Thank YOU!

January 17, 2012 4 Comments

Thank you Progenex, SICFIT, family, and friends. (Pls disregard the chipped nail polish!)

This is probably old news for my followers on Twitter but I’m saying it here anyway! Ryan and my video collaboration “Get Up. Get Fit. Get Out.” WON first place in the SICflicks fueled by Progenex video competition. The night I found out, my cheeks hurt so bad from smiling. I mean, the grand prize was FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS with some SICFIT gear and Progenex thrown in (as if $5k wasn’t enough?! Hello, we’ll take it!!)

Don’t ask me what we’re spending the money on. I don’t think I’ve ever EVER had this much free money. My mind is still reeling.

Just wanted to give a HUGE thank you to SICFIT and Progenex. I knew we did a good job with the video but, seriously, there were some stiff competition with other good videos and captured talents. We certainly didn’t expect to win so we are flattered. I mean… FLATTERED. Thank you to everyone that viewed the video, liked it on Facebook, retweeted it on Twitter, and passed it on to their friends. You guys are the best!

Thank you all so much!

Check out our Behind The Scenes shots here!

Filed Under: Events, Inspiration Tagged With: , , ,

The CrossFit Women that Rock My World

October 7, 2011 7 Comments

At the risk of sounding like an internet stalker (really, is there such a thing?) I am not embarrassed to admit that I am THIS close to being a walking Wikipedia on the topic of Annie Sakamoto.

Annie is to me what Justin Beiber is to tweens. It’s along the lines of, “OMG!! I can’t believe I’m going to see her compete! In person!” (Insert giddy giggles here.)

And, ohhhh, you should’ve SEEN her compete at The Games. She’s like a firecracker – so much explosivity and power in a small package. She’s so… cheery and compact (is that politically correct?) I want to turn her into an iPhone app and carry her around in my boho purse, not gonna lie. I can’t recognize a celebrity to save my life, but I sure as heck can recognize a 5’1″ 116 lb woman clean and jerk 155 lbs and push a sled like it’s nobody’s business.

Annie is without-a-doubt, hands-down, no-question-about-it, my most-inspired-by CrossFitter. I remember the first time I watched the CrossFit Nasty Girls video. I, probably like most people that watch that vid for the first time, was like, “WHO ARE THESE CHICKS? What are they doing on those rings?!” I never would’ve imagined that one day, I too, would be doing strict muscle ups… thanks to the inspiration of strong women like Annie.

And then there’s Carey Kepler, dubbed “The People’s Champ.”

I remember a YouTube video I saw of her before I had any real idea what CrossFit was. I was, like, “Who is this spring chickie doing the same workout as a guy in her bathing suit top (?) And what is that on her shoulder?” (It’s KT Tape, or something similar.)

So I posted that vid of Carey on my Facebook wall with a caption along of the lines of, “Whoa. Check this chic out,” and someone replied, “That’s Carey Kepler. She’s 30-something years old and a mother of two.” I was astounded! Because in my pre-CrossFit world, I didn’t encounter 30 year olds that looked like collegiate athletes and 6-pack abs after having 2 kids – unheard of! I’ll always credit that particular Carey Kepler video with inspiring me to actually take the CrossFit plunge.

There are so many talented, fit women out there but these particular CrossFit women have been most influential in helping me get started with CrossFit. I look at them and they are thriving in their 30′s+, they are nurturing mothers (which I hear is a full time job), they have successful careers or businesses, they are in good health, they are strong – in body and in mind. I don’t even know them but they’ve somehow managed to influence my life for the better. I read about them and can’t help but think:

Well, maybe we CAN have it ALL!

Annie Sakamoto
Jolie Gentry
Eva Twardokens
Shari “Baby” Kenner
Elisabeth Akinwale
Cheryl Brost
Carey Kepler

Filed Under: CrossFit, Inspiration Tagged With: , ,

When Men and Mountains Meet

September 28, 2011 3 Comments

There is something to be said about reaching the top.

This past weekend I was afforded the opportunity to remind myself WHY. See, I don’t have a sub 5 minute Fran time. Quite frankly, I’m ok if I never do because I don’t lift heavy and CrossFit just so I can be a good CrossFitter. (Why stop there?) When my alarm goes off at 6:30 am, I get out of bed, stumble into my garage, warm up, get under my barbell, and then WOD so I can hike mountains, so I can mountain bike, so I can trail run, so I CAN DO THINGS IN LIFE THAT ARE MEANINGFUL TO ME.

As I climbed up the ridge of my first 14′er last weekend, it got to the point where the air was freaky thin. In between thoughts of, “Shiz, I’m suffocating,” I was able to remind myself that I’d been there before in between double unders and 100m sprints.  When I had to take each step deliberately because my legs just felt tired, I was able to remind myself that I’d been there before at the bottom of a 3RM back squat. And as I stood there on Gray’s Peak at 14,270′ feeling out of breath but so alive, I was able to say, “We have an hour to spend. Let’s walk down this saddle and hike up that other 14′er called Torreys Peak.” ‘Cause you can say things like that and do things like that when you take care of your body.

And suddenly it wasn’t that difficult to get out of bed at 6:30 am on a Monday morning to workout.

Figure out what your mountain is… and then climb it. It’s work. It’s also rewarding. And when you reach the top of whatever your mountain is, look over the horizon, find another one, and climb that one as well. Because “great things are done when men and mountains meet.”

Filed Under: Inspiration, Psychobabble Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
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