Athlete Spotlight: Carrie Belmore

Name: Carrie Belmore

Age: 34

Occupation: Phase I Clinical Trials Oncology Nurse

Hometown: There are many, but I’ll claim Nashville

Which class time do you usually attend? 5am, 8:30a on Saturday

Favorite WOD: Isabel, DT or Flight Simulator

Favorite CF Movement: Cleans and Snatches

Least Favorite CF Movement: Burpee over Bar or Thrusters… It’s a solid tie

3RM Back Squat: 220ish

1RM Deadlift: 315 Solidly, 325 Questionably

Favorite Food: Impossible Question

Favorite Movie: Field of Dreams or Pans Labyrinth

Favorite Athlete: Steve Prefontaine

Dream Job: Founder and Director of The Winship Cancer Institute’s Center for Supportive and Complementary Care

Dream Vacation Destination: Santorini Cyclades

If you could have any super power… Healing Touch

Favorite Motivational Quote: “Somebody may beat me, but they’re going to have to bleed for it.” Steve Prefontaine

How long have you been doing CrossFit?

2012-2014… Babies.. March 2019-Present

 

How did you first discover CrossFit and what made you decide to start?

When I moved to Atlanta in 2011, I started working with a personal trainer through Lifetime Fitness. A month or so into working together, my trainer’s buddy started CrossFit HD in Chamblee. As my trainer immersed himself in CrossFit, he started incorporating some WODs into my training and taught me how to lift. Eventually he left Lifetime to coach at HD and I left to train with him. Needless to say, I was hooked from my first workout.

 

Tell us about your fitness/sports background:

I started swimming at 5 and did that through my senior year of High School. I’ve run a few handfuls of marathons and trail races through my 20s and 30s. I have pretty much zero hand eye coordination, but I’ll attempt to play just about anything. I’ll swing a golf club on occasion but that’s pretty rare these days.

 

What sorts of positive changes (mental, physical, emotional) have you noticed in your life since getting involved at No Excuses?

Life moves at such a fast pace, that most days I feel like I forget to breathe. Understandably, most people think that working out at 5am, every day, is completely preposterous. However, that hour, every day, is mine. For that one hour, the only demands I have to meet, are the ones I ask of myself. Whatever comes out of that hour is completely up to me and no one else. It’s exceptionally gratifying.

 

Who or what keeps you coming back and motivated?

Anyone who grew up being a competitive athlete can understand the need and desire to compete at something every day. Most days bring varying degrees of motivation, but the motivation always stems from the same guidelines: Show up every day, no matter what. Work hard. Regardless of whether you fail or succeed at something today, show up tomorrow and try harder. As an oncology nurse, my patients are always my motivating factor. Your health and wellness are never a guarantee. I show up to the gym and work hard every day because I can. None of us should take a single day for granted. On days when I really, REALLY don’t want to get out of bed, I think about this one particular patient and then getting out of bed is no longer hard.

 

In what other ways do you use your fitness?

Keeping up with my little buddies, Will (5) and Rhett (3). They think it’s cool I can do the monkey bars on the playground.

 

Please share with us a favorite CrossFit or No Excuses moment.

My very first class at No Excuses after a 5-year hiatus. Since having kids, I kept trying to talk myself out of missing CrossFit…. I knew I missed it; I just didn’t know how much until I came back.

 

Name one goal you would like to achieve in the next year (doesn’t have to be CrossFit related, but it can be)

Life goals– too many to mention CrossFit Goals: Proficiency in Strict Handstand Pushups would be cool. I’d like to be able to do ring muscle ups like Lauren Fisher…. or muscle ups at all…

 

Tell us about your hobbies and interests outside of the gym.

The busy nature of life limits me to the cliché list of “hanging out with my family, working hard to keep in touch with friends near and far, traveling whenever we have time, collecting books that I’m too tired to read… is wine a hobby?

 

What advice do you have for someone just starting CrossFit or is on the fence about starting?

Don’t judge yourself on the basis of other’s abilities. If you don’t enjoy the grind, CrossFit might not be for you. But if you do, you’ll be an addict like the rest of us. Give into the process, you’ll probably surprise yourself. Learn to do it right before you try to do it well. When in doubt, you’ll always have a community of people to encourage you.

 

What do you love most about No Excuses?

Hands down, the people. I am so enjoying getting to know more and more of you as time goes by. …And the 5am guys. They’re ok, I guess.