Latest / Clydesdale Media Podcast / Makenna Enslin | The Clydesdale Media Semifinalist Series

Transcript

Makenna Enslin | The Clydesdale Media Semifinalist Series · Clydesdale Media Podcast

• 0:11
  I was born to kill it.
• 0:13
  I was meant to win.
• 0:15
  I am down and willing so I
• 0:16
  will find a way.
• 0:17
  It took a minute and I
• 0:18
  didn't have to ride away.
• 0:20
  When it get hot in the kitchen,
• 0:21
  you decide to stay.
• 0:22
  That's how a winner's made.
• 0:32
  what is going on everybody
• 0:34
  welcome to the Clydesdale
• 0:36
  media podcast where we're
• 0:37
  featuring the athletes of
• 0:38
  the 2024 CrossFit Games
• 0:40
  semifinals and I'm so
• 0:42
  excited to have McKenna
• 0:43
  Enslin with me today how
• 0:45
  you doing I'm good I'm
• 0:47
  excited to be here how are
• 0:48
  you yeah it a day doesn't
• 0:50
  start right unless you
• 0:51
  start with technical issues
• 0:53
  absolutely nothing better
• 0:56
  problem solving right off
• 0:57
  the get-go it gets the mind
• 0:59
  right for the day and then
• 1:01
  and you're good to go
• 1:02
  nothing else can stand in
• 1:03
  your way so I'm excited to
• 1:06
  have you back
• 1:07
  congratulations second year
• 1:09
  in a row you are a
• 1:10
  semi-finalist yes crazy to
• 1:13
  think but thank you uh
• 1:15
  overall thoughts on going back to semis
• 1:19
  I am just so excited.
• 1:23
  Last year was just a big bonus.
• 1:27
  Qualifying to begin with was just awesome.
• 1:31
  But as soon as the season was over,
• 1:33
  I just knew I wanted to go back again.
• 1:35
  So as soon as semis was over last year,
• 1:38
  I was already thinking
• 1:38
  ahead to this season and just how...
• 1:42
  how good can we make this season?
• 1:44
  Um, so, you know,
• 1:46
  seeing all the workouts so
• 1:47
  well in advance and
• 1:48
  watching Europe and Asia go this weekend,
• 1:51
  just all excitement.
• 1:54
  So let's rewind to 2023.
• 1:57
  You had a massively big year.
• 2:02
  You make semifinals for the
• 2:03
  first time you graduate from PT school.
• 2:07
  Yep.
• 2:08
  And you get engaged.
• 2:10
  Yes.
• 2:11
  Just do everything all in one year.
• 2:13
  And I also bought a house too.
• 2:15
  So we just did all the life things.
• 2:18
  How, how do you top 2023?
• 2:23
  Um, I really don't think you can, um,
• 2:28
  did it all in one year,
• 2:29
  got it out of the way now.
• 2:30
  Right.
• 2:31
  Yeah.
• 2:31
  Um, no, I, 2023 was a big year,
• 2:34
  a lot of milestones.
• 2:36
  Um, but, uh, you know,
• 2:39
  just trying to still continue to ride.
• 2:42
  that high and keep climbing.
• 2:44
  Life looks a lot differently
• 2:46
  this year than it did last year.
• 2:47
  So now I'm in the working field.
• 2:52
  So I get to put my degree to use, which,
• 2:55
  you know,
• 2:55
  different schedule and
• 2:56
  everything like that.
• 2:58
  But the I'd say like the
• 3:00
  next big milestone is to
• 3:02
  just try to get as good of
• 3:04
  a placement at semis as possible.
• 3:07
  Yeah, we'll see what happens.
• 3:09
  we'll talk about that in a
• 3:09
  minute so you are a dpt a
• 3:12
  doctor physical therapy as
• 3:15
  an as a an athlete who
• 3:18
  pushes their body to the
• 3:19
  limit I've talked to like
• 3:22
  amanda barnhart and other
• 3:24
  pts in the space and they
• 3:27
  described to me that
• 3:29
  there's an there's a pt on
• 3:31
  one shoulder and an athlete
• 3:33
  on the other and they are never in sync
• 3:38
  No, or,
• 3:39
  or it's very rare that they are in sync.
• 3:41
  Um, and it's, it's, uh,
• 3:44
  it's really difficult to
• 3:46
  try to listen to the advice
• 3:49
  that you give other people.
• 3:50
  Um,
• 3:51
  so I've been doing better about that
• 3:54
  last couple months,
• 3:55
  trying to take recovery as
• 3:57
  seriously as training.
• 3:59
  Um,
• 4:00
  and it's also kind of a curse to know
• 4:03
  what's going on with your body.
• 4:05
  Like say you did feel like
• 4:06
  an ache or a pain,
• 4:07
  like you pretty much know
• 4:09
  exactly what is wrong.
• 4:12
  Like as soon as you feel it, um, which is,
• 4:15
  you know,
• 4:15
  can be a good thing or it can be, uh,
• 4:18
  you know, a scary thing.
• 4:20
  But especially the last few months,
• 4:22
  like with prepping for semis,
• 4:25
  really trying to take my
• 4:26
  own advice and prioritize
• 4:28
  recovery and soft tissue
• 4:29
  work and all the things
• 4:31
  that keep the body going
• 4:33
  and keep it healthy.
• 4:35
  I think it was Mathilde
• 4:36
  Garnes who said to me,
• 4:38
  and she's a PT as well in Europe,
• 4:41
  that during training,
• 4:42
  you listen to the PT.
• 4:44
  The closer you get to competition,
• 4:46
  you tell them to shut up.
• 4:47
  That's so good.
• 4:49
  I love that.
• 4:53
  So you take,
• 4:55
  is that the advice you're
• 4:55
  taking this year?
• 4:57
  Now that you're getting
• 4:58
  really close to like, because in online,
• 5:01
  the semifinals are like
• 5:02
  your Super Bowl this year, right?
• 5:05
  That was the goal for this
• 5:07
  year is to really peak for semis, yeah.
• 5:10
  And so the closer you're
• 5:10
  getting to that goal,
• 5:12
  the less you're listening
• 5:13
  to the PT in your head.
• 5:16
  I'm trying to, I'm trying to,
• 5:20
  but I could see,
• 5:21
  I could see it sort of
• 5:23
  dwindling away as it comes closer,
• 5:25
  you know,
• 5:27
  but still trying to keep that
• 5:29
  recovery protocol as
• 5:30
  consistent as possible.
• 5:31
  I think we'll just keep it
• 5:34
  as healthy as possible.
• 5:37
  So last year you talked to my partner,
• 5:39
  Kat.
• 5:41
  And so this is the first
• 5:43
  time I've got a chance to talk to you.
• 5:44
  Yeah.
• 5:46
  Tell me what kind of an athlete you are.
• 5:50
  I'm definitely a more powerhouse athlete.
• 5:56
  Machines are my friend.
• 5:57
  I love the rower.
• 5:58
  I love a barbell.
• 6:02
  So anything, the heavier, the better.
• 6:07
  I really like being upside down,
• 6:09
  kicking up into handstand walk,
• 6:10
  handstand pushups, all that's really fun.
• 6:15
  And still trying to work on
• 6:18
  some pulling gymnastics.
• 6:20
  So that's been a really big
• 6:22
  focus this year and trying
• 6:25
  to fall in love with
• 6:27
  running because running is
• 6:29
  the sport of CrossFit and
• 6:30
  it's really becoming bigger
• 6:32
  and bigger every single
• 6:33
  year as we're seeing
• 6:35
  this year.
• 6:36
  Um, and, uh,
• 6:38
  just trying to really hammer
• 6:42
  that and get that to be on
• 6:44
  par with my level of machines.
• 6:45
  But yeah, in general,
• 6:47
  just anything that you
• 6:49
  could think of that's like
• 6:50
  power output is going to be my jam.
• 6:54
  So isn't it fascinating when
• 6:55
  you look at the workouts of semifinals,
• 6:58
  there's a lot for you to
• 6:59
  like in these workouts.
• 7:01
  There is.
• 7:02
  Yeah.
• 7:03
  couple echo bikes there's a
• 7:04
  row there's some heavy
• 7:06
  barbells yep there's some
• 7:08
  moderately heavy cycling
• 7:10
  and then on the flip side
• 7:12
  there's also things that
• 7:13
  you said you you're not a
• 7:14
  big fan of like running um
• 7:17
  upper body pulling with
• 7:18
  muscle ups and rope climbs
• 7:20
  um so so it's a little bit
• 7:26
  different than last year
• 7:27
  right last year was a lot
• 7:28
  of like new movements and
• 7:29
  things nobody saw and some
• 7:31
  unknown things like the sled and
• 7:33
  This year it's all classic CrossFit,
• 7:36
  and either you're good at
• 7:37
  it or you're not.
• 7:41
  So what is your plan going into semis?
• 7:45
  I would say it's going to
• 7:48
  depend on the workout,
• 7:49
  but there's going to be instances where –
• 7:52
  I'm going to be racing
• 7:54
  against the field and I'm
• 7:55
  going to want to place as
• 7:57
  best as I can relative to everyone.
• 8:00
  And I'm going to be racing
• 8:01
  whoever is out there next to me.
• 8:04
  But there's also going to be
• 8:06
  events where I'm going to
• 8:08
  have to just focus on
• 8:09
  myself and race against myself.
• 8:12
  um seven rounds of like two
• 8:16
  legless rope climbs for me
• 8:18
  is gonna that's gonna be a
• 8:19
  me versus me um there's no
• 8:21
  sense in me trying to raise
• 8:23
  someone if I'm gonna just
• 8:25
  fail on the rope um but
• 8:28
  This year,
• 8:29
  I get that opportunity to really
• 8:32
  try to race and show my strengths.
• 8:35
  I feel like last year,
• 8:36
  almost every workout had a
• 8:38
  component to it that just
• 8:39
  kind of stopped me dead in my tracks.
• 8:41
  Like you said, with the sled,
• 8:43
  seated legless rope climbs,
• 8:44
  doing muscles with a rock,
• 8:45
  that was all just very new
• 8:48
  movements that if you couldn't do them,
• 8:50
  you were done for the workout.
• 8:54
  So super happy I get the
• 8:56
  opportunity to showcase the
• 8:58
  fitness aspect and some
• 9:00
  more classic CrossFit stuff.
• 9:03
  Yeah.
• 9:03
  Like there's muscle ups,
• 9:04
  but at least you're not
• 9:07
  weighted down with a big, heavy backpack.
• 9:09
  Exactly.
• 9:10
  They'll be feeling so light
• 9:12
  compared to us.
• 9:13
  There's legless rope climbs,
• 9:14
  but you're not starting
• 9:15
  from a seated position.
• 9:16
  Correct.
• 9:17
  Right.
• 9:17
  Like, so you can actually jump.
• 9:19
  Are you a taller athlete?
• 9:21
  I'm five foot six.
• 9:22
  So I'd say I'm taller than average,
• 9:23
  but not super tall.
• 9:26
  Yeah.
• 9:26
  And most people that are
• 9:27
  good on the machines have a
• 9:28
  little bit taller than the field.
• 9:31
  Yep.
• 9:32
  So,
• 9:33
  but not too tall that your range of
• 9:34
  motion suffers too much.
• 9:35
  So it sounds like you're
• 9:36
  like the perfect height.
• 9:39
  I mean, sure.
• 9:40
  I'll go with that.
• 9:41
  All right.
• 9:43
  So from the sounds of it and
• 9:46
  what you told me,
• 9:47
  that row handstand walk
• 9:49
  sounds like something
• 9:50
  you're going to really enjoy.
• 9:53
  I'm really excited to try my best on that.
• 9:58
  Yeah.
• 9:59
  Yeah.
• 10:00
  We're going to push that pretty hard.
• 10:02
  See what happens.
• 10:04
  Europe went this weekend.
• 10:07
  They showed some of the
• 10:08
  monitors on what the ladies
• 10:09
  were holding on the row.
• 10:12
  Did that make you sick to
• 10:13
  your stomach or did it make you excited?
• 10:15
  I was so excited.
• 10:18
  Just gave me a target to
• 10:19
  reach for and to show that
• 10:21
  it is possible to kind of
• 10:24
  go there and then kick up
• 10:26
  and run on your hands.
• 10:29
  Yeah.
• 10:30
  Yeah.
• 10:30
  It's it.
• 10:32
  I, I, my jaw hit the floor.
• 10:34
  Yeah.
• 10:34
  Like I can put some power into a row,
• 10:37
  but what they were holding was insane.
• 10:40
  Yeah.
• 10:40
  And then to have no
• 10:41
  transition time and be upside down,
• 10:44
  which you can't breathe during,
• 10:46
  it was unbelievable.
• 10:48
  That was so impressive.
• 10:50
  Yeah.
• 10:51
  So you train with Paige Semenza.
• 10:55
  Last year in your conversation with Kat,
• 10:58
  you talked about how
• 11:00
  because of your schedule
• 11:01
  with clinicals and stuff like that,
• 11:03
  that you only could really
• 11:05
  get together on weekends.
• 11:08
  I just talked to Paige a week ago,
• 11:10
  maybe a couple days ago.
• 11:11
  Gosh,
• 11:12
  it's all a blur when you're doing all
• 11:13
  these.
• 11:15
  And she said that she's
• 11:16
  changed her schedule so
• 11:18
  that you guys can actually
• 11:19
  train together more often.
• 11:21
  How has that changed your
• 11:23
  game this season?
• 11:27
  Honestly,
• 11:27
  it's been the probably one of the
• 11:30
  biggest game changers for me this season.
• 11:35
  I've been around Paige for a
• 11:37
  long time and just have
• 11:40
  seen her and watched her
• 11:41
  grow into the veteran
• 11:43
  athlete that she is.
• 11:44
  And to me, she's a role model.
• 11:48
  It's what I want to become.
• 11:49
  It's where I want to be.
• 11:51
  And to see that every single
• 11:54
  day of what I need to do in
• 11:56
  order to get to where I
• 11:58
  want to be is amazing.
• 12:00
  it's just super beneficial
• 12:03
  to me in my everyday training.
• 12:05
  And you know, every day in training,
• 12:08
  you're not going to be your
• 12:10
  a hundred percent best.
• 12:12
  And it's the same with her.
• 12:13
  Like she's going to have
• 12:14
  days where she's not her a
• 12:15
  hundred percent best, but
• 12:17
  The idea is that maybe one
• 12:19
  of us show up and we kind
• 12:20
  of pull the other one along and say, okay,
• 12:23
  like, let's do this now.
• 12:24
  Let's warm up really well.
• 12:26
  Oh, this piece didn't go well.
• 12:28
  Well, we'll,
• 12:28
  we'll try again in the next piece.
• 12:31
  And it's just really nice to
• 12:33
  have that person to race
• 12:35
  against every single day.
• 12:37
  Like she's going to have her
• 12:38
  workouts where she's going
• 12:40
  to be well ahead of me,
• 12:42
  but I'm going to be chasing
• 12:43
  her and then kind of same thing.
• 12:45
  The other way,
• 12:45
  and then there's going to be
• 12:46
  workouts where we're kind
• 12:47
  of neck and neck.
• 12:48
  And then it's just like a
• 12:49
  little bit of a reach that
• 12:50
  you wouldn't have if you
• 12:51
  were just training by yourself.
• 12:54
  You're not really in your head too much.
• 12:57
  You just kind of have that
• 12:58
  person that distracts you,
• 13:00
  that external factor of, okay, well,
• 13:03
  if they're doing it,
• 13:04
  then I can do it too.
• 13:05
  I can do another rep if she
• 13:06
  can do another rep.
• 13:08
  And then she's just such a
• 13:10
  great friend and person
• 13:12
  like in general and so fun
• 13:13
  to be around with.
• 13:14
  So you spend so much hours in the gym.
• 13:17
  Why not have some good
• 13:18
  company there with you too?
• 13:20
  Yeah.
• 13:21
  And she is like the epitome
• 13:23
  of consistency.
• 13:25
  Oh, yeah.
• 13:27
  And then what blows me away
• 13:29
  is she's consistent.
• 13:30
  She's consistent.
• 13:31
  And if there's a time where
• 13:33
  they're going to show off athleticism,
• 13:35
  you can tell that she's
• 13:37
  been an athlete her whole life.
• 13:38
  Oh, absolutely.
• 13:39
  When it rogue,
• 13:40
  when she's just diving up
• 13:42
  over under those logs and
• 13:44
  just like sprinting down the field,
• 13:46
  like you don't,
• 13:47
  you don't just get that
• 13:49
  from training CrossFit.
• 13:50
  Like she's evidently like
• 13:53
  has been an athlete her
• 13:54
  whole life and it shows.
• 13:56
  Yeah,
• 13:56
  and it's cool when you see those
• 13:58
  athletes like Danny Spiegel
• 14:00
  and her and Carolyn Prevost
• 14:02
  that did other sports.
• 14:05
  You know,
• 14:05
  Danny Spiegel doing the softball
• 14:06
  slide under the logs and Paige, like,
• 14:09
  my gosh,
• 14:10
  the way she went over top that
• 14:11
  log gave me goosebumps.
• 14:13
  Oh, yeah.
• 14:15
  So awesome.
• 14:18
  So it's cool that you guys
• 14:19
  have found each other's
• 14:21
  training partners and it's
• 14:22
  a good mix for you, both of you.
• 14:26
  How does Taylor Swift factor
• 14:28
  into all this?
• 14:30
  Taylor Swift is the third person,
• 14:32
  just always there looming in the corner.
• 14:34
  Yeah, no,
• 14:37
  it's sometimes the gym music can
• 14:40
  be a little bit too much
• 14:41
  and too much of a heart rate spike.
• 14:44
  So Taylor Swift is what we
• 14:46
  put on when we need to be
• 14:47
  calm and need to relax.
• 14:50
  Like if there's a legless
• 14:51
  rope climb workout,
• 14:52
  then Taylor Swift gets put on.
• 14:54
  She gets put on during skill pieces,
• 14:56
  sometimes during lifting, you know,
• 14:59
  she's just always kind of there.
• 15:00
  So I'll be curious to see
• 15:01
  what our Spotify wrapped
• 15:02
  looks like for the year.
• 15:05
  So you seem to get excited.
• 15:08
  Like when she drops a new album,
• 15:09
  I went back to your
• 15:10
  Instagram and researching this.
• 15:13
  Uh,
• 15:13
  are you a big fan outside the gym of
• 15:15
  Taylor Swift?
• 15:16
  Oh yeah.
• 15:17
  Um,
• 15:18
  it's pretty much all I listened to
• 15:20
  outside of the gym.
• 15:22
  Um,
• 15:23
  You can call me a Swifty.
• 15:26
  Okay.
• 15:27
  Okay.
• 15:28
  I have a new album.
• 15:31
  I have not.
• 15:32
  Okay.
• 15:32
  But I did,
• 15:33
  we did my wife and I watched the
• 15:34
  heiress tour on Disney.
• 15:36
  We actually saw her in
• 15:37
  concert with my daughter.
• 15:42
  don't remember which one at
• 15:43
  the 1989 tour is that right
• 15:44
  okay nice yeah nice um and
• 15:48
  it was blew me away for
• 15:50
  show like after you see her
• 15:52
  live in concert if you're
• 15:53
  not a fan of hers you you
• 15:55
  don't have a heartbeat
• 15:56
  Right.
• 15:57
  Well,
• 15:57
  and that's kind of how like Paige was
• 15:59
  like, I,
• 15:59
  I took her to see the heirs tour
• 16:01
  movie in the theaters.
• 16:03
  And like, she was just like, okay.
• 16:05
  Like she wasn't a Taylor
• 16:06
  Swift fan at the time.
• 16:07
  And then she left and she was like,
• 16:09
  Oh my God, she's awesome.
• 16:11
  She's such a performer.
• 16:12
  I'm like, see.
• 16:13
  Yeah.
• 16:16
  It was amazing.
• 16:17
  It's really funny.
• 16:18
  Cause I,
• 16:18
  the only reason I saw her in
• 16:19
  concert was because of CrossFit.
• 16:22
  I went to the gym on a
• 16:23
  Friday afternoon and,
• 16:25
  A guy pulled up and said, hey,
• 16:27
  I have eight tickets to see
• 16:28
  Taylor Swift tonight and my
• 16:30
  family is sick.
• 16:32
  And I know you have a little girl.
• 16:34
  I wanted to gift these to
• 16:35
  you so you can take her.
• 16:39
  Wow.
• 16:40
  My co-host Charlie and I.
• 16:42
  both were like, Oh my gosh, we took,
• 16:44
  and we grabbed our kids, drove,
• 16:46
  we drove home,
• 16:48
  got dressed really quick
• 16:49
  and then drove downtown and
• 16:50
  started that night.
• 16:51
  So it was,
• 16:52
  it wasn't even in the plans or anything.
• 16:53
  It just happened because of
• 16:55
  a friend at CrossFit.
• 16:56
  Wow.
• 16:58
  Sounds like destiny.
• 16:59
  Yeah.
• 16:59
  That's really cool.
• 17:02
  So, so you've seen Europe do it.
• 17:06
  Does that make you nervous or,
• 17:07
  or are you now more excited
• 17:09
  for your weekend?
• 17:11
  I think that it's easy to
• 17:16
  confuse excitement and nerves.
• 17:20
  Nice point.
• 17:21
  Yeah.
• 17:22
  So if you have a negative
• 17:26
  connotation behind the
• 17:27
  feelings that you get when
• 17:29
  you see competition,
• 17:32
  you call it nerves and you
• 17:33
  make it a bad thing.
• 17:36
  Um, but when you kind of take a look back,
• 17:39
  excitement and nerves are
• 17:41
  sort of the same nervous system response.
• 17:44
  Um,
• 17:46
  so I think if there were any moments of
• 17:50
  nerves,
• 17:51
  reframing them into excitement is
• 17:54
  the way to go.
• 17:55
  Um,
• 17:55
  so I'd say overall after watching just
• 17:58
  makes me more excited.
• 18:00
  Very cool.
• 18:03
  So I, have you tested the workouts?
• 18:06
  Yes, we did.
• 18:09
  So I was talking to care.
• 18:11
  So Carolyn Prevo is,
• 18:12
  is my cohost on my Sunday
• 18:14
  night show and she tested
• 18:16
  workouts and she says she
• 18:18
  needs to get mad at herself before semis.
• 18:22
  And so she like will test
• 18:24
  the workout knowing she's
• 18:25
  not giving a hundred percent and,
• 18:27
  you know, getting through them.
• 18:29
  And then she'll watch Europe and go, man,
• 18:32
  I suck.
• 18:33
  I need to get better.
• 18:34
  I need to.
• 18:35
  Right.
• 18:36
  And that's the motivation
• 18:37
  she needs to like pick it
• 18:39
  up to the next level.
• 18:41
  Do you have any tricks like that?
• 18:42
  Or you just more,
• 18:44
  it sounds like you're very
• 18:47
  cerebral about how you approach things.
• 18:49
  Yeah.
• 18:50
  Yeah,
• 18:51
  I think you have to go into testing
• 18:53
  knowing that it's not going
• 18:54
  to be what you do.
• 18:56
  And I think testing was a
• 18:58
  really good opportunity to
• 18:59
  sort of take a risk and see what happens.
• 19:03
  Start out faster than you
• 19:05
  want to and see what happens.
• 19:07
  And if you crash and burn,
• 19:08
  then you're at your home
• 19:11
  gym and there's no stakes.
• 19:13
  And then you know for next time.
• 19:17
  But if you go in and you
• 19:19
  crash and burn and you're like, oh,
• 19:20
  my God, I'm going to take last place.
• 19:22
  And this is what's going to
• 19:23
  happen on the floor.
• 19:24
  Like,
• 19:24
  that's just not going to help you
• 19:27
  whatsoever.
• 19:28
  So I think just from a mindset standpoint,
• 19:31
  just kind of like what Carolyn did,
• 19:33
  just reframing herself, knowing like, hey,
• 19:35
  this is just practice.
• 19:38
  know go slower or go faster
• 19:40
  and see what happens um
• 19:42
  knowing that when you go
• 19:43
  out on that competition
• 19:44
  floor you're going to be a
• 19:44
  little bit smarter you're
• 19:45
  going to have that
• 19:46
  experience and know what it
• 19:47
  feels like and what pace is
• 19:49
  smart to hold and what's
• 19:50
  not smart to hold when it's
• 19:51
  good to push and when it's
• 19:52
  not um and then also
• 19:54
  watching the previous
• 19:56
  semifinals um seeing what
• 19:58
  they do and say hey like I
• 20:00
  can probably push here and
• 20:01
  then recover a little bit
• 20:02
  there like I know my strengths
• 20:05
  So, yeah,
• 20:06
  I just think getting that a
• 20:07
  little bit of experience
• 20:08
  under there and just being
• 20:10
  a little bit realistic of
• 20:12
  what you're going to do out
• 20:13
  on the competition floor is
• 20:14
  super beneficial.
• 20:15
  Do you videotape your testing?
• 20:19
  I think I did for one
• 20:21
  workout to send to my coach.
• 20:24
  But other than that, no.
• 20:27
  Okay.
• 20:28
  Because I've also heard
• 20:29
  where like seeing how you
• 20:31
  react in that when you're
• 20:34
  looking at a video of your test,
• 20:36
  if you like bend over and
• 20:37
  your hands are on your knees,
• 20:39
  like you cannot do that there.
• 20:41
  Yeah.
• 20:42
  You know,
• 20:42
  you can actually like analyze it
• 20:44
  yourself.
• 20:46
  Right.
• 20:46
  And like watching for body
• 20:47
  language and like chalk breaks and stuff.
• 20:50
  Yeah.
• 20:52
  So with that, why Misfit Athletics?
• 21:00
  I, I think that misfit just works.
• 21:05
  I don't know how else to describe it.
• 21:08
  If there's just something about how, um,
• 21:13
  how balanced their programming is,
• 21:15
  everything has a rhyme or reason to it.
• 21:17
  They hit every single energy system,
• 21:20
  every domain of time, um,
• 21:23
  every feel of a workout.
• 21:25
  Like there is, you know,
• 21:27
  exactly what every workout
• 21:28
  is testing for.
• 21:30
  They list that every single day.
• 21:32
  Um,
• 21:34
  the progressions are just so consistent
• 21:38
  and there's, you know,
• 21:39
  priorities every single phase.
• 21:41
  Um, and,
• 21:43
  but the volume is super doable.
• 21:45
  Like it's just the,
• 21:47
  the program itself just works.
• 21:49
  I don't know how else to describe it.
• 21:51
  Um,
• 21:52
  all I know is that when I switched over,
• 21:55
  um, I switched in November of 22.
• 21:59
  Um,
• 22:00
  so prior to like the season starting
• 22:02
  for 23, um, it rocket,
• 22:06
  it like rocket shouldn't be
• 22:07
  up the leaderboard.
• 22:08
  Um,
• 22:09
  so they have a really special program
• 22:12
  there.
• 22:12
  Um, and it's just, it's just so,
• 22:16
  so powerful.
• 22:22
  One of the other things I
• 22:23
  love about them is that
• 22:26
  every year they make a
• 22:27
  shirt to help support their athletes.
• 22:30
  And they all look,
• 22:32
  they all have the same look,
• 22:32
  but different colors, different names.
• 22:35
  Yep.
• 22:35
  And so their logo this year,
• 22:38
  I'm going to share my screen here,
• 22:42
  is this really cool snake around the 24.
• 22:46
  Yes.
• 22:47
  And it's so cool.
• 22:49
  Mm-hmm.
• 22:50
  I love that they do that for their,
• 22:52
  their stable of athletes.
• 22:54
  Why is yours black?
• 22:58
  So, um, with the snake, um,
• 23:03
  a Swifties will know that
• 23:05
  that is a little nod to the
• 23:07
  reputation era.
• 23:09
  Um,
• 23:10
  so the album cover of reputation is
• 23:14
  black and white and
• 23:17
  it just it just hit me I'm
• 23:20
  like that's it like this is
• 23:22
  like reputation's what I
• 23:23
  listen to when I get pumped
• 23:25
  up for a competition like
• 23:27
  this is my year to attack
• 23:29
  and I just thought that
• 23:30
  black just made the
• 23:32
  statement and just kind of
• 23:34
  encompassed my whole season
• 23:36
  yeah and it looks great man it pops
• 23:39
  Yeah.
• 23:41
  When Drew sent me the mock-up of it,
• 23:44
  I literally got chills.
• 23:45
  I'm like, oh my God, this is happening.
• 23:49
  So are you going to be
• 23:50
  wearing that on the competition floor?
• 23:52
  Yeah.
• 23:52
  I don't know what event.
• 23:54
  I feel like I really got to
• 23:55
  make it count for whatever
• 23:56
  event I wear it for.
• 23:59
  Yeah.
• 24:01
  Mark Moss asks,
• 24:02
  have you tried other
• 24:03
  programs other than Misfits?
• 24:06
  I did follow one program
• 24:08
  prior to Misfit for about
• 24:11
  two years when I first
• 24:16
  decided that I wanted to start competing.
• 24:20
  And it was good.
• 24:23
  My leaderboard placement
• 24:25
  doesn't really show that I
• 24:27
  was putting as many eggs
• 24:29
  into the basket as I was.
• 24:31
  But I definitely saw the
• 24:32
  biggest change when I switched to Misfit.
• 24:36
  You and Paige both go to CrossFit Vertex.
• 24:39
  We do.
• 24:42
  Was that a factor as well
• 24:43
  because someone in your gym
• 24:45
  was doing the programming of Misfit?
• 24:48
  You occasionally, before this season,
• 24:51
  worked out together on weekends.
• 24:54
  Does it make it easier that
• 24:55
  you're both following the same program?
• 24:58
  For sure.
• 25:00
  I don't think that training would
• 25:03
  look the same at all if we
• 25:05
  were doing two completely
• 25:06
  different things, um,
• 25:07
  just kind of next to each other.
• 25:08
  And, um, there are times when, um,
• 25:12
  cause we both have our own
• 25:14
  coaches that will kind of
• 25:15
  send us little nuances of
• 25:17
  different pieces and stuff.
• 25:18
  Um,
• 25:18
  so there are times where we kind of
• 25:20
  break off and do something
• 25:22
  a little bit different, but, um,
• 25:24
  knowing that you're
• 25:25
  following the same phase
• 25:26
  and same progressions as them,
• 25:28
  um just makes it so much
• 25:30
  easier I probably wouldn't
• 25:31
  even know like I wouldn't
• 25:32
  think to follow Misfit if
• 25:34
  Paige and I weren't at the
• 25:35
  same gym because obviously
• 25:36
  she's been following since
• 25:37
  2018 um so she's the one
• 25:41
  that like led me there but
• 25:44
  uh just to have our own
• 25:45
  little mini training camp
• 25:47
  uh for Misfit up in uh
• 25:49
  Oliphant Pennsylvania um
• 25:51
  it's just super fun
• 25:55
  Well, I don't know if you know this.
• 25:56
  I was born and raised in Pennsylvania.
• 25:58
  So I always root for the
• 25:59
  Pennsylvania people.
• 26:01
  Where were you raised?
• 26:03
  So other side of the state.
• 26:04
  I was Western PA.
• 26:05
  Okay.
• 26:06
  Gotcha.
• 26:07
  So just north of Pittsburgh.
• 26:08
  Gotcha.
• 26:09
  Okay.
• 26:09
  But...
• 26:11
  Anyway,
• 26:11
  so it's funny you say that because
• 26:13
  I had Cam Crockett on last
• 26:15
  Friday as well.
• 26:16
  He trains with Amanda Barnhart.
• 26:18
  Last year, he was Mayhem.
• 26:20
  She was HWPO.
• 26:22
  This year, he switched.
• 26:24
  And not because of any
• 26:25
  dissatisfaction with Mayhem.
• 26:29
  It's when they were training together,
• 26:30
  it was too complicated.
• 26:32
  to like fit it in with his
• 26:34
  schedule and then do
• 26:36
  something with her because
• 26:38
  they would do something.
• 26:39
  And then the next day mayhem
• 26:40
  would program the same thing.
• 26:42
  Right.
• 26:42
  Yeah.
• 26:42
  Same movement patterns.
• 26:43
  And then your whole like
• 26:44
  week is messed up.
• 26:45
  Yeah.
• 26:46
  I get it.
• 26:47
  Yeah.
• 26:47
  So it's, it's,
• 26:49
  it just makes sense that you
• 26:50
  would follow the same program.
• 26:52
  But what I do want to say
• 26:53
  about Misfit is all the
• 26:55
  athletes from Misfit that
• 26:56
  I've talked to are so loyal to them.
• 27:00
  It's almost like this small family.
• 27:02
  They're not the biggest camp out there,
• 27:07
  but man,
• 27:07
  the people that are there love
• 27:08
  them so much.
• 27:10
  Yeah,
• 27:11
  the whole crew is just so... It's
• 27:14
  like a big family.
• 27:16
  They just welcome you with...
• 27:18
  open arms and, you know, like you said,
• 27:20
  with the t-shirts,
• 27:21
  like they don't have to do that.
• 27:25
  But they do it and it helps so much.
• 27:27
  And, you know,
• 27:29
  we all chat with each other on,
• 27:32
  we use an app called
• 27:33
  Discord where we share
• 27:35
  training and then the
• 27:36
  coaches kind of chime in
• 27:38
  every now and then.
• 27:39
  And I really like how small
• 27:43
  it is because it does feel
• 27:44
  really close knit.
• 27:45
  And I,
• 27:47
  see a lot of familiar names
• 27:50
  that post every single day, but I, yeah,
• 27:52
  I wouldn't want it any other way.
• 27:55
  And they're the nicest people ever.
• 27:56
  I got to sit with,
• 27:58
  I got to sit with the media
• 27:59
  team at the games last year.
• 28:01
  And they're just great guys.
• 28:04
  They really are.
• 28:04
  I like being around them.
• 28:06
  So I'm going to, this is going longer.
• 28:09
  I'm trying to keep these to 30 minutes.
• 28:10
  I'm so bad at that.
• 28:11
  And we're kind of going long.
• 28:13
  So,
• 28:14
  but what I wanted to ask you about is
• 28:16
  last year you're talking to
• 28:17
  Kat and you had tried to
• 28:18
  qualify for Waterpalooza
• 28:19
  and that didn't happen.
• 28:21
  But this year you got to go
• 28:23
  on a really cool team.
• 28:25
  Gosh, it was so cool.
• 28:27
  How much fun was that
• 28:29
  experience at Waterpalooza?
• 28:31
  It was so much fun.
• 28:33
  But while I was there,
• 28:35
  I was so scared the whole time.
• 28:37
  Like, it was just like,
• 28:39
  I was so out of my comfort zone,
• 28:41
  felt like I didn't belong.
• 28:43
  Like, I was just hanging on.
• 28:45
  But once everything was over, I'm like,
• 28:48
  I cannot wait to do this again.
• 28:53
  It is so much sensory
• 28:54
  overload on top of like the
• 28:58
  actual competition.
• 28:59
  Yeah.
• 29:00
  Like there's just so many
• 29:01
  people everywhere.
• 29:02
  The music is blaring.
• 29:04
  Like your,
• 29:04
  your heart is like vibrating in
• 29:06
  your chest.
• 29:08
  The lights like, Oh my God.
• 29:11
  I was not ready for that.
• 29:14
  I always call it the
• 29:16
  CrossFit family reunion
• 29:18
  because everybody from the
• 29:20
  CrossFit world is there.
• 29:22
  Like Vendor Village is
• 29:23
  bigger than the games.
• 29:25
  It is just massive.
• 29:27
  And you can't walk five
• 29:29
  steps without seeing somebody you know.
• 29:31
  Right.
• 29:34
  So even though you're like
• 29:36
  anxious and feeling out of
• 29:39
  your comfort zone,
• 29:40
  you're doing it again next year?
• 29:43
  Um, nothing's officially set in stone,
• 29:46
  but I had so much fun with
• 29:48
  Jenna and Paige.
• 29:48
  Like I would gladly go back.
• 29:52
  Like it was,
• 29:53
  it was just so fun to compete
• 29:54
  with both of them.
• 29:56
  Like Paige was being Paige
• 29:58
  and having so much
• 29:59
  competition experience.
• 30:00
  And then Jenna being 18 years old and,
• 30:03
  you know,
• 30:04
  just having fun and chatting it
• 30:05
  up and everything.
• 30:06
  Like they were just so fun
• 30:08
  to be on a team with and I
• 30:10
  would gladly do it again.
• 30:12
  Any desire to try individual again?
• 30:17
  I'm going to say right now, no.
• 30:19
  The team was just so cool.
• 30:23
  But I think individual would
• 30:24
  just be a little bit too
• 30:25
  scary for me considering the environment.
• 30:29
  Yeah, it's such a crazy environment.
• 30:34
  And they're really known for
• 30:35
  their three-person teams.
• 30:36
  Like,
• 30:37
  when they became a sanctional and
• 30:39
  went away from that, it was actually,
• 30:41
  I think, did harm to them.
• 30:42
  Now they're back doing kind
• 30:44
  of what they're known for.
• 30:46
  And I love, like,
• 30:47
  the California version is
• 30:50
  doing something unique as
• 30:51
  well with North America
• 30:53
  versus the world and all of
• 30:55
  that over there as opposed to just, like,
• 30:57
  a straight comp.
• 30:59
  Right.
• 31:00
  Yeah.
• 31:00
  It was, it was like such a big production.
• 31:04
  Like I didn't,
• 31:06
  I've always just watched it like online.
• 31:08
  Like I didn't realize all
• 31:09
  that happened there.
• 31:13
  But I mean,
• 31:14
  there is the possibility of
• 31:15
  doing like the individual and the team,
• 31:18
  but I feel like my body would just be,
• 31:21
  be fried at that point.
• 31:22
  Even after the team, just the two day,
• 31:25
  I was like, Oh, I need a week off.
• 31:28
  Well, last year was unique too,
• 31:30
  because with all the
• 31:31
  weather delays and all the
• 31:33
  changes in workouts,
• 31:34
  that had to add like some
• 31:36
  stress to the body,
• 31:38
  some stress to the mind
• 31:39
  that usually isn't there.
• 31:42
  Right.
• 31:42
  Yeah.
• 31:44
  Last event, going in,
• 31:47
  doing the worm with it all
• 31:49
  soaked in rain and
• 31:52
  Oh, it was,
• 31:54
  it probably added on a couple of years to,
• 31:56
  you know, my life, but it, again,
• 32:00
  it just added to the fun.
• 32:01
  Like we just, you know,
• 32:02
  you just laugh about it afterwards.
• 32:04
  Yeah.
• 32:05
  Yeah.
• 32:06
  Last year was the first year
• 32:07
  I missed and I usually have super FOMO.
• 32:11
  I did not when I saw the
• 32:12
  rain and the cold and all that.
• 32:15
  I'm like, if you're going to miss a year,
• 32:16
  this was the year to miss.
• 32:18
  Yeah, it really was.
• 32:20
  Every night it was just like, oh,
• 32:23
  what's the event change going to be?
• 32:25
  What are we doing differently?
• 32:28
  But still a good time.
• 32:29
  So I'm going to finish up with this.
• 32:32
  You're going back to semis.
• 32:33
  You're going to be in Knoxville.
• 32:35
  What is a successful weekend
• 32:37
  at the end of the weekend for you?
• 32:41
  I'm going to just put this
• 32:42
  out into the universe and
• 32:43
  say that the goal is going to be top 20.
• 32:46
  So top half of the field.
• 32:48
  That was sort of the goal
• 32:50
  going into the season and
• 32:51
  I'm going to stick with it.
• 32:54
  But outside of placement,
• 32:56
  I just want to feel like
• 32:58
  every workout I did my
• 33:00
  absolute best and that I
• 33:02
  didn't get stopped in my
• 33:03
  tracks and just feel fitter
• 33:06
  than I did last year.
• 33:09
  That sounds incredible.
• 33:11
  Well, McKenna,
• 33:12
  thank you so much for
• 33:13
  jumping on with me this morning.
• 33:15
  It's been awesome getting to know you.
• 33:17
  I can't wait to see you in Knoxville,
• 33:19
  killing it out there on the floor.
• 33:21
  And wouldn't it be cool if
• 33:24
  at some point you and Paige
• 33:25
  were side by side?
• 33:28
  We were trying this year, honestly.
• 33:32
  I was one spot out from being in her heat.
• 33:35
  But who knows what's going
• 33:36
  to happen when we get down there.
• 33:37
  Maybe I can climb my way up
• 33:40
  into her level.
• 33:41
  But yeah, thank you so much.
• 33:43
  One last follow-up.
• 33:45
  How much better is it that
• 33:47
  your training partner is
• 33:47
  going to be there in the
• 33:49
  back with you that you can...
• 33:53
  kind of have like an
• 33:54
  emotional release with or, you know,
• 33:56
  whatever, just to keep things calm.
• 33:58
  Right.
• 33:59
  No,
• 34:00
  I definitely think we'll probably give
• 34:02
  each other a little bit of
• 34:03
  space back there just
• 34:04
  because it's competition day.
• 34:06
  But even just looking around
• 34:08
  and seeing a familiar face back there,
• 34:09
  we'll just sort of calm the nerves,
• 34:12
  you know,
• 34:12
  like make it as replicated to
• 34:15
  training as possible.
• 34:16
  I mean, it can only help.
• 34:19
  Yeah.
• 34:19
  Yeah.
• 34:20
  Well, good luck.
• 34:21
  Thank you to everybody in
• 34:22
  the chat for being here.
• 34:24
  Thank you to McKenna for
• 34:24
  jumping on with me.
• 34:26
  And we'll see everybody next
• 34:27
  time on the Clydesdale Media Podcast,
• 34:30
  where we're featuring the
• 34:30
  athletes of the 2024
• 34:33
  CrossFit Games Semifinals.
• 34:34
  Thanks, guys.
• 34:35
  See you later.
• 34:36
  Thank you.