Latest / Clydesdale Media Podcast / Spencer Panchik - The Clydesdale Media Semifinalist Series

Transcript

Spencer Panchik - The Clydesdale Media Semifinalist Series · Clydesdale Media Podcast

• 0:09
  I was born to kill it.
• 0:14
  I was meant to win.
• 0:16
  I am down the wheel as the
• 0:17
  wheel find a way.
• 0:18
  It took a minute,
• 0:19
  now it didn't have to ride away.
• 0:21
  When they get hot in the kitchen,
• 0:22
  you decide to stay.
• 0:23
  That's how it winters me.
• 0:25
  Stick a fork in the heater
• 0:26
  on my dinner plate.
• 0:33
  What is going on, everybody?
• 0:35
  Welcome to the Clydesdale Media Podcast,
• 0:37
  where we're featuring the
• 0:38
  athletes of the 2024
• 0:40
  CrossFit Games semifinals.
• 0:42
  And I have with me Spencer Pancheck.
• 0:43
  What's going on, man?
• 0:44
  Hey, how are you?
• 0:47
  I'm good, man.
• 0:48
  Like, it's funny.
• 0:49
  I had Saxon on earlier this week.
• 0:52
  I see you guys like all the
• 0:53
  time back in the day, right?
• 0:55
  And then it's been like a
• 0:55
  minute since I've had
• 0:56
  either of you on the show.
• 0:59
  The last time I had you on,
• 1:00
  you were yet to be married.
• 1:03
  Yeah,
• 1:03
  it's been I just got married last year.
• 1:06
  So coming up on coming up on
• 1:09
  our first year.
• 1:10
  So it's good stuff.
• 1:12
  So there it is, man.
• 1:16
  You she let you wear a cowboy hat.
• 1:19
  Oh, yeah, that was... I was like, come on,
• 1:22
  please let me wear... Well,
• 1:24
  it started with boots,
• 1:25
  and then she's like, no.
• 1:27
  And I was like,
• 1:27
  just let me show you a picture.
• 1:29
  And then I was like, all right,
• 1:30
  if I wore jeans,
• 1:31
  what do you think about that?
• 1:33
  And then I was like, all right,
• 1:33
  what about a hat?
• 1:34
  She's like, all right.
• 1:37
  Well,
• 1:37
  you got a good one to let you do all
• 1:39
  that.
• 1:39
  Oh, she's a keeper.
• 1:43
  So, you know, is she...
• 1:45
  with you into all this fitness thing,
• 1:47
  is she into all that with you?
• 1:49
  Uh, yeah.
• 1:51
  So she's probably the most
• 1:53
  selfless person that I've ever met.
• 1:56
  Um,
• 1:59
  So we actually met in the gym,
• 2:00
  but what's really amazing
• 2:03
  is she's there for every
• 2:06
  session that she can be.
• 2:07
  So she works during the day,
• 2:09
  but something we always do
• 2:11
  is she has the weekends off.
• 2:13
  So Saturday she comes in and
• 2:15
  she does everything that I do.
• 2:17
  And it's pretty darn cold
• 2:20
  because I feel like she's able to just –
• 2:23
  really be a part of it and
• 2:25
  and understand of just have
• 2:28
  a good understanding of
• 2:29
  what a day is like not
• 2:30
  saying that she doesn't but
• 2:32
  I think being able to like
• 2:33
  step in and and have the
• 2:35
  feeling of pain through
• 2:37
  workouts and it's like oh
• 2:38
  man like that was so hard
• 2:40
  like we're getting some
• 2:41
  pizza tonight yeah what's
• 2:45
  what's cool is like if
• 2:47
  people don't know and don't
• 2:48
  see the pancheck clan at an event
• 2:51
  Like, everybody knows of you,
• 2:53
  Scott and Saxon.
• 2:55
  Your sister,
• 2:56
  she competed at semis on a team.
• 3:00
  Scott's wife is competing in
• 3:02
  the age groups right now.
• 3:05
  Like, it's a whole family thing.
• 3:07
  And mom and dad are at the center of that.
• 3:09
  And nobody cheers louder
• 3:10
  than they do at an event.
• 3:12
  No, not at all.
• 3:14
  You'll find my mom anywhere.
• 3:17
  Yeah.
• 3:17
  Two years ago,
• 3:18
  I got to sit with them in the stands at,
• 3:20
  uh, Waterpalooza.
• 3:23
  Um, and it was just a, it was a treat.
• 3:24
  It was funny cause they were
• 3:26
  like right to the right of me.
• 3:28
  And then, um,
• 3:29
  Matt Frazier's parents were
• 3:30
  right to the left of me.
• 3:33
  That's amazing.
• 3:34
  So like parent royalty right
• 3:36
  there at Waterpalooza.
• 3:37
  That's awesome.
• 3:39
  That's awesome.
• 3:39
  It's always cool being able
• 3:40
  to see like the, um,
• 3:43
  the other side of it.
• 3:44
  And I think, um,
• 3:46
  Watching is way worse than
• 3:49
  actually competing,
• 3:52
  especially just growing up
• 3:53
  with Saxon Scott.
• 3:55
  I felt like I was always a
• 3:56
  little bit delayed with
• 3:58
  really finding myself in the CrossFit,
• 4:01
  the competitive side of it,
• 4:03
  and being there and
• 4:05
  supporting them through the early years,
• 4:08
  especially Scott through CrossFit.
• 4:10
  I think Saxon qualified in like 2015,
• 4:12
  but there was like a
• 4:13
  stretch where it was just
• 4:14
  Scott competing.
• 4:17
  It was like 2012, 2013, 2014,
• 4:19
  and then 2015.
• 4:19
  And it was like insane just watching.
• 4:23
  And the stress,
• 4:25
  like everyone would be like, oh,
• 4:26
  it's a vacation.
• 4:27
  I'm like,
• 4:28
  it does not feel like a vacation
• 4:30
  going to the games.
• 4:34
  Yeah.
• 4:34
  So what's funny is I ran
• 4:37
  into your dad in Orlando
• 4:38
  last year after semis.
• 4:40
  Can you guess what he said to me?
• 4:44
  That means a wild card.
• 4:45
  I had no idea.
• 4:48
  He said,
• 4:48
  why does that kid always have to
• 4:50
  make it so close?
• 4:54
  Just keeping it exciting.
• 4:56
  My wife said the same thing.
• 5:00
  And what's funny is once you
• 5:02
  get past semis,
• 5:04
  like you do really well at the games,
• 5:06
  your two appearances are both top 20.
• 5:08
  You've made it through all the cuts.
• 5:10
  You make it to Sunday.
• 5:13
  Are you a better games
• 5:14
  athlete than you are a semifinal athlete?
• 5:17
  I think they're different stages.
• 5:20
  At the CrossFit Games, you have two,
• 5:23
  sometimes maybe three times
• 5:24
  as many events as you do at semifinals.
• 5:26
  So you're able to really –
• 5:28
  it's just a – I don't want
• 5:29
  to say it's a more complete test, but –
• 5:33
  you were able to have highs and lows.
• 5:35
  And if I've learned anything at the games,
• 5:37
  it's you have to let a bad
• 5:39
  event just roll off your
• 5:41
  shoulder and you have to keep moving on.
• 5:44
  I've had like a few
• 5:45
  unfortunate things that
• 5:46
  happened at semis.
• 5:47
  And I think training with Saxon and Scott,
• 5:51
  I've always set my expectations very,
• 5:54
  very high.
• 5:57
  And anytime I get in and start competing,
• 6:01
  it's,
• 6:02
  it's like I'm going for it.
• 6:04
  And rather than it's, it's,
• 6:06
  I need to run my own race.
• 6:08
  And I think that's something
• 6:09
  that really this last year I've,
• 6:13
  I've really,
• 6:14
  I really dove into trying to
• 6:17
  find that and just be as
• 6:19
  relaxed as I possibly can.
• 6:21
  And I truly believe by me
• 6:24
  going out on the floor with
• 6:25
  a game plan and just
• 6:26
  sticking to that game plan,
• 6:28
  it's going to allow me to
• 6:29
  have the most successful season yet.
• 6:31
  Yeah.
• 6:32
  Well, and you and Saxon look alike,
• 6:35
  but you are not alike in
• 6:37
  the way you think about working out,
• 6:39
  right?
• 6:40
  When I got to sit beside you
• 6:42
  when I was judging Saxon for Rogue, like,
• 6:45
  your idea is all gas,
• 6:48
  let's see how long we can hold on.
• 6:50
  And Saxon's very methodical
• 6:53
  and pacing and that kind of thing.
• 6:56
  Yeah.
• 6:56
  Yeah.
• 6:57
  Have you, have you curbed the, the all gas,
• 7:00
  no break approach to working out now?
• 7:03
  That's old school CrossFit.
• 7:05
  That's definitely how it used to be.
• 7:07
  It's who could go out the
• 7:09
  fastest and hold on.
• 7:10
  And I look at our sport and
• 7:12
  it's evolved significantly.
• 7:14
  I mean,
• 7:14
  I've been doing CrossFit since 2008.
• 7:16
  So it's been quite some time.
• 7:18
  And I feel like I had a
• 7:20
  chance to really go through
• 7:22
  different stages.
• 7:23
  I've had a chance to work
• 7:24
  with different coaches.
• 7:25
  And again,
• 7:27
  I've learned something from
• 7:28
  every single person that I worked with.
• 7:30
  And I think that
• 7:34
  There's so many different
• 7:38
  ways to obviously train for CrossFit,
• 7:40
  but everybody's completely different.
• 7:43
  I look at Saxon, Scott, and myself.
• 7:45
  We're all different athletes,
• 7:46
  and we each have different
• 7:49
  needs for what's going to
• 7:51
  make each one of us
• 7:52
  independently successful.
• 7:56
  Corey Leonard says,
• 7:57
  that clock looks like Spencer has a halo.
• 8:02
  It's a big clock.
• 8:03
  My wife picked it out.
• 8:05
  You just need to show that
• 8:06
  picture to your wife to
• 8:07
  show her that you do have a halo.
• 8:09
  Yeah.
• 8:11
  There you go.
• 8:13
  So you're drastically different.
• 8:18
  I saw you at the games last
• 8:19
  year as you were packing up to go,
• 8:21
  loading up the pickup truck,
• 8:23
  just kind of sitting on the
• 8:24
  back tailgate.
• 8:25
  When it's all over and
• 8:26
  you're sitting there doing that,
• 8:28
  what's the thought process?
• 8:29
  Are you reliving the weekend?
• 8:31
  Are you like,
• 8:31
  I just need to get home and rest?
• 8:35
  Yeah,
• 8:35
  you're always going to relive the
• 8:36
  weekend.
• 8:37
  It's going to be if I did
• 8:38
  that or I would have changed this.
• 8:41
  I mean,
• 8:42
  every athlete's going to go through that.
• 8:47
  You really,
• 8:47
  you look at how much work goes
• 8:50
  into competing at the
• 8:52
  CrossFit Games and it's
• 8:54
  summed up in five days and
• 8:57
  all those hours.
• 8:58
  And not many people really
• 8:59
  understand the amount of
• 9:00
  time that we put in and the sacrifices.
• 9:02
  It's the hours we're spending in the gym.
• 9:07
  not really steering from my
• 9:09
  diet not having as much
• 9:11
  time with friends traveling
• 9:13
  all that all that stuff and
• 9:15
  you look at it and all
• 9:17
  those sacrifices come down
• 9:18
  to five days and um but you
• 9:22
  you obviously want to go
• 9:23
  and put on the the best
• 9:26
  performance that you
• 9:27
  possibly can at the
• 9:27
  crossfit games but again
• 9:29
  it's so unpredictable and
• 9:33
  Once it's over,
• 9:33
  it's just all those
• 9:34
  thoughts just roll into your head.
• 9:35
  It's like, did I do everything?
• 9:37
  Did I do everything in my
• 9:38
  power to show up?
• 9:40
  And sometimes you do, sometimes you don't.
• 9:43
  And I mean,
• 9:44
  I would say a majority of the
• 9:45
  time and a majority of the
• 9:46
  athletes would say, man,
• 9:47
  like there's something that
• 9:48
  they would have changed.
• 9:50
  And again,
• 9:50
  that's what's so beautiful about
• 9:51
  our sport though is
• 9:53
  you refine and you go back
• 9:55
  and you change it for next year.
• 9:57
  And then maybe something else comes up.
• 9:58
  And again, that's, that's just,
• 10:00
  that is what's going to
• 10:01
  make you become a better athlete.
• 10:03
  And again, it just takes time.
• 10:06
  So like in that moment, are you,
• 10:08
  are you beating yourself up
• 10:09
  for what could have been,
• 10:11
  or are you praising
• 10:14
  yourself for making it this
• 10:15
  far and enjoying the weekend?
• 10:17
  That's something that's so
• 10:19
  that's a really good question.
• 10:20
  And again,
• 10:21
  I look at my older brother, Scott.
• 10:24
  Obviously,
• 10:24
  he went through the sport and
• 10:27
  he's felt all these different emotions.
• 10:29
  And he'll say, like,
• 10:31
  you have to go and really
• 10:33
  be proud of your performance.
• 10:34
  But at the time and coming
• 10:37
  off the floor and really
• 10:38
  thinking about it, when you're there,
• 10:40
  it's so hard to put
• 10:41
  yourself in that position
• 10:43
  and really think about the good.
• 10:45
  And that's something that, again,
• 10:47
  I think –
• 10:50
  I'm changing my perspective
• 10:51
  on that a lot more and
• 10:54
  really being able to enjoy
• 10:55
  that and take moments
• 10:56
  through the weekend.
• 10:56
  Because again,
• 10:57
  I remember watching Scott
• 11:00
  compete and it was like that.
• 11:02
  And that's the last thing I
• 11:03
  want to happen in my career
• 11:04
  is to just become so
• 11:07
  consumed with it that it's
• 11:08
  just gone in the blink of an eye.
• 11:09
  And again, I think it's,
• 11:12
  When I think about Scott
• 11:14
  asked me this yesterday,
• 11:15
  it was actually a really good question.
• 11:16
  And it was, when you think about the,
• 11:18
  like the glory days of, of doing CrossFit,
• 11:22
  what is that?
• 11:23
  And I think of Saxon,
• 11:25
  Scott and I training in the gym,
• 11:27
  like it wasn't really any competition,
• 11:29
  but it was the hours that we,
• 11:31
  that we went into the gym.
• 11:32
  We,
• 11:33
  took GHDs and we took a
• 11:36
  punching bag to the beach
• 11:37
  and did like sandbags with
• 11:39
  the punching bag and the
• 11:40
  punching bag busted open
• 11:41
  and stuff flying all over the place.
• 11:44
  And I look back and I'm like, man,
• 11:46
  like those are like,
• 11:47
  those are the days that I
• 11:48
  remember and the days that
• 11:50
  not everybody gets the
• 11:51
  chance to see and experience.
• 11:54
  And to me, like those,
• 11:56
  those are the days that I
• 11:57
  really remember is just
• 11:58
  grinding in the gym with those two guys.
• 12:02
  Speaking of Scott,
• 12:03
  last year at Waterpalooza,
• 12:05
  something unique happened
• 12:07
  where your third teammate
• 12:10
  got hurt and the two of you
• 12:12
  got to take the floor,
• 12:13
  just the two of you,
• 12:15
  to compete in a
• 12:15
  three-person team as two people.
• 12:19
  And you beat most of the field.
• 12:23
  Yeah, that was really cool.
• 12:25
  We were begging to go out on the floor and
• 12:29
  I was supposed to be with
• 12:32
  Nick Matthew and then Luke
• 12:35
  Parker were my teammates.
• 12:36
  And then I'm trying to think
• 12:38
  there was somebody else.
• 12:40
  I can't even remember
• 12:40
  because we filtered through
• 12:42
  so many teammates that weekend.
• 12:44
  Somebody kept getting hurt.
• 12:46
  But we got through one event
• 12:47
  and that was something I
• 12:49
  really wanted to be able to
• 12:50
  do was go out and
• 12:50
  experience individual and
• 12:54
  the team in the same weekend.
• 12:55
  I was like, man,
• 12:55
  that'd be a cool thing to
• 12:56
  just add on my bucket list.
• 12:59
  And that didn't happen.
• 13:00
  But I remember we were just
• 13:02
  begging to go out on the
• 13:03
  floor and all we wanted was
• 13:05
  one workout together to
• 13:06
  really be able to go out there.
• 13:07
  And it was a pretty good workout for us.
• 13:09
  And it was it was really, really fun.
• 13:16
  Well,
• 13:16
  what was cool about it is it had like
• 13:19
  three levels of barbell.
• 13:22
  And the two of you took the two heavy ones,
• 13:24
  so neither of you got the
• 13:26
  rest of the light barbell
• 13:28
  like other teams could rotate through,
• 13:29
  and yet you still did that.
• 13:33
  Will that be a memory with
• 13:34
  your brother that is one of
• 13:37
  those things that you can
• 13:38
  think about later in life and go, man,
• 13:40
  it was really cool when
• 13:42
  they let us take the floor and do that?
• 13:44
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 13:45
  I remember, I mean, we were on the,
• 13:47
  there was like double unders,
• 13:48
  there was like 300 double
• 13:49
  unders and we're just like
• 13:49
  smiling at each other.
• 13:51
  And we get off and Scott's like, all right,
• 13:53
  you're on the heavy bar.
• 13:56
  he's retired he hasn't been
• 13:57
  training as as much and
• 13:59
  he's just like pushing me
• 14:00
  forward um and anytime we
• 14:02
  drop like he would just
• 14:03
  like he was behind he was
• 14:04
  just like pick up the bar
• 14:06
  um and then obviously saxon
• 14:09
  came over and was cheering
• 14:09
  us on and I was laughing
• 14:11
  because saxon's like I was
• 14:12
  gonna hop on that third bar
• 14:13
  because they ended up they
• 14:14
  were one of the the few
• 14:15
  teams that beat us but I'm
• 14:17
  like man that would have
• 14:18
  been really cool if you
• 14:18
  jumped on the the 135 pound bar
• 14:22
  but yeah that was I mean
• 14:24
  that's that's one of my
• 14:25
  highlight moments for sure
• 14:26
  yeah it's just it's because
• 14:30
  of the situation and it
• 14:32
  just being the two of you
• 14:33
  it's something nobody else
• 14:34
  is probably going to
• 14:35
  experience as brothers like
• 14:37
  on the floor like that so
• 14:38
  it was just really cool
• 14:39
  yeah anytime I get a chance
• 14:40
  to compete with those guys
• 14:42
  and wadapalooza has always
• 14:43
  done a really good job at it
• 14:46
  It's just, it's so fun.
• 14:47
  I remember it was two years
• 14:50
  ago at Water Palooza,
• 14:51
  but like we were all in
• 14:52
  like the three lanes next
• 14:54
  to each other and we all
• 14:55
  did pretty well in the event.
• 14:56
  But to like be able to be
• 14:58
  under the lights and just
• 14:59
  look and it's like, man,
• 15:01
  there's not that many,
• 15:02
  like there's a very small
• 15:04
  percent of people that
• 15:05
  compete at the highest
• 15:06
  level in the sport and to
• 15:07
  be able to do it with your two brothers,
• 15:09
  like that was always like,
• 15:10
  that's pretty darn cool to be able to do.
• 15:15
  So I also saw on your Instagram that,
• 15:17
  that you have made an
• 15:19
  attempt at tactical games.
• 15:20
  Yeah.
• 15:22
  Is that something new that
• 15:23
  you've dove into and really enjoy?
• 15:26
  Yeah.
• 15:27
  I had a chance to go out and
• 15:29
  train with Hefner and,
• 15:31
  once I went out with him, I was like, Oh,
• 15:33
  man, this is like, really, really fun.
• 15:35
  But I have a fitness and I
• 15:37
  was always passionate about
• 15:38
  police and first responders.
• 15:40
  And anytime I get a chance
• 15:43
  to really surround myself with those guys,
• 15:45
  I want to be able to do that.
• 15:46
  And going out and training with them.
• 15:48
  I was like, this is this is fun.
• 15:50
  This is I have half of it.
• 15:53
  I went in and I did a little
• 15:55
  bit of the police academy.
• 15:56
  So I had a little bit exposure to
• 15:59
  shooting and, and, uh, that kind of,
• 16:02
  that kind of stuff.
• 16:03
  And I think, uh,
• 16:06
  I think being able to blend
• 16:08
  the two together, it's, it's even, it's,
• 16:12
  I'm trying to think of the
• 16:13
  best way to describe it.
• 16:16
  It's humbling.
• 16:17
  It's very humbling.
• 16:19
  Um, cause you have,
• 16:20
  you have people that can shoot,
• 16:21
  you have people that have
• 16:21
  fitness and you have people
• 16:22
  that obviously do both of them.
• 16:24
  And, um,
• 16:27
  Again, it's just like CrossFit.
• 16:28
  The person that's the most
• 16:29
  well-rounded is going to be
• 16:30
  the most successful in that sport.
• 16:33
  Well, I've had Margo on,
• 16:35
  and I've had E. Shershon,
• 16:38
  both former CrossFitters
• 16:39
  who have dove into tactical.
• 16:42
  E., she's dominating the tactical games.
• 16:47
  She was a prison guard who
• 16:49
  was a CrossFitter.
• 16:51
  The blend of the two just
• 16:52
  fit her perfectly.
• 16:53
  Yeah.
• 16:55
  Yeah,
• 16:56
  I hope we start to see more
• 16:57
  CrossFitters kind of switch over to that.
• 16:58
  And again,
• 16:59
  I think that's kind of a – I
• 17:01
  think that's a cool
• 17:03
  transition through – I
• 17:06
  don't want to say out of CrossFit, but –
• 17:09
  it gives you more events to
• 17:10
  be able to train for.
• 17:11
  And again, as you get older in the space,
• 17:13
  like you want to like,
• 17:14
  like everybody's competitive.
• 17:16
  Everybody wants,
• 17:16
  like some people go run marathons.
• 17:18
  Some people do five Ks.
• 17:20
  Some people do Spartan races.
• 17:24
  And I look at this,
• 17:25
  this sport is something similar to that.
• 17:27
  And it's all right.
• 17:28
  This is like,
• 17:29
  it's cool because it's
• 17:30
  bringing awareness to
• 17:31
  fitness and heart rate.
• 17:33
  And you have to really be
• 17:34
  able to manage all of those
• 17:36
  things together.
• 17:38
  Yeah, and there's a lot of CrossFit.
• 17:39
  You mentioned Jacob, Jared Stevens.
• 17:42
  There's a lot of
• 17:44
  CrossFitters switching over
• 17:45
  to this and really having a good time.
• 17:47
  Yeah,
• 17:48
  I think Cody Anderson is another one
• 17:50
  in there.
• 17:50
  He was at the Games.
• 17:51
  Okay.
• 17:53
  So, yeah,
• 17:54
  I'm doing two later after the
• 17:56
  Games this year.
• 17:57
  I set them later at the end
• 18:00
  of the season so I can
• 18:00
  really dive and have a
• 18:02
  couple months to really
• 18:03
  train hard for it.
• 18:04
  But I'm excited about it for sure.
• 18:06
  Yeah.
• 18:07
  I'd love to have you back on
• 18:08
  to talk about it.
• 18:09
  It's something that just
• 18:09
  really fascinates me in that space.
• 18:12
  Cause it's,
• 18:13
  it's the same type of community
• 18:16
  with just like some different goals.
• 18:18
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 18:20
  And everybody's, I mean, from what Jacob,
• 18:23
  what's Jacob has told me in,
• 18:24
  in a few of the
• 18:25
  interactions that I've had
• 18:26
  with a lot of those people is it's,
• 18:29
  it's such a tight knit
• 18:30
  community and everybody's
• 18:31
  willing to help and, and,
• 18:33
  if you're going to compete,
• 18:35
  there's people it's like, Hey, like,
• 18:36
  what do you need?
• 18:37
  What can you, what can I lend you that,
• 18:39
  that you can use to just
• 18:40
  get your feet in it.
• 18:41
  And again, it's, it's,
• 18:42
  it's a sport that I look at it.
• 18:44
  And again, I,
• 18:47
  I have a very high level of
• 18:49
  fitness and I'm okay at shooting.
• 18:53
  But to be able to have a lot
• 18:54
  of the people that are like
• 18:54
  really good at shooting that it's, hey,
• 18:57
  like I recommend this.
• 18:59
  If you need to borrow this,
• 18:59
  I can send it to you.
• 19:00
  I can help you get your guns dialed in.
• 19:04
  And there's so many people
• 19:06
  that are just willing to
• 19:08
  help you get set up in that space.
• 19:13
  Corey Leonard says only
• 19:14
  sickos run marathons.
• 19:17
  I know I've run two, finished one.
• 19:21
  So let's get to semifinals a little bit.
• 19:26
  You're going back again.
• 19:28
  This has been, what,
• 19:29
  like your sixth or seventh semifinal now?
• 19:31
  Yeah, something like that.
• 19:34
  Counting regionals and all of that.
• 19:37
  We're in Knoxville.
• 19:38
  The workouts have been released.
• 19:41
  I talked to Saxon,
• 19:43
  like you guys are classic CrossFitters,
• 19:44
  right?
• 19:45
  You grew up with the sport.
• 19:48
  If you take these workouts
• 19:50
  and drop them in to 2015,
• 19:52
  they still work.
• 19:53
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 19:55
  Is that an advantage for
• 19:56
  someone like a paycheck?
• 19:59
  I would say so.
• 20:00
  I think, I mean, a lot of it is just,
• 20:04
  it's so hard because we have them in,
• 20:07
  We got them like four or five weeks early.
• 20:08
  So everybody's going to get
• 20:09
  a chance to be able to get
• 20:10
  comfortable with them.
• 20:11
  And us being the last semi-final, I mean,
• 20:14
  people run through them.
• 20:15
  I mean,
• 20:15
  some people run through them
• 20:16
  probably four or five times.
• 20:17
  I wouldn't be surprised.
• 20:20
  So I think each week you're
• 20:23
  going to be able to see
• 20:25
  people and scores really progress.
• 20:30
  I think – I mean,
• 20:31
  obviously CrossFit left out, like,
• 20:33
  some of the different standards of, like,
• 20:35
  how are you going to hold the dumbbells.
• 20:37
  They just released that
• 20:38
  we're going to be running outside.
• 20:39
  But, yeah,
• 20:40
  I look at it as it's – we always
• 20:42
  talk about it as, like, your CrossFit IQ.
• 20:46
  And it's how comfortable are
• 20:47
  you with these workouts?
• 20:48
  Do you know your paces?
• 20:49
  Yeah.
• 20:52
  And every workout is just a
• 20:54
  fine blend of everything.
• 20:55
  I can't find one workout in
• 20:58
  there that's like,
• 20:59
  this is for just an
• 21:02
  endurance person or this is
• 21:03
  for just a strong person.
• 21:05
  The strength, for instance,
• 21:06
  it's like you have to be
• 21:06
  able to have the capacity
• 21:09
  to be able to move a barbell for 30 reps.
• 21:12
  Just like in quarterfinals
• 21:13
  where most people got to
• 21:15
  the last bar and they were
• 21:18
  top level athletes were
• 21:19
  between 20 and 30 reps some
• 21:21
  people just a little bit
• 21:22
  above that but it wasn't
• 21:24
  necessarily like your top
• 21:25
  tier strong athletes that
• 21:27
  went and won that workout
• 21:28
  like you had to be able to
• 21:29
  have the capacity to get
• 21:30
  through all of those light
• 21:31
  bars relatively fast and
• 21:34
  still be able to move that
• 21:35
  heavy bar same thing with
• 21:37
  the endurance event it's
• 21:39
  185 like a 185 clean and
• 21:40
  jerk like I mean you're not
• 21:42
  gonna you're not gonna really
• 21:47
  Your light guys aren't going
• 21:47
  to be able to cycle that
• 21:48
  barbell as fast as a strong person,
• 21:52
  but they're going to be
• 21:54
  able to make up time on that run.
• 21:55
  So you're going to see a lot
• 21:57
  of back and forth on that.
• 21:59
  And I really think that's
• 22:01
  how all the events are.
• 22:03
  Yeah, I completely agree.
• 22:05
  Boz did reveal that the
• 22:07
  dumbbells are farmer's carry.
• 22:09
  Oh, did he?
• 22:10
  I didn't even see that.
• 22:12
  Yeah, it was on Barbell Spin a week ago.
• 22:14
  Got it.
• 22:15
  Wow, man, I'm out of it.
• 22:16
  I didn't even see that.
• 22:18
  I remember picking those up.
• 22:19
  I was like, dang, man, this is crazy.
• 22:24
  And then every time I played with it,
• 22:25
  I was like, oh, all right.
• 22:26
  This feels a lot more comfortable.
• 22:28
  And again, I think something like that,
• 22:30
  you look at it as these events,
• 22:33
  if you look at them as games events,
• 22:35
  and it's like, all right,
• 22:37
  this is your next event.
• 22:38
  Hour ago, warm up.
• 22:40
  And it's all right.
• 22:41
  how well am I going to be
• 22:42
  able to adapt and be able
• 22:43
  to really come up with a
• 22:44
  solid game plan without
• 22:45
  being able to run through those workouts?
• 22:47
  And kind of like what we
• 22:48
  talked about earlier, how,
• 22:52
  how the semifinals quarterfinals,
• 22:55
  the open are completely
• 22:56
  different than the games.
• 22:59
  Exactly.
• 22:59
  So you can stop trading the
• 23:01
  overhead walking Lodge with that.
• 23:04
  I actually did.
• 23:04
  And I was,
• 23:05
  I figured they'd be on the side
• 23:06
  and then I was like, ah,
• 23:08
  I looked at it.
• 23:08
  I'm like, that's pretty heavy.
• 23:10
  I mean, that's a pretty heavy weight.
• 23:11
  70 is pretty heavy for the girls.
• 23:14
  Um, I mean, I saw some girls doing it,
• 23:16
  which is insane, but I mean,
• 23:17
  even for the guys, it's pretty heavy.
• 23:19
  And I just, yeah,
• 23:21
  I figured they'd probably be on the side,
• 23:22
  but you never know.
• 23:24
  I figured they'd maybe say, get them,
• 23:26
  get them down any way you can.
• 23:29
  The only thing they haven't
• 23:30
  really talked about is what
• 23:32
  the handstand walk is going to be.
• 23:34
  Yeah.
• 23:36
  So what we'll find out what
• 23:38
  it less than a day.
• 23:39
  Yeah.
• 23:40
  I think for, for that event, I mean,
• 23:44
  whether you go fast or you do obstacles,
• 23:45
  I still think, I mean, you'll,
• 23:48
  I feel like you'll still get a,
• 23:49
  a relatively similar result.
• 23:52
  That's just my opinion with your,
• 23:54
  with your top love.
• 23:55
  Obviously if you have like
• 23:57
  handstand ramps with like
• 23:57
  parallettes in between or
• 23:59
  something like that.
• 24:00
  Um,
• 24:01
  but I think if you're doing like
• 24:02
  pirouettes and stuff like that,
• 24:05
  So you were at West Coast Classic in 21,
• 24:08
  right?
• 24:08
  With the snatch ladder.
• 24:10
  Yeah.
• 24:13
  I blew up in that one.
• 24:15
  Are you excited to take it
• 24:16
  on a second time?
• 24:17
  I'm very excited.
• 24:18
  I think it's actually one of
• 24:20
  my favorite tests that
• 24:21
  CrossFit has put out.
• 24:26
  I think with it being,
• 24:27
  I think it's event five.
• 24:29
  I think it's going to be a lot different.
• 24:32
  I think...
• 24:33
  think you'll you'll really
• 24:34
  be able to see different
• 24:36
  athletes shine in it yeah
• 24:39
  the past two times they've
• 24:40
  done it it's been event one
• 24:42
  yeah and I still think I i
• 24:45
  still think you'll have
• 24:45
  people put up like top
• 24:47
  scores that would would
• 24:48
  have been a top score then
• 24:50
  um but I don't think it'll
• 24:52
  be as many yeah there's a
• 24:55
  lot of squatting before
• 24:56
  that this weekend yeah
• 25:00
  Yeah, so they're squat snatches, right?
• 25:03
  They have to be squat
• 25:04
  snatches in that ladder.
• 25:05
  Yeah.
• 25:05
  So that's a lot, man.
• 25:07
  Yeah, for sure.
• 25:09
  For sure.
• 25:09
  That'll be a fun event.
• 25:11
  I think Sunday will be a
• 25:12
  very exciting day to watch at the semis.
• 25:16
  Oh, I agree.
• 25:18
  I think really they've done
• 25:19
  an awesome job programming this year.
• 25:21
  Absolutely.
• 25:22
  Way more balanced.
• 25:23
  Yeah.
• 25:25
  if, if you haven't seen it,
• 25:27
  I think barbell spin did an
• 25:28
  analysis of like,
• 25:30
  they always do this thing.
• 25:31
  Like what workout impacted
• 25:33
  the weekend the most.
• 25:35
  And like during quarterfinals, it was a,
• 25:37
  it was an even split.
• 25:38
  Nothing,
• 25:39
  nothing would above anything else.
• 25:41
  And looking at these workouts,
• 25:43
  the prediction is it'll be the same.
• 25:46
  I agree with that.
• 25:47
  I think, um,
• 25:48
  Yeah, like I said,
• 25:49
  I look at all the events and I'm like,
• 25:50
  man, I don't see one event that it's like,
• 25:53
  all right,
• 25:54
  this favors a certain body type
• 25:56
  or a certain type of athlete.
• 25:59
  So what is the realistic
• 26:00
  goal for semifinals?
• 26:03
  To cut it close again?
• 26:04
  To make your family like...
• 26:06
  It's never going to cut it close.
• 26:09
  For me,
• 26:10
  I think it's to be able to just
• 26:11
  show up the best athlete that I can and
• 26:14
  I know exactly what I'm capable of.
• 26:16
  And if I can go out and just execute,
• 26:17
  I'll be extremely happy with my outcome.
• 26:22
  Yeah.
• 26:24
  Corey says, wait,
• 26:25
  you can't power the last two at 265?
• 26:28
  That's BS.
• 26:31
  I know somebody would if they could.
• 26:32
  Yeah.
• 26:34
  Yeah.
• 26:36
  All I remember from that
• 26:37
  West coast classic was Tola
• 26:38
  trying to go touch a go over that last.
• 26:41
  Yeah.
• 26:42
  Yeah.
• 26:43
  And missing it.
• 26:45
  Yeah.
• 26:46
  I mean, that's, I mean, he, he,
• 26:48
  he put himself in a
• 26:49
  position to be able to do
• 26:50
  it would have been really cool.
• 26:53
  I think that's what I love
• 26:54
  about the sport is a lot of
• 26:56
  times the athletes take
• 26:57
  advantage of that shot to
• 26:59
  do something really cool.
• 27:01
  Yeah.
• 27:01
  And that's what I think.
• 27:02
  I think that's what's
• 27:03
  awesome about the CrossFit
• 27:04
  Games is you have so many
• 27:05
  events that you're able to
• 27:07
  do that a lot more.
• 27:09
  I look back at my history
• 27:12
  competing and I've tried to
• 27:13
  take those shots at points
• 27:17
  that I should not have and it backfired.
• 27:21
  And I think it's really
• 27:22
  being able to be smart and
• 27:24
  understand there's a time
• 27:26
  and place to be able to do that and
• 27:29
  You could end your season.
• 27:32
  You really could end your
• 27:33
  season if you miss fire.
• 27:38
  You told me when we were
• 27:40
  hanging out at your gym for Rogue that...
• 27:45
  always got to do it for the
• 27:46
  people so now as you've
• 27:48
  gotten older you're saying
• 27:50
  you don't always do it for
• 27:51
  the people you wait for
• 27:53
  your moment to do it for
• 27:54
  the people yeah you you
• 27:56
  know your capabilities and
• 27:58
  then you do it for the
• 27:59
  people there we go because
• 28:04
  young spencer it was just
• 28:06
  you always do it for the
• 28:07
  people yeah and that was I
• 28:08
  mean my year at west coast
• 28:10
  that was I mean I went in and I and
• 28:13
  my goal was to go and put
• 28:14
  try and put up a top score
• 28:15
  in every event and I mean I
• 28:17
  won one of I won an event
• 28:19
  there but I also really
• 28:21
  ruined my weekend and
• 28:23
  another event there by
• 28:24
  trying to do the same thing
• 28:26
  and again there was one
• 28:27
  event that I knew exactly
• 28:29
  what I was capable of and
• 28:30
  that was something that I
• 28:31
  could really throttle down
• 28:33
  and it paid um and there
• 28:35
  was an event that I'm like
• 28:36
  I'm gonna do it like this
• 28:38
  is like I trained for this and
• 28:40
  I was not completely aware
• 28:43
  of my capabilities and it
• 28:45
  was actually the run, but like,
• 28:47
  I just wasn't smart about
• 28:48
  how I approached it.
• 28:49
  And again, that, I mean,
• 28:51
  that ruined my weekend.
• 28:52
  And I mean, I truly believe it.
• 28:54
  It knocked me out from going
• 28:56
  to the games that year.
• 28:59
  Yeah.
• 28:59
  You,
• 28:59
  you had some ups and downs that weekend.
• 29:02
  Like you set a world record
• 29:04
  in the one event.
• 29:06
  And it was an event that
• 29:08
  Matt Fraser had done
• 29:09
  previous and you beat his
• 29:10
  time by like a minute.
• 29:11
  Yeah.
• 29:13
  Yeah.
• 29:13
  And I think, again,
• 29:14
  I think it's being able to
• 29:15
  know your capabilities.
• 29:16
  And that's something that
• 29:18
  I've really explored
• 29:20
  through training this last
• 29:22
  year is being able to find
• 29:25
  that line in training.
• 29:25
  And that's the time.
• 29:27
  That is the time to be able to do it,
• 29:29
  not on the competition
• 29:30
  floor and to be able to
• 29:32
  become more aware of your
• 29:34
  capabilities through
• 29:35
  training so that you can go
• 29:36
  out on the floor and have
• 29:37
  moments like that.
• 29:40
  that are good,
• 29:40
  not bad moments where it's like, ah,
• 29:42
  like I'm not sure,
• 29:43
  but I'm going to push it
• 29:44
  and not be smart.
• 29:46
  And you end up taking a
• 29:48
  bottom of the pack finish.
• 29:51
  So I'm going to finish with this,
• 29:53
  that West coast classic.
• 29:55
  So old Spence,
• 29:57
  you had a workout that you
• 29:58
  knew was a home run.
• 30:00
  You knew that you could give
• 30:01
  it all you got.
• 30:03
  Are you an athlete today
• 30:04
  that if you were going back
• 30:05
  to West Coast Classic with
• 30:06
  the same workouts,
• 30:08
  would you go as hard in that workout?
• 30:09
  Or are you a different
• 30:11
  athlete now where you kind
• 30:14
  of pull back on that a
• 30:15
  little bit and just win by a little?
• 30:19
  No, I think a workout like that –
• 30:23
  I'm very very comfortable
• 30:25
  and and understand my
• 30:26
  capabilities and those
• 30:27
  specific movements that yes
• 30:29
  I can push something like
• 30:30
  that and I can ride that
• 30:31
  red line and if I cross
• 30:33
  that red line I'm able to
• 30:35
  dial it back just a little
• 30:37
  bit and still be able to
• 30:38
  finish um so yeah like that
• 30:41
  event I i wouldn't change
• 30:42
  and I'd maybe even push it
• 30:43
  a little bit more today um
• 30:49
  But yeah, I think an event like that,
• 30:50
  like I would,
• 30:51
  I would really push and I
• 30:52
  think other events I would
• 30:53
  dial it back and I'd be like, all right,
• 30:55
  like this is what I'm
• 30:56
  capable of in this and do
• 30:58
  not cross that threshold.
• 31:02
  So that beast is still in
• 31:03
  there wanting to get out.
• 31:05
  Oh, it's there.
• 31:06
  It's there.
• 31:06
  You can't, you can't lose that.
• 31:10
  Well, Spence, this has been a blast.
• 31:12
  I want to thank you so much
• 31:13
  for doing this.
• 31:14
  Thank everybody in the chat
• 31:14
  for being here.
• 31:15
  Good luck in Knoxville.
• 31:19
  I'm still trying to get down there.
• 31:20
  So that's the one I probably can get to.
• 31:23
  So hopefully we'll see you down there.
• 31:25
  Heck yeah, I appreciate it.
• 31:26
  Thanks for having me on.
• 31:27
  Yeah, thank you everybody in the chat.
• 31:28
  We'll see you next time on
• 31:30
  the Clydesdale Media Podcast.
• 31:32
  Bye, guys.