Mat Lock: Leanne, welcome to The Unleashing Potential Podcast. It’s a pleasure to have you here and to see you again.
Leanne Watson:
Nice to see you too.
Mat Lock:
How have you been?
Leanne Watson:
Pretty good. Just enjoying life, missing Australia.
Mat Lock:
Well, you didn’t miss much of a summer here, I have to say, with all the bushfires. Right now, I’m not going to lie, you can see with the white shirt I’m wearing, the sun is shining and it’s pretty lovely. As I look across Jervis Bay, which is, of course, a place you know well.
Leanne Watson:
Yeah, I think we have snow on the ground outside, so I really missed that.
Mat Lock:
There’s the difference. We’re not building snowmen outside right now. Certainly. Yeah, certainly it looks like all of your training’s been going really well and you’re kicking some goals at your end.
Leanne Watson:
Yeah. I’ve had some ups and downs since I got back, but I am finally on the upper end of it. I hurt my back as soon as I got back, but then probably about three, four weeks ago, it started really healing up, and I’m back in full training now. So I’m pretty excited for it.
Mat Lock:
It took that long, hey? Because we are recording this at the beginning of March and you would’ve got back in middle of November, I guess.
Leanne Watson:
Yeah, it was one of those. It progressively got really bad and then I started actually kind of working with it, and now it’s really good.
Mat Lock:
I’m glad to hear you’re on the mend, that’s awesome, of course. Certainly some of the weights I’ve seen you pushing around on social recently, your back seems to be okay.
Leanne Watson:
I’m feeling strong.
Mat Lock:
You’re looking strong. Good for you. Of course, you were here in Jervis Bay as the winner. As the RX international female of the year, of the Grand Slam 2019.
Leanne Watson:
One of the best accomplishments in my life.
Mat Lock:
Well, I’m glad to hear that, awesome.
It was a pleasure to have you here and it was a pleasure to see you compete in the Grand Slam as well. What would be really great for the viewers and the listeners, if you maybe talk us through right from the beginning, how you first heard about this event that was being run from Down Under and how you got involved with it.
Leanne Watson:
It was really weird and kind of random. My coach got an email from you guys and it said that if you win this Grand Slam competition, they pay your plane ticket to Australia to compete at the onsite competition there in Jervis Bay. And I was like, “Well, that literally is the only place in the world I have ever wanted to go. So I’m going to try this competition. I don’t care what else is going on at the same time, I’m going to try this Grand Slam thing and see, if anything, how close I can stack up.” Then Grand Slam started and I actually had another qualifier going on simultaneously with it.
Mat Lock:
Of course you did.
Leanne Watson:
Yeah, so one of my other coaches was like, “Well, you have to choose which one do you want to go all in on. You either need to go all in on Grand Slam and then let the other one kind of go to the wayside, or go all in on the other and Grand Slam, just be what it is.” So I was like, “Well, there’s a good chance I’m not going to qualify for the other one. I want to go to Australia, so I’m going all in on this one.” So I started doing those and I am the worst video person ever.
Leanne Watson:
There were so many of the Grand Slam workouts I had to end up redoing because I messed up the video, or I messed up the metres to feet conversion for one of the walking lunges. So anyway, I finished out that qualifier. Whenever I saw the assault bike WOD for the last one, the 100 calories, I felt pretty confident on finishing strong enough to hopefully make it to semi night. I’ve got to, so I was pretty stoked about that.
Mat Lock:
Yeah, you certainly did. I remember one of the lovely comments you made at the time, I think we were into week three. By the way, as a side comment, this year we’ll have metric and Imperial weight and distances for all the workouts.
Leanne Watson:
Awesome.
Mat Lock:
Otherwise, we can’t call ourselves an international event if we don’t take care of it.
Leanne Watson:
I have my little unit converter.
Mat Lock:
Yeah, sure. But nonetheless, we’ll try and do the heavy lifting in that regard on your behalf. I think you were sitting in first place when we got that most wonderful message from you, because you could see that, “Yeah, actually I really have a chance at winning this thing.” You were in the lead and looking strong. Do you remember that message that you sent through to us?
Leanne Watson:
Is it the one that I was asking, “Are you going to fly me home too?”
Mat Lock:
Yeah, exactly right.
Leanne Watson:
I was convinced that, “Oh well, there’s no way that me of all people could be sitting in first place to win a trip to Australia.” Things like that don’t happen in my life. So I was like, “There’s got to be a catch here somewhere.” And I think that was your response, “No, there are no catches. We will fly you here and fly you home.” So yeah, I’m still kind of mind blown that all of it happened.
Mat Lock:
Oh no, you’ve earned it. At the end of the day, you work hard and you have years of training behind you as well. It’s fantastic. I often tell that story about that message, because I guess from our perspective, because we know we’re completely legit, but it’s online, right? And you at that stage had no relationship really with the Bay Games. You didn’t know the Bay Games and the Grand Slam. And so, of course, we sat there, I received that message and thought, “That’s such a fair question.”
Mat Lock:
Because you don’t know us, it could just be a massive scam, couldn’t it? But it wasn’t, as you know. It was great, that reaction. That’s all right. That’s why I felt the need to go, “Yeah. We’ll get you home again as well. It’s not just a one-way ticket.” Yes, Australian immigration won’t let you in one way.
Leanne Watson:
Whenever I got there I had some user errors on my visa, but that was my own fault.
Mat Lock:
They don’t make life easier, I don’t think. So that was fantastic. Did you enjoy the workouts for the Grand Slam?
Leanne Watson:
Oh my goodness, yes, I did. Loved them, I loved every single one. Opening up with a max three-position clean and then finishing off with the assault bike. I don’t think I could have asked for any better online competition.
Mat Lock:
It was kind of written for you, wasn’t it? In hindsight, those workouts over to you. There were no shenanigans, we hadn’t met you before.
Leanne Watson:
Yeah. I definitely had a lot of fun with that one.
Mat Lock:
Yeah, fantastic. So yeah, I guess we broke the news. You won and we got you on the live broadcast to let you know the great news, and then you came to Australia. How was that?
Leanne Watson:
That was amazing. Even as soon as I got there, you guys met me at the airport, on our way back you guys were extremely hospitable. The entire time we were going to Jervis Bay, you guys made sure that I always had everything I needed. Honestly, I even called my mom. I remember calling her and talking to her while I was there and saying that I felt like a queen. I felt like I was being treated like a queen the entire time I was there. It literally is one of the best experiences I think I’ve ever had in my life.
Mat Lock:
Oh wow, that’s awesome to hear. I couldn’t be more pleased to hear that that was your experience, that was the intention, of course. It’s not just, “Yeah, there’s your plane ticket.” We were so happy to have you here. And obviously you just fell in love with the area, that was clear. And you and I went for a swim off the wharf.
Leanne Watson:
You taught me how to dive.
Mat Lock:
I taught you how to dive, that’s right. Clay and I were giving pointers. Although I have to say in fairness, Clay was more adept at keeping his goggles on when he was diving in.
Leanne Watson:
I just needed to learn how to get my head in first.
Mat Lock:
Yeah, that’s right. How do I dive in without getting my head wet? It’s a neat trick. Yeah, but you certainly got involved and you seem to enjoy the area. It’s hard not to, I guess, but what was your impression of the actual area on his day?
Leanne Watson:
Oh, it was so beautiful. And afterward I went and toured all throughout Australia, and Jervis Bay was literally my favorite place in the whole country. I mean, we went Great Barrier Reef, we went all these different places that you hear about all the time, but it’s like Jervis Bay is this little well kept secret that you don’t hear about it. You don’t know a lot about it, but it was the most beautiful place in the entire country that I went to.
Mat Lock:
Oh, yeah. Honestly, I can only agree with you. There are lots of beautiful places around Australia, but I love calling Jervis bay “home”. But you know what, we shouldn’t tell everyone. It is a well-kept secret. Although we had the big event over this weekend with the 4500 athletes, and I don’t know, 8000 spectators. So it’s not that well kept a secret. Yeah, triathlon.
Leanne Watson:
You guys let the secret out.
Mat Lock:
Yeah. Now, unfortunately, the triathletes have found out about it. It’s a pretty special area and I’m glad that you felt as welcome as you did, it’s important. I mean, you were traveling alone, it was your first time to Australia. We were obviously aware of that and we wanted to make sure that you felt very comfortable. You certainly brought your competing pants with you because you came, what? Where did you finish in the end?
Leanne Watson:
I ended up getting second.
Mat Lock:
Exactly right.
Leanne Watson:
Which I was super surprised about too. The entire thing was just a pleasant surprise to me. I had zero expectations and I left feeling like an extreme winner.
Mat Lock:
Yeah, this is exactly right. The swim wasn’t easy, let’s face it.
Leanne Watson:
Yeah, the swimming didn’t bode well for me.
Mat Lock:
Yeah. No, absolutely. I wonder if you had been able to do well in event one, how that would have placed you overall in the end. But I guess that’s the game, isn’t it?
Leanne Watson:
Yeah, I thought about that too. I’m like, “Man.” Because I know I got stuck in that current, I know I’m not a strong swimmer. Even the current being aside, I’m really just not a strong swimmer anyway. But at the end of the day, it showed me what I need to work on.
Mat Lock:
Yeah, sure.
Leanne Watson:
So I know it for this year.
Mat Lock:
Well, we were chatting before we started recording that we did a week ago in Canberra. When asked how we got on, I said, “Yeah, it certainly exposes your weaknesses.” Shines a bright light on them because there’s no hiding. But you’ve seen the workouts for the Bay Games 2020, and you may notice there’s actually not so much swimming this year. Less focus on swimming.
Leanne Watson:
I did notice that.
Mat Lock:
I’m sure you did. Lots of people did, although they didn’t notice as well. It’s a bit more of a run in there.
Leanne Watson:
I can handle running.
Mat Lock:
Yeah, sure.
Leanne Watson:
In West Virginia we’ve got access to places we can run.
Mat Lock:
Well you can’t drown running, can you?
Leanne Watson:
Exactly.
Mat Lock:
That’s a common tale given over the weekend. It’s like, “Yeah, I don’t really like running, but I’d rather run than swim.” So they’re very good. I’m glad that was your experience. I know that you’re planning to have a red hot crack at the Grand Slam in 2020.
Leanne Watson:
I’m shooting to.
Mat Lock:
Yeah, sure.
Leanne Watson:
I’m working on some partners. Actually, in the process of this I think I might have gotten a couple other people to sign up also. So I’m like, “That’s fine. You guys can sign up but you’re not allowed to beat us.”
Mat Lock:
It dawned on me the other day because obviously we want the viral effect. We want everyone to get involved and the more people the better. But as you say, you’re kind of looking around your gym, look at some of the weapons, you go, “Well, I don’t think I want them to compete because they’re pretty strong.” I think we’ve got a fundamental flaw in our marketing approach.
Leanne Watson:
Especially not knowing what the workouts are, because they could be pretty good if the workouts fall in their favor, but then they’re going to beat us. So yeah, it’s kind of fun though to look around and look at it like that.
Mat Lock:
Well here’s a little secret I’ll share with you. Obviously I know what the workouts are, they are fully finished and tested. I can tell you now, there’s no bike.
Leanne Watson:
There’s no bike?
Mat Lock:
The only thing I’ll give you, there’s no bike.
Leanne Watson:
Oh, no. That was my strength.
Mat Lock:
I don’t know if I’m helping or hindering at this point, but now we’ve decided. It’s hard, you know. With the different brands of bikes out there now, it’s really hard internationally.
Leanne Watson:
I can see that.
Mat Lock:
Well, this is the bike you must use and that’s really the only fair way of handling it. But it’s not fair if it’s not the bike you’ve got at your gym. In fact, in some areas, like here on the East coast of Australia, particularly New South Wales, there’s a local brand that is not the Assault bike. They’re really quite strong because they’re here. There are lots of those bikes out there, but they’re not the assault bike, which is the sort of more traditional go-to for the CrossFit community.
Leanne Watson:
That makes sense.
Mat Lock:
And of course, they’ve got the Rogue Echo bike coming out, and so on. They got very many different algorithms for the calories, and so on. So anyway, there’s no bike, but you’re the first to hear that outside of the inner circle. So there you go.
Leanne Watson:
I feel honored.
Mat Lock:
This will be going out in a few weeks, so you’ve got a head start. You know not to be training too much on the bike.
Leanne Watson:
Okay. So don’t ask anyone that’s great at the bike.
Mat Lock:
That’s right. No, exactly right. Of course, I shared with you the other day, and by the time this goes live it will be well publicized that we’ve kind of flipped and become a pairs event. Grand Slam, 2020 is going to be a pairs event and will be forevermore, I would say. I guess we decided to do that for a couple of reasons. One, because we’re aligning ourselves with mental health charities around the world, and certainly a portion of every single registration will go to a mental health charity in that country. So in your case, it will go to “The Walking Wounded” project in the US. If it was me here in Australia, it would go to, “R U OK” and so on. So a portion of your rego goes to your charity in your country, let’s say. We decided that, given that we’re focusing and wanting to support the whole mental health topic, then having an individual workout, a competition where you do it solo, that wasn’t the right message really.
Mat Lock:
We felt we’re doing it in pairs, at least at the end of the day it creates conversation, connection, comradery, community, at the end of the day. That’s what it’s all about. Here we’re doing it through competition. And when we were honest with ourselves, and we polled our entire audience, and I think you probably saw that last year, “How do you like working out?” Is it individually, pairs, teams of 14 to six? The clear winner was in pairs and that made us stop and think, “Well yeah, actually we like competing in pairs.” As very much everyday athletes. It makes you more accountable, but somehow there’s less pressure because you can kind of bounce off each other. But you’re accountable to each other, so you go harder. It’s a good excuse to train more regularly with who you’re going to compete with, and therefore it’s creating that connection and conversation.
Leanne Watson:
Yeah.
Mat Lock:
All important. I know that seems to resonate with you, when I told you about that.
Leanne Watson:
Yeah, I love the whole reasoning behind it. I love that you guys are doing that for the charitable cause, really, I do. I love the whole thing. I’ve never actually competed in a pairs event, so it’s different for me. It’s different, but it’s a good different. It’s forcing me to even branch out and to find people to work with. That whole communication thing and bonding thing, and all of that. I love it. I love the whole thing.
Mat Lock:
Yeah, awesome. What’s been interesting, yesterday I told you we did a video shoot for the Grand Slam and we had, I’m going to call them everyday athletes on camera, but they’re pretty handy everyday athletes. We were at CrossFit Play, which was founded originally by Khan Porter. By default, they’ve got a lot of pretty handy athletes there. They are everyday athletes, they’re not professionals. Nonetheless, they’re pretty handy. But what was interesting was you’d say, “Okay guys, we’re going to do lateral burpee box jump overs.” “Oh, okay.” “But they’re synchronized.” “Oh, yeah, yeah, no problem.” And then they go to try and do them and they’d have to stop and go, “Oh, hang on. So we’re going to go on three, two, one.” You could immediately see the need for communication.
Mat Lock:
We’re doing synchronized double-unders, which actually isn’t going to be a requirement, but we thought it would look fun on camera, and it does. But even then again, “Yeah, here we go. Oh, no.” Stop, have a conversation, think about it, have a laugh, laugh at each other. It was just great to see immediately as soon as you make it pairs, that it does. It gets the conversation going, it’s a bond, as you said. Strengthens and having a bit of a laugh at each other in a good way. It was good to see.
Leanne Watson:
Yeah.
Mat Lock:
But yeah, so looking forward to that. Of course, the burning question, and you don’t have to name them yet, but have you found the buddy that you think you’re going to train with?
Leanne Watson:
I’ve got a couple of friends that I’m trying to get to do it with me. I guess I would call them my coaches. They have definitely helped me mentally, physically, everything. One of them is the coach at my current gym and another one is one that just comes up and trains with us a lot. Both of them, I’m trying to get one of them. I’m hoping, this is what I was saying earlier, I’m really hoping that they don’t decide to pair with each other and then leave me out, and then I still have to find someone else. That’s my biggest fear right now. But I’m hoping one of them will at least join up with me, and then the other one will find someone else.
Mat Lock:
Are they male or female?
Leanne Watson:
Male.
Mat Lock:
Okay. So if they did pair up together, they’d be a different division anyway.
Leanne Watson:
They would. But I’m still just like, “Guys, don’t do that, pair up with me. One of you pair with me, the other one can go pair with another guy and then we’ll still be in different divisions.”
Mat Lock:
Because they have the advantage. A lot of boxes around the world, they know it’s real. They know they can really come to Australia if they win.
Leanne Watson:
Yeah. Oh yeah, they’re fully aware. And that’s where I’m like, “Well, get me there and then you guys can still get there by getting someone else with me.”
Mat Lock:
Maybe you talked it up too much. Maybe you have to start going, “Actually I was wrong about the trip to Australia. It was pretty crappy, actually. Jervis Bay is ugly, the water’s dirty and the sun never shines. The view was horrible.”
Leanne Watson:
It will be like a good cop, bad cop thing. Only tell one of them that it’s really bad, so the other one will still join with me.
Mat Lock:
Yeah, absolutely. Oh well that’s good. That’s great to hear. Even there we have conversations being created about trying to get a buddy, we’ll find out which. We sort of grab a mate, get involved. So I’m sure you’ll find some. So you are ideally for the mixed division?
Leanne Watson:
Possibly. Then if they do end up pairing up, I do have another friend. I haven’t really talked to her about it yet, but she was very competitive with me in the open this year, to get one of the sanctional spots. We’re very fairly matched as far as athletically, so I might reach out to her and be like, “Hey, would you want to partner up for this Grand Slam if they end up leaving me in the dust?”
Mat Lock:
Sure. No problems, regio is open on the 27th of March, which is probably going to be already passed. But I’ve just timestamped this episode. But nonetheless, it’s probably already passed by the time this goes live. But so that you know, we basically go live in three weeks. For the first couple of weeks we’re going to have an early bird package, which is going to be irresistible. I’ll tell you more about that offline maybe. But yeah, pretty exciting. So you’re only a few weeks away from signing up, I’d suggest. You need to try and pin the guys down or find someone else.
Leanne Watson:
I definitely am, every day.
Mat Lock:
Very good. Well, I guess we’re getting a little bit short on time now for this episode. I know you’re going to join us for a second episode, we’re looking forward to that. If people want to reach out to you and ask you questions, or just connect with you in some way, what’s the best way for them to do that?
Leanne Watson:
I’ve got an Instagram, @leannewatson25, and then I’ve also got Facebook. Both of those are great ways to get a hold of me.
Mat Lock:
Yeah, fantastic. I’ll put both of those down in the show notes so that people, wherever they are watching or listening to this, they’re able to. If they want to, they can connect with you. But Leanne, thank you so much for your time so far. It’s a pleasure to see you and we were laughing before we started. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with your hair down. You’re always in training or competing mode when I see you.
Leanne Watson:
Rest day.
Mat Lock:
When we first got on line “Oh, Leanne’s got long hair.” I didn’t know that. Very Good Leanne, thank you so much for your time.
Leanne Watson:
Yeah, thank you.
Mat Lock:
I can’t wait to see how things unfold for you in the Grand Slam this year.
Leanne Watson:
Thanks.
