Hi everybody. Sean Woodland inside the CrossFit Update Show Studios.
The 2016 Reebok CrossFit Games Open is behind us,
and we wanted to check back in with a woman that we first introduced you to
about six weeks ago
who was getting ready for her first Open.
She found CrossFit last July,
signed up for the Open and CrossFit just had an amazing impact on her life.
All for the best.
She's Brandy Digre,
and she's joining us live via Skype from Lynnwood, Washington.
Brandy, thank you so much for being here once again.
Thank you for having me.
There may be some people out there who aren't too familiar with your story.
How did you find CrossFit
back in July?
Back in July of 2015,
my work was offering a free program for the summer months
to--and offering on-site classes,
which were 30 minutes long,
and that's how I was first introduced to CrossFit.
You wound up joining CrossFit Industrious up there.
I know going into your first Open you were a little nervous,
and I think rightfully so,
but now that you've been through it, how do you feel?
I feel great.
I'm super glad that I participated in it.
I was really nervous
to begin with.
I didn't know what to expect.
It's--you know, you hear stories
of, you know, other experiences,
but it really isn't something that you can
grasp until you do it,
and so, like, with 16.1,
when I heard that it was going to be 20 minutes long
and all kinds of lunges and burpees,
burpees aren't my strong point,
but, you know, I made it through
and I felt awesome afterwards, so
it was a great, great five weeks.
What did you learn about yourself through this whole experience?
I think the biggest thing that I learned is
that a lot of my
maybe held-back barriers are mental,
so once the--the first couple workouts
I think were kind of tough on me because I felt like
I should be that much further along,
or I should (indecipherable) longer,
but then I realized that this was
pretty much my benchmark, my first Open,
so I really had nothing to compare it to,
and so, if anything, I found that
I'm mentally--I mentally got stronger
throughout the full thing.
Each workout was that much better.
I felt that much more confident.
I was able to endure that much longer,
and really push myself to see how far I could get
and it was great.
From the pictures that I saw, it looked like it was really an incredible environment up there
at CrossFit Industrious.
What kinds of things did they do to, you know, make it more fun,
not only for you, but for the entire community at that gym?
Well, from the start, it--I keep hearing that
each year it gets better with them.
I can't imagine that it could get any better than it was.
We had official shirts made.
We had an awesome DJ,
our resident Sean, whom I love,
and, you know, different people would come out each week.
We had Kill Cliff one week.
Lululemon came out one week.
Northwest Fitmeals came out one week,
and it was just really awesome,
something to look forward to every Friday night,
and I just can't thank the community enough
for the encouragement,
and just--it was just awesome.
Awesome experience.
What was the best part of this for you?
Best part
would be really just seeing how far I've come
since July.
I'm 115 pounds down,
which is awesome,
but who really knows how many more pounds I've put on in muscle?
I feel stronger. I feel more confident.
I feel healthier.
Overall, it's just improved me as a person,
mentally and physically,
and I couldn't have done it without finding CrossFit.
For me, that is what works,
so I'm very happy with where I'm at right now.
It's never too early to start looking ahead to 2017.
What are your goals for this coming year?
We're going to improve those burpees for next year,
but really it's just going to--this Open's
really just kind of emphasized
that I want to keep improving.
I want to--I have goals to want to
at least Rx some workouts next year.
I had nothing to compare it to this year
so, you know, I'm proud of myself for what I was able to do,
and I just want to be able to improve on that
and hopefully, you know,
see that much more improvement next year.
Well Brandy, thank you so much for joining us.
We really appreciate you sharing your story with us
throughout the entire Open,
and we wish you the best of luck in the following year,
and in the Open in 2017.
Thank you.
Brandy Digre, who is one of the most inspirational people that we got to talk to during this entire Open
just finished her first Open and looking ahead to 2017.
We hope that you found some inspiration in her story,
as well as some triumphs of your own
during the 2016 Reebok CrossFit Games Open.