State your Name and/or Nickname please.        
Jennifer Felps aka Machine Gun Jenny

Occupation?
Senior Business Systems Analyst at AMD

Words to live by?
“The service you do for others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth.” Muhammad Ali

What is your fitness background? 
I was certified to teach aerobics in high school (yay step!).  I’ve always loved lifting, but I was really a 30 minute elliptical, light lifter, 3 times a week for many years.

How long have you been CrossFitting?
I started On Ramp in March of 2010.

What’s your favorite part of CrossFit?
My favorite part is the support from all the other athletes and coaches.  No one is ever derogatory.  Not ever.  The last person in (usually me) is cheered on like a first place finisher.  It’s amazing every single time.  I was afraid when I started that there would be days I would have to sit out because of my leg injury.  There has not been one single WOD that the coaches have not been able to mod for me in nearly a year of classes.  It really makes me feel like part of the team, and not like I’m a burden or in the way.

What are your training goals? 
I want to compete in my first powerlifting meet in the spring (Thank You, Coach Blake!).  That is so exciting!  I just want to keep getting better at everything – higher jumps, faster times, smaller bands on my pullups, bigger CFT numbers.  I’m perfectly fine with taking baby steps to get there.

Favorite sport or activity?  
My favorite activity is playing with my son, Rooster (whose favorite activity is coming to CFA to monkey around).  The 630AM Strength Days at CFA are a very close second!

Recent adventure you’re planning?  
James and I are going to see Liz and Cody lift in Fort Worth at their meet in February.  We are bringing a little CFA to Cow Town!

Tell us something we don’t know about you? 
I have 2 3-legged cats, Cleo and Stinker.  I got them that way from the shelter.  I guess I don’t believe in throwing something away because it’s not perfect.  Nothing wrong with the scratch-and-dent models.  I’m sort of one myself.

Longhorns or Aggies?  
Gotta be Longhorns.  I graduated from UT Austin in 1998.

Best quote that you’ve said within the walls of CFA that was never recorded on the quote board!?
Oh dear.  I said something the other day about not wanting to have Big Bertha between my legs…9am immediately pointed out how lucky I was that the quote board wasn’t up yet.  I know I was 3 shades of purple.

Leave the fine folks of CrossFit Austin with some parting words? 
I’m incredibly honored to be thought of as an athlete by a group of athletes I respect and adore.  WODs at 630am are not always pleasant, but every freezing cold morning I run to the car I know I will be seeing my friends.  And I’m excited every single day.  Crossfit has made me a better person in a million ways that have nothing to do with bands and bars and kettlebells.  I’m so grateful to have such a huge motley crew of new friends to rely on, and to cheer on every day.  You all make Fran tolerable.  There is no greater complement than that.

State your Name and/or Nickname, please.
Jesse

Occupation?
Highway Patrol Sergeant

Words to live by?
“The U.S. Constitution doesn’t guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself.” - Benjamin Franklin

What is your fitness background?
Almost none. A little running here and there. I’d do just enough to pass the fitness test at work.

How long have you been CrossFitting?
I’ve been with CFA since February.

What’s your favorite part of CrossFit Austin?
The best part of CFA is the community and what it has meant to Jonathan. Nothing beats listening to him talk about WODs, getting stronger and his next fitness goals (rowing team, marathon).

What are your training goals?
Finishing the next WOD. Fran Rx before my 1 year anniversary.

Favorite sport or activity?
I’m a big fan of Yankees baseball and the UFC.

Recent adventure you’re planning?
Jonathan and I would like to snowboard this winter. I’ve never been so it would be an adventure.

Tell us something we don’t know about you?
I was an interrogator in the Army.

Longhorns or Aggies?
New York Yankees.

You and Jonathan are our only father son duo, what’s the smack talk at the dinner table like?
We’re like everyone else at CFA. We support and root for each other so there’s no smack talk right now but I’m sure Jonathan will get a little louder with a few more months of Crossfit under his belt. Then he’ll have to find another ride to the box.

Leave the fine folks of CrossFit Austin with some parting words?
Thanks. It’s a privilege to be around all the awesomeness and people that are CFA.

State your Name and/or Nickname please.
Erica Michele Cuellar

What are your training goals?
I definitely want to reach my goal of being on the Chic’s with Chin-ups Board and I also want to continue setting PR’s on my lifts.  Plus, I want to get to the point were I can perform muscle-ups and handstand push-ups.  Ok, really, this list can go on forever so bottom line is I have a lot of fun, hard work ahead of me.

State your Name and/or Nickname please
Cody Skinner

Occupation?
I’m a personal trainer at Gold’s Gym Cedar Park, an educator at lululemon athletica, and a semi-professional rockstar. I’m also an occasional guitar teacher and pedicab driver.

Words to live by?
No shirt, no shoes, no problem.

What is your fitness background?
I grew up playing every sport imaginable. My dad was a college and semi-pro football player and a competitive baseball, softball, and volleyball player. My parents actually met on the volleyball court. I started with roller skating and t-ball, and by high school I was playing baseball, basketball, football, and hockey. I was actually on a tripple-A hockey team out of Dallas before I got burned out on the sport. In college I did a year of rugby before switching my major to music and getting lazy. After spending a couple of years getting fat and out of shape I became a gym rat, then went through a rock climbing phase followed by a marathon running phase. At some point along the way I heard about crossfit and started messing around with some of the main site WODs. Then I joined up at CFA and the rest is history.

How long have you been CrossFitting?
I think it’s about a year and a half now. Maybe not quite that long.

What’s your favorite part of CrossFit Austin?
I love the workouts and I love the people. Wes and Tristy are AMAZING coaches, plus we have access to people like Chad Vaughn and Carl Paoli. And that’s just the staff. Some of our members are truly amazing, one-of-a-kind people. Anybody who’s worked out in the same class as Sleeves or Darlene or Carissa knows what I’m talking about. Seeing Darlene in the final WOD at the games might be the high point of my year so far.

What are your training goals?
Achieve total awesomeness! Basically, the way my personality works is that I’m fairly compulsive about seeking out new skills to learn or areas to improve on (read obsess over). My ultimate goal is to compete. Right now I’m working on getting my shoulders healthy and trying to get crazy strong. I also want to master muscle ups and hand stand push ups. And the olympic lifts. And everything ever.

Favorite sport or activity?
Crossfit wins it hands down. Rock climbing is a distant second.

Recent adventure you’re planning?
I’m hoping to take Fresh Millions on tour to NYC and back in October. If it all goes according to plan we’ll be crammed into the mini-van with all our gear for about 18 days. Travel WOD, anyone?

Tell us something we don’t know about you?
I read 3-4 books a week.

Longhorns or Aggies?
Texecutioners.

You were the run away winner of the mustache contest last spring and not coincidentally you also just finished playing ACL for the first time. Explain to us the rock star/mustache relationship/evolution?
It was a long journey, one that began several years ago in a place called Denton, TX. I was studying classical music and sporting a beard. When I moved to Austin, the beard was right at home but the classical music was quickly replaced by an insatiable need to plug in and play that funk! Eventually I just out-rocked the beard. I knew only a curly mustache would give me the proper swagger to finally achieve that next level of strength, speed, and rock stardom.

Leave the fine folks of CrossFit Austin with some parting words?
crossfit gives us plenty of opportunity to feel pain, frustration, and exhaustion. Fortunately, it also gives us a chance to make friends with those feelings, and that’s the beauty of the sport. So next time your legs are burning and you’re gasping for breath trying not to puke as a callus rips open on the palm of your hand, just remember how much fun you’re having.

State your Name and/or Nickname please.
My parents named me Melissa Kathryn Joulwan back in 1968, but you can call me Mel or Melicious.

Occupation?
My day job is “Senior Content Strategist” for Razorfish, a giant interactive agency. But my real job is writing. I have a blog called ‘The Clothes Make The Girl’ that’s all about my CrossFit and paleo adventures, and I wrote ‘Rollergirl: Totally True Tales From The Track,’ a memoir of my transformation from total nerd to Rollergirl (a.k.a., total nerd on skates that knocks other girls down for fun).

Words to live by?
When I first started CrossFit training, I decided that no matter how much my ego and body suffered, I would do every rep with full range of motion – even if it meant I was (really) slow – and I would complete every single rep in the workout. That’s when I started thinking, “Never cheat. Never quit.” It stuck, and I still train (and live) by those words.

What is your fitness background?
I was an overweight, inactive kid who really liked food and books. After broken ankles and constantly getting picked on at school, I stuck with reading and practicing the piano and roller skating to the library. I missed many PE classes because I was “sick” or “forgot” my gym clothes. Even though I avoided sports, I secretly admired the athletic kids, but I just didn’t even know where to begin. After college, I secretly started doing workout videos at home. It was years before I ever stepped inside a gym, but thanks to a strong attraction to step aeorobics, I eventually became an aerobics instructor. When that ran its course, I trained for triathlons and finished the Wildflower Half Ironman in 2000. I was the last finisher with a time around 9 1/2 hours; I was just too stubborn to stop. When I moved to Austin in 2001, I helped start the Texas Rollergirls Flat Track Roller Derby — the first time that I ever played a team sport. Since then, I also started running and ran a few half marathons.

It’s been a long transition, but I realized recently that I’ve now been an active, athletic person for just as long as I was overweight and inactive. It’s definitely time to stop thinking of myself as that chubby, clumsy girl I used to be.

How long have you been CrossFitting?
I started CrossFit in October 2007, just after I retired from Roller Derby. I was overweight and feeling pretty lousy at the time.  I knew I needed to find an athletic activity that would keep me motivated and radically change my body. I started at a bootcamp, then moved to CrossFit Austin last year. In my time at CrossFit Austin, I’ve conquered some big-time fears that seemed insurmountable before I met Tristy, Wes, and Boone. At the age of 43, I kicked up into a handstand for the first time EVER in my life. I’ve also learned how to do double-unders (32 unbroken is my current record), and I’ve fallen in love with strength training. Who knew all of this was possible?!

What’s your favorite part of CrossFit?
There are two things that make CrossFit — and particularly CrossFit Austin — indispensable to me. (1) I feel inspired to try stuff that I know I won’t be good at doing. This is a huge for me! Being in an environment where failure is OK as long as I’m trying is totally freeing — and makes me take myself much less seriously. It’s been a revelation to learn that falling on my butt with the barbell can be totally exhilarating. (2) Without exception, I feel grateful for the people who train with me in the morning. I was welcomed so warmly on my first day and that sense of camaraderie has only grown.

What are your training goals?
Instead, I’m committed to training 3X a week at CrossFit Austin and working as hard as I can in every class. I tend to hold myself to sometimes unachievable standards, so my non-goal for 2011 was to just live like the best version of myself and see where I end up. That means eating a fairly strict paleo diet, hitting workouts hard, and getting plenty of rest. I’m also battling the fallout of having my thyroid removed so I try to feel fortunate for my workouts and accept what my body can do right now — while still striving to do my best.

Favorite sport or activity?
I really love to travel to new places and go running to explore. Right now, my favorite daydream workout is a run through Old Town Prague to a long stone staircase that leads to Letna Park. It’s the perfect place to sprint stairs, do pushups and lunges, and run along cobblestone streets. At the opposite end of the spectrum, I also really love to load the barbell and bust out front squats. There’s something about submitting to the extreme uncomfortableness of front squats that helps me conquer the fear at the bottom of the squat. And I feel like about a million bucks every time I kick up into a handstand against the wall.

Recent adventure you’re planning?
This summer, I’ve been writing a paleo cookbook that will be released in December. That’s been a huge adventure because my husband Dave and I are doing all the recipe testing, food styling, and photography ourselves. In October, when the cookbook production is done, we’re going back to Prague for three weeks, with a stop in Paris for a few days on our way home. I’ll definitely be working out at CrossFit Praha while we’re there… and doing that run in Letna Park.

Tell us something we don’t know about you?
I read Jane Eyre at least twice a year because it’s my favorite book, I’m a natural blonde, my left hand is about 1/2 inch larger than my right hand, and I can recite Lewis Carroll’s “The Jabberwocky” from memory.

Longhorns or Aggies?
That’s football, right?

Essential footwear, High heels or Chuck Taylors..go!?
Black Chuck Taylors. Always. Gotta be wearing get-away shoes in case I’m chased by bad guys.

Leave the fine folks of CrossFit Austin with some parting words?
Preparing and eating high-quality food is one of the most loving things you can do for yourself and others. Learn how to cook a few things that you really like to eat and keep yourself well fed. Also, get some sleep!