Latest / Clydesdale Media Podcast / Shanna Bunce - 55-59 Year old Champion | Clydesdale Champions Series

Transcript

Shanna Bunce - 55-59 Year old Champion | Clydesdale Champions Series · Clydesdale Media Podcast

• 0:01
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  On Clydesdale Media, where we bring you the widest array of content here on our YouTube channel.
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• 0:32
  What is everybody welcome?
• 0:35
  I asked my name on the class day.
• 0:38
  I'm being a little bit of an issue for the moment.
• 0:41
  It's very long episode, but I have with me Shanna Bunce.
• 0:49
  So super excited to have her with me.
• 0:52
  She is a three time CrossFit Games competitor.
• 0:55
  She is a champion at Legends and so much more.
• 0:58
  Welcome to the show, Shanna.
• 1:01
  Thank you, Scott.
• 1:04
  So we were talking before we got on air that this isn't regular for a master's athlete, that you guys don't get the exposure that other athletes do in the space.
• 1:17
  How important do you think that is for the growth of the age group athletes?
• 1:25
  I think it's important to get exposure just so people of our age group know what's potentially possible or know that they can do CrossFit and be healthy and get fit.
• 1:42
  So what I find fascinating is I was researching you and you kind of, you've never, you were never an athlete growing up and you kind of accidentally found CrossFit.
• 1:57
  Yeah.
• 1:58
  I really accidentally found CrossFit.
• 2:00
  Yeah.
• 2:01
  Yeah.
• 2:02
  It was a gym that was three blocks from my place of work.
• 2:08
  And one of my coworkers had said, oh, you should go try it out.
• 2:11
  And I walked in and had no idea what it was.
• 2:13
  I'm like, oh, there's a gym close to work.
• 2:16
  It will be convenient.
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  Had no idea what CrossFit was.
• 2:19
  And I had no idea that it was a CrossFit gym.
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  And I walked in and there you go.
• 2:24
  And that was back in 2013?
• 2:25
  Yeah.
• 2:25
  October of 2013.
• 2:26
  Okay.
• 2:32
  Yeah, I got put through my like a little movement assessment and then I got started in a class and I was like way, yeah, surprising.
• 2:42
  It was quite interesting.
• 2:45
  So, I mean, I found CrossFit in my 40s.
• 2:51
  So it was later in life for me and it was life changing for myself.
• 2:56
  What were your initial thoughts when you walked into that gym?
• 3:01
  Well, I was absolutely shocked at what everybody was doing.
• 3:09
  And the classes that I was attending had a really wide range of ages and a wide range of fitness and body types.
• 3:22
  And I was just astounded by what everybody was doing and just shocked by...
• 3:31
  the fitness levels of some of the people that were in that gym.
• 3:38
  And I was hoping that, you know, I just remember thinking I want to be as fit as these people, but man, that was a long way out because I couldn't even do, I think I could do four pushups to a 30 inch box.
• 3:52
  And that was my limit.
• 3:54
  You know, I was so unfit.
• 3:56
  and just so deconditioned.
• 3:58
  And yeah, it was, I, yeah, it was just, it was amazing just to walk in and just see like the spectrum of, of athletes and ages and just like what can happen if you, if you stick with it long enough.
• 4:15
  So your profession is a profession where health and fitness are important, correct?
• 4:23
  Yes, correct.
• 4:25
  Yes.
• 4:26
  And the audience, you are a... I'm a pediatrician.
• 4:32
  You are.
• 4:34
  And so you deal... You know, we sometimes get some contradictory thoughts from the medical profession into CrossFit that it might be dangerous.
• 4:44
  Did you have any reservations when you walked in with the movements that were happening?
• 4:50
  No, not at all.
• 4:51
  No, I... You know, it was...
• 4:54
  I think right around the time I joined, like maybe a year or so afterwards is when all that, the lawsuit or whatever kind of came out from CrossFit.
• 5:05
  And I remember, you know, people talking about CrossFit suing, I forgot whatever that entity was.
• 5:14
  But I just remember, no, it was not, did not ever seem dangerous.
• 5:18
  And again, when I walked into the box and I first started attending classes and with the ranger was like,
• 5:23
  people older than I was that was doing CrossFit and they were doing it well.
• 5:27
  And it was really, it was really neat to see.
• 5:30
  And I never, never thought it was a dangerous, dangerous sport.
• 5:35
  I mean, moving your body, I mean, you can, you can hurt yourself tripping off, you know, a curb.
• 5:44
  So my last question before we dive into some of the competition stuff is, do your patients know that you're a bad-ass?
• 5:52
  Um, no, well, not the babies, but, um, no, no.
• 6:00
  I mean, I get, you know, I get comments from some of the parents sometimes, um, like in the clinic or whatever, but no, nobody really knows.
• 6:08
  I mean, yeah, I don't think anybody in my whole community, except for my neighbors know what I do.
• 6:14
  Neighbors only know, you know, some equipment in my gym and I have a gym door open and I sometimes drag it.
• 6:22
  carry a yoke or do crazy things out in the street.
• 6:27
  That's about it.
• 6:28
  You just get the funny looks.
• 6:33
  I totally get the funny looks.
• 6:36
  I'll have the sled out there and people are driving.
• 6:39
  We have really narrow streets.
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  I live in a small town and we have these narrow streets without sidewalks.
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  If I have a piece of equipment out on the edge of the street, everybody has to drive around a little bit and
• 6:50
  You know, they're giving me the eye.
• 6:54
  There's that crazy woman out there again doing these weird things.
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  So hopefully, I think it's rubbing off.
• 7:02
  I think it's rubbing off on my neighbors.
• 7:08
  One of our listeners, and I'm actually having the glitch again, Jeffrey Birchfield, he pulls a sled in front of his house all the time.
• 7:17
  And so he knows what those looks are about.
• 7:20
  Yeah.
• 7:24
  Um, so you go to legends, um, this year you have been to the games three times.
• 7:33
  It was, it was such a beautiful facility at legends this year.
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  What were your thoughts when you arrived?
• 7:39
  Yeah, I was, it was impressive.
• 7:43
  Um,
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  Yeah, I, it was, it was fantastically laid out and I loved all the space that we had.
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  We had so much space for like the athlete village area.
• 7:55
  Um, and it was like the two floors.
• 7:59
  They, they just look great.
• 8:02
  Um, there was nice and roomy and they have these, you know, very high ceilings and it looked like a, like it looked like a real venue.
• 8:09
  Yeah.
• 8:11
  Yeah, I've been to a lot of events.
• 8:14
  It was so modern compared to a lot of CrossFit competitions.
• 8:19
  And the athlete village area was awesome.
• 8:23
  Getting to just walk around and talk to the athletes, it was amazing.
• 8:28
  Well, we had so much room.
• 8:30
  And, you know, in the past, sometimes we've had to be so crammed into smaller spaces.
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  And you're almost like laying on top of one another.
• 8:38
  You know, you have to watch where you're walking so much you don't tread on somebody.
• 8:43
  And this was so nice because everybody could spread out and just have enough room to do whatever they wanted.
• 8:49
  Yeah, it was great.
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  It was nice for me, too.
• 8:54
  It was.
• 8:56
  So I'm not from the West Coast.
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  And I'm not from that desert area for sure.
• 9:01
  It was crazy to me that you could be in the sun and it felt like 90.
• 9:04
  And the minute you stepped in the shade, it dropped 20 degrees.
• 9:08
  Yeah.
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  Thank goodness for that.
• 9:12
  Yeah.
• 9:12
  Yeah.
• 9:14
  Um, so I actually have a video of you, uh, doing some dumbbell work at legends.
• 9:18
  So I'm going to go ahead and play.
• 9:19
  That's only about 10 seconds long, but just so the audience, uh, what it looks like when you do some work.
• 9:27
  And this is from be relentless.
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  Uh, he's a great, uh, content creator.
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  Check him out on Instagram.
• 9:37
  But that's not me.
• 9:39
  That's not you.
• 9:40
  Oh my gosh.
• 9:41
  I saw that.
• 9:43
  My apologies.
• 9:44
  My apologies.
• 9:45
  We'll get that right.
• 9:46
  We'll get that right.
• 9:47
  We'll get something for you.
• 9:48
  For sure.
• 9:50
  Yeah.
• 9:51
  Just, just, but you did go on to win the 55 to 59 year old division.
• 9:53
  I did.
• 9:54
  Yeah.
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  Um, you won three events, uh,
• 10:06
  So I'm going to ask you, you started off with a fifth and a second.
• 10:12
  Was that the plan with the swim going into the first day that that wasn't necessarily your best event?
• 10:18
  Yeah.
• 10:18
  Well, you know, this is like the first time I've swam in an event like this in a competition.
• 10:26
  So it was really hard to really know what to expect out of it.
• 10:32
  I wasn't sure I was going to win it because I had breaststroke.
• 10:35
  Um, my breaststroke is a little bit faster than when I freestyle for whatever reason.
• 10:40
  So I choose to do the breaststroke, um, which is probably slower still than other people's freestyle.
• 10:46
  So I was going to just try to, I wanted to try to finish it and I was maybe five strokes from finishing.
• 10:55
  Um, that was my goal.
• 10:55
  So I didn't attain my goal.
• 10:57
  Um, I'm wasn't the happiest with the fifth place, but, um,
• 11:02
  Given the fact that this was probably like my first real swimming competition where you had to kind of sprint and go for it, I thought it went okay.
• 11:14
  The other thing about the games when we have the intervals, and that was a whole different event.
• 11:21
  And it was, you know, you game it a little bit differently.
• 11:24
  So this was good.
• 11:26
  It was all right.
• 11:27
  But it wasn't necessarily a plan.
• 11:28
  You want to win everything.
• 11:31
  Yeah.
• 11:33
  Um, and then you go, you take a fifth in the swim, you then move to under pressure where you, where's the lip and you take a second.
• 11:42
  Yep.
• 11:44
  That was crazy.
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  I wasn't expecting that at all.
• 11:48
  Okay.
• 11:49
  So is strength not normally your strength?
• 11:54
  Um, it's, it's,
• 11:57
  I would say I'm mid-upper pack with my strength, maybe.
• 12:27
  So Shanna, your audio cut out on that one for some reason.
• 12:33
  Can you try to talk again?
• 12:36
  Can you hear me?
• 12:38
  I can now.
• 12:39
  Yeah.
• 12:41
  I'm sorry.
• 12:41
  Can you repeat that about the strength again?
• 12:44
  Yes.
• 12:44
  It's not my strength.
• 12:49
  I'm not going to spill.
• 12:52
  But I hope that, you know, I like to be mid upper pack and usually it's not so bad that I'm going to fall horribly, you know, in points as far as a strength event goes.
• 13:08
  And then you go on a run of first first on Saturday with Hell's Bells and Jump.
• 13:17
  Yeah, crazy.
• 13:20
  So what bells was the grip workout where you had to pay a penalty if you let go of the equipment during that event?
• 13:32
  How did that go for you?
• 13:33
  That went great.
• 13:35
  I had a lot of fun with that one.
• 13:37
  That was a fun event.
• 13:59
  and she was a little bit maybe ahead of me by the time we got to the back end of the um the workout where we had to do the devil's presses and so we had a little bit of a race going and i was um able to kind of
• 14:16
  eek ahead of her and make it to the finish line first.
• 14:20
  Yeah.
• 14:23
  And then you go into jump, which is the rope climb event, another first.
• 14:29
  Yeah.
• 14:35
  So Shannon, I think your head might be dying because they're cutting out every once in a while.
• 14:41
  Okay.
• 14:48
  Yeah, I've lost you totally now.
• 15:03
  So while Shannon's doing that, I still can't hear you.
• 15:13
  So now you're muted.
• 15:20
  So you're muted, Shanna?
• 15:25
  How about now?
• 15:27
  Now I'm good.
• 15:28
  Okay, great.
• 15:30
  Sorry about that.
• 15:32
  No problem.
• 15:33
  So you go into the rope climb event and you win that.
• 15:36
  Yeah.
• 15:37
  Was that an expectation you had?
• 15:40
  Um, yes, that's what I was hoping to win.
• 15:43
  Um, because I am really good at rope climbs and, um, I usually win every rope climb event that I'm in.
• 15:53
  So I was hoping I was going to win that one, but the dubs are, um, the rope work was the, the, the biggest question for me.
• 16:02
  And, um, just like, uh,
• 16:06
  Anybody else, sometimes you have your dubs really well or your rope work and sometimes you don't.
• 16:12
  And yeah, that was another one that I wanted to finish, but I didn't finish, but I still was able to place first on the event.
• 16:20
  So that was good.
• 16:23
  So that had three types of jump roping.
• 16:25
  You had the heavy rope, you had the crossovers, and then you had the speed rope.
• 16:31
  Correct.
• 16:32
  Did one give you more fits than the other?
• 16:35
  that the last one, the speed rope did.
• 16:40
  I was able to get, yeah, I was able, the heavy ones I was able to accomplish unbroken, which was amazing.
• 16:47
  I was really proud of that.
• 16:49
  The crossovers are not a problem for me really ever, but the speed rope, I think, yeah.
• 16:56
  My bladder wasn't cooperating.
• 16:57
  That is a common problem.
• 17:07
  So that was a little distracting, yeah.
• 17:09
  My co-host on my Thursday night show, she competed as well.
• 17:12
  The speed rope gave her fits as well.
• 17:16
  And it's because you had to use that specific speed rope, which was not one that she had ever used before.
• 17:23
  Yeah, that was a little frustrating for me with the competition because you had to use...
• 17:34
  certain ropes you couldn't use your own and so if you wanted any training on that rope if you didn't already own them you had to buy them and if you didn't have the money to buy them then you're not going to be able to train on them before the event so um
• 17:53
  I feel, yeah.
• 17:53
  So I feel like probably there's some people that were out there as athletes that were really used to those ropes and the equipment and did really well.
• 18:02
  And then there was probably some that the first time they ever tried and was at the event and that can have a big effect on how you do in the workout and where you place.
• 18:12
  So, yeah.
• 18:13
  So I had to spend, you know, a nice little chunk of change to get those ropes because I don't use the speed rope as my normal rope.
• 18:21
  And
• 18:22
  and practice.
• 18:23
  And I was glad that I had the practice before I went in because I don't think it would have gone as well.
• 18:30
  Yeah.
• 18:30
  They are not cheap speed ropes.
• 18:33
  Yeah.
• 18:36
  I think I used it for a couple of weeks before the event and I use it for that one event and it's still in my backpack.
• 18:42
  I don't know if I'll pull it out again or not.
• 18:45
  They're almost too fast for me.
• 18:49
  Um,
• 18:52
  Because they actually used to be a sponsor of ours.
• 18:54
  Yeah.
• 18:56
  So I got to play around with a lot of their equipment.
• 18:59
  And that rope is just so fast.
• 19:02
  Yeah.
• 19:03
  It's definitely different.
• 19:04
  Yeah.
• 19:05
  It's different from the one I practiced with.
• 19:07
  So I was kind of sad.
• 19:09
  I was a little bit sad I couldn't use my own stuff.
• 19:14
  So then you go into Saturday with Ender Sandman and Another One Bites the Dust.
• 19:22
  It looks like the tale of two cities here, the best of times and the worst of times.
• 19:28
  And your Sandman was your worst finish of the weekend.
• 19:32
  Yeah.
• 19:34
  That was the... The bar muscle-up one.
• 19:38
  Correct.
• 19:40
  And the clean and snatch, right?
• 19:41
  Correct.
• 19:42
  Yep.
• 19:42
  Okay.
• 19:45
  So what were your thoughts about that event?
• 19:51
  Well, gymnasts, you know, my thoughts were just to try to do okay, be in the top half.
• 19:58
  Yeah, I thought it was a fun event.
• 20:02
  It looked really great on paper, and I was just hoping I would be able to pull it off.
• 20:09
  And I did better than I expected.
• 20:14
  Well, I did better than I expected.
• 20:16
  I thought maybe I would even do worse than what I had.
• 20:19
  So I was pretty pleased with actually getting that place.
• 20:23
  But part of, yeah, part of, it was kind of comedic because there was a standard printed out
• 20:33
  um, in the movement standards before we went to the competition that, um, said you had to keep your heel, like for the bar muscles, your heels had to be under the bar, not the toes.
• 20:45
  So it was giving you a little bit more wiggle room with your toes.
• 20:49
  And my judge,
• 20:51
  did not have, did not know that standard.
• 20:54
  And it was me and another athlete who was right next to me were getting no reps on our toes.
• 21:00
  And I had to have a discussion while I was doing my bar work with my judge to call over the head judge and clarify.
• 21:09
  So that was kind of funny because I was talking.
• 21:12
  There's a video of me talking to my judge while I'm doing my Florida overheads.
• 21:17
  I'm asking him to call the head judge over.
• 21:20
  And just so when I got back on the bar that we knew exactly what the standard was supposed to be.
• 21:27
  So that was that slowed me down a little bit.
• 21:30
  But I was I was pleased with how it went in general for me being a non-athlete.
• 21:37
  my whole life.
• 21:38
  One of my biggest struggles and CrossFit being a higher level competitor is getting those gymnastic skills and learning how to move my body through space.
• 21:49
  And, you know, these were all like hand walking, ring muscle ups, you know, all that stuff I have attained, you know, as an older person, but it's been a long time learning how to do those and getting strong enough to do them well enough that I don't injure myself.
• 22:09
  Yeah, but then you follow it up with another win.
• 22:14
  Yeah.
• 22:16
  That was a shock.
• 22:17
  That was like, yeah, I did.
• 22:18
  I won a handstand walk workout.
• 22:23
  Nobody expected that from me at all.
• 22:26
  That was like, yeah, that was something I don't think I'm going to forget for an extremely long time.
• 22:35
  You know, there's moments in your life
• 22:38
  you know, in your life when you're, when you're doing these things that, that, that just surprise you and, um, yeah, make you, make you proud.
• 22:49
  I'm, I'm really pleased with that.
• 22:51
  I've was not expecting a win.
• 22:54
  Yeah.
• 22:55
  And it was, again, I had help from Lori, Lori Machesnik again, because she was ahead of me before the last set of 10 cleans.
• 23:04
  And so we had another race.
• 23:06
  So that was helpful for me to kind of come up from behind and try to outlift her in speed.
• 23:14
  But yeah, I was really happy with that.
• 23:19
  Yeah, to me, it seemed like that workout came down to the bottom.
• 23:23
  Barbell cycling, like how, how well you could get through those cleans.
• 23:27
  Yeah.
• 23:29
  That's probably why I won.
• 23:30
  I'm not going to really win it with my handstand walk speed.
• 23:38
  So then you go into the final day.
• 23:39
  Are you leading going into the final day?
• 23:42
  Yeah, I was leading going in.
• 23:45
  Yeah.
• 23:46
  Were you confident that you could hold off everybody in those final two events?
• 23:52
  Yeah, I had enough of a lead that I didn't have to work too hard if I didn't want to.
• 24:00
  And I ask that because like my co-host who won her division too, she went into Sunday and just had to be safe.
• 24:14
  Right.
• 24:14
  Yep.
• 24:15
  That's how it was.
• 24:16
  Yep.
• 24:17
  And so she chose not to chase on the next to last event.
• 24:23
  So she had more left for the last event.
• 24:25
  Okay.
• 24:30
  What were your thoughts going into those two events?
• 24:33
  Um, was just to, to be safe, like just to, just to do my, to do, to do well enough to be proud of my effort.
• 24:45
  Um, I knew I didn't have to win either one of those.
• 24:49
  Um, so it was kind of a little bit of a relief because I was ahead enough that I just knew I had to put a good effort in and I'd be fine.
• 25:00
  Um, and it was really nice to be in a position like that, or you're not having to, um,
• 25:12
  you know, just really eke out and just kill yourself on the floor for those points.
• 25:18
  Um, so that was, that was a nice position to be in.
• 25:22
  I'm not always in those positions and, um, yeah, so it was kind of, it was a neat, it was a neat event because I, I just finished it and I was, I played, I played it relatively safe.
• 25:33
  Um,
• 25:34
  And I had a competitor of mine that won them both.
• 25:38
  She, she had to, her name is Christy Lenny and she won them both back to back.
• 25:47
  She did extremely well.
• 25:48
  And she, with those two finishes was able to, I think she jumped from like seventh place to second going.
• 25:56
  Yeah.
• 25:56
  Second.
• 25:57
  So she podiumed.
• 25:58
  So it was kind of, it was fun for her.
• 26:00
  It was good to see her, but for myself, I didn't have as much pressure.
• 26:06
  So in researching you, I look through your Instagram.
• 26:10
  You take a lot of selfies.
• 26:13
  Oh, with athletes?
• 26:17
  And CrossFit celebrities that show up at events.
• 26:21
  How much fun is that for you?
• 26:30
  It's kind of, it's fun.
• 26:32
  It's, it's probably the novelties wearing off a little bit and maybe people are like happy about that.
• 26:37
  Cause there's not this crazy old lady coming up to them, you know, asking for a selfie.
• 26:43
  Um, yeah, it started in like, it started, you know, you, you grew up in the space and there's all these, these athletes that I have always, you know, followed or looked up to, or just aspired to be like, or you have your,
• 27:00
  your own personal kind of CrossFit heroes.
• 27:03
  And yeah, you know, when you start running into them, whether it's at like a Wadapalooza or at some kind of competition, it's, I don't know, it's shocking, you know, to be in the same room as some of these people because they're like idols.
• 27:20
  And yeah, I kind of started the whole thing.
• 27:23
  I was just so tickled to sometimes be in the presence of greatness and,
• 27:30
  wanted, you know, wanted to get the selfies.
• 27:32
  So I did.
• 27:33
  And, uh, it's, it was been a fun, it's been fun doing it.
• 27:37
  Um, and I think that I don't do it nearly as much as I did.
• 27:42
  Um, and my only regret, like I, I, my only regret is I almost got the trilogy.
• 27:49
  I almost got Vellner, Pekowski and Adler, um, this past year.
• 27:55
  And I was really bummed that that didn't happen.
• 27:58
  Um, um,
• 28:00
  I felt like they didn't want to be bothered.
• 28:02
  But, you know, when we were at the flag, the opening ceremony at the games and everybody's not warming up and nobody's in their competition mind space and everybody's kind of socializing, that's a great time to get selfies and maybe, you know, bother people.
• 28:21
  Yeah, so it's been fun doing that.
• 28:23
  I don't mind.
• 28:24
  You know, every once in a while I get into the mood and get some selfies.
• 28:27
  Yeah.
• 28:29
  So the reason it struck me as one, I was just looking for trying to find an action shot of you or the thumbnail.
• 28:35
  Not a lot of those.
• 28:39
  but I started CrossFit in 2011 and I weighed over 500 pounds and CrossFit saved my life.
• 28:46
  And then I became a volunteer and, um, and I was at all these events and I was a part of something.
• 28:53
  I was a part of something again.
• 28:55
  And, and so I took selfies with everybody back then.
• 28:59
  And my, my goal was to get a selfie with every champ and,
• 29:07
  And I almost did it.
• 29:08
  And then I moved into this media space where it's not really cool to take selfies and then report on what's going on.
• 29:18
  So I've kind of had to put that on the back burner.
• 29:22
  But yeah, I did that so much back in the day.
• 29:25
  They probably were sick of me.
• 29:30
  I know it's kind of, it kind of becomes an art a little bit.
• 29:34
  I think, um, you know, how you approach a person to get a selfie and, um, and catching people like when they're more receptive to, to having a photo taken and, um, and not trying to be, you know, um,
• 29:50
  too interruptive of their experience at the time but yeah yeah i was lucky for a while because i live in columbus ohio where rogue is oh yeah come into town to do demos and stuff so they're not in like full competition mode or anything like that and you could like sit and talk to them and then ask for selfie was no big deal
• 30:14
  Or I would be at regionals and have their shirts on that they're going to the games so they're all happy to take a selfie.
• 30:22
  Yeah, that's a great time to do it.
• 30:26
  Unlike me when I'm chasing somebody down.
• 30:30
  Hey, it's me.
• 30:34
  Yeah.
• 30:35
  So you are a CrossFit Games champion.
• 30:39
  You won the Games in 2022.
• 30:40
  I did.
• 30:42
  Where does that stack up in life's achievements?
• 30:48
  Oh, man.
• 30:50
  It's pretty high up there.
• 30:53
  Maybe after the birth of my sons and graduating from med school and a few other things.
• 30:59
  It's definitely... Yeah, it's...
• 31:03
  It was an amazing goal to achieve, and I really wasn't sure I'd ever achieve it.
• 31:19
  And certainly that year, I wasn't expecting to win, so it was a really, really nice surprise.
• 31:27
  So not being an athlete before...
• 31:30
  Was there always this dormant competitor wanting to come out?
• 31:35
  Or did it just evolve as you kind of went through CrossFit the class first, then training, then competitions?
• 31:47
  That's a great question.
• 31:51
  I think there was probably always a little bit of a competitor in me to a certain extent.
• 31:57
  I think...
• 31:59
  like to be able to achieve what I have, um, through like going through medical school, which is competitive to get into at the time, um, my residency program and such, you have to, you have to be competitive.
• 32:19
  You have to try to work to do the best job you can do, whether it's test taking or
• 32:24
  or anything like that.
• 32:26
  And so I think there was a little bit of that in me and, but from a, from a, you know, sports standpoint, you know, it was very new, but once, um, you know, once I was introduced to competition and it was, somebody had suggested I do it.
• 32:49
  I was so bad at it and so horrible.
• 32:53
  And so,
• 32:55
  very, very like nervous and uncomfortable that it was something that I wanted to try to get better at.
• 33:04
  And then as I worked and worked and worked for years to improve, to get competitive enough to make it to higher level competitions, then it seemed like maybe there was a little bit more of a deeper competition drive in me that I didn't know I had.
• 33:24
  And so I think that kind of developed a little bit as well as I went through the years of competition.
• 33:35
  Well, and it strikes me because throughout this interview, you've said in this event, this person really helped me by being ahead of me.
• 33:43
  And so you can tell that you must have a switch that's like, okay, got to go.
• 33:50
  Yeah.
• 33:50
  I mean, I think it,
• 33:52
  Yeah, I think that maybe every I wonder if everybody has that, though.
• 33:57
  I don't know that I'm the only one that I, I know that, you know, there's some, there's some events that you, as an athlete are very confident in that you're going to do okay, or you're going to do well, or might even win.
• 34:10
  And you know where to push it, you know how it's going to feel.
• 34:14
  And so it's really,
• 34:18
  you can get in that flow state almost right away and, and do well.
• 34:23
  Um, and then there's sometimes like when you, when you see like also that rabbit that you need to chase, you know, sometimes that's also very motivating.
• 34:35
  So I, I, for me, I feel like it depends on what the event is and what the movements are, um, whether I'm going to have a lot of confidence to, to do well.
• 34:47
  And then the ones when maybe I'm not as confident that I'm going to be able to blow it out of the park, having somebody to chase is really helpful because it, it, it, it confirms that you're in the race.
• 35:02
  So yay, you know, you're, you're, you're actually head to head with somebody and you are, and then you, you can kind of like turn it on and go.
• 35:10
  I, I, for me, I think coming up from behind and,
• 35:15
  or being the underdog is always the more comfortable position to be in.
• 35:21
  Yeah.
• 35:21
  I, I like those moments when you're, it's not necessarily your best thing and you're just grinding and then you kind of look around and you're like, Hey, I'm, I'm in this, you know?
• 35:34
  And then, and then when you have that rabbit at that point, it's really good.
• 35:38
  What's bad for me is I, I pull the rabbit out of the gate and then usually I'm laying on the floor and
• 35:45
  At some point during the workout.
• 35:47
  I know.
• 35:48
  I, I, yeah, there's those times I, you know, you hear like, you never want to be the first off of whatever, or you never want to be the first out of the gate.
• 35:56
  And it's like, when that happens, like, yeah, it's, you, you have a little bit of dread.
• 36:00
  Oh, did I make a mistake?
• 36:09
  Looking, looking back at legends, what, what was the highlight of the weekend for you?
• 36:16
  The highlight was a handstand walk workout and maybe winning or getting second place on the lift lifting.
• 36:22
  That was the highlights.
• 36:23
  Yeah.
• 36:25
  So you've been to the, you've been to the games three times.
• 36:29
  Yeah.
• 36:29
  You've won it once.
• 36:32
  We're now moving to a new format where the age groups have their own event.
• 36:37
  Yeah.
• 36:38
  Good or bad.
• 36:38
  I mean,
• 36:41
  I think it's good.
• 36:42
  You know, it's still hard to say it's good or bad until we get through one iteration of it.
• 36:47
  Right.
• 36:47
  And see what it's like.
• 36:49
  And that's what I'm kind of curious to see.
• 36:52
  I mean, I'm definitely sad that we're not going to be at the games with the elites.
• 36:56
  I mean, cause that has always been an experience and I won't be able to take selfies.
• 37:05
  You know, so I'm kind of sad about that a little bit, but yeah,
• 37:09
  that doesn't mean that next year isn't going to be awesome.
• 37:13
  And I feel like it's really hard to make a comment until we go through this new year and see what it feels like and see what transpires.
• 37:24
  And then we can have more information on which to comment on whether it was a better thing or not.
• 37:33
  How many times have you competed at Legends?
• 37:36
  Four.
• 37:37
  This was my fourth.
• 37:39
  So you're familiar with the directors of Legends who are now going to be running the games.
• 37:44
  Yeah.
• 37:45
  Does that give you confidence for next year?
• 37:49
  Well, yes and no.
• 37:51
  I mean, we kind of know their programming pattern a little bit because I kind of have one.
• 38:00
  And so I kind of feel like, yeah, maybe we know a little bit of what to expect.
• 38:05
  But then again...
• 38:08
  As far as the programming goes, we know that CrossFit is supposed to have a hand in it or a say, so it's hard to know what to expect from that standpoint.
• 38:16
  But I think as far as running it and organizing and things like that, I think it's going to be fine.
• 38:26
  So I'm not too worried about it, that they're doing it, or think that they're going to do a horrible job or anything like that.
• 38:34
  I think it's going to be okay.
• 38:37
  So that brings me to another question.
• 38:40
  Do you prefer games programming or do you prefer Legends programming?
• 38:46
  And it would be different depending on the athlete, right?
• 38:49
  Because everybody has a bias.
• 38:53
  Yeah.
• 39:01
  Well, I don't know.
• 39:02
  Boy, that's a hard question to answer because they're so different.
• 39:06
  But I think if I were to pick one, I would say that I have liked the games programming better if I had to pick.
• 39:18
  But I can't say it's a landslide pick.
• 39:23
  Okay, that's fair.
• 39:25
  When the games have access to more equipment.
• 39:27
  Yeah, you sometimes get to do different and fun.
• 39:33
  you know, different things at the games that there's no way that legends can pull off in the venues that they have had their competitions in.
• 39:43
  And so for me, that's really what's fun is when you get your hands on a new set of equipment or you're doing, you know, something in competition that you don't normally do.
• 39:56
  That is exciting for me as a, as a athlete.
• 40:01
  So we have a person in the chat that is part of our Clydesdale family.
• 40:07
  Um, it is Lana Marcine, uh, legend in her own right.
• 40:12
  Um, what are your thoughts about the 25% moving into quarterfinals?
• 40:21
  It's, I don't know.
• 40:23
  It's, it's fine.
• 40:24
  It just, um,
• 40:29
  first of all, my, my one thought is I'm tired of all the changes before I comment on the 25%.
• 40:34
  I'm going to say, I'm really, really tired of all the changes a year after year after year.
• 40:39
  I would be absolutely delighted if we could have two years in a row of the same rules and the same kind of like, uh, pathway to the games or whatever.
• 40:53
  Um,
• 40:56
  The 25, so, so it's hard to, you know, the 25% moving on is fine.
• 41:00
  You know, I do, it makes it less, a little bit less pressure to get to quarterfinals and then it'll be a little bit less pressure getting to semis.
• 41:15
  So from that standpoint, you know, it's going to be a little bit different.
• 41:19
  Your training's going to be different when you have to peak and things like that.
• 41:22
  It's going to be a little bit different for an athlete like myself.
• 41:26
  But I think, you know, for the people who are on the bubble, who are, you know, before when it was 10%, you know, the other 15% are going to have the opportunity to do the programming at semis or quarters.
• 41:44
  And I think that that will be exciting for them.
• 41:46
  I know, like, if I were one of those bubble athletes that was –
• 41:51
  not quite making it before it would be really exciting for me to do it.
• 41:56
  So I think it's going to be fine.
• 41:58
  It'll be interesting to see how it works for all the gyms, because it'll be just another weekend of competition where you're going to have maybe a lot more gym members participating in
• 42:15
  Yeah, I think the gyms are going to be more affected than the athletes, especially in the Masters division.
• 42:21
  Because let's be honest, like 10 to the games was too few.
• 42:25
  Yes.
• 42:27
  Right.
• 42:27
  Yeah, I agree.
• 42:28
  Expanding that out was a good move.
• 42:31
  And the fact that semis are expanded from 30 to 200 and that quarters are from 10 to 25 seems fair for the age groups.
• 42:40
  I don't think it's as equitable for the elites in what they've done.
• 42:45
  But I think you guys are okay.
• 42:47
  Yeah, I would agree with that.
• 42:49
  Absolutely.
• 42:50
  Because...
• 42:52
  they needed to write the ship in that, in that 10 people only making it to the games.
• 43:01
  I know it's kind of crazy.
• 43:02
  It's kind of like five.
• 43:04
  It's like five masters athletes going to Wadapalooza at our age group.
• 43:07
  It's like, why?
• 43:09
  Yeah.
• 43:11
  Uh, Lena says, thanks Shanna and good luck in 2024.
• 43:13
  Oh, you're welcome.
• 43:16
  Um, so, uh,
• 43:20
  Being a pediatrician and competing at the high level, what does balance look like for you?
• 43:26
  Ah, it's a struggle some days.
• 43:34
  Balance?
• 43:35
  Yeah.
• 43:36
  Well, I had to pull back from working full time.
• 43:39
  So that was... Yeah.
• 43:41
  When I made the decision to compete, there was...
• 43:46
  At a high level, there was no way I could do the job I was doing as a pediatrician and probably get the time and enough training time in to compete.
• 43:56
  At least at that time, I had so much development I still needed to do with my gymnastics and strength and everything that I really needed a fairly high amount of contact time with the gym.
• 44:11
  And so I made the decision to go part time.
• 44:15
  with my employment.
• 44:17
  And so that is what had to give if I wanted to pursue competition.
• 44:27
  And I think what blows my mind when I talk to the Masters athletes is most Masters athletes do have full-time work.
• 44:39
  And they're doing that and training like an elite athlete.
• 44:45
  And it's so admirable and so inspirational what you guys do.
• 44:50
  And so it always, I always wonder what that balance looks like.
• 44:55
  Yeah, I think it's, I think it's different for each person too and what their life is like.
• 44:59
  I mean, I'm empty nesting now and it's pretty, so my life, I don't have a lot of demands on my life outside of work and training.
• 45:12
  And so it,
• 45:14
  Yeah, I think it depends on the person.
• 45:16
  I can't imagine, you know, these 30 year olds, late 30 year olds and 40 year olds, you know, working full time and training.
• 45:23
  I think it's it's a lot of work.
• 45:26
  And I think it's just fantastic that they're able to do it to compete at a full time job.
• 45:34
  I know it would have been really hard for me to do it.
• 45:36
  That's for sure.
• 45:38
  Yeah, I'm going to turn 54 in less than two weeks.
• 45:44
  And I do this on the side of a full-time day job.
• 45:51
  And I've got eyes on retirement, right?
• 45:53
  Like trying to get at least one of the things off my shelf.
• 45:56
  Yeah.
• 45:57
  Do the thing I love full-time.
• 46:00
  So I'm at the older range, but there was like 35 to 49-year-olds that don't really have that option.
• 46:08
  No, no.
• 46:09
  And there, yeah, it's, I think it's, it's hard because there's probably, you know, you just, they're probably not able to necessarily achieve any kind of goals and competing potentially or outside their life if, if you're full like that.
• 46:26
  But, um, that's what makes masters at, at our level, when we get a little older and things maybe get a little easier, that's what makes it kind of magical.
• 46:34
  is that, you know, you can kind of walk off the street and do some really hard work and then there you go.
• 46:42
  You know, you might make it to the gates.
• 46:47
  You are number one and prove that it can happen.
• 46:52
  Yeah.
• 46:53
  I mean, it's like, I, I wish I had those photos of me before I did CrossFit because I never took pictures, but yeah, it's, you know, I, I, I tell everybody that, you know, if I can do this, almost anybody can, because I, I was so out of shape and fit unfit.
• 47:12
  And so like, yeah.
• 47:14
  And so it just, it's just working hard and having the work ethic and, um,
• 47:19
  And, you know, and, and, and maybe people are, you know, hopefully lucky enough that they can, um, you know, have find some time to go to the gym and get fit or just to move their bodies in some way.
• 47:28
  I mean, that's, that's what it's all about.
• 47:30
  Um, it's, you know, kind of making some lifestyle changes and some decisions and, you know, um, and they're not always easy decisions to make.
• 47:40
  Um, but they're always, anytime that you make a decision that is in,
• 47:47
  in support of your health and the movement of your body, it's not going to be a bad one.
• 47:51
  It's always going to pay off in the end.
• 47:55
  So without knowing your clientele list of being a pediatrician and how old they are doing CrossFit, did it change your perspective in how you practiced medicine?
• 48:11
  Um, a little bit, but not much.
• 48:15
  Um,
• 48:17
  You know, I was, you know, you always have to walk the walk and talk if you're going to talk the talk.
• 48:24
  And so I think, you know, even though I was out of shape and very deconditioned when I started CrossFit, you know, I still had a lot of place, a lot of high value on lifestyle and in issues like that when I was practicing before CrossFit and it was,
• 48:48
  kind of helped me, um, to also show, I think CrossFit just, it didn't necessarily change the way I practice, but I think the way I practice made me successful in CrossFit.
• 49:00
  Let's just put it that way.
• 49:03
  I like that.
• 49:04
  So I'm going to finish up with this last question and that is 2024 is right around the corner.
• 49:11
  And what are your plans for the 2024 season?
• 49:15
  Oh gee.
• 49:16
  That's what my coach asked me to.
• 49:21
  I don't know.
• 49:22
  Like every year I, every year I wrestle with the question of whether I should be retiring or not from competition.
• 49:30
  Um, you know, right now, yeah, right now, um, you know, I just came off a win.
• 49:39
  So I'm like, Oh, I should do, I should do this forever, you know?
• 49:43
  And, um,
• 49:44
  I just have to let that settle.
• 49:46
  But I think, yeah, I plan on continuing to train.
• 49:49
  Training is wonderful.
• 49:50
  I love training.
• 49:53
  So I'm definitely going to train.
• 49:54
  Now, what I'm going to train for is not always 100% certain.
• 49:58
  And I hate competing.
• 50:03
  Even though I'm successful at it, I don't enjoy it like some people do.
• 50:07
  So I have to kind of get mentally prepared for that aspect of the season.
• 50:15
  right now, if you were to ask me, yeah, I'm going to continue training and spending time in the gym.
• 50:20
  And I'm also going to potentially, you know, make another run for the games if my body's willing and I stay healthy.
• 50:31
  And I'm also going to, I have, there's a young man in my gym that I'm
• 50:38
  I'm going to support.
• 50:40
  Also, he's going to try to make a run for semis this year and maybe the games ultimately.
• 50:45
  So I'm going to be spending the year helping him out.
• 50:50
  So what I'm hearing is you're going to sign up for the open.
• 50:52
  Yeah.
• 50:53
  You're going to keep advancing through this system and then the decision will be made for you.
• 51:00
  Probably.
• 51:01
  Yeah.
• 51:02
  And then, yeah, I guess it's truly, it's not very glamorous, is it?
• 51:14
  Yeah.
• 51:15
  It's, it's, I feel like I'm in a weird spot because I achieved my goal and beyond and, you know,
• 51:23
  It's like, now what do I do?
• 51:27
  So I have like a dear friend who's also a CrossFitter who's been to the games like eight or nine times.
• 51:36
  And I don't know.
• 51:38
  I don't think she'd mind if I said her name, but Linda Elston.
• 51:43
  she's been at it for so long and she takes such joy in competing and just moving her body and seeing what she can do.
• 51:51
  And she has such a wonderful approach to just seeing how long she can do it and, and being really good to her body.
• 52:02
  And if it, and if her body's, you know, in her mind are not there, then it's fine.
• 52:06
  And I hope like,
• 52:09
  I look at that kind of approach and maybe one of my goals this year is to be more at peace with competing, potentially.
• 52:25
  While signing up for the Open and seeing where it goes doesn't seem glamorous, I think it's way too common.
• 52:34
  I think that is more the story than not.
• 52:38
  especially in the master's division.
• 52:40
  Yeah.
• 52:40
  Well, yeah, I think, why do you think that is?
• 52:44
  Is it just because we're old and can get injured?
• 52:47
  No, I think it's a goal thing, right?
• 52:54
  You have a goal, you reach the goal and then you've got other things in life that are going on.
• 53:01
  And so then, then is just going another time enough of a goal or,
• 53:08
  And I think that's where it kind of falls.
• 53:10
  Yeah.
• 53:12
  No, I think you hit it right on the head there.
• 53:15
  Yeah.
• 53:16
  Yeah.
• 53:16
  Where like a 21-year-old doesn't have much else going on in life.
• 53:20
  And so their goal is just to go back again, again, again.
• 53:23
  Yeah.
• 53:24
  You know, us older people, we have other things going on that bring us joy.
• 53:30
  That's true.
• 53:33
  So...
• 53:35
  Back to the balance question, Daniel Church says, currently running while listening as toddler naps, got to work for the goals.
• 53:43
  And so he's just outside of Masters, and I met him at Masters Fitness Collective, and he is training to try to make Masters games once he turns 35.
• 53:55
  Yeah, just put the work in, and you'll get there.
• 54:02
  And he's a really good guy, too, so...
• 54:07
  I root for him for sure.
• 54:08
  Well, it has been a pleasure getting to know you today.
• 54:13
  We seem natural at this.
• 54:16
  Oh, thank you.
• 54:20
  People have to do more of these with Masters athletes because their stories are awesome.
• 54:25
  The fact that you walked off the street with no athletic ability and became a CrossFit Games champion is just one of the coolest stories ever.
• 54:35
  Yeah, it's pretty awesome and surprising.
• 54:39
  Yeah, it can be done.
• 54:43
  Well, thank you so much for sharing with us and we will thank you everybody in the chat for hanging out with us too.
• 54:49
  And we'll see everybody next time on the Clydesdale media podcast.
• 54:53
  Bye guys.
• 54:53
  Thank you, Scott.