Latest / Clydesdale Media Podcast / Katrina LaClair - The Athletes of the Legends Masters CrossFit Games

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Katrina LaClair - The Athletes of the Legends Masters CrossFit Games · Clydesdale Media Podcast

0:09
I was born to kill it.
0:15
I was meant to win.
0:16
I am down and willing,
0:17
so I will find a way.
0:19
It took a minute,
0:19
now it didn't have to ride away.
0:21
When it get hot in the kitchen,
0:23
you decide to stay.
0:24
That's how a winner's made.
0:25
Stick a fork in the head of
0:26
my dinner plate.
0:34
What's going on, everybody?
0:35
Welcome to the Clydesdale Media Podcast,
0:38
where we are featuring the
0:39
athletes of the 2024
0:40
Legends Masters CrossFit Games.
0:44
I'm so honored and
0:45
privileged to have with me right now,
0:46
Katrina LeClaire.
0:48
How's it going, Katrina?
0:50
Oh, crap.
0:50
Sorry.
0:50
Hi.
0:52
Off to a raging start.
0:54
Very good.
0:56
It wouldn't be me unless
0:57
something like that happened,
0:58
so it's fine.
1:00
I am the biggest klutz in the world.
1:01
So like when someone else does it,
1:04
I'm like, whoo.
1:05
Yeah.
1:06
No, I feel you.
1:07
I am too.
1:07
It's okay.
1:09
I, for my profession,
1:10
I used to do a lot of
1:12
trainings and presentations.
1:13
I've fallen off stages.
1:15
I have like, so that is,
1:18
that is normally my MO.
1:20
Yeah.
1:20
Well, hopefully you didn't get hurt,
1:21
but you know, I guess it makes for pride.
1:23
Yeah.
1:27
The funniest one ever was I
1:29
was running to work one morning.
1:30
It was super cold.
1:32
Um,
1:32
there were marble steps up to my
1:33
building.
1:34
I tripped over the top step,
1:36
did a full like face plant
1:38
glide immediately hopped up.
1:41
Cause like I'm a dude and I
1:42
don't want anybody to see
1:43
me and look around.
1:45
Nobody's looking.
1:46
I walk in and the security
1:48
guard just watched it all on video.
1:50
Yeah.
1:53
uh of course so yeah that's
1:57
usually me so cool yeah
1:59
well I'm super excited to
2:00
have you on this is your
2:02
second crossfit games yes
2:04
like I went um in 2018 when
2:06
I was 35 that was my first
2:08
time so this will be the
2:09
second round yeah so new
2:12
venue new style new format
2:14
excited about all that
2:16
Yeah, I you know,
2:18
at first I wasn't really
2:19
sure about having us be on
2:20
like our own weekend.
2:21
But I really think it's it's a great idea.
2:27
You know,
2:28
it gives more athletes a chance
2:29
to compete.
2:31
It gives us kind of like our our own,
2:33
you know,
2:34
separate event for for the games.
2:37
And we're not just like
2:39
stuffed in a warehouse somewhere.
2:40
So I'm actually very excited about it.
2:43
Yeah.
2:44
When, when you were there in 18, were,
2:47
were the age group still in the barns?
2:50
They were, I don't,
2:52
we were just in some building.
2:54
Cause it was in Madison.
2:55
Yeah.
2:56
When I went out on the field
2:58
or in the Coliseum, you were in those,
3:00
I think they call them the barns,
3:02
but maybe, you know,
3:03
I don't remember what they call them.
3:04
We were on the field one day we had that.
3:06
It was like a run rope climb.
3:07
You'll carry workout.
3:08
Yeah.
3:10
but oh and the obstacle
3:12
course was that year too
3:14
okay but other than that
3:16
everything was out like in
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that the barn I guess it
3:20
was what they called it
3:21
yeah yeah yeah a lot of
3:23
people don't know this when
3:24
the games aren't in madison
3:26
that's like a agricultural
3:27
center and those they're
3:30
literally where they keep
3:31
the horses and the cows I
3:33
didn't know that either good to know well
3:37
But I think it's way better
3:41
than those years, right?
3:42
Like when you were off there
3:44
going at the same time as
3:45
the elites and nobody was
3:48
coming over because the
3:49
elites were going at the same time.
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And now you have a full live
3:53
stream with the best in the business.
3:56
Sean Woodland's going to be
3:56
calling your name.
3:58
I saw that.
3:58
I'm so excited about that.
4:01
So I think it could turn out
4:03
to be something special.
4:04
Yeah, absolutely.
4:05
Me too.
4:06
Yeah.
4:07
And it's from what I, all people I hear,
4:09
it is a beautiful venue.
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I've, I've never even been to Alabama,
4:14
so it will be a whole new thing for me,
4:16
but yeah,
4:17
definitely looking forward to it.
4:20
So growing up,
4:22
what was your athletic background?
4:25
I was actually a competitive dancer.
4:28
I did like jazz, tap, ballet.
4:31
I did acrobatics, the studio I trained at,
4:33
they were
4:34
way into, into tumbling.
4:36
Um, I'd never,
4:38
never played a sport in my life.
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So I was just at the dance studio,
4:42
you know, eight days a week,
4:43
pretty much training there
4:45
and then compete on some of the weekends.
4:48
That's crazy.
4:48
My,
4:49
my one cohost who's going to be with me
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at the games next week,
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her name's Kat as well.
4:53
Uh, she was a competitive ballet dancer.
4:56
Oh, wow.
4:57
Ballet is intense, man.
4:59
Yeah.
4:59
Yeah.
5:00
And she did that all the way
5:01
through high school and
5:02
then switched over to CrossFit.
5:04
How did you make that
5:05
transition to CrossFit?
5:08
Let's see.
5:09
Well,
5:09
I danced professionally out of high
5:11
school for about 10 or 12 years.
5:17
During that time, I kind of found the gym.
5:19
I mean,
5:19
the first time I ever stepped foot
5:21
in a gym, I was 22 years old.
5:22
I don't mean to interrupt you,
5:23
but what does that look
5:24
like being a professional dancer?
5:26
So I danced on cruise ships.
5:28
I worked at like Bush Gardens, Six Flags.
5:31
I danced with a company out
5:33
in Santa Monica, California.
5:34
Yeah.
5:36
So you just either like
5:38
travel with groups or, you know,
5:40
I danced backup for impersonators.
5:42
I mean, I did the whole bit.
5:45
Was a magician's assistant
5:46
for a little bit.
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So I popped out of boxes, got cut in half,
5:49
did all that.
5:49
Yeah.
5:51
But yeah, during that,
5:53
I never really went to the gym.
5:55
I was always just a dancer
5:56
and then had no clue what I
5:58
was doing and just started
6:00
watching people.
6:02
And back then,
6:04
the internet wasn't really
6:05
all that much of a thing.
6:06
So just kind of taught myself,
6:08
got into figure.
6:09
I did figure competitions.
6:11
And then towards the tail end of that,
6:13
I got offered a job to coach.
6:17
um,
6:18
at CrossFit gym opening up in a
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neighboring town here in Connecticut.
6:22
And I've said, yes,
6:24
I have no clue what CrossFit was,
6:26
you know?
6:26
Um, so I went and took a couple of classes,
6:29
absolutely fell in love with it.
6:30
And then a few weeks later,
6:31
signed up for my L one and
6:33
started coaching and the rest is history.
6:37
So you basically found it as a job.
6:40
Yeah.
6:40
Yeah.
6:41
I was in school for exercise
6:42
science at the time cause I
6:44
wanted to be a personal trainer.
6:46
Um,
6:47
And then just got this
6:50
opportunity and kind of the
6:52
door opened and I walked right through.
6:56
So no, no athletic background you're going,
6:58
but you're in exercise science.
6:59
You get a job as a coach.
7:02
I did.
7:02
When did you start doing the
7:03
workouts before it opened
7:05
or like to dabble or?
7:08
yeah so geez we would just
7:12
work out so there was three
7:14
of us there was the owner
7:15
another another guy that
7:17
was going to be a coach and
7:19
we would do workouts
7:19
together we were opening
7:21
the gym so we had to like
7:23
set everything up put the
7:24
floors down paint you know
7:25
get all of the um the
7:27
equipment in and everything
7:28
so we were doing workouts
7:31
as we were working on the gym
7:34
And after we opened, you know,
7:36
I kind of shadowed for a
7:37
little bit before I started coaching.
7:40
And then in like our off hours,
7:43
we would just train.
7:45
And I think it was I started
7:49
CrossFit in May.
7:50
And then I did I did my
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first competition in August
7:55
of the same year.
7:57
And I just went RX.
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I was like, screw it.
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I don't know.
7:59
You know,
7:59
we're just going to try this thing out,
8:01
you know?
8:01
And it was, it was great.
8:03
It was,
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I actually ended up like making it
8:05
to the finals,
8:07
but I couldn't do a muscle up.
8:08
So I was just like sitting
8:09
there looking at the rings, you know,
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like, well,
8:11
we're just going to swing
8:11
around for a little bit and
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see what happens.
8:17
Have you always been a competitive person?
8:20
Yeah.
8:21
Oh, absolutely.
8:21
Yeah.
8:24
I have two others.
8:25
I mean, I'm not for that.
8:28
Is what?
8:30
Is dance competitive?
8:33
yeah well I mean all through
8:34
grade school I i competed
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so we would do like four or
8:38
five competitions a year
8:40
and there was like regional
8:41
competitions and then in
8:43
the summer time we would do
8:44
nationals where you like go
8:46
to wherever for a week and
8:47
compete there I'm actually
8:49
the former miss acrobat of
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the united states 2021 or
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2001 rather yeah when I was
8:55
18 so I was very competitive always
9:04
That's really cool.
9:05
So, so with all this,
9:08
at some point you go military.
9:10
Yeah,
9:12
that was actually more recent cause
9:14
I'm crazy.
9:15
Um,
9:16
I always wanted to be in the military
9:17
in high school.
9:18
Like I talked to a recruiter
9:20
and I was like,
9:21
I just want to jump out of planes.
9:22
And then I just went a whole
9:24
different direction.
9:25
Um,
9:28
I started CrossFit and
9:29
started training with a bunch of,
9:31
you know, first responders, military.
9:34
There's a lot of those
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people in CrossFit gyms.
9:37
And then when I was 37, I was like,
9:40
you know,
9:40
it's getting time where I'm not
9:42
going to ever be able to do
9:43
this because they have an age limit.
9:46
And so I just walked into a
9:48
recruiter's office,
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talked to him and signed my
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name on the dotted line and went.
9:55
And you went full active or
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were you reserved?
9:57
No, I was just National Guard.
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Because, I mean, I have a whole career.
10:00
So I left for eight months,
10:04
did my training,
10:04
and then came back and did
10:06
my one weekend a month, two weeks a year.
10:08
Yeah.
10:11
Yeah.
10:11
And so rifling back through your Instagram,
10:16
I saw you had an accommodation.
10:17
And on that,
10:19
it said that you were a combat medic,
10:22
right?
10:23
Correct.
10:24
Yeah.
10:24
68 whiskey combat medic.
10:27
So how did,
10:30
how did you get into the
10:32
medical end of this thing
10:34
that doesn't seem to come
10:35
from coaching or dancing?
10:37
Right.
10:37
So, um, let's,
10:41
let's rewind just a little bit.
10:42
So after I got home from the games in 2018,
10:46
um,
10:47
I had started volunteering as a
10:49
firefighter here in town.
10:52
Um,
10:53
I was probably a volunteer
10:54
for a couple of years because, again,
10:56
I did CrossFit with a bunch
10:57
of firefighters, cops, military.
11:00
And they were like,
11:00
you would be really good at this job.
11:02
You would probably really like it.
11:03
You should try it.
11:05
And so I was like, OK.
11:07
And I ended up actually
11:09
loving it and took a few tests and.
11:13
um, when were the games,
11:15
the end of August or
11:16
beginning of August of 2018
11:19
and October 1st,
11:21
I went to the fire Academy
11:24
and was there for four
11:25
months and became a
11:27
firefighter in new Britain, Connecticut.
11:29
Um, and so, you know, we,
11:32
we were first responders as well.
11:34
So we respond to medical calls and, um,
11:37
I guess the transition was
11:39
the easiest thing for me
11:40
with the military because I had already,
11:43
you know, had experience with medical.
11:46
We're just EMR in the fire department.
11:49
And so I had to get my EMT
11:51
with the military, but it was a very,
11:54
you know, smooth transition for me.
11:55
And it just made sense
11:56
because I already had the experience.
11:59
Yeah.
11:59
I had firefighter in my notes,
12:01
but it was hard to piece
12:03
the timeline together.
12:04
Yeah.
12:05
Yeah.
12:06
And it's funny because I've
12:07
talked to other athletes
12:08
who have gone into firefighting.
12:10
Like here in Ohio,
12:12
you have to be an EMT to be
12:13
a firefighter.
12:15
Right.
12:15
I think a lot more
12:16
departments are kind of going that way.
12:18
I know in Florida,
12:20
I'm pretty sure everywhere
12:21
you have to be a paramedic
12:22
even to be a firefighter.
12:24
But in the city that I'm in,
12:27
there's they we have our
12:29
own EMS department.
12:31
So they just ride the
12:32
ambulance and then we're
12:34
first responders.
12:35
So we go on like like a
12:36
priority a like a higher priority call.
12:40
Yeah.
12:40
Mm hmm.
12:43
So you were working out with
12:47
first responders.
12:50
You did the volunteerism
12:51
just as like an exploratory thing,
12:53
and then you found out you loved it.
12:56
Then that became your new career?
12:58
Correct.
12:58
Yeah.
12:59
I was a full-time CrossFit
13:00
coach for years.
13:03
And, um, I don't know.
13:04
I just have this thing where
13:06
like every few years I'm like,
13:07
I need to do something new
13:09
and need to reinvent myself
13:11
and do something different, you know?
13:13
And, um, also looking, you know,
13:16
you got to look about your
13:16
future and retirement and
13:18
all that and benefits and
13:20
getting old is tough.
13:21
So it was just the right move for me.
13:25
You know, I, uh,
13:27
I loved it.
13:28
So why not try it out?
13:30
And it's like the best, best thing I did.
13:32
I love it.
13:33
I mean,
13:34
some of the pictures you have on
13:35
Instagram, like it,
13:36
you can tell that you love your job.
13:38
I do.
13:39
Yeah.
13:40
The culture, the job, helping people.
13:43
I mean, it's fun, you know,
13:46
so it's a good fit for me.
13:48
Have you ever been in like a
13:49
really dangerous spot where
13:52
things got hairy or have
13:53
you been lucky not to get
13:55
to that spot yet?
13:56
No, I haven't.
13:57
Not yet.
13:57
I mean, you know,
13:58
there's always we call it
13:59
risk versus benefit.
14:01
Right.
14:01
So if something is really that bad and
14:05
you know,
14:06
there's nobody's life is at stake.
14:07
Like we're not going to go
14:08
inside of a building that's
14:10
that dangerous unless we
14:12
like have confirmation that
14:15
there could be like,
14:16
say somebody trapped in the building.
14:18
Um, you know, we're not going to,
14:20
cause what good are we if
14:21
we go in and we die, you know,
14:23
no one's going to save the
14:23
other person anyway.
14:24
So you have to make that call.
14:28
Well, I don't, my, my boss makes that call,
14:30
but you know, yeah.
14:32
Yeah,
14:32
I think we're all skewed when those
14:34
dangerous things happen
14:35
every week on Chicago Fire.
14:37
Oh, yeah.
14:38
Please don't.
14:39
Yeah.
14:41
Don't don't place it on the
14:42
TV shows because they're not.
14:45
It's not like that.
14:46
Yeah.
14:46
Yeah.
14:47
Yeah.
14:48
It's the only education I
14:50
have in firefighting.
14:50
So you want the best show to watch?
14:54
I guess it's mostly because
14:55
the culture in the firehouse,
14:56
but the show Rescue Me,
14:57
that's probably the closest
14:58
thing to to the truth that's out there.
15:01
Yeah.
15:01
Yeah.
15:02
Okay.
15:03
And that's a Northeastern
15:05
kind of show anyway, right?
15:07
Yes.
15:09
Yeah.
15:10
Yeah.
15:12
Have you always lived in the Northeast?
15:14
I mean, you said you traveled for dance,
15:16
but is that where you grew up?
15:18
Yeah, it is.
15:19
I grew up in Connecticut.
15:21
Cool.
15:22
I mean,
15:22
I popped around and I lived in
15:24
California for a little bit, in Virginia,
15:26
spent a lot of time in Florida.
15:27
But this is home.
15:32
It's always been a dream of
15:33
mine to get up there,
15:34
especially in the fall.
15:37
Yeah, absolutely.
15:41
So you, then you go into the army,
15:42
you're doing that national guard.
15:46
How do you balance?
15:47
Are you still active duty?
15:49
Did you leave that?
15:50
Nope.
15:51
So I currently I'm,
15:53
I'm what's called inactive reserve.
15:56
Um,
15:56
so I finished my active portion of my
15:59
contract back in February,
16:01
so I no longer have to do
16:03
the one weekend a month,
16:04
two weeks a year.
16:05
I just have to basically sit
16:07
here and wait.
16:08
And like, if shit goes down,
16:10
they can call me in.
16:12
Okay.
16:13
Like at any time for the next, well,
16:17
four and a half years.
16:19
Okay.
16:20
Okay.
16:21
So do you have like the
16:23
typical firefighter
16:24
schedule where you work a couple days,
16:26
then you're off a couple days?
16:28
Yeah.
16:29
So we do 24 hours on and 72 hours off.
16:34
How does that work with your
16:35
training schedule?
16:37
I will make my work days be my rest days.
16:42
Okay.
16:44
I'm sorry.
16:46
And that works well for you?
16:47
It does.
16:48
Yeah.
16:48
I mean, sometimes, you know,
16:50
we run calls all night and I don't sleep,
16:52
but I'll just do my best
16:54
the next day I can in training.
16:57
But it's actually,
17:00
it's very nice because I
17:01
can go to the gym three days in a row,
17:04
you know,
17:04
and then work and then go to gym.
17:06
I mean, I work a lot of overtime,
17:08
but I try to work my
17:09
overtime at night so that I
17:10
can go to the gym during the day.
17:13
But it allows me to train, you know,
17:15
pretty much as much as I want.
17:18
do you have any opportunity
17:19
to train at the firehouse
17:20
or do you just keep that separate?
17:22
Okay.
17:23
Yeah.
17:23
There's a gym there, you know?
17:25
Um, but I,
17:26
I do take my rest days kind of seriously.
17:29
So, you know, I'm not 25 anymore,
17:31
so I need my rest.
17:35
Right.
17:37
You said before we went live
17:38
that you saw Hajj,
17:40
who you are friends with.
17:42
She had a quote in her
17:43
interview about her body
17:46
only has so many reps left.
17:49
And so it's all about like
17:51
intensity over quantity.
17:54
Yeah.
17:55
I mean, you really...
17:57
I mean, I started CrossFit, I was 30.
18:00
So I wasn't that young, you know,
18:02
starting.
18:04
But still, that was 11 years ago.
18:05
And my body does feel different.
18:08
And she's right.
18:08
You know, like the volume,
18:11
sometimes you just have to
18:14
listen to your body.
18:16
And you got to do what's right.
18:18
Because rest and recovery
18:20
just becomes so much more
18:21
important as you age.
18:24
You know, you keep the intensity there,
18:26
but you might not have to
18:28
be at the gym for, you know,
18:29
six hours or whatever, you know?
18:31
Yeah.
18:33
So you work a job where a
18:36
bell goes off and you have to go.
18:39
Correct.
18:40
Right.
18:41
You don't have time to like warm up,
18:44
do all the things.
18:46
How does that differ from your training?
18:48
Do you take the time to do that?
18:50
Or is your body just used to, Hey,
18:53
I'm on the call.
18:54
I got to go.
18:55
Oh, no,
18:56
I I take my warm ups very seriously.
18:59
Like I it's a solid half hour.
19:03
I do like a lot of prehab stuff.
19:04
So a lot of the stuff that
19:06
like my physical therapist wants me to do,
19:08
I just work into like my
19:10
warm ups on my cool downs.
19:13
Because, again,
19:14
I just you got to take care of your body.
19:16
I mean, we beat ourselves up pretty good.
19:18
you know, and I'm not getting any younger.
19:21
So I gotta, I say I like to prime,
19:25
prime myself before, before I work out.
19:28
Yeah.
19:28
Do you do anything in the
19:29
firehouse to stay limber,
19:31
to be ready to go or you just keep to the
19:35
I mean, once in a while, you know,
19:36
like I'll stretch out a
19:37
little bit or whatever, but we do,
19:40
we do sometimes do training
19:41
during the day where we're
19:42
on our feet or like pulling
19:44
lines or throwing ladders
19:45
or whatever it's on the
19:47
schedule for the day, you know?
19:49
So I'm not just like sitting
19:50
around all day.
19:51
I try to,
19:53
to keep on my feet as much as I can.
19:55
Yeah.
19:56
Yeah.
19:58
You're a mayhem athlete.
19:59
I am.
20:00
Yes.
20:01
Why mayhem?
20:03
They actually seeked me out.
20:06
They sent me a message and
20:10
offered me to do their
20:11
programming to see if I liked it.
20:15
And so it was a girl named Kelsey.
20:17
She had messaged me on Instagram.
20:19
And at first I was kind of like,
20:22
this isn't real, you know?
20:24
There's no way they're
20:25
contacting little old me.
20:28
But I tried the programming.
20:32
I loved it.
20:33
I love just the whole idea
20:35
of Mayhem and what they do,
20:39
what they stand for,
20:40
their values on top of everything.
20:45
And having the programming
20:46
be something I really
20:47
enjoyed was just a no-brainer for me.
20:52
And so, you know, I...
20:54
I said, yeah, this is fantastic.
20:56
And so now I work with them.
21:00
They actually invited a
21:01
bunch of us age group
21:04
semifinalists down to
21:06
Tennessee and we did semifinals there.
21:09
Yeah,
21:10
I think I've interviewed almost all
21:12
of you.
21:12
Yeah.
21:14
And so your name has come up
21:16
a lot in these episodes with Brett Owsley,
21:21
Ryan Redkey, Chris Anderson.
21:24
Yeah, a lot.
21:27
You guys are great.
21:30
So they all talked about
21:32
that experience being like
21:34
a really cool thing to get
21:37
to know everybody, to hang out,
21:40
and the push it gave everybody.
21:42
It was awesome.
21:43
Yeah.
21:44
And everybody was just so I don't know.
21:47
They were so cool.
21:48
Everybody was so nice and so
21:50
supportive and worked their butts off.
21:54
You know, it was it was great.
21:56
And it's nice, you know,
21:57
as a competitive athlete to
21:59
have somebody like next to
22:01
you pushing you, you know,
22:03
because I train I pretty
22:04
much train alone up here.
22:07
So being with other people
22:08
was it was like a luxury for me.
22:12
Yeah.
22:12
And they said that what was
22:13
cool is for a lot of the guys,
22:16
they were in the same
22:16
division and really
22:19
competing against each other,
22:20
but they were all helping each other out,
22:24
which I find just awesome environment.
22:28
Yeah.
22:28
It's great.
22:30
The master's division is like that.
22:32
Like I just,
22:33
everybody's so supportive of each other.
22:35
It's really, it's, it's awesome.
22:38
I don't know if you've heard,
22:40
we're doing a
22:40
behind-the-scenes
22:41
documentary at the Masters
22:43
CrossFit Games.
22:43
So Ellie Hiller and myself
22:47
will be backstage chatting
22:49
with everybody as it's all
22:51
going on in the corrals,
22:53
in the warm-up area,
22:55
just getting stories from
22:58
all of that stuff.
23:00
And that's what we want to highlight.
23:01
We want to highlight the
23:02
Masters community and how
23:04
it's a little bit different.
23:06
Yeah.
23:06
That's so cool.
23:08
That's awesome.
23:10
We're also going to have
23:10
videographers out on the floor capturing,
23:13
you know, the highlights of everything,
23:14
put it all together in a
23:16
cool story for you guys to
23:17
have afterwards.
23:19
Yeah, because the old people are cool too,
23:22
you know?
23:24
Yeah.
23:27
It's made me so excited for this,
23:28
interviewing everybody and
23:29
getting to know you all,
23:30
because now I'm super hyped to go.
23:32
And now,
23:34
because I'm getting to know you all,
23:35
I have rooting interests in this
23:37
Yeah,
23:38
you get to meet personalities and get
23:41
to know people.
23:41
Yeah, that's awesome.
23:42
I think what you're doing is great.
23:45
It's fantastic.
23:46
Even for me,
23:47
because then I get to kind of meet people,
23:49
you know?
23:50
Right.
23:51
Yeah.
23:52
So you're the first female
23:53
I've talked to that went to
23:54
that semifinal at Mayhem.
23:55
Were there others there to push you?
23:58
Yes,
24:00
there was a couple teens that were there.
24:04
And then there was Betsy and Shannon.
24:09
They're in an older age group than I am.
24:14
But there was,
24:15
I think there was only the three of us.
24:22
And then the other three girls were teens.
24:24
So it was mostly males that were there.
24:27
But yeah.
24:30
Yeah.
24:30
It just,
24:30
it seemed like it'd be a really
24:32
cool place to hang out for a weekend.
24:34
It was so cool.
24:35
And we got,
24:36
so we had to bring like our own
24:38
judges with us.
24:40
Um,
24:40
so I got to bring one of my really good
24:42
friends with me that I used
24:43
to train with.
24:44
She actually judges at CrossFit a lot,
24:46
Christina Philpert.
24:47
Um, and so, you know,
24:49
I got to spend the weekend
24:50
with her and she doesn't live,
24:52
she lives in Florida,
24:53
so I never get to see her.
24:54
So it was just,
24:56
it was just all around such
24:57
an awesome experience.
24:59
Yeah.
25:00
And what a gym there.
25:01
I mean,
25:02
it's the largest gym I've ever seen
25:04
in my life.
25:05
It's huge.
25:06
And they have every piece of
25:07
equipment there that you can think of.
25:08
I mean,
25:09
and then they have a coffee shop
25:10
right in the front.
25:12
Yeah.
25:14
Yeah.
25:14
It's good coffee too.
25:15
It is.
25:17
So, so here you are, you're going back.
25:19
What are,
25:20
what are your expectations or do
25:22
you have any for the, for the games?
25:25
I just want to go crush a
25:26
couple of workouts.
25:28
Um,
25:30
stay healthy, meet people, have fun.
25:36
And I want to just finish
25:38
all the workouts.
25:40
I took a lot of time off
25:42
from training and now have
25:45
found the time as of last year and
25:51
So I don't even know really
25:53
what I was expecting
25:54
through the whole open process,
25:57
but just kind of kept snowballing.
25:59
And I was like, all right, let's go.
26:02
So take it all in.
26:04
My first year at the games,
26:05
it was kind of like,
26:08
it was a lot, you know?
26:10
Um,
26:10
so I think I want to maybe slow down a
26:13
little bit, take a breath, look around,
26:16
take it all in, you know, because you,
26:20
you earn your spot to go.
26:22
Nobody can do that.
26:23
But you,
26:23
you have to put in the work and
26:25
you have to make it.
26:27
So it's, it feels good.
26:30
From looking at your stuff,
26:32
my assumption would be that
26:33
you love a barbell.
26:36
I do.
26:36
I like barbell.
26:38
Um, I love anything walking on my hands,
26:41
handstand pushups.
26:44
I do.
26:44
Yeah.
26:46
Running is no running, please.
26:52
You'd like a nice couplet of
26:53
handstand walk and a heavy barbell.
26:55
Yeah, let's go.
26:56
Let's do some hang power
26:57
cleans and handstand walks.
26:59
Maybe some rope climbs.
27:01
I'm in.
27:01
Yeah.
27:03
I also noticed you just
27:05
started working with CBG.
27:08
I did, yes.
27:10
My coach is Amanda Jeffries.
27:11
She's awesome.
27:13
I love them.
27:14
She's actually going to be
27:15
at the games this weekend,
27:17
so she's out there doing that.
27:19
But fantastic company, great people.
27:22
I mean,
27:23
I can't say enough good things
27:25
about them.
27:26
A concerted effort to dial
27:27
it in before the games?
27:29
Yes.
27:30
Yeah.
27:30
Yeah.
27:31
Yeah.
27:32
if I'm going to do it,
27:33
I'm going to go all in, you know,
27:35
I might as well.
27:36
And it holds me accountable.
27:37
And it's, I mean, I, it's like, they don't,
27:41
you know,
27:42
they say they don't measure macros.
27:43
I don't measure anything.
27:44
I just look at my plate and
27:45
make sure it's the right thing.
27:46
And it's just so much easier than,
27:50
you know, what I've done in the past.
27:52
Yeah.
27:54
You said you just kind of
27:55
found training back again.
27:56
I'm assuming with your busy life,
27:59
that's been tough.
28:00
Um,
28:02
plans to keep going forward
28:03
now that you've had the
28:04
success this year and, and,
28:07
and see what you can do
28:08
with like a couple of years of,
28:10
of full on training.
28:12
Yeah, that's the plan.
28:13
Yeah.
28:14
I just,
28:14
I wanted to get comfortable in my career,
28:18
um, kind of get myself settled, um,
28:22
know what I'm doing, you know,
28:24
focus on that.
28:26
And then I joined the army.
28:29
So I really,
28:30
I didn't do any CrossFit for
28:31
like eight months.
28:33
Um, so when I came home, I had to,
28:36
you know,
28:36
really kind of work hard to get
28:38
back to where I was.
28:39
But, um,
28:40
now that that's kind of opened up
28:44
and I'm really set in my schedule and,
28:47
and all that, it's,
28:48
I want to kind of hit it hard again.
28:50
Yeah.
28:52
You taking anybody with you to the games?
28:55
I'm my massage therapist, Jessa English.
28:58
She's coming with me.
28:58
She's staying in the house with me.
29:00
So that's, I mean,
29:02
she's a good friend of mine too.
29:03
So we'll have a great time.
29:06
Yeah.
29:07
Any other family friends
29:08
able to go or just going to watch,
29:10
watch on the stream, wait for your name.
29:13
Yeah.
29:14
Yeah.
29:14
It's hard for people to travel that far,
29:16
you know,
29:17
and take work off and everything.
29:18
So that's fine.
29:19
They can see me on YouTube
29:21
or wherever it's going to be.
29:23
Yeah, it's funny.
29:23
I've talked to a couple
29:24
athletes who live fairly
29:25
close and they're taking
29:27
like hordes of people.
29:29
That's awesome.
29:29
Fill the stands up for us.
29:32
That's what, that's what I'm hoping for.
29:34
Cause I really,
29:35
I hope it's a low barrier
29:37
of entry to come watch you guys perform.
29:39
Right.
29:40
Way cheaper than going to the games.
29:42
Yeah.
29:43
You guys are still phenomenal athletes and,
29:47
and still competitive even
29:48
against the elites.
29:49
I've seen some of scores
29:51
that would stack up against
29:53
the elite athletes going to the games.
29:55
Yeah.
29:55
There's, I mean,
29:56
these athletes are incredible.
29:58
They really are.
29:59
Yeah.
30:00
Yeah.
30:00
We want to fill those stands
30:01
and get as many eyeballs on
30:03
the YouTube as physically possible.
30:05
Yes.
30:06
Yeah.
30:06
The more, the better for us.
30:08
Yeah.
30:09
Yeah.
30:10
Well, Katrina, this has been a blast.
30:12
You are a fascinating woman
30:14
with so many cool details.
30:17
I can't wait to meet you in
30:18
person down there and get
30:20
to chat with you back
30:21
backstage and let you be a
30:23
part of this cool documentary.
30:26
Yeah, thank you for this opportunity.
30:28
This is great.
30:28
What you're doing makes me very happy.
30:31
It's awesome.
30:32
Thank you.
30:33
Well, thank you so much.
30:34
Have a great rest of your Sunday.
30:36
And it was so fun meeting you.
30:38
To the audience,
30:39
thank you so much for being here.
30:41
We'll see everybody next
30:42
time on the Clydesdale Media Podcast.
30:45
Bye, guys.