Athlete Spotlight: Dorothy Crowl

Name: Dorothy Crowl            dorothy_crowl
Age: 55
Occupation: Installation Manager, NCR
Which class time do you usually attend? 6:00 AM
Favorite WOD: Anything I can finish!
Favorite Lift: Deadlift
Deadlift Max: 160#
Back squat Max: 3 rep max 120#
Favorite Food: Anything Italian
Favorite Movie: National Lampoons Christmas Vacation
Favorite Athlete: Ronda Rousey
Dream Job: Financial Advisor of my Lottery Winnings!
Dream Vacation Destination: Anywhere in Italy

How long have you been CrossFitting?
“Since May 2013.”

What keeps you coming back/motivated?
“The crossfitters and the coaches motivated me. We have a great group at 6 am. I push myself to do my best and having different workouts daily I never seem to get bored. For some really odd reason, I feel very guilty if I miss a day.”

How did you find CrossFit?
“One of the ladies from work mentioned CrossFit to me. Unfortunately she does not attend any longer.”

What is your athletic background (If applicable)?
“Played all kinds of sports growing up, softball being my favorite.”

How has CrossFit changed your life, lifestyle, level of fitness?
“Has greatly improved my strength and endurance and to see the difference in my body than what I was 2 years ago is amazing.”

What is the one thing you have done here that you never thought you could do? (muscle up, double unders, heavy deadlift, run a mile, etc.)
“I never thought I could do heavy (well heavy to me) weightlifting. Each month I see myself getting stronger.”

Who or what motivates/inspires you?
“All of the Crossfitters motivate me. I don’t think I would do a workout as hard on my own than being in a group environment.”

What is your proudest CrossFit achievement?
“At my age, every time I finish a WOD is my proudest achievement!”

Name one goal/personal achievement you would like to achieve through CrossFit?
“I would love to be able to do a strict pull up or a real honest to goodness pushup!”

Hobbies/Interests outside of CrossFit?
“Don’t really have anything I could call a hobby at this time.”

Any advice for new members?
“You’ll have a new understanding for soreness, take it one day at a time and listen to your body. Keep a daily log of your workouts because you won’t remember what you did from one week to the next and you can track your progress. Might want to consider creating an acronym dictionary list as well, the coaches tend to write in CrossFit short hand. When you’re new, not only do you not know how to do the lift, you won’t know what it is.”

Any additional thoughts/comments:
“Someone mentioned to me in the beginning that I would have fun doing Crossfit and would become addicted. I thought oh yeah, like that is going to happen to me the person who never really stuck to working out ever. Well, here I am over two years later having a great time and addicted!”

Coach Brandon’s Take:
“Dorothy is a mainstay in the 6 am classes. If the gym is open, she’s going to be the first one there. Despite the early hour, she’s always good for a quick comment about the WOD to keep the class lively. Dorothy is one of the hardest workers in the 6 am class, and that’s saying something for that group. She knows how to stay within her own virtuosity and push through the WOD. Dorothy has been training with us for two years, but she has made her most significant improvement in the past year. I can’t wait to see how she progresses this next year of training.”