Let’s get personal. Meet Courtney Morrison, age 30
How long have you been at MVMNT: Since the beginning of August, so almost 3 months!
Athletic Background: None? I played baseball and basketball as a kid, but quit playing organized sports when I was 12 or 13. I got tired of coaches telling me what to do and never picked organized sports back up. I was an active kid though and played a lot of ball in the street with friends. We even used to run full court basketball games in our cul-de-sac. In college I would play pickup basketball and racquetball occasionally, but nothing regular enough to keep me fit. These days I really love to play golf, but don’t get to play very often.
What Level are you?: Level 1 right now, but planning to test up to level 2 on Monday!
Tell us a little about you. Who is Courtney? Married, kids, hobbies, what do you do for a living, are you generally just awesome? I am originally from Savannah, GA (born in Germany though) and moved to Marietta in 2004 for architecture school at SPSU (now KSU, sad.) I loved being in and around the big city, so I stayed and looked for work after I graduated in 2009. I am married to a great woman, Norrie. We have been married a little over 3 years and just bought our first house here in Marietta. We met at the church we attend in the Marietta Square, Stonebridge. I am an architect at a great firm in Alpharetta; Wakefield Beasley. I have been there since the beginning of 2015. I love to read, but I rarely read fiction. I enjoy the creative process and love good design at all scales. And yes, I am just generally awesome.
What are you famous for? And you CAN’T say nothing. That’s not a thing. Famous is such a loaded word in our culture, so I prefer use the word “known.” (IE, the Kardashians are famous, but are not known for contributing anything to society). I am known for being a conversationalist. I love to have meaningful conversation with just about anyone with an open mind on any range of topics, politics to architecture and anything in between. I have some strong opinions, but try to be respectful of those I disagree with.
First nutrition challenge? Yes, this is my first nutrition challenge of any sort.
Trying to break any old habits? Ie. You’re young, slender, etc. Then why did you sign up? I am not trying to break any habits as much as I am trying to push myself. I’ve always been slender (I was 6’0 tall and 118lbs when I graduated high school) and that generally gets mistaken for being in shape and healthy. I have known for a long time I have not been in shape despite being thin.
What’s been the hardest part? There are two things I’ve found to be difficult in this. I work in an industry where people are constantly trying to get us to use their products in our buildings. The best way they have found to persuade us is to bring us free food. Every day of the week there is free food brought to my office. Sometimes, I just want to eat the chicken biscuit! The second part of this relates to my driven personality. I have to be conscious not to get too caught up in the points system. I want to do well and earn all of the points each day, but sometimes I have to stop and think about other priorities in my life. For instance, there have been a few times when my wife has had to work late and I have had to decide between getting the exercise and mobility points and serving her by cooking dinner so she won’t have to when she gets home.
We are well past the halfway point. Have you noticed any actual changes? Such as…. I can absolutely see a change in my body. I’m much leaner than I was when we started. I have also noticed that I don’t feel bad after meals that are WLC compliant, and feel terrible after eating food that isn’t.
You have a competition coming up this weekend. Who are doing it with, where, etc.? Give me the deets. I am participating in my first CF competition this weekend at Crossfit College Park, which happens to be the gym my brother-in-law owns. If it wasn’t a family thing I never would have thought to do it only 3 months in to my CF training. However, I was persuaded when they advertised they would have a Novice division (in addition to RX and Scaled) specifically for people of my skill level. The competition this year is a partner competition and I’ll be working out with a good friend of mine, Kenny. Kenny has a really incredible weight loss story. He weighed over 400lbs at his heaviest and has lost over 200lbs!! I’m really excited to get to do this with him because it literally would not have been possible if not for a major lifestyle change a couple years ago. His journey has been quite and inspiration!
First competition? WHY though? You ready? Besides this competition being a family thing, one of the things that attracted me to CrossFit was the competitive aspect. Like I said, I have a pretty strong desire for growth and knew that competing would eventually be part of it for me. I am as ready as I can be with only 3 months of training after sitting on my butt for the past 10 years. I’m really just excited to have fun and am curious about how I stack up against other novice athletes.
Do you think the WLC will have any play in the comp? Absolutely! I already know I’m going to have about an hour between each of the 4 workouts. Because of that, I know I’m going to need to eat some snacks between and I already have compliant snacks planned. If it wasn’t for the WLC I would be guessing about what to eat and how it might make me feel, but I know now that what I eat is going to keep me energized and feeling good. Also, if things get hectic I can turn on the Headspace app and take ten minutes to meditate and prepare my mind.
What’s your end game for this comp? Nutrition AND CrossFit. The most important part of the competition is to learn about myself. I don’t expect to win, but I expect to push myself. I’m never concerned with perfection, but rather learning something with each new thing I take on. The end game for the nutrition part of the challenge is to be better educated and make wiser food choices. My wife has been doing the nutrition part of the challenge with me and we both agree that we don’t want to reintroduce the things we have cut out. It helps that I feel like we have been eating like kings! I feel like I can eat as much as I want since losing weight is not part of my goal. Because of that I rarely turn down a WLC compliant calorie. As for CrossFit, it is a long term plan. One of the goals for my thirties is to take care of my body which requires a long view of fitness and nutrition. I want to make changes and take steps that are sustainable over a long period of time rather than just aiming for the fastest results now. I don’t have a specific way to measure this other than being well equipped for any physical activity I take on. That could be a round of golf or a game of ultimate Frisbee.
**That mustache is real! I grew a beard last winter for about 5 months and kept the mustache for a weekend at the end. The other photo is a selfie of my wife (Norrie) and I having coffee on the street in NYC.
Thanks for the chat, Courtney and good luck this weekend!
Level 1/2 Test: Monday at 7 pm. Get signed up. I anticipate two (but maybe only one) more tests before the New Year. We’ll kick off 2016 with a new cycle. If you want to train more advance movement, you have to test.
Level 3 Test: November 14 at 10:30 am. This is it. Sign up to test. Even if you only get 7/10, who cares? Force yourself outside of your comfort zone. Find out exactly where you stand. Identifying weaknesses is part of the process. It’s quite literally “GROWTH THROUGH DISCOMFORT.”
One week from today, we want to see you in your best CrossFit costume. Don’t be lame. Dress up and have some fun with us.
Warmup
Jump Rope 3 minutes
Hip Mobility Series
10 Down Dog Pushups
Skill
15 Minutes: Swings, Overhead Lockout, Reverse Lunge
-Review 2-hand swing
-Review 1-hand swing
-Review Overhead Lockout position
-Loose vs Packed shoulder
Kettlebell Overhead Reverse Lunge
-opposite leg steps back, control knee down to the floor
Lift
Levels 3/4
5 x 1+1+1 @ 70%
Clean Pull + Tall Hang Power Clean + Above the Knee HPC
Level 2
Clean Progression + Light Power Clean Practice
Level 0/1
Clean Progression with PVC pipe
Conditioning
“Shake It Off”
8 Minutes AMRAP
Levels 3/4
5 Pushups
5 Goblet Squats (L4-32/24, L3-28/22)
15 Double Unders
Levels 0-2
5 Pushups
5 Goblet Squats (L2-24/20)
50 Single Unders