Whitney Bozzer was first diagnosed with breast cancer at age twenty. Ten years later, she is still fighting after being diagnosed for the fifth time. There was a time in Whitney’s life when she did not believe that sharing her story mattered. However, when Whitney discovered Barbells for Boobs (BFB) last year at her local CrossFit Affiliate, everything changed.
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Kaleena Ladeairous just moved from Greenwich, CT to Miami, FL to take on the role of Head Coach at CrossFit Armed. Just two weeks prior to her move, Kaleena competed in the 2015 Reebok CrossFit Games with her team, CrossFit Milford, where they finished in an impressive second place.
Though this was Kaleena’s first podium finish, she is an extremely experienced athlete and coach. She is a five-time individual CrossFit Regional competitor (2011-2015) and 2013 CrossFit Games individual competitor (19th place). Her certifications include: National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), CrossFit Level 1 and 2, CrossFit Mobility, Strongman, Endurance and Gymnastics.
I sat down with Kaleena one morning at CrossFit Armed after a WOD to talk about her recent success, her move to Miami, and her plans for the future. It was a great opportunity to get to know my new coach and to find out what it takes to compete at the most elite level of CrossFit as a team and as an individual. We also talked about more than just her own training including how she plans to develop herself as coach in a new state at a new gym. But first… let’s talk about the Games...
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April Fashlete of the Month
Name: Sadie Wells
Occupation: Coach at Reebok CrossFit Miami Beach
Sadie Wells finished the 2014 CrossFit Open in 11th place in the competitive South East Region. She's earned herself an individual spot at the 2015 Atlantic Regional, which will take place May 15-17. Sadie has been climbing the ranks of the leaderboard year after year at an impressive pace, even after a serious injury in 2013. As opposed to feeling defeated, Sadie chose to learn from this setback and use it to shape her into the athlete she is today...
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Name: Ashley Beaver
Age: 27
Occupation: CrossFit Coach and Creator of Livin Paleo Cuisine
At what point does a hobby become a passion? And at what point does a passion become worth pursuing full time? Making a living doing something you love sounds pretty ideal, right? Once you find success, people will remark on how "lucky" you are. Ashley Beaver knows first hand that pursuing a passion is not about luck. It takes sacrifice, unwavering dedication, and the strength to carry on even in the face of failure... again and again.
"I've found something I'm extremely passionate about, but it wasn't easy to leave certain aspects of my life to pursue this 100%. It's easy to doubt yourself, or to settle into something that's easy. But in the end I don't think what's easy makes you happy. I may struggle now, but I know down the road, wherever it may lead, I'll be happy that I took a chance to do what I love."
Ashley is on the brink of taking her love for CrossFit and paleo cooking to the next level by making a career out of what started as hobbies. With a strong Instagram following, and 4th place team finish at the Northern California CrossFit Regional competition, Ashley is off to a great start already. In our interview, Ashley fills us in on her evolution as an athlete/chef, why these two "hobbies" are so important to her, and her plans for the future.
Ashley, how and when did you first become interested in the paleo diet?
I first heard about the paleo diet about five and half years ago when I first got involved with crossfit. I’ve always been pretty healthy and concerned with eating things that fuel my body, but it wasn’t until about two years ago when I decided to give paleo a real go that I found out how beneficial the diet was to my training and overall health.
Like a lot of people, going paleo can seem difficult, but that’s mostly because we’re so attached to things like cereal and bread and pasta. As the diet has become more and more popular, the amount of resources has grown tremendously, and in my opinion, it’s one of the easiest diets to follow...
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