Athlete of the Month

Congratulations Sharon

Hometown: Philadelphia, PA

Current Location: King of Prussia, PA

Age: 46

Occupation: Senior Scientist in Reproductive Toxicology

College: Delaware Valley College of Science and Agriculture

How long have you been a Cross Fitter? 3 years in November

Did you ever play sports? Volleyball, basketball and track in high school and college

Got some cool (or uncool) hobbies you'd like to share? Nothing cool, but I’m called “Ms Fix It” by my family and friends. I’m called upon whenever there’s a home project, kitchen, bathroom remodeling, flooring tile and wood, etc. I also enjoy cooking, unfortunately some of my best dishes are of the unhealthy fattening kind (Mac and Cheese, quiche etc)

What is your biggest achievement at CrossFit? Getting over the fear of CrossFit and losing that scared to death feeling when coming to class. I remember one class (alot of running programmed) and as we were lined up to start the workout with a run, I must have looked like I was ready to cry because Cate looked at me and said its going to be okay Sharon. Once I got over those feelings (about a year later) I actually started making improvements.

What do you feel that you still need to work on?

I don’t want to fill the blog up with this, so I’ll just name a few, endurance, flexibility, technique and form in the Oly lifts, reducing rest time, any kind of squat, but mostly I need to work on the mental aspects of CrossFit.

Goals for the rest of this year

Improve endurance, improve flexibility, get a muscle-up and I’d also like to be more consistent when it comes to nutrition. I’m good when it comes to nutritional challenges but after the challenge is over I go back to the same bad habits. So after this current challenge is over I’d like to continue those same eating habits until at least the end of the year.

What's your favorite WOD? I don’t have one, but my favorite lifts are deadlift and bench press.

How about your favorite food/snacks? Bacon and mac and cheese

What is the craziest workout outside of CF you have ever done? The first year I ever ran track was in college and I only did that because my roommate was on the track team and she said it would keep me in shape. I first practice was right after a snow storm which left 2 feet of snow on the ground. The workout was sprint intervals in the snow. I don’t remember the distance or the number of times, but I do remember it was the first time I ever barfed during a workout.

What’s your least favorite WOD? I don’t have one, but any WOD with running, overhead squat or thrusters I can definitely do without

Favorite lift/movement? Deadlift

What’s your least favorite lift/movement? Overhead Squat

What skill do you want to work on in 2013 the most? Front rack position, front squat, squat clean, I need to work on getting under the bar.

Whats your favorite piece of workout "gear"? I don’t have one

What you say is your biggest improvement since starting CF? I started at KOP attending the lite classes with Cindy. They were great times but she encouraged me move to the next level. In one of my first regular classes, Jason was the coach and overhead squat was the movement of the day. I remember I couldn’t do an over head squat using just the PVC. So I would say my biggest improvement is the overhead squat. My PR is nothing to write home about but it is my biggest improvement.

 Who is your favorite coach? I enjoy taking classes with all the coaches. In the last three years I would say the majority of my classes have been coached by Donkey (when she was here), Paul and Aimee. So I would have to say they were/are my favorites. Donkey because of her energy and attention to detail especially in the dead lift. Paul, because he encourages me and tells me when I should be doing better. Aimee because training with her has helped strengthen my back and made it easier for me to do CrossFit, she corrects my form and gives great cues (even though I sometimes don’t follow them), she knows what I’m capable of doing, she makes me do movement I absolutely despise because she knows that I need it (Airdyne, back, extensions) and she has killer warm-ups, that are workouts before the workout. Although I haven’t been able to take a lot of Steph’s classes, but she is also been a great encourager and I appreciate it.

PR's to mention? Goals Reached? Nutrition highlights? I’m able to string my kipping pull-ups; this took me a long time to get (3 years). Deadlift is now over 300lbs (finally), Shoulder press 110lbs, bench press 157.5lbs. I would like to get back on the board again for some of these and actually stay up there for more than a week.