Lauree Myler - March - AOM

Lauree Myler comes to Ithaca and CFP from the wild west of Arizona and Utah where she grew up with five brothers. Now she’s the manager of GreenStar’s downtown Oasis location, has two kids of her own, and finds time to come crush workouts at CFP!

Click to read more

Clea: So, when did you start CrossFit?

Lauree: Well, I’ve been a sports person all of my life—all of us kids played three sports all year round, growing up, and through high-school. In college, I played lots of intramurals.

Clea: Which sports did you play?

Lauree: Volleyball, basketball, and softball. But then I stopped played basketball and softball my junior year because I was sick of the same coach for all three sports . . . that’s a small town problem. Then I picked up soccer.

Clea: And then in college?

Lauree: I played soccer and volleyball, pretty religiously. Also hiking, rock climbing, and being active all the time. After I had my daughter, my brother got me to start running. We’d never really run before. We started running. We did a half marathon. It got pretty crazy—we started doing all these 5ks, 10ks, and half marathons. And then he was like, let’s do triathlons! I said, okay, let’s do triathlons. So we did that. And then we set up our own gym – it was pre-CrossFit.

Clea: Where was that?

Lauree: This was in Utah. We rented a warehouse space, got a bunch of triathlon friends and firefighters. We started doing what we called “Rocky workouts.” We had a pull up bar, and we had huge tires for flipping. And we both grew up jump roping, so we taught everyone how to jump rope. I’ve been able to do double unders since I was in first or second grade—we were on a jump rope team as kids. At our warehouse gym, me and my brother were doing a lot of the same stuff as CrossFit—maybe not as much Olympic lifting—but burpees, jumps, pulling things etc. Then the movie 300 came out and the workouts started being talked about online, and we thought – we’re already there!

Clea: Did you know about CrossFit when you were doing this?

Lauree: No.

Clea: So, when did you start CrossFit?

Lauree: Well, I had a few injuries and blew out my knee. We had also moved to Buffalo, NY for my husband’s residency. My brother started CrossFit when a box opened in Salt Lake City, and he told me, “dude, you need to start doing this.” I couldn’t find a CrossFit gym in Buffalo, but when we moved to Ithaca, I found the original CrossFit Pallas and trained there for while. Then I had to have neck surgery for cancer and I was out for a few years because of that. Then I was on the waiting list, and finally managed to sign up again when the new CFP opened.

Clea: What was it like to start training again after that kind of haitus?

Lauree: It’s hard! It sucks. Growing up with my brothers, I was one of the only girls that was really into lifting weights and sports. I was always singled out for it. But I loved it, I loved my brothers, and loved playing sports. What I love about CrossFit now is there’s so many women doing it. I came back after a few injuries and the neck surgery and for the first time I wasn’t the only girl—and all the other girls were all stronger then me! It was frustrating. I was in awe of these other women who were killing it, but I was also so jealous. I’d never been in that position before. But I love it. I miss working out with my brother. I try to workout with my family when I visit home. And my husband and I play volley ball at the summer league at Stewart Park. Volleyball has always been my favorite.

Clea: So you’ll be watching that at the Rio Olympics this summer?

Lauree: Yes. We’ll stream it on the internet. My kids watched it with me during the last Olympics.

Clea: What else will you watch?

Lauree: I like watching track and field, and swimming. I swam a lot in Arizona growing up. And wrestling. I love wrestling - I watch Cornell’s team anytime I can. All my brothers wrestled.

Clea: What is your goal now at CrossFit?

Lauree: I really want to get a pull up! It’s my unicorn. My god, that day I will sob and scream and freak out at the gym.

Clea: Is there anything else we need to know about Lauree Myler?

Lauree: Haha. Yes. I’m a weird avid sewing lady. When I hurt my knee and couldn’t train, I took up sewing. I do legit serious sewing. I made this coat (see picture), and I am slowing making my entire wardrobe. I am making my first pair of jeans right now.

Clea: Watch out Barbell Jeans, watch out Relentless! Thank you Lauree!