From Competitor to Coach: Michele Letendre

Michele Letendre understands competition from all angles.

She's a former top-level athlete with six individual CrossFit Games appearances and a career-best finish of 4th in 2014. Now, she's a business owner and a coach to elite athletes such as Pat Vellner.

In this interview with Sean Woodland, Michele gets real about the mental toll of competition, the pressure of being compared with Camille Leblanc-Bazinet and how she shifted her mindset after retiring from competition.

Links:

COVID-19 Resources
Join the Gym Owners United group on Facebook
Free Tools
Book a Free Call

Contact:

Instagram: @mich_letendre

Timeline:

1:07 – Dealing with the coronavirus situation.

3:52 – Developing the desire to excel through water polo.

7:48 – Finding CrossFit and becoming a competitor.

11:51 – Michele’s journey with nutrition and weight loss after her first Games appearance.

16:12 – On competing against Camille Leblanc-Bazinet—and eventually becoming friends.

21:39 – Michele’s best year of competition.

24:09 – Managing expectations.

27:48 – Shifting perspectives.

30:59 – Coming back for one more year in 2016.

35:38 – Becoming a coach.

39:49 – On dealing with Pat Vellner’s antics.

44:17 – Where are all the female elite-athlete coaches?

46:43 – The most rewarding aspect of her career.