Latest / Clydesdale Media Podcast / Chris Anderson | The Athletes of the 2024 Legends Masters CrossFit Games

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Chris Anderson | The Athletes of the 2024 Legends Masters CrossFit Games · Clydesdale Media Podcast

• 0:11
  I was born to kill it.
• 0:14
  I was meant to win.
• 0:15
  I am down and willing so I
• 0:17
  will find a way.
• 0:18
  It took a minute and I
• 0:19
  didn't have to ride away.
• 0:21
  When it get hot in the kitchen,
• 0:22
  you decide to stay.
• 0:23
  That's how a winner's made.
• 0:24
  Yeah.
• 0:34
  What's going on, everybody?
• 0:35
  Welcome to the Clydesdale Media Podcast.
• 0:38
  My name is Scott Swich.
• 0:38
  I'm the Clydesdale.
• 0:40
  And we are here to highlight
• 0:41
  the athletes of the 2024
• 0:44
  Legends Masters CrossFit Games.
• 0:46
  And I have with me Chris Anderson.
• 0:49
  What's going on, Chris?
• 0:50
  Scott, great to be here, man.
• 0:51
  Appreciate it.
• 0:52
  Yeah, I've been a big fan of yours,
• 0:55
  watching you on the floor.
• 0:56
  That 45 to 49-year-old
• 0:58
  division has been awesome
• 0:59
  to watch for the last few years.
• 1:01
  there are a lot of, uh,
• 1:02
  amazing athletes in that
• 1:04
  group and every year it
• 1:05
  gets tougher and tougher as
• 1:06
  people age into it.
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  So yeah, it's a,
• 1:07
  it's a really good group of
• 1:08
  athletes and really good
• 1:09
  group of guys too.
• 1:11
  Yeah.
• 1:11
  Do you all like,
• 1:13
  do you all plot out how you're going to,
• 1:15
  um, take out a kneecap of Jason grub or,
• 1:19
  um, so what if somebody else gets a shot?
• 1:22
  Hey, listen, if you want to, you know,
• 1:24
  be the best, you got to beat the best.
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  And that guy has proved it, you know,
• 1:27
  year after year,
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  just how consistent he is and, you know,
• 1:30
  how much he respects the sport.
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  He's a, he's an unbelievable competitor.
• 1:33
  And, you know, I look,
• 1:34
  I look forward to taking a
• 1:35
  floor with him again, you know,
• 1:36
  coming up in just about a month.
• 1:38
  Yeah.
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  It's,
• 1:39
  and what's cool is like you and him
• 1:40
  are completely different
• 1:42
  styles of athletes.
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  Yet you're competing on the
• 1:45
  same floor and going head to head in,
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  in event after event.
• 1:50
  Yeah,
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  I'm definitely probably the smallest
• 1:52
  guy out of everybody.
• 1:53
  But he's also so well balanced,
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  it kind of sizes and matters.
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  He's big,
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  but he's also very good at gymnastics.
• 1:59
  But that's why he is where he is.
• 2:00
  You know,
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  you have to be that well rounded
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  to be that good.
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  And he, you know,
• 2:03
  he just is that well rounded.
• 2:05
  So what is your athletic background?
• 2:07
  What what brought you to this point?
• 2:10
  Um, you know,
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  I was working out just doing
• 2:13
  like conventional
• 2:14
  bodybuilding kind of stuff.
• 2:15
  Not that I was a bodybuilder,
• 2:16
  but that's just how everybody worked out.
• 2:17
  And then I was getting bored
• 2:18
  of doing that.
• 2:19
  And I was looking in
• 2:20
  magazines to try to find
• 2:21
  some different kinds of
• 2:22
  exercises is back in like 2010 or 2011.
• 2:24
  What's a magazine?
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  It was men's health.
• 2:29
  Men's health used to have
• 2:30
  these inserts of these
• 2:31
  different like station type
• 2:33
  activities and, you know,
• 2:34
  exercise routines.
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  And I was like,
• 2:36
  I want to do something else.
• 2:36
  I started to do those.
• 2:38
  And I was at a Y and this
• 2:39
  woman who worked there was like, you know,
• 2:41
  what you're doing kind of
• 2:42
  looks like CrossFit.
• 2:43
  You should do CrossFit.
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  And I was like, what in the world is that?
• 2:45
  And then I found out there
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  was one in the area.
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  It was called Albany
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  CrossFit and it still exists actually.
• 2:50
  It's one of the OG ones in the, you know,
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  I live in upstate New York.
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  And I went into there and I
• 2:54
  fell in love back in 2011.
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  I've been doing basically
• 2:57
  CrossFit ever since.
• 2:59
  Was that one owned by?
• 3:00
  Jason Ackerman.
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  Jason Ackerman, yeah.
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  So he's the one who kind of
• 3:08
  grew me a little bit.
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  I wound up coaching there,
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  working underneath him
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  before he moved to Florida
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  and then he went to Colorado.
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  But yeah, so Jason Ackerman,
• 3:14
  that was his gym for sure.
• 3:16
  Yeah, I thought so.
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  I had him on, oh gosh,
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  a couple months ago after
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  seeing him speak at an
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  affiliate gathering.
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  And I think he told the
• 3:25
  story of growing that and
• 3:27
  then eventually selling that off.
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  Yeah, he built it from this,
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  it was inside of this other
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  health complex and it was
• 3:34
  in this like little
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  racquetball or handball court.
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  And it just continued to
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  take over more courts and grow and grow.
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  And it really is the
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  epicenter of all the
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  CrossFit gyms that are
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  currently in our area.
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  So we owe a lot to Jason.
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  So did you play any sports
• 3:50
  in school before or just?
• 3:54
  No, I played,
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  I saw my favorite sport
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  growing up was basketball,
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  which you said you've seen me before.
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  It's probably not the best
• 3:59
  choice of sport given my stature,
• 4:02
  but that was really what I loved.
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  And I played freshman basketball.
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  I got caught from JV.
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  So I was more like in the,
• 4:08
  like the band geek side of
• 4:09
  things than I was in the athletic side.
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  And then that kind of took me through,
• 4:12
  through most of my high
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  school experience.
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  I always loved sports,
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  but play sports with like my friends and,
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  in like our neighborhood,
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  but as far as like actual real sports,
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  you know, actually, you know,
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  not much of a career for me.
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  Marching band or?
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  Yes, for sure.
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  For sure.
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  I played in the pit orchestra.
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  I played in the concert band
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  and then the marching band as well.
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  So my daughter,
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  she was big in the marching
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  band and all the others as well.
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  But the amount of exercise
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  that those kids get in a fall season,
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  and they're called, oh gosh,
• 4:50
  I don't know.
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  I always call it like
• 4:52
  they're a party band.
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  So they like break down and
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  dance in the middle of like
• 4:56
  their routines.
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  And she would get so fit
• 5:00
  just marching day after day after day.
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  We would do like summer.
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  I mean,
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  I'm not saying it's the same thing
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  as like double sessions for football,
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  but we would do like
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  sessions all summer long to
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  get prepared for the upcoming season of,
• 5:12
  of marching.
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  So like, I, I, I totally feel that it's,
• 5:16
  it's more, yeah,
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  it's more physical than you
• 5:18
  think it would be for sure.
• 5:19
  Yeah.
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  And especially if you played
• 5:20
  the tuba or one of the big drum kits.
• 5:23
  Yeah, I was a trumpet player,
• 5:24
  so I got off easy there, but yes,
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  you're right.
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  Those people are working
• 5:27
  real hard for sure.
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  Yeah.
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  And my daughter's 23 now.
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  We miss those days so much
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  traveling the whole state
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  just watching her perform.
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  But yeah,
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  she's off doing her own thing now.
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  So it's cool, though,
• 5:45
  that you found CrossFit
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  because really like stature
• 5:48
  is not a key element in
• 5:51
  being successful in the sport.
• 5:53
  Right.
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  I mean, yeah,
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  you could either use it as an
• 5:55
  excuse or you can work through it.
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  I just always have thought to myself,
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  like I am who I am.
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  I have some advantages when
• 6:01
  certain types of workouts
• 6:02
  come out and I just
• 6:02
  continuously work out the
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  things that I'm not as strong in,
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  like overall strength.
• 6:08
  But overall, you know,
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  I've been able to become
• 6:10
  pretty fit just by doing CrossFit,
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  working on all the different modalities.
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  Right.
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  We're not great at anything,
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  but we are pretty good at everything.
• 6:19
  Yeah,
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  when you look at some of the OGs like
• 6:21
  Chris Spieler and Matt Fraser,
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  they're not tall in stature
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  by any stretch.
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  Josh Bridges,
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  and they had successful careers.
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  Yeah, Spieler was my boy.
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  So he was really in the
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  epicenter of things back
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  when I started in 2011.
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  He was who I wanted to be
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  because I knew he was
• 6:41
  smaller than everybody else,
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  but he competed just as
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  hard and was just as successful.
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  And I really kind of modeled
• 6:47
  myself after him.
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  Just a fun fact about this show.
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  He was the first full length
• 6:55
  video guest we had on this show.
• 6:57
  Really?
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  I'll have to go back and see
• 6:58
  the archives and find that thing.
• 7:00
  Yeah.
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  It's like episode 25 or
• 7:03
  we're at like 900 and something now.
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  So yeah, really early on.
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  Yeah.
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  Yeah.
• 7:12
  He was like one of the – it
• 7:14
  was during COVID.
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  He was one of the first
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  athletes to contract COVID,
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  and that's what the
• 7:19
  discussion started about,
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  and then we got into his career.
• 7:22
  That's how long ago it was.
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  But back to you.
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  So you find CrossFit.
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  You start training that way.
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  When did you think, man,
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  I want to compete at this?
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  So at my gym,
• 7:37
  so I'm co-owner of a place
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  called Fraternity.
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  And we were a pretty
• 7:40
  competitive gym back in the
• 7:41
  days of regionals.
• 7:42
  So in 2015,
• 7:44
  our gym sent a team to the CrossFit Games,
• 7:46
  which was very cool.
• 7:47
  And then the next year,
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  I was able to qualify to be
• 7:50
  on my gym's regional team.
• 7:53
  And that was when it was a teams of six.
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  So it was three guys, three girls.
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  And
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  At that point, I was in my mid-30s,
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  so I knew that that was not
• 8:01
  going to be forever because
• 8:02
  I just wasn't going to be
• 8:03
  able to hang with the – I
• 8:04
  was the oldest person on my team by far,
• 8:06
  and I wasn't going to be
• 8:07
  able to do that forever.
• 8:08
  And at that point,
• 8:09
  the Masters started at 40,
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  so I just thought, keep getting fitter.
• 8:12
  At some point,
• 8:13
  I'll be able to potentially
• 8:14
  compete as a 40-year-old.
• 8:15
  And there were lots of
• 8:16
  competitions locally that I
• 8:17
  would be able to go in,
• 8:18
  like partner competitions,
• 8:18
  stuff like that.
• 8:20
  But it's cool.
• 8:21
  I actually have a picture of my –
• 8:24
  finishes over the open,
• 8:25
  over the course of the time,
• 8:26
  since I started through now.
• 8:27
  And it's pretty cool to see,
• 8:28
  like when I first started,
• 8:29
  it was like the 80,000th place.
• 8:32
  And then just to see how
• 8:33
  just putting in time and being consistent,
• 8:35
  how much I've been able to improve that,
• 8:36
  you know, over time,
• 8:38
  but I knew I loved it right away.
• 8:40
  And then once I found out
• 8:40
  there was a competition side,
• 8:42
  I wanted to be in it.
• 8:43
  It was all local competitions at first.
• 8:45
  And then again,
• 8:45
  when I got a taste of
• 8:46
  regionals being on the floor,
• 8:48
  And then I was aiming for Masters,
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  and then eventually I was
• 8:51
  able to get that experience
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  as a Masters athlete at the
• 8:53
  CrossFit Games.
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  So this is actually your
• 8:56
  third qualification for the Games.
• 8:58
  Yes, I made it in 2019 in the 40-44,
• 8:59
  and then I made it last
• 9:00
  year as a 45-49 year old,
• 9:01
  and then again this year as
• 9:02
  a now 46 year old.
• 9:08
  And you made it this year
• 9:10
  under the old rules.
• 9:13
  Does that mean anything to
• 9:14
  you that even if they would
• 9:15
  have kept it at 10,
• 9:16
  you still would have made it?
• 9:17
  Or does that not even factor in?
• 9:20
  It's just getting in the door that counts.
• 9:24
  Well, I'll say two things.
• 9:27
  I think that if it was top 10,
• 9:28
  I'm sure people would have
• 9:29
  redone more workouts and
• 9:31
  the leaderboard would have
• 9:32
  been different.
• 9:32
  I think that once people
• 9:33
  knew what the number was,
• 9:34
  they kind of just knew
• 9:36
  Some people in our division
• 9:37
  were pretty confident they
• 9:38
  were going to be able to be
• 9:39
  in that top 40.
• 9:40
  I did redo a workout,
• 9:42
  not because I was worried
• 9:43
  about potentially making it or not,
• 9:44
  but because I just was
• 9:45
  displeased by effort.
• 9:49
  And one of the reasons why I
• 9:50
  redid it is I really wanted
• 9:51
  to be in the last heat at
• 9:53
  the start of the
• 9:53
  competition because it just
• 9:55
  is so beneficial to be in that position.
• 9:57
  And so that was kind of a
• 9:58
  goal of mine to be able to be there.
• 9:59
  And yeah,
• 10:00
  it feels good to be in the top 10,
• 10:01
  but there are,
• 10:03
  the field is just so loaded with guys.
• 10:05
  I don't think it's just
• 10:06
  going to be the top 10 guys
• 10:07
  that are going to be top 10.
• 10:08
  There's just so many really
• 10:09
  good athletes now that it's
• 10:10
  been expanded to 40 and
• 10:12
  There are just so many guys
• 10:14
  that can come up in a workout,
• 10:15
  so many well-rounded guys.
• 10:16
  I'm not under any sort of
• 10:20
  belief that just because I
• 10:21
  finish in the top 10 that
• 10:22
  I'll be a top 10 finisher
• 10:23
  at the end of this.
• 10:24
  That's for sure.
• 10:25
  I think what's crazy is...
• 10:28
  The change in how many
• 10:29
  people go is changing the
• 10:31
  dynamic of the CrossFit
• 10:32
  games completely because
• 10:35
  you're going to have more middlers.
• 10:36
  You're going to have
• 10:37
  specialists that are going
• 10:39
  to mess up the leaderboard for others.
• 10:41
  And it's going to be a
• 10:42
  little more chaotic than
• 10:44
  it's been in years past.
• 10:45
  Yeah.
• 10:46
  The two other times I made
• 10:47
  it in 2019 and the last
• 10:48
  year was both those years
• 10:49
  happened to be 10 athletes only.
• 10:52
  So there's definitely less fluctuation,
• 10:54
  but when I've competed at
• 10:55
  legends or at a MFC or even
• 10:58
  other competitions like that,
• 10:59
  and they're at the field is 40,
• 11:00
  there's lots of fluctuation,
• 11:02
  like you said, in certain ones, you know,
• 11:03
  for me in particular,
• 11:04
  I may take a hit on the
• 11:05
  strength event or the machine event,
• 11:06
  but usually if there's some
• 11:07
  sort of gymnastics event or
• 11:08
  a lighter barbell or a
• 11:09
  longer piece that that's an
• 11:11
  opportunity for me to be able to,
• 11:12
  to get some more points
• 11:13
  back and hopefully climb
• 11:14
  back up the leaderboard for sure.
• 11:16
  Yeah.
• 11:17
  It's funny.
• 11:19
  My co-host on my Sunday night show,
• 11:20
  Jamie Latimer, she's a big fan of yours.
• 11:25
  Loves the way you move and
• 11:28
  you are very similar athletes.
• 11:30
  where she is definitely
• 11:33
  weaker in the strength
• 11:34
  events and then stronger in
• 11:35
  the other events.
• 11:37
  And she's super excited
• 11:38
  because you can make up
• 11:40
  that difference then in your wheelhouse,
• 11:43
  where the strong guy may
• 11:45
  finish lower than 10th now.
• 11:47
  Yeah, that's definitely true.
• 11:50
  But she has touted you as
• 11:52
  one of the best movers in the sport,
• 11:54
  and she's been a big fan of
• 11:55
  yours for quite some time.
• 11:57
  Well,
• 11:57
  I'll definitely have to be sure I see
• 11:59
  her in Birmingham to thank her for that.
• 12:01
  It's very, very nice to hear.
• 12:02
  I appreciate that.
• 12:05
  So I've had a lot of rookies on this week,
• 12:12
  which is just blowing my mind.
• 12:14
  And it's cool that more
• 12:15
  people are getting the opportunity to go.
• 12:17
  Absolutely.
• 12:18
  What a piece of advice would
• 12:20
  you give to a rookie going
• 12:22
  to the games for the first time?
• 12:24
  Hmm.
• 12:26
  Well, some context here.
• 12:27
  When I went back in 2019, I finished last.
• 12:29
  So I was 10 out of the 10
• 12:31
  people that made it.
• 12:32
  And that was a very humbling experience.
• 12:35
  I don't think I was quite
• 12:36
  ready for that stage.
• 12:37
  And I guess I have two things.
• 12:41
  For one,
• 12:42
  it's eat as much as you possibly can.
• 12:44
  That's just a logistics one.
• 12:47
  But the other thing I would
• 12:48
  say is try to soak it in.
• 12:51
  At some point,
• 12:51
  whether it's in one particular workout,
• 12:53
  if you can, every time you take the floor,
• 12:55
  just spend five or 10
• 12:57
  seconds and just soak it in.
• 12:58
  Because I know enough people
• 13:01
  that are in this space and
• 13:02
  that have been competing
• 13:02
  that an injury happens,
• 13:05
  their priorities change, life changes,
• 13:07
  and they don't come back.
• 13:10
  And so...
• 13:11
  part of my quest when I made
• 13:12
  it in 2019 was to get back.
• 13:13
  So I had a better taste of
• 13:15
  my amounts after that 10th place finish,
• 13:17
  but also so that I could
• 13:18
  really enjoy the experience.
• 13:19
  Cause the first time I was
• 13:20
  so stressed and nervous and
• 13:22
  all those kinds of things that, you know,
• 13:24
  I don't think I appreciated
• 13:25
  it as much as I should have.
• 13:28
  Yeah.
• 13:29
  It's funny.
• 13:29
  I was talking to Brandon
• 13:32
  this morning and he's
• 13:33
  bringing 50 people with him to the game.
• 13:36
  That is awesome.
• 13:38
  And can you imagine like
• 13:39
  being on the floor and
• 13:41
  forgetting to soak in that
• 13:43
  there are 50 people out
• 13:44
  there wearing your shirt,
• 13:46
  cheering you on.
• 13:47
  Like you need to soak in those moments.
• 13:50
  You do.
• 13:51
  And whether it's before the, you know,
• 13:52
  the horn sounds or after, and, you know,
• 13:54
  you're kind of picking up
• 13:55
  your belt and stuff,
• 13:56
  just looking into the crowd
• 13:57
  and waving at those people
• 13:58
  or looking at them.
• 13:59
  I think that that stuff is
• 14:00
  really important.
• 14:00
  When I went last year,
• 14:01
  I had a small group of
• 14:02
  people that came and supported me,
• 14:04
  but just to have them there
• 14:05
  and to see them and have
• 14:06
  them cheering for me, like it really made,
• 14:08
  enriched the experience for me.
• 14:11
  Yeah.
• 14:13
  When he told me he's bringing 50,
• 14:14
  it got me so excited
• 14:15
  because I think that the
• 14:19
  cost to get in is going to
• 14:21
  be cheaper than it would be
• 14:22
  at the big festival that
• 14:23
  they've had in the past.
• 14:25
  And maybe more fans show up
• 14:26
  for the Masters because it
• 14:28
  is the only show in town, right?
• 14:31
  I hope so.
• 14:31
  Yeah.
• 14:33
  And it becomes something
• 14:34
  really special for everybody.
• 14:37
  I mean,
• 14:37
  I'm very grateful that we even have
• 14:38
  this opportunity.
• 14:39
  I'm very thankful for Bob and Jill,
• 14:41
  for all the Legends guys
• 14:41
  and for CrossFit for
• 14:42
  continuing to support the Masters.
• 14:44
  And even, you know,
• 14:44
  for you for having this
• 14:45
  opportunity to talk about it.
• 14:47
  I don't want to take it for granted.
• 14:48
  Justin LaSalle always says, like,
• 14:49
  we could be bowling right now.
• 14:50
  And I'm not hating on bowling.
• 14:51
  I'm just saying, like,
• 14:52
  we have this really good
• 14:53
  opportunity because people
• 14:54
  support what we do and what we love.
• 14:56
  And, you know,
• 14:57
  that's another reason why
• 14:58
  you should also appreciate
• 14:59
  it because you don't know
• 15:00
  if it's going to be forever.
• 15:01
  So while you have it,
• 15:02
  you just really have to
• 15:03
  soak it in and have those
• 15:04
  memories to come back to.
• 15:06
  Yeah, I've been saying it a couple times.
• 15:08
  My stats and info person did some research,
• 15:10
  and she's still working on it.
• 15:13
  The 35 to 49-year-olds going
• 15:15
  to the games have a
• 15:17
  combined 3 million
• 15:18
  followers on Instagram.
• 15:23
  I'm definitely not helping that number out,
• 15:26
  but that's a pretty good
• 15:28
  number for people that are
• 15:29
  not necessarily in that
• 15:30
  Instagram demographic, right?
• 15:32
  Right,
• 15:32
  and those are the people she could
• 15:33
  find on Instagram.
• 15:35
  right?
• 15:36
  So, so that's not counting everybody,
• 15:38
  but I think people downplay what,
• 15:40
  what is possible with this
• 15:42
  group of people when there
• 15:43
  are eyes and fans out there of you all.
• 15:48
  And,
• 15:48
  and the people that are in this sport
• 15:50
  are amazing people.
• 15:51
  And I don't have no doubt
• 15:52
  that they all do what they
• 15:53
  can to help spread the
• 15:55
  message about what we do in
• 15:56
  terms of fitness,
• 15:56
  but also the sport that we love.
• 15:58
  So the more eyes we can get on it,
• 16:00
  I think the more
• 16:02
  The thing I think sometimes
• 16:03
  HQ misses about the masters
• 16:04
  athletes is that we're more
• 16:07
  similar to most people in the world.
• 16:08
  You know, the people that are elite,
• 16:10
  they're unbelievable and
• 16:11
  very inspiring in their own way.
• 16:13
  But people like us are
• 16:14
  normal people who just live
• 16:16
  everyday lives and work
• 16:17
  jobs and have families.
• 16:18
  And that's more similar to
• 16:20
  most people in the world.
• 16:22
  So the more they can maybe
• 16:23
  get us out there,
• 16:24
  the more people they can
• 16:25
  get into affiliates and
• 16:26
  doing what it is that we do.
• 16:29
  So just like my other
• 16:30
  co-host on my Sunday night show,
• 16:32
  Carolyn Prevost,
• 16:33
  you work a full-time job as a teacher.
• 16:36
  That is right.
• 16:36
  I'm a seventh grade social
• 16:37
  studies teacher.
• 16:40
  And so did you,
• 16:42
  is that always what you wanted to be?
• 16:44
  Yes.
• 16:45
  Pretty early on.
• 16:45
  I remember like in fifth grade,
• 16:46
  you do that project about
• 16:47
  what you want to be when you grew up.
• 16:48
  And I just always wanted to be a teacher.
• 16:51
  I just love being around
• 16:52
  other people and helping people and
• 16:54
  I was pretty sure I wanted
• 16:55
  to be a social studies teacher.
• 16:56
  And then my sixth grade
• 16:57
  social studies teacher was amazing.
• 16:58
  And that kind of sealed the deal for me.
• 17:00
  And I pretty much stayed
• 17:01
  that course all the way through now.
• 17:02
  I'm about to start my 2050
• 17:04
  year as a teacher, actually.
• 17:06
  Wow.
• 17:07
  That's crazy.
• 17:08
  Do the kids know what you do as a hobby?
• 17:12
  Ah, yes.
• 17:13
  You know,
• 17:13
  they like to say that I'm jacked or,
• 17:15
  you know, every once in a while,
• 17:16
  if I need to persuade them
• 17:19
  to do something,
• 17:20
  they make me like walk on
• 17:21
  my hands or do a handstand or something.
• 17:23
  So I try to leverage it
• 17:24
  every once in a while to to
• 17:26
  encourage them to make good
• 17:27
  choices and do good things.
• 17:28
  And also just let them know that, you know,
• 17:31
  a healthy lifestyle is kind
• 17:33
  of a good lifestyle to lead.
• 17:36
  How creative do you have to
• 17:37
  be to be a teacher these
• 17:39
  days with attention spans
• 17:42
  shrinking and the social media world?
• 17:46
  How creative do you have to be?
• 17:48
  Incredibly.
• 17:50
  To that end,
• 17:51
  I've written like eight or
• 17:52
  nine educational raps and I
• 17:54
  have like rap videos that
• 17:55
  go along with them about
• 17:56
  the content that we learn
• 17:57
  just to try to get them hooked in.
• 17:58
  So we'll we'll do rap
• 18:00
  rehearsals in class and things like that.
• 18:02
  I think you have this break.
• 18:03
  Like I have a 42 minute class.
• 18:04
  If you try to talk for 42 minutes,
• 18:06
  you lose.
• 18:06
  There's no way that that works.
• 18:07
  So you have to think about attention span.
• 18:09
  So it's basically like.
• 18:10
  eight to 10 minute windows.
• 18:12
  You try to do three or four
• 18:13
  different things over the
• 18:13
  course of that class period.
• 18:15
  Cause if you don't do small
• 18:16
  kind of intense and don't
• 18:18
  change things often, yeah, you'll,
• 18:20
  you'll lose them for sure.
• 18:22
  So these raps, I can get them where?
• 18:24
  Uh, they're on my, my YouTube station.
• 18:27
  Uh, it's Mr. A 100 ITZ MRA 100.
• 18:30
  There, there's a playlist on there.
• 18:32
  So, um, okay.
• 18:35
  I wish I would've had those before this.
• 18:36
  I would've played it.
• 18:38
  Oh man.
• 18:38
  Yeah.
• 18:39
  Well,
• 18:40
  you can listen to it after if you
• 18:41
  want to brush up on your
• 18:41
  early American history, Scott.
• 18:43
  So it's there for you if you'd like.
• 18:45
  I always, I always love that time.
• 18:48
  Like I,
• 18:49
  this country is so fascinating to me.
• 18:51
  Like everybody's like,
• 18:52
  where do you want to go in the world?
• 18:53
  I want to keep exploring America.
• 18:56
  It's just,
• 18:57
  there's so many cool little things.
• 18:58
  And I grew up in Western
• 18:59
  Pennsylvania and so much happened there.
• 19:02
  Like my parents took us to
• 19:04
  Valley Forge and took us to
• 19:05
  Gettysburg and to Philadelphia and like,
• 19:09
  And most of that was through
• 19:10
  my sports growing up.
• 19:11
  I was a swimmer and we had
• 19:13
  meets all along like that way.
• 19:16
  And getting to see all that
• 19:17
  stuff as a young child
• 19:19
  really influenced me in that area.
• 19:22
  I actually wrote my rap
• 19:23
  about the battle of
• 19:24
  Gettysburg in Gettysburg
• 19:26
  when I was there on a,
• 19:26
  on a social studies
• 19:27
  conference for a week.
• 19:28
  So I was actually sitting on
• 19:29
  the battlefield,
• 19:31
  writing lyrics about the
• 19:32
  battle so that my kids
• 19:33
  don't understand the importance of that.
• 19:34
  And like in the civil war.
• 19:35
  So I feel you Philadelphia
• 19:37
  and just Pennsylvania in general,
• 19:38
  you know,
• 19:40
  steeped in history for sure.
• 19:41
  One funny story is we back in, and I'm,
• 19:44
  I'm older than you are.
• 19:46
  My dad and my mom took us to
• 19:47
  Gettysburg and they had a
• 19:49
  tour self-guided that you
• 19:52
  rented a cassette tape and
• 19:54
  you played it in your car
• 19:56
  and you had to drive a
• 19:57
  certain miles per hour.
• 19:58
  And it would like talk about
• 19:59
  the stuff you saw.
• 20:01
  My dad could not keep the speed.
• 20:05
  My mom was getting
• 20:06
  infuriated because the tour
• 20:08
  guide was not anywhere near
• 20:09
  where we were at.
• 20:10
  We didn't know what we were looking at.
• 20:12
  She was getting frustrated.
• 20:15
  But thank goodness
• 20:16
  technology has come a long
• 20:17
  way since then.
• 20:18
  Yeah, that's come a long way.
• 20:19
  For sure.
• 20:20
  We made a,
• 20:21
  we used to take our kids to
• 20:22
  Boston because there's a
• 20:22
  lot of history that
• 20:23
  obviously that happened in
• 20:24
  that city as well.
• 20:25
  And we recorded,
• 20:26
  this was in the days of like iPods.
• 20:28
  We recorded a digital audio
• 20:31
  tour of my colleague and I,
• 20:32
  who teaches seventh grade
• 20:33
  and the kids listened to it
• 20:34
  as they walked part of the freedom trail.
• 20:36
  But yeah,
• 20:36
  you had to walk at a certain pace
• 20:38
  because if you were, you know,
• 20:40
  if you weren't with it,
• 20:40
  then you would be talking about,
• 20:42
  I don't know,
• 20:43
  Paul Revere's midnight ride
• 20:44
  and not be in the right spot.
• 20:45
  So it's just, it's fun.
• 20:48
  Yeah, the whole tour.
• 20:48
  My dad was going too fast,
• 20:50
  and my mom's like, come on,
• 20:51
  Mario Andretti, we got to slow down here.
• 20:56
  So much fun.
• 20:57
  So will the kids watch you when you're in?
• 21:03
  And does school start before that weekend?
• 21:08
  So for us, I get back on that Monday,
• 21:10
  so what is it, the second,
• 21:11
  and school starts Tuesday
• 21:13
  the third for us,
• 21:13
  and the kids start that Thursday.
• 21:15
  So my old crop,
• 21:17
  some of them follow our gym account,
• 21:20
  so they'll probably be able
• 21:21
  to watch there.
• 21:23
  And the school's been
• 21:23
  supportive too in the past,
• 21:24
  so maybe they'll send out the link.
• 21:26
  The two times I've gone,
• 21:27
  when I went in 2019, there was no stream.
• 21:30
  And then last year's,
• 21:32
  if you want to call it a stream,
• 21:33
  I didn't really –
• 21:34
  I didn't really send it out to anybody.
• 21:36
  Anybody that really wanted
• 21:36
  to follow would follow the
• 21:38
  gym's Instagram to be able
• 21:39
  to watch me compete.
• 21:41
  It's really exciting to know
• 21:42
  that we have a stream.
• 21:44
  Shout out to those guys that
• 21:45
  supported that,
• 21:46
  that we have a stream this year.
• 21:47
  Even what you said,
• 21:48
  you're going to be doing
• 21:49
  some filming there and
• 21:50
  behind-the-scenes stuff,
• 21:51
  so that will be really,
• 21:52
  really cool to see too.
• 21:54
  You're saying that the
• 21:55
  iPhone hanging from the
• 21:56
  ceiling wasn't a good stream?
• 21:58
  I just didn't even tell.
• 21:59
  It was just so...
• 22:01
  I don't mean to be disrespectful,
• 22:02
  but it was so embarrassing.
• 22:04
  I just didn't even post that
• 22:07
  stream existed because I
• 22:08
  just think it was a bad
• 22:09
  look for CrossFit.
• 22:10
  I think I was disrespectful
• 22:11
  enough for both of us last
• 22:13
  year when it was happening.
• 22:14
  There was no point in even having it.
• 22:20
  honestly, but they,
• 22:21
  you are getting a full stream this year.
• 22:23
  You're getting the best.
• 22:24
  And you know,
• 22:25
  the games didn't want Sean Woodland.
• 22:26
  So he came to the masters,
• 22:29
  which is awesome.
• 22:30
  What a win for us.
• 22:31
  Yeah.
• 22:31
  I am legends.
• 22:32
  A couple of years ago,
• 22:33
  I had them for some of the workouts.
• 22:35
  He was in 2022.
• 22:35
  They had like Sean and Annie.
• 22:37
  And I still have like that
• 22:41
  bookmarked when he was saying my name.
• 22:42
  Cause I have,
• 22:43
  I happen to do well in one of
• 22:44
  the workouts.
• 22:44
  He was saying, my name is like, Oh,
• 22:45
  Chris Anderson, blah, blah, blah.
• 22:46
  So like,
• 22:47
  The opportunity to have him
• 22:49
  calling our workouts again
• 22:51
  for us is really, really,
• 22:53
  really cool and very happy
• 22:55
  and very thankful that that
• 22:56
  was able to be arranged.
• 22:57
  Our win, for sure.
• 22:59
  If that happened to me,
• 22:59
  I think that would be my ringtone.
• 23:04
  Sean Woodland calling my
• 23:05
  event is my ringtone.
• 23:06
  There we go.
• 23:07
  Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 23:10
  And you're getting him and
• 23:12
  Chase and Tommy and Lauren for this.
• 23:15
  It's going to be awesome.
• 23:16
  What are your realistic
• 23:17
  expectations this year?
• 23:18
  Well, I mean, I think I had the, for me,
• 23:23
  I think I had the perfect
• 23:24
  year last year to finish third,
• 23:25
  I think is,
• 23:27
  unbelievable for me as an athlete.
• 23:29
  You know,
• 23:29
  I'm not the most well-rounded
• 23:31
  person in spite of the fact
• 23:32
  that I continue to work at it.
• 23:33
  So I'm not putting any
• 23:35
  pressure to say that I'm
• 23:36
  going to be a podium
• 23:37
  athlete or get second or win this year.
• 23:39
  I just, I want to enjoy the experience.
• 23:41
  I'd like to, you know, if I earn it,
• 23:43
  be able to compete in that
• 23:45
  top heat for most,
• 23:46
  if not all the weekend.
• 23:47
  But I know that there are
• 23:49
  so many good athletes out there.
• 23:50
  I don't take that for granted.
• 23:51
  I'm not going to assume that
• 23:52
  that's going to happen to me.
• 23:53
  You know,
• 23:53
  I'm going to have to earn it with, uh,
• 23:55
  you know, continue to train hard,
• 23:57
  staying healthy here for
• 23:57
  the next three and a half weeks or so.
• 23:59
  And then putting forth my
• 24:00
  best effort while I'm there.
• 24:03
  How crazy it is.
• 24:04
  Is it you've competed in the
• 24:06
  sport a long time.
• 24:07
  You have this five-year window.
• 24:09
  It's always moving.
• 24:10
  So every year your competition changes.
• 24:14
  It's almost like being in
• 24:15
  college over and over and over again.
• 24:18
  It is because this year now
• 24:19
  is the same group, not exactly the same,
• 24:22
  but of the first time I ever made it.
• 24:23
  So like those names I saw on that,
• 24:25
  that leaderboard are now
• 24:26
  back on this leaderboard
• 24:27
  this year in this group.
• 24:28
  So it's just,
• 24:29
  it's funny to watch it shift over time.
• 24:31
  And, uh,
• 24:33
  but just the depth of the field
• 24:34
  that you just can't believe
• 24:35
  how good people are,
• 24:37
  but it just continued to
• 24:38
  motivate you on the days
• 24:39
  where you're feeling a
• 24:39
  little tired or not at your best.
• 24:40
  You just know you got to
• 24:41
  keep putting in the work in.
• 24:42
  Cause if you don't, you know,
• 24:43
  you are going to get passed by.
• 24:44
  There are too many good
• 24:45
  people out there for that not to happen.
• 24:48
  you mentioned that Ryan
• 24:49
  Redkey was one of your good
• 24:50
  friends and he, and he's your competitor.
• 24:53
  Is that,
• 24:53
  is that very common as a master's
• 24:56
  athlete that your
• 24:57
  competitors are your good friends?
• 24:59
  Scott,
• 24:59
  the coolest part about the masters
• 25:01
  is that all of the
• 25:02
  competitors are your good friends.
• 25:03
  You know,
• 25:04
  like that's the part I love that.
• 25:05
  I think I have the hardest
• 25:06
  parking bang to people that
• 25:07
  don't understand.
• 25:08
  They're like, you do competitive exercise.
• 25:09
  It's like, yeah, that's what I do.
• 25:11
  But the coolest part is how
• 25:13
  cool the people are.
• 25:14
  You know, like,
• 25:15
  Ryan, David Johnson,
• 25:16
  I can name a million people like for me,
• 25:18
  Rudy, who's in the age group younger,
• 25:20
  but like,
• 25:21
  his he and his family have
• 25:22
  become really great friends of mine.
• 25:23
  And that's something that I
• 25:25
  think that I'll have even
• 25:26
  after my competitive days
• 25:27
  of CrossFit are done.
• 25:28
  It's just the guys,
• 25:30
  the dudes are so great.
• 25:32
  They want to kick your butt
• 25:33
  when you're out on the floor.
• 25:34
  But when you're not, you're just
• 25:36
  you know,
• 25:36
  talking to each other and bonding
• 25:38
  over that shared experience
• 25:39
  because not everybody gets what we do.
• 25:41
  So it's cool to be around
• 25:42
  people that understand how
• 25:43
  hard you work and how much
• 25:44
  you love just doing competitive exercise.
• 25:48
  Are you more excited to go
• 25:49
  compete or more excited to
• 25:51
  go see your friends?
• 25:56
  Yes.
• 25:56
  I don't know.
• 25:57
  That's probably the only answer.
• 25:58
  I mean, the opportunity to compete, like,
• 26:03
  is, is a gift, you know,
• 26:04
  and I know that as an athlete in general,
• 26:06
  and certainly as an older athlete,
• 26:08
  that's not something you
• 26:09
  can take for granted,
• 26:10
  but the chance to see
• 26:11
  people that I don't get a
• 26:11
  chance to see all year long,
• 26:13
  I get to see them certain, you know,
• 26:14
  a couple of times if they
• 26:15
  make water loser, if I make MFC or,
• 26:18
  or even the legends championship,
• 26:19
  like just being able to see
• 26:21
  those guys and spend time
• 26:22
  with them is really important too.
• 26:24
  It's it's the experience is
• 26:25
  not just the competition.
• 26:26
  It's also the camaraderie
• 26:28
  and both of them to me feel, you know,
• 26:30
  equal parts of the experience.
• 26:33
  So you own a gym.
• 26:35
  Co-owner, yes.
• 26:36
  Co-owner gym.
• 26:37
  You're a school teacher.
• 26:39
  You have a family.
• 26:41
  You train.
• 26:43
  How do you figure it all out?
• 26:45
  Or did you just cram it all
• 26:47
  into the summer when you're off teaching?
• 26:50
  Time management.
• 26:51
  I mean, you know how it is.
• 26:52
  You have to, I don't do a hundred things,
• 26:55
  but like the six or seven things I do,
• 26:56
  I try to do a hundred percent.
• 26:58
  That's kind of how I do it.
• 26:59
  So there may be some things
• 27:00
  I selectively omit from my
• 27:01
  life because I don't have
• 27:02
  the time for them.
• 27:03
  But if I have,
• 27:05
  if they're a part of my life,
• 27:05
  then I really try to give
• 27:06
  them the best of me when I'm doing them.
• 27:08
  So when I'm at school,
• 27:09
  I try to focus on my classroom.
• 27:10
  And then when I get to the gym,
• 27:12
  I focus on my training.
• 27:13
  And then when my training is over,
• 27:14
  if I coach a class that night,
• 27:16
  then that's what my focus is.
• 27:17
  And then when I come home,
• 27:18
  spending time with people I love,
• 27:20
  like those are the things
• 27:21
  that you have to, what's important now,
• 27:23
  right?
• 27:23
  You have to do what's
• 27:24
  important in the moment.
• 27:25
  And it's not easy.
• 27:28
  but I wouldn't give up any
• 27:29
  one of those things.
• 27:30
  And again,
• 27:30
  sometimes I say no to going out
• 27:32
  here or doing that thing
• 27:33
  because I don't have time for it.
• 27:35
  I have to focus on the things that,
• 27:36
  that are most important.
• 27:39
  How many people are you taking with you?
• 27:40
  Whoa.
• 27:41
  I think I lost you.
• 27:46
  I think I got you back.
• 27:48
  Can you see me?
• 27:49
  Yep.
• 27:51
  So how many people are you
• 27:52
  taking with you?
• 27:55
  On this trip, to be honest there, well,
• 27:57
  There's a small group coming from my gym,
• 28:00
  but they're coming from my
• 28:01
  gym because another guy
• 28:02
  made the CrossFit Games in
• 28:04
  the 65 plus division for my
• 28:05
  gym for the first time ever,
• 28:06
  speaking of rookies.
• 28:08
  So it's very,
• 28:09
  very cool that we have two
• 28:11
  athletes from fraternity
• 28:12
  that are going to be there.
• 28:12
  His name's Rick chop on the 65 plus.
• 28:15
  It's the first time he's ever made it.
• 28:16
  And he is really, really excited.
• 28:19
  I'm probably more excited
• 28:19
  for him than I am for myself.
• 28:20
  Cause I have had this experience at least,
• 28:22
  you know, a couple of times before,
• 28:24
  but I'm really excited to
• 28:25
  share that experience with him.
• 28:26
  Cause he's worked incredibly hard and he,
• 28:27
  you know, he's earned it.
• 28:30
  So you have a small group
• 28:31
  from the gym family.
• 28:32
  My, my family will not, will not travel.
• 28:36
  I'm I'm,
• 28:37
  I'm not married.
• 28:38
  I'm single.
• 28:39
  Um, but my, uh,
• 28:40
  my mom can't or doesn't fly.
• 28:42
  So she'll, she'll be watching me.
• 28:44
  She'll be cheering hard on the stream.
• 28:45
  I'm sure.
• 28:46
  But, um, I'm flying solo.
• 28:47
  All right.
• 28:49
  Yeah.
• 28:49
  At least we have a good stream for that,
• 28:51
  right?
• 28:51
  Yes.
• 28:52
  Yes.
• 28:52
  It'll be the first time she can actually,
• 28:53
  um, you know,
• 28:54
  see it and watch it in a way
• 28:55
  that I think gives it the,
• 28:57
  the do it deserves.
• 28:58
  And you can FaceTime in the evenings and,
• 29:00
  uh, catch up for sure.
• 29:04
  So awesome.
• 29:05
  Well, Chris,
• 29:06
  thank you very much for your time.
• 29:07
  I appreciate you.
• 29:09
  Yeah,
• 29:09
  I really appreciate you carving out
• 29:11
  time for the Masters and
• 29:12
  really promoting us in the
• 29:14
  sport and all that you do
• 29:15
  to get our names out there.
• 29:17
  And we really appreciate it.
• 29:19
  Well, this is just the beginning.
• 29:20
  Again, I've said it a million times.
• 29:23
  We're going to be there.
• 29:23
  Ellie Hiller and I are going
• 29:24
  to be backstage doing behind the scenes.
• 29:27
  We're going to have some
• 29:28
  videographers out on the
• 29:30
  floor capturing some of the
• 29:31
  action and put it all
• 29:33
  together as a pretty cool program.
• 29:35
  I can't wait to see it.
• 29:36
  Yeah,
• 29:37
  and please come talk to us when we're
• 29:39
  back there.
• 29:40
  That's what will make it great.
• 29:42
  I definitely will.
• 29:43
  Awesome.
• 29:43
  Thanks, Chris.
• 29:45
  We will see everybody next
• 29:46
  time on the Clydesdale Media Podcast.
• 29:49
  Thank you so much.