The CrossFit Games 2019 Recap [Podcast EP 68]

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Jason:
All right, we’re here. Roz and I. This is an unusual podcast because we’re doing a joint venture.

Roz:
Yeah!

Jason:
We’re doing an Own Your Eating podcast as well as Best hour of Their Day. I’ll give you a quick rundown and then you’ll take over. Roz is the boss. Much like in our household for this podcast. But I got home and we’re recording this on Tuesday, August 6. I’ll try to get it up this week for both shows. And we’re catching up. It’s a busy week at the Games. We touched base just about every day.

Roz:
Yeah, I think we touched base just to say, hey, you know how’s your day you doing. Okay. Surviving. But we certainly never really get into details of everything that’s been happening in our lives. So we were just catching up as I was making breakfast. Sounds like we should do a podcast, I think people want to want to hear some of the stories you’ve come back with from the games.

Jason:
Right. I’m dishing the dirt.

Roz:
There’s a lot of dirt!

Jason:
What’s going on in the judge’s room. I’m dishing the dirt on what’s going out on the floor. We’re talking about nutrition. So we’re like, hey, this is really relative and relevant for both. Both shows that we do our nutrition podcast for Own Your Eating and of course, Best Hour of Their Day, we’re going to talk about, you know, all the stuff that goes into judging in the 2019 CrossFit Games. I’ll let you take it from there.

Roz:
Yeah, I was gonna say, so you’re the the interviewee this time round.

Jason:
I’ll take it. I’m going to have someone I know it’s ten thirty. I got home at about twelve. And by the time I actually got into bed, it was late. I slept in. So I’m trying to get my life in order right now. I missed a phone call with Fern, which was probably not the smartest that I’ve first of all.

Roz:
Don’t piss off your business partner. That’s rule number one of business partnership.

Jason:
No. Fern spent his day recovering yesterday from the party.

Roz:
I was gonna say why was Fern recovering?

Jason:
Well, is that your first question?

Roz:
Yeah let’s jump in! Tell us. Nobody cares about anything else, we want to hear about the after party. What went down?

Jason:
Well, I can’t give you all the dirt of what went down at the after party.

Roz:
But it’s a pretty nice party, right? I mean CrossFit really celebrates all the work you guys have done for the whole week, right?

Jason:
Yeah. So I’m not exactly sure who gets invited to this afterparty, but it’s typically the Level 1 staff regardless of your role at the CrossFit games.

Roz:
Right.

Jason:
So obviously all the judges. But there’s a level 1 training booth where people like Ray Regno. Josh Everett.

Roz:
Was Mel there?

Jason:
Mel. Mel. Melody Feldman was working, so they were all at the party. Maybe some others. So there’s positions that are called black shirts at the Games. And those are the people you’ll see with collared, black shirts and walkie talkies on. So many of them are on staff and are invited to this party. The athletes are there you know Vellner showed up. Jason Carroll showed up. Matt’s client from North Naples CrossFit.

Roz:
Oh, cool.

Jason:
So I talked to him about Matt a little bit and forgot to tell Matt about that. But it’s pretty intimate. And every year they throw that for us. There’s food. It’s an open bar. And then it leads into the bigger party. And I’m not sure how or who is invited.

Roz:
It used to be Fit Aid who did that.

Jason:
No so Fit aid had a party at a club. I didn’t go to that party.

Roz:
No?

Jason:
That was like you had to Uber somewhere.

Roz:
That was for like the 20 year olds.

Jason:
Yeah. Alec, my buddy from staff who I spent a lot of time with this week, he went to it.

Roz:
I love how you’re like, you have to uber somewhere. It’s like if you have to get in a mode of transport to go to a party. It’s not happening.

Jason:
Not for me at least. Yeah, I was. I never even made it downstairs to the big party.

Roz:
That was too far to go.

Jason:
No. As the upstairs party was wrapping up, people were coming up and down the stairs and being like, wow, it’s so loud down there. And I was like, loud? I’m going back to bed. I almost didn’t go to the party, to be honest. I was in bed when you called me right. We were face timing. I had just showered.

Roz:
Oh no that’s a bad move. Once you’re clean, you don’t like to go outdoors.

Jason:
You’re giving away my secrets, but yeah. I didn’t. I was gonna lay down and then Alec text me. He’s like, I’m walking over. And I was like, alright, I’ll walk over. Because I knew if I didn’t go over, I was gonna get just shit from everybody.

Roz:
Rightly so.

Jason:
So I went over, had two drinks, which is probably more than I’ve drank in the last year and had a little bit like for me honestly. I was like, OK, I feel those two drinks. You don’t want to get too wasted in front of your colleagues. Say something stupid. And I went back around 11:00, maybe, had some snacks and was lights out by 12:00. Good night.

Roz:
Nice it sounds fun. So. So why was it. Let’s talk about then. So why is that? We get the game so exhausting? Because it was funny. I remember one day you told me, like, you text me one night, you’re like, oh, I’m gonna to go to bed. I’ve got a 5am start tomorrow. But then the events weren’t starting till like 11:00 or something. So I was like, what’s what are you doing from 5:00 a.m.? So give us a little more insight for all the people who think it’s super cool being out on the floor with the athletes in the spotlight. What exactly are you doing?

Jason:
Well, it is super cool being out on the floor, so I’m not going to deny that. I think well, and I said you have to get up at 5:00. That doesn’t mean I’m at the venue. I typically get up and hour before I have to be at the venue. And everyone on staff likes to be early. So we have to be there at six thirty. We’re almost always there by 6:05, 6:10. Because staff is crazy.

Roz:
You don’t want to be the last one turning up. Right. Is it Dave briefing you on the standards and things.

Jason:
No, it’s Boz. But once once, you know, one car leaves of people it’s like, well, now we all should go. Yeah. So all it takes is one early bird group, which there’st plenty of athe games. But you know, it’s not as if we, Hey, here’s the weed. Let’s take the work. OK. It’s 800 meter row, 66 push press, one hundred thirty foot handstand walk. Right. See you out there.

Roz:
Yeah. Yeah.

Jason:
I mean some of the workouts this year especially, we started, you know we got there, everyone’s in Madison by Tuesday. Some people are out there Sunday or Monday. If they work a seminar it’s easier to travel. But but from that moment on we’re learning and this year was unusual we got the intel on all events on the first day. And it’s usually very much like here’s the broad brush. Here are the 12 events. This is all you need to know right now. So so Boz briefed us on all 12 and then we started chunking them down. You know, here’s where they start. Here’s where they finish. Here’s the movements we have to be aware of.

Roz:
That’s a lot of information to take on day one.

Jason:
No no no, so only the broad brush.

Roz:
OK.

Jason:
And then it becomes like, let’s focus on day one and then a handful of workouts that we need to have a little more awareness to. This year specifically was the dumbbell.

Roz:
Ok. So, what wait, for which event?

Jason:
Well, the dumbbell was only used in that one event. It was five rounds for time, 100 double unders. Eight split snatch. I’m sorry, 100 double unders. Ten split snatch on one side, alternating then 10 clean and split jerks on the other side.

Roz:
And there was a peg board.

Jason:
And then one peg board ascent. Right. So, I mean we practice counting double unders with fingers for every day leading up to the event.

Roz:
Wow. Because I guess when you haven’t been super consistent in judging other people, you’re a little out of practice. You need to get your brain and your your kind of accuracy, your eyes like really reacting and watching and being able to notice those little mistakes that are happening.

Jason:
Yeah and you know how it is. There’s, you know, 10000 maybe watching live in the venue and millions. I mean, this this year alone, there was broadcasts in I think he said 30 languages.

Roz:
Wow.

Jason:
There’s a broadcast Hebrew, Spanish. So, you know, for all those complaining about the media thing that went on this last year. This certainly grew the sport across it. I mean, we can talk about.

Roz:
This year or last year?

Jason:
This year.

Roz:
But why were people complaining this year?

Jason:
Because Crossfit. I mean, Roz doesn’t get super involved in all this. But you know, CrossFit took down all their social media, crossfit stopped doing their live broadcasts. They didn’t have the open announcements. But Coach Glassman’s foresight is always, you know, much bigger than we give him credit for. Because he’s very intelligent, you know, looks it looks big picture. And we had all these countries there. You know, we had countries watching from around the world.

Roz:
Yeah, I thought that was cool that the Games started with the opening ceremony, with all the athletes coming out onto the field to represent their countries.

Jason:
Yes. The sport of Crossfit grew exponentially this year because of all of that. So, you know, then the other movement we had to really keep an eye on was the dumbbell. So we practiced ourselves doing that movement and judging. Hundreds of reps.

Roz:
Wow.

Jason:
Empty. Not necessarily with a dumbbell.

Roz:
Well, I haven’t tried that movement yet. What does it feel like? Does it feel awkward?

Jason:
It’s a little awkward, but it’s just, you know, we needed to be ready to see you move my right hand and left foot. Make sure you’re moving the right distance. Make sure you’re standing up all the way.

Roz:
I was actually just thinking of that movement yesterday when I was doing these burpee box step overs because I was trying to do the step up to the box with the opposite leg on each side and then step so step from the Burpee up to the box and then step from the ground up to the box with the opposite leg. So it was like, yeah. Like I would definitely mess up that dumbbell movement.

Jason:
We’ve never judged it. It’s we’ve been they’ve never done they’re tired. They’re out there competing.

Roz:
So there were a couple of no reps I think for people.

Jason:
Oh right. But had we not practiced we wouldn’t have seen those no reps. And it’s funny like you do sit in the back and you’re like, really I’ve got to count doubles on Boz’s fingers again? Or I gotta do another practice set with Viktor again. And then you’re out there and there are no reps and you’re like “Good thing I did that!” You know, because you just see it as you know, as soon as he did it, I saw it. And I’m like, “NO!” you know? I had Will Moorad out on that event and he was hurt.

Roz:
Oh, yeah, he hurt his hamstring right?

Jason:
He hurt it on the sprint. I actually was in his lane on the sprint and he just pulled up and he’s like, “Yo I tweaked my hamstring.” And I was like “Do you need a medic?” and he’s like, “no, no, I’m fine.” He walks off the field and then I see him at that event. I have him in my lane and he’s like, “I’m just going to go easy. Like, I can’t move.”

Roz:
Because he bowed out of the clean event didn’t he?

Jason:
He didn’t even do the clean the first weight. Yeah. So then, you know, but I’m judging him. And I’m in my mind, I’m like, this dude’s purposely moving slowly and I don’t think anyone realizes how fast he’s still moving. He’s moving slow, very methodically, but he was still moving fast. It’s just because he’s out there with the top nine other fittest humans on the planet that he appears to be slow. He still didn’t come in last. It was like towards the end. And he’s like, “yeah, I just gotta stay ahead of Saxon” to me because he was basically saying, I’m not doing much more. So he finished round four and he looks over, and he was ahead of Saxon Panchik, but he has to keep moving like, the rule is you have to keep moving. So he’s moving a little slowly. But I also know he’s hurt. And I was like he’s probably not getting back to this pegboard because he was still down the field. I could see him. He’s like, I’m going to do one more and then Noah had finished at this point and comes over and Noah’s…I like Noah. Noah gets some. I don’t know some shit for being cheesy. I think, but he came over and he yells at Will, and he’s like “Do it for the people.” And hearing him say that, I was like, that was genuine and cool. But I was nice to hear him say that. And then Will, did the peg board climb and then time ran out.

Roz:
So. I have two things I want to say. First of all, I love Noah. And he is kind of cheesy, but he’s a goofball. He’s just like.

Jason:
He’s just super young.

Roz:
He’s just fun loving, like. And I truly believe he’s just very genuine. Like that is his personality.

Jason:
Yeah so I am pretty good friends with his buddy Dylan Malitsky, who was a longtime M.C. I actually didn’t see him there, I got to reach out to him. But he’s cheesy, too, right. And they grew up, they knew each other, so I think that’s just their personalities.

Roz:
And then the other thing I was thinking was so did, Will, he didn’t. He came last in that event I figure?

Jason:
He beat Saxon.

Roz:
Oh, he still beat Saxon. But did he tell you what was going on with his hamstring?

Jason:
Oh, no. I mean, I was impressed during the Sprint event that not more people hurt their hamstring. You know, if I run at 90 percent I’d tear both hamstrings.

Roz:
So then my thinking is, well, so if he’s hurt, I mean, I guess it depends how bad it is. Why is he continuing? Like he’s potentially going to make his injury much, much worse?

Jason:
Well, I think when you’re at that level of competition, you have some sort of drive that allows you to overcome that. He was favoring it tremendously in every event going forward. And I think he probably, you know with the cuts that happened this year felt a little bad in the fact that he took a spot. Where somebody else can move, so I think there is a little bit of that going on. I’m speaking for him, I don’t know, but I saw him talking to Dave quite a few times during and after the events. So I don’t know if it was Dave telling them they tried to keep going, if it was, you know, Dave giving them, hey, you can do this. You just gotta be smart about it. So I don’t know exactly what happened. All I know is he kept going. He was a really nice guy. And it was, it was cool.

Roz:
He placed tenth overall.

Jason:
Yeah. So he’s still the tenth fittest human being on this planet despite pulling his hamstring.

Roz:
Speaking of cuts. What did you think then of the format of the Games this year? What did you think about it? Enjoy it?

Jason:
I mean,.

Roz:
Disappointed by it?

Jason:
No, I don’t give a shit about the cuts. I know a lot of people lost their mind. People listening are upset about it. But I don’t look at the games from a spectator perspective. Right. So I think most of the people that were complaining about the cuts were complaining because their favorite was no longer competing.

Roz:
Yeah you know, I was so sad when Vellner got dropped.

Jason:
Right, Vellner gets dropper, Fikowski gets dropped. I don’t know a lot of the athletes who are competing, so I don’t really care. So I understand that spectator perspective. But it’s you know, what better result is there that the same people that won last year won this year?

Roz:
Yeah

Jason:
You can’t argue with that. And I can tell you from a, from a logistical perspective. What was the most exciting event you watched?

Roz:
The most exciting event. Uhhhh I mean, the final was really close with the guys, so that was definitely exciting.

Jason:
I think most people listening would tell you the clean event.

Roz:
Oh, yeah. I think the clean event was very cool.

Jason:
Ok. So.

Roz:
Oh, my God. I loved seeing Fraser and Scott Panchik.

Jason:
Right. So the clean event I think, nearly unanimously, was the most exciting event. OK. We can’t do that with more people. You’re like, so. So that event could not happen with more people.

Roz:
But there’s been clean events.

Jason:
There’s been clean ladders, there’s been clean, you know,.

Roz:
But not like heaviest clean.

Jason:
Not like heavy screen where the weight just goes up. Everyone’s hitting it middle of the arena. All eyes on them.

Roz:
What was cool about that was I know there are some good lifters out there who got cut and said didn’t get to do that event. But actually, you saw two of the best really perform in that. Not just two of the best, like some of the other guys were monsters as well.

Jason:
Ok, I think everybody can understand that first cut from one 50 to 75. Yeah, I mean. I’m going to say this with peace and love. There are people out there were people out on the competition floor that you would look at and be like you’re unsure if they even worked out.

Roz:
That’s just by comparison to all the other athletes.

Jason:
Oh, no. I mean, there were men and women were plenty. I look significantly fitter, as do you plenty. If you’re listening to this, you probably look fitter. Well, now and then might not be that you are. Like, for example, I judge that guy from India. I don’t remember his name. And he did the run and two rope climbs and then time capped. He couldn’t get out of the rope climbs.

Roz:
He couldn’t do a legless rope climb?

Jason:
No, he did two of them. He couldn’t do his third.

Roz:
Ok OK.

Jason:
Now, could he have done three if he had paced better? Probably. And could he have done that snatch? If he had given been given the opportunity, probably. Could he be me in a lot of workouts? Yes. However, I would have beat him in that specific workout. I could have beat him in, because I would have gotten the third rope climb.

Roz:
All right.

Jason:
I wouldn’t have hit the snatch. Maybe I would have. It would’ve been a very tough snatch for me. But am I claiming I’m fitter than him? No. But the point is, he isn’t ready to go to the next round. And many of the women there was and I say this again nicely. There is a woman out there that I would be like, I don’t know that she can do pullups. Because I saw her attempting that legless rope climb and She wasn’t moving.

Roz:
Wow.

Jason:
So it just shows like I was very surprised by the clear line of fitness around the world. And the cool thing is, that will change next year.

Roz:
I think so, too, because now you’re talking about that. It makes me think about some of the programming that we’ve really been seeing coming out from Crossfit. But this year, there’s a lot of strict movements. You know, more emphasis on, OK. Let’s let’s do strict pull ups for Cindy. Let’s do, let’s work on our L-sit hangs and things like that, really trying to improve overall strict body weight strength vs. relying on kipping which a lot of people try to do before they can really can’t even do two strict pull ups, you know?

Jason:
Yeah. I don’t know. That’s what’s impacting these people in India. But I think, you know, it’s just the sport of crossfit started in the states. And it’s, you know, seven years ago, there may have been no one in India even doing cross fit. And now there’s a guy that’s very capable. And, you know, there is, I’m sure, some surprises. The women were fun. I judged a girl from Belize who was practically naked on the competition floor.

Roz:
Oh, really? What do you want? I mean, I think most of those female athletes look naked I mean those booty shorts that they wear those are like, on the middle of my thigh when I wear them, like they’re up their ass when they wearthem.

Jason:
The girl that I was judging it looked like her vagina was trying to eat her shorts.

Roz:
Oh my god.

Jason:
I know. But I was like I almost was like, I shouldn’t be watching this right now. Like to.

Roz:
Did you see a little bit of nippleage come out?

Jason:
I’ve never you know, I didn’t see it was close, but I didn’t see any I didn’t see any nipple coming out. But um. She was super cool. And she was like, she got out of the rope climbs. Finally, I just, because I was judging the snatch. So I judge you on the snatch and, It was a struggle for her. It was probably 90 percent of her best. So she you know, she hit maybe four or five.

Roz:
What was the women’s weight?

Jason:
Uh I think it was 130. And, you know, in between reps, she was screaming at other people. I’ll tell you what, it was just really cool to see. It was like being I’ve never been at the Olympics, but CrossFit is gonna become like the Olympics. You’re going to see countries just represented. It’s gonna be you know, my guess would be more and more spots might become open. Every country is gonna be represented. And ultimately, like, look at the top 10, they’re the same top 10 from years past. Give or take. People that are complaining. Sure. If the order of events changed. Maybe Vellner is in it longer, or maybe Fikowski’s in it longer. There’s certainly some aspect of the order of these events that are done purposefully. Like the first two events were beautifully programmed. Three different modalities, right? At perfect weights and perfect, you know, challenging gymnastic movements to make a strong cut and get to the best people.

Roz:
Right. Because obviously CrossFit did program these workouts with the cuts in mind.

Jason:
Yeah. I mean, rumor is I don’t know this for a fact. Rumor is, that coach Glassman programmed that first workout. I don’t know if that’s 100 percent true, but that’s what I’ve heard.

Roz:
It was a great workout.

Jason:
It was a great work.

Roz:
I really want to try it. But obviously not at that weight.

Jason:
I’ll tell you a funny story. I’ll tell you a funny story about the second one in a minute. But, you know, I think the other thing is, you know, you ask me about judging earlier. It’s like we were done by five or six every day because we only had one heat. Some of those events, I mean, there was only 20 of us judging on the individual level in the past there’s been 40. So, we don’t have any downtime, we showed up at the arena and we were on the go from 6 to 5 or whatever time we started till we left. Where in the past, we’d have heats off. We’d walk around. So I didn’t get to, you know, check out Vendor Village, the beer garden and see people like I would have liked to. But man, it was nice to have one event and be like, I’m in this. I judged four heats of Mary. If I had a judge, my eyes were bleeding, you know.

Roz:
I mean counting all those pull ups.

Jason:
I counted thousands of reps.

Roz:
And making sure that all those pistols are and meeting the standard.

Jason:
And at that point, every rep matters. You know, I judged Logan Collins, whose mom actually reached out to me on Instagram. Funny. And I judge Logan Collins and he was in 21st place going into the workout. He went out there and it’s like every rep matters to this dude. I need to be on, you know? And then when I judged Brooke Wells and it’s like if I wasn’t on like we all issue I mean, as soon as handstand push ups comes out, who is everybody talking about? Brooke Wells because of her open work out years ago where she had a poor midline. So I had to be on there and make sure I was on.

Roz:
Was that the one, in the open that was televised.

Jason:
Yeah.

Roz:
With Brenda Castro?

Jason:
I believe so. Yeah. So you have to really be on for all of those events. And like I said, other things like the clean, even the even the swim paddle couldn’t have happened with more people because it was a 30 minute event. You know, 20 people going in the water at once. Even the ruck. All of those types of things. The more people you try to accommodate and you’re accommodating them, for the sake of accommodating them. You know, like, they cannot win. So get to the top 10. You can make an argument, you keep 20 around for one more event or you keep 15 till the last day. That’s fine. You know, if you want to think that way, I don’t think it’s wrong. But at the end of the day, the goal of the CrossFit Games is to crown the fittest on earth. And that happened.

Roz:
Right. And I think although you’ve had your favorites in the past, it’s because they’ve they’ve had a lot of exposure. They’ve been able to go to the games and and work out all weekend long. Now, this is giving that opportunity to others. So you’ll develop new favorites.

Jason:
You’ll develop new favorites. But also think about the fact that there’s twenty-five sanctionals, I think, happening. Right. So in the past, let’s say you love Patrick Vellner.

Roz:
Well, there’s more than enough CrossFit to watch these days.

Jason:
Right. If you look at Patrick Vellner, first of all, go on Wod on the Waves, right?

Roz:
Yeah. So what, he’s going to be on it again?

Jason:
I believe he’s on it again. Roz and I are on it for Own Your Eating, Fern and I are on it for Best Hour.

Roz:
He was just like so. I remember seeing him wandering around the ship he was just chilled out the whole time. Like wearing his sunnies, like just having a good time.

Jason:
Yeah. So go on Wod On The Waves and we’re gonna have a code to give you a two to sign up once it’s announced. I think tickets go on sale August 16th.

Roz:
When’s it gonna be?

Jason:
It’s in April.

Roz:
Cool.

Jason:
Yeah so it’s a weekend in April. So we’ll be giving a nutrition seminar. Fern and I are gonna be recording multiple podcasts and doing some masterminds for coaches. But bigger picture is, you want to see Pat Vellner there compete, you get to see him at probably four or five sanctionals now, whereas in years past you’d see him at regionals and that’s it. All right. So there’s more opportunity to see those guys. Now, let me tell you a story about the so the event gets announced for the kettlebell push press. And that’s one of those standards that we’ve never judged.

Roz:
Yeah, I remember hearing the commentary. What was it that the bell has to come below, the chin or the shoulder?

Jason:
It had to come below the chin, but also inside the face.

Roz:
Right.

Jason:
So the handle, not the entire bell, just one piece of the handle.

Roz:
And people were getting no rep when that wasn’t happening, I think.

Jason:
Well, that’s our job.

Roz:
Yeah, no. But I mean, it was definitely happening.

Jason:
Oh, yeah. I mean, I threw out a ton of no reps, but.

Roz:
Who did you have, a man or woman?

Jason:
Uh

Roz:
Did you do a couple heats of that one? Yeah. You did men and women.

Jason:
I think we did one of each. I can’t remember. I have to look at the video because at that point there’s people that. There were still seventy five people, I think.

Roz:
Yeah, so a lot.

Jason:
I don’t think I had anyone I didn’t know, but I can’t remember when.

Roz:
So what’s the story?

Jason:
So, you know, we were like, well, how we’ve never seen this standard. We need to judge it. So we go down, we get some Kettlebells and I’m like. All right. So here’s the deal. There’s 20 judges, level one judges. And Boz, Jason McDonald comes ahead of us this year and I’m like the fun judge. I like to be the fun guy. I keep it lighthearted but serious when I need to be.

Roz:
You’re like Noah. You’re the Noah of the judges.

Jason:
And I’m like, guys, I can go unbroken on this.

Roz:
With the push press?

Jason:
Yeah.

Roz:
Did you?

Jason:
Well, I’ll, are you gonna let me tell this? So. So I pick up the bells. First of all, I’ve not done anything. It’s probably 8:00 in the morning. I’ve not done anything Boz is like. Yes.

Roz:
You haven’t warmed up or anything yet.

Jason:
Yes. Here’s. Here they are. And I’m doing it because I truly think I can. But also, the judges need to see the movement.

Roz:
How many no reps did you get?

Jason:
So I just kept going. I got to. I did. So you had to advance every twenty two. I get to 22. I advance it just with the bells over my head and I didn’t really advance, I took like a step forward, we were in a back room. And then I get to thirty-five and I’m on the struggle bus like barely locking out, and Boz just goes, ‘I think he’s gonna make it.” And I just started laughing and I was done. It was my excuse to put them down, but I got to 35. Let me tell you something. No, athlete got to 35. Everybody broke before that.

Roz:
But wait, what did they do before that?

Jason:
They only rowed 800 meters only.

Roz:
Oh only!

Jason:
It wasn’t because they couldn’t.

Roz:
Only rowed 800 meters at 1:32 pace or something.

Jason:
First of all, don’t try to downplay my fitness. It had nothing to do with, it had nothing to do with the fact that they did an 800m row. They were just.

Roz:
Being smart,.

Jason:
Smart and breaking it up.

Roz:
Yeah they were saving themselves for the handstand walk.

Jason:
Because then they were like as soon as I did 35. And I mean, I was at failure. And there was plenty of no reps in there, by the way. But that was the point, I did thirty-five reps and they were like kick up to a handstand. I went to kick up to a handstand and I couldn’t do it. And I’m very good at handstand walking and hand stand push ups and it was.

Roz:
Provided your legs are splayed out.

Jason:
Right. It was just very hard.

Roz:
If you had to be in like a track. You’d get no repped.

Jason:
Alright are we bashing each other’s form because we can start doing that now. Um but yeah it was hard to stay in line and it was what I was actually quite impressed with was, watching them row, how fast they were rowing and how easy it looked. So they were pulling a like a 130 and it looked like they were pulling a casual two minute pace. It’s amazing.

Roz:
Like my 220.

Jason:
You saw a big difference there between the men and the women. The men pulled casually a 1:30. The women were having to work harder and they were pulling like a 1:45, 1:50. But that was where quite a few no reps went down and the hand, it was tight on the field, but that was a fun workout.

Roz:
So what was your favorite event to judge?

Jason:
Well. Probably the clean, because I really didn’t do much. You know, I will say this year was cool because we got to basically be on the floor for every heat. And if we weren’t on the floor judging, we’re on the floor counting.

Roz:
Right.

Jason:
So we’re off on the side. So, you know, we were truly, truly dialed in from judging this year. The clean was fun because I didn’t want I didn’t have to do anything. I literally just had a front row seat to watch the clean. And it was exciting. But I think. I enjoyed Mary. For some reason,.

Roz:
I enjoyed it, I think it’s a good event.

Jason:
I enjoyed watching that dude Logan push through that calf cramp. Just go hard. You know, it was 20 minutes for time. Just flew by. You know, it didn’t.

Roz:
I know it was crazy.

Jason:
I was like, man, I’ve got to judge because there’s only 15 on the floor for that event. So not every judge was used for all the heats, but for some reason I just kept getting put out there and they kept flying by. It was just it was a really impressive display of fitness you know. I’m having. It was cool because I can do Mary RX like those guys. So knowing if I bust my ass, I can get 15, 16 rounds. And those guys were getting twenty-one.

Roz:
Wow, babe, that’s impressive.

Jason:
I mean, I’m decent at it. I would have said.

Roz:
I take it back. Who cares about your handstand walks? You can get 15, 16 rounds on Mary. You’re fit as hell babe.

Jason:
Stop it. So Mary, though, will mess me up because you’re doing 300 pull ups. So I was like, wow, these guys are doing 500 pullups, and they were fine the next day. I saw Logan the next day and I was like, “How you feeling?” and he’s like “Better than yesterday.” And, you know, he was fine.

Roz:
After some recovery, and some salt I’m sure. But yeah, I know that. I mean, it’s amazing. And they were saying that it’s all in the commentary how easy they were making that event look like for them to just be continuously moving and to be moving at that speed. I did a different version of Mary over the weekend. I had done pull ups earlier in the week and my shoulders were just bothering me a bit. So I switch switch the movements around and did five pull ups and 15 handstand push ups. And I think what did I tell you? I got into the 10th round, not too promising for a Games appearance anytime soon.

Roz:
But uh. What? Oh, I know what I wanted to ask you about. You told me a little bit about it. What the hell happened? Or what do you think happened with Matt and his little faux-pas on the go ruck event? Because you guys knew hours before it got announced that a pack was missing. Like that a weight was missing?

Jason:
Well, yeah. So we. Had all the rucks laid out, you know if you look back at the event. The athletes started with a pack with a plate in it that weighed 20 pounds. Every time they’d come back into the field, they had to pick up another 10 pound pack. So by the last run, they’re running with 50 pounds. The original 20 plus the three tens. So we were like 10 of us were on the field making sure every athlete knew where to go and pick up a pack. And we watched it. And every time all of the packs were picked up. That means they’re all accounted for. Then we get back and the same 10 of us had to go through as an athlete would finish. They would show us their pack. We were like TSA. We’re literally opening their bag and counting for three packs.

Roz:
Right.

Jason:
So Cole Sager came up and was missing a pack. And Austin Stack, one of the judges caught this, which was hard, it was chaos. Now. And we saw it. Like the athletes are basically collapsing, throwing their bag down. So bags were getting mixed up. So Cole was like, “that wasn’t my bag. I just picked one up.” And we believed him. And in fairness, I actually remember seeing Cole come in and picking up bags. So I didn’t think it was his fault. However, we knew that one pack was missing. So all of a sudden everything is getting delayed because cuts are gonna get made and you know, we don’t know. And then eventually this video appears and I don’t know who posted it. I know Dave Castro had re-shared it. But I don’t know, when Boz or Dave or Jason McDonald got the intel on that. We found out later it was really we did our job judging. We caught what happened. That’s all we need to be aware of.

Roz:
So did you guys are you alerted them to the fact that a weight was missing somewhere?

Jason:
Yeah, we alerted them. Cole had to be held back.

Roz:
Right.

Jason:
You know, then we eventually, you know, he got let go. We had his bag. But I think for the most part, everyone believed him. You know, and there’s a videotape like you could probably watch. I’m sure they watched to see Cole come in.

Roz:
Yes.

Jason:
You know, so. And then eventually that Fraser video gets posted.

Roz:
But that just shows like that might have gotten missed if you guys weren’t doing your job, like counting all those packs.

Jason:
Right. Had we not counted the packs? Well, it’s good that we did a good job because that video would have gotten posted anyway, right? Then we would have been like, who the fuck missed that?

Roz:
Yeah, they would have been like, “Guys weren’t you counting?”

And it would have been like “Who counted Fraser’s pack?” Right. And I don’t think I did. Somebody did. So they would have blamed that guy. But really, Fraser picked up another pack. Now, so here’s where the the question. My opinion is this. I don’t truly believe he knew a pack flew out of his bag. That’s just my opinion. I’ve not spoken to him. I don’t know. I think everyone. It’s easy to judge. The dude just ran 4 miles with escalating weight in the heat. So. And the truth is that, does the difference between 50 and 40 pounds feel that different?

Roz:
Well, it was a 10lb weight.

Jason:
It was a 10 pound bag was like a very it’s like the size of this computer. But sandbag. Right. So it’s like, did he feel that difference? And I got to say, A, I don’t have enough experience to know what that feels like. Like you couldn’t. Sure. The average person can we tell 40 pounds lighter than 50. Yeah, but there’s a difference when it’s sitting on your back and you’ve just ran with it. And you know, A, he’s at the very end of the race. He’s pushing it. I think. In my opinion, you felt something and you’re like, what was that? And you’re in the heat of the moment and you keep sprinting.

Roz:
Yeah.

Jason:
Now did he. Now, the question is, did he at some point realize his pack was light after he finished and purposely grab a different pack?

Roz:
I kind of doubt it. I feel like it’s just like you say. Like there were just bags everywhere. He’s like everyone was collapsing at the finish line. He just got up and picked up a bag. I don’t think he was…

Jason:
The guy’s been around long enough to know there’s eyes on him the entire time. Did he see it? You know, here’s the truth too. Say he saw the pack fall out. Does he quickly decide it’s worth a penalty? Does he quickly decide to, hey, there was no rule saying if your bag falls out?

Roz:
Yeah.

Jason:
Does he quickly decide, like, “I am trying to cheat?” You know, it’s like in the heat of the moment, you can’t blame him. So I don’t think I don’t think it was malicious.

Roz:
What did he get as his penalty?

Jason:
I think he. I believe he got a 60 second penalty, which on one hand I think is harsh on you know, some people were saying it was. You know Boz, you know, I don’t want to say what Boz said. But, you know, some people thought, you know, I heard online. “Maybe that was not stiff enough,” but that’s assuming he cheated. And you also have to take into account where he was in the course. You know,.

Roz:
Yeah it was like right before the finish.

Jason:
I don’t think those 10 pounds added 60 seconds to his run personally and whatever that dropped. I didn’t analyze this the placings, but that might have. I think it was, I think based on where it was in the event, it was a stiff penalty.

Roz:
Right because he was, what, 20 seconds from the finish line or something?

Jason:
He had 200 meters to go. And, you know, and again, I think really what you’d have to analyze is who was around him, how many people would have actually passed him. Which is hard to do. But the point is, it was handled. And you know, the route I think I think it was fine. I don’t think anyone could have foreshadowed that a bag would accidentally fly out of your your your ruck. You know, and I don’t. No one, and especially Mat in that situation, didn’t purposely cheat.

Roz:
Mm hmm.

Jason:
So the penalty was what it was and ultimately made for a more exciting competition because now he wasn’t winning.

Roz:
Right. For sure. Definitely. I mean, it really did change my experience. And, you know, I was excited to watch the men, whereas usually I’m just like, uh Mat’s in the lead, who cares.

Jason:
Yeah, the men were more exciting than the women because Tia ran away with it.

Roz:
I know she did this year. She did, great. So what was your highlight of the Games this year?

Jason:
Ooo…

Roz:
Was it going to Short Stacks on Monday? On Monday without a hangover.

Jason:
You know, I was telling you this right before we got on. I think judging the games is great. But you also you’re out there judging, being scrutinized. It’s fun getting tagged like your family, your friends at the box and they tag you. They’re not going to tell you you did a shitty job.

Roz:
Did I do a good job of that? I tried to tag you.

Jason:
You tried to tag me but you know, it’s nice seeing the funny one and me and Fern together.

Roz:
Did you get some funny memes?

Jason:
I didn’t tell you. I’ve got some funny memes, yeah. The woman that took that picture of me and Fern on the clean. And you said, who is that? Do you know her? When I was sitting there, my eyes were wide open. And Noah and Saxon were sliding in.

Roz:
Oh, yeah.

Jason:
I saw her at Short Stack.

Roz:
Oh, did you?

Jason:
She was like, you’re the judge. Yeah. That was in that picture. Everyone was tagging you.

Roz:
Because Fern was like looking grumpy.

Jason:
And I was like…

Roz:
Yeah, and your eyes were like popping out of your head.

Jason:
She was like, that was such a great picture.

Roz:
You’re like “hmm this is mildly impressive.”.

Jason:
It was funny because I didn’t know who she was. (Oh all the dogs are outside). And then, you know, she saw me and I met her there. That was that was impressive. I was like, I turned to Fern. I was like, the fact that they both had the wherewithal to slide in like that was crazy.

Roz:
I know. And it was nuts, like. To see that Noah, I just came and inched in.

Jason:
I thought Saxon was going to beat him.

Roz:
Being lower. I did, too, for sure. And because he was doing.

Jason:
Squat cleans Saxon was squat cleaning, Noah was power cleaning.

Roz:
Saxon and Scott are phenomenal at cleaning their squat form is amazing.

Jason:
It really shows there’s a lot of genetics involved.

Roz:
Oh yeah. For sure.

Jason:
So I would say my highlight is not fucking up earlier. So what I was trying to say is there is nothing to be gained by being. You can not be an outstanding judge. Right? You can do your job, but you could fuck up. So you know what is somebody going to do “Wow you judged that so well?” You did all. Like that’s what I’m supposed to do. But you can, you can mess up, be a, you know, all the stuff we do? Like when you say “why do you get there so early?” It seems like it’s useless and a waste of time, but it’s what does prepare us to do well while we’re out there.

Roz:
Right. And I think. Yeah. Okay. To a certain extent, you’re just doing your jobs, but you can be an outstanding and in other ways, like being early vs. just on time. Like just how.

Jason:
But you know what? Everyone on the level one seminar staff, is like that. So you’re not gonna stand out from a stand out group of people. But you know, every year, every year,.

Roz:
The bar is too high.

Jason:
No. Ultimately, there are mistakes that, you know, there’s a mistake that happened. It wasn’t one of us this year. I mean, know, things happen. And in the past, people on staff have messed up. Things happen. We’ve talked about it when I was on the Crossfit podcast, you know, they asked me about it. So the fact that what I hear, what I hear from the higher ups on these events is I don’t hear anything about you this year. You did a good job.

Roz:
Yeah. Good!

Jason:
So being able to be the comic relief of the judging crew, but also. Being allowed to be that person by Boz, shows me that Boz knows I’ve got my shit together when the time is right.

Roz:
Yeah, you know, you know where the line is and you don’t cross it.

Jason:
Exactly. So I like knowing that boss knows I’m a fun guy. But at the end of it, he trusts me or else I wouldn’t be invited back.

Roz:
Right.

Jason:
And I think part of the reason I do get invited back is because he needs some of that. I’m willing to, you know, be the guy that tries to do the push press. Boz gave me some licorice.

Roz:
Why did he give you licorice?

Jason:
Because it’s like his joke. Every year Boz loves. So what we call black licorice. Yeah. Boz is like, that’s licorice.

Roz:
Yes.

Jason:
Right. Right. It’s disgusting.

Roz:
No, it’s not.

Jason:
So anyway, Boz gave me one the other day and I nearly vomited.

Roz:
Are you kidding me? So, yeah. Because you guys over here, you’re only when you say Licorice, you’re talking about the red stuff.

Jason:
Right. The liquorice.

Roz:
That’s like strawberry flavored or something. It’s not licorice. Licorice is aniseed flavor.

Jason:
Yeah. And Boz was like there’s basically a zero to 100 scale of how strong it is. And then one he gave me was like the top.

Roz:
Oh, really?

Jason:
So I told him, we were talking about hot ones. The show I love on YouTube and I was like

Roz:
We could do that.

Jason:
I was like, we should do that with liquorice. And he’s all in. And anyway, but like that or just say, you know.

Roz:
We should send him some Bassett Licorice All Sorts. Where’s Boz from?

Jason:
Oakland.

Roz:
Yeah. I was about to say, isn’t he from out west?

Jason:
Yeah he was on the podcast. You don’t listen.

Roz:
I do listen! But I was just in my head then thinking he’s got some connection with the UK. I don’t understand the licorice thing.

Jason:
Well Boz has travelled the world being a part of the staff for ten years, but I think he’s just a unique dude.

Roz:
So he loves licorice.

Jason:
Oh, he snacks on it. Every year. I mean, I actually snack. I initiate it “I was like hey Boz you happen to have any licorice.” He’s like “You want one?” I’m like “No”, and he’s like “Try it.” And I didn’t even know. I put it in my mouth and threw it right out. It was that bad. It was that disgusting.

Roz:
It must have been like pure aniseed. So do you like or dislike sambuka?

Jason:
No, I don’t like that.

Roz:
You don’t like sambucca.

Jason:
I said. I had because. Maybe part of it is.

Roz:
Maybe that’s why!

Jason:
I worked at a restaurant when I was a kid. And they would give us shots of like that. It was gross. So probably have some sort of aversion to it. I just don’t like that taste.

Roz:
So you’ve come back from a week away, you’re tired, obviously.

Jason:
I feel, you know what I will say? This year I feel the least rundown.

Roz:
Yeah, I was going to say normally you’re a mess, when you come back from the Games like this year, I was like, you know what? I think I’m going to stay home and give you your space because you’re not much fun to be around. And don’t get me wrong, I get it. There’s a ton of pressure and a lot of demands on you. But yeah, you seem relatively like chilled out and recovered.

Jason:
They were long days, but you were done. You know, like I said, we were out of the venue by. We probably left no later than six any day. You know, we’d finished the last event, have a quick debrief, got back to the hotel, able to get in a workout. I primarily just ate at Whole Foods and ate in my room.

Roz:
So, so did you manage to get a workout in most days?

Jason:
I worked out every day except for Monday, yesterday. And it was more so just because I needed a recovery. I got there Tuesday and I didn’t and you know when I say I worked out, I did something Tuesday. I mean I can probably recap what I did, but Tuesday through Sunday I did something and I took yesterday off just cause I wanted to give my body a day to recover. And I’ll get back into the box today, Tuesday.

Roz:
Well, you did 35 kettlebell push press one day.

Jason:
You know, it was cool cause I did lots of little things like that. I did some push ups midday. But, you know, every day I got back to the hotel and one day I did Dumbbell D.T. with Fern. One day Alec and I did like a dumbbell bench and some strict pull ups. One day,

Roz:
Didn’t you do some kind of Hinshaw programming, too?

Jason:
Yeah, we did like some aerobic capacity type stuff with a plate press. I did.

Roz:
I think sometimes people lose their minds, don’t they, when they can’t get to a crossfit gym. They’re like, “Oh I can’t do crossfit I can’t get a workout.” But like you can train just as well in a little hotel gym. You don’t need to be busting out Fran just to feel like you got a workout you know.

Jason:
Yeah. I mean one day we did, Pablo, Todd and I did a full workout. We went and used the athlete warm-up area. I think I posted a picture on Instagram of the workout. And, you know, we did some squat cleans we did some GHD. So, you know, we did one day of that. And then the rest was just all hotel workouts. And I could have, guys were sticking around and we were allowed to use the athlete warm-up area, this year. But for me, it was like I’d rather, like you just said, I don’t need to go crazy. We’re we’re busy. We’re. We’re getting tons of time on our feet all day. Yeah, I did something in the hotel. I stretched every night for 20 to 30 minutes in the room. You know, doing like my little rom wod type routine while listening to Howard Stern to chill out. And for me it was more important to. And it goes back to my four pillars of health. Right. Sleep, stress, fitness and nutrition. If you put such an emphasis on the fitness portion, but then blow the nutrition and sleep, what’s the point? So to me, it was like I moved every day and I put that emphasis. In those scenarios, when you’re under high stress and busy, I think getting your adequate sleep and eating right is more of a priority. So, you know, I was in bed by 10:00 or 11:00. I didn’t always get eight hours because we were up so early, but I never felt like I was rushing to get back to bed. You know, I was able to chill out, watch a movie or watch something on Netflix and then, you know, fall asleep and get going again. So, yeah, I got something every day. Ate right. You know, it’s funny because, you know, with Own Your Eating. Everybody is like “Jay. You eat so shitty, you eat this.” And I eat very well. You know, when I say, well, I eat very nutritiously, very clean. Every day when we were there, I got over 800 grams of fruits and vegetables because I would go to Whole Foods and whatever they would serve. They always had bananas and clementines and apples. And, you know, I was telling you, the staff’s grabbing handfuls of peanut M&Ms and runts.

Roz:
Oh this is in the in the judges area.

Jason:
Yeah. It’s like they’re eating junk just because they’re bored and tired. And I’m eating good quality food.

Roz:
And it’s easier to make those smarter choices when you’re not exhausted, like I know when I’m rundown and tired and haven’t been, you know trying to focus or manage my stress, or get good quality sleep, the first thing I want to do is shove some junk in my face. Like you, your body wants sugar. You like you feel like you need that pick me up and then you just feel worse.

Jason:
For me. On the road like that, I fast, I skip breakfast because a) I’m usually not hungry and I’m usually tired. So I realize I’m not hungry. I’m tired. And if I have a cup of coffee, I’ll be fine. And I also limit my caffeine. So I had my coach’s mug with me, you know my North Naples CrossFit mug and I’m very much rule setting, you know how I am? So I made. I said, okay, you can have two of these a day. That’s it. Because if I allowed myself more, I would just go nonstop coffee.

Roz:
But I think that I think that’s such a smart premise to kind of build your structural routine on when you’re in an environment where you have very little control over your routine. And that’s one of the things that I know our clients struggle with a lot, is when they’re outside of their routine, they’re traveling or they’re moving house or something’s going on and they lose that structure. Okay. Well, how can I implement some structure? Well, you can make these little daily promises with yourself and hold yourself accountable to them and don’t lose your mind and be like, oh, I’m gonna do this for 30 days or whatever it might be. But like, I think that’s super smart. Okay. Probably tiredness is gonna get the better of me. I’m not super hungry in the morning, so let’s just make it that I’m going to fast every day. And you can use like a fasting app to make sure that you’re…

Jason:
Yeah, I was even trying to hit a certain amount of time. It was just when I truly felt hungry or I knew that if I didn’t eat at that moment, I’d have to judge a lot and I didn’t want to go out on the floor hungry. So usually around lunch, I would you know, and I’m not eating meat right now. So there wasn’t any fish options. So it became what veggies can I get? And I would eat a ton of veggies, I would bring some, I bought some like salmon jerky at Whole Foods and I bring some of that or make a shake. But, you know, some rules that I did set were limiting coffee, making certain that when I got back to the hotel, I didn’t change. I put my stuff down I went right to the gym, every day I worked out in my judge’s shirt for that reason and.

Roz:
I was gonna say, even just going back to the room, I would find that hard.

Jason:
No because I would just put my stuff down. I would grab like maybe I would have a quick bite of fruit or something depending on how long it had been. And then and then also making sure I stretched. You know, you’re done working out. You kind of just want to shower and lay in bed. Yeah, but I was like, I will feel better if I stretch. And it’s like anything. Once you start, you feel good.

Roz:
Yeah.

Jason:
And you know, for me, you know, how I have my routine at home, like I listen to Howard Stern when I stretch and chill out, it’s just like my chill time. And I did the same. So kind of like kept me in my normal routine. And then I would always whatever time we had to be in the lobby, I woke up one hour earlier. So that means I had time to wake up, you know, drink some water in the room. You know, I spent a lot of time on the toilet. And then also get back to a couple of things on my computer, like work wise. So I never felt like I was behind. I’d feel like OK. I can. I got most of it done, now I can do the rest when I get back.

Roz:
Right. So you could go into your day with a clear head and focused on what you really needed to do.

Jason:
Right rather than feeling like I’m chasing after it. I felt like I was ahead of it.

Roz:
Right. And getting an early start on your water is probably good because I’m sure you had to monitor your intake for some of those heats where you’re out on the, on the in North Park all day or whatever.

Jason:
Yeah, that was. You know once we got to the center, the inside the main arena, you know, we’re never too far from a bathroom in between heats.

Roz:
Right.

Jason:
But that one event that was brutal was.

Roz:
Not the first.

Jason:
That first event.

Roz:
Oh it was.

Jason:
Because we all had to judge every heat. And I think. I think there were three heats. No. Yeah, there were three heats and men and women. Twenty minute cap. Turnover time.

Roz:
And you were out there the whole time?

Jason:
It was briefed as there’s gonna be a break between the females and I forget who went first and there was a break, but we were stuck on the field.

Roz:
Wow.

Jason:
I thought I was going to pee on the field. That was the worst there was. Luckily was early enough in the day that I wasn’t that bad, but it was bad. It was like the more where you had the chance to think about it once the event started.

Roz:
That’s I guess like a version of Hot Ones in itself, like I can’t function or do anything else right now because I have to pee so bad.

Jason:
Once the event started, you’re in it and you’re more preoccupied by how painful it is to be kneeling on that turf the entire time. But ah that was probably the worst. It was.

Roz:
Cool. So last few questions and then we’ll tie a bow on this whole CrossFit games recap.

Roz:
Any disappointments from the week? It doesn’t have to be within the Games, like it could be anything. Disappointed your lovely wife wasn’t there with you?

Jason:
No. The only disappointment I do have in times is going back to what we were just talking about. I feel sometimes I’m so regimented that I don’t allow a little bit of insanity.

Roz:
Yeah.

Jason:
But I also it’s it’s a struggle, it’s always a constant struggle for me to know that I place a very high value on eating right sleep and training, but also wanting to just let loose. Like, you know, there are plenty of people out there on the judges crew that are very fit, healthy individuals that eat whatever they want this week. They don’t train. And I can’t do that, because I would feel so bad.

Roz:
Well, I mean, take away the fact that you would feel bad if you think about it. Now, in retrospect, even. And maybe you can next time you go away, you can rationalize it in this way. But what will you gain from doing that? Like, will you truly have fun doing that?

Jason:
I wouldn’t because I would be thinking about the fact that I’m not. And like we said earlier, I went to the party. I had two drinks. I didn’t say, you know,.

Roz:
But you have your fun in other ways. Is the point I’m getting to as well. Like you don’t need to stuff your face with handfuls of M and Ms to enjoy yourself, you’re like Boz, “Give me those kettlebells!” I’m gonna do sixty-six unbroken reps right now. Like you find other ways to have fun that are healthy.

Jason:
Yeah. I think sometimes you go away, you come back and you’re like, man, I should have gone to short stack a second time or I should have just gotten cheese curds. You know, they were going out to dinner every night and I went to Whole Foods and had groceries in my room every night. I was eating, you know, Greek yogurt and smoked salmon in my room.

Roz:
Thank god, you weren’t eating cheese curds. No. You’d have come back with your stomach all messed up.

Jason:
Well, no, and I agree. Think about like I came back. My stomach feels fine. I feel fine. This is like the healthiest I’ve been. In years in my life because of that. So it’s important to me. But I think finding that balance of, OK. I did go out to the party. I saw the crew the next day. They were hurting. Yesterday. I mean, they were still drinking.

Roz:
I was about to say I don’t think they were hurting too much. It sounds like the party was still going. They’re going to be hurting today.

Jason:
Yeah. They were at short stack ordering shots. So I was like, man, I don’t want to be a part of that. I mean I’ll hang out with them. But so. Yeah. No. I guess in retrospect, it’s not a regret. It’s just um. You know.

Roz:
Just a reflection.

Jason:
A reflection on it, so I am glad that things went the way they did. You know, I’ve got a few days and then I head back out to a seminar this weekend. So I like feeling good about myself and knowing that I’m home and other than needing to unpack a little bit. I’m ready to go about the week.

Roz:
Cool. Any favorite athletes from the weekend that you met? Maybe for the first time or anyone who stands out?

Jason:
No, I liked that dude, Logan. Like I said, I think I’m gonna try to get him on the podcast.

Roz:
Oh cool.

Jason:
Like I said, his mom reached out to me.

Roz:
That’s sweet.

Jason:
And.

Roz:
Why did she reach out to you?

Jason:
I think she thought I was the one taking the pictures of him and me and not realizing I was the actual judge.

Roz:
Oh because you were posting them.

Jason:
Yeah.

Roz:
Gotcha. Where’s he based out of?

Jason:
I don’t know, he owns a box. I looked quickly. I liked him. No, I enjoyed. You know, the girl I judged who was basically naked I really liked.

Jason:
No. I just enjoyed seeing all the countries and seeing, you know, the pride that all those people had out there. That was cool, I think. I think it was cool just to see you know these athletes are, basically looked upon as like these gods to this huge community, but they’re just normal people that are very good at exercising and they’re they’re just happy to be there as well.

Roz:
Normal people with a phenomenal dedication to their sport. I think it’s it’s impressive and it’s cool that you got to be a part of a momentous occasion.

Jason:
I agree. We’re always, everyone back, back there, you know, we get paid to judge, but we would most likely do it for free. You know, we could have easily worked a seminar last week.

Roz:
We’ll cut that bit out.

Jason:
They know that. They know that. We’re not getting paid that well. But we could have easily worked a seminar this weekend and probably made more money in less time. But it’s nice to be a part of. You see all the volunteers like Lewis and Noah and all these other volunteers that I see year after year.

Jason:
And like they come back, they use their vacation time. You know, they pay for flights, they pay for hotels, they get little sleep and they are just happy to be part of it. It’s it’s yeah, it’s cool.

Roz:
Yeah they’re pretty awesome, those guys. So tell us, as we finish up here, what do you have coming up, you and Fern and seminars in general, do you have anything on the agenda for the next couple of months?

Jason:
Yeah. We got quite a bit, so obviously working seminars for CrossFit.

Roz:
Yeah. Where are your next ones?

Jason:
I’ve got Tampa, actually, back to back weekends. So I have a level 2 this weekend with Jenny and then we have a level 1 the following week in Largo. I think it’s at CrossFit Westchase. Own Your Eating, obviously, we’re always taking on new people. We’ve got a certificate course. We got some you know, we’re in discussions with some things going on right now for Own Your Eating. And then for Best Hour of Their Day, we have our mentor group, which is phenomenal. I tell you, what was really cool too, is bumping into people that listen to the podcast and people that are in our mentor group. This guy, Chris came up to me. I saw him when I was at the water on Sunday. And he’s like, you know, you and Fern have really started a movement. It’s really cool. You know, people from our group were getting together out there.

Roz:
That’s cool.

Jason:
So it’s really cool to see that. And we’re just.

Roz:
Who’s in your mentor group? Its coaches and gym owners, mainly?

Jason:
Yes. So, I love how you know nothing about. We live together. We’re married.

Roz:
We don’t talk business all the time though.

Jason:
It’s been better. Right. So I’ve got my kinda business. You got yours. But yeah, we’ve a lot of coaches just looking to develop as coaches, whether you’re preparing for your level two, your level three, ultimately a level four. We’ve got quite a few people trying to get on seminar staff, we’re got box owners that we’re helping. So I’ve got a lot going on there. We have, you know Fern and I run it, but we have a couple seminar staff coaches in the group as well, helping us keep an eye on it.

Roz:
Cool.

Jason:
And you know, we’re constantly giving. It’s it’s nonstop. We post questions every day to challenge them. We have weekly calls, multiple weekly calls and and a lot more coming. Fern and I are hitting the road in November. We’re gonna do a box tour and we’re going to drop into some boxes and and hit some workouts and post videos about it.

Roz:
Where on the East Coast, right?

Jason:
We’re going to be primarily in Raleigh, North Carolina.

OK. So around that sort of area?

Yeah. So if you’re from Raleigh or know a box in Raleigh, please reach out to me directly. Hit us up on the Best Hour of Their Day social media or BestHourofTheirDay@gmail.com. And let us know so we can make that happen. You know, we have a couple set already, but we’re probably going to stop at about 10. So we’ll probably have room for about four more.

Roz:
Four more boxes. And then for the mentorship program, is that on your Web site? Yeah, you can check it out on besthouroftheirday.com. There’s a dropdown for either coaches or affiliate owners, depending on which one you want. And of course, email me if you have questions or message us on best hour of the day. We have a ton of great podcasts coming. We have Rory McKernan coming this week as well as obviously you’re listening to this one and then a few other really amazing episodes. We’ve been lucky to get some truly incredible guests and we’ve got some more coming your way.

Roz:
You know, I was thinking after the games wrap up. And I had the Rogue music constantly going on in my head for days afterwards. And the commentators, you would have, it could be a great future endeavor for you as well. If all this other business fails you, you could take over a new media project.

Jason:
Yes.

Roz:
You and Fern commentating on the games. I think people would tune in.

Jason:
You know what? Maybe next year we will have our own commentator feed.

Roz:
Ah there we go.

Jason:
So, yes, if everything else fails in my life.

Roz:
Maybe not everything else fails. Maybe just an extra added bonus.

Jason:
Yes. I need more, I need more work. If anybody else is hiring, you need some custodial services. Let me know. I’ll come over and clean.

Roz:
Alright. I’ll let you get to your breakfast. Thanks for listening, guys.

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