Latest / Clydesdale Media Podcast / Mike Beemer | The Athletes of the 2024 Legends Masters CrossFit Games

Transcript

Mike Beemer | The Athletes of the 2024 Legends Masters CrossFit Games · Clydesdale Media Podcast

• 0:11
  I was born to kill it.
• 0:15
  I was meant to win.
• 0:16
  I am down and willing,
• 0:17
  so I will find a way.
• 0:19
  It took a minute,
• 0:20
  now it didn't have to ride away.
• 0:21
  When they get hot in the kitchen,
• 0:23
  you decide to stay.
• 0:24
  That's how a winner's made.
• 0:25
  Stick a fork in the head of
• 0:27
  my dinner plate.
• 0:34
  what is going on everybody
• 0:36
  welcome to the clad so
• 0:37
  media podcast where we are
• 0:39
  highlighting the athletes
• 0:40
  of the 2024 legends masters
• 0:43
  crossfit games and I have
• 0:45
  with me mike beamer mike
• 0:48
  what's going on not much
• 0:51
  just uh trying to get work
• 0:53
  in trying to stay healthy
• 0:55
  and get ready for the games
• 0:58
  So you were in the 60 to 64
• 1:00
  year old division,
• 1:00
  and this is your first year
• 1:03
  in that division.
• 1:04
  How happy were you to age up
• 1:06
  from a competition perspective?
• 1:11
  I'm pretty happy because it allowed me to,
• 1:16
  I guess,
• 1:17
  go into a division new as I've
• 1:18
  been over the last couple of years,
• 1:21
  improving,
• 1:21
  getting better and better in my 55 to 59.
• 1:23
  But it gives me a new start.
• 1:28
  I think toward the top of
• 1:29
  the division because I'm at
• 1:31
  my peak fitness right now.
• 1:33
  So I think it's a good
• 1:34
  opportunity for me to kind
• 1:36
  of excel in the new division.
• 1:39
  It's funny.
• 1:40
  Like I've,
• 1:41
  I saw pictures of you that you
• 1:42
  sent me for the thumbnails
• 1:44
  and stuff like that.
• 1:45
  And, um, for you to be 60 years old, man,
• 1:48
  those are goals for me to reach.
• 1:51
  Uh, when I get to be your age,
• 1:52
  you are jacked my friend.
• 1:54
  Yeah.
• 1:55
  I get a lot of comments.
• 1:57
  Um,
• 1:57
  Work hard.
• 1:58
  A lot of my, I guess, life,
• 2:00
  career kind of put me in a
• 2:02
  position to always be physical.
• 2:05
  And so a lot of the competitors, you know,
• 2:09
  I would say it's all a go,
• 2:11
  but some of it's show.
• 2:12
  It's not all – it doesn't
• 2:14
  all perform the way it looks.
• 2:17
  Yeah.
• 2:18
  But, yeah, at least, you know,
• 2:20
  nobody looks under the hood
• 2:21
  of the Maserati.
• 2:22
  They just know it's a Maserati, right?
• 2:24
  Yeah, that's a good way to look at it.
• 2:28
  So what do you do for a living?
• 2:30
  Well, I'm retired.
• 2:32
  I retired two years ago.
• 2:35
  I was in the military for a
• 2:37
  little over 27 years.
• 2:40
  And then I was a government
• 2:42
  civilian for 10 years after that.
• 2:44
  So about 40 years total to the government.
• 2:48
  What branch were you in?
• 2:50
  I was in the Army.
• 2:51
  So I was a Green Beret,
• 2:53
  Army Special Forces,
• 2:55
  which was really where a
• 2:56
  lot of my physical...
• 3:00
  I guess my career was very
• 3:01
  physical because of that.
• 3:02
  A lot of physical training daily.
• 3:06
  I imagine to keep up with a
• 3:08
  special forces operation,
• 3:10
  you have to be fit for that
• 3:12
  entire 27 years.
• 3:14
  Yes.
• 3:16
  The first seven, I was in regular army.
• 3:17
  And then the last 20, I was in special,
• 3:20
  special forces, special operations.
• 3:23
  And yeah,
• 3:25
  it's about 50% of it is just all
• 3:27
  physical.
• 3:28
  And to an idea,
• 3:30
  my team or in my small
• 3:32
  company that trained together, um,
• 3:36
  I had two guys that could
• 3:37
  run a sub 50 minute, 10 milers.
• 3:41
  I had the top 800 runner in
• 3:43
  the U S I had a guy who won the European,
• 3:47
  uh, iron man, um,
• 3:49
  had the guy that was the
• 3:50
  European powerlifting
• 3:51
  champion all on my team at one time.
• 3:55
  So it was very.
• 3:56
  Special sports is a very
• 3:58
  mixed bunch of very
• 4:00
  high-level performing individuals,
• 4:03
  if you will.
• 4:05
  What athletic background did
• 4:06
  you bring to the table?
• 4:08
  I played high school football,
• 4:10
  ran high school track,
• 4:13
  and it was a very small school.
• 4:16
  But I think more so my
• 4:19
  stepdad was in the Marines.
• 4:21
  So as a young kid, we'd do lots of,
• 4:24
  his PT or calisthenics,
• 4:26
  which was lots of pull-ups,
• 4:28
  lots of pushups,
• 4:29
  lots of handstand pushups, which,
• 4:32
  you know, wasn't really a thing then.
• 4:35
  Lots of sit-ups, running,
• 4:38
  so a lot of baseline
• 4:40
  general fitness or GPP.
• 4:43
  Are those still your strengths today?
• 4:45
  Yeah, I think all around general fitness,
• 4:51
  the more
• 4:53
  Skill sets are the more events, the better,
• 4:55
  but high-level gymnastics,
• 4:57
  whether it's bars, rings,
• 5:00
  handstand push-ups,
• 5:02
  but also heavy weights, so powerlifting.
• 5:05
  I did a lot of powerlifting,
• 5:06
  so heavy weights,
• 5:07
  much more than the Olympic lifting.
• 5:10
  And odd objects.
• 5:12
  I like just working with bags, obstacles,
• 5:15
  sleds, things like that.
• 5:18
  So you say rings.
• 5:19
  So at 60 years old, you can do muscle-ups?
• 5:23
  yeah I can string probably
• 5:25
  eight or ten uh ring muscle
• 5:27
  ups I can do strict ring
• 5:28
  muscle ups strict bar
• 5:29
  muscle ups um in my garage
• 5:32
  gym I didn't have a ceiling
• 5:34
  high enough so I worked
• 5:35
  with a a pulley system to
• 5:38
  do sets so four or five
• 5:40
  sets of 10 to 12 with
• 5:43
  kettlebells at 60 70
• 5:44
  whatever with rings through the
• 5:48
  through the range of motion
• 5:50
  and allowed me to get
• 5:50
  strict ring muscle ups.
• 5:51
  So for qualifications, for events,
• 5:55
  I would just do strict from
• 5:57
  seated from the floor and
• 6:00
  submit that as my videos
• 6:02
  for a ring muscle up
• 6:03
  because I couldn't do ring
• 6:04
  muscle ups at certain times.
• 6:07
  So you were at Legends last year, right?
• 6:09
  Yes.
• 6:11
  So did you see the coup that
• 6:12
  happened in the 60- to
• 6:13
  64-year-old division when
• 6:15
  they weren't going to be
• 6:16
  allowed to do bar
• 6:17
  muscle-ups and fought to be
• 6:19
  given the right to do it,
• 6:21
  and they were able to show
• 6:23
  that a good chunk of them
• 6:24
  could do bar muscle-ups?
• 6:27
  I was there.
• 6:28
  I wasn't really part of that.
• 6:30
  I actually got injured last
• 6:31
  year at Legends.
• 6:32
  Oh, okay.
• 6:33
  So it kind of took me out of much of that.
• 6:35
  I did the competition,
• 6:36
  but just mainly kind of
• 6:38
  limped through it.
• 6:40
  but it happened to me in Mexico last year.
• 6:43
  Um, our final event had bar muscle ups,
• 6:46
  but for our age group,
• 6:47
  they took it out for the 50, 55 plus.
• 6:51
  And I kinda, once we went to the final,
• 6:54
  I was leading, it was the Mexican,
• 6:56
  it was the legends qualifier in Mexico.
• 7:00
  And so the final event,
• 7:01
  they changed it to chest to
• 7:02
  bar that I went and did bar
• 7:04
  muscle ups anyway.
• 7:06
  And so I didn't win the event,
• 7:08
  and I ended up second overall,
• 7:09
  but it was kind of a
• 7:11
  personal thing to me to go
• 7:12
  ahead and do bar muscle-ups
• 7:13
  instead of the chest-to-bar.
• 7:15
  So I felt slighted.
• 7:17
  Yeah, I talked to Tony Tursky,
• 7:20
  and he was one of the
• 7:21
  people that kind of led
• 7:21
  that charge to allow them to do it.
• 7:24
  And then at Legends,
• 7:26
  they were allowed to show
• 7:27
  what they could do.
• 7:29
  Now, they did chest-to-bar like round one,
• 7:31
  and they added the bar
• 7:32
  muscle-up like round three, I think.
• 7:34
  Yeah.
• 7:35
  Yeah.
• 7:35
  And that's close to what they did.
• 7:37
  So for the semi-final, which was,
• 7:39
  I thought very cardio based
• 7:41
  and not real high skilled,
• 7:43
  but for one of the semi-final events,
• 7:45
  we had chest bar, chest bar, chest bar,
• 7:47
  and then ring muscle ups,
• 7:49
  which I think I placed
• 7:50
  fourth or fifth worldwide in that.
• 7:53
  But, uh,
• 7:54
  it was at least an opportunity to
• 7:55
  showcase what we could do
• 7:57
  or to apply it to, you know,
• 8:00
  some of the qualifying events.
• 8:03
  So we got some comments I
• 8:04
  got to share with you.
• 8:07
  Corey says, that's wildly impressive.
• 8:10
  Jody Lynn says, wow, that's some strength.
• 8:13
  And Corey comes back and says, we are old,
• 8:16
  not dead.
• 8:19
  Yeah.
• 8:19
  And it's,
• 8:21
  I think it's just staying active.
• 8:23
  Me, a couple of years ago, I can, I mean,
• 8:26
  I could barely walk.
• 8:27
  I was broke down coming off
• 8:29
  a special forces team.
• 8:30
  And
• 8:32
  really went out of training for a while.
• 8:35
  And then I started training smarter,
• 8:37
  using less weights and
• 8:40
  making my a hundred percent or my max,
• 8:43
  I would go 85% effort.
• 8:45
  So now I spend three to five
• 8:47
  hours a day in the gym
• 8:49
  because I am retired.
• 8:50
  So it's kind of a hobby.
• 8:52
  Um, and,
• 8:53
  but probably an hour of that is
• 8:55
  just mobility.
• 8:57
  And then an hour of that is
• 8:58
  rehab or prehab.
• 9:00
  And then a good 30 minutes
• 9:02
  to an hour of warming up
• 9:04
  for any high-intensity
• 9:05
  workouts or heavy workouts.
• 9:07
  So I really prepare.
• 9:10
  So you've been a gym rat your whole life?
• 9:13
  Yes.
• 9:14
  Is that your happy place?
• 9:17
  Yes.
• 9:19
  Probably the last couple years ago,
• 9:20
  I was going through a
• 9:21
  little bit of depression.
• 9:23
  And since I retired,
• 9:26
  the gym is where I'm at.
• 9:29
  Even...
• 9:30
  I'll go into a noon class.
• 9:32
  The class will be there.
• 9:33
  I'll just start warming up.
• 9:34
  And then when everybody leaves,
• 9:35
  I'm at the gym by myself.
• 9:37
  And I just start to roll out.
• 9:40
  I warm up.
• 9:41
  I roll out.
• 9:42
  I do mobility.
• 9:43
  I'm on a mat on the floor
• 9:44
  for an hour doing mobility.
• 9:46
  Then I just start working on
• 9:47
  little skill things or
• 9:48
  little things that I need to work on.
• 9:50
  But it's just an at ease place for me.
• 9:54
  Yeah.
• 9:56
  I think what's happened with
• 9:57
  the Masters Division is
• 9:59
  it's turning the concept of
• 10:02
  age on its head.
• 10:04
  I interviewed Denise Moore
• 10:05
  yesterday who was working
• 10:06
  on handstand walks in the
• 10:09
  65-plus division.
• 10:12
  And then you're talking
• 10:14
  about stringing together
• 10:15
  10-ring muscle-ups that
• 10:17
  people in the Elite Division can't do.
• 10:21
  it's just so wildly
• 10:22
  impressive and um kudos to
• 10:24
  you guys for for really
• 10:26
  flipping the concept on its
• 10:27
  head yeah I think uh I
• 10:30
  think those of us that have
• 10:31
  been doing it for a while
• 10:33
  my I've been doing crossfit
• 10:34
  for probably 14 years and
• 10:37
  I've I did mountain bike
• 10:38
  racing I did power lifting
• 10:40
  I did all kinds of just
• 10:41
  other events as part of of
• 10:44
  physical activity or testing myself but
• 10:47
  The first probably two to
• 10:49
  three years of CrossFit,
• 10:51
  I would pull something, break something,
• 10:54
  tear something,
• 10:56
  because I just wanted to
• 10:57
  keep pushing harder and harder.
• 10:59
  But as I got older or longer
• 11:00
  into it and aged up, I got a lot smarter.
• 11:05
  And now I can see I've been
• 11:06
  progressing year to year,
• 11:08
  and I really think I'll
• 11:10
  still get better over the
• 11:11
  next couple years, even in the age group.
• 11:16
  Well,
• 11:16
  and it's like a fresh start because
• 11:17
  you are the youngest in your age group.
• 11:21
  So you can, it's, it's a fresh start.
• 11:23
  You're going to get to have
• 11:24
  a two to three years of
• 11:26
  being at the top end of that division.
• 11:29
  Yep.
• 11:30
  And like I said, and it's for me,
• 11:32
  I was getting closer and
• 11:34
  closer to making it even at
• 11:35
  the end of the last age
• 11:37
  division to make in,
• 11:39
  although they only had 10
• 11:40
  slots for the games,
• 11:42
  but I was getting better and better.
• 11:43
  And,
• 11:45
  still improving now,
• 11:46
  I still see myself getting better.
• 11:48
  So it's a golden opportunity for me.
• 11:52
  Do you take many rest days a week?
• 11:56
  I don't take planned rest days.
• 11:58
  I listen to my body.
• 12:00
  And if I have something planned for a day,
• 12:02
  if it doesn't feel right,
• 12:03
  I'll just shut it down or I'll alter it.
• 12:07
  The planned rest days I
• 12:08
  don't take because
• 12:10
  ultimately throughout the week,
• 12:11
  something will come up or
• 12:13
  something will change or I
• 12:14
  won't feel right.
• 12:15
  And I'll take a opportunity
• 12:20
  rest day or rest break.
• 12:22
  Like on Thursday,
• 12:23
  the workout was supposed to
• 12:24
  be easy for me and it just
• 12:26
  run me down and I was just
• 12:27
  working too much.
• 12:29
  So I took Friday off.
• 12:30
  Then I went into Saturday
• 12:32
  and it was still a rough workout.
• 12:33
  So I took Sunday off and
• 12:35
  just did zone two.
• 12:36
  And today I felt much better.
• 12:38
  I did a class workout,
• 12:40
  which was pretty heavy.
• 12:41
  It was mayhem performance
• 12:42
  workout for the games.
• 12:44
  Um, and it felt real good.
• 12:47
  I did some strict, uh, uh,
• 12:49
  shouldered overhead after that.
• 12:51
  And I'll go in and do some handstand, uh,
• 12:54
  work and some double unders
• 12:56
  later on tonight.
• 12:59
  So it's all about being in
• 13:01
  tune with your body and
• 13:02
  making sure that you're not overtraining.
• 13:05
  Yes.
• 13:05
  Um,
• 13:06
  I used to overtrain a lot,
• 13:08
  and I would just always stay run down.
• 13:12
  I meal prep all the time now,
• 13:14
  so I have four pre-planned
• 13:18
  meals every day,
• 13:19
  plus my breakfast is the same every day.
• 13:22
  I have a shake every day.
• 13:24
  I take four or five
• 13:26
  different multivitamins of
• 13:28
  different sorts and just try and eat,
• 13:30
  sleep.
• 13:31
  And I teach in the morning on Mondays.
• 13:35
  So I went in at 4.30 this morning,
• 13:37
  and when I came home at 7.30,
• 13:39
  I went back to bed from 8
• 13:40
  o'clock to about 10, slept,
• 13:43
  and then got up, ate lunch,
• 13:44
  and then went into the gym again.
• 13:48
  Yeah,
• 13:48
  if people haven't seen your picture
• 13:50
  that we used for the thumbnail,
• 13:55
  listen to what this guy has
• 13:56
  to say because his physique
• 14:00
  is definitely – whoops, wrong one.
• 14:04
  Dang it.
• 14:05
  We will do this one more time.
• 14:07
  There we go.
• 14:13
  Okay.
• 14:16
  Man,
• 14:16
  I wish that my physique looked like
• 14:18
  that at age 60.
• 14:21
  Well, like I said,
• 14:22
  I've been working on it a long time.
• 14:24
  Naturally, I have to eat all the time.
• 14:31
  If I don't eat, I just lose weight.
• 14:34
  So I can eat anything I want,
• 14:35
  but as long as I'm eating good, I mean,
• 14:38
  it really shows, but even if I eat bad, I,
• 14:43
  I don't gain weight.
• 14:44
  I just don't look quite as lean.
• 14:47
  And I normally on lean wise,
• 14:49
  I normally try and stay about 10,
• 14:52
  11% body fat.
• 14:55
  And for a competition though,
• 14:56
  I'll normally go down to about 6%.
• 14:59
  Um, and that's just,
• 15:01
  I don't have to change, stop eating,
• 15:03
  or anything.
• 15:04
  I just cut out a peanut
• 15:06
  butter and jelly sandwich,
• 15:07
  which I eat two every night
• 15:08
  right before I go to bed.
• 15:10
  So I cut those out about a
• 15:12
  week or so before a competition.
• 15:14
  And it just leans me out a little bit.
• 15:17
  And everything else stays pretty good.
• 15:22
  So you seem to be a creature
• 15:24
  of habit with your food.
• 15:26
  Does that come from your
• 15:27
  military experience?
• 15:31
  no I i just think it comes
• 15:33
  from me never really being
• 15:36
  able to gain weight and so
• 15:39
  I could always eat and I
• 15:40
  was always hungry so I ate
• 15:41
  all the time and I was
• 15:42
  always active so now I just
• 15:45
  a little more intelligent
• 15:48
  about preparation of what I
• 15:49
  eat and but I still have to
• 15:52
  eat probably six seven times a day wow
• 15:58
  So you talked about working
• 15:59
  out in your garage,
• 16:00
  but now you are affiliated with a gym.
• 16:03
  Yes.
• 16:05
  And that is Holy Cross CrossFit?
• 16:08
  Holly Springs CrossFit.
• 16:09
  Holly Springs.
• 16:11
  Sorry.
• 16:12
  Holly Springs CrossFit.
• 16:13
  So what change did that make
• 16:17
  going to a gym as opposed to your garage?
• 16:20
  Well,
• 16:21
  I was a partner with an affiliate 12
• 16:26
  years ago.
• 16:27
  We were a partner for a
• 16:28
  couple of years and then
• 16:29
  they split up from us and
• 16:32
  then we opened up as a normal gym.
• 16:33
  So I was a gym owner for about six years.
• 16:37
  And so I had our own gym and
• 16:39
  then kind of after the pandemic and stuff,
• 16:42
  we closed our gym down.
• 16:43
  So it kind of moved your
• 16:44
  stuff into the garage to work out.
• 16:46
  But I did the regional
• 16:49
  qualifier two years ago at
• 16:51
  Holly Springs for Legends.
• 16:53
  The year before it was in
• 16:54
  Peachtree Corners, but
• 16:56
  I did the one at Holly
• 16:57
  Springs and I really liked the gym,
• 17:00
  the athletes there.
• 17:01
  It's a very high level.
• 17:02
  We had in the gym,
• 17:03
  16 quarter finalists and
• 17:05
  four semifinalists.
• 17:07
  Um,
• 17:08
  so it was just a place that I decided
• 17:10
  to come back to, to do most of my, uh,
• 17:13
  to work out,
• 17:14
  to be part of the community
• 17:16
  and to really allow me full access.
• 17:21
  You know,
• 17:21
  I have full access to the gym
• 17:23
  whenever I want, go in, do everything.
• 17:25
  and it's a really great
• 17:27
  community so it really
• 17:28
  helps me to do what I need
• 17:31
  to do and I help the
• 17:33
  members there I you know I
• 17:34
  coach a couple classes I uh
• 17:37
  just walk around I'll help
• 17:39
  you know people out as
• 17:39
  they're doing their lives
• 17:41
  or if they're working on
• 17:42
  something give them tips
• 17:43
  how to do things a little
• 17:44
  better or show them or help
• 17:45
  them with uh you know
• 17:46
  progressive programs and
• 17:48
  whatever it is they want to do
• 17:51
  I noticed on Holly Springs social media,
• 17:56
  they tout you quite a bit.
• 17:58
  So it seems like you get a
• 17:59
  lot of support from them as well.
• 18:01
  Yeah,
• 18:02
  I'm their first games qualifying athlete,
• 18:05
  even though the owner of
• 18:07
  Holly Springs has been a
• 18:08
  top 1% for the last 12 years or so.
• 18:12
  So he's a very high level
• 18:15
  senior or master's athlete.
• 18:17
  who next year is going into
• 18:18
  the 55 to 59 and he'll be a
• 18:22
  very strong podium contender.
• 18:24
  Um, he just, uh, monster games.
• 18:26
  He just took first into
• 18:28
  monster games above several
• 18:30
  games athletes that are going this year.
• 18:33
  And so he's very high level
• 18:35
  and we have a very good
• 18:36
  performance program there.
• 18:38
  So they look at me and we
• 18:40
  have a lot of senior
• 18:41
  masters in the gym that are very good.
• 18:45
  And the gym overall, I'm, I'm a,
• 18:49
  average, uh,
• 18:51
  athlete in the gym are the normal,
• 18:53
  you know, masters,
• 18:55
  but the middle-aged masters,
• 18:57
  but a high level senior master.
• 19:02
  So what does that support mean to you?
• 19:05
  Like it,
• 19:08
  it's got to feel good to have this
• 19:10
  community behind you as you're,
• 19:12
  as you're making your
• 19:13
  rookie trip to the CrossFit games.
• 19:16
  Well, uh, it does.
• 19:17
  It means a lot.
• 19:18
  Um,
• 19:19
  And I know from the gym,
• 19:21
  there's probably already,
• 19:22
  we know of probably about 30, you know,
• 19:26
  gym members already that we
• 19:28
  know of going out to Birmingham.
• 19:31
  So there's quite a few going
• 19:33
  out there just to come and
• 19:33
  watch and cheer me on.
• 19:35
  And, you know, they,
• 19:36
  they know what I can do in the gym.
• 19:38
  I normally do all,
• 19:39
  all the workouts RX for the normal class.
• 19:42
  I'm usually one of the top
• 19:43
  performers in the class.
• 19:46
  So they all, you know,
• 19:47
  see that as something, Hey,
• 19:49
  You know,
• 19:49
  we got someone here that we can
• 19:53
  associate with or we can, you know,
• 19:56
  work out with a games athlete.
• 19:59
  So it's kind of – it's a big
• 20:00
  plus for me to have them
• 20:02
  there and just know that they're,
• 20:04
  you know,
• 20:04
  excited to come and watch me at
• 20:06
  the games.
• 20:08
  So that's – so you're going
• 20:10
  to have 30 people travel from –
• 20:12
  Um, what were you located at?
• 20:15
  I'm just outside of Atlanta.
• 20:16
  So it's about three hours.
• 20:17
  So it's not like it's cross
• 20:19
  country or water, but.
• 20:21
  Okay.
• 20:22
  Yeah.
• 20:22
  I was just talking to Kyle Ruth in the,
• 20:24
  and like,
• 20:24
  there's a bunch of people coming
• 20:26
  from him.
• 20:26
  Uh, cause he's over in Alpharetta and, uh,
• 20:29
  I've talked to people, uh,
• 20:32
  North Carolina who are
• 20:33
  bringing like chunks of 50.
• 20:36
  Um, like it's going to,
• 20:37
  hopefully we pack the place.
• 20:40
  Yeah.
• 20:40
  I think, uh,
• 20:41
  You know,
• 20:42
  on the spectator side from where
• 20:45
  the games, you know,
• 20:46
  when you see before and you
• 20:47
  watch the videos or the clips,
• 20:49
  a lot of cell phone clips,
• 20:51
  the clips of the Masters at the games,
• 20:53
  you'll see a couple of family members,
• 20:55
  you know, previous years,
• 20:56
  but you just didn't have a traveling,
• 20:58
  you know, entourage.
• 21:01
  But being, I think,
• 21:03
  in the middle of the country,
• 21:05
  a Masters-only event, and I think it's,
• 21:10
  I think it's going to bring
• 21:10
  more audience for the masters overall.
• 21:15
  Yeah.
• 21:16
  Um, I think it's going to be great.
• 21:18
  I was, I was worried at first,
• 21:20
  but I think after talking to a group,
• 21:22
  a bunch of you, um,
• 21:24
  I think that the place is
• 21:25
  going to be packed and
• 21:29
  you're getting the a team
• 21:30
  calling the broadcast on the stream.
• 21:34
  Yeah, we, uh, I, uh,
• 21:35
  um participated in Legends
• 21:38
  22 I think 21 or 22 in San
• 21:40
  Diego and we had um you
• 21:43
  know they uh we had the
• 21:45
  same broadcast team and it
• 21:46
  was really really good and
• 21:49
  it was a great event that
• 21:50
  was my first major event
• 21:53
  and it was it was games
• 21:55
  like and you know it hasn't
• 21:58
  none of the events at any
• 22:00
  of the different venues or
• 22:02
  the different competitions
• 22:03
  have been quite the same yet.
• 22:04
  So I'm imagining this being
• 22:06
  back up to that level or
• 22:07
  even exceeding that level
• 22:09
  of the San Diego legends.
• 22:11
  Yeah.
• 22:11
  The,
• 22:12
  the venue is supposed to be immaculate.
• 22:14
  Um, I haven't seen it personally,
• 22:16
  but I've heard really good things.
• 22:19
  Uh, Jody asks,
• 22:20
  and this is from Kyle's interview,
• 22:22
  but are you bringing your dog?
• 22:25
  Um,
• 22:26
  I can have the dog walk behind me right
• 22:28
  now.
• 22:28
  It looks like a horse.
• 22:30
  Um,
• 22:31
  It's not my dog.
• 22:32
  It's my roommate's dog.
• 22:33
  But no, I'm not bringing the dog.
• 22:36
  Yeah,
• 22:36
  Kyle's bringing his dog in it because
• 22:38
  it makes him just
• 22:40
  distracted enough in between events.
• 22:44
  So that was an interesting
• 22:45
  story from Kyle.
• 22:48
  So what are your expectations this year?
• 22:53
  I did Master Fitness
• 22:55
  Collective and I went in
• 22:56
  there and I didn't... I was...
• 22:59
  The bottom,
• 23:00
  or I was the last one qualified.
• 23:02
  So I went in with no expectations,
• 23:05
  and I just went in to have fun,
• 23:07
  and I finished in the top
• 23:08
  10 of the 55 to 59.
• 23:11
  Now, this year I was number 21, tied 21,
• 23:16
  so 21-22.
• 23:17
  So I was a backfill.
• 23:19
  So being a backfill,
• 23:20
  but thinking that I was
• 23:23
  capable of being top five, I think,
• 23:27
  Um,
• 23:27
  my expectations are go in without stress,
• 23:31
  but I really think I have a
• 23:33
  good chance of podium.
• 23:36
  There we go.
• 23:36
  And as long as we have a lot of events,
• 23:39
  high skilled and heavy,
• 23:42
  those are three things.
• 23:45
  Yeah.
• 23:46
  And hopefully the
• 23:47
  programmers allow you guys
• 23:48
  to show off your stuff.
• 23:50
  Yeah.
• 23:50
  And I really, um, like I said,
• 23:53
  in the legends and 21 or 22,
• 23:54
  the one in San Diego.
• 23:57
  We had bar muscle ups,
• 23:59
  but we also had something
• 24:01
  that I know they've done
• 24:02
  before where it was three
• 24:05
  to one burpee chest of bars
• 24:07
  for each bar muscle up.
• 24:08
  So if someone didn't have it,
• 24:10
  they could still stay in the game.
• 24:12
  But if you did have it,
• 24:14
  it gave you an advantage.
• 24:16
  So it was an advantage to
• 24:18
  have bar muscle ups or it's an advantage,
• 24:20
  say,
• 24:20
  if you have legless rope climbs to do
• 24:22
  legless rope climbs and
• 24:24
  maybe three to one regular rope climbs.
• 24:26
  Just a way to showcase and
• 24:28
  take advantage of the
• 24:29
  skills that you have.
• 24:32
  Yeah,
• 24:32
  my argument would be that this is the
• 24:34
  games.
• 24:35
  And these are the best of the best.
• 24:37
  And you should expect the best of the best,
• 24:39
  right?
• 24:40
  And where Legends is more
• 24:43
  like a warm-up for this.
• 24:45
  Yep,
• 24:47
  and even like I've been working on
• 24:50
  handstand walks.
• 24:51
  I don't have handstand walks.
• 24:53
  I can get, you know, a couple of feet.
• 24:55
  That's how I hurt myself at
• 24:57
  one of the major
• 24:58
  competitions trying to handstand walks.
• 25:00
  I've been working on them.
• 25:02
  But I'm even disappointed if
• 25:04
  they don't have handstand
• 25:05
  walks in the event.
• 25:08
  Because even though I'm
• 25:09
  going to struggle or I may
• 25:11
  not be able to do them,
• 25:12
  I still think it's a test
• 25:14
  that we should be afforded
• 25:16
  the opportunity to excel at or not.
• 25:20
  It's a test of fitness.
• 25:21
  And if you have it,
• 25:22
  you should be rewarded for getting it.
• 25:25
  Yep.
• 25:27
  Well, what did, what did,
• 25:28
  what's your reaction going
• 25:29
  to be when you look out
• 25:30
  into the crowd and there's
• 25:32
  30 people screaming for you
• 25:34
  at the big stage at the CrossFit games?
• 25:37
  Are you going to be able to
• 25:38
  like stop and soak it in and,
• 25:41
  and just remember that, that moment?
• 25:45
  Um, yeah, I think it's, um,
• 25:48
  even now we do Friday night
• 25:50
  lights here and we, uh, we have some,
• 25:54
  we have several teams.
• 25:55
  and so represent the team
• 25:57
  when we do that but even
• 25:58
  doing that I did the the
• 26:01
  age group um thruster wad
• 26:03
  we had in the quarterfinals
• 26:06
  and I did that I did very
• 26:08
  good but an hour later I
• 26:10
  was the friday night lights
• 26:12
  for my team but I did it
• 26:14
  then rx so the rx weight
• 26:17
  for the thruster rod and
• 26:18
  then in my score I finished
• 26:19
  top 10 in the world um top
• 26:22
  10 percent in the men's rx
• 26:25
  for the thruster wad,
• 26:26
  which was at 135 or something,
• 26:29
  the chest to bar, bar muscle up.
• 26:32
  So even there we had at our gym,
• 26:35
  we probably had a hundred, 120, you know,
• 26:38
  people and representing or my team,
• 26:40
  you know, rooting,
• 26:41
  but they're rooting for everybody.
• 26:43
  So it was, you know,
• 26:45
  it seems even though the
• 26:46
  games is going to be much larger,
• 26:48
  it's going to be a
• 26:50
  contingent of the same people there that,
• 26:52
  you know, know what I can do.
• 26:54
  And I know that they're
• 26:55
  there wanting me to excel.
• 26:58
  Well,
• 26:59
  I know you probably got a couple of
• 27:00
  brand new fans here from
• 27:02
  the chat who really enjoyed
• 27:04
  your conversation today.
• 27:05
  We're going to be in Birmingham.
• 27:07
  We got permission to do a
• 27:09
  full behind the scenes.
• 27:10
  So we'll be back in the back.
• 27:13
  Ellie Hiller and myself will
• 27:14
  be recording with the
• 27:16
  athletes and trying to
• 27:17
  capture just the vibe of
• 27:18
  the weekend so that you
• 27:20
  guys have something to go
• 27:21
  back and look at once it's all over.
• 27:28
  games are over all right
• 27:30
  that'll be very good and
• 27:33
  we'll get to meet you in
• 27:33
  person yeah I'll definitely
• 27:36
  be there well mike I want
• 27:39
  to thank you so much for
• 27:39
  taking a little half hour
• 27:41
  out with us today um thank
• 27:43
  you to everybody in the
• 27:44
  chat for making this an
• 27:45
  awesome conversation we
• 27:47
  will see everybody next
• 27:48
  time on the clydesdale
• 27:50
  media podcast thank you guys