Interview: 10-Time Champ Rich Froning on His Upcoming 100-Mile Bike Race (and Why He’ll Never Compete at the CrossFit Games Again)

POWERED BY:

What does life look like for 10-time CrossFit Games champion Rich Froning these days in Cookeville, TN?

We caught up with the legend himself to talk about his current training style, whether we’ll ever get to see him on the CrossFit competition floor again, and the Mayhem Edition AIRWAAV Performance Mouthpiece that helped him complete a 100-mile mountain bike race last summer, a feat he’s undertaking again this year.

[Related: The Best Stationary Bike Workout for Your Experience Level, According to a Personal Trainer]

Morning Chalk Up: What does your day-to-day life look like these days?

Rich Froning: After dropping the kids off at school, I always go to Buffalo Brew for coffee and breakfast and catch up with members, employees, and drop-ins. After that, I typically rope someone into doing a workout with me. 

Between 11:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m., I have a podcast or a meeting at Mayhem until I pick up the kids from school. Sometimes, the kids and I will then come back to the gym for our kids’ class at CrossFit Mayhem, or I’ll go home and do another session at the house.

Afternoons and evenings are family time. Or farm time, which is also family time.

MCU: What does training look like now compared to a couple of years ago?

Froning: Less intensity, zero stress, and a lot more enjoyment. I’m told the volume is still high, but it’s less than what I’ve grown accustomed to. 

Now that it’s warmer and the [Leadville Trail 100 MTB] bike race is in a few months, I’ve been adding seat time back into my routine. 

Last year, I liked listening to presidential biographies while I trained and got through nine presidents, so we’ll see how many I listen to this year. 

MCU: So you’re doing Leadville again this year? What was it like last year? (Froning finished the 100-mile mountain bike race in Colorado in 8 hours, 32 minutes, and 58 seconds, good enough for 287th out of 1787 competitors).

Froning: In a different way than CrossFit, it was the hardest thing I have ever trained for. Training for a 100-mile mountain bike race and trying to prepare for the altitude of Colorado is like nothing I’ve ever done, and it was exactly what I needed to give me something to chase again. 

I needed to lose 15 pounds to be lighter on the bike, but I also wanted to maintain the strength needed for an endurance race like that, all while eating more calories than I probably ever have in my career. 

I learned a lot about myself during those training miles. I learned a lot about endurance nutrition, and I learned a lot about relying on people to help during race day. It might be just me on the bike, but Leadville requires a team. 

I’m already training again for the 2024 Leadville Race [which takes place on August 10], and we get to bring 10 other riders along through Mayhem Mission and the Leadville Legacy Foundation, which is pretty cool to be a part of. 

[Related: 8 Benefits of Cycling to Fuel Your Next Ride]

MCU: How did you fuel yourself for a 100-mile bike race?

Froning: A lot of hydration salts; GUs and gel packs; PB&Js; gummy candy, caffeinated and non-caffeinated; and Coca-Cola. High carb, easily digestible, and requires little to no chewing. We put out a Leadville documentary on our YouTube channel if anyone wants to learn more or watch it unfold in real time. 

MCU: In general, when you’re not training for Leadville, what does your nutrition look like now compared to when you were competing in CrossFit?

Froning: I would say it hasn’t changed too much in the last couple of years, but the two main things that have changed are I don’t do intermittent fasting anymore because I was losing too much weight during Games training volume, and since [picking up] hunting, I pay a lot more attention to where my food is coming from.

MCU: We know you’re a big proponent of the AIRWAAV mouthpiece, specifically your Mayhem Edition. Did you use it for Leadville? Do you still use it for most of your training?

Froning: I use the AIRWAAV for most workouts, at least 80 percent. Honestly, the only time I don’t use it is when I forget it.

I wear the Mayhem Edition PX2 Mouthpiece. I like it because it’s our signature patriotic blue, and I prefer the PX2 mouthpiece because it’s a little sleeker and fits tighter than the PX1  mouthpiece.

I used the PX2  mouthpiece during training [for Leadville], but because there is so much eating on race day, and time is of the essence, I did not use it for race day.

MCU: Do you have any other business ventures in the works?

Froning: We are launching Mayhem Hunt [a hunting prep training program] in the summer, aiming for June. I don’t claim to be an expert, but I remember my first elk hunt in Colorado and realizing how physically taxing it is and I’m in fairly decent shape. And we didn’t even pack out an animal. 

The next year and in the years since, I have been fortunate enough to harvest a few elk and a bear, and carrying the weight of those animals for hours, or dragging them through the thick brush of the Rockies, is not something I would recommend to the average person. 

I searched for hunt-specific training programs and didn’t find many options, so after a few years of learning what has best prepared me for hunting season, I wanted to give other people a resource. We’ve already heard stories of men and women who have thought about getting into hunting or have a goal of going on more physical hunts but didn’t know where to start, and that’s what we want to provide through Mayhem Hunt. 

[Related: Cycling vs. Running — A Personal Trainer Runs Through the Best Form of Cardio]

MCU: We have to ask: Will we see you compete in CrossFit again?

Froning: On a Games level, absolutely not. Not because I don’t enjoy the sport, but because of past injuries and my joints have a lot of miles on them. Plus, it feels good to feel moderately good for the first time in over 10 years.

I also don’t have the desire to compete as an Individual anymore. It’s just not fun at this point in my life. I might compete in a local competition on a team with friends in my division, but that will most likely be the extent of it. 

Featured image: AIRWAAV