“I first started going to private gym training sessions with my mom when I was 10 or 11 years old. I didn't do team sports as a kid until high-school and I was considered obese for my height and age. But I'll never forget that during those training sessions the owner said I was going to be a gym rat. And he was right!  We were doing functional fitness before it was crossfit. We were in an all inclusive space learning to climb boxes, ropes, and bars. Lifting odd objects and throwing them too. These sessions laid the foundations that would make me that "gym rat".

Fast forward to high school when I tried the traditional football and basketball team sports. They were fun, but it wasn't for me. Finally I found paddling and via Dragon Boats and later Outrigger Canoe paddling. This was my happy place. My close-knit high-school team won races all along the west coast. In 2005 we qualified for World Championships and represented Teen Team USA in Berlin Germany. Team building, discipline, and respect led us to a successful junior career.

Going to college I got into more weight lifting, yoga, rock climbing and running. I continued to paddle throught the springs and summers to grow my aerobic capacities.

It wasn't until after college that I found crossfit and how it would benefit my love of paddling. One of my paddling coaches opened his own crossfit affiliate and began incorporating crossfit-type workouts into our paddling regimen. It made a huge difference! I didn't think I could be more hooked to a sport I already loved. We started doing EMOMS, tabatas, plyometrics on the water.  Gym sessions off the water. The gains in paddling and how I felt overall improved exponentially after doing more crossift.

Paddling and crossfit couldnt be more alike. Both are all inclusive of age, sex, ability, etc. They both work with cardiovascular/respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance and accuracy.”