Two-Brain Radio: Getting Through Tough Times Using CrossFit With Carleen Mathews

On this episode of Two-Brain Radio, Sean Woodland talks with four-time CrossFit Games athlete Carleen Mathews. She took second overall in the 35-39-year-old division at the 2019 Reebok CrossFit Games following a three-year career as an individual Games athlete.

Carleen shares her experience being addicted to drugs and alcohol and how CrossFit helped her transform her life after she got sober, ultimately leading to her career as a competitive CrossFit athlete.

She and Sean talk about what it was like to become a Games athlete, her first Masters experience in 2019 and her plans for the future. Carleen also talks about what she is currently doing to help people who are dealing with addiction and how friends and family can help them, too.

Links:

http://crossfitsainthelens.com/
https://www.amazon.com/Founder-Farmer-Tinker-Thief-Entrepreneurs-ebook/dp/B07QH85HSX

Contact:

Instagram: @teamcarleen

Timeline:

1:10 – The CrossFit Games Masters experience.

1:52 – Training for the Masters competition and coming out with a silver medal.

4:13 – Why go Masters? 

6:41 – Falling into the world of addiction. 

7:43 – The turning point.

9:43 – How Carleen got sober. 

12:32 – Insight on addiction.

13:41 – How online dating led her to CrossFit.

17:07 – CrossFit: a healthier addiction. 

19:22 – Becoming a competitor.

22:07 – Carleen’s debut CrossFit Games: A lesson in discomfort.

25:13 – Injury and burnout.

26:46 – Why competing at the Games level doesn’t necessarily indicate peak health.

28:39 – Second place is cool, but the real reward is showing people they can change.

29:11 – Setting an example and helping other addicts through CrossFit.

34:30 – What the future holds.

36:07 – Lessons from the journey: “It’s OK to be uncomfortable.”