Look at that one hand-stand!
Welcome to our latest member spotlight post! This week we want to highlight someone who has been at The Foundry from the very beginning. She has come a long way in her training and continues to make major break throughs. Without further adue, this week’s member spotlight is Priscilla M. Dobbin! We asked Priscilla to share how she pushed past her initial fears about CrossFit, how CrossFit became a common hobby between her and her husband Jack, and how she shows off her awesome CrossFit skills to her nieces and nephews!
The Foundry: What brought you to The Foundry and what does CrossFit mean to you?
Priscilla Dobbin: When we heard The Foundry was opening at the bottom of our building, Jack was really excited since his friends have, in his words, “turned from skinny nerds into buff hombres.” I was skeptical, not that JQ and Brad aren’t convincing, but I was intimidated at first. I knew that I wanted to make fitness a central part of my life, and I knew that I needed the class format that CrossFit offers, but taking that initial leap can be scary. It took me a month or two after joining for that initial fear to transform into eagerness to improve and attempt new things. And although I was still humbled thinking, “whoa, all the other girls are way stronger than me,” I started to be more confident in my physical abilities, and that increased muscle-confidence spread to other areas of my life.
There are many things that CrossFit means to me, but one of the biggest ones I realized is that it basically accomplishes the opposite of aging. People seem to take for granted that getting older means moving less, becoming weaker and stiffer, etc. Doing CrossFit is like returning to childhood, but becoming way better at the monkey bars and rope climbs than that kid who used to take your lunch money.
F: Can you describe training with Jack and how it works into your relationship?
PD: Well, I love to cook weird food and break out into spontaneous dance, while Jack loves to play basketball and games, but CrossFit has turned out to be the best mutual hobby we have. At first I couldn’t imagine going to the gym more than twice a week, and Jack was the one who motivated me to go again even when I was super sore. Then a big breakthrough for me was when I got my first unassisted pistols, and Jack didn’t have them yet…but once I bragged I think he got his the
next day, haha! So a little friendly competition never hurts. And all things CrossFit make great dinner conversation!
F: What are some of your training goals?
PD:My training goals are mostly motivated by what I think would most impress my nieces and nephews. I just recently got the rhythm of double-unders down after so long, so now I’ve got to challenge those whippersnappers to a serious jump rope contest. I’m also training my youngest niece to be a pullup machine so I need to advance to band-less pullups before she does. And I’ve got to start doing parallette balancing, hand stand walks and backflips (paging Amanda and Jenni!).
F: What is something we don’t know about you?
PD: I’ve broken 5 bones, and even got a broken bone award from my cross country team when I was a kid. I used to think these broken bones and other klutz-induced injuries I’ve had would limit my athletic pursuits, and in some ways I was always waiting for the next injury. But The Foundry coaches have taught me that the mental limitations you place on yourself are often greater than your physical limitations. So psssshhhh, what limits?
Thanks for sharing your experience so far Priscilla! Be sure to congratulate her and continue to WOD hard!