Athlete of the month:
Gretchen Swarr
Congratulations to Gretchen Swarr for being Athlete of the Month for February 2021! Gretchen comes in (usually to the 5:00 AM class), puts forth her best effort daily, and always cheers on her fellow athletes....not to mention she usually follows up the class with a run. She likes a challenge, has fun with it and enjoys some healthy competition (especially with her husband Joe).
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A little more about Gretchen...
How was I introduced to CrossFit?
Joe and I had talked about trying CrossFit for ages, but I was nervous about it because I had zero experience with weights of any sort and didn’t realize how beginner friendly it could be. Finally he gave up on me agreeing to give it a try and got me a punch card for Christmas! I spent New Years unable to touch my nose or brush my hair because my triceps were so sore after my first WOD, but I still couldn’t stop telling people how much I loved it!
My favorite WOD/exercise is?
I’m not sure if it is my favorite, but I really enjoyed the Nate WOD we did last week, even though the kettlebell swings were totally brutal. I like any long chipper, bonus if there are handstands or box jumps in it.
My 3 favorite movements are?
Box jumps, handstand pushups, kettlebell swings
If I never had to do this exercise again I would be psyched:
Deadlifts
My favorite cheat meal is:
Bacon pizza and a peanut butter ice cream sundae with mint chocolate chip ice cream.
My proudest CrossFit accomplishment is?
I was really pleased with my strict press max last week. I was stuck at a 70 pound max for a really long time, and just this fall was finally feeling like I was starting to make some progress and get stronger. I got up to 80 pounds at the start of our lifting cycle, and then hit 90 at the end of the cycle! It felt really good to have a number to confirm that the hard work is paying off.
My six month goal is?
My main athletic goal at the moment is qualifying for the Boston Marathon, but in terms of CrossFit I think my next goal is getting ring dips. I also want to be able to do Murph without scaling my pushups, but maybe Memorial Day 2022 for that one.
If I created a WOD and named it after myself it would be:
I created a “BRICK” workout over the summer when we were doing Zoom WODs, but here is a gym version rather than the more home friendly version I did then. The idea is to get that bricks in your leg feeling, the way you feel when you start the run of a triathlon. The goal is to increase your speed on the run each round even while your legs start feeling worse and worse.
BRICK 2.0
5 calorie bike
5 box jumps (30/24)
5 goblet squats (1.5/1)
800 meter run
10 calorie bike
10 box jumps
10 goblet squats
400 meter run
15 calorie bike
15 box jumps
15 goblet squats
200 meter run
20 calorie bike
20 box jumps
20 goblet squats
100 meter sprint
Anything else you want to add?
Many thanks to Joe for starting me on my CrossFit journey and being a constant source of healthy competition, and thanks to everyone in the 5am class for creating such a fun and motivational workout environment that gets me out of bed even when I really want to sleep in. I am also so grateful for the amazing UCCF coaching staff; my improvement over the past few years is a testament to just how great a job you all do keeping us fit and healthy, and it is a true gift to make such often brutal workouts so much fun!
Joe and I had talked about trying CrossFit for ages, but I was nervous about it because I had zero experience with weights of any sort and didn’t realize how beginner friendly it could be. Finally he gave up on me agreeing to give it a try and got me a punch card for Christmas! I spent New Years unable to touch my nose or brush my hair because my triceps were so sore after my first WOD, but I still couldn’t stop telling people how much I loved it!
My favorite WOD/exercise is?
I’m not sure if it is my favorite, but I really enjoyed the Nate WOD we did last week, even though the kettlebell swings were totally brutal. I like any long chipper, bonus if there are handstands or box jumps in it.
My 3 favorite movements are?
Box jumps, handstand pushups, kettlebell swings
If I never had to do this exercise again I would be psyched:
Deadlifts
My favorite cheat meal is:
Bacon pizza and a peanut butter ice cream sundae with mint chocolate chip ice cream.
My proudest CrossFit accomplishment is?
I was really pleased with my strict press max last week. I was stuck at a 70 pound max for a really long time, and just this fall was finally feeling like I was starting to make some progress and get stronger. I got up to 80 pounds at the start of our lifting cycle, and then hit 90 at the end of the cycle! It felt really good to have a number to confirm that the hard work is paying off.
My six month goal is?
My main athletic goal at the moment is qualifying for the Boston Marathon, but in terms of CrossFit I think my next goal is getting ring dips. I also want to be able to do Murph without scaling my pushups, but maybe Memorial Day 2022 for that one.
If I created a WOD and named it after myself it would be:
I created a “BRICK” workout over the summer when we were doing Zoom WODs, but here is a gym version rather than the more home friendly version I did then. The idea is to get that bricks in your leg feeling, the way you feel when you start the run of a triathlon. The goal is to increase your speed on the run each round even while your legs start feeling worse and worse.
BRICK 2.0
5 calorie bike
5 box jumps (30/24)
5 goblet squats (1.5/1)
800 meter run
10 calorie bike
10 box jumps
10 goblet squats
400 meter run
15 calorie bike
15 box jumps
15 goblet squats
200 meter run
20 calorie bike
20 box jumps
20 goblet squats
100 meter sprint
Anything else you want to add?
Many thanks to Joe for starting me on my CrossFit journey and being a constant source of healthy competition, and thanks to everyone in the 5am class for creating such a fun and motivational workout environment that gets me out of bed even when I really want to sleep in. I am also so grateful for the amazing UCCF coaching staff; my improvement over the past few years is a testament to just how great a job you all do keeping us fit and healthy, and it is a true gift to make such often brutal workouts so much fun!
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phone |
(508) 296-8223
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address |
Upper Cape Crossfit
10 Millennium Drive Bourne, MA 02534 Mailing: PO Box 578 North Falmouth, MA 02556 |