps it a lot more fun
- 19:42Speaker 1: and focused. I think that's a big thing as a
- 19:44Speaker 1: lot of people like take out the fun aspect when
- 19:47Speaker 1: they're like training really hard, but you can like it
- 19:50Speaker 1: makes it almost like want to try harder when it's
- 19:53Speaker 1: fun because you're just enjoying yourself and everyone's like pushing
- 19:57Speaker 1: and it's really fun.
- 19:59Speaker 3: Yeah, to your point about like you're pushing yourself really
- 20:02Speaker 3: hard that you're not even enjoying the process, and the
- 20:05Speaker 3: process is what's so important right for you? All of
- 20:09Speaker 3: these years later, you keep doing CrossFit day in and
- 20:12Speaker 3: day out because it's something that brings you joy And
- 20:14Speaker 3: if it wasn't, then that destination wouldn't even matter.
- 20:17Speaker 1: Yeah, I honestly kind of always realize that when I'm
- 20:20Speaker 1: like after the games, like in this scenario, and I'm
- 20:22Speaker 1: still like the games are over and I could have
- 20:25Speaker 1: like a big long off season of doing nothing if
- 20:28Speaker 1: I want to, But like I miss that process and
- 20:31Speaker 1: I like crave it, like I'm ready to start again
- 20:33Speaker 1: just because I mean, we have so much fun and
- 20:36Speaker 1: like the work, like working hard is just so addicting.
- 20:39Speaker 2: I can totally co sign that.
- 20:41Speaker 3: So I want to bring us back now to the
- 20:43Speaker 3: twenty twenty one games. First, get some insight into what
- 20:48Speaker 3: training CrossFit was like for you during the pandemic. I know,
- 20:52Speaker 3: moving to Nashville obviously a big change, but also like
- 20:55Speaker 3: adjusting to what life was when you weren't congregating in
- 20:59Speaker 3: a and around so many other people.
- 21:02Speaker 1: Yeah, training during the pandemic was very interesting. For like
- 21:07Speaker 1: the first half I was just training out of my garage,
- 21:10Speaker 1: which I didn't have a ton of equipment, but gym's
- 21:12Speaker 1: were kind of like letting you like borrow equipment. But
- 21:15Speaker 1: also it was just like very hard to train because
- 21:17Speaker 1: what am I training for? Like the games aren't even
- 21:20Speaker 1: in sight right now, Like we don't think that there's
- 21:22Speaker 1: going to be any competition. So I mean I got like,
- 21:25Speaker 1: you can train just to be healthy, but I didn't
- 21:27Speaker 1: have like a goal in site training for like my profession.
- 21:31Speaker 1: So I mean I still trained really hard because there
- 21:34Speaker 1: was literally nothing else to do, but just not having
- 21:38Speaker 1: a goal inside that was really weird because I've never
- 21:40Speaker 1: had something like that. But then towards the end, the
- 21:42Speaker 1: gym owner would let me go in there by myself,
- 21:45Speaker 1: so it was still just like very boring, like didn't
- 21:48Speaker 1: really want to be there by myself and a completely
- 21:50Speaker 1: empty gym every day. Thankfully, there was like nothing else
- 21:53Speaker 1: to really do, so I kept training really hard, but
- 21:55Speaker 1: it was it was difficult with nothing insight.
- 21:58Speaker 3: I'm like a single woman in my mid thirty so
- 22:00Speaker 3: I felt like I also completely poured myself into my work.
- 22:04Speaker 3: I was like, oh, well, it's another day with my
- 22:06Speaker 3: computer here in the corner of like at the time,
- 22:09Speaker 3: my fourth floor walk up on the upper east side,
- 22:12Speaker 3: like this is just where we are today.
- 22:14Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean that's when I was born in there
- 22:16Speaker 1: by myself. I'm like, well, what else could I do?
- 22:19Speaker 1: There's literally nothing going on?
- 22:21Speaker 2: Yeah, literally nothing going on.
- 22:23Speaker 3: So you are training and when is the first like
- 22:26Speaker 3: glimmer of hope that you guys are going to be
- 22:29Speaker 3: getting back together to compete again.
- 22:31Speaker 1: Well, I mean, there was still talk that the Games
- 22:33Speaker 1: were going to happen, and then like ended up. They
- 22:35Speaker 1: just kept getting pushed back and pushed back. And then
- 22:39Speaker 1: once they said that it was going to be like
- 22:41Speaker 1: an online thing, it seemed more realistic because an in
- 22:44Speaker 1: person thing just like that wasn't going to happen at
- 22:48Speaker 1: the time.
- 22:49Speaker 3: Right right now, today, you're a Noble athlete, and obviously
- 22:53Speaker 3: over this time as well, Noble becoming the token sponsor
- 22:58Speaker 3: of the Games. As a CrossFit athlete, during this big transition,
- 23:02Speaker 3: did you have concerns as well?
- 23:05Speaker 1: No, Honestly, I was so excited for Noble to take
- 23:07Speaker 1: over the CrossFit Games. I saw a lot of opportunity
- 23:11Speaker 1: for CrossFit having Noble as the title sponsor. So I
- 23:14Speaker 1: thought it was super exciting, And I mean we didn't
- 23:16Speaker 1: really know what was going to happen, just being like
- 23:20Speaker 1: a weird time, but I figured things would get back
- 23:23Speaker 1: to me.
- 23:28Speaker 3: Taking a break from today's episode to talk to you
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- 26:10Speaker 3: with your purchase today. Now let's fast forward to the
- 26:19Speaker 3: twenty twenty one games. A huge moment for you, finally
- 26:23Speaker 3: back to doing what you love, surrounded by so many people.
- 26:27Speaker 2: Talk to us about those.
- 26:28Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean once again, it was kind of weird
- 26:31Speaker 1: going back because it was still like like people were
- 26:34Speaker 1: still wearing masks, and like we had to get a
- 26:36Speaker 1: COVID test right before, which like you don't feel sick
- 26:39Speaker 1: at all until you're in line and you're like, oh
- 26:40Speaker 1: my gosh, am I like breathing heavy, Like it was
- 26:43Speaker 1: just like it was scary. It was also like two
- 26:45Speaker 1: years since we had been out there on the floor
- 26:47Speaker 1: in front of a big crowd. So as awesome as
- 26:50Speaker 1: the crowd is, it was very like nerve wracking, Like
- 26:52Speaker 1: I just had major butterflies, and it was a cool
- 26:54Speaker 1: feeling because it'd been a little bit since that happened.
- 26:57Speaker 3: I feel like, even like walking on the street or
- 27:00Speaker 3: like going to my first bar, I was overwhelmed.
- 27:03Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure, Like going back to normal was kind
- 27:06Speaker 1: of crazy.
- 27:07Speaker 3: Yeah, So being like back on the field surrounded by
- 27:10Speaker 3: so many people and then also performing, it's like, okay,
- 27:13Speaker 3: I have to overcome like my normal amount of human
- 27:15Speaker 3: anxiety and then like also the anxiety I have to
- 27:18Speaker 3: take on what I'm about to take on.
- 27:19Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, like people are cheering for you, and
- 27:21Speaker 1: they like want to high five you, and I'm like,
- 27:23Speaker 1: oh my god, is it okay to like high five
- 27:26Speaker 1: right now?
- 27:26Speaker 2: I don't know is this okay? Yeah? Oh my gosh.
- 27:32Speaker 3: So you go in to the competition feeling really strong.
- 27:36Speaker 3: But for those that may not be familiar with your story,
- 27:40Speaker 3: when you were at the twenty twenty one Crossbit Games,
- 27:43Speaker 3: you suffered a dislocated elbow, a torn flexer tendon, and
- 27:47Speaker 3: a torn UCL while snatching one hundred and ninety pounds,
- 27:51Speaker 3: talk us through that moment and what happened for you.
- 27:54Speaker 4: Yeah.
- 27:54Speaker 1: So it was the twelfth event of the Crosset Games,
- 27:57Speaker 1: and it was honestly like the best I had ever
- 27:59Speaker 1: done by like I was feeling so good. So yeah,
- 28:02Speaker 1: I mean I went under a one ninety pound snatch
- 28:05Speaker 1: and my elbow just gave out dislocated, and so I
- 28:08Speaker 1: mean they had to like bring medical on to carry
- 28:10Speaker 1: me off, and it was it was very traumatic. It
- 28:14Speaker 1: took like twenty minutes for them to pop it back
- 28:16Speaker 1: in place. They had to like X ray it because
- 28:19Speaker 1: it was just like it was so out they couldn't
- 28:21Speaker 1: get it back in. So after that it was just
- 28:23Speaker 1: like very It was heartbreaking. Like I was so excited
- 28:27Speaker 1: for that year because I had a new coach and
- 28:30Speaker 1: like I was feeling my best. I was in I
- 28:32Speaker 1: think sixth place going into that event, but like all
- 28:35Speaker 1: of the things that I consider myself bad at were
- 28:38Speaker 1: over with, so I was like, it's only up from here.
- 28:40Speaker 1: This is a good event for me, and then for
- 28:42Speaker 1: like that to just get ruined was like heartbreaking from
- 28:46Speaker 1: one event.
- 28:48Speaker 2: Did you ever watch it back?
- 28:50Speaker 4: No? I cannot watch it.
- 28:52Speaker 1: I was like afterwards people were like tagging me on
- 28:55Speaker 1: Instagram like in videos of it, but I had to
- 28:57Speaker 1: like just skip right through them because I could not
- 28:59Speaker 1: see that. I still do this day, will not watch it.
- 29:02Speaker 3: I can't even imagine how that's kind of feel, being
- 29:04Speaker 3: tagged and tagged and tagged and tagged and you're like
- 29:06Speaker 3: I'm all set with this.
- 29:08Speaker 1: Yeah, Like I didn't want to see it, But it
- 29:10Speaker 1: was like very close calls when I would like just
- 29:12Speaker 1: have to like shut my eyes really quick when something
- 29:14Speaker 1: would come up.
- 29:15Speaker 3: Talk to us about what immediately went through your head
- 29:20Speaker 3: when they're not able to pop your elbow back in.
- 29:22Speaker 2: Are you thinking forward or are you thinking in the moment?
- 29:26Speaker 1: Oh?
- 29:26Speaker 4: No, I was thinking in the moment percent.
- 29:28Speaker 1: I mean, once they finally got it popped back in,
- 29:32Speaker 1: my first question was all right, I'm good.
- 29:34Speaker 4: Can I finish competing?
- 29:36Speaker 1: And they're like, we'll talk to you about that later,
- 29:39Speaker 1: because I was already so upset, you know, but I mean.
- 29:41Speaker 4: Obviously I couldn't continue.
- 29:43Speaker 1: I kind of was just hoping that it popped out,
- 29:45Speaker 1: and once it was back in, like I could just
- 29:46Speaker 1: can finish competing because I didn't even care about my
- 29:50Speaker 1: elbow at the moment.
- 29:51Speaker 4: I just wanted to finish the competition so bad.
- 29:54Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 29:54Speaker 3: Yeah, So how do you get to a place where
- 29:57Speaker 3: you accept the thing that you can't control.
- 30:01Speaker 1: It didn't really like hit me until the next day,
- 30:04Speaker 1: as I was like watching the girls compete and I
- 30:07Speaker 1: was sitting in my hotel room watching on my computer
- 30:10Speaker 1: because I like was just in so much pain. That's
- 30:13Speaker 1: when it like really hit me, and I mean I
- 30:16Speaker 1: just had to accept it. There was nothing I could do,
- 30:18Speaker 1: but it was very brutal.
- 30:19Speaker 3: Yeah, I would imagine that that would be really difficult.
- 30:23Speaker 2: It's totally understandable that you would.
- 30:25Speaker 3: Feel that way and in that moment because of all
- 30:29Speaker 3: the COVID restrictions, were you alone?
- 30:33Speaker 1: So yeah, well so I think we planned Sunday to
- 30:37Speaker 1: like go get an MRI on Monday.
- 30:39Speaker 4: So I went and got an MRI on.
- 30:40Speaker 1: Monday, and I was completely alone, and it was just
- 30:45Speaker 1: like so painful to even like try to put my
- 30:47Speaker 1: arm in that position. It was like I just remember
- 30:50Speaker 1: being in the MRI for like thirty to forty minutes
- 30:52Speaker 1: just like crying one just like realizing what's going on,
- 30:55Speaker 1: and then also just being in so much pain.
- 30:58Speaker 4: I couldn't believe that.
- 30:58Speaker 1: I was like like the Monday after the Cross of
- 31:01Speaker 1: Games is like one of the most fun days because
- 31:03Speaker 1: it's just like you're relieved it's over. You're kind of
- 31:05Speaker 1: with your family celebrating like all your hard work. And
- 31:08Speaker 1: then I was just like getting an MRI for my
- 31:10Speaker 1: broken elbow.
- 31:11Speaker 2: Pretty much, how do you pick yourself up from that?
- 31:17Speaker 1: It was really hard, but just kind of like telling yourself,
- 31:21Speaker 1: like this is going to be the best thing that
- 31:23Speaker 1: happens for me, and like this all happens for a reason.
- 31:27Speaker 1: Kind of just like from the moment it happened, I
- 31:30Speaker 1: was already thinking forward to the next year planning like
- 31:32Speaker 1: a comeback, and I mean from that moment, I was
- 31:36Speaker 1: determined to have the best comeback in year I've ever had.
- 31:40Speaker 3: Yeah, it's hard to like not go into this dark place,
- 31:47Speaker 3: like when we are incapable of doing the thing that
- 31:51Speaker 3: we love, a part of our identity gets tossed to
- 31:55Speaker 3: the side, right, Yeah.
- 31:57Speaker 1: I mean it was like, what am I supposed to
- 31:59Speaker 1: do now that I can't exercise at all? Like I
- 32:02Speaker 1: can't even move my arm. It was like a really
- 32:05Speaker 1: weird time for sure.
- 32:07Speaker 3: Do you remember anyone giving you any advice that still
- 32:11Speaker 3: comes to mind about navigating that time?
- 32:14Speaker 1: I feel like I had a lot of people throwing
- 32:15Speaker 1: advice at me. A lot of it was just kind
- 32:17Speaker 1: of like like to enjoy this time off and kind
- 32:20Speaker 1: of use it for like a mental break as you're
- 32:23Speaker 1: like physically healing. I think that was the biggest thing
- 32:27Speaker 1: that I had to do, was just kind of accept
- 32:28Speaker 1: that I couldn't work out for a little bit and
- 32:31Speaker 1: kind of use, like take advantage of it. There's not
- 32:34Speaker 1: very many months of the year that I'm not training,
- 32:36Speaker 1: so to kind of like give myself a little mental
- 32:39Speaker 1: break was It ended up being very helpful.
- 32:42Speaker 3: So in that mental break, in that not training, you
- 32:45Speaker 3: also get a complete reconstruction surgery. So after that, what's
- 32:51Speaker 3: the prognosis of how long that period of time is
- 32:53Speaker 3: supposed to be until you're back in the gym.
- 32:57Speaker 1: Yeah, So they told me that I wasn't going to
- 32:59Speaker 1: be like one hundred percent until like nine or ten months,
- 33:02Speaker 1: but I wasn't able to like really do anything until
- 33:06Speaker 1: like six months. So I mean, I think like a
- 33:12Speaker 1: lot of people were kind of like trying to be
- 33:14Speaker 1: like positive and they're like, you might be able to
- 33:17Speaker 1: do it, but no one truly thought that, like making
- 33:19Speaker 1: it back to the games was even in the question.
- 33:22Speaker 2: How did that make you feel?
- 33:24Speaker 4: And any more determined?
- 33:25Speaker 1: Honestly, I was like, I mean, from that the moment
- 33:29Speaker 1: it happened, like I knew that I was going to
- 33:30Speaker 1: be back out there no matter what anyone had said.
- 33:33Speaker 1: So when anyone would tell me that, I just wanted
- 33:34Speaker 1: to prove them wrong.
- 33:35Speaker 3: When anyone gets injured, I feel like the first thing
- 33:38Speaker 3: that they'll say to me in my DMS is like,
- 33:41Speaker 3: I don't know how to navigate this. I don't feel
- 33:43Speaker 3: like myself, I feel soft, I feel et cetera.
- 33:47Speaker 2: Did you go through all of those feelings as well.
- 33:50Speaker 1: Yeah, honestly, Like I mean, I remember seeing other people
- 33:53Speaker 1: injured before this, and I never really thought much of it,
- 33:56Speaker 1: Like I don't know, I kind of just like wrote
- 33:58Speaker 1: it off. But then going through myself, I like could
- 34:01Speaker 1: really relate to like other people that had been injured before,
- 34:04Speaker 1: and it's like completely out of your control and you
- 34:08Speaker 1: just you feel really lost. You don't really know what
- 34:10Speaker 1: to do, except like all you want to do is
- 34:13Speaker 1: just get better.
- 34:14Speaker 2: Did you think about what else you could do during
- 34:18Speaker 2: that time? Do you mean like exercise or I mean,
- 34:21Speaker 2: like when prospit is a thing that you don't do
- 34:24Speaker 2: anymore eventually. I'm not saying right now, but I'm saying
- 34:29Speaker 2: during that time, you must have definitely had like a
- 34:31Speaker 2: little bit of like self inquiry of like what will
- 34:34Speaker 2: be next for me?
- 34:35Speaker 1: Yeah, I think like I just tried to make myself
- 34:38Speaker 1: busy with like other things like I would consider like
- 34:41Speaker 1: work related with my sponsors. I took, like I think
- 34:44Speaker 1: that was my main focus during that time. I like
- 34:48Speaker 1: decided that I wanted a puppy, So I got a
- 34:50Speaker 1: puppy during that time to kind of just like distract
- 34:52Speaker 1: me and not think about CrossFit all the time, but
- 34:56Speaker 1: like to be honest, I didn't really like move on
- 35:00Speaker 1: ever or ever consider like what can I do instead
- 35:03Speaker 1: of this? It was more like what can I do
- 35:05Speaker 1: to get back out there?
- 35:07Speaker 3: So the comeback starts mentally talk to us about what
- 35:10Speaker 3: starts to happen when it begins physically, Like a.
- 35:13Speaker 1: Week after surgery, they wanted me to go ahead and
- 35:16Speaker 1: start moving it and just so that I could start
- 35:18Speaker 1: getting my range of motion because for crossed athletes, we
- 35:21Speaker 1: have to have flexibility in our elbows for like snatches
- 35:24Speaker 1: and handsand walks like anything. Really, So I was in
- 35:29Speaker 1: there one week after surgery, and then I was there
- 35:32Speaker 1: every single day for six days a week for like
- 35:36Speaker 1: three hours. So it was like it was a big commitment.
- 35:40Speaker 1: But I mean I wanted to be there as long
- 35:42Speaker 1: as possible to just speed up their recovery.
- 35:45Speaker 3: I don't want to say it was meant to happen
- 35:47Speaker 3: this way, but think about what would have what this
- 35:50Speaker 3: could have been like if this type of injury happened
- 35:53Speaker 3: to you eight ten years ago. Now you have worked
- 35:58Speaker 3: so hard and that hard work has a forwarded you
- 36:00Speaker 3: really great relationships with brands and sponsors, which in turn
- 36:04Speaker 3: pay you, which enable you to get even more care
- 36:07Speaker 3: and use that money to fuel yourself, you know, whereas
- 36:11Speaker 3: eight ten years ago, starting as a young crosfit athlete
- 36:14Speaker 3: like you may have not had the means to navigate
- 36:17Speaker 3: this as you were so fortunately able to this time around.
- 36:21Speaker 1: Yeah, honestly, I've never even pictured it that way because
- 36:24Speaker 1: I mean, like, even thinking back, this would have happened
- 36:27Speaker 1: like my first or second year, like I might have
- 36:29Speaker 1: been like, well, this just doesn't meant for me, Like
- 36:31Speaker 1: I'm moving on, you know, And I was very thankful
- 36:34Speaker 1: to have like my agent, my manager, they like, from
- 36:37Speaker 1: the moment it happened, were already looking at doctors talking
- 36:41Speaker 1: to people about who like I should go see. So
- 36:44Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, it just puts things into perspective of
- 36:47Speaker 1: how thankful I am that it happened, Like when it.
- 36:49Speaker 2: Did, getting back in the gym, what's that look like
- 36:52Speaker 2: for you?
- 36:54Speaker 1: So I wanted to start moving like as soon as possible,
- 36:58Speaker 1: just because I like, I just like to move. I
- 37:00Speaker 1: didn't want to like kill myself or anything, just kind
- 37:04Speaker 1: of like feel better about myself not sitting around. So
- 37:07Speaker 1: I probably started moving about like two weeks after surgery.
- 37:10Speaker 1: But it was literally just like sitting on a bike
- 37:13Speaker 1: pedaling because I and that was actually one thing I
- 37:15Speaker 1: was so like mind blown about. It was really hard
- 37:18Speaker 1: to bike because like my arm was in a cast.
- 37:20Speaker 1: I couldn't even like use my arms. So I mean
- 37:24Speaker 1: I just like slowly eased into things, started with biking
- 37:27Speaker 1: a little bit, and then it wasn't until I think
- 37:31Speaker 1: like three months after surgery that I started using my
- 37:34Speaker 1: elbow a little bit, and it was like not much
- 37:36Speaker 1: at all. I was very, very scared and timid. Like
- 37:39Speaker 1: It's funny because the pets are always like, now, don't
- 37:42Speaker 1: do any more than this, and I'm like, no, I'm
- 37:44Speaker 1: the opposite. Like you guys need to be like pushy
- 37:47Speaker 1: towards me because I like have the fear of re
- 37:51Speaker 1: injuring it.
- 37:51Speaker 4: I don't want to do anything.
- 37:54Speaker 2: I feel like a lot of people can relate to that.
- 37:56Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, I mean, well I guess they have like
- 37:59Speaker 1: professional athlete, I just want to get back into it,
- 38:01Speaker 1: and so they like kind of do more than they're
- 38:03Speaker 1: supposed to and reinjure. But like that's the last thing
- 38:06Speaker 1: that I wanted to do. I was like, I mean
- 38:09Speaker 1: I wanted to be ready in ten months, but like
- 38:12Speaker 1: I didn't want to like push that process at all.
- 38:15Speaker 3: When would you say you were back to like full
- 38:17Speaker 3: on training in relation to the timeline for the Games.
- 38:22Speaker 1: So actually, like the week of the Open, I still
- 38:25Speaker 1: there were a lot of movements that I hadn't done yet.
- 38:28Speaker 1: I was really nervous about having like a max lift
- 38:31Speaker 1: because that's something that I was not going to do.
- 38:34Speaker 1: I would obviously like do what I could and see
- 38:36Speaker 1: if because the Open it's like the top ten percent,
- 38:39Speaker 1: so I knew that if I put up a seventy
- 38:42Speaker 1: percent lift for me, that that might like be enough
- 38:46Speaker 1: to qualify me. But the week of the Open, I
- 38:50Speaker 1: hadn't done a muscle up yet, hadn't done like pull
- 38:53Speaker 1: ups or anything like that. So I just remember wanting
- 38:57Speaker 1: to like do one muscle up just so that if
- 38:59Speaker 1: they were to come up that I had done one
- 39:01Speaker 1: and I knew that I could do it. So I
- 39:03Speaker 1: was ready like the day before the Open.
- 39:06Speaker 3: Probably Wow, yeah, did that make you anxious going into
- 39:12Speaker 3: the competition?
- 39:13Speaker 4: Yes?
- 39:14Speaker 1: Very And it's actually crazy because I had my best
- 39:16Speaker 1: Open finish, which was like not something that I ever
- 39:19Speaker 1: would have dreamed of. I just wanted to make it
- 39:21Speaker 1: through the open. Thankfully, there wasn't very many movements that
- 39:26Speaker 1: bothered me at all. There wasn't a max lift or anything,
- 39:28Speaker 1: so it worked out in my favor. But I was
- 39:32Speaker 1: very intimidated and scared, scared going in.
- 39:34Speaker 2: You shared with us the slogan that you used for
- 39:37Speaker 2: the Noble campaign. But when you do feel those nerves,
- 39:41Speaker 2: what else comes to mind? How else do you kind
- 39:43Speaker 2: of top yourself a little bit off the ledge so
- 39:46Speaker 2: that you can perform and show up your best.
- 39:48Speaker 1: I think, like when I was like going into the opening, man,
- 39:51Speaker 1: I just remembered how hard that PT was, and like
- 39:55Speaker 1: how hard I just like worked to be where I was,
- 39:58Speaker 1: and I didn't want to do that for nothing. So
- 40:01Speaker 1: I just want to remember how hard I worked and
- 40:04Speaker 1: wanted to make sure that that counted.
- 40:06Speaker 3: Just like you were saying earlier that you kind of
- 40:08Speaker 3: had to like swipe away from the videos posting your injury.
- 40:11Speaker 3: I'm sure a lot of people come into your dms
- 40:14Speaker 3: or your messages and say things like, well, maybe you
- 40:17Speaker 3: shouldn't be lifting this much weight.
- 40:19Speaker 2: What's your response to people like that?
- 40:21Speaker 1: I just don't even give that at the time of day,
- 40:23Speaker 1: because they can do them if they want you know.
- 40:25Speaker 4: I mean I definitely.
- 40:26Speaker 1: Think that you need to be like, like, you can't
- 40:28Speaker 1: go from zero to one hundred. And I took it
- 40:30Speaker 1: really really slow after my injury. I mean I started
- 40:35Speaker 1: with a trainer bar, which is fifteen pounds, and then
- 40:38Speaker 1: I would add five pounds a week. So like it
- 40:41Speaker 1: was a very very slow process getting back to where
- 40:45Speaker 1: I felt strong enough again. So if you kind of
- 40:47Speaker 1: like ease yourself into stuff like that, it's not an issue.
- 40:50Speaker 3: Yeah, not an issue at all, especially as we see
- 40:54Speaker 3: it paid off in the open and then you show
- 40:57Speaker 3: up to the twenty twenty two CrossFit Games and have
- 41:00Speaker 3: such an unbelievable performance mindset going into the games.
- 41:05Speaker 2: Where were you at?
- 41:05Speaker 1: So just like going back to semifinals, I just kind
- 41:08Speaker 1: of like wanted to make it through that and in
- 41:11Speaker 1: order to make it to the games. But then once
- 41:13Speaker 1: I got to the games, I was like, I don't
- 41:14Speaker 1: want to just be here to kind of like go
- 41:17Speaker 1: through the motions like I want to make a statement
- 41:19Speaker 1: I want to have my best year ever.
- 41:21Speaker 3: Saying something like I want to have my best year ever.
- 41:24Speaker 3: It's kind of it's powerful, but it's also potentially frustrating,
- 41:32Speaker 3: maybe because all you can do is give it all
- 41:36Speaker 3: you've got. So were you just focused on that and
- 41:41Speaker 3: did you have anything like in place so that you
- 41:45Speaker 3: wouldn't get down on yourself if one of the earlier
- 41:47Speaker 3: events didn't go as you'd hoped.
- 41:49Speaker 4: Yeah, for sure.
- 41:50Speaker 1: I mean I always have events that like aren't going
- 41:52Speaker 1: to go as planned or I don't execute as well
- 41:55Speaker 1: as I thought I did. But I'm not gonna like
- 41:57Speaker 1: dwell on that. You have to move on or you're
- 42:00Speaker 1: going to ruin your whole weekend. I mean I had
- 42:01Speaker 1: a few events that I didn't think I did very
- 42:03Speaker 1: well on in the beginning, but I was just like,
- 42:05Speaker 1: don't let those workouts like define this whole weekend. So
- 42:09Speaker 1: I think that's something that I just have to tell myself.
- 42:11Speaker 3: Being a CrossFit athlete is similar to being some sort
- 42:14Speaker 3: of like maybe a heptathlete, and that there's just so
- 42:16Speaker 3: much going on you need to keep showing up and
- 42:19Speaker 3: so if you get caught up in one mistake or
- 42:22Speaker 3: one misstep, then that could ruin everything else that you're
- 42:24Speaker 3: working toward going forward.
- 42:26Speaker 4: Yeah exactly.
- 42:27Speaker 1: I mean, like before the event, you never want to
- 42:29Speaker 1: tell yourself like, oh, this is only like one event,
- 42:31Speaker 1: because you don't want to like count yourself out. But
- 42:34Speaker 1: then after the event's over and there's nothing that you
- 42:37Speaker 1: can do that is something, I'm like, Okay, well it
- 42:39Speaker 1: was one event, Like one event of fourteen isn't going
- 42:42Speaker 1: to be that big of a deal unless I keep
- 42:45Speaker 1: focusing on it, then it can like destroy my weekend.
- 42:48Speaker 2: Right right.
- 42:49Speaker 3: So, as you're getting toward that final event and you
- 42:53Speaker 3: see yourself in the standings, how are you feeling?
- 42:57Speaker 1: It's actually funny because I'm not one to really look
- 43:00Speaker 1: at the leaderboard at all. I don't bother because I
- 43:03Speaker 1: don't want to know, like exactly how many points people
- 43:05Speaker 1: are away from me, because then I would just focus
- 43:07Speaker 1: on others more than myself. So going into the final event,
- 43:12Speaker 1: they're like lining us up and they're like top five
- 43:14Speaker 1: over here, and like I didn't even like walk over
- 43:17Speaker 1: there because I didn't know where I was. And they're like,
- 43:19Speaker 1: brook you're over here, and I was like, oh crap,
- 43:22Speaker 1: Like I didn't even know that I was in the
- 43:23Speaker 1: top five, so they like announced it. Once you go out,
- 43:26Speaker 1: they're like in fifth place, Brooke Wells, and I don't know.
- 43:29Speaker 1: It was just so surreal to finally like be in
- 43:32Speaker 1: that position. I mean, I had to climb up the
- 43:35Speaker 1: leaderboard the whole weekend, like I was never like that high,
- 43:39Speaker 1: So it was really awesome. And honestly, I was kind
- 43:41Speaker 1: of like, okay, I'm in fifth place right out now, like,
- 43:43Speaker 1: let's not mess this up. This is going really well.
- 43:46Speaker 1: So it ended up being an awesome weekend.
- 43:48Speaker 3: You mentioned earlier training with Tia, and I would imagine
- 43:52Speaker 3: that in the build up here in the weekend here
- 43:55Speaker 3: you're constantly competing against someone who is just like such
- 43:58Speaker 3: a next level act. Would you say that really worked
- 44:02Speaker 3: to your advantage?
- 44:04Speaker 1: Yeah, so I think it really does work to my
- 44:06Speaker 1: advantage because well, first of all, I get to train
- 44:09Speaker 1: with her in training every single day, and like going
- 44:12Speaker 1: into competition, like, I mean, of course she's like intimidating,
- 44:16Speaker 1: but I'm also just like, at the same time, I'm
- 44:18Speaker 1: not intimidated because I work out with her every day.
- 44:21Speaker 1: So I'm like, it's just like another training day competing
- 44:24Speaker 1: it's Tia, you know. So if I can be not
- 44:27Speaker 1: intimidated by Tia, then why would anyone else intimidate me?
- 44:30Speaker 1: So I kind of just like, I don't focus on
- 44:33Speaker 1: anyone else, and I just am very confident in myself.
- 44:37Speaker 2: Where do you see yourself going now?
- 44:42Speaker 1: I mean I was like so close to the podium
- 44:45Speaker 1: this year that it like after it was over, I
- 44:48Speaker 1: was like, dang, Like I was so close. I wish
- 44:51Speaker 1: like I loved being fifth place. But then once it
- 44:53Speaker 1: was over, I was like, I was so close, you know. So,
- 44:56Speaker 1: I mean next year, I'm definitely going for the podium.
- 45:00Speaker 3: For the podium. Did you not go into the Games
- 45:02Speaker 3: hoping to be in the top ten?
- 45:04Speaker 4: Oh?
- 45:04Speaker 1: I mean yes, of course, Like I knew that I was.
- 45:07Speaker 1: I know that I'm capable of that. It's just a
- 45:09Speaker 1: matter of executing. But I mean with the year that
- 45:12Speaker 1: I had, I didn't really know what was going to
- 45:13Speaker 1: happen at that point. I was like, anything can happen.
- 45:16Speaker 1: I mean, I honestly a lot of the things that
- 45:18Speaker 1: we did at the game movement wise, I wasn't training
- 45:21Speaker 1: until after semifinals because my elbow wasn't healthy enough, so
- 45:25Speaker 1: I didn't really know how how it was going to
- 45:27Speaker 1: play out.
- 45:29Speaker 2: You know.
- 45:29Speaker 3: It's it's funny, right because I feel like we always
- 45:32Speaker 3: have like two to three versions of a goal. There's
- 45:34Speaker 3: like the goal that you openly talk about, the goal
- 45:37Speaker 3: you talk about with your close friends and like the
- 45:38Speaker 3: goal you tell absolutely no one.
- 45:41Speaker 4: Yeah for sure.
- 45:41Speaker 1: And I also think that like my goal will like
- 45:44Speaker 1: change throughout the weekend, like maybe I'll go into the
- 45:47Speaker 1: games like let's just get top ten, because like you
- 45:50Speaker 1: don't want to disappoint yourself. But then like as you
- 45:54Speaker 1: keep doing better, you're like, Okay, well let's make sure
- 45:56Speaker 1: that I'm in the top five. And it just I
- 45:58Speaker 1: feel like my goal shift so a lot.
- 46:01Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 46:01Speaker 3: For someone listening to this who hears about the crazy
- 46:04Speaker 3: numbers that you put up and sees you lifting these
- 46:06Speaker 3: such impressive weights, I know that you know the heavy
- 46:09Speaker 3: lifts have been a strength of yours for a while.
- 46:11Speaker 3: What advice could you offer to them if they are
- 46:14Speaker 3: just getting into strength training and are interested in putting
- 46:19Speaker 3: on some more.
- 46:21Speaker 1: Well, I think it comes down to like the basics
- 46:23Speaker 1: and the fundamentals, like make sure that you mastered that
- 46:26Speaker 1: before you try to throw on like some heavy weight.
- 46:29Speaker 1: That's the most important part is like the technique in
- 46:31Speaker 1: order to like I mean, in order to get strong
- 46:35Speaker 1: and like the lifts, you have to have good technique,
- 46:37Speaker 1: but also just to make sure that you don't get hurt.
- 46:40Speaker 1: And then also like it takes time, so like it's
- 46:44Speaker 1: it it feels like you're pring for a long time
- 46:47Speaker 1: in the beginning and then you just get stuck, and
- 46:49Speaker 1: like we all get stuck there. So I think it's
- 46:52Speaker 1: just a matter of being patient.
- 46:53Speaker 3: So applicable to like everything else in life though, right,
- 46:57Speaker 3: Like you had to understand that it was going to
- 46:58Speaker 3: take time for you to come back from this injury,
- 47:01Speaker 3: and you were cautious in the process.
- 47:04Speaker 4: Yeah.
- 47:04Speaker 1: I mean, I feel like a lot of people just
- 47:07Speaker 1: don't realize that, like how much work it actually takes
- 47:10Speaker 1: to be a top level athlete. I mean I get
- 47:13Speaker 1: people that are always like, well, if I didn't have
- 47:15Speaker 1: a job, then I'm sure that like I would be,
- 47:17Speaker 1: you know, and it's just like it takes so much
- 47:21Speaker 1: more work in like discipline and mental work than people
- 47:24Speaker 1: could ever imagine.
- 47:26Speaker 3: It just blows my mind that people don't like recognize
- 47:28Speaker 3: top level athletes as like that is your occupation.
- 47:31Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, it's not a nine to five job,
- 47:34Speaker 1: you know, Like it is literally a twenty four to
- 47:36Speaker 1: seven job making sure I'm getting enough sleep, that I'm
- 47:39Speaker 1: eating right, Like I can't just there's just so many
- 47:42Speaker 1: sacrifices and stuff that I don't think people realize that
- 47:45Speaker 1: it is, like it's a full on lifestyle. It's not
- 47:47Speaker 1: just like a job.
- 47:49Speaker 3: What would you say the biggest sacrifice is for you
- 47:52Speaker 3: in pursuit of your biggest goals.
- 47:54Speaker 1: Honestly, I would probably say like balance, Like that's the
- 47:57Speaker 1: thing that I have the hardest with, is like balance
- 48:00Speaker 1: and seeing relationships with like trying not like not like guys,
- 48:05Speaker 1: but like I mean like my friends and like my family.
- 48:08Speaker 1: I feel like a lot of the times things like
- 48:10Speaker 1: that get neglected because I'm like I can I have
- 48:12Speaker 1: to train, like even during the holidays, Like I try
- 48:15Speaker 1: to be as present as I can when I'm like
- 48:17Speaker 1: it's spending time with them, but I have to train
- 48:20Speaker 1: during like Christmas break, and like it's it's just very
- 48:23Speaker 1: hard to kind of like have a social life of
- 48:25Speaker 1: any sort when you're three months out from the game.
- 48:29Speaker 1: So I try to use my off season to kind
- 48:31Speaker 1: of give people more attention and work on relationships. But
- 48:35Speaker 1: the balance side is very difficult, which I don't think
- 48:37Speaker 1: people realize.
- 48:39Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, in this off season, especially at the top
- 48:42Speaker 3: front end.
- 48:42Speaker 2: Right now, what are you looking forward to?
- 48:45Speaker 1: I mean, I'm just relaxing, I would say travel, but
- 48:49Speaker 1: like I didn't plan any travel before the games because
- 48:52Speaker 1: I was kind of like, I don't want to be
- 48:55Speaker 1: distracted right now. I'll plan it afterwards. And now I'm
- 48:57Speaker 1: like kind of bored. I'm not really itching to get
- 48:59Speaker 1: back into the gym super soon, but I'm also like,
- 49:02Speaker 1: well I'm bored, so.
- 49:05Speaker 2: So Brooks accepting travel invitations.
- 49:08Speaker 4: Yeah at the very moment.
- 49:10Speaker 1: Yeah, but I spent like a week with my mom,
- 49:13Speaker 1: like where she lives, So just kind of like spending
- 49:16Speaker 1: time with people.
- 49:18Speaker 2: Right now, someone goes to your Instagram page, they see
- 49:21Speaker 2: a CrossFit Games athlete with one point seven million followers.
- 49:26Speaker 2: When you look in the mirror, what is it that
- 49:28Speaker 2: you see looking back at you?
- 49:31Speaker 4: Just like how hard I've worked to get there.
- 49:34Speaker 1: And it's like I don't have followers because I'm any
- 49:36Speaker 1: sort of like influencer or Instagram model. You know, I've
- 49:41Speaker 1: worked really hard in my sport to be successful and
- 49:45Speaker 1: that's where those followers come from.
- 49:47Speaker 4: So yeah, just a lot of dedication.
- 49:50Speaker 3: You see dedication when whenever someone talks me through a
- 49:55Speaker 3: big recovery story like this, I always want to make
- 49:57Speaker 3: sure that we touch on the mental side of things
- 50:01Speaker 3: as well. Were there are moments during your struggle that
- 50:04Speaker 3: you really felt that you needed others to help pick
- 50:08Speaker 3: you up.
- 50:08Speaker 1: I think a lot of this was like very internal,
- 50:11Speaker 1: but I am very thankful to have like family members
- 50:15Speaker 1: and like my manager, like they were always there for anything,
- 50:18Speaker 1: like always there to talk and they definitely encouraged me
- 50:22Speaker 1: when I was feeling down. But ultimately, like just kind
- 50:25Speaker 1: of comes down to you and being like, I mean,
- 50:28Speaker 1: you have to have goals, and you have to have discipline,
- 50:30Speaker 1: and I think honestly, if you set goals before or
- 50:34Speaker 1: like at the beginning of an injury or something like
- 50:37Speaker 1: small goals just to kind of like just to kind
- 50:39Speaker 1: of chip away and get back to where you want
- 50:41Speaker 1: to be is something that can be very helpful. So
- 50:44Speaker 1: you're focused on the way.
- 50:46Speaker 3: It's also understanding that this is a new version of you, right,
- 50:51Speaker 3: Like you can't start that process comparing yourself to everything
- 50:55Speaker 3: that happened before, because you have to meet yourself with
- 50:58Speaker 3: where you're at.
- 51:00Speaker 1: Yeah, that's actually something that I struggled with for a while,
- 51:03Speaker 1: was just kind of like comparing where I was before.
- 51:06Speaker 1: I mean even in the early stages, like I would
- 51:08Speaker 1: be like like seven or eight months back into it,
- 51:12Speaker 1: or I mean after the surgery, I was probably like
- 51:14Speaker 1: a couple months back into training, I was constantly like,
- 51:18Speaker 1: oh wow, I had like thirty pounds more on the
- 51:21Speaker 1: bar like last year, you know, and that's something that's
- 51:24Speaker 1: really tough. But you just kind of have to like
- 51:26Speaker 1: remember what you've gone through and see yourself where you are,
- 51:29Speaker 1: like you said, and not be too hard on yourself
- 51:32Speaker 1: because it will come in time.
- 51:33Speaker 4: It just so you have to be patient.
- 51:35Speaker 3: You posted the instagram right after the games were done.
- 51:38Speaker 3: Fifth Fittest on Earth come back complete. How does that
- 51:43Speaker 3: make you feel?
- 51:44Speaker 1: I mean, I was just so excited to kind of
- 51:46Speaker 1: like the comeback year. It's very rewarding, but it's also
- 51:49Speaker 1: very hard. And even in this off season, I'm kind
- 51:52Speaker 1: of like I forgot how difficult last year was because
- 51:56Speaker 1: my off season was literally spent at the for three
- 52:00Speaker 1: hours every day. So to kind of like just like
- 52:04Speaker 1: have my comeback here over with, like now I can
- 52:07Speaker 1: move on and have a full year to train healthy,
- 52:11Speaker 1: is just so excited and like it makes me really
- 52:13Speaker 1: excited for the future.
- 52:15Speaker 2: We love it all, right, Brooke, final question here.
- 52:18Speaker 3: Right now, you have an opportunity to give yourself a
- 52:21Speaker 3: piece of advice, elbow dislocated, you are unsure of what
- 52:26Speaker 3: happens next. With all the wisdom that you have now
- 52:29Speaker 3: looking back on that hurdle moment, what do you tell yourself.
- 52:34Speaker 1: Just to believe in myself? Like, it doesn't matter what
- 52:36Speaker 1: other people say or if other people have doubts. It
- 52:39Speaker 1: matters like what you tell yourself, Like what kind of
- 52:41Speaker 1: story you're telling yourself. So just to kind of like
- 52:44Speaker 1: stay focused on what I need to do in the moment,
- 52:48Speaker 1: I think that's most important.
- 52:49Speaker 2: I'm so so happy that we were able to finally
- 52:52Speaker 2: make this happen.
- 52:53Speaker 3: Brook How do the hurdlers follow along with you? How
- 52:55Speaker 3: do they keep up with you? Give us your details.
- 52:59Speaker 1: You can follow me on instant It's at brook Wells
- 53:02Speaker 1: with an extra S.
- 53:03Speaker 2: With an extra S.
- 53:05Speaker 3: I am over at Emily a Body and at Hurdle
- 53:07Speaker 3: Podcast Another Hurdle Conquered.
- 53:10Speaker 2: Catch you guys next time.