Athlete?! Me?! Huh?! I never thought that people would refer to me as an “athlete” let alone athlete of the month for such an amazing box! When I joined GCF in the beginning of May I didn’t quite realize what I had gotten myself into. My original goal was to show up at least twice a week, before I knew it I was there four to five days a week and sometimes twice a day. I had been a member of other boxes before but something was different now that I had joined GCF. What the heck happened to me? Oh, I know! GCF ROCKS!!! Not only do I love to exercise dirty there but the people are another reason I keep coming back for more. Where else can you go that complete strangers are cheering you on while you scale a rope or throw heavy stuff around? Well, they aren’t really complete strangers anymore. GCF is like a family, instead of getting together on holidays we see each other almost every day. Before getting back into CrossFit I weighed 185 pounds and led a pretty sedentary lifestyle. I ate what was easy (AKA: crap) and the only exercise I did was, well, not much. I discovered the Paleo/Primal/Whole30 however you want to label it and my life was changed. After eating crap my entire life I had to retrain myself on everything. I’m glad I did. Not only do I feel better than I ever have but I now weigh 150 pounds and went from a size 14 to a size 6! GCF is so inspirational; every time I walk through the doors I’m amazed at what people are doing and what I am pushing myself to do. I have to thank Edel for getting me to join GCF, none of this would be possible without my leprechaun! One for good luck!

I’ve pushed myself way over my comfort level in so many ways in these few short months. I competed in my first competition on August 11th and 12th, and to quote the great Dr. Broth “Natalie is flippin’ tires, climbing ropes, pushing sleds, pulling sleds, running fast, running slow, jumping over ropes, jumping on things, bringing her toes to bars, bringing her knees to her elbows, snatching, cleaning, jerking, and lifting shid. And she is doing them efficiently with determination. She also occasionally tends to sweat, eats quality food and takes vitamin D, magnesium, and fish oil.” If you had told me that I would be doing any of that a few months ago I probably would have started laughing! Now I can’t imagine my life without GCF!

I can’t even begin to count the ways that Miki has taught me to be better, stronger, faster and more thoughtful. If you look up COACH in the dictionary, you should find her picture! Every class is well put together and thought out to the tiniest detail. Even when you think you can’t do something, Miki gives you the confidence to attempt anything and the knowledge to achieve anything. Have you ever seen her WOD? She is like a machine! INSPIRATIONAL!!! Thanks to Wayne for always helping me with my crazy questions about supplements and my diet. You are always encouraging and you lead by example, which is hard to come by. Wayne said that he “loves how much I love CrossFit”. It’s true I do love CrossFit! I love everything about it, how much it hurts, how good it feels, how impossible it seems at times, how it brings us all together to get better at life. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, GCF is like a good bra: supportive, comfortable and it looks damn good!