Athletics has always been a part of my life. My real memories of it started when I was 7 and decided I wanted to figure skate. I loved the twirling and pretty costumes and quickly started to learn what hard work was with two-a-day practices and getting on the ice at 5:30AM. From an early age my parents made it known to me that if I wanted to do something I was going to be the one responsible for that push. They wouldn’t wake me up for morning practice, my alarm would. If I slept in and didn’t want to go, they didn’t make me. I credit this to why I am such a morning person now.
After a few years, thousands of hard landings, and a Nike scar thanks to catching my toe pick, I was burnt out and needed a change. My mom noticed I was in the pool every chance I could get and suggested I try a swim club. We checked out a local team and I spent eight years competing with them. I still remember my first meet was one where I was caught off guard (only on the team for a month) and was strongly encouraged to swim, to which I did but cried through every event. Every meet after, however, I loved. The swim meets remind me a lot of Crossfit competitions–a lot of sitting around cheering people on, but then that sudden burst of adrenaline when you’re competing alongside your friends. You push each other and celebrate together in the victories and losses.
In high school I swam on the team and picked up waterpolo on a fluke. I decided to go out for the team when I learned my schedule would be changed and decided right there I was playing waterpolo. Who knew it would be come a love of mine. To this day, I hop in and play with my old high school’s team if they have practice going on. At 16, I had my first taste of triathlons–I did a relay with some friends to which I crashed on the bike twice and we still somehow took first place.
I went to college in Utah where I got my degree in Communications–Advertising, then in 2009 moved to New York City where I lived for eight years. There I dabbled in different fitness activities to try and mix things up all the time. Then in 2013 I started Crossfit because of my husband (then boyfriend) and have been hooked ever since. The funny thing is there was a period where when we were dating we had been broken up for a while and Crossfit is kind of what brought us back together. That was in 2015 and two years later we got married.
In 2014 I got back into triathlons. Growing up I spent a lot of time watching my dad compete in these and I think it just rubbed off on me, as well as the rest of my family. There are four main distances–sprint, olympic, half Ironman, Ironman–and I have done all of these. I completed my first Ironman in Arizona in 2016 where I experienced an adrenaline and fatigue I have never known before, so after that I decided to stick with half Ironmans or shorter. Who knows, maybe I will do another one at some point.
We picked up our loving dog, Tux, whom you will see around the box, during our one year in San Francisco, and then moved to Toronto summer of 2018.
I’m excited to be coaching and hope my love for fitness will rub off on to some of you!
I’m excited to be coaching and hope my love for fitness will rub off on to some of you!