Kristin Reffett 'I am a CrossFit world champion.”
In the 15 years since it was introduced, CrossFit has boomed into a global fitness phenomenon. This year, Nashville Metro Parks employee Kristin Reffett joined one of the most important CrossFit teams in the world with one of the most important CrossFit athletes and won a world championship. All in her off time.
'I didn't even know where we stood at the end until another competitor came up after the last event and said, 'I think you guys just won.'”
I was introduced to CrossFit initially almost five years ago by a buddy of mine who was into the sport. I got into it right away, jumping in with both feet (and a bunch of sore muscles). As a CrossFit team member, you have to perform over half of your workouts at your team's gym. So now I drive four days a week in season to Cookeville to train with my team, CrossFit Mayhem. See, when Rich Froning asks you to join his team, it's kind of like having Michael Jordan ask you to play on his basketball team. Rich gets most of the attention at the gym, which is a good thinghaving the world's most famous CrossFitter around makes it a lot easier for me to concentrate on the weight I have in front of me.
I work as a trainer for Nashville Metro, so in my day job I help people get fit. I always tell them to find something they enjoy doing. If you hate the treadmill, you're not going to force yourself to go to the gym and do it. So whatever it is that's fun for you, do that. My mom got into fitness for the first time in her life a few years ago. She started with a Zumba class. Now she goes to multiple classes a day sometimes. For me, CrossFit's social aspect is really great. All the people I work out with are my friends. There's a whole community around me. It's impossible to get that when you're working out by yourself.
>>> Read all five extraordinary "For The Win" stories in the January 2016 issue!
Last July, my family from Evansville, Indiana, went with me to the CrossFit Games, which were held in Carson, California. I ran cross-country at Murray State and always played sports growing up, and my family has been there with me the whole way, but they had never seen me compete quite like this before. In years past, the stadium where the games were held was tinymore like an intimate workout with just a few fans. This year, the games were in the StubHub Center, with something like 20,000 seats. I tried not to look up a lot when I was thereI didn't want to get too blown away.
I remember the first time I walked out into the stadium, I was thinking, 'Let's do this workout. The same as I do every day.” Just, you know, with several thousand people screaming. Event 1 was 150 deadlifts in the sand with a giant six-person sandbag they call 'the worm.” My hamstrings were already so sore after that one event that it was difficult to walk normally. The soreness only got worse throughout the weekend. I was hurting pretty bad and kept wondering how I was going to get to the next event, but as soon as the events began, my mind would switch into 'go mode” and my soreness would disappear, replaced by focus on the task at hand. I didn't even know where we stood at the end until another competitor came up after the last event and said, 'I think you guys just won.” Then I saw the people in the crowd with Mayhem T-shirts screaming.
When it was all over, I took a couple weeks off just to enjoy myself and take naps in my free time. But then it was back into the gym. Being on the fittest team on earth means no off-season.