S05E175 - Recap 2024 1st Phorm Legends Championship with Dan Coda Mindy MacDonald Kathleen Staunton
Have you ever wondered what it takes to compete at the highest levels of fitness while maintaining your sanity? Join us in an exciting episode as Coach David Syvertsen @davesy85 sits down with the 2024 Legend Championship @thelegendschampionship athletes —Dan Coda @dannehnj, Mindy Macdonald @mindymacd, and Kathleen Staunton @stautie3. Fresh from the competition arena, these elite athletes open up about the mental and physical challenges of pushing through intense, high-pressure workouts. Dan shares his triumphant story of reaching a long-sought milestone, while Mindy and Kathleen recount their strategic approaches to overcoming setbacks, offering listeners a rare glimpse into the world of competitive fitness.
As the conversation unfolds, we explore the profound personal growth that occurs between the second and third years of competitive fitness. Our guests reveal how experience combined with mindfulness can offer a powerful edge in multi-day events that demand travel and adaptation. Discover how these athletes handle the balance between self-criticism and self-compassion, and learn practical strategies for managing mental focus during intense competitions. Whether it's the thrill of starting with a rapid workout or the grit required to push through exhaustion and personal limits, this episode is packed with insights for anyone striving to enhance their competitive edge.
We wrap up with reflections on the emotional journey of competition, touching on everything from the camaraderie and community support that inspires growth to the disappointment of unmet goals. Through candid discussions on the thrills of outdoor events and the complexities of adaptive lift strategies, we celebrate the perseverance required to navigate the highs and lows of athletic competition. This episode offers a wealth of motivation, encouraging athletes to embrace both the struggles and triumphs on their path to becoming their fittest selves. Whether you're an aspiring competitor or someone inspired by stories of resilience and growth, this conversation promises to enhance your understanding and appreciation of the journey toward fitness excellence.
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S05E175 - Recap 2024 1st Phorm Legends Championship with Dan Coda Mindy MacDonald Kathleen Staunton
Speaker Names
David SyvertsenHost
00:05
Hey everybody, welcome to the Herd Fit Podcast with Dr Sam Rhee and myself, coach David Syverson. This podcast is aimed at helping anyone and everyone looking to enhance their healthy lifestyle through fitness, nutrition and, most importantly, mindset. All right, welcome back to the Herd Fit Podcast. I am Coach David Syerson and I'm here with three special, special, special guests. I said it three times because I have three guests and they are the 2024 Bison Legend Championship competitors. All the way to my left I have Dan Cota and in the middle here we have Mindy. On the middle right we have Kathleen Staunton, and you guys are just a few days removed from the Legends Championships and I waited to ask you guys if you wanted to come in until after, and it was literally right after the competition was over, before you got on the flight back. And there was two reasons why I wanted to rush it. Uh, the thoughts that you have in, like the few days after, are the ones that like the raw, the rawest ones, the realest ones, and then, as life becomes distraction, with the holidays and everything, you can forget some of these little fine details. Uh, but also in respect, I didn't want to bring it up before the competition. Uh, because there's so much mental and emotional things that so many of the things that you're going through leading up to the competition a podcast is the last thing you want to worry about. So, with that said, welcome back, guys. Real proud of you. Uh, it was fun to watch you guys, support you guys, fun to be on the other side of it for the first time for me in a long time and, um, I felt like I was there with you as much as I could be, uh, just like you know mentally and talking to you guys because I know exactly what it's like to be out there and, uh, all the challenges that maybe some others don't see. So really proud of you guys for for what you guys went through. Um, I want you guys and all the listeners to know this we're going to try to visualize two groups of people sitting in front of us that we're talking to, other than the millions, uh of that watch the. Hence subscribe to the podcast.
02:03
All right, um, I want a group of people I want you to act like the group of bison are sitting here watching you guys talk, because I don't think you guys fully know how much, how into it they are, just knowing that you're across the country representing bison. How hard you were throughout the year. We see you guys grind all the time doing all the things that most people just don't want to do, right. The you guys grind all the time doing all the things that most people just don't want to do, right. The fact that you guys are out there, putting yourself out in front of a lot of people and putting yourself through a really hard, rigorous test. How many of them truly want to know a lot of the details that we don't get to see when we're watching videos on Facebook. So just visualize when you're telling your stories from the weekend. Visualize them being here.
02:43
And the second group of people that I want you guys to act like are sitting right in front of us are people that want to someday do it, Because I think it's really important for us, it's something we can contribute to the master sport that there are people out there that want to now or will want to do this, and it really does help to hear real life stories of what you guys went through, things that just are not obvious.
03:06
You know, like what's it like to fly out there? How does your body feel two days after flying Right, like where do you stay? All these little things like, even if you think it's a little minute detail, that's not a big deal, let's talk about it and just visualize them being in front of you. So a format of this is it can be tough with four people and not make it too interview-based we're going to really touch on. We're going to kind of reverse engineer and talk about the workouts first and within the workouts we are going to probably go off on tangents and some little training stories and funny stories and emotional stories in some cases. Let's do it. Let's go off on as many tangents as we can. But before that, dan, this is your first time at Legends Championship and this has been a goal of yours for a long time.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
03:48
Yeah.
David SyvertsenHost
03:49
And we both have been through not hitting our goals several times. Can you touch on what it's like to finally get to something that you've been trying to get to for a long time? And you have failed in the past past but I think because of those failures you made it and you crush it out there. You hit, he hit one of your major goals. What was that component of this like?
Dan CodaGuest
04:11
yeah, um. So I guess the last four years I've been trying to make this competition um, it's been kind of like the cat, one of the carrots at the end of uh that I've been just chasing aside from the open season. It's so interesting because I have now done Masters Fitness Collective, I've done Guadalupe Luza and this was like the final one that I've been trying to reach, wondering what it would be like seeing all my friends at the gym, going there, watching their videos, imagining myself being there. And yeah, it was kind. It was a little bit of a surreal experience at first, like being out there looking at like the giant banner, um, seeing, like all fellow competitors, a lot of which I've seen at other these other competitions, you know. So it's.
04:58
There was a moment in which I felt like, oh, I actually made it and I actually belong here. You know it was. It was, um, seeing all the hard work like finally all come together where it's like in the day to day you don't see it as much, right. So it was like, oh, man, like every day coming to the gym, all those days that were a grind or hard, or I had to just push myself in the door or eating, right, like the months of just making sure my nutrition was perfect leading up to it. You know it was all worth it being out there and being able to give you know what I was trying to do. Just be the best version of me out there, right.
David SyvertsenHost
05:41
To build off that. Where did you do you have? Because I know you're an experienced competitor, you're one of the most experienced competitors in our gym, but this is a little different and knowing that you haven't reached this after several trying, several times, were you able to separate that like yes, I made it. Wow, look at this spectacle too. Like I got to go perform.
Dan CodaGuest
06:01
How hard was that yeah, so this was a really interesting experience on the mental side of it.
David SyvertsenHost
06:08
Yeah, and we'll get into that yeah.
Dan CodaGuest
06:09
Yeah, because, um, I, I was able to kind of shift into all right, I'm here to do my job now, Like I, I had a goal which was to be in the top 20 to make the final, the final day workout. Um, I kind of shifted to that mindset. But in that shift and in the building up this competition so big in my head, that pressure that was like on myself was tenfold.
David SyvertsenHost
06:34
Like I couldn't even believe the emotions that I was feeling at some points to being like, wow, I need to go and do like you know, do better than I've ever done before, like putting a little bit extra pressure on myself each day, which was a different experience, great, Mindy, this was your second one and it is a very different experience, time one to time two, and the word expectations kind of come into mind a little bit more when it's your second time, because you're no longer the rookie, you're no longer like, ooh, where go, what do I do that like I already have shirts with my name on it, right, like what? Where? Can you describe briefly what was that mental difference between being the rookie and being the second year vet?
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
07:21
I mean, for personally, it was a huge night and day and that's largely my own fault. So in a bad way, you're saying yes, okay, unfortunately, yeah, the first year I was there. Last year it was like I was just giddy to be there. I mean, I felt like the experience was happening to me. And this year I got to. I know I got to own it a little bit more. It was going to be mine and I was going to have, hopefully, a little more control over it and be a little more focused on the workout. Like last year, I feel like I was kind of just playing to a certain degree and this year I really wanted something out of it. I wanted certain things out of it and I placed huge expectations on myself and I didn't manage that very well.
08:07
I could not get out of my own head and every workout and I did not have fun until the very last workout, and then I ended up looking back and just like kicking myself because I wanted more than anything. I think I just wanted to walk away with proud moments, um, and I wanted to. I wanted it to be. I realized in retrospect. I wanted it to be a celebration, a celebration of my hard work, a celebration of my fitness level, just a celebration of being there with amazing athletes and friends, and I just feel like, for the most part, I squandered that opportunity. You know, I got to use that as a learning experience, absolutely.
Kathleen StauntonGuest
08:45
And I have to work hard for another year so I can go back opportunity, okay, um, you know it's I.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
08:45
I gotta use that as a learning experience, absolutely, um, and I have to uh, work hard for another year so I can go back and do it right. Yeah, I want to go back and do it right and really just love it yeah thing.
David SyvertsenHost
08:54
Yeah, I mean there is a stark contrast between number two, number three and that's where kathleen is. Uh, I was fortunate to be with her on her first one in san diego. I'll never forget that that weekend for a lot of reasons. That funny key story came up yesterday. The number two was last year, which was a big year for you, coming back from what you went through outside of the gym. But number three is different, because the first time is experience.
09:21
Second time is what am I going to be like on my second time? Third, you're kind of like you know everything. You know the people. You have friends there. You see the same faces, kat, right to me, from my perspective, you had a little bit more level of seriousness to training over this past year, not in a bad way at all, just more focused, more, more like, less, no noise on the outside, just train, train, train, train, and you had your best performance ever at Legends this year. What was that contrast like for you in terms of all right, year two to year three? Because that is what Mindy's going to go through and I know you guys have a great training relationship. She'll probably feed off of some of your experiences. Let's get that ball rolling now. What was it like year two to year three?
Kathleen StauntonGuest
10:04
Yeah, I mean I loved it. I had a great experience. Um, I was um pretty focused when we got there and, uh, kind of dialed in, nervous about some of the workouts for sure, um, just because it's everything's new and there are definitely things we hadn't done before, but I was kind of dialed in. I actually was sharing with these guys. The first day I was my. I was so proud the first day. When we were checking in I said I think I'm growing up. I had to force myself to leave. There were so many people there. I was a fangirl. I wanted to walk around, say hi to everyone. I was like you have to get home, you need to eat, you need to food shop, you need to food prep, you need to rest. So I was pretty proud of myself that I stay. You know, like overstay at the party.
Dan CodaGuest
10:45
Kick you out.
Kathleen StauntonGuest
10:50
Exactly no-transcript, because it's just like when we all work out here together. You got to cool down, warm up. You don't have a lot of time, then again you're back in the game, so you have to know how to do that and do that well.
David SyvertsenHost
11:19
Yeah, I mean just listening to all three. Right, there's something you guys are are I mean because of who you are, but you're also just mindful of this stuff that there's always going to be something to take from a competition, whether it's good, bad, ugly, there's always something you guys are already doing it, you're already looking to next year or you're looking to your next, whatever your training goals are with the open and wadapalooza dan, it's all this stuff there's always. There are always things to take away and that's why I always feel like the experienced competitor that is also combined with the mindful competitor, they have a distinct advantage the next time they compete and it's not especially these four-day competitions, these three four-day competitions where you have to travel and you're out of your norm. That level of experience is almost as valuable as the physical ability that you have. So I hope you guys know, and anyone out there listening, that if you are into this game, you know writing your thoughts down, truly reflecting and being honest with yourself and speaking with others about it. It is literally going to make you better. You know you can view it as a selfish endeavor if you want you should. You're a competitor. You have to be selfish in some ways right Talking about it and thinking about it and being hard on yourself, but also having some compassion for yourself, because what you guys did was amazing. I think I hope you guys never lose sight of that. What you did was very difficult and you earned it, but there are things you're going to take from it that will make you better athletes the next time you compete. But you have to be very mindful about doing it that way. So let's dive into the fun stuff.
12:48
I know the first two workouts off the top of my head Dan. I'm going to be using Dan's phone for the workouts because I was going to use my phone, but it's taping us right now, or it's hopefully taping us right now. First workout was a three-minute workout, which I love. I love starting workouts where you could just like shut your brain off and just go as hard as you can, Because sometimes those first workout nerves are by far the worst. You go to the bathroom seven times in the hour leading up to you feel like you're going to throw up.
13:12
The workout was 20 handstand pushups, 15 hang snatches and then whatever time you have left over, a max cow row, which for some people that's two minutes of hard rowing. I was looking at some of the top scores. For most people I would say it's above 20 seconds of rowing, 15 seconds of rowing average. I don't know a minute. I don't need you guys to break down what was your score, but I want you guys what was that macro level? Like Mindy, we'll start off with you to, because you don't know the workouts to the week of. Everyone needs to know that. I think it was what Monday, Monday.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
13:43
Yeah.
David SyvertsenHost
13:44
So you had no time to train, you had no time to practice. You could just sit up and think about them on a flight and think about strategy. Right, and this is why, competitors, you should approach every daily workout like this, because that is a skill to be able to look at a workout and know how you should approach it. It what's the reach? What's the safety? Reach right and mindy when you saw that workout. You've been putting in a lot of work with your handstand push-ups. Um, you're really good on the barbell and you're good on machines. Where did you see? But in a three-minute workout, there's no margin for error, there's just none. What was that experience like for you, a, just to start off with a short workout and b you, how do you deal with that? No margin for error, type.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
14:27
Well, so I don't like the sprinty workouts. I don't like to go dark.
David SyvertsenHost
14:31
I don't often know how to what was the weight for you on the 75? 75. Okay.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
14:35
Yeah, but I knew I had to, I knew I had to make it hurt and I knew the goal was to get to that rower as fast as possible, because that's where you score. Yeah. So I knew that the handstand push-ups and the hang snatches, I had to push it. I had no choice but to push it. What was the strategy going to be? Was it smart to break up the handstand push-ups? Was it smart to break up the barbell? I really honestly was. I had a plan, Obviously, optimally, I go on broken on everything.
David SyvertsenHost
15:04
Yeah right.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
15:05
So that would be the best case scenario. But I also knew that, okay, it kind of had to be like a spur-of-the-moment decision, like, am I burning up too much on these handstand push-ups to then die later? I had to make the choice. I had been working on handstand push-ups a lot and I ended up going unbroken on the handstand push-ups, which, if I have to dig deep for some wins in this competition, that is one of them, I've never done 20 straight.
15:28
That's a lot For sure, and I actually didn't feel like completely burnt out after that.
Kathleen StauntonGuest
15:33
Great.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
15:34
So I felt okay getting to that barbell. And then I think again, I was just in my head, I was freaked out. My nervous system was already freaked out out. So I got to the barbell and just didn't have a lot of control on the barbell. I felt like every, every one of them was being put in a different spot and I was so annoyed because that way it's not not that bad. Yeah, right, I feel like fresh. I could bang out 15.
15:56
I'm broken for sure so I went to 10, dropped it on purpose and then I was going to go for that final five and I don't know what happened on number 13, but I failed one. You don't have that room for error, yeah, and that hurt me because I had to take a few seconds to shake it out, calm myself down.
David SyvertsenHost
16:12
What was the fail? Just didn't get to where it needed to be the finishing position. It was too far in front of me. Got it Okay.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
16:23
Yeah, and then I wanted 1.30. Okay, so, and then I just had to like black out on the rower.
David SyvertsenHost
16:27
Yeah, which is always nasty. It's not nasty. Kat you, what was the weight for your division? 65. 65. So that's again, that's a weight that if I really made you go out there right now maybe not right now right now, but 65, 65, you probably could do 15 straight. You're a ninja on gymnastics. What was your approach on that?
Kathleen StauntonGuest
16:46
I really wanted to do everything unbroken, so handstand push-ups, bang them out. And I thought I could do this and bang out all the snatches. And again, you're so excited and I think I'm pretty good at staying in my lane usually and I think, maybe for a split second, I saw other people in the corner of my eye and I just threw the barbell I don't know to the door. Maybe I'm not really sure I was like what happened to the barbell.
David SyvertsenHost
17:09
Voice from Legends oh.
Kathleen StauntonGuest
17:10
God, what happened there. So I had no intention of breaking them up, I was just going to go as hard as I could, but the 10th went somewhere I didn't expect to, so I lost a valuable. Those seconds are valuable.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
17:22
Absolutely.
Kathleen StauntonGuest
17:22
Especially for valuable, so it's valid. Those seconds are valuable, especially for a short person who is not the greatest on the on the rower yeah, you don't weigh a lot, so you have a distinct disadvantage on a short sprint row.
David SyvertsenHost
17:32
If you're heavy, that's a huge advantage for you.
Kathleen StauntonGuest
17:34
Yeah, but I'm still pretty proud of my row yeah, you would put that work in on that uh yeah, and I'm not a great sprinter either, so I haven't really ever had that experience where I had no feeling in my legs at all. There was like I remember thinking they're tingling, I hope they're, like, I hope I'm okay, but it was, yeah, you just have to go and not even think about anything. It was pretty. It was pretty crazy.
David SyvertsenHost
17:58
Yep, dan, really good on machines, really good at cycling the barbell. If there's something that we're working on still right now, it's just overhead capacity, push capacity, um, and it's not for a lack of work you're putting in the work um. What was your experience like on that workout? Workout, yeah this one.
Dan CodaGuest
18:13
This was uh kind of a punch in the face for me, yeah, unfortunately. But um, I looked at it and I was like, okay, I can do 20 handstand push-ups for sure, but I didn't think I can do 20 handstand pushups For sure. But I didn't think should I do 20 handstand pushups? Because it just didn't occur to me that I need that lockout on the snatch. Yeah, and so I went and I tried to not push the pace. I was trying to just keep myself going. There is a line that you have to keep your fingers on. About after rep 16, my hand came off the line. Yep, I thought I put it back on. After one no rep Nope, I thought I did it again. Nope. So I got three no reps and I finally looked up. I got my hands corrected so now I'm still on my hands and I did three more. The last one was where I knew I messed up, you're in trouble.
19:00
I got to just about failure. I just locked it out. My, I got to just about failure. Like I just locked it out. Yeah, my shoulders are screaming at me. I look at the barbell. I'm like oh, there we go. Can I clean the bar, sir? Yeah, yeah. And at this point everybody has already been to the barbell, so my head's like you're behind already, you better catch up.
19:17
I get to the snatch. I try to bounce it, because I was gonna bounce 115. That wasn't happening because my grip was going. Yep, I hit my second snatch, except I couldn't lock it out and I failed because my shoulder was just like not gonna and wasn't gonna happen. Yeah, and I'm just thinking to myself, man, my one strength in this workout was getting to the row and even if I had like 10 or 15 seconds behind somebody, I would have passed off. Actually, yep, and it was more like 45 seconds, yeah, that I got to the rower behind everybody. Um, I somehow beat somebody. So, yeah, I came second to last in that workout. But and I had to kind of shift my brain pretty quickly to be like all right, well, that I didn't do that, right, but it wasn't because I couldn't hang, it was because I didn't. I didn't know myself enough to break up the handstand.
Kathleen StauntonGuest
20:05
Yeah right.
Dan CodaGuest
20:05
If I did 11-9, it would have cost me 5 or 10 seconds on there, but it would have saved me probably 30 seconds everywhere else.
David SyvertsenHost
20:13
In the same breath. If you went 20 unbroken without any no reps, I think that would have made a significant difference mentally and physically, because Mindy and Dan, and then we'll move on to the next workout. Difference mentally and physically because Mindy and Dan, and then we'll move on to the next workout. Um, you guys, how much of that physical struggle do you think was mental because you failing and knowing that feeling of wow, I hit my red line on my shoulders. Now I have to do 15 hand snatches right and I failed one.
20:41
How hard is it to control these spiraling thoughts? Because the design of the workout was fantastic, the time domain, the reps, because no margin for error and that kind of stress and what's really hard to start off competition is having full awareness of your body. That's why I loved the one at Mayhem one year. They just had us do 21 minutes of machine work, so there was no, there's no skill there. Where this one, you have to be precise. And if you're off by an, just had to do 21 minutes of machine work, so there was no, there's no skill there.
21:05
Where this one, you have to be precise. And if you're off by an inch, you know. If you're not off by an inch because you're. You've done it so many times. But when you lose control of simple coordination because your mind's all over the place, it's, it's going to spiral. So what's one piece of advice you would give to yourself If you could go rewind you and say you say hey, if you hit this point, what's the number one thought that could help an athlete get through and and really hit their backs potential, even though they're at a physical struggle point yeah, I mean, I think, uh, a big part of it would be to quiet your mind.
Dan CodaGuest
21:36
Yep, um, I've been working with rafi on a lot of mental training, yeah, with the last couple last I guess, last year, yep, um, and we've kind of worked on getting like bringing yourself back to your breath and just focusing on yourself, and I definitely didn't get to that point in that work. Yeah, yeah, because I started seeing everybody else, I started looking everywhere else, started like you know, like oh man, you're like immediately, I'm like, oh, you're already starting off poorly right workout.
22:02
One is you're chasing a result, right. That's why, exactly, yep, exactly, and so, yeah, it had to be just quiet your mind, get back to your own capacity, get yourself together and probably if I just gave myself knowing where I was, if I gave myself like 15 seconds, calm myself down, I probably would have been able to go maybe in two sets on the snatches.
David SyvertsenHost
22:23
Mindy, what's something someone could do in training to train this mental control component?
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
22:30
I mean. For me, it's a very conscious decision to calm down.
David SyvertsenHost
22:33
Yeah.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
22:33
Like I went into the snatches very frantic, feeling like you know that self-pressure I had on myself to just go and not mess up and not miss one, but I was too like my nervous system was too amped up and I was all over the place. So it's just, it's a it's conscious practice, like in workouts. Here, conscious practice, you, you have to recognize when you're frantic and recognize when you're starting to like lose control of that mental focus and make a choice to stop for a split second and calm down, right, like, talk to yourself, tell yourself it's going to be okay.
David SyvertsenHost
23:07
Yeah.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
23:08
And to calm down and then proceed.
David SyvertsenHost
23:09
And it's just the first workout of a long weekend. You know, even if you guys crushed it, I would have been like you did it. It's like, no matter what, you have to move on to the next one. Right, you know? So it's. I think that's a skill of competing mentally is can you stay and not going to get into? You know, should CrossFit be swimming anymore? This was in a pool and I know several people here have asked me about this. They were asking me about it while you guys were out there. What was the safety? Did you guys feel safe out there? The protocols, and yes, it's partially because of what happened, the tragedy at the Games this past summer. But even without that in mind, did you guys feel like, because last year we had to push a dumbbell above our head and swim the swim was shorter, though overall distance Did you guys feel like you were able to go out there without any sort of hesitation that if, hey, something bad were to happen, there are people. Did you guys feel safe out there, kat?
Kathleen StauntonGuest
24:06
Very much so. Yeah, and I think even when they prepped us beforehand, they explained what the workout would be and then they said if you don't feel safe or if you are not a strong swimmer, you let your judge know ahead of time and we'll have more people at your lane to kind of keep an eye on you. But there were lifeguards everywhere and then you have judges everywhere and you have people continuously walking around the pool. So I felt very safe.
David SyvertsenHost
24:33
Good, good, um, let's start off with dan. This was one of your best events. Your best event, right? Yeah, yeah, so, and you're, dan's a really good one. I swam with dan. Um, it wasn't fun, um, but he, he's a very talented swimmer. He's got a great body for a swimmer as well. Um, that same body can help hurt in handstand pushups and long range of motion movements, but in the water you swam a similar distance, I believe, at Masters Fitness two years ago. Yeah, right, what was? Do you remember? Was that a 500? 500 meter swim? And in eight minutes you swam. How far? Today, this time, 475. Okay, so, right, there, it be one lap at the gym different. So you, you're pretty experienced in this event, where I would say eight out of ten crossfitters down there are not experienced at swimming eight minutes straight. Um, when you have an event like that that you know you will do well in what does that put more or less pressure on you?
Dan CodaGuest
25:28
yeah, it's interesting, um, I think in that specific instance because, because swimming is such a it's not doing different movements there's not a lot of skill to it for me, and so I wasn't nervous and I didn't put too much pressure on myself, because in my head I'm always like I can beat any CrossFitter in swimming, unless they were college swimmers, like then. Those crushed me, but for the most part, most crossfitters I can you know as a lifeguard. Growing up I lived in the water like yep, I can, I can hang um, so, uh, but what was interesting about this workout was that I've never done it for time. Swim, yeah, um, it's always like for distance and you know, like all right, I'm. I'm counting in my head the laps. I'm like all right, if I'm at 400, I have 100 left, it's time to start pushing right you know that's right there.
26:20
This was a totally different game in that sense we had a 150 meter, uh, tie break. So I sprinted the first 150 to get that tie break and then, because knowing like there would be a lot of bottlenecking, absolutely for sure. And then I was trying to listen to the mc of like how much time there was left. But you know, water's in your ears, you're moving. Yeah, you don't want to stop and like look around for the clock or ask the judge because that's just wasted time, yep.
26:44
So I kept listening, kept listening and I didn't know when to find to make that push and I was worried about my pacing okay and so I think I might have underpaced it just a little bit okay and then when I finally heard 30 seconds, I sprinted the last like 25 and got it, but, um, I think I left like at least 25 meters on the table because my 500 meter time at mfc was 759. Okay, so I so it's a little bit slower. Um, and I think part of it was just like it felt like a different kind of race.
David SyvertsenHost
27:13
Okay, okay, yeah, I mean four time and AMRAP workouts on the novice workout level. They're very different mental approaches For the person that just comes and work out, this is their fitness regimen. They're not competing. I tell all the time example when I shorten a cap in a workout on purpose to the point where it's really hard to finish, the intensity is higher. It's just a different mindset when something like that is in your head. So it's a good experience, but it's also good to know you were right there and it might even have been. You swam really hard at the start. That might slow you down. That's a good example for people that don't believe in pacing. That might have what slowed you down. But it was a smart decision to do that because there's probably a lot of ties in that workout.
27:51
Um, kat and Mindy, you guys train to swim pretty often, uh, weekly. Um, cute little like guys like showing up in their uh, their their speedos and their head their swimming caps. I make you part of the swimming cap because I'm the one that doesn't have one. Um, I miss swimming with you guys. I was talking to Kat yesterday trying to like open the door, like are you guys still going to swim? Because I want to find some ways to do conditioning without keep constantly beating my joints up. So, um, you guys aren't allowed to practice diving at the, at the bethany community center and that where we swim. At how much of a factor you think? Do you think that is?
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
28:26
I mean with this workout this year it was just one dive, so I do, I wasn't really about it and I knew from last year. I just got to pull my goggles really tight, it'll be fine, but the diving wasn't really the issue, I think.
David SyvertsenHost
28:38
Okay, kat, you did pretty well in this event, one of your better ones. The difference between last year and this year last year we had to push weight above our head and this year it was just swim. Did that kind of clear the mind a little bit, like you weren't worrying about slipping with your feet? Was it just like, hey, it's just swim? Did that change the focus?
Kathleen StauntonGuest
28:58
I mean it changed the focus a little bit because you're not worried about getting out of the pool and worried about, like, is the dumbbell going to fly out? And you're soaking wet Right A little bit, but it's still. You know, it's still a long time to be in the water.
David SyvertsenHost
29:12
It's still a long swim, yep, all right, so that those that's, and there's not much else to talk about in regard to that workout, unless you guys have anything else to touch on.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
29:25
I feel like that workout again was another one that didn't go as well as I wanted it to, because, first of all, I thought that I was pretty well prepared. We had some really good swim workouts leading up to it, and so I kind of felt like relaxed, going into it, thinking okay, this is going to be okay, this is going to be a good one for me. And then I think a whole weekend long my resting heart rate was just elevated because I'm just amped up the whole weekend.
29:48
And so starting and then starting that workout, I knew I had to gun for that 150. So I think I probably burned out my heart rate and my breath rate too fast and I don't think I recovered very well after the 150. So I ended up doing a lot of breaststroke, which I kind of got down efficiently this year with our training, and then also some backstroke which I also did this year in training. So it helped that was a good idea.
David SyvertsenHost
30:16
Experience crossover.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
30:17
Yeah, but I still. I was just short of my goal. I was like this, far away from reaching the wall for the 350.
David SyvertsenHost
30:23
And they didn't give it to you.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
30:24
They didn't give it to me. But if I had reached the 350, I probably would have been satisfied with the workout.
David SyvertsenHost
30:29
But to 350, I probably would have been satisfied with the workout, but I walked away from that Just again, just burning like, ah, okay, okay. So a frustrating first day for you.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
30:35
Yes, very.
David SyvertsenHost
30:36
So before we get into day three, mindy, where's your mind at Friday? This is Thursday night, right? Yeah, thursday night.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
30:43
Panicked, I'm panicked, panicking Okay.
David SyvertsenHost
30:45
Did you sleep well?
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
30:46
No, oh, in fact going into day two, into that Friday, which was the wall ball workout the next day.
David SyvertsenHost
30:51
Yeah, that's our next one. That's about four hours, yeah.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
30:53
Because I couldn't fall asleep and then I woke up at 4.45 and couldn't go back to sleep. And the time changes. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
David SyvertsenHost
31:00
The time changes is a factor, and that's why I always suggest going out as early as you can. I know there's other things in life that can going out early, but if anyone from the East Coast is going to fly out to the West Coast for a competition, I would try to go out a date earlier than you need to Um day three this workout. I'm going to try to put something like this into bison um in the next two weeks. Yeah, so I'll let you guys know.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
31:21
Let me know, I'm sick that day.
David SyvertsenHost
31:24
Uh, it's a three round workout. I'm not going to go over all the different age group scales, but it basically this is the workout You're doing wall balls, burpee box, jump overs and drag rope, jump rope. Okay, the drag rope is basically a jump rope that is kind of like a thin ropey, much thicker than an actual double under jump rope, and there's no ball bearings in it. So it's like your old school traditional jump rope, but it's a rope rather than like a little strand. And it was 11 minute time caps, a tough workout to finish under the cap, and basically the difference was the wall ball volume went down by five, so it was either 30, 25, 20, or 25, 20, 15. And the jump rope the Burpee box jumps, were always 10 and the jump rope stayed the same volume it was either 50 or 40.
32:13
Okay, but the trick here, the skill test in this workout, was the fact that the drag rope jump rope for set one was single unders, set two was crossovers and set three was double unders and with that drag rope it is a different rope, it's a very different demand and we put a lot of work in on jump rope leading up to because these guys always love to get creative with the jump rope way to jump ropes. One pound, three quarter pounds right. Three different rope, three different ropes in one workout. I've been there twice like they're doing that. It's like geez, but um everything was.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
32:47
This was a heavy drag, so it was.
David SyvertsenHost
32:48
It was three-quarter hounds and it was wow okay, so that there's a lot of demand on this. When you guys see something new ish like that or something you just have not put a ton of time and into training that specific kind of rope, how cat, what? Was that similar to the rope work that you've worked with prior, or was it a completely different feel and you kind of had to figure it out on the fly?
Kathleen StauntonGuest
33:12
you had to figure it out on the fly. We only had um access to it to what not even 24 hours before the workout um. But I will say that the three of us were trained a lot on a heavy rope anyway and I think that that really helped us um kind of get through that rope. That was easy for me. That was the least of my worries on that.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
33:32
I mean not the least, but I knew it's a tough workout.
Kathleen StauntonGuest
33:35
I can, kind of I'm going to get in there and get that rope, and that's kind of where I made up time.
David SyvertsenHost
33:40
Yeah, did any of you trip up on single unders?
33:43
No, it felt it's the weirdest single under ever, because you're like in slow-mo, it Like in slow-mo, he's like it's so funny watching people All three of you guys are, in my opinion are above average on the jump rope in general. No matter what we give you, you're above average. And it's funny to watch some athletes that are really good on the rope do single-unders and that's why I will throw them into bison workouts sometimes and people freak out. So, dan, I remember talking to you about this workout, talking to you about this workout, and we we and Mindy as well we kind of said like hey, be smart on the wall balls. If you feel like you can go for it, you know you could. Just it's more, it's less about your rep scheme and more about how long you're resting in between sets. We talk about that all the time.
34:27
You told me that you hit a red line at the end of this workout and I watched it. So one of these guys put it on the our Facebook group and I saw that. You know, because I I I'm not used to watching you struggle in the jump rope ever, ever. You know you've actually put some good, good amount of progress work into that over the past couple of years. Um, what contributes to that kind of red line fatigue to the point where you can't jump rope?
Dan CodaGuest
34:50
Yeah, it was definitely an interesting feeling. So I did break up the wall balls into, I think, 11 to 9. On the first one we worked with a 30-pound ball.
David SyvertsenHost
35:02
Yeah, that's a good note to make a heavier ball.
Dan CodaGuest
35:04
It was a heavier ball, but it's something I'm used to. Round one I knew that the single unders would be where I could catch my breath, and so round one I knew that the single unders would be where I could catch my breath, and so, round one, I felt actually great. Round two I started to push. I was really good about dropping the wall ball, taking a breath. The wall ball was a little bit different because it's very dense.
Kathleen StauntonGuest
35:24
Yes, it bounced around everywhere.
Dan CodaGuest
35:26
I know exactly what you're talking about, so I had to take it one time, so they'd just not let it go to my competitors.
35:29
Yeah, right, right talking about time, so they just not let it go to my competitors. Yeah, right, right, um, a little extra stress, yeah, but um, I was still feeling good and even on the burpee box jump over round two I was moving at a decent pace, I got to the crossovers and I felt great. On that I would say something that I've gotten better at over the years of being a crossfitter is being more adaptable, for sure yeah you know, picking up new skills, you know you think as you get older, is harder.
35:54
But in CrossFit, the more you've been doing this, the more your body adapts to new things. And so I hadn't never done until 25 hours before a heavy crossover, um, but I was able to get through those all 50. Um, and that's where my heart rate started to kind of jump up a little bit. I got back to the wall. I was like all right, it's only 20 wobble, let's go. You know, I did 10. My heart rate started to jump and I grabbed the ball. I did five more and then now I started redlining. My body was like the heart rate was just getting so high I wasn't breathing. Well, I tried to do five more. I I couldn't. I did three. I had to drop it. Looked at the ball. I was like pick it up, pick it up. And at this point, like I know I'm in a position that I can finish the workout. I had enough time, okay. So I picked it back up, started moving, got right on the burpee box, jump overs. And burpee box jump overs one of those movements where you're not going to fail. Yep, you can push through. Yep, and I was pushing that pace. The guy next to me was this really cool guy, tim Sanchez, who I talked to him. I was like I see your name on the leaderboard all the time, so glad you put up a face. Yeah, ain't it funny. He ended up fourth in overall competition. I was nice to him that day.
37:07
We were going back and forth in this workout and I saw pass me in the burpee box, jump over, so I pushed a little bit harder. I got to the rope and I wasn't expecting, you know, I was like all right, I'm going to do tens, I do five, I trip and all of a sudden, like my heart rate would not come down. It was like I was trying to breathe. I was trying to do anything I could to bring it down. I was trying to quiet my mind, I, my mind, I think.
37:35
I remember watching. It wasn't a good place, you like that. You were calm, yeah, yeah, I felt calm, I was, and I was like just bring it back down. You can do this. You know, we worked the heavy rope all the time and there was just, it was just my body. I started losing coordination, yeah, and that's really what. What happens is like I couldn't push anymore because I couldn't get the rope to go twice because my wrist wouldn't move the way I wanted to. Yeah, um, yeah. So it's um like pretty proud of that overall, like I wasn't disappointed, even though I was nine short of finishing the workout and probably, you know, eight or nine guys passed me in that 50 double unders space.
David SyvertsenHost
38:03
But I know I think that's again, not always. Attaching yourself to the result is important in some cases. I know it's hard to do at a competition. It's very easy for me to do on the outside, but you left it all out on that floor and, at the end of the day, if you're good, if you're bad, if you're first, if you're last, that's the only thing you should be doing. Is you leave it everything out there. That's the goal at the end of the day. That really is Like, yes, the training leading up to is the goal, but the goal is did you really give everything you had? If the answer is yes, you can't really be that disappointed in yourself.
38:38
Mindy, what was your approach on this? Because I know you were freaking out about the wall ball a little bit. It's a 20-pound wall ball and if there's one thing I kind of regret, a programming that like a heavier wall ball into some of your workouts, just because there is a feel that like at some point it does. It's always hard but it's not as intimidating and even if you're breaking it up, it's just you know what it feels like. Um, what was your response to that curveball that legends threw to you, that had the heavy wall ball?
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
39:09
well, I mean I've I've trained with it before, so I know I do know what it? Feels like. I've trained with it before, so I know I do know what it feels like and I do know it's it's more difficult, but I do know I can handle it.
David SyvertsenHost
39:16
Okay.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
39:16
Uh, I haven't thrown it in a while.
David SyvertsenHost
39:18
Yeah.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
39:18
So, um, when, when we chatted um before the workout and you were like, just try tens, I did 10 in the warmup and it was fine, it was doable. But I knew, I knew that if I tried to hold on to that I would be resting a long time because my heart rate would be sky high. So then I was like I'm going to stick with fives small breaks and I think I can handle that and I'm going to.
39:39
I'm going to just offer up every excuse there is yeah yeah let's do it this is the time my wall ball was lopsided yep. I don't know what they all were, but mine was lopsided.
David SyvertsenHost
39:50
That's a real thing.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
39:50
So when you throw it it kind of doesn't go where you put it.
David SyvertsenHost
39:53
Yeah, and it bounces weird.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
39:54
And it bounces weird. And then the targets were small. The targets were tiny.
Kathleen StauntonGuest
39:59
Yeah.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
40:01
And then also the foot of the rig is a huge rectangle. It's straight out at you.
David SyvertsenHost
40:07
So it hit that.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
40:08
Yeah, it hit that, but also my feet weren't where I normally put them.
David SyvertsenHost
40:12
Yeah, okay, no, that's good. All those things, those are valid concerns, absolutely.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
40:15
Yeah so, but it yeah, so it really like even in the first 30 wall balls I probably got 10 no reps and at one point that's a killer. At one point in the video you can see me like holding my head is this really happening right now? Like I was like immediately devastated that I was just not doing it.
David SyvertsenHost
40:34
I'll tell you what I mean. That story right there Kathleen throwing her air balls in this workout and watching Tracy at the Games this year. I'm actually. I think wall balls are overlooked by a lot of us. Yeah, you know, like holding yourself to a really tight standard. We did a wall ball workout here last week and I like I missed, I didn't hit the mark, I hit the girls line, I hit the guys line and like it happened two more times. And you know, maybe we try to start playing around this a little bit. Like aim small when you do wall balls now, like not because of a small target, but it might help you stay a little bit more focused. Like stop trying to get it over the line, try to hit a very small part of the wall every single time. I think wall balls are overlooked by a lot of good athletes.
Kathleen StauntonGuest
41:19
I think the wall and the target are two separate animals.
David SyvertsenHost
41:22
Absolutely, I agree.
Kathleen StauntonGuest
41:24
To Mindy's point I've never seen a target that small.
David SyvertsenHost
41:27
Yeah.
Kathleen StauntonGuest
41:28
That was a big challenge. But when Mindy did go back to her yeah, and that was a big challenge. But when Mindy did go back to her she was like that you know the beer keg example that I always give she might have had some issues on the wall ball or was, or she thought she did, but she got to that rope. There wasn't one person I don't think in her heat that did the 40 crossovers unbroken. She just did Like it was nothing. So she gained up a lot of time.
David SyvertsenHost
41:53
That's the ninja skill in that workout. If you're good on the rope or bad on the rope, it's a huge difference.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
41:57
And I was so excited to get to the rope and I wanted to get to those double unders because I feel like I could have handled them. But that dang wall ball you know what that wall ball and the burpee box jump over, I'm both still is like a thorn in my side, yep.
David SyvertsenHost
42:10
Well, we have work to do.
42:11
We have open prep workouts. A little preview it's going to be with the Wobbles this year, just so you know. That's one of the first ones. All right, anyway. The next one, the strength event. We have about 20 minutes. We're good on time, but we can maybe get through these a little bit quicker. Six minutes to find a max weight of the following complex Bison this is coming your way as well.
42:32
Five deadlifts, three hand cleans, one shoulder overhead FYI, those have to be unbroken. You can't rest at the bottom of the deadlift, you can't put the bar down in between movements. So that is nine straight movements, with the last movement being a jerk after all that stuff. So I think a lot of people that don't know sport or don't know themselves as athletes don't realize how hard this is. So hold on to that bar and pull that bar so many times and then be able to have enough juice in your legs to get up that jerk. The first question I want to ask, mindy did you guys have a proper time and warm-up area to really feel this? Because six minutes is quick. You really don't get a ton of warm-up. You have to go out there and lift a pretty heavy bar right away. How did you feel the warm-up area was for you, the athletes, especially in regards to this workout?
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
43:18
Yeah, I felt like the warm-up area was much better than last year.
Kathleen StauntonGuest
43:22
I remember how tiny it was, there was no space, no barbells, no nothing.
David SyvertsenHost
43:25
A lot of college students in there.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
43:26
Yes, and they expanded the space and I felt like there was definitely enough equipment. And then you got down there with enough time to really get yourself warmed up and put in the cycle that you needed to to get warmed up. I felt great going on the floor.
David SyvertsenHost
43:39
I felt very warm. Awesome, kat. Your best lift out of that is, in my opinion, the jerk right. Yes, your jerks are strong, they're pretty, they move well, you're confident with them, and that was what was your plan on this, because I know you made an aggressive jump, which I'm. Hey, what do I always say with Dan? Take risks, right. Yep.
Kathleen StauntonGuest
43:59
Well, max was pretty proud of the risk, because the workout before that with the wall bow wasn't my most favorite, so I figured you know what I got to come back Like. Who cares, let's just dive in. And in warm-up we did have a lot of time and I was rocking it. In warm-ups I did heavier than I would ever, because you I mean I'm telling you, I just want to. I could be a millionaire If I could bottle the news that I get from this kind of thing. It's not to be, believed.
44:33
And then you're around all these women who are so spectacular and can lift so much more than I can and I just had so much juice in warmups and I was like we're doing this? Yeah, we are, we are doing this, so let's go. I ignored everything. Dave told me Everything. It's a good thing. I did my safety lift because otherwise I would have went home with no toys. So I did my safety lift and then I was like you got this, you feel so good, let's just throw caution to the wind. And I made a huge aggressive jump, which in hindsight wasn't a great idea, and I failed. But you know well, in hindsight I was like all right, whatever you tried. So the nice thing is they let you strip weight off the bar.
David SyvertsenHost
45:05
That's a big thing that you need to know, because some competitions will not let you take weight off the bar.
Kathleen StauntonGuest
45:08
Right. So that was a little scary, like once you did that if I couldn't strip weight off I wouldn't have gone as heavy Right smart. But I, you know, really went all out and I was like well, all right, whatever you failed.
David SyvertsenHost
45:19
One of your reps behind you, I think, right.
Kathleen StauntonGuest
45:21
Yeah.
David SyvertsenHost
45:21
That scared me when I watched it. Do you do that often? It just you didn't have like the precision. It's almost like the bar went too far back, because the bar got where it needed to be, but it was probably just had some backwards movements.
Kathleen StauntonGuest
45:36
Yeah, I mean, I felt the jerk, which is normally my most favorite movement, and I normally can kind of pull that out, but you know, I'm still pretty proud of how I handled all of that. So Now, dan you have.
David SyvertsenHost
45:52
We talked about the strength you have in the swim and then I would say, similar to to myself, the one of your biggest weaknesses is just pure, raw strength. At a competition where the, the number, your score, is how much do you lift, bro? You know, it's like what? What is your mindset compared to the swim? The swim was like I. We did a podcast a while ago on confidence and how I. I think confidence is enormous for this sport. You can't beat yourself up. You won't get to your ceiling if you do so. You were very confident. It almost gave you a swagger. I could beat all these guys in the swim. What's the contrast? When you don't feel that confident when you go to a strength event, what do you do balance-wise with the emotions there?
Dan CodaGuest
46:26
Yeah. So, knowing that this is just going to be a thing, that I'm never going to be as strong as everybody else and I have to just do the you know get. If I can get to my peak, I can at least damage control that. Um, I I didn't have a lot of pressure on myself. There was, you know, I wanted to get over 225. And as we were warming up, I hit 225, not the full complex, but just did a couple deadlifts, a clean and jerk, and now I'm like all right, this feels okay. I think I'm going to be fine with that. What wasn't feeling okay was my legs after the wall balls. Okay, and it's fair. I guess one of the awesome competition loved everything I had, maybe a few little things that.
David SyvertsenHost
47:08
I think could be better.
Dan CodaGuest
47:09
One was the schedule overall. Little things that I think could be better. Okay, um. One was the schedule overall. Like um I'm, all my events except for day one were in the late afternoon and they were.
David SyvertsenHost
47:17
There was about 90 minutes rest between the two events and you're flying out from the east coast, so it's even lighter, yeah, even lighter yes, so it's this lift is.
Dan CodaGuest
47:24
Usually I'm in bed sleeping, yeah, but I was doing this lift, um, because it was pretty late, um and uh, so I usually. What I do have confidence in is when I'm in front of a crowd I will take that adrenaline, just like Kat said, and I've hit my best lifts ever. You know, in Alabama I PR'd my front squat and it was awesome and, and I know that when I'm out there like I'm going to get that extra energy, so there is a little bit of confidence in that I can hit my best on that day, yep. And so I hit 230. I went up to 235, failed, came back down to 230, picked it up. With as long as you picked it up, you could finish the complex. So I waited until you know, three, two, picked it up and started and got to that final jerk, kind of looked around, took it all in. I'm like everybody's looking at me, let's go. And I was able to, you know, hit it pretty clean and felt good.
David SyvertsenHost
48:19
That's where you trust your movement. Sometimes, too, like sometimes that numb feeling can be good or bad, like you just like, and that's where you practice day to day. We tweak on all these grinding days in the middle of you know, the spring, summer, fall, winter there's always something you can work on, and that quality movement should always be number one. Whether you just started CrossFit or you've been doing it for as long as you have that you want to always be able to rely on the quality of the movement. So, even if you're not feeling it or you don't do well in a workout or you want to scale a little bit, there's always something precision wise you can work on with your movement. As simple as a wall ball and air squat, or something as complex as a hang snatch after 20 unbroken hands and push-ups. There's always put attention on things like that. Uh, that's a good lesson for there, because if you can trust that, then you could use the adrenaline.
49:01
If you don't, if you can't trust your movement, you don't know where the bar is going to go. All right, so, uh, the next day, the saturday, I want to say you guys might not have done it in this order, or then it's irrelevant, we're just going to talk about it in the order that's on the on the sheet Nine minute AMRAP five bar muscle ups, handstand walks. That increased in distance as you went and then alternating single arm devil's press. So it's an AMRAP Everyone's working out for nine minutes. Was this the one that they take rings out? Was?
49:28
yeah rings out was yeah, so this was a ring muscle-up workout, and let's touch on that real quick instead of just talking about this workout for this one, right instead of? And if you guys want to throw in some input of what your experience was for this workout, let's do it, but changing. They told you the ring muscle-ups were going to be the movement. And Kat, why did they tell you guys did? They did?
Kathleen StauntonGuest
49:49
they, so they took out rings for everybody. They took them out for everybody because they couldn't get the extenders outside for warm-ups.
David SyvertsenHost
49:55
Okay, so you weren't.
Kathleen StauntonGuest
49:56
So no one could warm up on the rings. It was a safety issue and Joe sent that email out, like we just feel this is a safety issue, okay.
David SyvertsenHost
50:10
So we're going to change that up and put barbells outside. I don't look enough for rings, so there was no warming up ring muscle-ups and the straps were wide. I remember the first muscle-up you did was you got to do one before the workout. And hey, fitness competing be ready for anything. But I trust Joe and Bob that they do make decisions out of safety. That is the number one priority. It's not probably even a priority over finding the fittest. There is safety. Was there a little bit of part of you guys that was a little upset by that?
Kathleen StauntonGuest
50:39
It would have been a different workout. Yeah, it rings, for sure.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
50:42
Yeah, I was upset because we had really been putting in the time. Yeah, we really get proficient, and then also I feel like it's a really good separator.
David SyvertsenHost
50:50
It is With the hand, so it walks too.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
50:52
Yeah, so I was a little disappointed, but you know.
David SyvertsenHost
50:54
Not angry, just disappointed. Yeah, you know, roll with the punches type Yep, dan, did you? I mean, I actually think you're better on the bar than you on the rings. Yeah, I was excited. Dan's like yeah, you know what, dan, that's a smart decision. Yeah, can we take out the lift too, by the way?
Dan CodaGuest
51:13
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean it's definitely. I mean for me, it was a better workout for me. Yeah, I would have liked to do rings because it's something we've been working on Right and it's a fun different thing and part of the whole experience is just having fun. Yeah, yeah, part of what I love about.
51:28
CrossFit is. This is all stuff. When I first started and I looked at people and I couldn't believe that it was even possible for these things to be done. And now seeing people at our age and older doing all this stuff is just so cool. That's awesome. I was definitely happy about it, but I wouldn't have been disappointed doing ring muscle-ups, because it's just something that we've been working on. It would be fun to test. That was your second workout, second workout of the day, so they switched these two workouts around for everybody. So kind of like a running thing was that it seemed like they didn't have enough judges to run multiple floors all the time.
David SyvertsenHost
52:10
Got it.
Dan CodaGuest
52:12
By the way, just a quick side note, is that the judges and volunteers there were so awesome. Yes, so phenomenal like I, I know I I tried to thank everybody I could, but there was so many people bringing so much awesome energy to us. The people in the back who were, you know, giving us the rundowns. They were making it fun, they were making it exciting, they were making it light and great.
Kathleen StauntonGuest
52:32
They were very good.
Dan CodaGuest
52:33
Yeah, the judges were all really fair and you know, stu, and they were all there. You know they were all there to, you know, hold the standard, but also to make your experience great, and I can't say enough about how awesome all the people out there were.
David SyvertsenHost
52:48
Big part of the legends success, and I hope these guys keep it going. I really do, uh, for selfish and unselfish reasons. I just think it's a really important part to cross its future and health overall. And it's obviously bob and joe, but it's also the people that work with and for them it's without those guys, it's just this thing is impossible to run, and it's they don't just show up, they like they show a huge part of the weekend for them. That's awesome awesome.
Dan CodaGuest
53:11
So they had to switch the workouts around, though, because it was an outdoor event the Sand Valley and so they were like we would be here all day if we did it super late, if we did it second, okay, smart, just switched it around.
David SyvertsenHost
53:22
Let's talk about that event. That was a unique event, I think I want to say it's the first time Legends has had people run. It was a short run, but I don't think they've ever had running in a workout for Legends championships. I think one year they had a plan to, but equipment didn't show up. So this workout was four rounds for time. It was 10 sandbag squats, but the sandbag had been your shoulder, which is a lot tougher than holding it like as a bear hug in front of you. I've done both. And then you had to carry it X amount of feet Was it about 50? 100 foot carry 50 out, 50 back and then 150 meter run. Four rounds for time. Very unique test, gritty Gritty watching it.
54:05
I would say the runners did not get much of an advantage in this one. It was a sandbag workout because nobody was running fast. There were some people really not running fast, but not pointing fingers. I wasn't. I was like I watched it and it didn't seem like anyone was really taking off. I would have loved to have seen a buy-in run. And then you know some sort of maybe, like a short, like, maybe go run the 150-meter route four times to start and then maybe shorter runs mixed in with the workout. I just feel like that would have been a run-heavy workout. But whatever, mindy, what was that experience like for you? Because you're running on grass, by the way, kind of like dead grass, dead Arizona grass, so probably somewhat friendly on the joints, would assume. Soft enough, right, not not pavement, not cold. Um, what was the experience like to? Because we did train the sandbag you got, you and kat actually, in our prep weekend, brought sandbags to the track. So did you feel prepared for that? Was it a hey?
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
55:01
just trust your fitness, trust my squats, trust my strength in this awkward position yeah, I felt like, uh, the weekend that we took the sandbags to the track was really smart and really good practice time, just knowing where you had to position that sandbag to hold on to it. And then the workout itself was just super gritty. You just had to grit through the squats. You had to. The goal was to try to squat that 10th one and go into the walk. And then, yeah, I mean, the run was a slog for me because I'm just winded and my quads are destroyed. But so that was day three and I felt like by day three I was like, well, whatever, yeah right, I was ready to just give up the expectations and just like have a workout so that one went better than I expected.
55:42
I think because I released a lot of that pressure on myself.
David SyvertsenHost
55:45
I think there's a correlation there, huge, absolutely.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
55:47
Yeah, and I, you know, the first two rounds were okay, hard but okay. And in the third round I was like, uh-oh, I might not finish this. And I did, I ended up finishing it with time Awesome. So I was, you know, my first kind of proud moment.
David SyvertsenHost
56:04
I was okay with it. You really are. You've always been a runner. I feel like you're. It's just such a part of your life, not even like your workout routine. You just like to run and you're good at it, did you?
Kathleen StauntonGuest
56:15
It's the only thing you don't have to teach me Hinton.
David SyvertsenHost
56:18
Can you teach me? Was there anything about that workout that you're like? Did you have any of that feeling? I wish the run was a little bit longer. Or you like those kind of gritty workouts?
Kathleen StauntonGuest
56:27
I feel like I do and I have to say like even just walking out to that event was the coolest thing ever, like we're going outside for something different, and that's the reason that I love this competition. Anyway, it's stuff that we don't do here at Bison all the time, so just walking out.
David SyvertsenHost
56:44
I hope they keep that in the future some sort of run-centered.
Kathleen StauntonGuest
56:48
Because it's different. It's nothing that they had to do in their gyms either, right? No, I loved it. It was really fun. It was a different. They did, at the last minute, change my sandbag weight. From 100 pounds. To Okay all right, that's all they had.
David SyvertsenHost
57:04
Okay, okay Equipment, got it, okay, equipment.
Kathleen StauntonGuest
57:07
Got it okay, which would have changed the workout for me entirely, and I don't know if everybody even would have finished. So it was really just more of a capacity and a faster workout in my age group, but it was just so much fun. You're outside, it's sunny, it's nice.
David SyvertsenHost
57:24
What was the temperature like approximately? 70, something Better than here, for sure.
Kathleen StauntonGuest
57:27
Yeah. Yeah, it was probably harder for Mindy, for sure, because she was at a little later and it was really warm by the time she walked, so it was a little chillier for me, and then I got a cloud cover for Dan, which is probably helpful too. But that was just such a fun workout, I thought. But it can't be underestimated what these guys their sandbag had to how that. You know that's hard to even put, that it's not an easy-.
David SyvertsenHost
57:49
It's very awkward.
Kathleen StauntonGuest
57:50
To even put it on, you know, minnie's little shoulder, and to keep it there.
David SyvertsenHost
57:54
There was one where I saw Dan. I was like that thing's going to fall off your back. Do you know what I'm talking about? Yeah, I was like you grabbed the front half of the bag and said, oh, that was that was. That was gritty what you did in that work. I watched that one and I was watching it with Ash. I was like he's going to put it down on the next one and you didn't. You know, like that that was, that was a lot of grit.
Dan CodaGuest
58:15
That was definitely one of the highlights for me of the whole weekend.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
58:17
Yeah.
Dan CodaGuest
58:18
It's because when I picked up the bag and finished around one, I in my head I'm like I'm going to to have to. I mean, yeah, absolutely, it'd be too heavy. I was. I tried to push the runs a little bit because it just wasn't long enough to make a difference. And um, yeah, on that, those last two rounds picking up that sandbag and just telling my mind to just shut up, yeah, and just just keep moving, just keep get one more rep. And every time I got through that round I was just so happy, um, and I was like, all right, you know, I was breaking boundaries in my head like things that I never thought would be possible, and that should help you in future training yeah, it really should yeah you know, I always tell people when you accomplish something you didn't think you could accomplish, it's great, clap, clap.
David SyvertsenHost
59:01
But now you have to push your thresholds. Yeah, in training it's it's never, it should, it's not gonna get easier. Um, let's, let's move on. We we have about 10 minutes left here to the final day. This is the first time I believe Legends did this, where you had to qualify for the last day.
59:17
And, mindy, I want to start with you because I know that was one of your goals to finish that for that day is about reflecting on the good, what you're proud about, the win that you just talked about, freeing your mind and having fun and doing well and hitting your goal. And then the potential negative thought of not hitting a goal, because we've all been there before, we've all tried to qualify for something or come in a certain place and not get there, and knowing that you did not qualify for Sunday. I know you're upset, no, you're disappointed. But where, where does the mind eventually go? Because here you are, you're smiling, I could say it. You could say we're proud of what you did to get there. But how do you balance that mix of being proud but also disappointed in what's the one. What's the emotion that really ends up winning, at the end of the day, for you?
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
01:00:05
Yeah, the I mean that that Saturday night I was. I was pretty, pretty defeated pretty down. That's a really heavy feeling.
01:00:12
It is you know, like there's I didn't do it and there's nothing I can do about it and I'm going to watch Girls Tomorrow and I'm going to sit there just kind of itching with jealousy like I wish I was there. But you know I'm not one to sit and wallow and my mind is immediately like the girl who won this year and won last year and has won the games before. She is Amy Chapatan. She's a brick house, she's just this amazing built athlete and my mind is immediately like what is she doing that I'm not doing? And there's a million answers to that question.
01:00:44
Right, yeah, and I. There's a million answers to that question, right yeah, a ton of things that she's doing that I'm not doing, and maybe her lifestyle is different than mine so maybe I couldn't train quite like she does. But there are definitely things I can tighten up. I know there are yeah and I'm already, you know, ready to walk into that awesome so you know I am, so you're hungry after that. After that Hungry.
David SyvertsenHost
01:01:04
You're not like rejected and be like screw this. You're hungry for more.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
01:01:08
Saturday night I was rejected yeah, which is fine. I got to sit in that for a few minutes.
Kathleen StauntonGuest
01:01:12
You have to, you have to, you have to.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
01:01:15
But yeah, the next day I'm just like, okay, back to the drawing board, let's do something.
David SyvertsenHost
01:01:19
Good, awesome, dan, I think you were one of the last qualify for your division and going in through the qualifier, yeah, and you end up qualifying for the last day and that was one of your number one goals.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
01:01:33
Oh I didn't Wait.
David SyvertsenHost
01:01:34
I thought you, oh no, no, you didn't for that Toast bar. We'll have to edit that out, I'm just kidding, but let's, I want you to, because you were there no-transcript with you Saturday night. That was your Sunday workout. That was your playoff workout. That was your championship workout. How did you, did you shift your mindset? Were you able to say like, hey, this is my championship workout because I'm trying to hit this goal of quang phi? The last day, you were on the outside looking in. At that point, did you say, screw it, I got to go for it and put my pace my on a top five pace for that workout. What was that like in regard to what you normally would do with pacing and workout?
Dan CodaGuest
01:02:25
Yeah, I mean uh, yeah, for yeah, for sure I was. I was on the bubble, I knew if I did well enough, I would make it. Um, and I, yeah, we. We had the conversation of like there's nothing to lose, there's nothing, and those are the most dangerous athletes in the world yeah I'm telling you they are and they have nothing to lose.
01:02:40
Yeah, um, and you know, those were all you know good movements for me. I immediately went, I went in, I like, ran to the rig, got there before anybody started my first bar muscle.
David SyvertsenHost
01:02:50
Yeah, that's exactly what we wanted.
Dan CodaGuest
01:02:55
And in my head I'm like you're going. It was five bar muscle ups. I'm like unbroken every time, no matter what Handstand walk, run on your hands. I've been working.
David SyvertsenHost
01:03:03
Yeah, transitions.
Dan CodaGuest
01:03:05
Yeah, get right to it. And the first two rounds I was doing really well.
David SyvertsenHost
01:03:22
I was staying at the yeah transitions. That's a nervous system right there.
Dan CodaGuest
01:03:25
I could definitely feel like immediately my heart rate was at a higher place than it would normally be like if this was the first workout of the day, or if it was, you know, a fresh workout where I'm not in the middle of a competition.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
01:03:36
Right.
Dan CodaGuest
01:03:38
And it just like I just started feeling my body going down the breathing, like the air was so dry out there it was so hard to breathe. Yes, you could dehydrate quick out there.
David SyvertsenHost
01:03:46
Yeah.
Dan CodaGuest
01:03:46
Yeah, hard to breathe. Yes, you get dehydrated quick out there. Yep, yeah, and so I kind of got towards the end of that workout and I kind of started realizing where I was. And then I wasn't like at the top of the packing door and I at that point I just kind of shifted my, my brain to the gratitude of the moment. Yep, you know, like being like, finally, this is the last time out there.
01:04:03
I kind of looked around yeah, I got my fellow competitors looking at the logos in the floor and uh and then I'm like all right back at it and I and I and I just kept doing what you know, the best I could do. It's awesome. You know, I pushed those barbell steps every time. The judge I had that in that particular workout was just was very cool was cheering me on.
01:04:21
Yo, that um I was like thanks, this is so fun, um, and just tried to like take it it all in and try to make it all a positive experience. Whatever the leader word was going to be at that point, I didn't know. Maybe I did well enough. Yeah, because you were on the bubble Ten points out in the end, and that's just crazy to think about. Yeah, that is super close. There are a couple spots. If I didn't blow up on the first workout, you know I'm in it. Yeah, you know. So it just made me feel like, oh, I can compete with these guys. These are some of the best in, you know, in the nation, in the world. Yeah, um, the guy who won the games, he's um from costa rica. His name's chicho. He was like one of the nicest guys ever, super happy to have met him and, yeah, become friends him. You know, like I'm not, like I can hang with these guys, you know, it's just definitely.
David SyvertsenHost
01:05:13
Yeah, you know you'd belong there. Yeah, that's like a. That's a boost in confidence that I actually think will make you a better athlete, because there's no, it's no longer a question. Yeah, it's a boost in confidence, that, and it's personal expectations every single day, not just when you're at a comp. Kat, you got to do the last day's workouts. It was a back-to-back, which they like to do for timing issues right, they get you done earlier than normal. The workout was rig and then single leg. You got to break and then rig and then single leg. You had toes bar and double dumbbell step-ups. We won't tell anyone that you fell over the box, don't worry, we won't tell anybody. And then you have chest bar pull-ups with overhead walking lunges right.
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
01:05:51
Front rack lunges.
David SyvertsenHost
01:05:52
Okay, I want you to touch on what that day was like, because you did hit that goal of qualifying for the last day, but, at the same time, you can't celebrate it until it's over. Were you able to stay hungry even though you hit that goal of qualifying for the last day?
Kathleen StauntonGuest
01:06:08
I was, and actually this is the first time. I was a little disappointed because they changed the workout for us, because you didn't. It was supposed to be the toes-to-bar handstand walks and then they changed it to just overhead carry and then the majority of the field went bananas. They were like no way, joe, you've got to help us out here. So he then changed it back to all right, two rounds of overhead. I think in his defense he wants everybody to be involved.
David SyvertsenHost
01:06:35
Yep, that's a tough thing to do.
Kathleen StauntonGuest
01:06:37
Yeah. And he did say he's not a fan of a skill where somebody's like standing around for five minutes just trying it. So they moved that to two rounds of overhead carry and then handstand walks. Okay so it was still really and at that point that was just like all gravy and so fun and a lot of fun movements for me. So I was like this is just like way too much fun.
David SyvertsenHost
01:06:58
Yeah, yeah, way too much. Fun, fun, fun, fun. That's. That's really the conclusion of what we want everyone to know that it is a grind. We could talk about the stressors and the disappointments, but at the end of the day, I think that's really what gets people coming back. You know, it's not just the accomplishments and it's not just the social media posts. Right, it's fun and in some ways, in a lot of ways, it's healthy as well and it kind of keeps you focused all year. You know I can talk everyone's ear off Sometimes I do to a fault about competing is so much more about competing. It's, it's means so much more than just trying to go out there and do well, it really can center a lot of things in your life and keep you humble and teach you a lot of lessons. So it's all about growth.
Kathleen StauntonGuest
01:07:41
Yes, there's so much growth that happens here four days, and I think that that's my biggest takeaway that there's so much growth, not even just as a competitor and as a CrossFitter, but just as a human, and how to be like your biggest cheerleader and how you really have to keep your mind is just as strong as your biceps. Absolutely learning how to get out there early, learning how to fly out there, what you have to do beforehand and what you have to do in the moment, and learning from other people and the relationships that we forged out there and our relationship and for me, it's really my most favorite part about all of this is really the journey leading up to it. It's great once we're there, but I really just love even just the training that goes into it and the journey actually to get there.
David SyvertsenHost
01:08:30
I love that. So I was going to end this with you know what's the final parting ways, parting words that you guys want to end the episode with, and what's like the number one takeaway that's in your mind right now that you think it's going to sit for a while and cast its growth, and do either one of you guys have something off the tip of your tongue that you say like, hey, this is my takeaway from this competition, and then we'll wrap it up?
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
01:08:53
Well, I would definitely piggyback on that. But since writing that post, I did on Instagram how I was just so stressed out and I freaked myself out. My kids' voices are in my head and they're saying bro, it's not that serious, bro, but it's like. You're right. You know what I needed to like chill out for a sec and remember that we're having fun here and we're working out.
01:09:17
That's it, and it's a privilege, like it's not that serious bro, yeah, I mean you can still want it, it can still be sort of serious, it's gonna be okay, just have fun, just have fun, not that serious bro does, that's bro can we say my son's saying bruh right now.
Dan CodaGuest
01:09:31
So say brock dan, partying thoughts like your last thought that you want to get out there yeah, I'm son of a champ, um, as it's being something that I've been striving for for so long and a goal that I've been trying to hit. And you know, you always get sometimes these moments where you get it, achieve your goal, and you're like, oh, that was it. Yeah, and there's a little bit of that Overall, like I had this, you know giant, like as if I was going to the Super Bowl in my head. It was like, oh, this is pretty much the same as all the other competitions I've been to in a lot of ways, but having just kind of shift, like learning how to shift my mind from the ultimate, like just a goal mindset, to this, is just one stop on the journey of me trying to always be my fittest on that specific day. And that's something that I've had to learn a lot throughout these years of going through disappointments or going through anger or being upset about an experience, to realizing that this is all for fun.
01:10:30
This is all for fitness and health and a really cool thing to have as a hobby, and that anybody out there who's trying to achieve stuff, to kind of just shift your mind, to just be on this journey. I love training, I love getting into the gym every day, like and I I realize that too, as I'm out there and I'm stressing and I'm trying to get this stuff, stuff I'm like, well, I I'm like sometimes like they don't think about, well, why don't, why do I do this? Why do I I mean, put myself here and a lot of it is just because I love the daily grind. I love coming here, being with everybody at the gym, being with this amazing community who was all shouting out to us and, and, you know, texting us and and giving us, you know, facebook messages and all that is so much awesome energy, and that all comes from the daily grind that we all do together.
David SyvertsenHost
01:11:18
So yeah, yeah, I mean I think that you guys it's um you have benefited from the community and the support and I think you guys also contribute to the community and the support that you guys give others, the inspiration that you guys give others. From my coach perspective, friend perspective, peer, I think one thing you guys can take away from all three of these guys up here is that they are truly in it for the long haul and they've been it in the long haul and they're not only attached to a result. That's not the reason. It's a reason why they do it, and that you know corny saying that some people don't like to hear it's just trying to get 1% better every day, like you know what. Maybe it is impossible to get 1% better at everything every day, but there's something you can get better at every single time you're trained. It can be a score, it can be a lift. It at every single time you're training, it can be a score, it can be a lift. It could be quality of movement, it can be a mental approach.
01:12:10
How many steps do I take between movements? All this stuff? How do I food prep? How do I sleep? When do I eat? What do I do if I have to work out at night.
01:12:18
There's something that every athlete can do every single day that can enhance their own potential. And that's what I get when I watch these guys train warm up, cool down, accessory work, eat, sleep, everything the lifestyle. There's a little something that you can approach every day with like, all right, let's just try to work on this, let me experiment with that. And it does add up to something like this, because what you guys got to experience and qualify for is out of reach for a lot of people right now. I would say most it's out of reach, but that doesn't right currently it is. But if they can follow, if there's something I want them to be inspired by, you guys, a step-by-step approach can get you to somewhere you are not currently at. But don't skip the steps, just one little step at a time. And if you approach it just small wins, small wins, small wins it's going to add up to something that these guys got to experience. So, guys, any parting words, any last thoughts?
Mindy MacDonaldGuest
01:13:15
Because I got to go coach the 930 class. I just wanted to say thank you to this community. Okay, we really felt the support and the love and it really meant a lot. Good, yeah, so thanks guys. Yeah so thanks guys, yeah, thanks everyone.
Kathleen StauntonGuest
01:13:27
Yep, we couldn't have done it without the Hurt, for sure. For sure. For all your help. Yeah, thank Joe and Bob, and they're out there. Programming is amazing. They run such a great event. Yeah, it's run so smoothly. We just had the greatest time, and thanks to you guys Again the journey next year.
David SyvertsenHost
01:13:49
Yeah, let's go. Gratitude, yep, yep. See you guys next year. Thank you, thanks, thanks. Thank you, everybody, for taking the time out of your day to listen to the Hurt Fit Podcast. Be on the lookout for next week's episode.
