Cameron Hanes - Keep Hammering Collective - KHC 005 - Rich Froning

Episode Date: February 19, 2023

Rich Froning needs no introduction but we’ll give you one. Earned the title, “The World’s Fittest Man”, with 4x consecutive CrossFit Games individual champion and then followed that up with 6x team championships which give him an incredible 10x CrossFit championship titles. Listen to Rich and Cameron discuss what it takes to be a champion, developing mental toughness, Rich’s journey into bowhunting and much more. Hope you enjoy the listen!   Follow along: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cameronrhanes Twitter: https://twitter.com/cameronhanes Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/camhanes/ Website: https://www.cameronhanes.com   Connect with Rich Froning: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/richfroning/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChnsdG5s-4v0oP77Up0fJQQ Twitter: https://twitter.com/richfroning Website: https://www.mayhemnation.com/ https://froningfarms.com/   Special thanks to our sponsors. MTN OPS Supplements: https://mtnops.com/ First Light: https://www.firstlight.farm/ Leupold: https://www.leupold.com/ Black Rifle: https://www.blackriflecoffee.com/ Hoyt: https://hoyt.com/ Bass Pro / Cabellas: https://www.basspro.com   Timestamps: 0:00:00 Introduction 0:01:44 How did you stay at the top of the Crossfit game so long? 0:03:05 The mental advantage 0:04:59 Can you tell when another competitor is struggling in “The Games?" 0:07:40 Evolution of Crossfit 0:08:21 Rich’s recovery and advantages of mobility 0:12:00 Team event comeback 0:14:48 Running on "the mountain” with no one watching 0:16:39 Most cherished moment in Rich’s career 0:18:40 Retirement 0:21:00 Importance of a father being a beast 0:22:50 Life is competition 0:23:36 Pressure in the team environment 0:26:18 Creating villains in your head 0:28:06 Toughest “Games” experiences 0:30:20 Smack talk 0:35:10 Tough swimming in “The Games” 0:36:52 Who’s the “G.O.A.T.” of Crossfit? 0:39:20 Learning other’s secrets 0:42:11 Sacrificing more 0:44:26 Price of greatness 0:47:00 Compete in “The Games” or run Pisgah everyday? 0:48:35 Learning the finer details with Wayne Endicott 0:51:32 Traveling to Crossfit Mayhem 0:53:24 How champions stand out 0:55:05 Man of God doesn’t mean weakness 0:57:00 The grind 0:59:00 Bowhunting is the new competition and Rich’s elk hunt 1:04:22 The work of killing a bull elk 1:06:35 Being in the mountains alone 1:07:50 Hunting provides life lessons 1:10:10 Providing through hunting 1:15:05 Rich’s future goals 1:17:50 The Bow Rack 1:19:00 Is mental toughness developed or are you born with it? 1:28:00 Being a parent is the best job in the world 1:29:58 Closing 1:30:36 Sponsorships  

Cabellas and Bass Pro Shops is a sponsor of the podcast. And that's especially powerful for me because I remember when Cabellas came to town, came to Springfield, Oregon. And I actually played a role in the opening of that store. Instead of cutting the grand opening ribbon with scissors, I shot it with an arrow. And it was just a monumental thing. I mean, everybody here in town was talking about, hey, are you going to go to Cabellas? Can you believe Cabellas is coming here to Springfield, Oregon?

So I know what a staple, those giants in the industry are. And it's actually, it's one of the first places people go when they're looking to get geared up to become a hunter as they go to Cabellas and buy everything they need. So I'm very excited that we've partnered together and we can help open up those outdoor and hunting opportunities to listeners of this podcast. Loophole optics has been providing my binoculars and eyewear for the last few years. I like that it's an Oregon company and they make such high quality glasses, all I've really used. and if you can't find what you're hunting, it's going to be tough to kill. So loophole optics has really played an integral part

in my success these last few years. Thank you, Lou Pold, for supporting the podcast. Every step I take, I move my truth. Every time they tell me, stop. I'm moving so reckless. That is a part of my mind. I've been blessed with giving my blood so I am relentless. Welcome to the Keep Hammering Collective.

I'm Cameron Haynes, and I'm here with Rich Froning. It's a great honor. Yeah, thanks for having me. Looking forward to it. Man, this is, I never thought, you know, know you have these goals for starting podcast and my thing is I always said I hate podcast. Yep. Because I feel like I'm not an interesting person, but I can, I'm like, well, I can facilitate

a conversation with a legend or an interesting or an outlier and that's you. You're all the above. Well, you're definitely an interesting person for sure. So it's an honor for us to be here and to hang out and get to get to do what you do basically for the last, yesterday. Oh, it was great. And you'd never been to Oregon before. I'd been to Portland once, but not anything longer than maybe 24 hours.

So I didn't actually get to get out and do anything cool like we did yesterday. Yeah. Oh, is, I mean, what a great day. I mean, getting, you know, Rich Froning here to Oregon and training with you and learning. I mean, just hearing more about your journey and your mindset. This is the whole point to this discussion and this podcast is outliers is what I'm attracted to just because to be the best at any. takes a certain set of skills. And you've, you rose to the top and crossfit best in the world for multiple years. And how? How does that happen? Yeah. We talked about it this morning. I think it's just

the, the perfect storm of things coming together. I think obviously genetics play, you know, handily into that. You can you can outrun genetics a little bit, but not, not completely. I had really good parents growing up. My faith is a huge part of who I am and then also playing sports, playing sports growing up and having really good mentors and coaches and in sports and learning a ton through that. So I think it's hard to pinpoint one thing. I think it's a bunch of things that came together perfectly. Yeah, because, you know, I'm not a big CrossFit guy. I'm a big icon guy, though, and you're an icon. So just like I was saying, I never biked and did any tour to France stuff, but I loved watching Lance.

Same. I feel the same about you where I didn't do CrossFit, but I loved watching you compete and win. But so from the outside in, here's my point. Every guy there looks shredded. Every guy's in shape. Every guy obviously trains. So why do you beat every single other guy? If you say these are all genetic freaks, essentially. Yeah, they all are. You said part of us genetics. Yep. So what makes you stand apart? Do you think, is it a mental? Is it?

Yeah, I would say, you know, if you're looking at, if you're really getting down into the weeds of it, most guys there and the girls on the women's side are genetic freaks. They're outliers for sure. But I think the missing piece is, like I said, the mental side of it that came from. I think I was one of the first ones to really play or do CrossFit kind of as a sport. So, you know, like a lot of guys in my era when I first started were, oh, I'm just going to stay in my lane and just do what I can.

But I was always watching and trying to either, you know, play games with them while we were competing or you're kind of watching and pushing them more than they want to be pushed or, you know, just trying to like kind of assess the situation as it went versus just staying, you know, completely hyper-focused on what I was doing. You're still got to be moving around and watching. And I think, like I said, that came from sport. But then also if you look at, you know, like I said, playing high school baseball, we ran more than the track. And cross-country team a lot of the times, we always joked because Coach Chaffin, our baseball coach was big on mental toughness. Like, you know, he didn't know. He always says he was doing CrossFit before CrossFit was cool. You know, we did just a ton of circuit type stuff, but then also we would just run. And so it was more of a mental conditioning than it was even physical.

And so it was, you know, I think that that laid the foundation for, and I just always had this kind of inner drive of, I was like who I am at my core as a competitor. I hate to lose. It doesn't matter what it is. I want to try to win. And so I think that, you know, like I said, all those things coupled together made me the competitor that I was.

Yeah. Well. Or am, I guess. And so when you were in the heat of the moment, could you look at other athletes and see if there was, I know everybody has to have a poker face, but could you see if there's a chink in the armor? Yeah, depending on the workout.

And also watching videos that, you know, CrossFit at the time and still is. You know, it was one of those things that people were putting out content. So you could kind of see, all right, I know, or you, back when I was first starting, we had, and they were getting back to that where everybody did the same workouts at each point. So you had the open where everybody did the same workout. You had regionals where everybody did the same workout. And then you had the game. So you kind of had an idea of, hey, this person's really good at this.

Hey, this person's really good at this. Or you kind of had an idea of either a weakness or a strength. You know, so it was like, and I would on certain events, if I knew I wasn't going to win that event, hey, how can I damage control here and not lose points? You know, you learn that too as you go is it's a long weekend. It's, you know, for us, you know, when it first started, it was like Friday to Sunday. and then it's evolved to this thing where it's Wednesday through Sunday. So it's a bit of an endurance event because you're doing multiple events throughout the day.

Right. And so, all right, how can I, you know, not take a huge loss here on an event that I know that is not my, you know, in my wheelhouse? Forte, yeah. And still, you know, stay competitive. And then when it's my time to shine and it's an event that I know I can throttle down on, then I'll throttle down on it. And then, you know, you're playing that game all weekend. and hopefully by Sunday you're just kind of in cruise control. Yeah.

And so, yeah, I think early on I was one of the first ones to really kind of start doing that. And then I think a lot of people are doing that now. They've kind of figured out, hey, this is a, it's not a just, it's a one event at a time. Yeah. But you're also playing big picture at the same time. Is, do you ever go, I think maybe your first win? Did I read that you won like most of the events? I won a few events.

I can't remember, you know, probably usually on Sunday. Sunday was usually the day where I won a lot of events because everybody was kind of run down to that point. And the training that we had done, we were probably one of the first ones to do multiple workouts a day. You know, like when I first started CrossFit, oh, you can't do more than one workout a day. That intensity is going to kill you.

You're going to die. Yeah. And so I remember the first day we did two workouts. Like we did a workout in the morning. And then that afternoon we were bored. we're like, hey, you want to try to work out again? We're like, I don't know. They say you're going to die.

Daily doubles. And so, you know, that was early on and we didn't die. So we were like, oh, we can work out twice a day now. And then it evolved into like three or four times a day and, you know, where we're at now. So it, you know, we've kind of, I've grown up with the sport as it's evolved and as it's changed. And so, yeah, it was just, it was just a different world, you know, like we, we, we, when, when I first started, now there's all these machines that you can use. We got air runners. We got different bikes.

We got, you know, rowers, ski ergs. But back in my day, we did more barbell stuff. And then you do more body weight stuff for cardio. You know, there was no like, you know, you couldn't just hop on a different machine and do those things. So it's fun. And that's why I really enjoy crosswood. There's just so many different things to work on that, you know,

you start to get better at one thing and something else falls off. So it's not just the same thing over and over again. Yeah. Yeah, with that, so you added on all that training. It sounds like started with daily doubles and triples and whatever else. So how were you recovering? What did you find that helped your body build a step back up and putting more work? We were talking about this morning when you were saying, you know,

we were asking how do you run all these miles and your body not fall apart? And you're like just genetics, really. And I think for me it was genetics. I think, you know, having good movement, good mobility, which you get basically through genetics. I mean, obviously you can work on some mobility, but really stepping back when I first started and trying to learn proper technique on anything,

everything and being efficient. You know, like you were saying, over 20 miles, inefficiency in running is going to cost you. And then over 200 miles, it's going to cost you even more. And so I think that's really what helped me across the weekend as I moved well.

And then by Sunday, where everybody else was kind of falling apart and they had these little inconsistencies in their movement, but I was good to go. And so usually by Sunday I wasn't as beat up as everybody else. And did that give you a big confidence boost going in that last day? Because you knew in your head that you were better prepared for, I mean, I'm wearing your into the storm.

That's right. Yeah. I mean, is that mentality? So where they might be faltering or wondering, how is this guy never getting tired? You were conversely getting more confident. Yeah, yeah. You play head games. And we always joke.

And I was talking to somebody the other day at this water pluze and one of the younger athletes. And I'm, you know, asking them how they're feeling. And I'm sore. And I'm like, you never tell anybody you're sore. You're tight. Everything's just tight. No, I'm just a little tight. I feel good.

You know, you could be dying on the inside. But as soon as you let somebody know you're sore or you're hurting, then it's that little, they get that edge, you know. Yeah. You were talking about getting the edge. And so, yeah, you're always, you never sore. It's just tight. I'm just a little tight.

You know, like running 20 miles yesterday, I'm just a little tight, you know? Oh, you did great. And I mean, I did want to reference the point where you said you do everything, I think controlled or measured. I noticed lifting yesterday, form is the opposite of my form. My form is terrible. Hey, you did good. You did good.

But your form on everything was just impeccable, doing perfect reps. It's like, man, that's got to be the key. It's the key. It's exactly what you were saying with running. You know, like you've got incredible technique. It's probably genetic. It just happens the way it is. But the less movement, the less, you know, there's, we always talk about in CrossFit,

there's like intensity versus technique versus intensity. So they don't, they shouldn't be two separate things at odds with each other. But you do, you're going to every once in a while, if you're, you know, when you get to that point where you're racing somebody at the end of a race, you're probably going to push a little bit outside your technique. Yeah. But you don't want to ever, it's like NASCAR. We always say, like, you want to push that line of how fast you can go with just,

barely kissing that wall or not touching that wall at all. And so, yeah, I think, you know, there's definitely a technique aspect, especially if we're, you know, we're just having fun yesterday, throwing down a little bit and doing a pump session. So yeah, there's no, I'm not really pushing that line of like trying to go really fast. Yeah. Wanting to maintain and do. And I think we do a lot of that type of stuff is like, all right, you know, some stuff we do is for time and some stuff is, you know, a crossfit, pure crossfit workout. But we do a lot of technique work. We do a lot of kind of what I would say, building a little bit of volume under fatigue with good technique, not sacrificing.

So that when it does come down to crunch time, if we have to go a little faster, you can go a little faster. But you've built all this volume with good technique, it just kind of falls into place. Yeah. And I think that was evident. We talked about that clip, too. As I said, I'm more of a fan. So I watch these clips.

But you had that one event, team event, where the team ahead of you, you're in second place, I believe, but they did get six reps. Yeah, it was seven thrusters. Oh, seven thrusters. They were stuck and you guys walked up in control and tell me what happened. Yeah, so it was an event where we were the second pair to go and the first pair had gone and we'd kind of eaten into the lead that I think actually they, it was almost dead even with another team.

So it was me and Andrea that had showed up and it was our turn and we had to do, I think it was five rounds of seven wall walks and seven thrusters. And we had to do them synchronized at the same time. And so as we're going, the team would beat us on the wall walks. So it's more of a gymnastics style movement. And then when we'd get to the barbell, we would catch them. And it started where we would do four and three, and we would just kind of slowly eat into their lead.

And then they would beat us on the wall. And so then they started kind of getting a little bit ahead of us. But I saw while we were doing our wall walks, I would peek up and just see what was going on. and I could see that they, instead of breaking it in two sets, they were starting to break it in three and four sets. So like maybe hitting two, two, two and one or something like that. Getting gassed.

And so I saw the chink in the armor. Yeah. And so Andrea is super strong. She's incredibly strong. And I knew she wanted to get right to that barbell and hit it. But I thought if we, in hindsight, it was the right call. If we would have hopped right on that barbell, we would have had to break. So she's ready and I'm like, hey, chill, we got this.

Like you got to, like, we're good to go. And they're trying to, the other teams are trying to get reps. And they can feel it, you know, like you just feel it. And, you know, I've had a couple moments like that in my career, but that was a ton, it was a fun one. But it was, I had the confidence that we were going to hit in it. I'm like, all right. If we get four, three, we'll probably be, probably be all right.

Yeah. But let's just go ahead and try to hit this seven right here. And about rep five, four, the crowd starts chanting. And so you're like, dang it. Now I got to hang on to this. And so she did an incredible. job and you know I've got I've got this little like thing on my neck from doing so much barbell stuff my I think my skin is just thin to this point so it's bleeding and wearing a white shirt so there's

this blood and you know everybody's cheering and they're counting five and you're like oh no I don't know if I can do two more but I don't want to be that because there's there's no worse feeling than the crowd getting hyped and then hearing oh yeah from the whole crowd so you're like I gotta do this and so luckily that one turned out all right and so We hit our seven reps, but man, there's just something to it, you know, like being a competitor and being in those moments that, you know, you feed off of the energy of the crowd. You know, you don't get that. You know, like on that mountain, that's what's really impressive about what you did yesterday

and what we were doing yesterday with you running, man. That was nobody's watching. And that's the hard point. That's the hard part. Nobody sees the, you know, hours and hours of training that goes into it. And then you get to those moments and then you get to like, you get that crowd noise and you get that energy. and there's nothing like it. Right.

Well, I mean, it's awesome to watch all your hard work pay off in the crowd. I'm sure when you hit that seventh rep just exploded. It went crazy. And then I'm, you know, you get emotional in your celebrations and get fired up. My kids now, it's so funny because they, they are getting to the age that they kind of realize what's going on. And they've been to the games now once or twice. And this year we took all three of them, which was a disaster. But he tries now run around, like if he does something.

He loves flipping his bottle, you know, and they try to. land it or whatever. He'll flip it 50 times, but when it lands, he's like, let's go, you know, like, flexes and or like, if I finish an event and, and we've either won the event by a pretty good margin, it's, it's hard to celebrate when you've done that. But like, he gets so mad at me if I don't, you know, like flex and yell. Yeah. Because that's just kind of, you know, it's just my natural, I guess, go to is you don't even think about it in the moment and you just, you're fired up. And so tries, he just doesn't understand. He's like, dad, like, I'll finish an event and I'm walking towards the finish. He's like, why didn't you?

Yeah. Why didn't you flex and yell? I'm like, just didn't need to, buddy, you know. Does he have the headband? Like the rich one of the headband? No, no, headband got, you know, that was one of those things that I, in college, we used to play a ton of flag football, and I wore a headband, and I did that for years, and people loved it.

And so then I kind of hung on to it for a while, and then I just got too old for it. I'm like, you know, 30-year-old man wearing a headband, you know, don't need to do that. If you're winning. Yeah. I mean, if you, Rodman got away with a lot of crazy outfits. Rodman got away with a lot of stuff. I think you could do a headband. band. Yeah. So, um, the most, what of your victories or moments is the most cherished from the games from

from all the work, the 13 year career, all that was what stands out? Oh, man, you know, it's, I feel like my individual career is like so long ago. I look back and I'm like, man, it, you know, it's funny because I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm 35 now and I've got all these kids that are 20 years old. And I'm like, I think I'm one of them. And then I start thinking, I'm like, man, they were 12 years old or, you know, you. You know, when I was winning the games and stuff like that. So, you know, as an individual, one of the best ones was the final one, just stepping off the floor and, you know, having the crowd and having my family right there. It's pretty, you know, there's some cool documentation of it in the documentary that they did years ago. That was cool, being able to share that and having my daughter, my first daughter, Lakeland.

So individual-wise, that was probably one of the cooler moments. And then, man, all my team ones have been cool. Like there's just something to being part of a team and being part of a group of people that you get to share the suffering day in and day out, see their sacrifice. No, you know, I know what they're going through, but being able to share that with them and then winning, there's nothing. Nothing you can replace that with it. You know, you get to kind of the highs and lows together and then winning, you know, obviously this year meant a lot too because knowing this was my last year on the team and having my kids right there, all three of my kids. kids, my wife right there at the finish line, finishing, doing some bar muscle ups and looking at my kids and kind of, you know, they're like looking at me and being able to make the eye contact.

But yeah, I think each year had his special moments to it, you know, and then, but I would say probably the last of each, you know, just knowing that they were the last and being able to like, you know, win obviously on your last attempt. Yeah. And being able to walk off. Why is, why was this one the last one? I just, you know, it's been, and, And, you know, there's a lot of talk of me saying I'm retired because I wouldn't necessarily say it. My wife is so, she was so mad at me that she wanted this big, like, CrossFit to, like, make this post and like, hey, this is Rich's last one. You know, we want to honor him, blah, blah, blah. And I didn't tell him.

And, like, I'm like, she was, she's like, you're not done, are you? And so I said, I'm, it's going to be a year-to-year thing, depending on the kids, depending on, I'm now in the master's category. So, you know, it's the only thing I'm good at is working out. So I got, you know, I'm going to be working out anyway and we'll be around all these kids. And I can't just sit there and watch. And, you know, I can coach a little bit, but I'd rather be in there. My leadership style is, I'm going to get in there and do it with you. You know, I'm not going to just tell you to do something and not do it to and not suffer.

So if I'm fit enough and feel like I can compete each year or whatever year it is in the master's, I'll do it. But yeah, Hillary, she's still to the point where, you know, my kids are getting older. You know, I don't want to miss things. And in the summer especially because it's such a, it's our, it's the time that we're training the hardest. And so if I feel like, hey, we can still do some family stuff and get some trips in or do whatever and be present, then yeah, I'll train and try to compete. But if that year, I don't feel like, and I'm not going to just show up. Yeah.

I would not be okay with that. So it'll be a year-to-year thing. But yeah, it was just six years of, seven years of being on a team. of, you know, navigating other people's schedules and all that type of stuff where now it's just me. Like if I, I don't feel like I'm letting somebody down if I can't get a workout in because of my kids. And then also, you know, I can do it on my time. Like I could get up a little earlier or find a time to get a training session in. So yeah, I think it just makes sense with the point that I'm at in life, you know, seasons are different. And who knows,

years down the road, we'll see where we're at. But I have to compete. I have to do something. Like, I can't. That's just who I am. It's in my nature. And like I said, I'm not good at anything else. Well, yeah, I'm not sure about that. It sounds like you've got a lot of irons in the fire. We do have probably too many irons in the fire. Yeah, I love hearing all the stories about all the work you're doing in different. I mean, with the filming, with the farm, with everything you've got going, it's pretty exciting. But so I was thinking, as you were saying that about the kids and their busy times and all that, there wants maybe family vacation but man with the kids getting older seeing dad be a beast i know yeah yeah

it is cool to like instead instead of just stories of dad yeah yeah yeah that used to be my dad you know that guy that guy that guy with the belly that guy's my dad yeah that probably won't ever happen you know like the uh it's cool man my kids uh you know i was we were saying that they go to the gym with me every day you know, or in the barn or in the basement or I've got a gym in my basement. I've got a gym in the barn. I've got the actual CrossFit Mayhem. And so I've never once told those kids, hey, let's do a workout. They're always the ones that are like, hey, dad, can we work out with you?

And I'm like, yeah. So, you know, they've got their little fake barbells, five-pound barbells. They've got PVC pipes. And the other day we walked out of the training facility in the back, the athlete facility. And I walked back in. And Lakeland's got a friend there. and so Lakeland is in there, her friend, and then my two little ones, and I walk in, and nobody else is in there except for them, and they've set up, they have, they're doing

shuttle runs, they walk up, they've got five pound dumbbells, and they're doing dumbbells, and they're doing dumbbells, and then doing, walking over and then hitting the GHD sit-ups. Yeah. And man, it was just like, it was cool, you know, it was one of those things that you're like, all right, they're learning something, and, you know, like, I've never, like, is it, I've never once been like, hey, you guys got to work out. Yeah. They want to do it, and they want to be with dad.

it just makes you realize how much kids are watching. And so how important that is that they see that. And that's what I like about them being around the gym, like especially, you know, trice. And it's easier, I think, for guys to like see that. And oh, yeah, that's what I want to be. But seeing my girls be around strong women that are competitors as well. And we've got some that got a little bit of, you know, like that touch and nasty,

like I was saying yesterday. And I think it's awesome that they're around that. And it's okay. It's okay to be strong. And so it's cool. Hey, life is competition. That's right. No matter what you do, it's like, I think that's a lesson anybody can learn.

And sometimes we forget because we can get by life without digging deep. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you can be, but if you want to be rice the top and anything, it's going to be a dog fight. Yeah, and you need to seek out challenges. And, you know, you're in the end of the storm. That's kind of what the end of storm is for us is like, hey, we don't go looking for trouble. But there's things that are going to come. And if we face them and head through them and all good things.

come from hard work and through adversity, you know, nobody gets better just sitting still and being stagnant. And so that's kind of what that means for us. Is there pressure, like, in that team environment, is everybody looking to you and like, are you setting the tone for the attitude? And is that hard? Because there's days, you're probably not feeling your best. Right, right. We've, luckily, over the last couple of years, we've had some really good athletes on the team that, you know, I guess you could say I was the captain, but there was really no, these people, a lot of these people didn't need motivation for the training. It was more of like, hey, calm down. We're going to be all right. Yeah. There was a lot of settling more

than anything. And that was something that was, I've learned over the years. Different people need different, um, to use different motivation, you know, not, uh, you know, some people need to be loved on. Some people need to be pushed. Some people you can talk to like, I'm, I'm not a nurture by, that's not my that's not my love language for sure you know I'm not if anybody like yeah having tough love having girls on the team uh every once in a while we had some criers and I just clam up and kind of walk away you know like I don't I don't know what to do even with my wife she's like crying and I'm like you okay you know and so rub some dirt on it luckily you know I've had some other guys that could handle that those situations a little better um like I said my leadership

style is more like hey I'm gonna be here and suffer with you and then uh you know but then there's So I'm like I have one of my buddies. We were in an event in Miami, and it was the final event, and we're just getting buried, and it's a hard workout, and it's the last thing. We're doing worm cleaning jerks. It's this heavy, awkward sandbag thing. You're going up and over, and we're kind of back and forth with this team, and Dre, he's hurting a little bit, so he gets down in the crouch position, you know,

and so I walk over to him, and I'm in his ear, and Dre is one that, you know, you've got to just tell him how big of a piece of shit he is, basically. And so I'm just, I'm just laying into him, right? But real calm, like, hey, you pick up this worm, like some choice words in there. And he nods his head and that's just Dre, you know, like he's going to do it. And so I lay into him. And so I walk off the floor and one of the guys that we were competing with, he's like, hey, what were you saying to Dre?

It looked like, you know, you really, whatever you said was really, you know, got him going. And you were real calm. and I was like, there was nothing productive said in that. You know, like, it was just like dog cussing him and basically like, hey, you look like an idiot out. But he needs, like he's a guy that needs that, you know, and you got to tell him that where, you know, some people needed to be like, hey, it's going to be okay. We're all right, you know.

And so it's fun. And I learned a ton about people and business too, you know, like how do I, you know, how do you motivate different people? And I think, like I said, that's the benefit to play and organize sports as a kid, too, which relating to people. Yeah, I agree with. that. So who do you think has pushed you most in training? Is it you pushing yourself or is there are you thinking about somebody out there sending a message? Yeah, I think, you know,

different years were different things. You know, like I said from the beginning, my faith has been a huge part of. I just feel like that was my talents are from God and my way to glorify him is through that. And then, you know, as a competitor, you make villains in your head and you have people that you kind of, you know, watched the last dance documentary with Jordan. Yeah, of course. And, you know, how he just kind of. Yeah. And I hadn't seen that until probably last, I actually watched it this year right before

the games. And I'm like, man, there's so many similar. Like, you know, you just see one little thing and you're like, I hate that person. Or I get that. I get that mindset. Yeah. And so like, you're like, oh, I really don't like them. And then you get to the competition.

You actually talk to them. No, I like everybody. But I'm saying, like, in competition, you make these villains. your head. And so you just kind of like, all right, I'm going to beat them. And then you meet them or, you know, like you see them for one of the times. You're like, oh, they're not that bad. Dang it. Yeah. Like I screwed that up. But, you know, it's just kind of the mentality of where it was at. And, you know, you, especially for us on teams the last couple years, it's like, oh, that team. Like this last year, there was a team that was supposed to beat us. Oh, really?

They were our, you know, they're your villains for the year. And how they do? They got, I think, fourth. So it was, you know, it was, it was fun. They did not beat you. They did not beat us. And so it was, there's just always, you know, you've got to have those little things. And then now, like I was saying with my kids, like knowing that my kids are watching and they want, like I want them to see that, hey, it's okay. And dad was, you know, dad was, who they said he was. Is. Is.

Is. Yeah, he was. Was. Same thing. Yeah. Well, what's been, so you talked about like a great success. What's been a toughest part of your games experience? I've had several, several public failures.

Falling off the rope would be the first one. You can Google that. My daughter came home from school one day, and she's like, hey, because her PE teacher, I went to college with, she's like, Miss Amy, we were climbing the cargo net, and she said, don't fall off like your dad. What is that? I was like, thanks, Miss Amy. Oh, man. And so I got to show her that video because that was way before her time.

Yeah. And so, you know, I've had that. I had a really poor event in a swimming event into that. 2013, very public. That's the hard part about all my failures. Yeah. Very public. And then walking in an event in 2014, got a little bit of press time, air time for that. And so, yeah, I mean, any of those moments where you compete and you, you know, look like an idiot or do something stupid or you got to be able to bounce back from that, you know, and that's, you know, something that I learned while I was competing was, it's such a long weekend. Yeah. There's so many events. Right. One event, most likely won't break you, but if you let that snowball and it keeps getting worse and worse, then you're gonna, you know,

there was one time in 2013 where, uh, started off okay, not great, had that swim event and that was bad and they kind of made a bounce back

and I was, I feel like in second or third or something like that. And I'm up in the stands kind of in between events and I'm feeling sorry for myself and I'm talking to my wife. And usually I, you know,

most people I don't really talk like that around but I'm talking to hill around. I'm like, God, I just suck, blah, blah, blah, whatever. She's like, go get your stuff.

I'm like, what? She's like, go get your stuff. We're going home. I was like, I can't go home? You know, she's like, tell them you're leaving. I was like, shut up. She's like, then quit being a baby and, you know, whatever. So, yeah.

And she has no idea anything about CrossFit or any, she could care less, you know, and that's one of the great things. There's a new attitude. Yeah, one of those things that, like, I don't have to worry about my performance because she would actually probably rather that I lose, so I'd just stop doing it. You know, like, so. But yeah, she was just like, go get your stuff. I'm like, all right, I'll stop feeling sorry for myself.

And, you know, so, and everything. Everything turned out all right. So it was... Did you win? Yeah. So I started... Yeah, you know, but of course she takes the credit for that. She's like, see?

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Do you guys talk smack? like competing not really this year actually this year was one of the first years that I've ever talked to another team or like we'll kind of joke around sometimes like it was more of a joke this year there was a team at semifinals and so this event was at three to one go all four people had to do these heavy wall balls and then you walked over to that worm that big heavy sandbag and you did 12 deadlifts as a team and then I can't remember the deadlifts and then you had to lunge it and so there's no there's no end to this workout because it's it's four rounds and there's a minute transition between each and you're just lunging basically to get through the work to lunge the worm as far as you

could each time oh i see and there was us and another team that were so far ahead of everybody and so you're kind of like i don't want to have to do any more work right because i'm blowing myself out and we've already kind of locked this up but this other team is kind of right here and so we're staying a couple blocks ahead of them, squares, which is a point, basically. And so, like, everybody's trying to, on our team, trying to, hey, pick it up. I'm like, watch them. Yeah. When they pick it up, we'll pick it up.

And so I see them get to the worm. They're kind of standing there. And I'm friends with the guy. His name's Ryan. And he's looking at him. He's like, pick up. And I'm like, you pick it up. You know, so I'm standing there.

Like, that was one of the first. He's like, pick it up. And I'm like, why the hell would I pick it up? up if I don't have to. It's like make us pick it up. And so we're just back and forth, John. And then after it, we're like laughing about it. But on the floor, I was like, man, if this guy, you know?

Like, but it was fun, you know, it was like, it was cool. It was one of the first moments that I've ever had like a little, you know, back and forth on the floor. I'm surprised because normally competition brings out. Yeah. I mean, I just think when we used to shoot together, as you know with archery, we were practicing yesterday, but all your anchor points, the technique is so critical. And all we'd do is we'd be betting money on targets.

And all you'd have to do is you look at somebody getting ready to shoot. And you'd be like, you always anchor like that? Okay, it looks like you're. It looks off. Yeah, then they're thinking about, what am I? Wait a minute. Yeah. Then you start pulling the string into your face more

or you start doing something different than that, you know, at a long shot makes a big difference. So I didn't know if that. Oh, yeah. And back up in the warm up area, especially. It was more of like a joke. Like there was a couple of us that became really good. friends early on or like Josh bridge is a good friend of mine, Dan Bailey, Jason Kalipa, Matt Chan,

a bunch of those guys that I've competed with for years when I was younger. We're still friends, but yeah, we kind of like as we're warming up, as the weekend would go on and nerves kind of settled a little bit. You'd be like, oh, man, you always snatch like that. Oh, that didn't look like Jason. Yeah. We were doing the rogue invitation. This was last year. And it's, they have a legends, um, a legend's category. And so a bunch of us that used to compete, we will team up and different workouts and whatever. And so Jason's talking and he's a big, he's jacked. He's huge.

And he's like, yeah, I've been, you know, kind of trying to cut weight so I, you know, look a little bit better. And we always mess with Jason, me and Josh. And we're like, he's like, because we'd take our shirt off. He was hot. And he goes, you think I should take, I think I may take my shirt off. Me and Josh are like, let's see. And he's like, oh, no, don't do that.

And he's like, we're like, oh, no, don't do that. And he's like, wait, what? And so, and that was right as we were running on the floor. And so we were just messing with him. We're like, hey, what, what blocks are you going to hold on the bike? And we, like, completely lie to him. Or I had him convinced that I was going to go first in one of this workout. That was like a partner relay.

And so he's like, all right, I'm going to go first too. And I'm going to try to beat you on it. And so right when we walk out there, I talked to Julie, who was on my team at that for that event. I was like, hey, you go first just to mess with Jason. Because it didn't matter. We're just out there, like, I was an exhibition. And so Jason hammers, and I look over. he looks over and he's like he could just see it on his face that I wasn't out there.

So it's yeah. So it's yeah those types of things especially as we've gone on have happened. But yeah, there's not a ton of not a ton of trash talk. Everybody's kind of like hyper focused and just kind of in their own zone. Yeah. Yeah. And I don't know. Maybe because there's always the you talk shit.

Then you whatever blow up. Yep. Like you had to like you're you said to talk. You had to walk or something. Yeah. So that's not good. That's one of the cool things about CrossFit is you may win the games, but you got your ass kicked on a bunch of workouts. You know, like it's because it's, you know, multiple events.

You're not winning all events. So you're losing more than you're actually winning most of the time. So honestly, the most physical it gets is any mass swim. Mm-hmm. Because it's chaos. Yeah, in the water. In the water. Right.

People are freaking out. And I actually had an event one time where we're going around a buoy. and I felt somebody, and it's a mass of people, and I'm super comfortable in the water now and that I've swam for probably seven, eight years now. And like, if you're, you gotta have this mentality of like, you're either a shark or you're a minnow. Right.

If you're the shark, then nothing, nothing really phases me. Like, I can get hit, kicked, whatever, and just, like, know that it's freaking them out even more. So, like, sometimes you, like, just mess with people's toes. Like, I've done that. Oh, really? Right behind them and, like, just tickle their, and they're like, it messes with them.

So we're going around this buoy, and there's this mass group of people, well, I feel somebody grab my shorts and push me down. And so my natural reaction is to swing as hard as I possibly can with an elbow and I caught Temple. And I was like, well, see you later.

You know, and it turns out later, it was one of the guys that we were talking about this morning. And he was like, yeah, you know, I got a little panicky and I grabbed on to somebody. I don't know who it was. And I was like, I know who it was. But it was not a panic grab. Yeah.

It was a grab, pull, and then push down. Oh, yeah. And so I'm like, nah, we're playing that game. Oh, yeah. And so I swung as hard as I could. And I know I caught Temple. And I almost, I was like, ooh, well, see it. Yeah.

God. Yeah. That's pretty interesting. I love what competition brings out. Yeah. Because, I mean, everybody wants to win. Yeah. Only one person in.

One's going to win. Yeah. So in regard to like the CrossFit legacy, do you ever, you know, have people always talk. about well Jordan is the best where's Kobe where's LeBron do you ever feel inclined to these young guys ever call you out I mean there's obviously the the Froning Fraser thing and it's just different you know it was different different different eras different careers different I mean Matt was Matt was an

incredible competitor was and we guys went head-to-head we went head-to-head once you know when early on his career was the last year of mine you know he I think the year before he competed one year before that and didn't make it through regional. I can't remember, but the year that we competed, he got second. And so, you know, Matt's and Matt was an incredible competitor. And it's just different, you know, like it's hard to compare errors. You know, I'm, I'm a NASCAR guy. I grew up watching NASCAR. That was kind of our family vacations, but like the Daler and Hart Petty thing, or like you're saying, Kobe and Jordan. Yeah. So there's just, it's just different. Different eras. It's hard to compare. Like I said,

Matt, Matt's an incredible competitor was, is, and did some incredible things. He's won more individual titles than me. But, you know, it's just different. But yeah, I mean, it's fun with kids and having the kids in there now that are all training and just, you know, hey, old man's still here every once in a while, you know, like if I beat him on a workout, I'm like, hey, I'm still here. I'm maybe old, but I'm, you know, I'm not dead yet. So it's more fun now. Like there might be a little internal trash talk, but within our camp more than anything. Can you beat them, the young guys? Oh, yeah, every once in a while.

Everyone, it depends on what it is. But yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's fun. I mean, I don't know, I love, that's the part that I love the, everybody loves the drama. Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. Love drama.

Do they, just like they do in basketball or anything, Brady's been doing it forever, who's considered the goat of CrossFit? Is it you? I don't know. It depends on who you talk to. Oh, okay. Yeah. It's just opinion. Yeah, yeah. It's all opinion. You know, like I said, if you had probably three or four people, Tia on the women's side is incredible and then probably me and Matt on our side. You know, there's, there's going to always be that debate. Yeah. And here's the deal. If they're debating it, it's good for both of us.

Oh. You know, so, you've got the conversation. You've got people that are massive freighters or fans that are always going to say one way. And then you have people that are my fans that are going to say the other way. So it's, you know, it's good for both of us. Yeah. Yeah, it's, I mean, it's fun. It is what it is. Do you think when you first started on your journey and started having success,

were people trying to figure out how you were training? Or did you train in the public? Did people know what you're doing? Yeah, I think, you know, the social media thing was just now starting to take off when I started. YouTube was a big thing. Like I watched so many videos of guys when I first started and, you know, had kind of my guys that I watched. We didn't have the media team that we had, so it wasn't as well documented. We didn't, now we do online training. And so people can actually follow exactly what I do.

We didn't have that. And so I think, yeah, probably, you know, but it was definitely, like, documented that, hey, Rich does a ton of volume and we don't know why. And, you know, it's paid off, I guess. So did you, would you share what you did or did you keep that to yourself? Depend on time of the year. You know, like, I had a ton of. ton of guys that were our, were and are good friends of mine that were competitors of mine. And we would train, you know, this time of year, especially. It would start getting not weird. But yeah, you don't want to let everybody know on your secrets and not even that they were secrets. You look back and you're like, that wasn't that good of a, you know, like it wasn't anything. You know,

I've done a lot of dumb things training. Like I wouldn't take it back because I learned a ton, but things that were almost pointless to do that were just almost like too hard for what I, you know, like, I'd like, get up. And for me, you know, I'd row 5K a day. Yeah. And it was a good base building. But then I'm like, I could have done. But at that time, it was like, yeah, that's what I'm to do. Yeah. Well, mentally, it gave you an edge. For sure. For sure it did. But then I'm like, it could have been so much more like I could have rotated machines. I could have, you know, checked different things and, you know, having an exercise science background. You're like, oh, yeah, yeah, this sounds good. Then you look back. You're like, that was so dumb. But I learned, you know,

you learned. You built some volume. You did, you know, made your body. You know, you you know, stronger in different ways, made more efficient. Yeah. But yeah, I guarantee, you know, people were trying to figure out what I was doing. I had one of one of our buddies, Jason. He would write on his wall, what's Rich doing. And so he would always go out to the garage and, like, try to do more than what he thought I was doing. To work harder, put in sacrifice more.

Yeah. I think there's a good example, too. Kobe talks about, and I can't remember who the player was, but they were going to play each other. And so the gym was open. So Kobe was in their shooting. Guy came in to warm up. Kobe stayed there until the guy did his whole thing, left.

And then he dropped like 40-some in the game. And then whoever the other player was said, how long did you stay after I left? Longer than you? Yeah, just until you were gone. So I was wondering if it was like that, that if people are riding up there, what is Rich doing?

I mean, first of all, you're in their head. Right. Because they're thinking about you. instead of maybe their skill set. Because I get that. Sometimes I go running and probably shouldn't run, but it's like, no, I've got to sacrifice more. I want to run by these houses with everybody in their house

all warm and watching TV. And I'm just going to be like, pussy, pussy, pussy, got you, got you, got you. Yeah. So I get that. Sometimes it's sending a message. For sure. Yeah, I used to, I mean, there'd be times where I'd be in the house.

And this was really one of the reasons where I stepped away from individual was once we start having kids, like at 10 o'clock at night or 9 o'clock at night, I'd be like, I didn't do enough today. I'm going to go get another 5K on the road or whatever it is or go out in the garage. And I'm like, I can't do that when I have the kids.

You know, like, it's just they need to be front and center. And so that was why I stepped away as an individual was because I was obsessive. Like that's, I was all consumed by winning and competing. And it started to like affect relationships and not in a terribly poor way. I wouldn't be in the situation I am, but I saw that. And I was like, man, you know, I can't do this when I have kids.

Like, I can't miss. Oh, I can't go on this trip because, you know, I've got a train where it's like when I competed on the team, I could still train. I was still training the same amount. But mentally, it was not as taxing and I could let go a little bit. You know, like, hey, going to row an extra 5K versus putting my kids the better, give them a bath. I'm going to remember that more than I'm going to remember this 5K, you know? So it was hard, though, too, you know, like top, probably top of my career.

I'm like, all right, it's time, you know. But it was a mental grind. You know, it's fun to win. It's, you know, that's why we do it. But it got to the point where it was like, all right, you remember, like, when you were a kid at Christmas, you got pretty much everything you wanted. And then the next day, you're like, man, Christmas is 365 days away. That's how it was. The next day, I'd won the, you.

games yeah i'm training again the next day right i'm you know we're taking a family vacation in september after the games are in august and i'm training twice and three times a day just because it's what i did you know and so it's just uh that that that was the one of the main reasons i stepped away as an individual and then team isn't that the price of greatness it really is though yeah i mean you can't people say well you you should be balanced yeah balanced in your family balanced no there's no balance and not to be the best not to be the best And that's what I... You can be average and be balanced. And I made that switch where I was like, I want to be the best dad.

You know, like I've done, I've had my time. Yeah. And I can still provide for my family being on the team. I still made money doing the sponsorships and stuff like that. And I can still compete and scratch that itch. But to be the best in the world, singularly, I was going to have to sacrifice a ton. And would I have liked to probably do two or three more years as an individual? Yeah.

But it just, it was, for me, it was, I wasn't going to do it. Yeah. And so, yeah, that was hard, but it is what it is. Yeah. I probably had three or four more years of individual in me physically, mentally. Maybe not. I might have, you know, be divorced and in a box somewhere. But it's turned out all right.

Yeah, no, you've done a great job. I mean, I don't know, everybody wants like the fairytale script. And it seems like you've almost had it. I mean, you've had a run. Good run. You had a good run. you had the team run, your brand is bigger than ever. You're still a beast.

I would love to see you come back and now get a master's win. Yeah, yeah. The masters, masters will be fun. I, you know, I have this kind of secret, not secret anymore, but I've told other people kind of the sneaky goal of trying to win. So master's category, you age up every five years. So I'd like to try to win at least one in each of the five years, just to be kind of like, hey, I did it all.

You know, I didn't do teen. They didn't have teen at the time. Yeah, so, but one of our good friends and trains with us, we always, we were joking about it. He does, he's done my life in reverse. He won the teen games and then he's a firefighter now where I won, I was a firefighter and then won the games. Right. But yeah, man, it's, it's been a good run, like I said. And, and, you know, I, everybody always jokes and they're like, you know, what do you do with your medals? And I'm like, oh, they're in a drawer somewhere. I think they're in the closet. You know, my wife almost threw them away one time when we were moving. Like, I'm like, hey, there's a plastic bags heavy. Look in there's like three or four medals. So it's not about that.

It's just, you know, I just want to win. It's competition. Yeah, it's just what it is. Oh, I love, I think everybody, I mean, you don't even have to tell people that. People can watch you and see you compete and see the passion. And I mean, it's clear why you do it, just a born competitor. So I got, I saw a question, put up a little question and answer for Rich friend. Yes, somebody said, would you rather, uh, run?

competed the CrossFit games or run the mountain every day. Man, it's beautiful out here. Those trails are awesome. Those were fun. That was, if I could build into that, you know, it was going to take me a little while,

man, like I said, one of the more impressive athletic feats I've seen is you running those miles yesterday. I'm telling you, like, I know you're right here, but it was, it was impressive.

Just running up those freaking mountains. It was cool. So those were hard. Yeah, you did great. So, I mean, I was impressed. We did, you know, 20 miles.

Yeah, I've not done that in a long, long time. I mean, it was. My problem is, like I've told you, like, I've got this left knee that I tore my meniscus in 17. So I just, I run. And if I run, it's on one of those air runners, those self-propelled treadmills. And so I need to just, I think, make myself like, hey, go out there and suffer a little bit and let that knee, you know. Yeah. You know.

You did great. It was fun. It was a ton of fun. It was beautiful. It was cool. Scott. Seeing Scott's hat was. that ice was pretty hard too. It was pretty cool. Scott, our camera guy with Mayhem,

he was sweating and then the sweat would get to the brim of his hat and then it made this sheet of ice underneath it. And so it was pretty cool. Yeah, because I think it was 19 degrees. We're up on top of Spencer's Beat was our first summit we hit and there's some snow and ice up there. It's just epic scenery. It was cool. Beautiful. Beautiful country. It was the perfect day for me because you came out. out here again as I said so honored that you're here but then we were able to get a bunch of miles in um you did went to the bow rack learned a ton that was cool that was awesome man Wayne is an incredible teacher just can relay it and make make idiots like me just to see what he's taught

and and you know like what I was saying before I was self-taught I'm like all right I'm just going to pull this thing back yeah I'm centered up and shoot and so you know I told you that I switched the left attended this year. So I'm even more green on that. And he was just like, all right, here's what we're going to do. And once he said it the way, put it in my terms, my meathead terms, he's like, hey, how do you approach a barbell? I'm like, oh, okay. So like, depending on the movement, you know, I've got my checklist. And so having that checklist was incredible. And I'm like, just a lot to keep track of when you're first doing it. When I'm running that checklist, I'm like, oh, I missed a step. How do I go? I can't go back. So it was fun. And you know how how anything goes,

but with archery specifically all those little cues and checklist, those will all be subconscious. Right. Once you get to that point. Yeah, once you get the reps in. And then when that next bowl comes out, you know, killed a bull this year, which the video was awesome. They did an incredible job, yeah.

But once that bull steps out on the next time, all those things, you'll, all you remember is just that putting that pen where you wanted to and slowly squeeze. And all those other things will take care of themselves. Right. Yeah. Because of the reps. Like once you put it in those terms, it makes perfect sense. because, you know, like, I don't even think about approaching a barbell anymore, depending on the movement.

I'm just like, all right, here's my checklist. My good, you're good. My hands go here. Grab, set, go. And Wayne, oh, that makes sense. Wayne says that. Like, he'll say pretty much the same. Set your feet.

Yep. Get in your position. You're, like, approaching the bar. You got your bow on your hip. Yep. Got your hand put on the grip. You're setting yourself up for success. Yep.

And to release an accurate arrow. You did. I mean, I think that's why. you're so good at what you do is you follow instruction you get that there's a method to the madness right and then we went out and implemented it 85 yards i wanted that hundred so bad i know i grazed it i grazed it which i don't understand how balloon does not pop and it has a mark on it but dang it yeah so close but yeah you still still very accurate i mean your hundred yard group you had that bulls i had one random one random every once in a while but yeah but did did great and then

And man, this training in here. We got a little pump session. That was good. Oh, my gosh. That was so good. I mean, I loved every second of it. It was just a perfect day for me. It was like, you know, I make this excuse that I want to do this podcast.

It's for me. It's for me to hang out with. Hang with cool people and get to work out, man. It was. And I just can't tell you how much it meant to me. So I was also thinking, in your training, now you have, all these athletes coming to mayhem, right? And are they coming, like you said, even people from other countries?

Yeah, yeah. So we've got, I want to say last year, this was training right before the games. We had like five or six countries represented. And we've got some athletes around the world and they live where they're at. But now we're starting to get an influx of like we've got a guy, Guy, who lives in Brazil, or is from Brazil. So, Roman, he's from Russia. We've got another couple of girls. One's from Argentina.

One's from another one from Brazil. So we're getting an influx. And it's fun. It's cool. It's, you know, having different people around and learning and learning once again how to motivate people differently. And, you know, it's the mentality of trying to get them to like, you know, they're like, all right, you know, I've kind of got this three or four year goal of trying to win the games.

And I'm like, no, your goal is to win it now. You know, like we're not playing the long game. Like you step into every competition trying to win. Like that should be our mentality. Granted, you might not have the skills yet, but you're going to try to. You know, like, I hate when people are like, oh, my goal is to, you know, make the games or win the games in 20, 24. I'm like, that was my goal was to win the games anytime I showed up. Yeah.

Because your first time, didn't you get second? I got second. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We don't talk about that one. There's two second places in those 10 teams that are 10

golds that we don't talk about. Right. I actually, so in 17 when we got second, I hung the silver medal up to next to the whiteboard. You know, whiteboards are a CrossFit thing. Yeah, yeah. The whiteboard.

I've heard about it. Every day in the barn. So everybody has a reminder. We're writing up the workout. There's just a silver medal. Yeah. And I joked that after it was done, I was just to go bury it in the backyard,

but it's somewhere in a sock drawer. I think that, but I think that's what, makes champions stand out because some people are fine with that silver. Yeah, everybody, when I got silver the first year, that's pretty good. Yeah, they're like, you know, we talked about this yesterday. Like that first year messed me up. You know, I'd growing up, I'd, you know, insert whatever it is. For me, it was baseball.

And then after baseball, it was firefighting. And then after that it was CrossFit. It was those things that had defined had become who I was. And to have that completely, that rug pulled out and have that, failure and people are like you got second place your first year you should be happy i was not happy yeah and like i said that was kind of where my faith really took a different route and and became forefront but i think that that is what makes us better too is that you're not okay with second you know down the road i might be able to look back and be like yeah getting second was pretty cool but at the

time it ate it yeah it i hated it do you think so you talk about faith do you think that your intentions weren't as pure that first year and then they were Or you are more? You know, I don't know if, obviously, yeah, you wanted a little bit of pride of like, hey, I want people proud of me. But I really think having subconscious, whatever you want to say, having my identity be whatever I was in put way more pressure on me. And so having my switch being my identity and whatever I'm doing to Christ helped me

compete from a better position. Because I hate the whole, oh, if you're a Christian, you should be a less competitor. I'm like, bullshit. Yeah. You know, like, yeah,

I can compete from a better place because I know, hey, in the end, it doesn't, like, as Lincoln Park would say, in the end,

it doesn't really matter. Yeah. But, you know, hey, I can compete and I can still be, you know, a competitor.

Man of God. Man of God. There's not, that doesn't mean weakness. That's what I hate is this whole, like, you know, Christians are soft,

that type of thing. No, like, I mean, Michael Chandler's not soft. No. And he's Christian, you know,

like, And it's okay that, hey, there's a separation between the two. He puts it, and I think how you are looking at it also, he puts it as fighting is a shiny object. So that's what gets people's attention to share the word. To share the word. These are my gifts. My gifts from God, the genetics, the upbringing that I've had is what everybody sees on the outside.

Now I get to tell you about Galatian 614. And may I never boast in anything except for the cross. Lord Jesus Christ, which has been crucified to me and I to the world. I get to tell people about that because of the platform that I've been given. Right. Yeah. So CrossFit's your shiny object. Shiny object.

Gets people's attention, then shares what really matters. Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, my buddy Roy too, and I mentioned this to Chandler, that's what he did. He said bow hunting was his missions field. Yeah. And people wouldn't listen to him or respect him just on the surface, but because he's this amazing, badass mountain bowhunter, people would be like, oh, this guy, maybe I should listen to what he has to say. And then he would talk about. Well, and that's, and that's a hard part is like, you want to have

relationship miles with people instead of just being like, hey, what did Jesus do for you today? You know, like, there's a relationship aspect up to it. And like, there's this, like, you've got to have some time with people. Right. And so, you know, like I said, I think, I think, you know, like, I've seen those things or read those articles. We're like, oh, Christians are weak. They shouldn't, you know, like competitors, blah, blah, blah. But it's the exact opposite. I have a point of strength that I can compete from, and I'm going to be okay.

Yeah. So it's worked for me. Yeah, well, I would say so. Was there any times in your journey coming up where, I don't know, it seems like competition, it's easier not to compete sometimes. Yeah, absolutely. Was there times where you had just like a tipping point that you recall, man there's every day there's a grind you wake up yeah like today i don't i just don't feel like it's

like you were talking about you just get up and you go and once you get going once i get going i'm good to go yeah and yeah i mean when winning is fun but when you're expected to win it almost doesn't become it's it's a little less fun you know and it's like you've you've got this target on your back and i'm it comes with the territory now like any but anything you do now it's like oh i'm i'm i'm I'm going to be rich at this. And where I'm just kind of at the point, my career, I'm like, I got nothing left to like, I've got no ego about it anymore. Like I've done it.

And, yeah, so, I mean, there were years of that. And, you know, it just kind of adds up year after year, but it is what it is. You know, that's just part of it. And part of me enjoys that. But part of me, there's days where I'm like, dang, it'd be nice to just like, maybe somebody would be surprised that you win something, you know? Yeah, I mean, I think you're going to have that because Rich Froning is this larger than life.

Right. People are going to say it's always going to be a company. Always. It reminds me, you know, I had the similar moment like Lance Armstrong ran Boston. And it's like my goal was to beat Lance. He didn't even know who I was. Right, right. No clue.

But how many other people like me were like, oh, Lance. I'm going to beat Lance. I'm going to beat him. So it's like that would that would probably be a little exhausting. It's like you're just trying to do. Just trying to do. Just trying to do new things. and getting into mountain biking,

that's a reason why I'm like, you know what? Nobody knows who the hell I am in mountain biking. But I can ride a mountain bike pretty good because I have the fitness side of it, but I have enough of a little bit of crazy. You know, like I need that adrenaline. And then bow hunting has been, for me, your hunting, period, has been that.

You know, like we were saying yesterday, it's ultimate competition. And nobody's watching. You know, for me, my competitive, everything I do in competition is being watched, you know, no matter what it is. And so being out there in the woods and being competing with one of these,

guys the hundreds that you have hanging in here um it's fun it's just different it's freeing it's hard yeah it's hard and it's hard and but nobody's watching there's no grind and nobody knows except for you yeah but you're going to have to keep pushing you know and so it's just been fun it's been a ton of fun yeah is uh what's been the hardest part of the bohunting journey i think the mental grind of it because you've done a lot of hard things yeah done a lot of hard things and honestly this this hunt last year uh kill in the bull. I mean, you look at, it was four trips that took us, you know, to actually harvest something. And so we're 22 days in the mountain when you look at it. And it's the last day of this

hunt. And you're just mentally, you know, like there's so many, you know, I was talking yesterday that, you know, morning, you have your kind of different sections of hunting throughout the day of your morning, then you're midday and then your evening. And so middays, I like to, and the group that I go with, we'll go around and mess around and some heavy timber and just kind of creep, right? So I equate it to that like you hit some timber and you're you're you're up here you're like all right senses there's a chance and then you get through that timber and there's nothing and you're just like shit yeah and you get to the next heavy timber and you're like all right here we go and then you're here and then there's and so that just over and over and over for 22 days yeah having a couple

you know encounters you know I had an encounter two encounters with non-legal bulls the year before we bumped a bull bump a group another time had a buddy that that just didn't take a shot. And I don't blame him. You know, he just didn't feel comfortable with it. And then so just all those replaying all those things. And then to have one walk out and stare at you for 10, 11 minutes. Yeah, it's amazing.

And just all that, the emotion of that. And then walking that thing out of there. Yeah. Which was like before that, you know, the whole to that point had been like top five hardest things I'd ever done. Yeah. And then trying to get that thing out, that move. the whole experience up to the top of the list, one of the top of the list. You know, like, I can't really differentiate, you know, like top three, but it was in the top three for sure. Yeah,

you know, it was hard. Yeah, packing a bull out. Packing a bull out physically, mentally, emotionally, just like, all right, is this ever going to end? And then you get to the top of the hill and you can see down and you're like, all right, it's all downhill from here. Yeah. And then downhill's almost worse. You know, you're like, oh, man, slipping and was there trail or like going over windfall? Oh, deadfall. And, and. Yeah. Just nasty, thick brush. You know, we were in Route National Forest. So luckily, this one we'd killed. There was at like 8,200 feet. Like earlier in the week, we were up around 11,000 feet. Wow. And so they'd been pushed down a little bit. And so we were down to 82. And man, it was, I forgot the exact elevation change and all that. But it was, as the crow flies, what we kept saying, it was about two miles from the truck. But it was just nasty, thick. And my heart rate thing, track around my wrist, we stopped three or four times. like you'd find a deadfall log and you just let that thing rest. Yeah,

and you're just sitting there. And it feels so good. Off your shoulders and back. I think we took like three breaks and it took us two hours. And my heart rate would just like average 141 and peaked at like 165. And you're just like, man. That's a lot of work. It was work, but so worth it.

Did you like in the team environment for competition at the CrossFit where you're kind of the leader, were you, what was your role in packing that out? I mean, were you? I was in the front. keeping people fired up. Nah, I think we were all just kind of... Okay. I think everybody was fired up. You know, everybody was a little like...

It was hard. You say last day of the hunt. Last day of the hunt. Yeah. And so we were only going to hunt a half day that day too. So it was kind of our last day. Then we would drive into where I think we were flying out of bail this time. And we'd stay in the night in the hotel and kind of wash up because we had an early flight

in the next morning. And it was right at noon. This thing walks out. And then, you know, by the time we got out of the woods, I think it was four or five o'clock. That was when you're like, now we've got to go pack up. up the trailer. Yeah, we got to drive out.

And then, man, we didn't get out of there until, I think, nine o'clock. And we get to Vail and you're just like, I need food. Yeah. Nothing's open. So we find McDonald's. And that was the best McDonald's I'd ever had. Of course. We don't do McDonald's much.

But, man, that quarter pounder was worth it. Of course. Those fries are good, too. So good. Did you have a, did you get, what is it? That's not a frosty. Did you get a milk? I got a milkshake. Just a regular milkshack.

Not a what McFlurry, I guess, is theirs. Did you dip the fries in it? Oh, yeah. Dude, we had fries. I think we all got quarter pounders, double quarter pounders, fries. And then we all kind of like looked at each other. I was like, everybody wanted another burger. So I went and bought everybody another McDonald's burger, high spender, you know.

No apple pie? No, we didn't get an apple pie. I got another 20 piece nuggets, but that. So we were, I mean, you know how it is. You come out of the mountains and you're just anything warm and not eating with a, you can eat something with a fork or whatever. Oh, that's hot. Yeah. Granted, this was McDonald's.

It wasn't with a fork. But it was just good. It was just good. best McDonald's I'd had. I mean, you know, after you've killed a bowl, you put in, so that was your fourth year. Is that right? Yeah. So much work.

So much. I mean, that probably felt almost like winning the games. It was an incredible because it's just, it's so like, as much as you don't do it, I don't do it for, oh, look what I did. Look what I killed. But when you come home and everybody's like, oh, so you didn't kill anything again? Yeah. You know, there's just these games. It's games that start playing.

You're like, man, I suck. You know, I don't know what the hell I'm doing. Right. And so, you know, probably the first couple of years we learned a lot and messed up a lot. But that's the way I like to do it is, you know, I did go guided the first year in Montana. And then after that, we just kind of did it self-guided. And so, you know, I have a buddy that knows a lot about Elkhutton, David Curtis. And then, you know, Stephen, one of my good friends, he helps a ton.

And we're kind of got a collection now of guys that we've done it together and we've learned a bunch together and messed up a bunch together. So it's fun. And it was cool to share that with Stephen went there, but Dave was there. And, you know, Scott being able to document the whole thing. And Scott, you know, I mean, he ran the whole 20 miles of me and shit with a freaking camera. He's tough. He's just, he's always going to be there, you know?

Like, there's no, there's no quit in Scott either. So it's cool when having TJ and Tyler are there to help pack it out too. Oh, yeah. No kidding. Yeah. I mean, so can you imagine packing out? What if you're by yourself? So that's what Dave.

So Dave hunts a lot by himself. And so he said he killed a bull one time seven miles. And so he packed out one, one a day. it was cold enough. Yeah. He had a mule deer tag on the last day as he's walking out. He shoots a mule deer. So he has to pack that out.

And I'm just like, you know, you were talking about yesterday, hunting by yourself. Like, I, it's, that's like a whole new level for me.

Like, I just like, there's just something about the brotherhood, the camaraderie, being in the woods, the like, you know, shared suffering.

I think that's what the draw of CrossFit is, the shared suffering and being able to have that. And so that, for me, the woods too is that like we you know we grind together and you know you sit down and you're like you recap kind of all the the shitty stuff that went on the day but it's so much fun too you know so fun yeah the shared suffering it's uh the solo hunts it is tough and not only just packing things out but just just the grind living life in the mountains by yourself we're so we're social animals or

or beans or whatever you want to call it but we're used to being around and communicating so you take that part out of your life and that can be the biggest challenge for a lot of people in the mountains because you never feel more alone than when you're up there by yourself. Yeah, I can't imagine. And I remember times where, you know, the one I was thinking of specifically, I was up in the Mounds, Truitt, my middle child was he hadn't even started talking yet. I don't know why he didn't talk forever. Trice is the same way. Yeah. He was the same way. We thought someone was wrong with him. We can guess on why. But I was in the mountains.

It was kind of spitting snow. And I'm thinking about, I think he's maybe 18 months, a year and a half old. And it's just like, you're thinking, why am I here? Why am I here? Why am I away from my family? Should I wonder what the family's doing? And it's just that draw just for, to be comfortable and just to be around people who care is pretty strong. Yeah.

But man, if you can overcome that and then succeed, oh, it's. life changing. I can't imagine. I mean, it's life changing. Just you killing that bull because it is so hard, that's life changing in itself. But the hunting journey is so many life lessons that I feel like get watered down in regular society or take decades to learn where you can learn on a, you know, your 22 days. 22 days. How much life lesson did you learn in 22 days? You know, where on that, on the outside world or what I call in society it's like when when are you ever that miserable push that hard question yourself that much never you know and it's like that's where the hunting journey can be so powerful yeah yeah you learn a lot about yourself what i yeah i mean well and it's a it's a

society now that you instant gratification you're always seeking instant we got phones we got all this stuff we're looking hey there's like this you know you get endorphins from checking your phone and you have a message you know and to not have it. It's incredible, not having a phone. You know, the hard part, I guess, for me is having young kids. I'll carry along a garment that I can just, hey, emergencies or like, hey, I'm still alive. My wife wants like every eight hour check-in. Like, hey, you're still alive. And so having that, but then no real cell phone connectivity, no nothing, no emails, man, there's just something to it. And then there's just something, like it's almost like we're supposed to be like that. And then when you harvest something, you're like, oh, yeah,

this is like it just felt natural. Yeah, it's meant to be. I mean, man has always hunted. Always. And that's what gets me about people that are anti-hunting. Like, you know, man has been part of the food chain for a long time. You know that, right? And forever. And these animals die way worse deaths. Oh, yeah. You know, over-breeding or over, you know, over-population or wolves kill things pretty viciously. Death in the wild is is not easy, not pretty pretty. it's you know an arrow a perfect arrow like what you released on your bull that bull went 50 or 60 yards i think you said yeah i mean death in the wild is never going to be anywhere near that that that's a merciful death in my opinion and you offered that animal that because of your hard work and making a good shot in the wild

it's going to be painful yeah it's going to be drawn out it's going to be starving predators weather something something and uh so i mean as a hunter I like the fact that we accept that animals are dying for our survival. Right. Animals are dying for everybody's survival. Even if you're the most staunch vegan still. Animals die. Wherever they live in a house where there's animals where this house is right now.

This land had to be cleared. It displaced animals, killed animals. Whatever bread you need, the agricultural, you drive over around where fields are being harvested. and there's buzzards flying all around because all those rodents, birds, different things are dying. So yeah, I mean, life causes death. That's just how it goes.

You become the dirt when you're dead. We're going to be part, you know, like it's just part of the cycle. Yeah. Hunters accept that. And yeah, so we've talked about that, you know, anti-hunters, they're pretty vocal, but 96, 97% of people in America eat meat.

Yeah. And so, man. You know, we were talking about it yesterday. I think I kind of, my, your following is predominantly hunting. Okay. Mine is not. Yeah. Which I kind of like, you know, I'm like, hey, I'm going to be who I am.

Yeah. And I think part of the, you know, I did poke the bear a little bit with my post. I believe I said called people that I said, you know, vegans, vegetarians. I can respect. I can respect your opinion. We don't have to agree. Yeah. Like, and I think that's a problem with our system.

right now is we can't agree to disagree. You know, like, hey, you live your life and I'll live mine. And then the one that gets me is people who eat meat, not people who eat meat and don't hunt. Hey, yeah, that's your. Right. People who eat meat and are against hunting. I called them cowards. Because, hey, you know, like, it takes, it's not easy to take a life.

Like, there's, like, I don't know. I think that you're, like, there's a bit of, there's a bit of remorse. And I, and I never really experienced that until, like, I told you, I kind of my, my hunting upbringing was turkey is where I kind of got my start. And so I remember killing the first turkey. I was like, dang, I kind of feel bad. Yeah. And then you're like, all right, but this is going to go, like, I'm going to eat this.

My kids are going to eat this. You know, my wife will not eat it. But it's part of life, you know, death is part of life. Yeah. And as long as like you're saying, you do it as humanely as possible. And it's going to be a way better death than, you know, something else getting a hold of it. Yeah. Well, I do respect how you've, you know, been unapologetic in.

hunting and explain to your followers because it's really easy people people want everybody to like them yep they don't want to rough rock the boat at all so they'll just kind of kind of water it down and you say how you feel good friend of mine jim hensel said if 50% of people love you and 50% of people hate you you're doing it right you know like you can't you can't please everybody right and um i'm just gonna gonna live and try to show people hey this is this is how we live yeah and it's odd because a CrossFit community. I mean, that muscle has to be fed on something. Yep, it does. That's my favorite. You look at people who comment and then you, I don't have social on my phone anymore, but if you would go back and like, every once in a while, I'll check and just see off somebody else's phone. I'm like, let me see what this comment. Oh, they're eating a hamburger. You know, like, chill out. Yeah. Oh, I don't know. It's a, but that's the way it goes. I mean, you know, there's going to be people disconnected from food source in society. That's just the way it goes.

but if we can explain it better and maybe paint a clear picture, we're not going to get the psychos on the animal rights activist side. We'll get the people in the middle and they'll be like, wait, I remember reading something from Rich Fronien. Right. And he talked about being a provider and merciful and this and that and made a lot of sense. Well, I think too with like the videos, like you show that, hey, you realize how much or how hard we worked. It wasn't like we're not driving around in the truck.

Yeah. And oh, there's some. Let me go shoot it, you know? Like I think people just see this like kind of redneck. mentality oh yeah let me go that's what they think hunters are and then I'm like let me explain to you go watch this video and see how much we suffered and like worked and it wasn't you know everybody's like oh this defenseless animal I'm like defenseless we're in their territory right they have all these senses they know the land like it's not it's not as uh cut and dry as people think no I think they think

and getting within bow range of an animal that's hunted pretty much every day yeah trying to survive every day. You know, we live in the mountains for one day and we, it would just be one of the hardest nights ever. They're out there every day. They're so tough, so dialed, so tuned in. We're going into basically their home and trying to get within Bow Range and then release a perfect arrow. There's a reason why success rates are so low. So low. 10% under 10%. Yeah. And that means, you know, nine out of 10 guys are failing. So yeah, it's been that guy. It's, it's no gimmee. It's no give me um so what's your what's your goals like so right now we talked about the games but what's your goals moving forward just in the life of rich frowning yeah i think you know obviously my kids i don't know

you can't really put a a goal on just producing good kids and making sure that they're uh you know but i think you've done a good job so um that's a goal of mine as being a good husband father it's more about them than me i tried to screw them up right yeah that's true they overcame me we always joke because our youngest is a she's just sweet and just you know you tell her to do something and you try to like like with other two it's it's it's heavy-handed you're like hey yeah with violet you're like hey and then she's like okay and I'm like oh I'm sorry I even raised my voice with you I'm like what do we do so wrong with the first two that we did with but anyway so uh you know that's obviously a thing um that I want to that's kind of forefront every day and then uh mountain biking we're doing um the goal right now is to do

the leadville 100 um I want that big belt buckle. It's in nine hours. So if you finish in under nine hours? Under nine hours. Okay. So that's the goal right now. We're doing, I'm doing a couple of mountain bike races to lead up to that. We're doing a 12 hour in Costa, in Mesa Verda, and then doing a 24-hour in Amarillo relays,

um, Rilays, part of relay or team relays. Um, those are big things. And then, man, I want to, want to get it back out west next year and, and, and, uh, hunt a couple times, get boots on the ground. And, you know, elk is, that's kind of my passion right now, but eventually, You know, I'd like to, you know, say I've killed a moose or, you know, caribou or something like that. Get up to Alaska just because I want to go to Alaska. But, man, I last year and, you know, I was talking to Hill.

And she's like, you know, if you didn't have me or the kids, what do you think you'd be doing? And I was like, I really, now I think I'd be going from September to November and out west, you know. So there's something about it and really want to pursue that and keep doing that. Yeah. Well, I mean, that's, that's, you shoot that RX7. Well, I mean. I'm going to start shooting more. So now that I've got my checklist, I can just, you know, it was hard before that.

You're like, am I even doing this right? You know, like, you know, I'm shooting arrows and they're pretty decently grouped, but now I have like things to think about for me that makes sense, you know? There's some things that I can, all right, I know I need to settle a little bit more, let my pins rest on that, like versus just as soon as that pin hits. Right. And so now that I have some cues and things to think about, I think I'll, not that I didn't enjoy it before, but now I'm like, I feel like I'm,

making progress before where I was like, I'm just going out there shooting arrows. And I don't really know how to assess my progress other than how are my groups. Right. But am I really doing everything the same way? Now I can kind of like, okay, I've got these things. Well, that's the biggest advantage to having a good archery pro shop. Yeah. Like the bow rack.

It's like most, a lot of people, you know, there's hunters all over the United States. There's not a lot of great pro shops. Wayne, if anybody's passing through Eugene, Oregon, go over there. because that was, like I said, one of the most helpful things I've ever been through as far as technique on a bow for sure, or definitely on a bow. Yeah. Well, he's just been through it, you know, over, see, I think he bought the bow rack, I think 30 years ago.

Yeah. We were, it shows. We were pretty young. And he's just helped thousands and thousands of people. So every guest who I have come in, I always take them there. That was a huge ad for sure. You know, like, we've got people in CrossFit that you're like, oh man go to that guy or that girl and they coach well like we've got the burginers they're a family

of he was Olympic lifting coaches and they're just you just know you know when somebody can connect and and that's kind of the beauty of what we do with CrossFit is you just got people that you're like oh they got it you know they know how to coach they know what to see they've got the eye and so man that that was that was incredible yeah yeah well you did a great job following instruction Wayne gave a great job delivering it um man it's just and then we saw the end results out there. I was going to end up, I have a question I was wondering. Do you think that mental toughness can be developed or do you think you just have it?

I think, you know, I always get this like, how do I become a better competitor? And it's just like, for me, I'm like, I don't really know how to answer that, you know? And mental toughness, I guess, goes along with being a competitor. They're almost interchangeable. I think maybe at an early age, that can be developed mental toughness. I think as we age, it gets a little bit harder. If you're like, the more time you have in comfort or being soft, and I think even mental toughness can be, can kind of come in waves and go.

You know, like the more you can get comfortable, you know, and that's, I think that's people like us that like being uncomfortable. There's a little bit of, probably a little bit of, uh, mental something going on there you know a little like uh we were talking about it's a little abuse of some sort but yeah i think it it needs to be developed at an early age and i it yeah with the older you get i think it's harder to you know like you've had you spent so long so much time on the the easier side of things that if you don't catch it early enough that you're it's going to be hard to develop i think as you as you get older it's harder to develop and so if you can start it at a

younger age. You know, like, like I said, that's, that's the main reason for the farm for us when we started frowning farms was I wanted my kids to have something they had to take care of and we were going to do together. And I guess it's been, it's been about three years ago. Spitting snow, kind of crappy night. It's wet. And it's got to go put out hay. Yeah. And so we, at this time, now we're soft. We got a closed-in-closed cab tractor. But at that time, I should have to 40-40-40-4-R, John Deere open cab. Yeah. And I'm walking out, put my boots on in Lakeland, my oldest, like, where are you going?

I got to go. I got to go out. Yeah. She's like, I want to go. I'm like, Lakeland, it's nasty. It's cold. It's wet. She's like, I'm going.

Yeah. And man, it was just, I'm like, all right, this is it. This is why I do this. And this is why we're doing it. And why, you know, you put this in. It's because she was out there. We were out there for an hour and doing different thing, going to check fences and stuff like that.

And she was just right there, you know, in her little boots and her, you know, one of my jackets, I think a huge jacket. And she's just right there with that. And she's, I think, at that time, six years old. And I'm like, all right, this is it. And it's cool. You know, that's what we get to pass on. And that's the next generation, right?

Well, do you think, what about when you want your kids to develop toughness and you say, hey, I'm going to need help. And they say, no, I don't want to go. Oh, we're coming. No, you're coming. Yeah. And if you're not going to come, I'm going to find something else for you to do. that is less desirable as well.

And that's what it was when I was a kid. You know, it was like, all right, either you go find something to do. Out in the woods, out in the yard, or I'm going to find you something to do. And so for me, that was like, all right, we're going out in the woods and, you know, building forts or doing whatever. Wrecking my four-wheeler. I think my dad would have rather me, probably him find me something to do than the money he spent fixing four-wilers for me breaking things. But that's what he always says is I was good at, I was good at breaking shit. But he would make you go do stuff.

Oh, yeah. Get outside. Oh, yeah. If I, so this is one of the times he's like, hey, go out in the woods and he just bought me a 22. Mm-hmm. And so we're out in the woods and we're going to go hunting, right? We're going to hunt squirrels and see one squirrel. And so we get back to the barn and there's on the power wires, there's the telephone boxes.

Yeah. Those black boxes. Yeah. It's a good target for a 12-year-old boy. I wonder if I could hit that. I'm just pop. Oh, nice. Pop.

Shoot, probably 10 holes in it. We go back out in the woods, and I've got a BB gun this time. I don't remember why I had the BB gun. We come walking up, and the phone company's there. Oh. And they're like, do you've been shooting holes in this? I was like, I can't shoot holes in it with this. You know, and my dad's like looking at me, like, they're like,

this looks like a 9mm or something or whatever. And so dad's like, let me see that pellet gun. He's trying to shoot holes and no holes in it. Yeah. So he's like, did you shoot this with this? And I was like, no. Wasn't alive. wasn't a lie. A couple of days later, he's like, you shot that with that 22, didn't you? And I was

like, you asked if I shot it with the pellet gun. And so I never, surprisingly, I never got, he's like, you didn't lie to me. So I can't get mad at you. He's like, but don't effing do that again. You know, like just doing dumb stuff. Oh, is the detail, he didn't ask the right question. It's not your fault. And that's what he told me. He's always told me, he said, never lie. Yeah. He said, but only answer the questions you're asked, you know. So you think your mental toughness was developed from your dad? I think my mom and my dad. My mom and my dad are the two hardest working people in the room.

Okay. Like my mom never sits still. Scott can attest to this. She's always, she's like, I always equate them to sharks. There's always moving. If they stop moving,

they'll die. Both of them are like that. My dad's just like, when I was a kid, it'd be like, oh, you know, this project. I'm like, all right, we got this project.

There's no more projects after this. And then he'd come up with another project. My mom was the same way. She'd like edge around the trees. And then like, just random stuff. I had to pick up apples from underneath apple trees because she didn't want to run over them with the mower

because there's wasps. She'd make me go out there with a wheelbarrow and pick up apples and throw them in the woods. You know, like just dumb stuff. Yeah. She was one of nine farmer kid. And so, you know, both of them, like I said, are the, I would say they're the base.

And then that was just kind of reiterated by my high school baseball coach. Just mental toughness and working hard and outworking people. and, you know, somebody's always working. And so I think, like I said, that was that perfect storm of that side was my parents and then coach Sheffin for sure. Yeah. Yeah. So the genetics and the talent is one thing,

but without that mental approach of outworking everybody. I'm working people. I can remember when I worked at the fire department, you know, like after five o'clock's your time, you know, so you're there for 24 hours. But after five o'clock, you could go do whatever you want. From five o'clock till nine o'clock when I'd go to bed, I'd go work out.

Just not cross foot because I didn't really do crossfit time. Just kind of what we did last night, but just one after the other after the other. The guys would be like, what are you doing? This ain't going to get you anywhere. I'm like, I just can't sit still. I don't, you know, this is what I want to do. I enjoy this. And then I'm like, hey, it did pay off.

And, you know, they're like, oh, working out. It's never going to get you anywhere. You just need to come out here and sit and watch TV or do whatever. And so I just, it's cool to look back at some of those moments. Yeah, some people, they, you know, they don't want. want to see you working hard because it puts pressure on bad yeah yeah yeah so i get that part yeah i mean i was i'm always curious on you know with your kids being the age they are and you know everybody wants their kids to be tough and it's like i you said something that reminded me of one time uh true of my

other son he's he skipped cross country practice so i got home from work and i said why aren't you are cross country and he's like um i just wasn't feeling good i go you look at you look at fine. He's like, I feel better now. I go, okay, well, get in the truck. We're going to go to Piscay. And so we did 10 miles as raining over there. And he never missed another practice. But then on the flip side,

it's not like I have all the answers on. No, no. Because I remember Tanner one time said he had a sore throat. And I'm like, so you had a basketball game. You're going to put, it turns out he has strep throat. So it's like I've been there. I've been there. I'm all, I've made every

mistake as a parent. And And that's why it's funny here in these stories. You're fine. Rub some dirt in it. Yeah. I mean, I'm, I don't know. I put way too much emphasis on being physically tough. Yeah.

And then I was just like, God, maybe I should have talked more about reading books. Never asked them one time about any book they read. No, no. That was, there was never any book. You know, now I actually enjoy reading, but I didn't, I think until 30, I don't think I actually read a book cover to cover because it was always like, I'll read the cliff notes. And then it turns out, hey, I'm a horrible,

audible learner. Like I just can't listen well. I can't concentrate on speech. If I read something though, I can retain it infinitely better. And I'm like, wow, you idiot. Yeah. Like I had good grades and stuff, but I could have been so much better had I actually done, you know, the work. And so it's just one of those things you got to figure out, you know? Yeah. Yeah, you don't only parent so much. Then it's, then it's on them, you know, that's what I keep telling myself. I'm like, come on. We go start parenting yourself. You're eight. Well, you'll, I'm sure you're probably way better than me, but I was a terrible parent with my oldest and then got then actually turned the corner and was probably too soft on my daughter now she now she reads all the books she makes up for all of us but man being a parent is is such a challenge

it's a challenge but it's the best job on the planet you know and you know I to come back to faith like it's I've I never knew what unconditional love was until I had kids yeah and then you're like those kids can be the meanest rottenest thing like I'm saying trice it would like he's not not vicious or anything. He's just wide-ass open and he's an idiot. He's a boy. He just does. He can break, he could break a tank with a rubber hammer. And I'm just like, what are you doing? You know, like, Dad, this, Dad, Dad, Hey, Dad, Dad, Dad. And I'm like, what? He's got a big personality. I love you, Dad. I'm like, oh, man, I'm such a jerk, you know? And so it's just, all my kids are like that. They're so much fun. But yeah, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's fun.

It's fun, but it's hard. I could imagine life without kids. No. I mean, feel like the luckiest person ever to have to be the dad to my kids so i i understand that for sure um man let's uh again great honor uh thank you so much for coming to to oregon and lift run and shooting with me i appreciate dude i never thought it would happen it was a dream for me too man we've uh we've looked up to you for last especially you know first time i heard you was on rogan and then after that kind of followed you and man it's been an honor for us too so i would appreciate you and when when uh you sent that text hey you want to come out i was like i'm going to make this happen so love it thanks for kicking my ass in the gym last night thanks for kicking our ass on the run yeah i mean i guess we we offered

both something new yeah hey in that regard like i said uh the uh options always open to come to cookville too so i know i won't make you do any crossfit we'll just we'll just have some fun we got a big open gym to just mess around and we got runners we got trails we got all kinds of kinds of stuff. So we can do all this, but in Cookville and give you a little taste of that. So buy it tricy. Take it on the road. There we go. There we go. We can do that. Yeah. I mean, it was great. What we're going to do, and I do want to come out there and train with you. It would be an honor to do that as well. So what we've been doing at the end of these episodes is I usually give somebody a new bow. You already had. I already had one. Yeah.

Evan Hoyt already hooked you up with the sweet Hoyt. So what we're going to do is we're going to give away three bows to the listeners. There we go. And how you can enter to win this giveaway is going to be kind of random, but you have to leave a comment or review on this podcast on all platforms. So do that. We'll pick a few people, give them a brand new hoight. There we go.

Love it. I'm in. That's awesome. Well, thank you so much, Rich. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it, brother. I really appreciate it. Yeah.

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