Patricia Beall

Athlete of the Month

March 2017

Patricia was chosen as the member of the month for March due to the fact that the coaches at CFJC feel like she is as inspiration and role model (although I’m sure she laughs when she reads that) for other athletes, and potential athletes, at CFJC.

Patricia has been training with us for nearly 4 years. Over this time she has been through so much and we have seen her grow and come into her own as an athlete. She worked through the beginner stages of learning the movements, some mishaps (forehead plant into the pull-up bar …and more), unexplained weight gain (lol pregnancy), training through a pregnancy, and now shredding up after pregnancy.

patricia collage

As a busy mom, Patricia uses training with us as a way to re-claim her life. This is a time she carves out of her day that she has all to herself. There is a mental health aspect to what we do that she totally gets – it’s a hard thing to explain to newbies until they ‘get it’ too!

We also LOVE the following quote from Patricia’s interview: “CrossFit gave me a truly amazing power to embrace my body and focus more on what it can do, rather than what popular opinion thinks it should look like.  After a lifetime of trying to hide my upper body muscles, I never expected to finally find acceptance of them in my forties.  It is liberating how CFJC has converted my old workout mindset from being something I HAVE to do to ‘burn those calories,’ to something I WANT to do because it makes me feel sane.”

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves!

TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF

Patricia Beall, 43, retired Executive News Producer for FOX turned mom of 4 ranging in ages from almost 2 years old to 17.

WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO START CROSSFIT?

I did a lot of different exercising in my adult life that just felt like a chore. Right before starting CrossFit,  I was working in a home gym with a personal trainer making sure to tell him that I would not lift weights because my “old gymnastics muscles,” which I hated, would pop out. I started CrossFit after seeing the Games on TV while in a pizza joint on Hilton Head Island.  That’s when my son said, “mom those girls are all short like you and are doing gymnastics stuff with muscles.” I thought it looked like fun and something I used to be able to do, so why not? So I came home, fired my boring trainer who was getting me nowhere, and started the CFJC fundamentals
program.

WHY DO YOU DO IT NOW?

I do it now because it literally has become part of who I am, way beyond just the exercising I happen to do.

WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS AFTER YOUR 1st WOD?

My thoughts after the first WOD were complete shock at the pure adrenaline rush.  It was loud, obnoxious, dirty, sweaty, exhausting to an unreal degree and still so much fun.  I knew there was no way this could get boring, ever. It was truly the most non-exercise, exercising I had ever done.  I was instantly hooked on wanting to get better at every part of it.

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT CROSSFIT?

What I enjoy most about CrossFit is the escape it gives me from the rest of my crazy world.  It is the only thing that I ever do that’s only for me. I love that so many people who I see every day at CFJC are people that I would happily do absolutely anything for if they needed me.  I also love that my kids think it’s kind of cool and their friends are afraid of me 🙂

WHAT IS YOUR PROUDEST CROSSFIT MOMENT?

My proudest CrossFit moment was my first WOD is did as Rx, which happened to be Jack.  The fact that it is a hero WOD makes it extra special to me.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MOVEMENT/LIFT? LEAST FAVORITE?

My favorite lifts are anything overhead and my least favorite things to do are running and wall balls.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE WOD? LEAST FAVORITE?

I have no favorite WOD, I love them all.  I do not care for Annie… double-unders and I are not friends.

WHAT ARE YOUR CROSSFIT GOALS? HOW CLOSE ARE YOU TO REACHING THEM?

My current short term CrossFit goal is to get a muscle up.

WHAT IMPACT HAS CFJC HAD ON YOUR LIFE, IN AND OUT OF THE GYM?

CFJC has profoundly impacted my life given that I had a baby because of it… so CFJC will literally always be part of my life! Yes, I think I was the first person to discover there was something in the water 🙂
But aside from that minor detail, CrossFit gave me a truly amazing power to embrace my body and focus more on what it can do, rather than what popular opinion thinks it should look like.  After a lifetime of trying to hide my upper body muscles, I never expected to finally find acceptance of them in my forties.  It is liberating how CFJC has converted my old workout mindset from being something I HAVE to do to ‘burn those calories,’ to something I WANT to do because it makes me feel sane.

WHEN YOU ARE NOT CROSSFITTING, WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING TO DO?

When I am not CrossFitting my favorite things to do are to wear whichever mom hat is required at that hour… wrestling mom, dance mom, lacrosse mom, Gymboree mom and teenager attitude adjuster mom.  I’m fairly certain I am a professional juggler of children and their needs, like most moms.

HOW HAS CROSSFIT MADE YOU FEEL MORE PREPARED FOR LIFE?

CrossFit has made me feel more prepared for life because it has literally slowed down old injuries that were actually worse before I began lifting heavy weights.  The overall body conditioning and core strength that CrossFit has given me makes doing what I do outside of the gym way easier. Letting someone load my car with groceries because I’m sore from a workout is SO much more empowering at my age than having them loaded because I physically can’t do it without help.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO SOMEONE NEW TO CROSSFIT OR THINKING OF GIVING CFJC A TRY?

My advice for someone starting CrossFit or thinking about giving CFJC a try is to just show up.  Don’t have expectations, or make comparisons… just come in, you’ll either get bit by the bug or you won’t.  It doesn’t matter where you think you are right now because if you keep coming, one day you’ll notice that an ‘Rx’ on the screen, that you never really cared about in the first place, is actually now yours…. and it will make you say a lil’ mental “bite me” to your negative doubting demons.  Who doesn’t love that?

IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO ADD?

I would like to add a huge thank you to Dan, Lara, Ronda and all of the CFJC coaches for being committed to what they do.  They are all around awesome and put up with a lot of crazy…  And to CFJC members, every one of you are truly great, supportive people and it’s a pleasure to scream profanities with you most days of the week 🙂
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