For April we are featuring one of the gym's power couples. Get to know Kathryn and Daniel here and give them a fist bump next time you're at the gym.
Q: How long have you been going to Terminus? What changes have you seen in yourself (physically or mentally) since joining?
We’ve been doing CrossFit for a little over 4.5 years and joined Terminus in late December of 2018, so I guess we have been members for about 2 and a half years. Hard to believe really as that time has passed by pretty quickly. We have certainly both gotten physically stronger since joining Terminus, but we are more proud of the improvement to our “engines” and our ability to push through longer/tougher/more mentally challenging workouts. We are still working everyday to improve on the physical elements of our programming where we struggle (see: heavy barbell cycling or anytime I have to put a bar above my head for Daniel and pull-ups/T2B for Kathryn), but we definitely feel like our attitude remains positive and engaged even on days where the movements do not favor our strengths. We definitely had an issue with cherry-picking workouts at our previous gym. Since joining Terminus, the only time we don’t go to the gym is if our schedules do not allow; we do not let the contents of the workout dictate whether we come or not.
Q: How has your journey at Terminus helped you outside the gym?
We both agree that Terminus is an important part of not just our physical health, but our mental health as well. We sleep better, function better at work, and generally feel better because of the time we get to spend at Terminus. As Kathryn likes to say, sweating it out and slinging barbells around at the gym makes me a better person outside of the gym! This pandemic has also been a great reminder of the importance of physical and specifically our cardiovascular health as we get older and deal with an uncertain world. It is good to know that we are doing everything we can to remain healthy and Terminus is a huge part of that.
Q: Who inspires you at the gym, and how do they inspire you?
Kathryn: For sure my 5amily ladiesssss (this includes Katie Taylor…you PM folks can’t have her, she’s all ours!)…but all of the badass strong AF females that walk in the door daily at Terminus…even all the afternoon/evening gals that I’ve never even met because I don’t workout when the sun’s out :). Y’all come in each day and crush it!
Daniel: I am constantly amazed at the number of people who are crazy enough to wake up at a time where there is still a “4” on the clock in order to make it to the 5am class. It is a remarkable consistent group of people and I admire all of my 5amily for it. In addition, I won’t name any names for fear of leaving someone out, but there are a handful of people that I just love working out with, who know how and when to push me and make sure I get the most out of every training session. I appreciate this more than I can express here.
Q: How would you describe what it’s like to be a part of Terminus?
There are a number of different elements of being a member at Terminus that define the experience for us. First and foremost, we love the community and the people that we workout with each day. They are a huge part of the reason that we are willing to wake up at 4:30 every day to come to the gym. They are inspiring and hardworking, and we have developed some very meaningful friendships with these folks. We appreciate each and every coach at Terminus as we know that we will receive quality instruction and quality feedback that allows us to improve as athletes but also to stay safe and avoid injury. Lastly, we appreciate that the programming at Terminus is always challenging and always pushing us to improve. The high level of intensity from the workouts is both daunting but also exciting to be a part of each day.
Q: Tell us about your first day of class at Terminus.
We actually have two different “First Days” at Terminus. Before we joined officially, we did a drop in class. It was right around the December holidays so there weren’t too many people there, but we do remember that Sara Hardy greeted us in the parking lot with that big smile and a warm welcome. The workout that day involved running and pull-ups, so it was definitely more in Daniel’s wheelhouse than Kathryn’s. Our first class/workout after we joined the gym was coached by Ben and featured double-unders. Kathryn very distinctly remembers Ben having a significant amount of constructive feedback to discuss with her about her double unders, which of course only made them worse on that day and was a quick introduction to the intensity that Ben can bring to a class.
Q: What is something that we may not know about you?
Kathryn: Fun fact! I’m ambidextrous…I write and eat left-handed…but do most everything else (including using scissors and playing any kind of sportsball) right-handed
Daniel: During college, as a member of the UGA Basketball Band, I was kicked out of multiple games for heckling players and referees.
Joint: We have been together for almost 16 years. We met at UGA, when Daniel was but a young freshman and Kathryn was going into her junior year (yes, Kathryn is older/a cougar).
Q: What are your top 3 memories or proudest moments in CrossFit?
Kathryn
- Anytime I beat Daniel in a WOD
- I will 1000000% never forget *ATTEMPTING* to do the hero WOD “TAMA” in the middle of a torrential downpour, with thunder and lightning in the area. Thanks for that one Coach Patrick…
- Most recently, I am really proud of the effort I gave for the Open WOD 21.2, and seeing the huge amount of improvement I’ve made since this was originally programmed as 17.1, which was my first CrossFit Open.
Daniel
- Anytime I beat Kathryn in a WOD
- That time the evening classes correctly placed the weights back onto the wall-holders (Just kidding! This has never actually happened!)
- Anytime Jeremy has a story to share with the class. See: The hyena story.
- Bonus Memory: Post Friendsgiving Nickelback leisure walks…Thanks Steve.
Q: Moving forward, do you have any short term or long term goals in the gym?
Kathryn: Short term, I want to get my right foot back to 100% (or as close as I can get) so that I can get back into my running groove. More long term, I want to continue working on my upper body strength in order to string more pull-ups together and finally getting some freaking kipping T2B!
Daniel: I want to continue to improve on the movements that give me the most trouble, including ring muscle-ups (which I still haven’t figured out), heavy barbell cycling, and overhead squats. Long term, I simply want to stay healthy, avoid injury, and continue to find steady improvement through consistently going to Terminus 5-6 days per week.