Hey, everybody. I'm Lauren Club with Talking Elite Fitness and today we have the pleasure of sitting down with CrossFit Games athlete games veteran. He's been around for.

It seems like since the sport has started Brent Fakowski. Great to have you here. Lots of exciting stuff leading up to the CrossFit Games.

Yeah, you know, it's funny. It seems like I've been here. Like you said, since the sport started, I remember when it started and I started competing. People said, oh, you know, you're getting in a little late.

I think it really would have been best to get in a couple years before. And so for anyone out there that feels like it's too late, that's what people will say 10 years from now.

So yeah, it's always going to feel that way. But what does it feel like going back to Madison still competing? I mean, you're really a great definition of the longevity of the sport.

Yeah, I mean, it's exciting. I'm still as excited as I've ever been. And training is going really well. I'm doing things in the gym last few weeks that I've never done before.

You know, like setting personal best and stuff and feeling fit and, you know, just it feels like that excitement is still there.

And it's not really until I get there and I'm competing against other people. And I'm like, oh, yeah, I am like, you know, one of the older guys, there's sort of this like handful of us that are all in our sort of early 30s.

There's, you know, Cole and Björgvin and Noah and me and Pat and we're all kind of in that same age category where we're like, okay, who's quitting first?

You know, who's still got what it takes. It's so, yeah, it's interesting. And it's definitely, it just feels like it all of a sudden it switched where I tell people at first, like, oh, you know, what do you want to do cross with you?

And they go, I'm like, finishing up fourth in the world. Oh, wow, how long have you been doing it? And then I'd say a number. And they go, oh, wow, not very long.

And now I say that whatever the number is now and they go, oh, are you okay? You know, that's a long time. And it just seems like it all of a sudden switched and you know, go to comps now and some of the younger guys like, you know, want to like hear what I have to say in the same way that I wanted to hear what like, you know, Josh Bridges and Vince Smith had to say when I first met them at the game. So it's interesting.

Do you talk with that group BKG Pat about retirement? Is that part of the conversation that you guys are starting to say like, this is my last year or maybe I have one more in me?

Not really. I mean, we'll joke about it in person. It's not there's plenty of other stuff going on that's in the year and now to keep us pretty occupied.

Like Pat and I are, you know, in contact all the time about the PFA and, you know, but yeah, so we don't like talk talk about it. I guess I spoke with Cole about some PFA stuff. And I asked him, obviously, I congratulated him as well on the announcement, you know, it's comp train. And I was like, so does that mean you're not competing?

And he's like, ah, like not really. He said, you know, it all kind of happened so fast that I'm going to try and do both for now. So yeah, it's something we talk about, but we're not like pure pressure in each other. There's no like side bets or anything like that. It's, you know, I'll be, yeah, they definitely won't be the first to know either.

You know, my wife. But it's not happening anytime soon. Like I'm, you know, I'm body still feeling good. And I think I still have a lot I can still do in the sport is on this side of the floor.

So yeah, and I'm sure your wife wouldn't appreciate you announcing your retirement on like a podcast or YouTube channel.

Appreciate that conversation with her first, maybe a couple of times.

Yeah, I'll just send her a link.

Yeah, yeah, here you go. You can see my full announcement online.

Yeah, no, it won't be like that.

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