Latest / Clydesdale Media Podcast / Josh Boonstra | The Athletes of the 2024 Legends Masters CrossFit Games

Transcript

Josh Boonstra | The Athletes of the 2024 Legends Masters CrossFit Games · Clydesdale Media Podcast

• 0:11
  I was born to kill it.
• 0:16
  I was meant to win.
• 0:17
  I am down and willing,
• 0:19
  so I will find a way.
• 0:20
  It took a minute,
• 0:21
  now it didn't happen right away.
• 0:23
  When they get hot in the kitchen,
• 0:24
  you decide to stay.
• 0:25
  That's how a winner's made.
• 0:26
  Stick a fork in the head of a Medina.
• 0:35
  What's going on, everybody?
• 0:36
  Welcome to the Clydesdale Media Podcast,
• 0:39
  where we are featuring the
• 0:40
  athletes of the 2024
• 0:43
  Legends Masters CrossFit Games.
• 0:46
  And I'm so honored to have with me today,
• 0:48
  Josh Boonstra.
• 0:49
  Did I say that right?
• 0:51
  Yeah, you got it.
• 0:52
  All right.
• 0:53
  So, Josh,
• 0:54
  you're in the 40 to 44-year-old division.
• 0:56
  First time to the games.
• 0:58
  What does all this mean to you?
• 1:01
  Yeah, I mean, it's a huge honor.
• 1:03
  It's a huge honor.
• 1:03
  And it...
• 1:06
  I would say, honestly,
• 1:06
  it's still kind of a bit surreal to,
• 1:09
  you know, when I, when someone says,
• 1:11
  Hey Josh, you know,
• 1:11
  Josh is a games athlete
• 1:13
  that just has a strange ring to it still.
• 1:15
  So that hasn't fully set in, but I mean,
• 1:18
  naturally it's a lot of
• 1:19
  hard work and consistency over time.
• 1:20
  So yeah,
• 1:21
  I'm really grateful and huge honor.
• 1:24
  So your athletic background, uh, where did,
• 1:27
  where did it start?
• 1:30
  I mean,
• 1:30
  I've kind of been a lifelong
• 1:31
  athlete started in youth sports,
• 1:33
  like a lot of folks and
• 1:35
  football was kind of my, my primary sport,
• 1:37
  but I played all of them and yeah,
• 1:40
  just continue to play
• 1:40
  football in high school,
• 1:43
  did track and basketball in
• 1:44
  high school as well.
• 1:45
  And then went to college,
• 1:47
  played division two college football.
• 1:49
  And, you know, like as an athlete,
• 1:52
  you just kind of, you're,
• 1:53
  you just have this wiring to compete.
• 1:56
  And so I certainly had that.
• 1:57
  And then
• 1:58
  when college football was done,
• 2:00
  that wiring doesn't go away.
• 2:01
  And so the need to compete still existed.
• 2:05
  And I became a personal
• 2:06
  trainer and was a coach and
• 2:08
  a performance coach and personal trainer,
• 2:10
  did that for a while, you know,
• 2:11
  staying fit and keeping healthy,
• 2:12
  but was totally missing
• 2:15
  some of that competitive, you know,
• 2:18
  opportunity that I was looking for.
• 2:20
  And then when I discovered CrossFit, first,
• 2:23
  it was an incredibly
• 2:24
  humbling experience because
• 2:25
  I was getting my butt
• 2:25
  whooped by everybody around me.
• 2:28
  but then started to get a
• 2:29
  feel for it and realized I
• 2:31
  think this is kind of my
• 2:32
  thing you know where I can
• 2:33
  quantify my fitness and and
• 2:35
  compete with those around
• 2:36
  me from all walks of life
• 2:37
  so yeah that's where the
• 2:40
  athletic background started
• 2:41
  and kind of how it drew me
• 2:42
  to crossfit uh david
• 2:44
  johnston hey fellas uh
• 2:50
  I have a question as a
• 2:51
  football fan myself and
• 2:53
  played high school ball.
• 2:55
  It's in your bio,
• 2:56
  you say division two
• 2:57
  quarterback wide receiver.
• 3:00
  So you were frustrated with
• 3:01
  your own receiver core.
• 3:02
  You had to go catch your own boss.
• 3:05
  yeah I should probably
• 3:06
  update that I i was a high
• 3:08
  school quarterback and I
• 3:10
  still think of myself as a
• 3:11
  quarterback honestly it's
• 3:12
  just so deeply ingrained in
• 3:15
  kind of who I am and how I
• 3:16
  operate um so I had some
• 3:18
  success you know in high
• 3:19
  school was recruited to go
• 3:20
  play college football as a
• 3:21
  quarterback I went to
• 3:23
  central as a quarterback
• 3:24
  and then was like I just
• 3:26
  realized I'm not going to
• 3:26
  get on the field you know
• 3:27
  I'm not going to play here
• 3:29
  and we had some really good
• 3:30
  people ahead of me and
• 3:31
  that's just the reality of
• 3:32
  college sports there's a
• 3:33
  lot of talent there
• 3:34
  And,
• 3:35
  but I really wanted to play and I
• 3:36
  thought I was athletic enough to, to,
• 3:38
  you know,
• 3:38
  provide some value on the field.
• 3:40
  So, you know,
• 3:42
  had some chats with the
• 3:43
  coaching staff and they were like,
• 3:44
  you know,
• 3:45
  what else would you want to play?
• 3:46
  I was like, well, you know,
• 3:47
  given my understanding of
• 3:49
  the scheme on offense,
• 3:50
  I think receiver would be really cool.
• 3:52
  So long, straight, short,
• 3:53
  I changed receiver and then,
• 3:55
  and did get on the field
• 3:56
  and played a lot.
• 3:56
  And that was, that was a ton of fun.
• 3:58
  So yes, I was a receiver in college,
• 4:01
  but I still think of myself
• 4:02
  as more as a quarterback.
• 4:04
  How much work did it take to
• 4:07
  go from one position to the other?
• 4:13
  I should say a lot of work,
• 4:15
  but truthfully,
• 4:19
  I was a pretty good athlete.
• 4:22
  And so I was probably more
• 4:24
  on the athletic side of a quarterback.
• 4:27
  And so I was scrambling
• 4:29
  around maybe a little bit
• 4:30
  more than I should,
• 4:31
  probably more than my
• 4:32
  coaches wanted me to,
• 4:33
  rather than just sitting in
• 4:34
  the pocket and firing it downfield.
• 4:37
  So that kind of athleticism
• 4:39
  and ability to make people
• 4:40
  miss and accelerate, start and stop,
• 4:43
  that boded pretty well for
• 4:45
  me to transition into receivers.
• 4:46
  So the transition honestly wasn't
• 4:49
  too difficult athletically
• 4:51
  it was just kind of a
• 4:52
  mindset transition was
• 4:53
  really more the challenge
• 4:55
  going from being the leader
• 4:57
  in the huddle everybody's
• 4:57
  looking to you and you know
• 4:59
  kind of rallying the troops
• 5:00
  to no I have to be willing
• 5:01
  to be led and that's okay
• 5:04
  yeah and going from
• 5:05
  touching the ball every
• 5:07
  snap to only when the
• 5:09
  quarterback deems it proper
• 5:12
  That's right.
• 5:12
  That's a tough ego pill to swallow,
• 5:17
  but it was a necessity.
• 5:20
  Yeah.
• 5:22
  I was a former baseball pitcher,
• 5:24
  and then when I wasn't pitching,
• 5:26
  I would play first base or third base,
• 5:29
  and that was always
• 5:29
  frustrating to me because I
• 5:32
  wanted the action every pitch,
• 5:34
  and it's tough for sure.
• 5:38
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 5:39
  Absolutely.
• 5:39
  Absolutely.
• 5:41
  Um, so you said that when you,
• 5:45
  when it walked away from
• 5:46
  college athletics,
• 5:47
  you miss that
• 5:48
  competitiveness of just
• 5:50
  being a personal trainer.
• 5:52
  Um,
• 5:52
  when you first walked into a CrossFit
• 5:54
  gym and it appears your
• 5:56
  first open was 2014.
• 5:56
  So you've been doing this
• 5:59
  for a good chunk of change.
• 6:00
  Now, when you first walked in,
• 6:03
  was it snap?
• 6:04
  This is the thing I've been missing.
• 6:08
  I think I sensed the opportunity was there,
• 6:11
  yeah.
• 6:12
  I was used to being pretty
• 6:14
  successful in competition.
• 6:16
  And CrossFit, I was not very successful,
• 6:19
  especially early on.
• 6:21
  you know there was just so
• 6:23
  many skills that I had not
• 6:24
  developed and maybe I had
• 6:26
  some raw abilities but I
• 6:29
  had not refined the the
• 6:30
  large diverse set of skills
• 6:32
  that crossfit presents you
• 6:34
  and so every workout there
• 6:36
  was one or two of these
• 6:37
  movements where I was just
• 6:38
  getting my butt kicked by
• 6:40
  people that I would look at
• 6:41
  in the gym and say oh I
• 6:42
  think you know I should be
• 6:43
  able to beat them but I couldn't
• 6:45
  And so it was just humbling
• 6:46
  day after day after day after day.
• 6:48
  But that was the motivation
• 6:49
  that I needed to be like, OK,
• 6:51
  I got to go do some work.
• 6:53
  You know,
• 6:53
  I got to put in the work and get
• 6:54
  good at double unders.
• 6:55
  I couldn't double under to save my life.
• 6:57
  My snatch technique was just horrendous.
• 6:59
  And, you know,
• 7:00
  I'm throwing the ball bar
• 7:01
  all over the place.
• 7:02
  So there was just so many things.
• 7:04
  But I knew that I wanted to
• 7:06
  be good at it and I knew
• 7:07
  that I wanted to be
• 7:08
  competitive in my own gym.
• 7:11
  and I knew it was going to
• 7:12
  take a lot of work to to do
• 7:14
  all that so it was just you
• 7:17
  know chip away at it day
• 7:17
  after day after day
• 7:18
  thankfully I was working in
• 7:19
  a gym so the the
• 7:20
  opportunity to you know get
• 7:22
  some workouts in and do the
• 7:23
  work was not as difficult
• 7:25
  as it could be for some
• 7:26
  others and just chipped
• 7:28
  away at it over time and
• 7:29
  it's been a long road but
• 7:31
  yeah things have come together all right
• 7:33
  So it's funny, when I first walked in,
• 7:35
  the one movement that just captivated me,
• 7:39
  I was terrible at it,
• 7:40
  but it just captivated me
• 7:41
  was the overhead squat.
• 7:43
  Because I had done powerlifting,
• 7:45
  I was strong,
• 7:47
  but I could barely overhead
• 7:49
  squat an empty bar.
• 7:51
  And just the frustration of
• 7:54
  that made me dig in and
• 7:56
  figure this thing out.
• 7:58
  Yeah, 100%.
• 8:01
  It's movements like that where you realize,
• 8:03
  man,
• 8:04
  do I have the strength to lift this
• 8:06
  check?
• 8:06
  Yeah, I should.
• 8:08
  Do I have the stability?
• 8:09
  Yeah, so I should be able to.
• 8:11
  But then you realize, oh,
• 8:12
  but I'm missing mobility in
• 8:14
  this case or body awareness
• 8:16
  or whatever it is.
• 8:18
  And you're like, oh, yeah,
• 8:19
  those are the things I
• 8:20
  haven't really worked on
• 8:21
  and I need to invest in if
• 8:23
  I'm going to be able to do
• 8:23
  what looks like should be a
• 8:25
  really simple thing.
• 8:27
  So, yeah, humbling for sure.
• 8:29
  Yeah.
• 8:30
  I would tell my friends like,
• 8:32
  you guys don't understand.
• 8:33
  There are 82 things I have to do right.
• 8:35
  And if I only do 81,
• 8:37
  I'm going to be unsuccessful.
• 8:39
  That's right.
• 8:42
  And yeah,
• 8:43
  it makes it so that every day you go back,
• 8:45
  it's just another challenge.
• 8:49
  Yeah.
• 8:50
  Even this,
• 8:51
  this text string that on right now,
• 8:54
  which is a bunch of mayhem
• 8:55
  athletes that are really fit dudes.
• 8:57
  And they just continue to
• 8:58
  push me and honestly have
• 8:59
  been kind of like the
• 9:00
  secret sauce of this year.
• 9:01
  If I was being really honest, but you know,
• 9:05
  once I qualified for the games,
• 9:06
  they've been so supportive,
• 9:07
  but it also is like,
• 9:10
  well, Josh is a games athlete.
• 9:11
  And so naturally he must do
• 9:13
  well at these things.
• 9:14
  And I'm like, no, you know,
• 9:17
  just because I qualify for
• 9:18
  the games doesn't put me in some,
• 9:20
  you know, new ability level.
• 9:22
  Like, no,
• 9:22
  I still struggle with all of
• 9:24
  these things and I still
• 9:25
  get my butt kicked by these
• 9:26
  guys on a regular basis.
• 9:28
  So yeah, it's,
• 9:31
  there's no escaping the
• 9:32
  humility of CrossFit.
• 9:35
  So I have a unique question for you.
• 9:36
  How does a guy who gets a
• 9:38
  degree in kinesiology end
• 9:40
  up as a business manager for Microsoft?
• 9:44
  Good question.
• 9:46
  I get asked that a lot.
• 9:47
  It's a totally unique set of
• 9:49
  circumstances.
• 9:52
  It's a bit of a long story.
• 9:53
  I'll try to keep it abbreviated.
• 9:56
  But as I said,
• 9:57
  I was a personal trainer and
• 9:58
  I was a personal trainer at
• 9:59
  a gym that was
• 10:01
  We had a lot, we still,
• 10:02
  or that gym still has a lot
• 10:04
  of Microsoft employees just
• 10:05
  down the street.
• 10:06
  Microsoft subsidizes their, uh,
• 10:09
  their membership at that time.
• 10:10
  And so naturally we've got a
• 10:11
  lot of people that are
• 10:12
  coming in from Microsoft.
• 10:13
  So over time, nine years,
• 10:15
  I'd built a lot of
• 10:16
  relationships with a lot of
• 10:17
  really influential people at Microsoft,
• 10:21
  great relationships, friendships as well.
• 10:23
  And over the course of that period,
• 10:27
  they had spent a lot of time around me,
• 10:29
  had a good sense of my
• 10:30
  strengths and more than
• 10:31
  just a personal trainer,
• 10:32
  but as a person and kind of
• 10:34
  some of the various
• 10:36
  qualities that I possessed.
• 10:38
  And then just a couple of
• 10:40
  guys came to me one day and like, hey,
• 10:42
  Josh, you know,
• 10:42
  we think you have this
• 10:43
  really unique opportunity
• 10:44
  to pursue a health and
• 10:46
  fitness product for Microsoft.
• 10:48
  And, you know,
• 10:49
  we're not the subject matter experts.
• 10:51
  We could use your subject
• 10:52
  matter expertise.
• 10:54
  And long story short, I was like, oh,
• 10:56
  my gosh,
• 10:56
  this is a very unique opportunity
• 10:58
  to to do that.
• 11:00
  But it was a huge career change.
• 11:01
  And, you know, it was very scary.
• 11:04
  to think about moving from a
• 11:05
  company that was very loyal
• 11:06
  to me and I was very loyal
• 11:07
  to and a huge client base
• 11:09
  that I'd worked very hard
• 11:09
  to build over time and a
• 11:11
  reputation I was really
• 11:12
  proud of to a whole new culture,
• 11:14
  a whole new company,
• 11:15
  a whole new industry.
• 11:17
  So you can imagine how scary that was.
• 11:20
  But I knew that the
• 11:21
  opportunity was huge and it
• 11:23
  may not present itself again.
• 11:24
  And so it was like one of
• 11:25
  those moments where you
• 11:26
  kind of just got to bet on yourself.
• 11:29
  and go with it and take the risk.
• 11:31
  And I did,
• 11:32
  and it paid off and I would do
• 11:33
  it all again.
• 11:34
  And I'm really grateful for that decision.
• 11:37
  When you tell people you
• 11:38
  work for Microsoft,
• 11:39
  do they now think you're a tech guy?
• 11:42
  I think that's probably one
• 11:43
  of their early assumptions.
• 11:45
  Yeah, for sure.
• 11:46
  And I'm not,
• 11:47
  I do not consider myself
• 11:49
  technical at all.
• 11:52
  You know, as a personal trainer,
• 11:54
  And a coach,
• 11:55
  you've got to be really dialed
• 11:56
  into the people and you've
• 11:57
  got to be able to read a lot of cues,
• 11:59
  whether that's physical
• 12:00
  cues or emotional cues or
• 12:02
  whatever those cues are.
• 12:03
  And you've got to be able to
• 12:04
  then respond thoughtfully to those cues.
• 12:07
  And so, you know,
• 12:09
  communicating with people
• 12:10
  in a really meaningful way
• 12:11
  was like my superpower.
• 12:12
  And I knew that as long as I
• 12:13
  was going to be working
• 12:14
  with people at Microsoft,
• 12:15
  I could leverage that strength.
• 12:17
  And so over the course of my
• 12:19
  career at Microsoft,
• 12:20
  I've just tried to find ways
• 12:22
  to use the strengths that I've got,
• 12:23
  learn a ton along the way.
• 12:25
  But yeah,
• 12:28
  I think my people skills are a
• 12:29
  bit of a superpower.
• 12:32
  I think one of the unique
• 12:33
  things about the masters
• 12:34
  community is many of you
• 12:36
  have families and jobs and, you know,
• 12:40
  unlike the elite crew that
• 12:42
  all they do is train, right.
• 12:44
  And you have to balance all that.
• 12:47
  So how supportive is
• 12:48
  Microsoft in that endeavor
• 12:50
  and the fact that you have
• 12:51
  to go to Birmingham in a
• 12:52
  couple of weeks and throw
• 12:55
  down with the best in the world?
• 12:57
  Yeah.
• 12:59
  You know, ultimately they, they,
• 13:01
  Microsoft is a company, I don't know how,
• 13:05
  my team,
• 13:06
  some people around me know how
• 13:07
  invested I am in CrossFit.
• 13:08
  I don't talk about it a ton at work.
• 13:10
  Wait, wait,
• 13:11
  you're a CrossFitter and you
• 13:12
  don't talk about it?
• 13:13
  I know, surprise, surprise.
• 13:15
  But occasionally it will
• 13:16
  come up and people will be like, what,
• 13:17
  what, what are you doing?
• 13:19
  CrossFit, what?
• 13:21
  You know,
• 13:22
  and so then we dive into that story.
• 13:24
  But ultimately it's,
• 13:27
  You know,
• 13:27
  as long as I'm performing at a
• 13:28
  high level at work,
• 13:29
  that does create
• 13:30
  opportunity for some flexibility.
• 13:31
  I train really early in the morning,
• 13:33
  as is my wife.
• 13:34
  And, you know,
• 13:35
  she is super fit and super disciplined.
• 13:38
  And because of that,
• 13:41
  we have really aligned values.
• 13:43
  And we know that, look,
• 13:44
  this is an important part of our life.
• 13:45
  We need to make the investment.
• 13:46
  We have to support each
• 13:47
  other and how and when we
• 13:49
  make that work over the
• 13:50
  course of the day.
• 13:51
  And yeah,
• 13:53
  if we weren't as strong and
• 13:54
  stable as we are as a family,
• 13:58
  spending hours in the gym
• 13:59
  just wouldn't really be feasible.
• 14:01
  And then, yeah,
• 14:02
  I just knock all my stuff
• 14:03
  out early in the morning and I get online,
• 14:06
  you know, between 8.30 and 9 a.m.
• 14:07
  and do my work day and do
• 14:10
  whatever it takes at work.
• 14:12
  How does that,
• 14:13
  with you and your wife being so aligned,
• 14:15
  how does that work with raising two kids?
• 14:21
  Well, that's a loaded question.
• 14:22
  I mean, it works, it works.
• 14:24
  It's hard to imagine doing it another way.
• 14:26
  You know, if there's any misalignment in,
• 14:29
  in values or the, you know,
• 14:31
  kind of the strategy behind
• 14:33
  how you want to raise your
• 14:34
  kids and the things you
• 14:35
  want to instill in them,
• 14:37
  where that misalignment
• 14:38
  exists it exposes itself
• 14:40
  really quickly and that
• 14:41
  builds tension in a
• 14:42
  relationship it's tension
• 14:43
  that not only you feel as a
• 14:44
  married couple but your
• 14:45
  kids see and feel and that
• 14:47
  shapes them as well so we
• 14:50
  don't do it perfectly but
• 14:52
  we are very intentional
• 14:53
  about how we do it and we
• 14:55
  communicate a lot we have a
• 14:58
  deep respect for one
• 14:59
  another naturally we love each other and
• 15:03
  Yeah,
• 15:04
  when we identify tension in the
• 15:05
  relationship,
• 15:06
  we'll be the first ones to
• 15:07
  get it out on the table and
• 15:08
  figure out what's the root
• 15:09
  cause here and let's squash that.
• 15:12
  But ultimately,
• 15:13
  it's because our values are
• 15:14
  so deeply aligned, as is our faith,
• 15:16
  that we anchor ourselves into that daily.
• 15:21
  How old are your kids?
• 15:23
  We've got an 11 going on
• 15:25
  12-year-old daughter,
• 15:27
  and my son just turned 8.
• 15:30
  Are they into sports and
• 15:32
  fitness and stuff?
• 15:34
  yeah yeah for sure my
• 15:34
  daughter she's a select
• 15:35
  soccer player that's her
• 15:37
  her jam and that is a huge
• 15:38
  titan commitment but she
• 15:40
  loves it and she's you know
• 15:41
  thankfully she's got some
• 15:42
  skills there and so we
• 15:44
  enjoy watching her compete
• 15:45
  but she loves the social
• 15:46
  element of it and then my
• 15:48
  my little guy he's the one
• 15:49
  that does it all football
• 15:51
  is his primary sport I
• 15:53
  didn't push that on him
• 15:53
  believe it or not but
• 15:54
  that's his the one he's
• 15:56
  loving and he's starting up
• 15:58
  his first year of tackle
• 15:59
  football this year which is
• 16:00
  pretty exciting I'll be his
• 16:01
  coach but he does basketball and
• 16:04
  We're trying to get him back
• 16:05
  into soccer and baseball.
• 16:09
  I mean, he does it all.
• 16:10
  So that's pretty cool.
• 16:12
  With all that, it just,
• 16:14
  it seems like so much to
• 16:15
  juggle in life and does,
• 16:18
  is that why you train first
• 16:19
  thing in the morning to get
• 16:20
  that out of the way and
• 16:22
  give you the rest of your
• 16:23
  day for all the other stuff?
• 16:24
  Yeah, 100%.
• 16:25
  If I, if I tried to get my workouts in
• 16:28
  any other time of day it you
• 16:31
  know I would build up all
• 16:32
  the excuses not to do it
• 16:33
  just like most people do
• 16:36
  and as a personal trainer
• 16:37
  you know naturally you get
• 16:38
  all the excuses hey you
• 16:39
  build a plan for somebody
• 16:40
  long-term plan set them up
• 16:42
  for success and well here's
• 16:44
  all the 10 reasons why they
• 16:45
  didn't do the thing that
• 16:46
  you laid out for them and
• 16:48
  and I understand that those
• 16:49
  are valid excuses and I
• 16:51
  have to identify those in
• 16:52
  advance and know that
• 16:55
  know I'm as susceptible to
• 16:57
  them as anybody else so I
• 16:58
  just have to do it first
• 16:59
  thing in the morning when
• 17:00
  my motivation is the
• 17:02
  highest when my
• 17:03
  distractions are the lowest
• 17:05
  and crank it up and then
• 17:07
  leave the rest of the day
• 17:08
  for everything else that's
• 17:09
  still you know a big
• 17:11
  priority my last question
• 17:14
  is balance thing is when
• 17:16
  you found out that you were
• 17:17
  going to the games
• 17:20
  Was there an inclination to
• 17:22
  ramp up the volume, try to do more,
• 17:25
  or is that not even
• 17:27
  feasible with the schedule you hold?
• 17:30
  Yeah, I think my instinct was, oh gosh,
• 17:33
  I'm going to have to do even more.
• 17:35
  And I probably am doing a little bit more,
• 17:38
  but the volume has been really high.
• 17:39
  I think Mayhem...
• 17:41
  programs a pretty good
• 17:42
  amount of volume in general
• 17:45
  and so I didn't feel like I
• 17:46
  was lacking it that's for
• 17:48
  sure but I knew that there
• 17:49
  were some things I wanted
• 17:50
  to tweak a little bit and
• 17:52
  you know build my endurance
• 17:54
  capacity a little bit more
• 17:55
  and so you put a few more
• 17:55
  miles on the treadmill and
• 17:57
  maybe add a day here and
• 17:59
  refine a few skills there
• 18:01
  um so I knew I was going to
• 18:03
  do that and thankfully
• 18:05
  you know,
• 18:05
  I think my wife was more excited
• 18:07
  than I was when, you know, I qualified.
• 18:09
  And so she was like, oh my gosh,
• 18:11
  I'm your coach.
• 18:12
  She's going to tweak my diet even more.
• 18:15
  And, uh, you know, she's like,
• 18:16
  are you doing two workouts today?
• 18:18
  I'm like, maybe,
• 18:20
  but the nudge was pretty real.
• 18:21
  And she's trying to like
• 18:22
  force me out into the gym.
• 18:25
  So thankfully she's
• 18:26
  incredibly supportive and, um, yeah,
• 18:29
  but ultimately I haven't
• 18:31
  dedicated a whole lot more time
• 18:34
  the gym that I that I've
• 18:35
  been contributing already
• 18:38
  well before we dive into
• 18:39
  the season as I talk to you
• 18:41
  you're so articulate and
• 18:43
  and conscientious of your
• 18:45
  conscientious of your words
• 18:47
  I want to share um my
• 18:49
  screen a little bit here
• 18:51
  and uh I was going through
• 18:52
  your instagram and found
• 18:54
  out you're a songwriter oh
• 18:57
  crap yeah and I'm gonna
• 19:01
  play a little bit of this
• 19:02
  for the audience
• 19:05
  A long time ago When I was
• 19:14
  just a boy My mom sat me
• 19:18
  down and she said Listen to me, listen
• 19:26
  And so I won't embarrass you
• 19:28
  more than that.
• 19:28
  But I was awestruck.
• 19:31
  The words that you put into
• 19:33
  this music are so awesome.
• 19:36
  And it shows a lot of contemplation,
• 19:40
  a lot of faith,
• 19:41
  a lot of strong beliefs and morals there,
• 19:47
  which I was just enamored by.
• 19:51
  I watched several of your
• 19:52
  videos just so you know.
• 19:55
  Um, so what,
• 19:56
  what is songwriting for you in your life?
• 20:04
  Yeah.
• 20:04
  End of question.
• 20:05
  Um, gosh,
• 20:07
  you really pulled one out on me there.
• 20:09
  I did not see that coming.
• 20:11
  Um, I mean, it's an outlet like,
• 20:14
  like CrossFit is an outlet for me.
• 20:17
  Um,
• 20:18
  where in crossfit you know
• 20:19
  it's kind of my spot to
• 20:21
  express my fitness and you
• 20:26
  know songwriting is kind of
• 20:27
  an outlet to express my
• 20:28
  feelings you know that you
• 20:30
  should write that down that
• 20:31
  sounded all right I've
• 20:32
  never said that out loud um
• 20:35
  but yeah I'll man we've
• 20:38
  gone through some like many
• 20:39
  and so this is not unique
• 20:40
  but you know my family and
• 20:41
  I we've got some really
• 20:43
  challenging seasons and we
• 20:45
  categorize them as seasons
• 20:46
  because we know that hey
• 20:47
  when the dark seasons are there,
• 20:49
  the next season will present itself.
• 20:52
  We don't know when exactly,
• 20:52
  but there is another season to come.
• 20:54
  And so that perspective just
• 20:55
  helps us navigate life ultimately.
• 20:59
  But when there is just
• 21:02
  seasons filled with so much
• 21:04
  emotion and some real challenges,
• 21:07
  and when it feels like you
• 21:10
  won't be able to successfully navigate it,
• 21:13
  I have to get that out somehow.
• 21:14
  And so I can go take it out in the gym.
• 21:16
  I do.
• 21:16
  But I also need to express
• 21:18
  all of that in another way.
• 21:20
  And so sitting down and just
• 21:22
  writing some words on paper
• 21:23
  is usually where it starts.
• 21:24
  I just want to express some things.
• 21:26
  And then before I know it,
• 21:27
  they start to rhyme.
• 21:28
  And then before I know it, I'm like, oh,
• 21:30
  I think I got a little tune to this.
• 21:31
  Let me sit down in front of
• 21:32
  the piano and see if I can
• 21:34
  plunk away something.
• 21:35
  And then all of a sudden,
• 21:36
  it just kind of comes together.
• 21:37
  And yeah,
• 21:39
  I've been doing that more and
• 21:40
  more over the last probably three years.
• 21:44
  And have got some stuff that
• 21:46
  I think is cool, you know,
• 21:47
  and I like and I'm proud of it.
• 21:48
  And, yeah, it's just a good outlet.
• 21:52
  And I reflect back on it and I'm like, oh,
• 21:54
  yeah, those words.
• 21:55
  I remember that season.
• 21:56
  I remember how valuable that
• 21:57
  was for me to get through, you know,
• 22:00
  that particular part of our life.
• 22:02
  And, yeah,
• 22:03
  they're cool things to look back on.
• 22:05
  my my wife calls them
• 22:07
  seasons as well that so
• 22:08
  that's kind of cool that
• 22:09
  that you guys do as well um
• 22:12
  music and sports are are
• 22:14
  very equal in my love right
• 22:18
  I love music as much as I
• 22:19
  love sports and I watch a
• 22:21
  lot of documentaries on on
• 22:23
  musicians and so it sounds
• 22:26
  to me like the words always
• 22:28
  come before the music
• 22:31
  Yeah, first off,
• 22:33
  I don't categorize myself
• 22:34
  as a musician like many
• 22:36
  musicians we're aware of today.
• 22:38
  But I think the process is
• 22:40
  pretty similar between
• 22:41
  myself and whoever.
• 22:43
  Sometimes it is the words that come first.
• 22:46
  Sometimes it's the tune.
• 22:48
  And you're like, that's just a great tune.
• 22:50
  I kind of want to put some words to that.
• 22:52
  So it varies.
• 22:55
  And sometimes the words.
• 22:57
  you know they just pour out
• 22:58
  onto the paper and I'll
• 22:59
  have written a full song
• 23:02
  you know in five minutes
• 23:04
  ten minutes or just there
• 23:05
  was so much built up that
• 23:06
  needed to be expressed that
• 23:07
  it just landed on the page and
• 23:10
  know kind of an incredible
• 23:11
  way and it all makes sense
• 23:13
  and it rhymes and it's got
• 23:14
  some meaning to it and then
• 23:15
  sometimes it takes a lot
• 23:16
  longer you know you'll have
• 23:18
  one line that you just love
• 23:20
  and one line that really
• 23:21
  captures what you're trying
• 23:23
  to express and you know
• 23:24
  that that's it packs a real
• 23:26
  punch and you want to build
• 23:27
  around that with something
• 23:28
  else and so sometimes it's
• 23:30
  a little more incremental
• 23:32
  sometimes it just spills
• 23:33
  out but yeah I think all of
• 23:36
  those are the right way you
• 23:37
  know there's no wrong way
• 23:39
  It's funny,
• 23:39
  I was watching an interview
• 23:41
  with Billy Joel interviewing Don Henley.
• 23:44
  And their songwriting styles
• 23:45
  are very different.
• 23:47
  But both are considered some
• 23:49
  of the greatest musicians of our era,
• 23:51
  right?
• 23:52
  And for Billy Joel,
• 23:53
  it's always the music first.
• 23:55
  And for Don Henley,
• 23:56
  it's always the lyrics first.
• 23:59
  And Billy Joel says like, he'd like, he's,
• 24:02
  he hears phrases and words
• 24:03
  and he just throws them in
• 24:05
  a shoe box for when he's
• 24:06
  done with the music to go
• 24:07
  find inspiration on what
• 24:09
  the words are based on the
• 24:11
  feeling of the song.
• 24:12
  Yeah.
• 24:13
  And so it's, I don't see,
• 24:15
  I can totally relate too much.
• 24:19
  But I was just,
• 24:20
  I thought it was really cool.
• 24:22
  Yeah.
• 24:23
  the backstories of masters
• 24:24
  athletes are so much better
• 24:26
  than regular athletes live
• 24:29
  so much of a life and,
• 24:30
  and it's so fun to like dive into this.
• 24:34
  And so now I want to dive
• 24:35
  into your season and how we
• 24:36
  got to where we are today
• 24:38
  to finish this up.
• 24:40
  Cool.
• 24:40
  So you,
• 24:41
  you would do the open and you get
• 24:42
  to quarterfinals and you
• 24:44
  finished 92nd in quarterfinals,
• 24:48
  which is nowhere near what
• 24:50
  it would take to qualify
• 24:51
  for the CrossFit games.
• 24:54
  yeah then you make this
• 24:57
  massive jump from 92nd to
• 25:00
  24th at semifinals can you
• 25:07
  clue us in as to what
• 25:08
  happened what transpired in
• 25:10
  that short amount of time
• 25:12
  did you get that much
• 25:13
  better did the workouts fit
• 25:15
  you better were you sick
• 25:17
  one of the days what what
• 25:19
  happened there yeah that
• 25:21
  that's such an interesting story um
• 25:25
  so I honestly I couldn't
• 25:27
  even tell you my own
• 25:28
  history all that accurately
• 25:30
  I think so I've done
• 25:31
  quarterfinals a couple
• 25:33
  times a few times and I
• 25:36
  think I've qualified for
• 25:37
  semis twice maybe three
• 25:40
  times I would have to look
• 25:41
  back I don't honestly know
• 25:44
  but I i can't even recall
• 25:45
  if I had done semis before
• 25:48
  because but you know
• 25:49
  honestly at that point I didn't have
• 25:51
  it was going to the games
• 25:52
  like a big bucket list item.
• 25:54
  Sure.
• 25:55
  That was on a bucket
• 25:56
  somewhere in the distance,
• 25:57
  somewhere on a shelf, but I wasn't like,
• 25:59
  Hey,
• 25:59
  this is the year I'm putting all my chips,
• 26:02
  you know, in the center of the table.
• 26:03
  I'm going to go for it.
• 26:04
  It was not that.
• 26:05
  In fact, I think after quarterfinals,
• 26:08
  I was kind of like, nah, you know,
• 26:10
  I don't even know if I'll do semis.
• 26:12
  If I qualify,
• 26:13
  I'm kind of just burnt out a little bit.
• 26:16
  And, you know,
• 26:17
  there's just so many
• 26:17
  logistics around doing the
• 26:19
  workouts is one thing, but you know,
• 26:21
  you're probably going to do
• 26:22
  them a couple of times because you,
• 26:24
  you know,
• 26:24
  you learned a few things along the way,
• 26:26
  you got to film it,
• 26:27
  you got to have judges.
• 26:28
  And there's just a lot of
• 26:31
  stress on other people that weighs on me.
• 26:35
  And so like finding the
• 26:36
  judge and get everybody to coordinate,
• 26:39
  it just was a lot that by
• 26:40
  that point in the season,
• 26:41
  I kind of realized how
• 26:44
  worth it is it what's the,
• 26:46
  what are the chances, you know,
• 26:48
  And so that's where I was.
• 26:49
  And I had in our little text group,
• 26:51
  I think I'd even mentioned like,
• 26:52
  I don't know if I'll do semis.
• 26:55
  But the other truth is that
• 26:57
  as things get more skilled and heavier,
• 27:01
  they tend to benefit me as well.
• 27:03
  Just like my skill set as an athlete.
• 27:08
  you know, like I'm,
• 27:09
  I wouldn't say I have great capacity.
• 27:11
  That's like endurance capacity.
• 27:13
  That's not my strength.
• 27:14
  So the open, I tend to do like, okay,
• 27:18
  you know,
• 27:19
  it's much more endurance and
• 27:20
  kind of generalists and, um,
• 27:23
  which is not me.
• 27:24
  So I do.
• 27:24
  Okay.
• 27:24
  There's quarterfinals.
• 27:26
  I do a little better.
• 27:26
  Some of us do a little better still.
• 27:28
  So as the weights get
• 27:29
  heavier and the skills get higher,
• 27:31
  that's where my strengths come through.
• 27:34
  And then when I saw the
• 27:35
  workouts posted for semis, I was like,
• 27:37
  Oh gosh,
• 27:38
  know those kind of look
• 27:39
  pretty good well here we go
• 27:41
  let's do it you know I'm
• 27:42
  gonna do it and the guys in
• 27:44
  our checks string they
• 27:45
  wouldn't let me off the
• 27:46
  hook they're like no josh
• 27:47
  you gotta you gotta do this
• 27:48
  we think you do all right
• 27:51
  so then I did them and um
• 27:53
  yeah I did them a couple
• 27:54
  some of them a couple times
• 27:56
  and it's like yeah I really
• 27:58
  think I might have a shot
• 27:59
  at this here and then
• 28:01
  knowing that final workout
• 28:03
  of semis was one that like
• 28:04
  was kind of square in my wheelhouse
• 28:08
  man I think if I really do
• 28:09
  well on that one it's gonna
• 28:12
  solidify a pretty strong
• 28:14
  chance of qualifying and
• 28:16
  sure enough that's exactly
• 28:17
  how it played out and so
• 28:20
  yeah when I said early on
• 28:22
  that it was a bit surreal
• 28:23
  to qualify at all it was
• 28:25
  it's totally true given
• 28:26
  where I started and like my
• 28:28
  kind of total investment in
• 28:31
  the season up to that point
• 28:34
  so there's a lot for me to
• 28:35
  reflect on there and it will definitely
• 28:37
  you know,
• 28:37
  inform how I approach the
• 28:40
  following season.
• 28:42
  So,
• 28:43
  so now you're going as almost a surprise.
• 28:45
  How did it take you long to
• 28:49
  like get back in the gym
• 28:50
  and start training or did it,
• 28:51
  was it the minute you found
• 28:53
  out you're like, yes, let's do this.
• 28:55
  Let's go.
• 28:56
  Yeah, it was totally, let's do this.
• 28:59
  Let's go.
• 29:00
  Like there was no, there was no pause.
• 29:03
  Um,
• 29:04
  You know,
• 29:05
  I know my routine and I'm
• 29:07
  incredibly routine, like very systematic.
• 29:11
  And so it was just like, what am I?
• 29:13
  I'm not going to not work out today.
• 29:15
  You know, that's just not an option.
• 29:17
  So I'm just going to keep
• 29:19
  doing what I've been doing.
• 29:21
  And maybe there's a little
• 29:22
  bit more intensity.
• 29:23
  Maybe there's a slight tweak
• 29:25
  in some of the things that I'm doing.
• 29:27
  But no, it was just like, keep keep going,
• 29:29
  keep doing your thing.
• 29:31
  And it's all you know, it's been working.
• 29:33
  So don't fix what's not broken.
• 29:37
  So what are your realistic
• 29:38
  expectations at the games?
• 29:41
  It's really hard for me to
• 29:43
  even think through.
• 29:45
  I've never been at a
• 29:46
  competition of that scale.
• 29:50
  What I do know is when loads
• 29:55
  get heavier and there are
• 29:57
  more workouts and the skills are higher,
• 30:01
  that benefits me.
• 30:03
  And I, you know,
• 30:05
  I'm more of a well-rounded
• 30:07
  athlete than I am like a, you know,
• 30:10
  a specialist at any particular thing.
• 30:12
  I don't see myself like
• 30:15
  winning a bunch of workouts,
• 30:18
  but I do think I can do
• 30:19
  well at a lot of workouts.
• 30:22
  So that's kind of my mindset is, look,
• 30:27
  as long as there's a bunch of workouts,
• 30:30
  the more there are,
• 30:30
  the more it benefits me.
• 30:32
  I think the loads are going
• 30:33
  to be a little bit heavier there.
• 30:34
  I can move some weight around pretty good.
• 30:36
  Um,
• 30:37
  I think the skills are going to be
• 30:38
  higher demands and I have
• 30:40
  confidence in my skillset.
• 30:42
  So I think as you spread all of that out,
• 30:44
  the more it spreads,
• 30:47
  better it is for me so I i
• 30:48
  honestly have no sense of
• 30:51
  uh how I will finish I
• 30:53
  don't put a bunch of stock
• 30:55
  in where I finish I do just
• 30:56
  want to go perform well
• 30:58
  soak up the experience you
• 31:00
  know do the best that I can
• 31:01
  do have a bunch of fun
• 31:02
  along the way meet some
• 31:03
  great people and uh that'll be a a win
• 31:09
  So you said this is the
• 31:11
  biggest thing your
• 31:12
  competition you've attended
• 31:13
  is since you've been doing CrossFit.
• 31:16
  So to me,
• 31:17
  that sounds like you don't have a
• 31:18
  lot of race experience,
• 31:20
  but you did play sports
• 31:21
  your whole life and you
• 31:22
  played in college with
• 31:24
  football where it is a
• 31:25
  one-on-one matchup with the
• 31:26
  defensive back or whatever you're doing,
• 31:29
  right?
• 31:30
  Do you think you're going to
• 31:31
  thrive in the race environment?
• 31:35
  Yeah.
• 31:37
  Yeah, I do.
• 31:37
  Yeah.
• 31:38
  I do.
• 31:39
  I know how I respond on game
• 31:40
  day and you know, like most humans,
• 31:44
  you get another rush of
• 31:45
  adrenaline that you just
• 31:46
  cannot anticipate or
• 31:48
  quantify and it'll take
• 31:49
  your ability to another level.
• 31:51
  And I am a competitor, you know,
• 31:54
  like all the,
• 31:55
  everybody who's at the games
• 31:57
  is a competitor.
• 31:57
  So, you know,
• 31:59
  we're all going to up our game.
• 32:00
  Um,
• 32:03
  you know but the unique
• 32:03
  thing here is and also like
• 32:06
  I played team sports my
• 32:07
  whole life and so I wired
• 32:09
  myself to be a great
• 32:12
  teammate and to identify
• 32:14
  the strengths and
• 32:15
  weaknesses of those around
• 32:16
  me and be able to pick up
• 32:17
  the slack so together we
• 32:19
  were more than the sum of
• 32:20
  our parts and it was never
• 32:22
  about individual success
• 32:24
  did I want to perform well
• 32:25
  individually yeah naturally
• 32:26
  I did but it was always
• 32:28
  about the collective versus
• 32:30
  the individual and so in CrossFit
• 32:34
  The vast majority of
• 32:35
  competitions I've ever done
• 32:36
  have been team competitions.
• 32:37
  That's just I prefer that, you know,
• 32:40
  so it's me and a buddy or
• 32:42
  me and my wife or me and a team, two guys,
• 32:45
  two girls, whatever it is.
• 32:46
  And we do the same thing.
• 32:48
  Hey, I'm good at these things.
• 32:49
  You compliment me here.
• 32:50
  Awesome.
• 32:51
  We're better together.
• 32:51
  And I've done a couple
• 32:54
  individual competitions, you know,
• 32:56
  outside of the open.
• 32:58
  So this is new territory for
• 32:59
  me to like this scale, this environment,
• 33:03
  individual.
• 33:03
  I would say it's one I'm excited for,
• 33:08
  but not super comfortable with.
• 33:11
  You know,
• 33:12
  I prefer to distribute the work
• 33:15
  as opposed to all being isolated.
• 33:17
  So this is going to be new.
• 33:18
  We'll see how it goes.
• 33:20
  Last question.
• 33:21
  Who else going with you?
• 33:23
  It'll just be my wife and I. Okay.
• 33:26
  And
• 33:27
  we had considered taking the
• 33:28
  kids and I think they would
• 33:31
  enjoy pieces of it but you
• 33:33
  know they're kids and so
• 33:34
  their attention is going to
• 33:35
  wane a little and when that
• 33:37
  goes it then it's a
• 33:39
  struggle for my wife to
• 33:40
  enjoy the whole experience
• 33:42
  and it will make its way to
• 33:43
  me as well as focused as I
• 33:45
  will be as much as she will
• 33:46
  do her best to shield me
• 33:47
  from it so instead we're gonna
• 33:50
  You know,
• 33:50
  have the kids go with some
• 33:51
  friends or grandparents.
• 33:53
  It'll just be my wife and I. As I said,
• 33:54
  she's excited, really excited for this,
• 33:56
  too.
• 33:57
  And I want her to soak it up
• 34:00
  as much as I can.
• 34:00
  And she just wants to be
• 34:03
  there to support me,
• 34:04
  which I'm so grateful for.
• 34:06
  So, yeah, we're going to do it.
• 34:08
  Just she and I,
• 34:09
  we're pretty stoked about it.
• 34:11
  Well, Josh,
• 34:12
  I want to thank you a ton for doing this.
• 34:14
  It's so cool getting to meet all of you.
• 34:16
  I will be there in Birmingham.
• 34:18
  We got full clearance to do
• 34:20
  a behind-the-scenes of the
• 34:22
  Masters CrossFit Games.
• 34:24
  So we'll be backstage there
• 34:25
  in the warm-up area,
• 34:27
  hanging out with the athletes,
• 34:28
  getting sound bites from
• 34:29
  you all throughout the weekend,
• 34:31
  and putting that together
• 34:32
  into a collective behind-the-scenes.
• 34:35
  That's going to be awesome.
• 34:36
  Well, I hope to meet you in person.
• 34:38
  Yeah, I'm sure we will.
• 34:40
  With that,
• 34:41
  thank you everybody for being here.
• 34:43
  Thank you, Josh, for taking out the time.
• 34:45
  And we'll see everybody next
• 34:46
  time on the Clydesdale Media Podcast.
• 34:49
  Bye, guys.