Sometimes professional athletes amaze you with the simplicity of their vision. And as they destroy some established sports stereotypes - the concentration of the warrior, the loneliness of the marathon runner.
But the personalities are the most diverse. And in one sentence there can be all the sense of the attitude of a person - first - and of an athlete.
Index
The most important of human motivations?
"I only had the idea of throwing myself into the weekend and having fun, and trying to do my best."
He answered this way John-Paul Hethcock to the request to explain to us how he had planned his Mid-Atlantic CrossFit Challenge.
Simple, isn't it?
This victory is even more astonishing because among the adversaries there were none other than Samuel Kwant e Will Moorad.
"I had absolutely no idea who I would find at the top. I only knew some of the names of the "old" of the tour. "
The surprise of the qualification for the Games - for us, at least - it came after a limping start of John-Paul's Mid-Atlantic, which qualifies only tenth in the 3 Wise Men.
"I hadn't trained some of the workouts, so I didn't have a goal to achieve. Anyone who has been doing CrossFit for a while knows how he could react to a workout: I knew very well that they would be spicy, but I simply couldn't keep up. "
But then there's this desire to have fun, and 280 pounds of snatch (5th place), 345 by c&j (second place), a total of 635 pounds and a second place on an equal footing with Moorad. What strategy?
“I opened with a smooth 255 snatch… which I missed, perhaps because I was cold. Then I did the other two in speed. My snatch max is 285, and I knew I would need a decent lift to place myself well. In C&J, my pr is 355. "
Prepare a challenge: VS improvisation strategy
You have slowed down a lot in Hitting the Sloped with Grace instead.
"I think I pushed too hard in the first half, with the ski erg, and when it was time for the barbell I felt like I was bursting."
Meanwhile Tyler Christophel wins the Groundhog Day. Was he the favorite?
"I don't think there are any favorites for WOD. After all, I think all athletes can pull off a winning performance. "
The rest is history, or almost. When did you realize you were going to win?
"At the last workout: I was in first place, and that workout had two movements that I love. There was all the potential to have fun! "
Now the Games are getting ready. How it changes a professional's training?
“Training will definitely become more exciting now. I'll try to do more outdoors like swimming, strongman, and conditioning with strangely shaped objects”
Games are a big thing. Expectations?
"I think I'll go with the same spirit I had at MACC: low stress profile, and lots of fun. I hope that the Games teach me to know more and more my being an athlete. "
We ask him if he has any pre-race rituals.
"No, nobody."
And so, Hethcock wins the participation in the Games.
Having only in mind to have fun.