November 2018 Athlete Of The Month

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Name: Marley Riser

Age: 29

Occupation: Information Security Engineer   

Length Of Time CrossFitting: 6 months

What is your favorite lift and why? Cleans, even though I struggle with them! There are so many technical parts to keep in mind, and it takes so much practice, but when you actually get it right it feels AMAZING. Oly lifts in general are just constant exercises in humility.

What is your favorite workout and why? I actually really like EMOMs! You know exactly what you’re doing, you know exactly when it’s over, and you just have to push through each movement and the fatigue as you go.

What are your goals for next year? RX a WOD! Honestly there are a lot of things I’m not able to do yet, so my hope is to nail down the foundational movements and get REALLY good at them. If 2018 was “get started!” then 2019 is “be better!” What does that look like? Well, a pull-up would be amazing, but maybe in a year of practice I’ll get a muscle-up. I just want to continue to see what happens when I put in the work.

How has CrossFit Impacted your Life?  If there’s one thing that CrossFit has helped with, it’s my overall sense of anxiety and my confidence. The hours I’m in the gym are when I can laser-focus on the work and I don’t have to think about anything else except pushing myself a little bit harder. It’s a reminder that I can do the difficult things that seem impossible (and if I can’t, it’s because I can’t do them YET). Things only seem hard or scary when you’re going through them, but then it’s over, and you’ve survived that too. Outside that, this community has been so amazing and uplifting. I was told in the beginning that what keeps you going back to CrossFit is the community and the people with whom you both suffer and celebrate. That couldn’t be more true. Everyone is cheering you on through every workout, every day, and that’s an incredible thing. I’ll never really be able to say how much that support means to me. There’s a reason I drag myself to the 7am class every morning! Also now I have biceps that people ask to feel and that’s pretty legit, can’t lie.