I first found CrossFit—my sister actually played rugby in Minnesota, and
some of her rugby teammates were doing CrossFit as supplementary training,
and one day out of the blue, she sent me the link to main site,
and said this looks like something you might be interested in.
Pretty quickly after starting, I got into the competition aspect.
I really didn't know what I was getting into but I thought well, sure, I'd like to train with the people who are committed to competing.
The beginning half of 2012, I actually didn't train very much.
I had my son, worked 9-hour days, trained when I could.
This year, I've been training full time, been blessed with some sponsor opportunities.
I've actually done a lot more reading, what I consider mental training.
I just want to be able to maximize my mental strength for the purpose of competing better, but also
just for the enjoyment of it. I mean, that's the whole point
is wanting to enjoy it and wanting to see how far I can go.
(music)
A fan made one for herself and posted it on my page and said "Look what I made." And I said, "Oh my god, that's so awesome,
someone made a poster." Now it looks like I'm this extreme narcissist with this huge picture of myself
over my bedroom ...
They just want to see you give it everything you have. No one's going to knock you if you give it all you have.
So that's kind of how I got over the nerves the first time.
I actually love the stadium now, that's my favorite place to compete.
2011 Regionals, I spent most of the regional in the stands hanging out
with my friends, walking around, no one said anything to me.
I think on the third day, some girl asked me for my picture and I was like, oh, that's weird.
Sure! And then 2012 Regionals, we had our own separate area and I was kind of sequestered
in the back for the most part and then one day I was walking around the vendors
and it was like being mobbed. I signed jerseys, I signed autographs,
took a bunch of pictures, it was a very different culture than it was just 1 year prior.
When I grew up I was like well, the key to happiness in your work life is going to college.
If you go to college, then you can have a career that's fulfilling to you.
It's not just work, it's a career.
So I did that, I went to grad school, I felt like I followed the rules, and I was just incredibly unhappy with
the outcome. Before I even went to school, I
was a group-fitness instructor and I just never really valued—I thought it wasn't intellectual enough or whatever,
to be a valuable pursuit. I felt like you had to go to college, that
is what you're supposed to do.
And then 10 years later, I'm kind of cycling back to what I originally wanted to do.
I've actually spoken to a friend who's just a weightlifter and she's mentioned how her parents think it's really weird
what she's doing. And that was foreign to me because in my family, women—it's kind of just expected that you're strong
and capable physically. I think I've seen it more from other women who reach out to me because
they see what I'm doing and maybe they don't have that kind of support or they don't have that background.
And so for them, they have to come out of the defined roles that they've had in the past.
So having me as an example, I guess, is helpful to them.
There's always a connection when you see someone who looks like you, especially when it's in a group where you're underrepresented.
So I've had many people reach out to me and say I really appreciate what you're doing because my daughters watch you and
my daughters look like you and they see you as a role model.
I know when I was a little girl growing up in gymnastics, I definitely keyed on Betty Okino
or Dominique Dawes or the person who represented me.
So if I can be that for someone then that's phenomenal, I'd love to do that.
Sometimes I wish I was a little more of a lighthearted person, but I think about a lot of those issues.
I could have a blog and just post my workouts, but my opinion toward that is, like, who cares?
If you really want to share yourself, actually bringing some thought and reflection and life experiences
and sharing that with other people—that's more where it's at for me than just posting my WODs.
I came from a family who didn't have a lot of money, didn't have a lot of people who had been to college, things like that,
and my goal for years was to get a scholarship to college for doing gymnastics.
And I ended up having 5 knee surgeries in high school.
Tore my ACL in 10th grade, tore my ACL in 11th grade—those are the main recruiting years.
I did end up continuing and walking on to a university team hoping to earn a scholarship still
and then freshman year, tore my ACL. I felt like I let my family down
because I was not able to acquire this education without a financial burden on the family.
It sort of left me with, instead of feeling like if you work hard and are dedicated, you will reach your goal,
it made me, subconsciously, feel like you can work hard, you can dedicate all of your being to
something and still have bad misfortune or whatever.
And I think after that I was just afraid to put myself out there and dedicate myself 100 percent to something
the way that I had gymnastics.
CrossFit was the first thing that I got out of my comfort zone and just put myself out there.
My mom's the kind who supports you for anything whether she understands it or whatever.
She had never seen CrossFit until the regionals last year. That's when I saw it click for her
and she was like, OK, this is awesome. They're very proud
as they've always been, to be honest.
My family's just always supportive.
Whoa, you are thirsty.
My son's name is Asa, he's 6 years old,
kindergartner, and he's just an awesome little boy.
He has some really specific interests, he loves building with Legos,
he's very physical. It'll be a shame if he doesn't want to be an athlete because he's very athletic.
Right now with my schedule, I basically set aside Saturdays for him and I to have a day.
Often he wants to come to the gym so it's kind of funny because I'll be like, "No, it's my rest day,
I don't want to go to the gym." I love imagining him
being 14 and joining the high-school football team and saying, "Yeah, my mom taught me how to power clean
when I was 6. I already know how to do this."
I won't be satisfied with anything less than the podium. Some other, kind of, less-concrete goals—
maintaining a positive mind, enjoying it, smiling more,
kind of those corny intangibles that I just want to enjoy the process.