CrossFitter
Occupation: Currently completing a degree in Dietetics to pursue a career as a Registered Dietician
A little over four years ago, a friend of mine took me to a class at CrossFit Hit & Run and I was all in! I was incredibly active growing up but strayed from fitness for a time after high school. That first class reignited my old passion for sport, sweat, and fitness.
Currently, I am doing 3-4 regular CrossFit workouts per week with some additional endurance-focused workouts to supplement. I try to create a balance in my training by getting high-intensity strength training from CrossFit classes while maintaining my endurance capacity with things like the new Hustle program or a Cyclebar class once a week. Throughout the year, I sign up for various events and will shift my training focus to support those goals.
My diet is ever-evolving, like most great things in life. I usually have four meals a day, sometimes with a snack or two.
Breakfast: Egg whites, lots of veggies, and a muffin or toast.
Lunch: Ground turkey, chicken breast, or tuna on top of greens with a starch like sweet potatoes.
Dinner: I like to have fun and try new recipes. Current faves are any type of Asian-inspired dish like homemade chicken Pad Thai. I also like to incorporate rice and rice noodles.
Treats: My go-to is usually from Bedrock Eats & Sweets.
My guilty pleasure is cake. Specifically birthday cake or lemon-flavored cake. A savory indulgence would likely be pizza. I work that into my diet with a fairly consistent frequency.
The most underrated exercise is squatting. CrossFit focuses a lot on front/back squatting, and I see great value in that. Keeping my legs and core strong allows me to play hard in so many ways—biking, running, co-ed softball, all of it!
My favorite move in CrossFit is a gymnastics movement called Toes to Bar. You hang from the pull-up bar and create momentum back and forth, bringing your toes all the way up to the bar to make contact. It’s so much fun.
The thing that keeps me motivated is the desire to improve and continue to grow. There is no end result in CrossFit where suddenly you’ve learned it all or gotten as good as you’ll ever be. When I first started, I remember asking my coach, Justin LaMance who owns CrossFit Hit & Run, “When is this going to get easier?” And he said, “It isn’t. The better you get, the stronger and faster you’ll be, and the more you can make it hurt.”
My advice to newbies is to keep showing up and leave the ego at the door. When I first started CrossFit, it had been so long since I’d worked out or trained in any real way. I couldn’t even do a push-up!
In my gym bag, I’ve always got athletic tape, hair ties, snacks, extra socks, my jump rope, band-aids, deodorant, mouthwash, and phone charger. Who knows what else is in there!
I’m looking forward to my first sprint triathlon this August and the CrossFit Open this fall. You complete one very hard workout per week for five weeks. It’s great to see the growth that has happened since last year. Lastly, I will be running the St. Jude Half Marathon in December.
People would be surprised to know I speak Spanish. Grammatical precision may be a little rusty, but I can get around in Spanish-speaking countries, and I feel so alive when I get to use that skill.
My spirit animal is some type of bird. Able and willing to be grounded, but preferably up and about and moving quickly. I like a fast-paced, structured life.
Interview by Amy Goode. Photo by Taylor Tartera.
