Where did you grow up? I grew up in the Poconos—in Northeast Pennsylvania. The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area—home of The Office. (yeah—it’s pretty much like that) How long have you been CrossFitting? 7 months—Started at the beginning of the year. What is your favorite WOD? Anything that includes Hand Stand Push-Ups. Even though what I’m able to do right now more resembles a nervous twitch than a push-up, I’m UPSIDE DOWN—and I’ll get to the real push-up eventually. In the meantime, it sounds impressive What’s your favorite lift? Back squats—isn’t that everyone’s favorite? Minimal skill and coordination required! What’s your least favorite CF move? Snatch. Just can’t pull it all together yet. My knock-kneed Split Jerk is nothing to write home about either. What do you think is the biggest myth about CrossFit? That it’s dangerous and full of lots of heroic crazy moves. That’s pretty much the first thing everyone says. . . “Oh—Be careful! You’ll crush your spine! You’ll put yourself in kidney failure!” They don’t realize that at a good box like Modig, it’s all about the correct form and modifying things for your level/ability—and that there’s a lot of coaching, correcting, and monitoring. Of course any sport where you’re actually using your body puts you at risk of injury—but what’s the alternative? Being sedentary? No thanks. What’s your favorite non-CrossFit activity? Sports-wise, road biking. I used to do lots of long distance and climbing. I try to save a little time for it now and am stronger on my climbs because of CrossFit. Non-sports, cooking and entertaining. I could spend a whole day planning a menu and chopping herbs! What’s your nickname? I don’t really have one—though my boyfriend’s kids call me Beckles. What do you do for a living? I work in business development for a medical education company. Lots of travel and wining/dining—makes staying on track and at Modig regularly a challenge. But the fun of the sport, the camaraderie, and the results have kept me motivated and relatively consistent all year despite my schedule. How has CrossFit changed your life? CrossFit has made me prioritize “strong” over “skinny”. It’s made me realize that “powerful” feels better than “pretty” (but that the 2 don’t have to be mutually exclusive). It has made me realize how much stronger I am for real-life stuff like schlepping luggage and 50-lb bags of dog food—because I’ve pushed my body to its limits in our workouts. And I’ve learned not to say “There’s no way I can do that.” I know that if I keep working at a skill/lift, I see constant improvement. I know it’s only a matter of time until I CAN do a pull-up or toes-to-bar. And I’m happy that my 11-year old daughter sees these things—I feel like CrossFit has made me a better role model for my daughter.