Brief personal history and journey towards beginning your CrossFit journey:
Where to start… I have always been an active person with school sports and wanting to be outside doing things all the time. For 8 summers I would go away to a tripping camp for a minimum of 3 weeks at a time. I have spent weeks canoeing the lakes of Northern Wisconsin, 14 days kayaking in Georgian Bay, Canada, and 24 days backpacking through the Beartooth Mountains in Montana.
The end of high school and all of college I became the stereotypical “gym rat” hitting the standard 5 day split weekly. I loved lifting weights but wasn’t always seeing all of the work I was putting in, so I upped my cardio game. In 2013 one of my best friends finally convinced me to run a marathon with her…. what was I thinking?! After the marathon I knew I needed to get back to the weights!
What brought you to CrossFit Oshkosh?
A friend at work knew I lifted daily and had been talking to me about CrossFit and I gave her all the standard excuses in the book why I didn’t want to do it – the “that’s dangerous” and “everyone who does CrossFit gets hurt”. Finally I caved and went with to try it out, mostly because I wanted to learn the Olympic lifts. I had mixed emotions after my first experience, but gave it thought over the weekend and thought why not give it a try and do it once or twice a week to mix things up. Lets just say within a week I was hooked and there 5-6 times a week.
I was so hooked I even coach now too!
Your first impression of CrossFit Oshkosh?
My first impression? Honestly… it was okay. I had done an intro session which taught you the squat series, and in my head all I kept thinking was “I already know how to do this”. It wasn’t until I did the WOD at the end when I started to get interested. Then I remember sitting down with Austin talking about memberships when I really started to relate to him. The people at CFO during my first WOD gave me the best impression!
What has been your biggest hurdle since starting?
GYMNASTICS!!! I never once have taken a gymnastics class in my life! I remember laughing in people faces at the thought of me doing a handstand! Lifting came easy to me.. gymnastics never will, but I’ll keep trying!
What is your favorite aspect of CrossFit?
Lifting! I love the feeing of empowerment you get from hitting a lift or weight you didn’t think you could! Especially as a female.
I also love to see other people feel that same way. The look on someones face when they lift something they never thought they could is one of the most gratifying things for me when I coach.
What are your current goals in CrossFit?
After breaking my wrist in September I have struggled to get back to my squat clean PR… I am so close it’s killing me! I want to break though that barrier and put up an even bigger number!
Other than that it’s really to just get better all around! It’s hard for me to pick small goals (even though I know that’s how it’s supposed to work) I just want to do everything!
As a coach though, I want to help people get better at their Olympic lifts, and continue my education with some more classes.
What is something we don’t know about you?
This question is pretty hard for me because I feel like I’m an open book… but, most of you probably don’t know that I used to be on a dance team, had bunion surgery on my left big toe, and I am an alumna of Zeta Tau Alpha.