The largest CrossFit event in the world, and the $1 million purse that comes along with it, begin today the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA and Bellevue’s Janice Spray will be there to find out where she ranks among the fittest in the world.
The 5 foot tall Spray, who lives in Eastgate with her husband and three children, qualified for The Reebok CrossFit Games by finishing eighth in the world in the Master’s Division, which is reserved for competitors ages 45-49. The top 20 men, women and Master’s men and women qualify for the individual portion of The Games.
For those not familiar with CrossFit, (an increasingly dwindling number based on the vast number of programs operating out of local gyms and speciality training centers) it is characterized by intense bursts of exertion through lifting weights, cardiovascular exercise and various other forms of running, jumping, lifting, pushing and pulling.
Spray got her start in the world of CrossFit through Dan Cerillo, the founder of CrossFit Bellevue. Before breaking in the 10,000 square foot CrossFit paradise (the largest CrossFit training center in the Pacific Northwest) they call home today, Cerillo, along with some fellow ex-military companions, found that training together in Bellevue Park was an unmatched outlet for their desire to push themselves to their physical and psychological breaking points.
After seeing improvement in their own conditioning, temperament and overall quality of life, the group began taking on other clients, mostly friends such as Spray. Eventually they moved from the park into a permanent facility near Crossroads, which they rapidly outgrew, prompting the move to the larger building they call home today.
What most who take on the challenge of CrossFit find is that unlike other exercise programs, there are no plateaus. Exercises are varied to such a degree and incorporate so many separate elements of physical fitness there is always something to keep the body off-balance.
“I did all the Global Gym stuff,” Spray said. “This is just something totally different. Your intensity level gets so high in 15 or 20 minutes, it just doesn’t compare.”
And if anyone would know, it would be a self-described “workout fanatic”.
While CrossFit has become her new home for intense training, Spray still supplements those workouts with spinning classes, distance running and even wearing weighted vests on trips to the grocery store.
For the slightly built Spray, the Olympic style weightlifting is without a doubt the most difficult and challenging element of CrossFit. She excels in the gymnastic exercises and stamina portions of the workouts, often allowing her to catch and pass other athletes who may have breezed through the heavy lifting, but lack elite level cardiovascular fitness.
Competitors are left in the dark about which official CrossFit workouts will be required at The Games until the competition begins, so Spray is making sure not to take any chances.
“Technique is huge,” Spray said, adding that lately she has been returning to CrossFit Bellevue in the evenings to make sure her form on lifts is where it needs to be in order to compete against others who can simply muscle through the weightlifting exercises.
While her level of accomplishment puts her at the top of the CrossFit, Spray takes far more joy in the atmosphere and community CrossFit Bellevue provides than the accolades for performance.
“I guess it kind of defines who I am,” Spray said. “Our conversations at home are about the WOD (workout of the day).”
The usually reserved Spray becomes an open book when she enters the gym, leaving no doubt that she’s in her element. She chats with fellow athletes, passing out hugs and sharing stories, making CrossFit Bellevue seem less like a gym and more like a family reunion.
“The thing I like most is the community,” Spray said. “I wish I could take all of them with me.”
