Sevan Matossian (00:00):
Um, you, you, um, when I look at you right away, I think I recognize you, but I’m wondering if it’s because you kind of look like, uh, Jo Gentry a little bit. Do you know who that is?
Lauren Conner (00:09):
I don’t. But you and I have never spoken, but we’ve been next to each other.
Sevan Matossian (00:14):
Oh, man, you look so familiar. <laugh>, uh, uh, Caleb, uh, meet. Laura. Laura. Caleb.
Lauren Conner (00:20):
Lauren.
Sevan Matossian (00:21):
Lauren’s.
Lauren Conner (00:22):
Yes. Lauren.
Sevan Matossian (00:23):
Lauren. Nice. Meet to Lauren. Lauren. Very important. Lauren Connor. Yes. Lauren. Connor.
Lauren Conner (00:30):
Lauren. Just regular. Lauren.
Sevan Matossian (00:32):
Lauren. Just regular. Lauren. Not Lauren. Connor. Lauren. Lauren Connor. Formerly Laura Lewis.
Lauren Conner (00:36):
Lauren Lewis.
Sevan Matossian (00:38):
The, the Lauren. I’m saying it right. I’m saying it
Lauren Conner (00:42):
Wrong. Lauren. Just, Lauren.
Sevan Matossian (00:43):
Lauren. Lauren. Lauren. Lauren. Her new names were so hard.
Lauren Conner (00:48):
Laurenson.
Sevan Matossian (00:49):
Where were we standing next to each
Lauren Conner (00:50):
Other? Um, regionals. 2018. You were looking super sad.
Sevan Matossian (00:57):
Oh, man. Oh, was I not filming?
Lauren Conner (01:00):
You? Were not filming. And I thought that was so weird. You’re just kind of standing around in the back in the warmup area.
Sevan Matossian (01:05):
Oh, yeah. That’s a sad savon.
Lauren Conner (01:07):
I, you were so sad,
Sevan Matossian (01:09):
Man. I was pro probably pouting.
Lauren Conner (01:11):
I knew something was up.
Sevan Matossian (01:13):
Uh, what, what re what, um, what regionals was it?
Lauren Conner (01:16):
Uh, Northeast.
Sevan Matossian (01:23):
Is that Albany?
Lauren Conner (01:24):
Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (01:25):
Oh, I was filming there, maybe.
Lauren Conner (01:28):
Hmm. Were you I didn’t see it with the camera. I thought it was weird. You didn’t have a camera.
Sevan Matossian (01:32):
I think maybe that was maybe my last year. Or maybe it wasn’t,
Lauren Conner (01:35):
It was like months before they announced that basically the games were
Sevan Matossian (01:39):
Oh, yeah. And then I wasn’t filming. Yeah. I was sad. Boy, that was a horrible time for me. Yeah. I mean, not horrible relative to like, I don’t live in the Ukraine.
Lauren Conner (01:49):
<laugh>.
Sevan Matossian (01:50):
Um, could, uh, could you pull up a picture of Jolie Gentry? Jolie Gentry won the CrossFit games in 2007, and she is now a and, and, and she was, I think on the, I wanna say on the Newark Police Department. I did a ride along with her once. Yeah. And now she is, I think she’s been a cop for 20 years. She has some pretty senior position, and she was on the SWAT team. She was cool. It’s a, it’s a, it’s definitely a compliment.
Lauren Conner (02:16):
I used to be a police officer also.
Sevan Matossian (02:18):
You did?
Lauren Conner (02:19):
Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (02:19):
Oh, I didn’t even know that. Let me see. Yeah. Can you see a resemblance? I, I think it’s your eyes. Uh, that one, that one doesn’t really show it.
Lauren Conner (02:29):
You know who I’ve also gotten Christie Atkins.
Sevan Matossian (02:33):
Oh, I don’t see that. Do you see that?
Lauren Conner (02:38):
Uh, I, I don’t know.
Sevan Matossian (02:40):
All right. Hi. Thanks for coming on. Hello. Uh, CrossFit. A R x
Lauren Conner (02:46):
Arcs
Sevan Matossian (02:47):
Arcs. That’s what you guys, what does a R X stand for?
Lauren Conner (02:51):
It’s a, it’s like a stronghold. It’s supposed to be like if, um, a competing town, city village comes in and takes, tries to take over the town, it would be like the last thing standing, like capture the flag.
Sevan Matossian (03:06):
So it’s like the,
Lauren Conner (03:07):
So the arcs is the last thing standing?
Sevan Matossian (03:09):
Is it an old term? From like the,
Lauren Conner (03:11):
A Latin.
Sevan Matossian (03:12):
Latin and, and it’s from like medieval times? Yeah. Oh, that’s cool. Who came up with that?
Lauren Conner (03:18):
I did. My husband and I were, um, we actually wanted to start with Vince. When we applied for our licensing with CrossFit, we, uh, we submitted Vire because I used to, so, um, I used to run track and cross country and I hated CrossCountry. It was like a necessary evil. So I used to write Vire Omo on my cross-country spike. So we took Vince, which means conquer,
Sevan Matossian (03:43):
And, um, and, uh, cross country’s a necessary evil to keep you in shape during the off-season for track.
Lauren Conner (03:50):
Yeah. I was an 800 meter runner, so it’s like I needed the base, but, um, uh, it’s 3.1 miles. I’m built a little bit differently than most distance runners, so it was hard.
Sevan Matossian (04:04):
Um, does that ever go the other way? So you were, you were a collegiate, um, uh, track and field runner, right? And a good one,
Lauren Conner (04:13):
I guess so
Sevan Matossian (04:14):
400, 800, 1200 and, uh, relay.
Lauren Conner (04:19):
Yeah. And I did, uh, some of the mile too
Sevan Matossian (04:22):
Crazy. And, uh, three colleges, like you just, just kept getting promoted, right?
Lauren Conner (04:28):
Two. Well, no, not exactly. So when I was first looking at schools, like I said, my body is just a very different body type. So when I was first looking at school,
Sevan Matossian (04:36):
What does that mean? You’re a dwarf?
Lauren Conner (04:37):
No, I’m jacked.
Sevan Matossian (04:39):
You’re a giant. Oh, you’re jacked. Yes. Yes. Jacked. Yeah. Yeah. Genetically. Yeah.
Lauren Conner (04:44):
Mm-hmm.
Sevan Matossian (04:44):
<affirmative>. Okay.
Lauren Conner (04:46):
So, uh, when I was looking at schools, I was looking at other 800 meter runners that were sort of built like me, that have had success. So this girl named Ada at Iowa State that had, uh, run and she had run pretty fast and she was also a beefier kind of girl. And I mean that, like, she had muscle on her. So I, we thought, uh, well the coach there hasn’t gotten her hurt, so let’s try that out. But it ended up not being intense enough for me.
Sevan Matossian (05:11):
<laugh>. Oh, the training?
Lauren Conner (05:13):
Yeah. We had like, uh, we played ultimate Frisbee on Wednesdays and we had off on the weekends. And that was so wild to me. Like, I came from high school, getting up at three o’clock in the morning to drive to a pool to swim, to get an extra training before going to school, and then doing all my track work and then going home. So to go into a program where we had played ultimate Frisbee on Wednesdays and uh, off on the weekends was just wild to me.
Sevan Matossian (05:40):
Um, can you throw Frisbee? No. What did you say? What did you say? Caleb? Hold on here. We have a nice dig at the US military. Go ahead. <laugh>. Sounds like the Air Force. <laugh>, <laugh>. Uh, can you throw a Frisbee?
Lauren Conner (05:53):
Um, I guess, um, my husband loves ultimate Frisbee, so we played a lot of
Sevan Matossian (05:58):
That. Yeah. Frisbee’s fun. Well, if you guys go to the Fri Beach one, Frisbee golf. Oh, Frisbee. You play Frisbee golf or Ultimate Frisbee?
Lauren Conner (06:04):
I have played both. I’ve played Ultimate Frisbee in Arkansas. Just they have really cool courses there.
Sevan Matossian (06:09):
Yeah. I’m not a Fri a huge Frisbee golf fan. I don’t really like the feel of those discs, but, but just playing catch on the beach is awesome. I’m, I’m, I’m, I think, I think I was a Labrador in a previous life. <laugh>. So you went from Iowa State then to Arkansas?
Lauren Conner (06:24):
Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (06:25):
And, and, and there. Uh, and, and that was a, a really good team then you were surrounded by just savages.
Lauren Conner (06:32):
Yeah. The way I explain it is like, if you think of the best football legacy college team that is track and field, um, at the University of Arkansas
Sevan Matossian (06:40):
And, and tell me some of the accolades, how good were they? Like what were some of the things you guys did?
Lauren Conner (06:45):
They just won, have won like 40 something. It might even be into the fifties at this point. National titles
Sevan Matossian (06:51):
And, and track and field is, um, the running, the throwing that the, the javelin, the pole vault, the long jump, the triple jump.
Lauren Conner (07:00):
Yeah. And they’re good at everything. Like they’re, they’re known for their pole vaulters too.
Sevan Matossian (07:04):
Um, boys and girls.
Lauren Conner (07:05):
Yeah, boys and girls are both solid.
Sevan Matossian (07:08):
Uh, and, and how did that program impact you? Did that change your life over there? Were you like, wow, this is, this is it?
Lauren Conner (07:14):
Um, I guess it from a standpoint of like, I gave it all I’ve got. Like I, I went to the, I still never, I don’t know if I’d ever accomplished anything where I’d be like, happy with myself, where I’d be like, good job. Like, I’d always want just something better. So that part is
Sevan Matossian (07:29):
Hard. What ethnicity are you?
Lauren Conner (07:32):
Um, well, if you ask my grandma, where? French Indian. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. But everyone in our family laughs at that.
Sevan Matossian (07:39):
Oh, you are very unique. Uh, looking like very, very unique looking. I could see something like that. French Indian. Why do they laugh at that?
Lauren Conner (07:46):
Cause they just think my grandma just makes that stuff up. Like, they’ll tell me that I got all my speed because my great-grandfather was a horse thief. Oh.
Sevan Matossian (07:54):
Things like that, you know? Oh yeah. Family sports. Yeah. I like it. And, and, and, but you, you, you don’t know what ethnicity you are then?
Lauren Conner (08:00):
A lot of Irish. Um, my father’s last name is Panino. So you got some Italian in there too.
Sevan Matossian (08:07):
Um, any, any, any reason why you would think you were so jacked? Why, why your physique is the way it is? Like, were, were you always, like, you’re just saying naturally at a young age, you, if, if you gave yourself stimulus, your body responded.
Lauren Conner (08:19):
Yeah. Yeah. I don’t, I don’t know. Um,
Sevan Matossian (08:23):
You can’t give anyone credit. You’re not Armenian
Lauren Conner (08:25):
<laugh>? No. I’m sorry. Uh, my mom was always kind of Jack too. She’s actually working out in the gym right now. She’s doing 12 days of Christmas.
Sevan Matossian (08:31):
Um, that was the thing. Do you know who, you know who Brooke Ends is, right?
Lauren Conner (08:35):
Yes.
Sevan Matossian (08:35):
And did you, have you ever seen her mom?
Lauren Conner (08:38):
Uh, I think on like Instagram. Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (08:40):
Her mom is jacked.
Lauren Conner (08:41):
Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (08:42):
Just like na like, just naturally. And so I, I always tripped on the fact, you know, there would be accusations about her like taking drugs and shit. And I’m like, dude, like unless her mom’s on drugs too. Like I don’t, I don’t think so. Like they are, are they look like genetic freaks. Yeah. And then, and then even people like Dan Bailey, like I saw him pictures of him in high school. He was already had, had muscle on top of muscle. That’s your mom? Oh, no. No. That’s against his mom. Yeah. And dude, she’s probably, she’s probably pushing 60 there. Yeah. It’s crazy. That’s cool. Is that an old post? That is so cool. Brooke did that. Oh. And that’s her sister ResSem from. That’s cool. Um, do you own two gyms? L Lauren?
Lauren Conner (09:30):
Yeah. Yeah. We just opened our second gym last October.
Sevan Matossian (09:34):
Why?
Lauren Conner (09:36):
Um, I just felt like the area could use it. Um, it’s kind of where I’m from. It’s right next to the high school I went to like, like throw things at
Sevan Matossian (09:47):
It. And, and how far apart are they?
Lauren Conner (09:50):
Uh, 30 minutes.
Sevan Matossian (09:52):
And And how many months did you say it’s been open?
Lauren Conner (09:55):
Just over a year. We just hit a year.
Sevan Matossian (09:57):
Wow. And, um, are you glad you did it?
Lauren Conner (10:00):
Yeah, I am. I, um, of course I like challenges, so,
Sevan Matossian (10:05):
And, and so a second gym is a, is a challenge. Yeah,
Lauren Conner (10:08):
It’s a challenge. A lot of people have told me. Um, to close it, a lot of people have told me like, if you don’t wanna be stressed out, you don’t want problems and just close the gym. But I find I would just create other problems probably. And I don’t mean that in a bad way, but I’d find new things for my brain to solve and find solutions for. So
Sevan Matossian (10:25):
Do you have kids?
Lauren Conner (10:26):
Four.
Sevan Matossian (10:27):
Holy cow. Yeah. How old are your kids?
Lauren Conner (10:31):
Um, 10, 6, 3 and one will be two. The youngest will be two in February.
Sevan Matossian (10:38):
Oh my goodness. And and your, um, your 10 year old you had, and then four months later you competed at regionals?
Lauren Conner (10:48):
Yes. Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (10:49):
<laugh>. Well you really do like challenges.
Lauren Conner (10:52):
Yeah. Well that kind of came as a surprise. I remember doing the first workout of that open and not believing how I finished it was the, um, the snatches and the burpee to target. And the snatches got heavier and I only did it once cause they had no expectations. And my mom had bought us for Christmas, like a show, a dinner and a show in the city, New York City. So we were in New York and we stopped by Reebok Fifth Ave. And one of the girls there was saying how she was, um, redoing the workout. And my husband always brags and he’s always so proud. And he was like, oh, she got, I don’t even remember what my score was. And I remember her like looking me up and down cause I’m like, kind of like I had just had a baby. I didn’t like look like I might get that score. And I didn’t know that it was good or not. And she just, I remember her looking at me like, you got that? And I was just like, yeah, I don’t know. And then we went out to dinner and I was like, oh, the score is holding. I kind of wish I redid it and just like did even better, but I guess I didn’t have to.
Sevan Matossian (11:50):
Yeah. That’s crazy. How did your body respond to that form? Uh, you know, when my wife had twins, she didn’t leave the house for three months. She had the twins and, and I’m with no exaggeration. She didn’t step outside once.
Lauren Conner (12:02):
Well, I kind of had to, I had to get back into the gym. There wasn’t another coach.
Sevan Matossian (12:07):
Right. Wow. And and your body responded well to that,
Lauren Conner (12:10):
I guess
Sevan Matossian (12:11):
<laugh>. How old, how old were you when you had that baby?
Lauren Conner (12:14):
Uh, 26, 27, something like that.
Sevan Matossian (12:18):
Did you always know you were gonna have a a lot of kids? Did you want kids?
Lauren Conner (12:21):
No, actually. So, um, our son was a surprise. We were engaged. We had just gotten engaged. Um, I had just gone and gotten my L one. I had just picked out my wedding dress. Um, and um, in Dallas, I think, uh, Zack Forres was there, Shri Chan. It was awesome.
Sevan Matossian (12:39):
Yeah. That is cool. Those are good people.
Lauren Conner (12:41):
And um, we found out we were pregnant, um, in February and it was a big surprise and the open was coming. And I remember like, I’m crying cuz like, I, like I didn’t expect this. I remember talking about like, um, I think I have to throw away my red high heels. Like that was the thing. Uhhuh <affirmative>, like, I don’t think moms have red high heels. I think I have to throw them away. Uh, my husband’s getting ready to go to the open. I’m like, you’re going without me. Doesn’t the whole world stuff. Like what is supposed to happen? And then, um, I met my son and it’s just been absolutely amazing.
Sevan Matossian (13:18):
Yeah. Isn’t it, isn’t it crazy. Um, when you say it was a surprise, meaning you guys hadn’t talked about having kids, you thought you were being safe or,
Lauren Conner (13:27):
Right? Yeah, we thought we were being safe. Um, we were our plan, our grand plan, we were both police officers at the time. We wanted to move back to New Jersey. We were in Arkansas. We thought that, um, we’d open a gym in New Jersey. I would be around my family. We’d have like a two year long engagement. That’s the perfect time to find a house to live in. Um, he would have to find a department to get picked up by, you know, all these plans. And then, uh, there were other plans.
Sevan Matossian (13:57):
You were both police officers?
Lauren Conner (13:59):
Yes.
Sevan Matossian (14:00):
Is that how you met?
Lauren Conner (14:01):
Yes. But not how probably you would expect,
Sevan Matossian (14:04):
Uh, can I hear the story? Oh,
Lauren Conner (14:05):
Absolutely. We met on a traffic stop.
Sevan Matossian (14:08):
Was one of you pulling someone else over?
Lauren Conner (14:10):
One of us was pulling someone else over, so he was pulling somebody else over. And actually it was right outside the city I worked in. So I, my city was inside his county.
Sevan Matossian (14:18):
And that’s in New Jersey?
Lauren Conner (14:20):
In Arkansas.
Sevan Matossian (14:21):
Ar Oh, okay. Okay.
Lauren Conner (14:23):
Yes. So he, um, makes a, makes a traffic stop and there’s something dangerous about it. And I was, my apartment building was nearby and I normally always bring my lunch and the guys had talked me into going out to lunch that day and I would purposely leave my wallet at home. So I ate when I packed and I was like, all right, I’ll, I’ll go home and grab my wallet. We’ll, I’ll go out to eat. So I’m at my apartment complex, grabbing my wallet and the call goes out and I know that, that I’m closer than the guy that got assigned to it. So I just pipe up, I’ll go take it. And um, I pulled up and I remember like, it’s so cheesy, but I remember like seeing the back of his head and knowing I was gonna marry him. Wow. And that’s like a very weird thing for me. And then he, like, he turned around, he was finishing up with everything and like, just a look on his face, he was just like, we joke around like he expected like this overweight like male to get out of the car. And he turned around and he saw me. He was acting like so silly.
Sevan Matossian (15:23):
And he couldn’t hide. He couldn’t hide his, his his how pleased he was that it was you and not Right. The the guy with the donut.
Lauren Conner (15:30):
Right. Right. No matter how much he likes donuts, he was still happy. It was me.
Sevan Matossian (15:35):
Um, that’s a trip. Um, were were you da were you dating anyone at the time?
Lauren Conner (15:39):
No.
Sevan Matossian (15:40):
And, and is, um, what is it weird being an attractive uh, uh, female in a, what I’m guessing is that there’s mostly dudes, uh, in your department?
Lauren Conner (15:50):
No, I don’t. I mean, I guess, but I think it’s such the stereotype that like, oh, you’re the one female that I think that it was just so like an obvious thing if you stayed away from it.
Sevan Matossian (16:01):
Yeah. Um,
(16:05):
It’s a trip. May, maybe I’m projecting, but I don’t think, I’m not, anytime you’re in a situation like that where there’s let, let’s say two females and 10 guys, the, I think the vast majority of guys are trying to ignore the female. Yeah. For no other reason. But they don’t wanna make her feel awkward. They don’t want to be that guy. Um, it it, it really is just like that because everything in them as a man is, there’s a female there. Right. Like, and so it’s, it’s like, um, it would be impossible for any man to turn that off. That’s why we put these crazy expectations on society to go against our natural, um, inclinations. And so when there, like if I was somewhere like that, like if I was, let’s say I was standing around with 10 camera guys and there was a girl there and she was a pretty girl and she was a fit girl, I would do everything in my power not to, um, I, I would have, I have to, would have to consciously make sure that I didn’t recognize her as a woman. Right. Do you know what I mean by that? Yeah. It’s, it’s a trip and yet it’s not. It’s um, it’s just kind of, uh,
(17:12):
It’s just kind of may, maybe it’s the way I was raised. It’s kind of just the appropriate thing to do. I don’t know it, that could be a whole fucking show, but it was obviously like that they try to maybe treat, they just try to treat you like one of the guys. You’re saying the the vast majority of the guys.
Lauren Conner (17:25):
Yeah, I think so. And then I think I went outta my way to be treated like a guy too.
Sevan Matossian (17:29):
What, what does that mean? Like what would like, I don’t
Lauren Conner (17:31):
Know. I think it just like, um, just always presenting as like tough maybe. And I remember like doing ride alongs with, cuz obviously there’s a training period I get after you get outta the academy. I’m riding with men, married men. And I just remember like make, they were like on the phone with their wives and like, and I felt bad. I didn’t want their wives to feel like any kind of way, but I like, what am I gonna call them and tell them like Right,
Sevan Matossian (17:57):
Right.
Lauren Conner (17:58):
Hey, don’t worry about it.
Sevan Matossian (17:59):
Right. That would be weird. <laugh>. Yeah. Um, uh, but but when you, when you say you had put on maybe a tough veneer, but you are tough already, right? I mean, you already growing up obviously you, you didn’t, uh, avoid discomfort.
Lauren Conner (18:14):
Yeah, I, I think so. Um, also I’m from your favorite state?
Sevan Matossian (18:17):
Yeah, New Jersey. New Jersey. It’s where my wife was born,
Lauren Conner (18:21):
<laugh>. So I think, um, when you’re raised here, it’s just different, I think especially as a female
Sevan Matossian (18:26):
In Jersey. Yeah.
Lauren Conner (18:28):
Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (18:28):
What do you mean by that?
Lauren Conner (18:30):
I, I don’t know because I’m, I think I’m still learning what it means, but I just know, like even when I was in Iowa, when I was in Arkansas, it would always be, oh, she’s from Jersey. And there was just kind of like this attitude that would go with it and this expectation of how I was. And I definitely think I filled that out a little bit too.
Sevan Matossian (18:46):
There’s this, um, you know how um, when you think of California, you might think of like valley girls or like, they have this, they people talk like this and there’s just that, like that stereotype in in the way people are, the stereotype for Jersey, for me, when I think of women from Jersey, I think of women from Jersey is the kind of women who try to get their, their husbands in fights.
Lauren Conner (19:07):
Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (19:08):
Do you know what I mean? Like, if some guy were to look at them wrong, she’d be like, he looked at me wrong, go fuck him up.
Lauren Conner (19:13):
I think I was trying to get in the fights.
Sevan Matossian (19:15):
Oh, okay. Alright. <laugh>. I mean, you clearly don’t fit that, uh, that stereotype. And I know, I know. I, I use it just playfully. I’m not saying that I think it’s like carp, you know, just everyone like that. But when I think of like, I never saw that show Jersey Shores, but when I would even see the previous for it, I’m like, yep. That’s, that’s kinda,
Lauren Conner (19:34):
That’s where our gym is too.
Sevan Matossian (19:36):
Oh, it is? Yeah. Yeah. Are are there some like, or, or were Laverne Shirley from New Jersey?
Lauren Conner (19:42):
Oh, I don’t know.
Sevan Matossian (19:43):
Oh, okay. That’s before. How old are you now? You’re
Lauren Conner (19:45):
30, 37.
Sevan Matossian (19:46):
Oh yeah, that’s way before your time. All right. Um, so born and raised in Arkansas. Are you country girl?
Lauren Conner (19:53):
No. Born and raised in New Jersey.
Sevan Matossian (19:55):
Oh.
Lauren Conner (19:56):
Ended up transferring. I’m, I went to, I’m confused. Okay. I went to Iowa State, got recruited out there. Okay. Transferred to Arkansas.
Sevan Matossian (20:02):
Okay.
Lauren Conner (20:03):
Met my husband. He’s born and raised there.
Sevan Matossian (20:05):
So when you finished school there, you didn’t leave?
Lauren Conner (20:07):
No, I didn’t. I thought I wanted to go into the fbi <laugh>, so I thought I would continue my education. I had a roommate whose father was with the F B I and so I thought I needed to continue my education. I got a job as a police officer thinking that that would also help down that path. I was very interested in motivations, especially like abnormal, um, motivations. So seemed interesting to me. And I started down that path. And then we ca I met my husband and the second I met my husband, I, uh, didn’t wanna be traveling and being put in this place or that place anymore. I had had, um, did done an interview with, uh, with Border Patrol before I met him also. So I had like, was checking out a few different things. But then once I met him, um, my goals sort of changed.
(21:01):
And then we were actually home, well we were in New Jersey. We took him home for a visit and we were dropping in gyms and I could not find a gym that like, just did the job, like explaining CrossFit and teaching CrossFit and the message of CrossFit, like where I learned it. Um, I learned CrossFit at CrossFit and, um, nwa, northwest Arkansas with Lee Kelly. He was like one of the first 50 or 60 CrossFits that opened and it’s so old school and he and I thought that would be everywhere. You just like, everyone teaches it like this, everyone believes in these things. And then we started dropping in gyms, um, in this area and I just couldn’t find that. So I just decided to make it.
Sevan Matossian (21:44):
Yeah. Um, and uh, is your husband still a police officer?
Lauren Conner (21:47):
He is, yeah.
Sevan Matossian (21:48):
So he was a police officer in, uh, Arkansas. Where In Arkansas. What city?
Lauren Conner (21:53):
He was a Washington County police officer. And I was a Springdale police officer.
Sevan Matossian (21:59):
That’s
Lauren Conner (22:00):
Right. Outside of Fayetteville.
Sevan Matossian (22:01):
Uh, going back to, um, uh, when you saw him for the first time, so you weren’t you, you didn’t have a boyfriend at the time and you weren’t looking for a boyfriend?
Lauren Conner (22:09):
No. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>
Sevan Matossian (22:11):
Before you saw, you just saw the back of his head.
Lauren Conner (22:13):
Yeah, the back of head was ridiculous.
Sevan Matossian (22:16):
Yeah. Yeah. It’s, it’s weird. I, I consider myself sort of like a, a body connoisseur. I just love bodies and I, I’ve been neglecting the back of the head <laugh>. I’ve complete, I’ve completely, I, I feel like I’m not even an expert. I’ve completely been neglecting the back of the head. I never make any comments about the back of someone’s head. Every other body part.
Caleb Beaver (22:37):
It’s disappointing. Your name’s not Ivonne, <laugh>,
Sevan Matossian (22:41):
<laugh>. So, um, then he turns around and, um, how do, how do you guys stay in contact? Do you ask if he for his phone number or
Lauren Conner (22:50):
He starts to pull away and then he turns around and pulls back and he gives me Wow. He gives me his card. Yeah. <laugh>,
Sevan Matossian (23:00):
Why did she Oh, he saw the back of her head in that skit. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (23:04):
Your boy, where your boyfriend at? Is he getting you refreshments? Is he tall? Is he getting you Mike and Ikes? Are you like Mike and Ikes? Is
Caleb Beaver (23:11):
He
Sevan Matossian (23:14):
Good job. I dunno if that was successful, but
Caleb Beaver (23:17):
I like it. He wasn’t, I’m sorry.
Sevan Matossian (23:18):
Uh, no, it’s good. It’s good. It’s valid. Val, you, you get a for effort. Um, so okay, so he turns around
Lauren Conner (23:24):
Right? And he gives me his card. I and
Sevan Matossian (23:28):
You kind of do the cop thing where you guys are like this? Yes. Yep. Put the windows down.
Lauren Conner (23:31):
Yeah. One’s po, one’s facing one way, one’s the other way. And, um, he gives me his card, but it was really confusing because it was his like, work number. So I was like, I’m reading this all wrong. And I guess he says, I friend requested him right, right away. I think I waited a few days, but Okay. And he said he was so intimidated cuz of how many friends I had on Facebook. He was like, oh, this girl’s too cool for me, is what he says. And, um, he didn’t contact me at all on there and I had his, uh, work phone number. So I actually went <laugh> back to the PD and I was just like asking the guys, I was like, does, did I read this wrong? Like, does he even like girls? Like what did I
Sevan Matossian (24:13):
Like? Fair question. Fair
Lauren Conner (24:15):
Question. And um, he, he ended up, I put up like a New Year’s, new Year’s Eve, uh, picture from when I was back home. And he wrote like in the middle of the day he wrote something cheesy like, is that picture from right now? And I was like, no, it’s from tomorrow. And then it was just on from there.
Sevan Matossian (24:35):
Wow. And, and, um, you’re not a police officer anymore?
Lauren Conner (24:39):
I am not.
Sevan Matossian (24:40):
Okay. So, um, you’re going back, so you’re, you’re born in Jersey and, uh, do you have siblings?
Lauren Conner (24:47):
I have a brother, yeah.
Sevan Matossian (24:48):
And, uh, did he get into sports?
Lauren Conner (24:51):
He is still playing volleyball. He’s 11 years younger than me, so he’s a half-brother. I have a, another older half-brother and an older, no, a younger half sister. I don’t know my sister that much.
Sevan Matossian (25:03):
So four of you all together, but, but you, so you’re the only baby your mom had?
Lauren Conner (25:07):
My mom had, um, an a boy as well. Okay. He’s the one that’s 11 years younger than me.
Sevan Matossian (25:13):
So you’re the only baby your dad had?
Lauren Conner (25:15):
He had no, I don’t even know. I think he had three,
Sevan Matossian (25:19):
But with a different mom
Lauren Conner (25:21):
With three different
Sevan Matossian (25:22):
Wow. Yeah. Now the jersey story’s filling in nicely. Right, right. And yeah. Now the George Jersey. And then, um, who put you in sports? My mom. I think I, she did? Yeah.
Lauren Conner (25:33):
She was a single mom.
Sevan Matossian (25:36):
And, and, and why did you, why did you embrace sports? I have a theory. Hmm.
Lauren Conner (25:41):
Um, I don’t, my mom just put me in them. I know swimming was like one of the first things I did. I don’t think I was very good at it, although my family made me feel like I was good at it. And then I started playing soccer and I was very aggressive in soccer, so I was getting a lot of praise, I think playing soccer
Sevan Matossian (25:58):
And, um, uh, and, and was there a thing there that there was, um, mom working so many kids, so many mates that you felt like maybe sports was a way to get attention to get, uh, out, out of that life or no?
Lauren Conner (26:12):
Um, I don’t know. Mom was working a lot, but like, uh, the only person I really remember, I, she dated a few people, but then my stepdad came into the pitcher in like third grade. So from like third grade on it was just him. But, um, I don’t know. I think my mom grew up with sports too. My grandmother still teaches swimming lessons to this day.
Sevan Matossian (26:33):
So the French Indian lady, the French Indian lady? Yes, yes. No
Lauren Conner (26:36):
Shit. Yes. So she, um, sh they’re all swimmers, divers, gymnasts. My mom went to to school and she swam, dove and did gymnastics.
Sevan Matossian (26:47):
Okay. So, so you’re into sports and somewhere in high school you pick up track and field in cross country?
Lauren Conner (26:52):
Yeah, I started running just to keep in, in shape for soccer.
Sevan Matossian (26:56):
And then, and then you were good enough at it that you started applying to colleges to try to go, uh, uh, as a track athlete?
Lauren Conner (27:02):
Yeah. Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (27:03):
Did you go to scholarship?
Lauren Conner (27:04):
Oh yeah.
Sevan Matossian (27:05):
And, and Oh, had you started going? Uh, oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah,
Lauren Conner (27:10):
Yeah,
Sevan Matossian (27:10):
Yeah. Uh, and did you, did you, had you started going to the gym at that point?
Lauren Conner (27:15):
Well, actually when I was at Arkansas, so when I was at Iowa State, I learned a little bit about hang cleaning. Looking back, I was doing it completely wrong. We did a lot of like, um, we did gds, but we did back extension on the GD machine. Um, but then once I was in Arkansas, I was told that when I smell a weight room, I gained weight. So, um, they had me doing more like pull-ups, sit-ups, just stuff like that.
Sevan Matossian (27:40):
And could you do a pull-up the first time you tried to do a pullout?
Lauren Conner (27:43):
No, no, no. It’s really wild. Like, I wonder if I knew everything I knew now about strengthening different parts of my body, my midline, uh, really eating though. If I knew like paleo, just something simple like paleo, I just wonder how different my career would’ve been.
Sevan Matossian (28:02):
Meaning, uh, if you would’ve started strength training, uh, some something like CrossFit in high school and someone told you about nutrition,
Lauren Conner (28:12):
Right,
Sevan Matossian (28:12):
How much that would’ve changed your trajectory,
Lauren Conner (28:15):
Right? Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (28:17):
Um, in the, in the positive way. In
Lauren Conner (28:19):
The positive way because like I remember, we’re not allowed to talk about weight. The coach is not allowed to talk about weight with us. So he would say things to me like, what do you think your fighting weight is? And um, I I think it’s actually hurtful that we can’t talk about weight. Cause I don’t know what he meant by that. I would just have to interpret it however I did, which is going to be, oh, I’m overweight. And so I would do crazy things like not eat on a Sunday because I didn’t run on a Sunday. So I just thought like, oh, I guess I just take in less calories than I put out. That’s how you lose weight. And I wish that I knew how much damage I was doing cuz I was also not sleeping and not, I am running. Like I got to the point where I could fall asleep on a run, like running six something mile pace for 11 miles. Like I’d be in a pack. So I would just follow that rhythm and I would be like asleep running
Sevan Matossian (29:14):
F for real?
Lauren Conner (29:15):
Yes, for real.
Caleb Beaver (29:17):
Doing basic training.
Lauren Conner (29:19):
Yeah.
Sevan Matossian (29:19):
That would happen to you too, Caleb?
Caleb Beaver (29:21):
Yeah, when I was in basic training. You were just like snoring,
Sevan Matossian (29:26):
Hilarious. And then, and then, and when do you wake up?
Lauren Conner (29:29):
Um, I don’t know. It wasn’t like a
Caleb Beaver (29:32):
Slowing down,
Lauren Conner (29:33):
It wasn’t like a half hour like nap, but I would fall asleep running.
Sevan Matossian (29:38):
Wow. Um, and, and, uh, go going back to this eating thing. Recently I heard someone say, I can’t remember which, where I heard it, but I thought it was really an interesting thing and I think I agree with it. When you compete at the, when you compete at a CrossFit event, you ideally wanna be as absolutely as light as you can be.
The above transcript is generated using AI technology and therefore may contain errors.
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