CrossFit Training Yard

When Erin was in school, she was involved in rowing (which made a whole lot of sense for me, having seen what she can do on that rower) and more recently was involved in marathon running. She started running consistently after participating in the LA Marathon. She signed up with a friend, who eventually withdrew, leaving her to run the race on her own. From there, she was introduced to a small community of runners and continued to seek out more running events. Leading up to one particular marathon, she was feeling pain in her foot but decided to power through it. After about 6 miles in, her run slowed to a walk due to the pain, resulting in a 6+ hour finish time. Erin eventually came to the realization that long distance running may not be for her, as the pain in her foot became overwhelming, even at rest. 
 
Running was no longer an option to support her active lifestyle, so began her search for a new method… Lucky for her (and for us), the first CrossFit gym she reached out to was CFTY! At the end of her first class, Annie Wypchlak asked her how it went. After replying “Well, I’m still alive!” Annie said “Good. You know you need to come back tomorrow or you’ll be too sore to come back later in the week, right?” and that’s exactly what Erin did. 
 
So, then the question was, how was she living with pain and now doing CrossFit? Well, shortly after starting her membership and completing her first CrossFit Open, she finally paid a visit to the podiatrist. The result of the exam was that surgery was the only option. My first memories of Erin at CFTY were actually of her in a cast, on the rower, with a dolly under that foot. This is where the magical combination of Crossfit and the coaching staff at Training Yard really came into play. The infinite scalability of the workouts and the creativity of the coaches made it so Erin could continue training, even as she recovered from surgery. 
 
“I thought I was into it before I had the surgery, but it wasn’t until after, that I was like, oh this is it. This is my jam and at Training Yard in particular, Becca and Dot worked with me so that I could still come in, feel like I was being included, but also that I was moving and not just waiting for something to heal… it was a lot of time to work on upper body strength!”
 
Now, almost two years post surgery, and maybe unbeknownst to her, she’s a little powerhouse! Of course we all have things we want to work on, but you better watch out when she gets on the rower. I’ve seen her in Barbell class too.  She’s strong AF!! 
 
Outside of CrossFit, Erin is embarking on a new focus in life. In the midst of a major career change and a journey of self-discovery, I asked her what her passions were, and it took her a minute to answer. I mean, it’s not an easy question to answer. “Right now is an interesting time to ask that question, and my answer would have been different maybe 5 years ago. I’m delighted to share with everyone that I just quit my job [of 9 years] and I’m still in the process of learning [what my passions are] although travel is one of those things she can’t get enough of.
 
Erin, I can’t wait to see what’s in store for you this coming year!