DANI SPEEGLE ON THE 2021 CROSSFIT SEASON

‘I WANT TO MAKE A STATEMENT AT THE GAMES THIS YEAR’

With just 5 days to go until the 2021 CrossFit Season kicks off we caught up with Dani Speegle to see how her preparations were going and her intentions for this years games.

It’s been a while since we last caught up how has training been going since then, feeling ready for The Open in a couple of weeks?

Training has been going very well lately. For a while after The Games last year training didn't go well. I had a hard time being motived for an unknown season. I had a hard time finding the love and the drive to train for hours and hours again when, in my opinion, the Games were such a let-down. Of course, it was due to uncontrollable circumstances, but it still sucked.

I took a lot of time off to mentally recover more than anything. Of course, my body also needed the rest - but it was my mind more than anything. In January things started picking back up a bit but I still needed to have a "ramp up" period to help my body prepare for the amount of volume I was about to start doing.

My shoulder had become weak again with all of the time off, my lungs were OUT OF SHAPE, and my mindset was still hesitant because so much was up in the air. I hate to admit it, but my training started to get back to normal and feeling good again in February. I’ve had about a month of really good training and I'm happy about what I've been able to do.

Honestly, if The Open was like it was last year and so much rode on it - I would be a little nervous about the shape I was in - but The Open isn't as "important" this year. Last year the goal was to make top 20 and qualify for the games so I could breathe easy and just compete when I wanted to - this year it doesn't matter as much. The top 10% move on, and honestly that's a huge portion of people - So I am taking The Open as just 3 more weeks to get ready for the quarter final event. I won't redo workouts or kill myself with stress over the leader board - I will just train like normal and do the open workouts every Friday.

You told us your goal for the year was ‘To everyday work on positive self-talk’ have you managed it so far?

Positive self-talk, like any other mentally oriented goal doesn't happen overnight. It's absolutely a work in progress. I've made small steps - thinking about the good things that happened during a workout of a training session first. Then I try and evaluate the "bad" and give myself feedback instead of shutting down and letting myself brew on "how bad I did".

I've determined that I won't redo any of the open workouts to force myself to be happy with what I do on the first try - this has been something I have always struggled with - never being satisfied with a performance. So small steps for a long time will hopefully change me in a big way.

How has the pandemic affected you and your training this past year? Any advice for those who still can’t access a gym?

Honestly, I have been extremely blessed in this area. It's no secret that Florida has been one of the most relaxed states when it's come to the pandemic and the shutdown. My mind set has hindered me more than the pandemic ever did. I know that's not helpful or inspiring to people - but it's been my reality. For those who can't access a gym my heart goes out to them. I can't imagine not being able to do what I love so much and be forced to stay away. But I will say - if people really want to make something happen - they will. There are so many programs out there being designed to be performed at home with little to no equipment. Sure, if you're an avid crossfitter you might not be able to do a heavy squat clean and rope climb wod - but there's still a lot you CAN do. It goes back to my positive self-talk goal - instead of complaining about all of the things you can't do because of the shut down - list out every movement, situation, workout, place to take equipment, etc that you can do and control and go from there.

Have you had to adapt your training this year after dealing with injuries?

For a very long time, and even now I have had to / have to adjust my training due to injuries. Last March I had the procedure (stem cells) on my shoulder, and it took months to feel any kind of normal again. Then I had an ankle injury that hindered me right when my shoulder was feeling good again. Then the Games happened, and I got into a bad mindset and I took a lot of time off, and in that time my shoulder became weak again and I've had to build the strength back in the surrounding areas so I wouldn't be in pain anymore.

So, all in all, the past 12 months has been nothing but changing and modifying workouts and movements and getting healthy. But like I said before - I tried to appreciate everything I could do instead of focusing on what I couldn't. I learned a lot about myself, and my body this past year and while it was absolutely frustrating at times - it's made me a better athlete.

And when you’re not training how do you relax?

Eating and sleeping. Always. My day to day revolves around training so my "relax" times are usually still geared towards getting me recovered or prepared for training. When I work with clients, I’m programming or answering emails I'm trying to also eat, stretch, recover, fuel my body, etc to get ready for my next session.

When I truly get to relax, I like to be still and read and just binge Netflix. This is usually how nights go - when I am done with training and work for the day I just chill and relax at home. But weekends are for mentally relaxing and having fun - I'm always trying to get outside and explore the world and be active outside of the gym!

Now with The Open just around the corner...

What kind of workouts would you like to see in The Open?

I would like to see some normal Crossfit open workouts to be honest. The last online thing I did had all workouts that were body weight and just 1 dumbbell. No fun. I don't much care what they throw at us as long as it just feels like an actual CrossFit open.

Which INOV8 shoes will you be wearing for The Open?

Depending on the workouts I might strap on my F-LITE G 300s or F-LITE 270s

The CrossFit games has a new approach this year, how are you feeling about it?

I have mixed feeling about how this season is playing out. I think the community is going to be happy - and I think a lot of positive changes have been made - however.....

With these changes it's really put a hard stop on the professional side of CrossFit. For years we’ve talked about trying to get CrossFit to be recognized as a legitimate sport and I think taking away the Sanctionals and the exposure that it provided was a BIG step backwards. Going back to this "everyone can be involved" regional style season isn't great in my opinion. I DO think that everyone should be able to be involved - but that the community side of CrossFit and the professional side of CrossFit need to break away from each other for each to thrive. I know a lot of people will be upset by that opinion, but I do not mean it in a condescending or hurtful way. It just is what it is. Do I have the perfect solution? No. Do I like what CrossFit has recently been doing as a whole? Yes. Is there always room for growth and do I remain hopeful things will continue to evolve? Yes.

Finally what are your goals for The Open and The CrossFit games this year?

Really no goals for The Open. Like I said before I am taking it as 3 more weeks of training. I guess if I had to say a goal, I would say that I want to keep a calm and centered mindset throughout the entire things and remember that The Open is NOT the time to peak and break my body for better scores.

I'm treating the open this way because I want to make a statement at the Games this year and it's all a part of a long plan. These first 3 weeks are just the beginning.