Keara Napoli | The Clydesdale Media Semifinalist Series

We catch up with Keara Napoli for the 3rd year in a row as she makes her way back to the North America East Semifinals and the Syndicate Crown.  Now with TTT what has that done for her preparedness going into this season and what are her goals now.

What is Clydesdale Media Podcast?

We cover the sport of CrossFit from all angles. We talk with athletes, coaches and celebrities that compete and surround in the sport of CrossFit at all levels. We also bring you Breaking News, Human Interest Stories and report on the Methodology of CrossFit. We also use the methodology to make ourselves the fittest we can be.

I was born to kill it.

I was meant to win.

I am down and willing,

so I will find a way.

It took a minute,

now it didn't have to ride away.

When it get hot in the kitchen,

you decide to stay.

That's how it win us, man.

Stick a fork in the hay to ruin my day.

What is going on, everybody?

Welcome to the Clydesdale Media Podcast,

where we are featuring the

athletes of the 2024

CrossFit Games Semifinals.

And I'm excited for this one.

I get to talk to Kira Napoli.

Kira, how are you doing?

I'm so good.

Thank you so much for having me.

Of course, of course.

We met a couple years ago on this podcast.

Got to hang out at the

semifinals a little bit.

You're one of my...

Greatest memories in CrossFit.

Oh, well, that's so sweet.

Thank you.

That was,

this was like my first ever real

interview for CrossFit too.

So it's very,

very special because that was

my first time ever

competing at that semis two years ago.

Do you remember what

happened at that semifinal

during the lifting event?

Oh,

that is burned in my memory is like one

of my favorite CrossFit events ever.

It was my first time.

And the fact that it started

with that was amazing.

And at the time I was doing

proven compete and Tia was

right there behind me.

And I remember in practice I had hit 220.

So I knew I wanted to hit that.

And once I got it, my second set,

I was like,

Okay.

And I, and it was so funny.

I was kind of looking around to see who,

maybe I could ask for some

advice and Tia happened to be there.

And I just asked her, I was like, can I,

uh, I was like, what do you think?

Should I, should I go up?

And she was like, how'd,

how'd the first bar feel?

I'm like, good.

And she was like, yeah, go up by 10.

And then I hit 220.

And then it's like, okay,

I think I'm going to go up by five.

And I just remember, um,

All I knew,

I didn't know what the first heat got.

I knew that Kalerino was competing.

So I figured she would hit a huge number.

So I just wanted to focus on

winning my heat.

And I saw the girl miss 225.

So I was like, Oh,

I gotta hit this like this would be huge.

And I remember

like the cleans felt fantastic.

I was able to power clean the first two.

And I remember sitting on my

shoulder before the jerk

and I could just hear Tia yelling, like,

come on.

I'm like,

you cannot miss with Tia watching you.

Like you cannot miss this bar.

So hitting that, like, oh, it was so cool.

It's such a rush.

It was the coolest way to

start like my competitive

CrossFit career.

So what was crazy for me is

I was standing beside Tia

in the media pit while all

this is happening.

And she's just like pumping you up.

Like she's turning to me

like she's going to be really good.

She's good.

She's really strong.

She's got this and just

going on and on and on.

And then I talked to you afterwards.

And when you told me it was all a surprise,

it's one of the coolest

memories I have ever in CrossFit.

Oh, well, thank you.

That, that means so much to me.

It was very, it was very cool for me too.

It was awesome.

So at that point you had

just come out of softball college,

you were jumping on a

competition floor and you

had played softball at a

very high level in college

for 15 years and we're now

switching sports and you

actually had an amazing

first year at semifinals.

Yes.

Oh, thank you.

I, yeah,

it went way better than I expected.

So I was, I was pumped about it.

Couldn't be happy.

I think I was just,

just out of the top half.

I think it was like 16th.

That was when they had 30 there.

Um,

but at the time I could barely do a

muscle up.

Like I could barely do gymnastics.

So to finish where I did, I was,

I was thrilled.

So then you go to Orlando last year.

And one of my team caught up

with you after Linda

actually have that interview right here.

my gosh uh so I'm gonna play

it and then we'll talk

about it after okay okay

you are our dark horse to

win this event I'm so

excited that was so fun and

honestly like seeing the

women in my heat I was like

oh my god I'm working out

with like the well sisters

this is crazy and kind of

actually next to me who I

always looked up to and

she's my jam back home and

she's so strong so it's

really fun being next to some

someone so strong and I knew

she was going to kill it.

So for me,

that was just about staying in my lane.

Even when I heard like

Brooke was ahead of me,

I know you don't win that

workout in round seven.

I just had to stay steady on the bar.

Don't try to get cocky and

do touch and go in the beginning.

You're going to tire yourself out.

And then ending up breaking

the deadlifts actually

ended up being really good

because your grip was

pretty tired going into the event.

So when I did the deadlift, I was like,

let me do a set and some singles.

And it ended up paying off

because in the later rounds,

I felt really, really good.

And I was able to go touch

and go at the end.

So that was just so cool.

I've never had a heat wave

so I was so cool.

I knew that was a lie

because I did have a heat

win technically with my complex,

but I think that one was so

different because it was

like 20 people and it was

heat two and it just felt ginormous.

So like winning out of 20

really fit girls in the second heat

that one actually was by far

my favorite like that was

the because it was also the

crowd was just right there

and I could just see like

all these people yelling

and I'm like oh this is so

cool my family was right

there so I saw my sister

jumping up and down and my

mom and my aunt and like I

was staring at them the

whole time like on my last

one so that one was just

like extra special.

So

You finished fourth overall in that event.

Yes.

Super impressive in Linda.

A question for you.

Yeah.

Because of what happened in

Europe this last weekend,

if you would have been in

the same heat as the three

women that finished ahead of you,

would it given you a shot

to finish higher?

Probably.

I think the only one that

would have been tough,

was Amanda, that one,

cause she really smashed it.

She was like a minute faster than me.

But oh yeah,

when you have the girls next to you, like,

oh, you just, you push so much harder.

Even when I had fast people next to me,

once I got a lead,

I just made sure I'm like, don't lose it.

Like keep the same distance apart.

So sometimes when you're at that place,

it helps push you to stay in front.

And if I had been in the last heat,

I definitely think,

so I think maybe a second

place finish I could have got.

Yeah,

because Amanda was so... She won

worldwide.

I think she won worldwide on that one.

But she was so fast.

But the other scores were

like 20 seconds off.

So that's just little things

that you push a little bit.

I think I was mostly focused

on staying in my lane and

winning my heat.

But yeah, if I'd have been in the last one,

definitely.

So there's been a lot of

talk over the last couple

days about Europe not

reseating on the last day.

And that... And I think

yesterday on Death By...

uh all three of the

panelists said it's going

to cost somebody a trip to

the games because they're

not going to have that

opportunity to be against

the people that they

deserve to be up against

yeah in that final heat uh

to be able to make sure

that they do what they need

to do to get in the games

yeah that was and honestly

I was kind of shocked that

Europe got less spots.

I think they deserved more.

They're a very, very fit region.

That's the one that,

looking at all the scores

for quarters in the Open,

Europe's where I would have

finished the lowest.

And I think it's the same

case for a lot of people.

So I was a little bit hurt

for some of the people,

especially the guys.

I was watching a little bit

because I really was

wanting to watch Linda

because she's a TTT athlete

and I was so excited for her.

But I didn't get the chance.

I just saw today, I was like, oh,

I didn't know Janikowski didn't make it.

and it just shows you like

how fit people are and how

hard the sport is getting

and it's anyone you can't

have a bad event anymore

especially with how they

made it this year with

cutting it and making it

less people making it less

workouts especially for

quarters you really

couldn't have a bad workout

or because there's some

very fit girls I know who

didn't even make semis this year

It's an interesting dynamic,

and we don't need to get

into all that because I

want to talk about you mostly.

But I think you're in the

toughest division in the world.

Oh, thank you.

You can say that you would

have finished lower in Europe.

The tests were not complex enough,

in my opinion,

to determine that up to this point.

Yeah, I agree.

I think quarters was purely –

my opinion it was purely

engine I mean even the

barbell workout I don't

believe was a test of

strength I think you had

lactic acid build up in the

legs but I think it was

much much much more about

breathing because I was

just remembering that

workout I was like so out

of breath but I like

barbell cycling but I think

we really didn't have a

true test of strength this

year um I was a little bit

shocked by that and I think

that really fluctuates for

a lot of people yeah I felt like

quarters two years ago was

the one that was very well-rounded.

It had some max lifts.

It had some gymnastics.

It had a power output.

We really haven't had a

power output event either.

And that's always something

that like fluctuates.

I think the East has a lot

of really powerful girls.

Um, so does Europe,

but it was definitely hard

to judge this year.

Cause I felt like all the

workouts are very, very engine based.

Yeah.

I think, I think strength wise,

Europe probably is a little

less than America.

Um, but then you see five foot one, um,

Elisa Fuliano when the

snatch ladder and you're like, so anyway,

she, and she is tiny.

She is.

I've stood beside her.

She is as tiny as they come.

So strong though.

Oh, just she crushed that workout.

It was awesome.

so so back to you you

switched to ttt from proven

I did and was that before

semis last year or after so

I was just following proven

compete so I didn't really

have a coach or anything I

was just following a

program so I followed that

for about two years.

And I'd say it was about a

month before semis last

year and around quarters time,

it was actually Max who was

talking to Travis and said, you know,

how come Kira hasn't gotten a coach yet?

Like, I'm very curious about that.

And Trav was actually very

right when he told him,

I think she wants someone

that she knows and knows her pretty well,

not just like a stranger.

And he's absolutely right.

So I was actually the one

who decided to ask Travis to coach me.

So TTT coaches were pretty booked.

They were pretty full.

And I know that they all,

it's kind of like a unit here.

Everyone helps out each other.

So like Adam was helping me

coach me today.

So I figured I knew Travis

would want to get into coaching.

So I thought I'm just going

to ask him the worst he can say is no.

So I asked him, he was like,

I'll talk to Max about it and see.

And he came back to me a

couple of days later.

He's like, yeah, let's do it.

Like I would love to do it,

but let's start after semis.

He's like,

just keep doing what you're doing.

So I would jump into some of

the workouts with TTT,

but for the most part,

I was just getting ready

for semis on my own.

And then,

he would text me a little

bit during semis if I

needed any help but I

really started to like kick

it into gear after semis

last year so I've been with

him about a year now wow I

mean what is there a cooler

coach than that

No, it's, it's, it's been the best.

It's awesome.

I think it's like a learning

experience for him too.

Cause he hasn't, I know he's coached,

like he's a coach at our gym.

So he's great at coaching that,

but I don't think he's

coached a competitive athlete before.

And I was like, I'll be your test dummy.

That's fine.

Like, I don't care.

I've known him a long time

and I wanted to learn from

someone who has a lot of

experience in the sport.

To me,

it's all about getting to kind of

relate to somebody and

someone understanding how I'm feeling.

And he's been doing this 13 years.

So there was no one better.

And I figured he would learn,

I would learn as well.

And it's been awesome.

I've gotten to learn from

all the coaches here.

They're fantastic.

And getting to work with him has just been,

it's been a joy.

He's very similar to me personality wise.

So I think that's why I like it so much.

So are you from the Alpharetta area or...

Yes, I live like 10 minutes from the gym.

Your whole life?

Yes.

Wow.

Yeah,

so I've known Travis since high school.

So I would come in here,

like work out a little bit

when I was playing softball.

And then when I was home for

summer breaks and winter breaks,

I would hop into the gym.

And then once I graduated in 2021,

I moved back to Alpharetta.

So now I'm really shocked

you ever went with Proven.

Yeah,

I think it's because when I was in

college, I...

wanted something to follow

online and my friend had

said good things about us.

I'm like, great, I'll do it.

And it was great.

It was hard.

It was challenging.

Um,

and I had the chance to meet great

people there at all the camps,

but I really wanted someone

just in person.

I really wanted someone that

I could actually see

several times a week who I

could work with.

And it definitely was a good decision.

And so you didn't have to

move or anything like, yep.

Got to stay here, which is great.

I got very lucky.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Um,

So going back to your Instagram,

like you shout Travis out a lot.

Um, and you know,

a coach athlete

relationship has to be a

close one because you have

to be able to say what you

need to say in both directions.

Yeah.

Um, you said you've known him a long time.

Did you feel comfortable

from day one being able to

have those conversations?

Yes.

And I think we're still getting to, like,

we're still building it up.

Like,

I'm not at a point where we're close

enough yet to where I'll yell at him,

be like, what the heck were you thinking?

I think that is one of those

when it takes time.

Like he said, him and Max,

who've been working together forever,

like there'll be times that

of course they butt heads about things,

but for the most part, I just trust him.

I listen to what he has to say.

I'll ask him questions.

I'm not afraid to ask him questions,

let him know how I'm feeling.

So yeah,

So far it's been really, really great.

And I really loved it.

I learned a lot from him and he just,

he's very good too at keeping me calm.

I get really,

really nervous because even

though I was a pitcher,

this is a very individual sport.

So pitching was kind of both.

So I do think that helped me,

but this is purely

individual and I'll get really,

really nervous for

qualifiers sometimes and things.

He's very good at keeping me calm.

I'm very good at making it fun.

And that's the most important thing.

So if I'm not having fun doing this,

I wouldn't do it.

So how much,

how much is your training

partner and coach or are you,

do you work out more with

other athletes that are there?

So normally I train before

and after work or I'll do

one big session after work.

So around one semis workouts

got released and we were

focusing on like those movements.

I really could get

everything in and one pretty big sex,

big session.

What I started doing is, um,

One day a week,

I will go to work an hour early.

I'll leave during the day

and then I'll come here and

jump in with athletes here.

So that's Jake, Matt Gilpin, Travis,

Alexis, Lydia, and Ashley,

I think are all the people

here who qualified.

Linda went back to Europe,

so she wasn't here for

majority of semi stuff.

So I'll jump in with them once a week.

And then normally on Saturdays,

I'll jump in as well.

And then the other days I'm on my own.

And with Travis,

do you ever train with him

or does he just like give

you your workout?

Cause he's got a family too,

that he's going to take care of.

Total mix, total mix.

So he'll sometimes jump in with me.

Um, like today I worked out with him, um,

but then he's going to have

to do the other workouts later.

I did one just now and

Saturdays I normally am with him as well.

And sometimes you do different things,

but a lot of times he'll

just give me something to do.

Like I need to work on

different things than him.

a lot of times.

And yeah, very similar.

He's got a family, I have a job.

So we kind of have to work

around that as best as possible.

But like for quarters,

there was times that he was

there and able to watch

every single movement of

event and talk to me in between.

And then there were times when he was like,

Hey, I am here with the kids.

Like,

can you just technically have any

questions about the workout?

Let me know how it goes.

Um, but it's been great.

It's like,

I knew that coming into it and

he knew I was pretty

similar to him where I don't need

especially during competition.

I don't need, okay, we need to do this,

this, this, this, and this.

Like once I'm there, it's like,

we got a plan.

I know what it is.

I just got to do it.

So I'm pretty similar to him

in that when it's time to compete,

I just compete.

I feel prepped going up to it.

So a couple of questions.

So first of all,

what do you do to support yourself?

I work for a nonprofit

called cell phones for soldiers.

So that's a nine to five Monday to Friday.

Um, I do marketing for them, emails, calls,

and I basically give

veterans phones and phone service.

So that's what I do.

I activate veterans on phone

plans and ship those out

throughout the week.

So I love it.

It's great.

It's very rewarding.

Is,

is there a goal to become a full-time

athlete?

No, I like working.

That's one thing.

I think it keeps me,

I don't think it's for everybody.

I totally understand the athletes.

Like obviously Lex, I get it.

This is her full-time thing,

her full-time job.

I understand she's one of

the best in the world.

Like it has to be.

For me, I think working keeps me sane.

I see working out in the gym

as a joy instead of like, oh God,

I gotta be in here all day.

And I like having a steady income.

So I think for me, it keeps me normal.

And I think it works for my brain.

I think otherwise I would go

a little bit too nuts and

too crazy in my head.

I think some of the best in

the world have to be a little bit.

And I get it.

But I like having a full-time job.

I want to really focus on

building a family and my

marriage and coming up,

which will be very soon.

So I want to make sure I

focus on all of that.

Don't skip ahead in my notes.

I know.

I was going to say.

Um,

it's funny because I co-host a show

with Carolyn Prevo and she

is a full-time teacher.

And for her, it's like,

it's all about efficiency, right?

I have this hour and that

hour and I get in,

I get my stuff done and I'm out.

Yep.

I talked to Scott Tetlow.

He's full-time service member, right?

He has one,

like one 90 minute segment in

the middle of the day for

his lunch that he gets his stuff in.

And then if he happens to

have another hour,

he'll go out to his garage

and work on holes.

Yep.

Like,

and neither one wanted any other way.

Yep.

I totally get it.

I relate to them so much.

I, it's, I don't know.

It's something about it.

Just,

it kind of gives you an escape and it

makes this feel more like a

blessing that I get to do it,

I guess is how I see it in my head.

And honestly, when I get to competition,

I'm so used to training tired that it's,

when I come to competition, like, man,

do I feel so fresh?

Cause I have no work.

Like I'll get, I'll get off for that.

And so it's very nice kind

of getting used to training

when your body's under fatigue,

you're mentally a little bit tired.

I think it makes me a little bit tougher.

Kind of also makes me shut

my brain off a little bit too.

So this is your best

finishing after quarters.

Yes.

Your three years.

Yes.

Um, by, by a good chunk.

Mm-hmm.

No max lift.

I was like my proudest thing.

I'm like,

there was not a single max lift

and it was my highest finish yet.

It was my proudest thing.

And as you're showing off the guns,

you are super strong.

Yeah.

You are very strong.

Thank you.

That's genetics.

I get very blessed.

It's a lot of hard work, but I,

I got strength has always

come a little bit more

easily to me just because of my,

my parents are both really strong.

So I got,

I got real lucky with the genetics there.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And so my question to you is

you now have seen the workouts for semis.

And if you look at kind of

your trajectory at semis,

I hate that the season

changes every year because

you finished 16th out of 30,

19th out of 60.

Yes.

So truly percentile wise, you got better.

Oh, much better.

Yeah.

Right.

Much better.

So both are on an upward trajectory.

What are your goals for this season?

This year was too,

with how hard they made it, I'm like,

okay, I want to make semis again.

I'm always very grateful to make it.

I think I have a lot of goals for myself.

I just keep them to myself.

Cause I'm like,

I don't want to be disappointed.

I, this is the most fit I felt.

This is like the first time where I'm like,

okay, I can maybe make the games.

Like I feel really, really good.

I feel very prepared.

But for me,

I'm very excited about Sunday

because those are three

workouts with three

movements that I've worked

so hard on this past year.

And I'm excited to test them.

And I'm kind of glad it's

like the first three

workouts are all about just

pacing and like,

kind of grinding through.

Whereas the last three,

I think are a lot about

strategy and being smart

and a lot about skills,

which I've worked a lot on.

So I'm excited.

Like, so for me, it's,

I want to do really well in

the first three workouts.

And then the last day I have

plans on them.

And if I can stick to my plans,

I will be very proud.

Like that is my, my biggest,

biggest thing.

I have like little goals for each workout.

And if I can stick to them,

I will be proud,

like no matter the outcome.

So one of the athletes I

talked to said that Sunday

is an execution day.

One,

the movements make it an execution day.

And two,

the nerves of Sunday are going to

make it an execution day.

Yes.

And so I like how you put it that like,

that's the day that you

have little goals and it's

stuff you've worked on.

We we've determined you're strong.

Yeah.

Are you strong in the snatch?

It's not my favorite lifts.

No, I,

but I've worked on it so much the

last year and I maxed my

snatch not long ago by like

over 10 pounds.

So now that I've hit heavier weights,

I feel more confident in it,

but it's not like a clean,

like if this had been a clean ladder,

it'd be no problem.

Just rip through.

But snatch is very technical.

It's very different.

You can't get away with just

brute strength.

You have to be strong everywhere.

You can't have any softness.

So especially like in the catch,

like where is it clean?

If you're a little bit forward,

you can correct it.

Can't really do that with a snatch.

It's much more technical.

So that one I have to be very,

very smart about just not rushing it.

It's actually one we just tested today.

And I definitely was like

rushing too much.

So I need to make sure that

one is about staying calm,

keeping my technique good

all the way throughout.

Europe went,

you get the chance to see them.

What I would take away on

that event is smooth as fast.

Oh, yeah.

Just no rushing.

I mean,

it does – I will say the changing

your own weights,

people don't realize your back is, like,

shot just because you're

bending over the whole time.

So that is definitely something that I,

like, noticed,

especially testing it all

the way through.

But I have to say I actually

hate going last.

I don't like it.

People like it because they're like,

we get to watch.

I'm like, no, I don't like it.

I think the middle is, like,

that sweet spot because you

get to watch and then you get to go.

Like,

we've just been sitting around

waiting and waiting and waiting,

and I'm just –

Last year we were first,

and I kind of liked it

because we were kind of the test dummies,

but everyone else was in

the same boat there.

So I prefer going first

because you can just knock it out.

But that's all right.

We got to watch people,

so we got to test it out.

But now I'm just in that waiting, anxious,

nervous period that I hate.

Yeah,

I talked to an athlete who's going

this weekend who said he

does not watch the full

workouts of anybody else.

He'll watch to see like –

how they handle things just

long enough to see like, okay,

30 inch step up or 30 inch

box jump with a step down.

How are they handling it?

Okay.

Now I know turn it off, you know, and, uh,

what's your approach?

Do you find yourself

watching more than that?

I'll watch a little bit.

I watched, I really wanted to watch Linda.

So I got to watch her go.

For me,

it was more like the holes in workouts,

like the running one.

I'm not watching because the

run is going to be

different for everybody.

So it doesn't matter.

I think it's hard to base

paces because everyone's

run is going to be completely different.

And then the second one,

it was more so watching for the layout.

I think a lot of us did.

And I was kind of like,

I'd watch like a round or two.

Okay.

How long is it taking them?

Okay, great.

But the last,

the last day was what I think

a lot of us would watch the most is okay.

How did people,

did girls break the muscle ups?

How fast were they biking?

Oh, on the handstand walks, is it,

you have to go on broken.

Is it 12 foot increments?

Like, so learning that kind of stuff.

watching um and the

snatching we didn't know we

knew years ago how they did

it but we weren't sure were

they gonna have five bars

or were they gonna have two

so stuff like that I

enjoyed watching but for

the most part I would watch

and cheer somebody on but

then you just overthink too

much if you watch too much

but that's just for me

Yeah,

it's going to be interesting with

that run event.

I talked to Peter Magda,

who I would say is a male version of you,

like loves to clean,

loves to clean a lot.

And my co-host Jamie asked him,

would you rather chase or

be chased in that event?

And he said,

I'd rather chase and be able

to push the cleans.

Yeah, I actually really like running.

So that was one of my best

finishes last year was the 800 for time.

I think I was a top 10

finish for me there out of 60.

I actually really like running,

which I think shocks people

because I do like lifting a lot,

but I will say testing it here.

Everyone's runs going to slow down.

But if you can keep the

cleans pretty fast and steady across,

I think that's going to be

a game changer.

And also just like not

falling off the runs too

much is another big thing in that.

We practice here, though,

we have a pretty hilly 800

and it's a totally

different feel from going flat.

So just because your legs

get spiked up for the clean and jerks.

So I was kind of happy to

practice on something a

little bit hillier.

Just now I feel like I'm

used to my heart rate

spiking and my legs getting jacked up.

So it's been good practice

here getting to do it that way.

So you were in that

Knoxville Coliseum a couple years ago.

Yes.

It's really not on a flat piece of land.

Nope.

Nope.

It is a little bit hilly around.

I don't know whether they're

going to have us run yet,

so I'm kind of curious.

I don't know either.

Yeah.

But I can't imagine... It is

a little bit hilly outside.

But nothing major,

but there would be an incline outside.

So I ask you,

would you rather chase or be chased?

Hmm.

I think I would... I don't know.

I think I would rather chase...

Just because when I'm training with Lex,

that's what it is.

But I will say it.

But when I do with her,

something about it is like, keeps me like,

okay, where's my distance from her?

Can I make it up here?

And I've enjoyed doing it that way.

I've gotten very used to it.

So I'm not sure.

I think it depends.

But I'd be nervous if I was

being chased the first

round because I went out way too hot.

That's what I'd be nervous about.

But if it was like the middle round,

I wouldn't mind being

chased down a little bit.

Okay.

We've talked some CrossFit stuff.

I want to get into some fun stuff.

Yes.

And I was skimming your Instagram.

And this really made my day.

And it is... I am a big Yellowstone fan.

oh I'm yeah some people

don't watch it and they had

no idea and I'm like oh

come on I want that bar she

wants the back that's what

I said tighter well it's

your lucky effing day

You understand that, didn't you,

you bow-legged bastard?

Do I look like my F-name's Peter,

you skunk-haired mother-effer?

Hey, man!

i I didn't want to curse

like I don't like to curse

on social media so I had to

take out all her cursing

but I knew from like last

december I i told my fiance

I'm like oh my gosh I am

dressing up as teeter for

halloween and he dressed up

as the bear it was so

perfect it was so fun the

actress actually reposted

my story and I was like yes

she saw it she approved it

was such a oh my gosh it

was so fun I actually like

dyed my hair pink

temporarily just for that

It is one of the best things

I've seen on the internet.

Thank you so much for doing it.

Oh my gosh.

I was so upset when people

didn't know who she was.

I was like, Oh, come on.

I promise you like watch Yellowstone.

You'll understand.

And, uh, it was,

it was so fun to just like,

I tried to talk like that

the whole night.

It was such a good time.

So the other thing we need

to talk about is a little more serious.

But there's a guy on his knee.

Is he asking for help up or

something else?

No, that's Billy.

We got engaged October of 2022.

And so it was a little while ago.

So it was a pretty long engagement.

But my sister graduated

college just this last,

like a few weeks ago, actually.

So we wanted to,

we got engaged early and

then we started planning summer of 2023.

Okay.

And I was like, all right,

let's book it in June 8th.

I think we'll be okay

because the latest semi has

been June 1st every weekend.

And I was getting real nervous.

I was like, oh no,

I really hope it doesn't overlap.

But yeah,

I was really hoping we'd be like

May 26th because that's

what we were the past two years.

But this year it will be competing.

And then that next weekend I get married.

It's a lot of emotions right now.

You're a CrossFitter now.

You do everything for time.

Oh my gosh.

Seriously.

I'm, I'm just a little,

I'm kind of like in a,

just days right now, even come home.

I found it's like, are you okay?

I'm like, no, I'm just not,

I'm like not here right now.

Cause it's nerves, it's stress,

it's excitement.

It's all the last minute details,

but I have an amazing mom

and sister who planned

pretty much the whole wedding.

So they're kind of dealing

with all that small stuff for me.

So I can, and my bridesmaids,

they're all like,

what do we need to help you with?

So you can

focus, compete, and then,

and not have to stress about anything.

So I'm very lucky.

I've got a really good group,

but I'm excited.

So I'll get to compete and

then just enjoy my wedding.

It's, it's going to be so fun.

So it's a great time of year

to get married.

My anniversary is this Friday.

Oh, congratulations.

How many years?

27 years.

Wow.

That's amazing.

Yeah.

27.

My parents,

I think just celebrated 30 in April.

Yeah.

30 years.

Yeah.

It's, it's been, it's, you know,

like anything, it has its seasons.

We have weathered all the

storms and I wouldn't want

to do it with anybody else.

I love it.

That's amazing.

Um,

and so it's a great time of year to do

that.

You're better off going a

little bit later because we

actually were living in

Florida when we got engaged,

but we're from Pennsylvania.

We did it on Memorial day

weekend to get an extra day vacation.

Yeah.

And now our anniversary

falls on Memorial day every year.

Oh my gosh.

And it's really hard to like

family schedule picnics and

we kind of get shoved to the side.

Yeah.

You know,

But then you'll never forget it.

You'll always remember it's

Memorial Day weekend.

I'll be honest with you.

For the first time ever,

because doing all these

semifinal interviews,

it crept up on me this year really fast.

Yep.

And my wife said to me Monday, hey,

what are we doing for anniversary Friday?

And I was like, oh, my gosh.

Oh, no.

Last minute, you just act like, oh,

I got everything planned.

You don't even worry about it.

It's going to be a surprise.

Well,

thank goodness it's not like 25 or 30,

right?

Like, yes.

Like it's an important one

and we'll go do some stuff for it.

But like those ones,

you have to do the big deal.

Definitely.

So awesome though.

But yeah.

Um, so that's really cool.

And how many people from the

gym are going to be at the wedding?

From the gym,

it's going to be Travis and his wife.

It's going to be Mike

McGoldrick and his wife, Brandy.

Miss Alexis Raptus is going to be there.

And then our friend Josh

Brandt from United is going to be there.

So that's going to be – sorry,

Chris just walked by.

So I think those are the

main people from the gym

because I actually am

mostly close with a lot of

my friends who just go to

United regularly.

We're in small groups together,

and those are – one of them

is in my wedding.

She will be nine months

pregnant at my wedding.

So that's super fun.

But, yeah, I kind of, like,

just started to get to know

some of the competitive athletes here.

But Lex and I have gotten –

really close the past two

months and she joined small

group and it's been such a

blessing to get to know her

outside of the gym such a

joy and same with travel I

was like gotta have trap

there and then I've known

mike and brandy a long time

as well so I really wanted

to have them there yeah

having someone nine months

pregnant that happened at

our wedding too oh gosh

don't tell me she went into

labor no no my

sister-in-law we were

sitting down at the head

table and we had this like

beautiful lattice work

behind us with all these

flowers she pulled her

chair out to sit down knocked it all over

Oh my gosh.

Oh my gosh.

But if you don't have those stories,

like the best, you really get married.

No.

Yeah.

Something, something's bound to go wrong.

That's what I have to tell

myself in my head.

Cause I'm like,

I just want everything to be perfect.

And it's not,

everyone told me something will go wrong.

It is okay.

Like, don't let my friends at her wedding.

They forgot the wedding

coordinator forgot to give

the best man the rings.

So when they had to do the

rings on the finger,

they had to like pretend

and just put like invisible

rings on each other's hands.

So I was like, okay,

I need to make sure that

best man has the rings.

Got it.

But knowing Billy and I,

something stupid is going to happen,

but that's okay.

That's what makes us us.

So I'm excited.

My biggest faux pas was I

stepped on my wife's train.

Yeah.

Went to the reception,

ripped her dress off.

And you could see her underwear.

Oh, thank goodness.

Our seamstress was invited to the wedding.

Oh my gosh.

Thank God.

We immediately went into the

kitchen and stir up real fast.

Yeah.

And then we went about the

rest of the night.

And now you look back at it and laugh.

I'm sure.

Oh yeah.

Yeah.

Like again, that's what makes,

at least we have the stories, right?

Oh, for sure.

That's what you need.

Everything, everything,

something funny happens at every wedding.

And I think that's what makes it special.

Well, as always,

this was a blast talking to you.

Thank you so much for having me.

I'm super excited.

You're always in my picks

early on for these events

because I just see so much

potential every time I

watch you out on the floor.

Oh, thank you.

And I'm excited to see how

you end up this year.

Thank you so much.

Yeah, I'm constantly learning and

that's all I want to do is

keep learning and learning

and that's all I can ask for.

And, you know,

hopefully one day that means games,

but as long as I'm getting

better and I'm enjoying it,

that's by far the most important thing.

So,

so far I've seen that it's just going

up and up and up.

So I'm hoping I can show

that this weekend and have

next weekend and have fun with it.

And now I've got some

friends in the competitive space.

I think it's going to be

even more special because

I've actually gotten to know people.

So we're going to be

cheering each other on the

whole weekend and I'm just

going to feel like so much

love and support.

So I'm excited.

how are you going to balance

Travis and you competing at

the same time?

We talked about that because he's like,

obviously I'm going to be competing too.

So I think he'll kind of be

there just before an event.

Um, make sure I'm, he knows, like,

he's like, don't, you don't change.

He goes, Pete,

so many people change how

they warm up and get ready

because it's a semis.

He's like, you warm up how you always do.

Keep that all consistent in the same.

And he'll probably check in

to make sure I'm good.

But for the most part,

like I told him that I, uh,

And I agree with him that I

don't need him like bait, you know,

on me the whole time

because he needs to compete too.

So we're both going to be in

that headspace.

So he's just going to give a

quick check in.

We'll go over things

probably the night before

or after the day of competition.

And, and then we'll get to it.

Cause he's when,

when he first started coaching me,

he's like,

I can tell you're similar to me

where you don't need to be told.

a bunch of things the day of

because you already know

what to do you're going to

be prepared and then you're

just going to go out and do

it and that's what I've

done in the past two semis

didn't have a coach so I

just was like okay I have a

plan let's see how it goes

so this time it's like

we're getting all the plans

out now and early and then

We'll just kind of recap them,

but I don't want to pull

away from him competing.

And I know he does, you know,

want to do the same for him.

I want to make sure he stays

in his headspace,

but we'll probably chat a

lot like the night before

and he'll be there.

I think it getting to help

me warm up a little bit,

but then that's it.

I want to make sure he can stay in his,

in his headspace too.

so he won't need a coach's

band are you are you with

you to carry your stuff and

yes the fiance he's the

pack mule hey I need water

hey yes no but he's

actually he's on it because

I'm very bad about

finishing events I just

want to talk to everybody

and I'm really bad about

ashley sorry all these

people are walking by and

they're just laughing at me

um but I think uh

Um, sorry, excuse me, but yeah.

Um, sorry.

I couldn't even remember the

question because Ashley

just completely distracted me.

Yeah.

Your fiance is on it because

you just want to talk to people.

I'm very bad about after events.

I just want to chat with

everybody and get how everyone's doing.

I'm really bad about like

making sure I go cool down

and get food in me immediately.

Um, so he said, he's like,

I'm going to be on you to

make sure like you get a shakedown,

you get carbs in you and

you're like cooling down.

Um,

even though he's not in the CrossFit

space, he knows the importance of that.

So he's going to make sure he's like,

I'm not going to let you talk to people.

You've got to get out.

You talk to people later,

but you got to cool down first.

Then you can talk to people.

So he's going to be good about that.

Awesome.

Well,

I hope you have an amazing weekend

back to back.

Yes.

Great semifinals, great wedding.

It's awesome catching up.

I wasn't going to go to semis,

but I made a last minute reservation.

Oh, yay.

I'm going to go down now to cover it.

And so hopefully we'll run

in each other and I can

interview after another heat win.

Oh, I would be amazing.

That's the goal.

Oh, that would be amazing.

That's definitely a goal for sure.

But I I'm so excited that you're coming.

So I hope it's a really good time too.

Yeah.

Well, thank you for being on.

Thank you to everybody in

chat for being here.

This was awesome.

We'll see everybody next

time on the Clydesdale media podcast,

where we're featuring the

athletes of the 2024

CrossFit games semifinals.

Bye guys.

Bye.

Thank you.