April 2016 Athlete of the Month – Katie deMarco

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Congratulations to Katie deMarco – Athlete of the Month for April 2016! And congratulations to the entire deMarco family, as today (April 5th) they celebrate the birth of Leo deMarco.  Katie did not miss a single beat during her entire pregnancy, only modifying where need be.  She is now the proud mother of a (cross)fit and healthy baby boy!  Congratulations Katie, you are truly an inspiration to us all.

1. In general, what is your background?

I grew up in Springfield with an awesome family…my mom Cathy, step-dad John, and 2 sisters Shelley and Emma. I met my husband, Drew while attending nursing school 2007-2010 and we married in May of 2013, which was one of the happiest days of my life thus far. On that day I was also lucky enough to become a step-mom to Drew’s son, Carter who recently turned 11. We adopted our “second child” Charlie 4 years ago…he is our 5 year old Pomeranian. And lastly, as most of you already know we are expecting the 5th member of our family in only a few short weeks. We are beyond excited to meet our sweet baby boy Leo due April 27th!!!

2. Age, Occupation?

I am 31 years old and have worked at Memorial Medical Center (MMC) since 2002…I started there right after graduating from high school as a Certified Nursing Assistant. I graduated from MacMurray College of Nursing in 2010 and began working as a Registered Nurse on the inpatient Oncology Unit at MMC. In May of 2015 I gladly accepted the opportunity to begin working as an Oncology Nurse Navigator for Memorial’s Regional Cancer Center. In this role I serve as a support/resource person for people going through cancer treatment…I follow them from the time they are diagnosed with cancer through their treatment and basically serve as a “go to” person for them. It is definitely a very rewarding job yet can at times be extremely difficult emotionally. Cancer sucks, enough said!

3. How did you get to know about CrossFit and why did you start?

My sister Shelley and I, who many of you know are inseparable, started CrossFitting together about two and a half years ago. It only took about 2 years for our Aunt Paula Ryan (whom you all know very well) to convince us to give it a try! We finally gave in and started CrossFitting at Fit Club’s CrossFit Bent Steele and instantly fell in love with the sport. We continued to CrossFit there for almost a year until Paula convinced us to drop-in at C3 for a partner Saturday WOD – that was all it took to convince us we belonged at C3…this was about a year and a half ago now and we haven’t regretted our decision to join C3 once!

4. How has CrossFit changed your life, lifestyle, level of fitness?

CrossFit has changed my life as I have met some awesome people and made great friends! It has allowed me to feel healthier than I ever have! I never found a sport that I really loved until CrossFit. I participated in competitive figure skating until I was in 8th grade when I decided to quit because I didn’t have the passion for it that was needed to succeed. After that I never really cared for working out much. I played Tennis in High School, which I enjoyed, but after high school I gave that up too. I always knew I needed to workout to get healthy but wasn’t motivated until I started CrossFit. From my first CrossFit class I attended I was instantly hooked. I couldn’t get enough and continued to go back daily! I have never felt healthier or “fit”…my husband and friends often comment on how CrossFit has finally rid me of my “chicken legs” thanks to adding some muscle. Lastly, another aspect of CrossFit that I very much enjoy is setting goals and then the feeling of accomplishment that it leaves you with! It’s definitely indescribable.

5. Name one goal and/or personal record you would like to accomplish through CrossFit.

After baby Leo arrives and I can get back into the gym I would love to catch up with the many accomplishments my sister Shelley has made this year…my two goals are to consistently string unassisted pull-ups together AND do hand-stand push-ups!

6. Favorite CrossFit moment so far?

My favorite CrossFit moment thus far is the experience I had completing all of the 2016 open WOD’s this year with so much support and encouragement from the C3 family. Having completed these WOD’s while 8-9 months pregnant made them extremely challenging but having the support of C3 and my close friends motivating me and cheering me on the entire time was absolutely amazing!

7. What is your least favorite WOD to date?

I think many of you would agree with me when I say the open WOD 16.5 is my least favorite to date!! That amount of thrusters and burpees should never be combined in a WOD nor have no time cap.

8. What do you like most about Capital City CrossFit?

THE PEOPLE…hands down!!!!! The many friends I have made at C3 is the reason I get up every morning to attend class at 5am! People often ask me how I am still capable of getting up at 4:30am to go workout while so far along in my pregnancy and my answer is because I get to see some of my favorite people and have many laughs while getting a great workout in!!!!

9. Favorite movement?

Hang Cleans! Although I cannot go very heavy on them (PR is only 113#’s) but I still love this movement!

10. Least favorite movement?

Toes to bar…YUCK! I think they are a very cool movement to watch people perform but I find them beyond challenging and I’ve never been able to get the hang of them or string more than one together (maybe I should add this to my list of goals to accomplish?).

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