Congratulations to Emily Wright – our September 2021 Athlete of the Month! Emily has been a member of the Capital City CrossFit community since 2017. During her four years here, she has been a hard working, encouraging member who brings a positive energy to each class she attends. CrossFit was a little out of Emily’s comfort zone when she first started, but she has embraced the challenge and continues to see improvements in all aspects of her fitness. Emily, along with husband Dan, even got a couple of their kids involved with the fitness fun! When their son Jack and daughter Claire have a break from extracurricular activities, they can often be found at the gym as well. Emily has put her fitness to the test over the years competing in multiple competitions: WODtoberfest in Godfrey, IL and the Festivus Games competition at Capital City CrossFit. Keep up the good work, Emily!
In general, what is your background?
I grew up in Virginia, Illinois and went to college at Illinois College in Jacksonville, where I met my husband, Dan. We lived in St. Louis for a few years before moving to Springfield.
Age, Occupation?
I am 42 and my kids say I’m “retired.” I’m actually a CPA and work from home developing and teaching online college accounting courses, and do some part-time work as bookkeeper for local non-profits.
How did you get to know about CrossFit and why did you start?
Dan tried for several years to get me to try CrossFit, but I resisted because I’ve never been much of a weight-lifter. I finally decided to give it a try because trying to make time to work out on my own just wasn’t happening.
How has CrossFit changed your life, lifestyle, level of fitness?
Before CrossFit I would run on my own and do some yoga. CrossFit has definitely helped me to incorporate strength training and my running is actually better than it was before CrossFit, even though I run a lot less. Mostly, the incentives of having someone else plan the workouts and all the friendly faces mean I actually show up and work out a lot more than I would if I was just trying to stay motivated on my own.
Name one goal and/or personal record you would like to accomplish through CrossFit.
I would love to master unassisted pull-ups.
Favorite CrossFit moment so far?
Competing in WODtoberfest and Festivus. I never thought that was something I would want to do, but I really enjoyed it.
What is your least favorite WOD to date?
Anything with that darn bike.
What do you like most about Capital City CrossFit?
The people! This place just attracts great people. The coaches are all so encouraging, and so are the members. Because we’ve got four kids doing all sorts of activities, I go to different classes depending on our schedule that day. Every class has great people in it that I look forward to seeing.
Favorite exercise?
Back squats
Least favorite exercise?
Any of the snatches.
