There isn’t enough we can say about Karen. If you attend class with her, you know she has improved exponentially since starting CrossFit with us. She always enters the gym with a smile, encourages other members, and pushes herself to do her very best in her workouts.
Although her physical transformation has been incredible, we would be silly not to mention the positive shift in her attitude. She has grown to have so much confidence in herself, it truly is inspiring!
A few words from Karen:
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“I was never athletic–I had a lot of enthusiasm, not a lot of skill. Loose joints landed me years of injuries, everything from a broken collarbone to broken arms to knee and hip surgeries. One morning when I woke up at age 55, I thought to myself “wow, so this is how it feels to start aging.” Everything hurt, and the 70 pounds I’d gained since my hip went out weren’t helping.
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A dear friend, active in the crossfit community, started encouraging me to try it out. He researched the boxes in my area and recommended CFNR, based on the onboarding program and the coaches backgrounds. Just about a year ago, I started. I could only manage a completely assisted box squat, pulling myself back up with a bar on the cage. But the coaches and athletes kept encouraging me to keep coming back and to focus on my own progress. Without their positive energy, acceptance, and motivation, I most certainly would have given up. The fear I felt was real, and I stared down years of negative thinking. But I started improving, slowly at first, and then making big gains. I’m now squatting unassisted (and with weight, too!), have lost over 20 pounds, and have a hunger for the workouts like nothing I’ve ever experienced. And I have new goals now: 10 pushups, 5 strict pullups, and a box jump by the end of the year. I’m excited, feel strong and confident, and my entire mental outlook is more positive and energetic. I’m the spitting image of “if I can do it, anybody can!” Let’s get to work and live well. Thank you, my dear CFNR fam! And look out, 57, here I come!

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If you’re an evening class-goer, you know you’ll see Susanne giving it all she’s got almost every single night. She may be small in stature, but she is fierce and tremendously strong.
Her dedication and attention to detail have gotten her far in a relatively short amount of time at CFNR. She focuses on moving well and asks questions on how to be more efficient (qualities we coaches love).
We couldn’t imagine CFNR without her smiling face and witty commentary.😜
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A note from Susanne about her journey:
“I was a runner for 10 yrs. I ran every distance from 5k to marathon. I eventually started coaching as well. I became burnt out on running. It wasn’t making me happy like it once did and I was unenthusiastic about training. I took a break from it and tried other things – yoga, Orange Theory, spin and then CrossFit. From the first trial class I was hooked. 10 years of running and I never loved it like I love CrossFit.
When I started I didn’t know anything at all and thought I was very fit. Little did I know that fit is an incredibly widely used term, and sometimes very loosely. 😉 I’ve been doing it for about a year and a half now and I can honestly say, I can’t imagine my life without it. I’m fitter and healthier than I’ve ever been in my life and I’ll be 44 this month. I’m stronger than I’ve ever been. I wake up every day looking forward to working out. The coaches and the other athletes keep me motivated and my progress has been exponential. I was barely able to lift the bar for many of the workouts and now I’m hitting PRs on a regular basis – and hitting numbers I sometimes can’t believe. I’m doing T2B and HSPUs, pull-ups and love everything involving the barbell. I hate the assault bike, but who doesn’t. My goals this year are to master double-unders and to get 10 strict pull-ups in a row, more if possible.”