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Home / Fashlete™ of the Month / Tagged: CrossFit

Fashlete™ of the Month

Built by Desire

©Kimberly Potterf Photography/www.kimberlypotterf.com

February 2012

Name: Shellie Edington
Age: 47
Occupation: Owner of Tumblin4Kids Mobile Gym, Mother of 3, CrossFit Games Competitor 

Building Her Passion

"Tumbling, swinging, jumping, has always been a joy to me. I am still amazed at what feats the human body can do and I believe anyone can do it. I understood at an early age that in order to do all those cool tricks I had to eat, sleep and train smart."

Q. What is your Earliest athletic memory?

A. Impossible to say, my parents hung me from the clothesline while they hung laundry and I have pictures of myself at age 18 months standing on my tricycle seat. I always had a ton of energy and my parents were constantly challenging me, believing in me when other parents would have fainted. My parents enrolled me in dance and acrobats at the age of 3. I wanted to go every night!

I was consumed by a drive and passion to be Olga Korbut! To do the cool things they did on TV. No matter what it took. I was unable to get into a gymnastic center until age 13 but began competing 6 months later. I went from school to dinner to the gym everyday M-F and Sunday for 4 hours each day. I loved it, it was what I desired. When you love something, discipline comes easy.

Building Her Family

"As I grew into adulthood, I married a wonderful man, and we had 3 beautiful daughters in less than 4 years."  

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Mama Pitbull

January 2012

Name: Amy Albert
Age: 31
Occupation: Firefighter, Palm Beach Fire Rescue

As a mother of two, an accomplished athlete, and a Firefighter, it is easy to see why Amy is the perfect choice for Fashlete of the month.  But what makes Amy's selection extra special is that she was nominated by her twin sister Amber. As tough as this duo is, Amber's pride and love for her sister is touching and even brought a tear to my eye (okay fine, more than one tear). After all, success means so much more when you have someone you love to share it with...  Amy and Amber have the LIVE LOVE LIFT thing down! Here is Amber's tribute to her sis...

 “You don’t always have to give 110%” our mother would say to Amy all the time while growing up.  My identical twin sister Amy is by far one of the most remarkable athletes and human beings I know.  As long as I can remember Amy has been the most determined, compassionate, and hard working individual.  There are many stories of Amy’s athleticism that I could share, so I will give you a few examples of some of the good ones.  Amy is like a pit bull, she has no cut off, a high threshold for pain and will go to complete exhaustion.  Our mother would always tell her that “you don’t have to be the best” Amy would just smile and do her best, which was always above and beyond what most could accomplish.

Amy and I played water polo in high school, when we arrived at Florida State University our freshmen year we both realized that there was no women’s water polo team.  So you ask yourself, what did Amy do?  Amy played with the men’s water polo team, not an easy feat.  Amy took it upon herself her sophomore year to help establish the FSU women’s water polo team and become the first President.  After many water polo games Amy would complain that her arm would become numb, most would probably stop whatever physical activity they were doing if something like that occurred, not Amy!  In fact Amy was swimming half the game with her shoulder dislocated!  She would just push past the pain.  

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The Ultimate Female Dilemma: Strong Vs. Skinny

November 2011

Name: Tina Daneshmand
Age: 24
Occupation: Bookkeeper, Full Time Business Law Student, CrossFit Coach

Let’s face it, high school can be rough.  Trying to fit in when you still have no idea who you are is an almost impossible task.  And yet, so many teenagers put pressure on themselves to become what they think they are supposed to be in order to be accepted.

Tina viewed herself as an outcast in high school.  She was overweight, had no self-confidence, and no idea how to relate to the other students.  Instead of reaching out to Tina, her peers turned on her and not only drove her out of school, they drove her to a point of physical self-destruction.

"One morning, my junior year, I came to campus & found posters all over the school that said: “Don’t feed Tina” with my face on it & everything. I left that day & never went back. I decided to homeschool because what was the purpose of going to campus & not socializing anyhow? Three months later, I went from 150 pounds to 98 pounds (I’m only 5’ tall, so although it doesn’t sound like much when I say 150, keep in mind I’m a shorty). I threw myself into a downward spiral that was so twisted. I never thought I’d be the girl who would be skinny. I had thrown myself into a deeper ball of depression & swore to myself if I didn’t see double digits on the scale that it was the end of the world."

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Lift Heavy Be Happy

October 2011

Name: Maggie Prior
Age: 30
Occupation: Medical Student

I received an email from Maggie after she completed the Detroit Marathon last week.  Maggie is an avid CrossFitter, medical student, and has more than a few marathons under her belt.  Yea, kind of an overachiever.  She is one of those people who has extremely high expectations of herself and is used to excelling at pretty much whatever she wants.  You tend to find quite a few of these types of people in CrossFit boxes everywhere. We aren't superheroes, but man, we sure think we are!  

Somewhere around mile marker 14, Maggie's high speed life caught up with her.  When people rehash a marathon experience, I find they spend very little time talking about what it felt like physically.  "It hurt."  Wow.  Shocking.  In Maggie's words: "I had a rough go of it in the middle there."  What followed that statement was not a laundry list of aches and pains, it was an outpouring of the stress and anxiety that she had packed on through the months of her training.  Sometimes when you are as fit as someone like Maggie, it's hard to realize that you are actually carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders.

I asked Maggie to share her story because I know that so many of you out there have been in her shoes.... literally and figuratively speaking.  Some of the the most beautiful moments in life seem to be inextricably linked to something painful.  The best is yet to come for Maggie, and when it does she will look back on this marathon with a smile, with gratitude, and knowing Maggie... with an overwhelming desire to do it all over again.

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Don't Cheat On Cindy

July 2011

Name: Cindy Rhoades-Young
Age: 34
Occupation: Stay at Home Mom/Full Time College Student (graduating with her B.A. in December)

Affiliate: Practice CrossFit • Troy, OH

"For the first time in my life I actually get it and believe that there will never be a piece of pizza that will taste as good as my first pullup...Food is my fuel...not my comfort.... " -Cindy

The Beginning: Just over 47 days ago Cindy vowed to get her first pull-up.  Most of us have been there before, swinging around on an assortment of colorful rubber bands, cursing the bar, and dreaming of the day we can do Fran, Helen, or Eva RX.  In this case, it's all about Cindy (as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of: 5 pull-ups, 10 push ups, 15 air squats).  One woman.  One Goal. One WOD.  It is a wonderful coincidence that Cindy and her muse share the same name.  Ahhh yes, another CrossFit miracle.

The Challenge: Cindy's coach, Josh Bunch, suggested that she also challenge herself to a 100% pure paleo diet for the duration of her pull-up challenge (great coach).  And thus, the "Don't Cheat on Cindy Challenge" was born:  Do Cindy. Go Paleo for 47 days. Do Cindy and record your progress.  The "one woman, one goal, one WOD" aspect of this challenge lasted about a nano second.  Before she knew what she had done, Cindy's coaches were posting "DON'T CHEAT ON CINDY" signs on the walls of the box and 15 other Practice CrossFit members had signed up for her challenge.

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