Athlete of the Month: Sarah S.

Your December Athlete of the Month is Sarah Smiley! She's pretty new to NoCoast, but she came in with a mission! She is determined, putting in extra time to conquer her goals. When she's not doing the work prescribed, she's practicing double unders or muscle ups, not letting a single goat own her for too long. She quickly moved to Black Track, as she has a competitive drive. Sarah finds a way to get in a ton of work, even while working nights. Also, she is shadowing to become a back-up coach at NoCoast! We've been impressed with how quickly she's moved through her hours. Many of you have seen how hard she works in class; you can now look forward to having her as a coach! She is a go-getter on all fronts. She participated in Girls Gone RX , in September, and is signed up for the Alpine Holiday Weightlifting Meet on December 12th. We know there is more to come!

Age/Weight: 29, 130 pounds How long have you been CrossFitting? A year and a half Athletic/Sports history/highlights: High school softball, swimming and diving then club diving at CU. I also coached recreational swimming and diving and high school swimming for a short time. Currently, I play softball and try to get to gymnastics every once in a while.

How did you get into CrossFit? I met some crossfitters at softball who invited me to come check it out. I went the next morning and was hooked!

What is your favorite WOD/CrossFit movement? Snatch and split jerk. Hopefully I'll be able to include muscle ups soon! What is your least favorite WOD/CrossFit movement? Wall balls! And rowing. What is your most memorable CrossFit moment? Competing in my first Olympic lifting meet last year. I can't wait to do some more of those!

How does nutrition play a role in your fitness and recovery? My work schedule on nights makes it hard to have healthy food available all the time, but I'm working on preparing easy to pack meals before long work stretches. How has CrossFit improved your overall wellness? I feel like I have more energy and drive to workout all the time! I've seen improvements in my running times (without running all the time). The speed and strength we gain helps a lot in softball too!

Advice to new people: Be willing to make improvements in technique. This will help immensely as you get stronger and faster. Be willing to scale workouts! Working out at the right weight and high intensity will help you see faster improvements.