First off, who are all of you outside of fitness and competing?
Renee: Cardiac nurse
Jen: Chemical engineer
Andi: CrossFit box owner (CrossFit Pella) and microbiologist
And how did you all happen upon CrossFit? Do you happen to remember what your initial “why” was for getting started?
Renee: For me, it started with a goal of prevention. We can’t change our genetics, so anything I can do to encourage myself and others to maintain a healthy lifestyle is a must. I’ve been at it about 3-4 years now. Jen encouraged me to start at CrossFit Pella with her, and I then had the pleasure of becoming friends with Andi, who just happened to be the gym owner.
Jen: I started doing it to get stronger and found that I enjoyed continuing to add strength. That was 3-4 years ago, as Renee mentioned, we started working out together at CrossFit Pella.
Andi: As a physical therapist, my husband was interested in starting a CrossFit box, so he helped me get started to learn more about the methodology. That was 4-5 years ago now. At first I hated it; I thought it was too hard and complicated, but within a couple weeks, I was hooked and haven’t looked back! It’s the first time in my life that I’ve felt fit and strong.
So you’ve all been friends for years then. What made you decide to get a team together in 2015? Were you looking to have fun or crush the competition?
Renee: Hands down, it was all about the fun, we had absolutely no idea we’d make the podium.
Jen: Fun for sure. We just didn’t want to come in last! We went out there just taking it one event at a time.
Andi: What Renee and Jen said! These girls make me work harder all the time.
Looks like you managed to have fun AND crush those workouts! Have you all competed as a trio before?
Andi: No, but a couple of us have competed in pairs.
What about individually?
ALL: We’ve competed individually, but will never again though, after the fun we had at the Granite Games last year. We all agreed we’ll never compete individually ever again—we like the team effort much more!
So it sounds like between the three of you, there’s quite a bit of competition experience under your belts. Let’s end on this note: what do you think is the most important thing you’ve realized in the course of competing?
ALL: You can always push harder than what you believe your body can do. And, the desire to perform for your partners’ sake is greater than the desire to do it for yourself.
