Cameron Hanes - Keep Hammering Collective - KHC 031 - Katie Knight

Episode Date: July 31, 2023

Katie Knight is multi-faceted and what I call, elite! She’s an ultramarathoner, World’s Toughest Mudder Champion, and a beast in the gym. Listen to Katie’s fitness journey and maybe someday you���ll be as ripped as her.     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 Katie Knight: https://www.instagram.com/k80_knight/ https://klee555.wixsite.com/website   Thank you to our sponsors: Santa Cruz Medicinals: scmedicinals.com use code KeepHammering for 15% off Ketone IQ: https://hvmn.com/CAM use code CAM for 20% MUD\WTR: https://mudwtr.com/cam use code Cam for 15% off MTN OPS Supplements: https://mtnops.com/ Use code KEEPHAMMERING for 20% off and Free Shipping Leupold: https://www.leupold.com/ Black Rifle: https://www.blackriflecoffee.com/ Use code KEEPHAMMERING for 20% your first order Hoyt: http://bit.ly/3Zdamyv Bass Pro/Cabelas: https://www.basspro.com Ice Barrel: https://icebarrel.com/CAM use code CAM for $125 off Go Ruck: https://www.goruck.com use code CAM for 10% off Breeo: https://breeo.co Groove Life: https://www.groovelife.com   Timestamps: 0:00:00 Intro 0:01:49 Born, Bred, and Corn fed 0:02:39 Katie’s fitness journey 0:06:26 What gives you the edge? 0:09:54 Turning fitness into business opportunities  0:15:09 Body composition tailored to the event 0:16:23 Who inspires you? 0:20:39 Future for Katie 0:23:10 The mind goes first 0:26:53 Past hunting experiences 0:29:24 Endurance training for hunting 0:31:26 Growing up with tough siblings 0:33:08 Dad’s favorite story 0:37:31 Pull over push 0:39:45 Training hunters 0:41:30 No one cares what you can do fresh  

Today's podcast sponsor is Santa Cruz Medicinals, and it's a company I'm proud to talk about because I've been using their CBD products for years. We use a CBD beef tallow to cook our elk steaks, and their CBD cream is one of the best things I've used post-run to help ease the pain of my muscles. They make an array of potent CBD formulas. To be effective, CBD has to be dosed properly, and Santa Cruz Medicinals has those potent dosages. They make CBD deep sleep. sleep caps, pain creams, magnesium, beef tallow, which can be used as a moisturizer or for cooking, MCT oil, and more. Check them out at SCMedicinels.com and use the code Keep Hammering for 15% off

and free shipping in the USA. 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. That's 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 use. Every comment hate that makes my feel, gather up my energy and boom. I had them talking, saying the way that I'm moving so reckless. That is a part of my mind I've been blessed with. Giving my blood so I am relentless. All right, this is a keep hammering class. with Katie Knight. Can you believe you're here?

I can't. Thank you so much for having me. It's been so fun. Training day and then ending it with this. Yeah. I mean, as we were just saying, I'm better at training than talking. Oh, yeah.

That's like the comfort zone, running, shooting, lifting. Yeah. And this, not so much, but it's still fun. Yeah. I'm just sit down and have a conversation.

Oh, well, I'm super thankful you're here. I've been following you for a while and I know, I mean, I think, you know, anybody would attest, I'm sure I mentioned it to Tanner, but this was like this week, because I had Cat Bradley than you. And I'm like, I got to be on my A game for these girls.

She's a badass. Cat was good, but like you, I didn't know if I'd be able to even lift with you. I'm like, I'm not sure how this is going to go. This might not go very well. We got it done. We got it done. I was nervous. What do you think of the lift run shoot routine?

I mean, it's basically my normal routine. The shooting's a bonus. And now I'm going to do that a lot more with the bow that I got. But yeah, otherwise I'd be doing that on a daily basis, lifting, running every day, twice a day. Yeah. So people will like, they'll look at you and they'll be like, oh, how is she in such good shape? It's just basically, well, obviously you got good genetics. But you work your ass off.

Yeah, hard work. Hard work. Every day, right? Do you train every day? Every day, twice a day. Six days a week. Sunday is completely off. Rest day.

I walk the dog. That's about it. But, yeah, I mean, I was born, bread, and corn fed in Iowa. It's just like that hard work mentality, those people there. I mean, that's what they do all day. So kind of grew up like that. Grew up in sports. So there's no excuses.

You work hard and you get it done. And so now you've went and like, what would you say? your specialty as an athlete. I know you said you played, you know, hockey and different things in high school. Then you tried to pursue, I think you tried out for the American team, you said, for hockey. And so how did you end up to where you're at? Yeah. So after college, I kind of, you know, got into CrossFit. I drank the Kool-Aid. It was all in on that. Did some big team comps, had a lot of fun. And then as we were talking at my first ultramarathon that I ran was the rim to rim to rim, which isn't a race, but it's 50 miles.

It's got a lot of climbing. As you know, you've done it. It's hard. So that kind of like hooked me in the running game and the ultra game. And because I have a strength background, combining endurance and strength and finding obstacle course racing, the ultra distance was like the perfect mix. So I would say that's my specialty is running for a long time and throwing strength in there. So heavy carries, sandbag carries, rigs, all.

the obstacles and being able to do that for 24 hours. So it's a niche category, but man, it works. It's impressive. I mean, it feels like you're designed exactly for that, you know, because you do have endurance. Because, I mean, I would say that the rim to rim to rim, what did you like about that? Just the suffering and pushing? It was the suffering. So I like to push like every endurance race I go try out and do.

I like to see what my mind and body can do. So it was like, hey, I've never ran more than a half marathon. Let's go try to climb in the Grand Canyon. So it was definitely the suffering. And then just the beauty, the scenery. Never seen the Grand Canyon before. So when I was in the bottom of it, that's when the sun comes up. And I was like, wow, this is magnificent.

You can't beat this. And being able to run out on the trails, it's like you get to see that beauty every day. So it's worth it. It's worth the suffering. Like we were saying yesterday on the top of the, you know, at the monument. Like that was beautiful. Oh, I know. It's like, I don't know, I don't, you couldn't say, would you rather be anywhere else?

And I'd just be like, no, I like suffering up this hill and being here to, to see how this beautiful sunset is like, to me, that's life. Mm-hmm. I love it. Did you see animals in the Grand Canyon? Did you see sheep? I don't think I saw anything. Although when I did the Spartan Ultra World Championships, the 24-hour race, a porcupine crossed my path. Oh.

Never seen a porcupine in real life. Really? It was like, it was massive. And I was like, huh, I don't actually know what the protocol is. Like, just stay away or what. But, and that was like at 2 a.m. So maybe I imagined it. Who knows?

Do you know those quills shoot out? No. So that's why I was like, I'm going to stay right here. And it can just like, it stayed on the path for a little bit. They don't shoot out. Oh, they don't. I wouldn't believe it, though. I'm gullible.

You can tell me anything. I think that's what maybe I thought when I was a kid or maybe somebody told me that. So, you know, you could just envision those quills to get in shooting. be a pretty good design for defense for them. Do you know what they do? No, they just poke you. Oh, okay. Yeah.

But I know dogs get into them and they get, it can be quite a process to get those out of dogs. Yeah, so I stayed far away. Good thinking. Yeah, that was probably a good approach. Hey, want to try one of these? Yeah, cheers. Yeah, cheers.

Cool. So it's a ketone IQ. Yeah. Let's see what you think. Delicious. Yeah. Love it. Love it.

I know. It's like, now my brain works. Yeah, I know. I am totally up to speed now. It's better than, I used to like getting slurpees when I was a kid. Definitely better than a Coke slurpee. Yeah. So now, yeah, now our, the level of discussion and intelligence is just going to skyrocket after this.

Because it's like, it's got IQ in the name. Right, exactly. Come up is going to go deeper. We're more intelligent now. do you competing against the women and then viz that you do um what gives you that edge do you think just like i don't yeah what gives you a net why do you win i would have to say like just mental grit like the ability just to keep going keep pushing like anything in a race especially that's 24 hours anything can go wrong um it's not a matter of like if something's going to go wrong it's

what so what this race is going to like hold you back from wanting to keep going They're wanting to quit because 12 hours in is when they say the race really starts. So you're sitting at midnight and you still got a long time. And then the sun comes up, you still have six hours. Right. So explain the 24-hour event. What are you doing during the 20 hours? Yeah.

So in the 24-hour race, there's Spartan Ultra races and then there's the 24-hour for World's Toughest Mudder. And you're running laps. So World's Tough is always five-mile loops, 20 obstacles per lap, and for 24 hours. or as long as you want to go. And then for Spartan, it just depends. Like I've done a 24-hour race in telly ride, which was 6.7 mile loops, starting at 9,000 feet elevation, climbing to 11 each lap.

So that, you know, that's pretty brutal. But that's what you're doing. The obstacles range from crawling over things, heavy carries, rigs, whatever they want to throw at you. And World's Toughest has water obstacles. So they make it even harder. It's freezing cold water. It's like getting in the cold plunges we did last night.

every lap so in you submerge really yeah so your head has to go under yep and then how long you don't have to stay in for any amount of time no so like you would like there's a cage crawl so you're upside down you're crawling on your back along a cage and you're in the water and then there's like points where you have to go all the way under um and keep going and that's probably like a huge pit so they're just try to make you as miserable miserable as possible like what can go wrong so like yeah as I was saying It's just like that willingness to keep going and keep pushing because things have gone wrong. I've gotten hypothermia like I did last year at World's Toughest. I've lost both big toenails like during the race.

So yeah, I would say just that mental grit is my advantage. There's other women out there that are willing to do this, the same mentality. Yep. Yep. And they push you. Yeah. Yeah. So when you have, you know, girls chasing you the whole race or you're trying to catch somebody,

that motivates me too. So to win, to get, you know, there's nothing, there's no better feeling than winning. So having all that hard work you've done for the past year and being on that podium just feels good. Yeah, I was asking, because, I mean, you talked to, if I talked to you for a few minutes, I can tell that training is a big part of your life. You know, you just love the grind. And I was asking if you love the grind or to compete more. Yeah. And it's, I think you said that winning proves that the grind.

grind paid off. Yeah. But you still, I mean, still, you're not thinking about winning every day when you get to the gym. It's just what you do. Is that right? Right. Yeah.

I mean, it's just part of my life. It's like essentially it's my full-time job. So it's putting in that work every day, all day, you know, twice a day. And then letting those results pay off. And then when it comes to like competitions. Yeah. It's impressive. And then how has the business part of that?

been for you. I mean, have you been, so you're marketable, obviously. I try to be. Have you, have you turned that into business opportunities? Yeah. So there's, brands have come along, uh, along during my journey, um, and wanted to work with me. So it's finding like a really good fit and what like just naturally works in my life. So like I don't usually partner with brands that like it doesn't feel natural. Like if it's, if I'm going to use it and post about it anyway, um, Those are the brands that have come along that I just love. And there's been some since like the very beginning that have stuck with me. And I love that.

So there's been a lot of business opportunities that way. And then like I said, I have my own online training company. So having people want to be trained by me to do these kind of races or just, you know, look good and feel good and feel healthy and strong. That means a lot. So that has helped my, you know, training business as I win these races, as I work hard, as I train. And that's come into, you know, exactly what I've been wanting to do my whole life. Yeah. And so you, I mean, you like the training piece because why?

Helping people make positive changes? Yeah. What do you like about it? I like, so I've worked at big crossfit boxes where like I've helped people get PRs on Olympic lifts, things like that. And that's super exciting. And then as I was telling you, I transitioned over to corporate health and wellness. So working for big tech companies and training their employees. and being able to see somebody fall in love with fitness,

learn how to do a squat for the first time, that's really what it's about for me. So it's like helping people realize that, like, you know, being healthy and fit and strong, especially for women is really important. And it just, like, changes their life. It changes how they feel about themselves, their confidence, everything. So do you think that that's been more of a focus lately?

Because it's like the, I don't know. I mean, it feels like training has. changed over time. We talked about Courtney a lot and she's like kind of broken barriers for what's possible. And it feels like it's that strong, fit, athletic woman image has been changing. And now it feels like we're there now. For your clients, how much of it is it men versus women? It's kind of a mix. So most of the men I get want to do Spartans and tough mutters and races. I do have some female clients that want to as well. But for the most part, like women want to just like feel good and look good and be strong.

You know, there's something that mentality that comes along with that just like changes their whole life. Like I was saying. Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, it has been a shift. Like I've had a lot of clients that are like, I don't want to lift a weight. I don't want to get bulky. And I'm like, listen.

I don't look like the CrossFit or. I was like, that's going to take years and a lot of eating and a lot of lifting. You're good. Let's just get you strong. Let's get you to feel good that, you know, you can do daily activities. You can lift things up. You can move a couch by yourself. I mean, man.

You put up that clip, did you? Yeah. Yeah, it was like Joe Rogan's clip. I like a woman that can move a couch, help move a couch. What did you say? Sturdy. Sturdy. Oh, yeah.

I've been called sturdy. Basically my whole racing career because I get to the start line. I don't look like an ultra runner. Yeah. And so I always get mostly from men like, you run ultras or like you don't run ultras? And I told you the joke. I always give them like, well, watch me and then I'll bench press you at the end. I know.

I know. I'll tell you. Just got to give it back to him a little bit. I don't know. What I was, hold on. Sorry. Yeah, benching. I mean, I haven't seen too many women with like shoulder, like veins in their shoulders.

I was like telling. Jalous of my veins. I go, yeah, totally. I love, you know. But yeah, get these veins in your shoulder. So yeah, you definitely don't look like the normal ultra runner. But it's like to me when I see it, it's just a testament to hard work and sacrifice. And because it's not, it's hard for men to hold muscle.

You know, if a man trains, you could train for years, you take off a month. Yeah. And it's just like, what the fuck? So when I see you, it's like, that's just. That's work. That's hard work, yeah. It's hard not to respect that. I mean, so I love it.

I was just, you know, you hear that with women. They don't want to get big, right? Or they want to be tone, I think is what they say. But yeah, to get big, there's a lot of guys who can never get big. So I wouldn't, the girls don't really have to worry about it, I don't think. Yeah. I mean, yeah, I've not, I haven't always had muscle. So when I started back, like before CrossFit in 2016,

I was just pretty like lean. I just ran a lot. Not a lot of muscle, not a lot of definition. So, you know, from now, from then until now, like I put on a lot of muscle mass.

And I'll usually lose most of it come like ultra-season. So like into the fall and the 24-hour races, just kind of, you know, eat your muscle. And so I'll go through a strength-building phase from about January to April

where it's a lot of lifting, not as much endurance, just to get strong again. Where do you think you perform best? More lean or more muscle? Depends on the competition. When I do ultra distance, it's definitely more lean. So I'll go into world's toughest at like 140 or maybe even a little below.

And then like the rest of the year, like I sit at like what I feel like is healthy like at 150. Yeah. Yeah. That's, I mean, what were you at? Like you said in high school you were more lean. Yeah, yeah, definitely. It was probably like in the 120s. And what was your sports again?

I know hockey. Yeah, yeah. So high school varsity sports were swimming and diving, mostly diving. My sister was a diving coach, so that was fun. Softball was another big one. Softball and ice hockey and then track. But yeah, ice hockey is where I've always loved. Grew up playing with the boys, like I told you.

That kind of probably added to where my mentality sits for races. you've got to be tough. There's no room for being weak because you're a girl out there playing with a bunch of boys. Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, you've made changes. Who has inspired you along the way? I mean, who do you look up to?

And it's like, you know, because I know in bow hunting, I have guys who I followed as a kid. But who, I mean, who inspires you to keep working hard? Well, I mean, like, because I love strength and endurance, like looking up to people like Courtney, like for the, you know, the running aspect, like that's, you know, who I would dream of being like and competing and running like. And then in CrossFit, it's like big crossfitters. But I was also telling you, like, it's my mom as well. So she's in her 60s. She's still does CrossFit. I do CrossFit with her when I go home and visit. She's strong. She bikes. Like that's just like the life that I want to live. So when I'm in my 60s, 70s, I'm still doing all the same things I'm doing today. So that's an inspiration

is just to keep working hard. And like both my sisters have had four or five kids. They're still strong. They're, you know, they're pretty jacked. Yeah. And it's cool to see. Yeah. I definitely look up to that.

So I'm blessed to have, you know, a very fit, active family to look up to. Yeah. Sounds like it. And who, so with regard to your sponsors or your business, how is that evolved? And it's like, because to me, you seem very marketable. I mean, we talked about merchandise. Yeah, yeah. How is those partners, are they helping with that vision that you have for yourself?

Yeah, like I said, I usually bring brands on board that see my vision. We vibe well together. And I help them grow. They help me grow. So that's the goal. And that's definitely, you know, I started like my social media in, it must have been 2021. Yeah.

What? You just started at then? I was at 3,000 followers. and I grew it all myself. How come no social media? I just wasn't interested. I just wanted to train and kind of live life without having to be on my phone.

And then as I started to race bigger races and just being able to share my story and hopefully inspire others, I got more like involved with Instagram. And so since then, it's just like it's grown. And it's been really fun. And you can kind of have a little bit more of an outreach. So I've liked that.

Yeah, part of it. Yeah. I mean, it's great for connection with people. Yeah. You know, I mean, I don't know if I would have known about you without social media. Right. Exactly. So you wouldn't be here.

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Mudwater gives back to the Berkeley Center for the science of using psychedelics to help treat individuals with mental health disorders. Go to mudwater.com that's MUDWTR. Use code CAM for 15% off your first order. And so what's your goals? Where do you see yourself headed? Yeah, kind of like we talked about on the run is I want to be involved in like the hybrid sport right now. So doing strength events, endurance events, when a couple more world's toughest, that'd be nice. And then as I get older into like my late 30s, I'd love to just take on like sky racing and ultra running.

So yeah, I'd love to just travel around and do the hardest endurance races in the entire world. I've already done some of them. I was telling you about the swim run world championship one. Yeah. So like to be able to go do that and like complete and finish like some of the hardest things. Like what would be the hardest? What do you have like in your mind?

What's the hardest endurance event? The Norseman triathlon is a pretty big one. And then like doing the Iron Man and Kona would be really cool. What's the first one you said, the Norseman? Yeah. So that's like the hardest triathlon that's, you know, people talk about all the time. How come? Why is it hard?

It's just it's the terrain. Just everything is pretty dang brutal. And then like jumping into things like I'd love to do Western States, Hard Rock 100. like that would be my goal and like, you know, five years. Yeah. Well, I mean, you know, yeah, your body can change, but your mentality is going to stay the same. Yeah.

So you have what it takes. Yeah. You know, it's just a matter of getting the train. So the more miles and training, like maybe 100 mile weeks, of course, you'd go down in size a little bit. But I just don't see. I think the mentality you have to win. Yeah.

That's the hardest thing. That's what people can't train. Yeah. You know, either have to me, either you have. have that heart of a champion or you don't. Yeah. You can tweak your body. You can look at, I mean, I see, I've seen a lot of people in shape who you can't, actually,

to be truthful, you can't judge much on just looking at somebody. Right. Yeah, we talked about it. Let's all show no go, right? Sometimes. Sometimes. But, you know, I, I just know, and there's a lot of events where you might have, oh, they're probably going to be great.

just because they look like they should be great, doesn't mean they're going to be great. So it's like to me, that point is, is like you have the mentality to win. And then it's just a matter of you build your body for certain events, for certain challenges to be the best in that one thing.

So I think with Ultra, yeah, you would just tweak your training. And I would think still be right up in the top. Yeah. I don't know. I would hope so. But yeah,

it's usually like the mind that goes first. So like when people ask me, it was the hardest about that swim run world championship or running for 24 hours. It's like your body, as long as there's no broken bones, it'll do what you tell it to. So it's usually the mind that goes first. And then if you can keep that strong, you can just keep going. Like we talked about you're going to pass out before you die. So I keep that in mind.

And you know what? How many people have you seen pass out? Exactly. No, I don't think any. Humans, they quit way before that shit's happening generally. You know, I mean, there's a few. I worry about Courtney sometimes pushing so hard. But yeah, in general, no, nobody's pushing that much.

So that mentality, yeah. Is there what's that, is there a double triathlon? Do they call it Ultraman? Have you ever heard of that? Yes, yeah. Yeah, that's the Kona one. Oh, it is. So that's the double one.

Yeah, that's the one that's out in Hawaii. And it's called Ultraman? Yeah. I think so. I think we're talking about the same thing. I don't know. I mean, I know they have the... Because it's the double distance of everything.

Yeah. Right. I know I've heard Rich Roll talk about it. Yeah. I think he did it. Yeah. It's crazy. I had a professor in college who actually did it twice.

I think he DNF the first time and then finished the second, which is just so cool. Yeah. And you were also talking about, weren't you talking about Leadman? Oh, yeah. So next year I really want to jump into Ledman, which is the Leadville 100 run and then also Leadville 100 mountain bike race. So back-to-back weekends. We talked about you get like a huge hatchet. That's all I want. So like if I could just complete that and get that, you know, big hatchet, that'd be pretty cool. It'd be a fun day. And I mean, you bike a lot too. So.

Yeah. So usually when like my mileage goes up for running kind of just to keep the pounding off my body, because I'm a little bit heavier for an ultra runner is to bike. So it's biking and climbing a ton, either on my single speed or going out for a three-hour ride climbing, you know, four or five thousand feet on my road bike. And where, and you're in Boulder? In Boulder, Colorado, yeah.

So do you feel like that high elevation training pays off in the races? Yeah, definitely. I mean, when you come down to sea level, which is where most of my races happen, except for, you know, in telly ride and mountain towns,

but it, it pays off a ton. So you feel like you can breathe, like the air is a little bit, you know, thinner, you can breathe it in. So how is it,

How was it here? Because this is low. How was it yesterday? Yeah, it was pretty good. The heat was hard and it got hot. Yeah. So I jumped in the creek. I know. That river felt good, I bet. Uh-huh. Yeah, I just, I dipped my hat in there. But yeah, that's like my go-to on a hot run across town. I'm thinking of that river because it just cools down the core. And then we came here. We had steak. And, but before we had steak, we did the cold plunge. And oh, my God.

By that time, I'd cool down. It was cold. Those ice bass were cold. I don't know how many bags of ice she put in, but she did a good job. Yeah, I mean, there's no ice in there, but God dang, that water was freezing. Yeah. Man, what a, I just can't believe, I mean, as disciplined as you are, I shouldn't be surprised how good a shot you were. Yeah.

But to get out there at 111 yards and do what she did. That's impressive. That's right. That's the record. I was like, I have to get that. I'll be out there all day before I give up. No, we, yeah, it didn't take all day. You're a great shot.

But so what's your, you've hunted a little bit before? Yep. So my brothers both hunt back in Iowa, mostly deer. But we're going to go get a bear, right? I want to. Yeah. If you're down, I'm down. Of course.

We're going to go bear hunting? Of course. Uh-huh. What do you like about shooting a bow? I mean. So like, oh, like I was telling you, I did the tactical games last weekend. Yeah.

And there's something about just like shooting. And then when you hit the target, it's so rewarding. So like you put an effort, you make corrections, things like that. And then when you finally get it, it's just like, it's like being on top of the podium. Like nothing feels better. So I couldn't imagine like, you know, hitting your target, hitting the animal. That just has to be a different feeling. Yeah.

And also the bringing the meat home. Yeah. You know, like being, I think there's something powerful about being a provider. Yeah. You know, so when you can sit down to a meal and it's an animal that you killed, you processed, right? You, it's in your freezer. You cook it. And then it's just like, that's, to me, that's, you know, the human existence is relying on providers.

Oh, yeah. And I think there's something powerful. And then if you could go up in that, the bear hunt is like I explained to you, it's, It's a great first bow hunt because it's, you know, how I like to hunt them with new bowhunters is on the ground close, get that. I mean, I think there's something special about being close to a wild animal. But with bear specifically is identifying that it's a male as opposed to a female because most people look at a bear, a bear is a bear.

Oh yeah, that's what I would think. Right. But there's, you know, there's little signs to look for that differentiate the two sexes. And so we want to kill old male bear. And it's, it's fun just to be there with somebody and just watch the emotions and the ups and downs and the excitement. And then when it comes down to crunch time and pulling that bow back and actually mean something. Right. Right. You know, because practice is practice. Right. That means something, but not like killing an animal. Yeah. That'd be so cool. Yeah. I couldn't imagine. Well, we're going to do it. And then like,

it makes sense why you climb all these mountains and carry heavy weight up. Like, you know, we carried this big go-rack sandbag up like being able to like haul that meat out haul that animal out yeah that's gonna be hard it's all part of it and as i explained it's like the endurance training that we do it's uh you know most people go on a hunt and after the first couple days are pretty fatigued because the mountains will do that yeah and um i feel like you know you start off at 100% which each day that goes by you haven't trained for it your ability's going down and your decision making is going down. And I've seen plenty of guys where, you know,

if you're on a mountain hunt and they're fatigued, they know where they should go to give themselves the highest opportunity of success, but instead they take shortcuts because they're tired. Yeah. So, and when you take shortcuts, you're going to screw up. The wind's going to give you up. The animals might see you.

But yeah, so it's just, I mean, I feel like with your training, you're built for just enduring and then on a hunt you just have to it's based on the decisions you make and looking at things objectively not having your physical condition weigh in on that

right right yeah that makes sense yeah I mean I've just seen a lot of people fail because and people don't like to admit it that they should have worked harder right but there's just the way it goes that's usually how it is with everything yeah yeah you

uh oh one thing that was pretty impressed too is like you shot my bow so your i don't know heavy bow it's pretty impressive how ambidextrous you are yeah you know because you said you yesterday you said your left eye dominant so that means okay we got to shoot a left-handed bow but you do most most things right-handed right yeah the only things i do left-handed are shooting uh bow rifle and playing hockey so in that in your tactical games did you shoot left-handed yep oh you did okay but it was i used all my my my brother's guns since I was back in Iowa and it's set up for a righty. So that was like a little tricky, but I just, I'm so left eye dominant that I can't shoot the other way. So yeah, you mentioned your

siblings. Did you guys push each push each other growing up? Like did you compete against each other? Oh yeah. So I'm one of six. I'm the bottom. So I'm five out of six. And when I was growing up, we're all two years apart. And so my sister's right above me. And because, like, like both my parents coached us in most sports. Like my dad always coached me in hockey. I always played two grade levels up starting when I was like in probably second or third grade. So always two grade levels up in softball and hockey.

Basically any sport, that was a team sport. And so I think that also made me who I am today because I had to push harder. Like, you know, playing with, you know, when I'm eight and everybody's 10, that's a big difference with development and everything. So I kind of had to step up my game. because there was no excuses for being younger. What would your dad?

Sometimes you probably got beat up a little bit, right? Oh, yeah, for sure. What would your dad tell you? Especially in hockey too when I'm like a smaller athlete out there. But yeah, just suck it up. I grew up in a very suck it up mentality household. So work harder. No excuses.

No excuses. There was never any excuse for it. So how come he coached hockey? Did he love hockey growing up? Yeah. So he played hockey. Both my brothers played hockey and then me and my sister right above me played hockey. Is hockey big in Iowa?

Not super big. That's why I played with all the boys growing up. There wasn't all women's teams. You get into like Minnesota and then East Coast is more popular. There's, you know, women's travel teams, things like that. But yeah, so like, you know, if you're going to, you have to check boys, you'll start fights with them, things like that. Like I spent a lot of time in the penalty box like I was dead. Yeah, yeah.

My dad's favorite story. that he always loves to tell is I was in high school. I think I was a freshman. And I always played defense. So when you're playing defense and they're skating at you, you find the right moment to step up. Oh, you said you played left. Lefty.

Right, okay. So, like, you find that moment to step up and check and take the puck away. So when I did that one game, it was right next to the other team's box. So when I hit him, he fell into the box. And so he got out and he's like super embarrassed and he's mad. So he starts coming at me, starts swinging. So we started getting in a fight. Really?

And I found like he fell forward and I took his jersey like they do in the movies and threw it over his head just to embarrass him even more. And we both got thrown in the penalty box and I was just so mad because it's like he started this with me, right? And my dad at that point, he wasn't my coach in high school. And so he was working the penalty box. And he said, I got in the penalty box and he's like, I've never heard anybody, man or woman, curse and say every word under God's green earth before. So he's just like, I was. Yeah, it was me because I was just so angry that I got the penalty. So he loves telling that story because it's just, it was pretty funny.

And like my whole team's cheering. Like everybody's like, they're loving it when he flipped over the boards. Oh, I bet. So that, so yeah, I mean, you can't, you can't act through a competitive spirit like that. Yeah. I mean, that says a lot right there. That's probably why your dad like, you said your dad loves that story. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah. He loves sharing it. Yeah, because I mean, that in a nutshell, that explains you pretty much. Would you say? I would say so. Yeah. It's just I just didn't anticipate hockey

to be big in Iowa. But yeah, because out here, I don't think anybody plays hockey. No, West Coast is not near as popular. It's more like Midwest and the East Coast.

East Coast is huge, yeah. Yeah, I know. Yeah, it's kind of like, it's weird because lacrosse is big back east. And then out here, not a lot. Yeah. We didn't have lacrosse. No.

No. What was your favorite? was hockey your favorite in high school? But you said you dove too. I didn't, what was that about? Yeah, so swimming and diving. I didn't love getting up at 4 a.m. and swimming every morning. So I was like, I'm going to dive because they practice after.

So I would actually go in the morning. I'd stop to go in the morning and swim. And then I would dive in the afternoon. And so, yeah, my sister was the swim and dive coach when I was in high school. So that made it fun. Was she good? She was a good diver, yeah. And what she did?

How, I mean, did she go to college to do it? No, she didn't go to college to do it, but she, like, made state almost every year placed there. Yeah. What was your go-to dive? Who? I liked a forward one and a half with a twist. It just looks pretty. Really?

Yeah. So you do a flip, you twist, and then you do a pretty dive. Yeah. How do you get good at that? Just practice? Just practice. Just over and over? Yeah.

Do you guys ever practice, like, in, like, tumbling? Yeah, and like foam pits and stuff. Oh, you do? Okay. I never did. I mean, a lot of the divers grew up as gymnasts. I was never a gymnast. So it was just like you keep going.

You smack. You do it again. You know, if you hit the water hard. And you did all the time too, which it hurts. I bet. I know. I've seen some. Well, I've done.

You've had your fair share. Who hasn't belly flopped? But I used to try to do flips and stuff off the bridge, I swimming holes. Oh, nice. You know when you. screw something out. Oh yeah, it hurts. Yeah, I was going to also, so you said that was one thing that reminded me, you said a lot of divers are gymnasts. You said if you were going to get into

CrossFit, you'd have to work on gymnastics, right? Gymnastics, yeah. Like, unfortunately, like, I grew up and I was a tomboy and so, like, wearing like a leotard and like things like that. It was just like, now I don't want to do gymnastics. Looking back, I wish I would have because it definitely helps with skills for CrossFit and just like body awareness and everything. So if there's one sport I could go back and do, it would be gymnastics. Can you do handstands? Yeah, I can do handstands, handsstand walks, handsand pushups. They're just not as good as they should be.

We did a little push-up routine last night. That was pretty good one. That was fun. That was fun. I'll add that into my routine. One thing that you said last night was that you don't do a ton of pushing. Yeah. Right?

Mm-hmm. So in obstacle course racing, a lot of it's like, upper body strength and it's mostly pulling. So going across rigs, like pull up strength is more important than push. There's not a lot of push movements that we do. Maybe getting the sandbag up and that's about it. So in the gym, especially when I'm training for these races, it's more pull work than push. But push work is fun.

I, like, I would love to bench more if it makes sense. Shooting a bow. I mean, you are, it's like a weird technique, but you are pushing with kind of one hand. And then I was telling you today, mostly it's like once you get that, then it's just holding you with your back. Right. So, I mean, a lot of back work in the gym helps bow shooting. I'm just like the regular bench curl guy. Which is great.

I mean, that helps. It's something. It's something. I don't know if it's great. Well, with the bow, you're kind of pushing and pulling. But yeah, it definitely uses such different muscles. So if I were to shoot more, which I plan to, I'm going to have to like. work on those muscles a little bit in the gym because the fatigue is real like shoulders everything well you

I mean you stayed strong today the whole I was tried at 111 yards yeah you can't if you're fatigued you're not going to hit that thing no no no no and you were all around I mean we had a couple groups who was like all around so close I wanted that was like that damn balloon's going down and then I think was it the first arrow on that last group yeah yeah so I hit it at 100 and then we moved back and I was like it was the first arrow. Yeah. That felt good. I was like, oh my God.

Sweet. I love that. Well, I'm so excited to share that you have your own bow. Yeah. And you learn from the herd bull. I call Wayne. He hates this part. But like, you know, a herd of elk, you got the bowl that runs it.

Yeah. I said, I told Wayne, he's the herd bowl. So. I mean, he's phenomenal. Like I've been, like I told you into a lot of bow shops in Colorado and they're great, but he was phenomenal. Like just all the tips and tricks and just like the whole process. He was, he was great.

You said you train some hunters, right? Yeah. So I have some clients who backcountry hunt. And so I train them up to be able to, you know, the endurance and then the strength to carry out the animals. So that's really fun. Yeah. You said they're good guys. Yeah, they're great guys.

And they're going to love this. Well, yeah, tell them. I said what's up. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, you have a wide, you appeal to a. wide range of people, but I wouldn't think that backcountry hunters would be, but it's good to hear. Well, I mean, they need a train too, right? And like, I do strength and endurance, and that's what they need. So it's kind of a good fit. Yeah. I think everybody in life needs strength and endurance. I think being

strong, what was the saying we were saying? Strength is never a weakness. Strength is never a weakness. Or I'd rather be dead than average. Yeah, both of those. That was the gym saying last night at like 10.30. Thanks, Mark Bell. I know. We were having. I was basically stalling, telling stories. So I could like, we did, you know, my normal tent sets of 10. And I was, I felt like I was being a fucking pussy, to be honest. So if I. Well, after that, I mean, the hot run and stuff, like the fatigue was real.

Yeah, yeah. I just thought that if I could buy myself a few more times, a few more stories, then maybe I could get a couple more reps. And then once it got down to those last ones, that's when it felt so good. I love I love being I love pushing to failure yeah I don't know I don't know I can see that I don't know yeah it's just it just feels good it's like finally you put in all the other shit when you're fresh I mean you had a saying today what was that saying no one cares what you can do fresh right that was the saying for the go wreck games exactly yeah this last this last one so that you know it's true like anybody when they're fresh mentally physically can do a lot, right? It is when you get past that point where things start to go, the body starts to get fatigue,

the mind starts to feel weak, that's what it matters. Yeah, that's what I think. And anything in life, even competition or just like day-to-day stuff you have to deal with. Yeah. So, yeah, when I can get through,

push through and everybody else would be fresh and it's all good, everybody's good, because everybody likes to do, what, three sets of 10? Yeah. On bench or on whatever movement they're doing. And usually that three sets of 10 is like,

just starting to feel it. Right. You're just starting and you're quitting now. So when I think of that like last night when we got to those final ones, I'm like finally, got 98 reps down these two. And so we did go, we went slow and just felt them. Well, I did that first and you made me redo it. And I was like, all right, we'll savor it.

Felt good, didn't it? Have you ever done the 10 by 10 with the back squat? Squats? Yeah. So that, oh yeah, spots. We don't squat. Leg press. You do leg press.

You saw what I did for legs. That was my leg workout. Running up mountains, carrying weight, that is legs. I will say, we went up to super steep hill to start, and you were fucking grinding. I was like, oh, my God, I'm so screwed today. Because after that, I was like, I am so screwed. I started off a little hot. I was like, I had no idea how far we were going, what distance, anything.

So I was like, okay, maybe it's not that far. So we're just going to gun it up this mountain. You did. You did. It looked cool, but. It looked cool. It looked good. It's like, but I was worried at that time.

So, yeah. But you didn't know. I mean, how far did we run? What was it? It's like 13. Yeah. 13 and a half. 90 degree day running along on asphalt for some of it.

Yeah, the highway section was pretty rough. A couple summits. Yep. You're, you are. I mean, I'm not, like I said, I've said it many times. I'm not surprised, but it's, you know, it's, you know, because I've followed you, I've seen it, and it's just like you're everything that you sell yourself out.

Well, I mean, it's easy to fake stuff too, but that's not my game. So it's always just about being authentic online because I think that's people can tell. I'm a poser. What? You are a poser. I don't do that shit.

I do that just for the camera. Didn't you know that? But, you know, I debated that. I was like, I wonder if this is going to be as hard or it's going to be more for the camera because I've been in both kind of situations. And I'll tell you, like, you don't fake it. Like, this, this was, that was a hard training day.

And I appreciate it. So nothing was done for the camera. Don't be ruining me. We need to, we need those guys that say I'm a poser to still have their, a little bit of hope. Yeah? So don't screw it up. Okay.

Because I was kidding. Without them talking shit about me, what would they have? Right, exactly. I mean, so we need to have, let them be a little happier. So here's your brand new Hoyt. Look at this. It's beautiful. Yeah.

She's sexy. I know. Oh, she is. And like, so we'd say, see that all black, you know what we call that? Or the kids call that? You're a kid. Murdered out. Oh, murdered out.

Isn't that murdered out? I'm loving listening to all the sayings and phrases you've learned. It's so fun. I'm old. I've been around. So when you're around for decades and decades of decades, you hear a lot of shit. Yeah. I mean, you said some yesterday I haven't even heard of.

And I was like, oh, wow. You're woke. You're fucking too young. Too young. Thank you. Katie, I mean, this has been, I've had so much fun. I love training hard and you love training hard. So it's been just a, I mean, great experience.

So thank you for coming. I'm happy that you're taking a bow home or I'm going to send it to you actually. And we're going to do a bear hunt. Yeah, I'm down. Thank you so much. This has been so much fun. I love to train hard. So this was like a perfect fit.

It was a good day. Yesterday was a great day. Today was super fun with the bow. So thank you, thank you. Well, thanks for coming. And we'll do it again. Yeah. All right.

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