"I'm hoping to continue to grow in the sport, and I know this year will be all about the experience," Kristi Eramo said.
Photos courtesy of Case Belcher.
As Kristi Eramo clapped for Jennifer Smith, Michelle Kinney and Lindy Barber on the podium at the 2013 Central East Regional, she imagined what it would be like to compete alongside them.
One month from now, she’ll find out.
After just one year of CrossFit, the 25-year-old finished the Open in seventh place in the Central East, just two places behind Barber.
“I’m thrilled,” Eramo said. “I couldn’t be happier. (The 2013 Regional) was the first CrossFit event I’d ever seen, and I really wanted to make it there someday.”
Before CrossFit, Eramo measured her fitness by the mile.
While on a swimming scholarship at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, she completed four triathlons—one sprint and two Olympic distance—two marathons and one half Ironman. After running the Boston Marathon in 3:10:39 in 2010, she took seventh in her age division in the 2011 USA Age Group National Championship Olympic Distance triathlon, finishing in 2:15:03.
Though she couldn’t tell a clean and jerk from a snatch, she joined Derby City CrossFit in March 2013 after listening to her old college friend, Taylor Drescher, sing its praises.
One of Eramo’s first workouts was Grace—30 clean and jerks for time.
“I did it at 55 lb. and it took me close to five minutes,” she remembered.
But the former endurance athlete fell in love with the camaraderie of CrossFit and appreciated defining fitness in broader terms.
“I loved that you were able to quantify your workouts by more than just your one-mile split,” she said.
With a current 170-lb. clean and jerk, a 130-lb. snatch and a 235-lb. back squat, she’s gotten stronger since the day she set that five-minute Grace. Still, she never pegged herself a top competitor, especially while the coveted skill—the muscle-up—eluded her all summer.
At a local throwdown in September, she stared up at the rings while other athletes gazed down from them.
“I came home that night and cried because I was so discouraged,” she said.
But after drying her tears, she got to work, practicing every night with her boyfriend and three-time Central East Regional competitor, Patrick O’Connell, in his dusty, unfinished attic.
At first, she jumped from a chair while O’Connell pushed her from the back, throwing her over the rings.
“It got to the point where he’d just put his pinky finger on my back, and I could do it,” Eramo said. “But if he took that one finger away, I couldn’t. It was ridiculous.”
She locked out atop the rings for the first time in November, just four months before the Open.
“It felt like the best thing ever,” she said. “It made me think, ‘This is why I do this.’”
Her effort was rewarded with an eighth-place finish in Open Workout 14.4—a chipper of a row, toes-to-bars, wall-ball shots, cleans and muscle-ups. After powering through most of the work in sets of six reps (she went to singles on the cleans), she paired off her muscle-ups in sets of two, completing 17 reps before the 14-minute time cap.
“I was shocked,” she said of her 14.4 performance, which was good enough for 55th worldwide.
The shock was nothing compared to the surprise of finding herself among the top 10 women in the Central East when she refreshed the Leaderboard after the close of the Open.
“I kept looking at it, thinking, ‘That can’t be right,’” she said.
Though she’s fresh as spring rain, Eramo will compete as an individual this year, forgoing the comfort and help teammates might provide. The goal, she said, is to set a foundation for years of competition to come.
“I’m hoping to continue to grow in the sport, and I know this year will be all about the experience,” she said. “I’m trying to remember I’m just thrilled to be there, and trying to take everything in and learn as much as I can.”
To prepare to throw down next to CrossFit Games athletes, Eramo trains one to two hours per day, after working a full eight hours as an accountant. Alongside O’Connell, she follows CrossFit Invictus Competition programming, taking cues from O’Connell on both physical technique and her form between the ears.
“At this point, it’s just mental,” O’Connell said. “She’s not going to get any stronger (before the regional) … but her endurance is so good that I think it compensates for that. It’s about getting comfortable with the weights, and not being intimidated by them.”
O’Connell also persuaded her to change her diet, Eramo said. Before CrossFit, a typical breakfast would consist of a single egg.
“I told her that was ridiculous,” O’Connell said.
She would obsess over every calorie, weighing in two or three times per day.
“I used to always worry about what I ate,” Eramo remembered. “I’d eat one thing and feel like I had to run for an hour.”
Now, she decides what to eat based on her performance in the gym. Breakfast
today includes thrice as many eggs, sausage and an avocado with coffee.
Weekends are for pizza.
The change in diet has added 10 lb. to her 5-foot-2 frame over the past year, and she said it’s worth it.
“CrossFit has completely changed the way I eat,” she said. “I feel so much better.”
This year, Eramo will have a view from the floor at the Central East Regional in Cincinnati, Ohio. But she’s training for more than three days of CrossFit competition. One day, she hopes to put her calculator away for good and become a CrossFit coach or affiliate owner.
“(CrossFit) helps you realize you can do so much more than you think you can,” she said. “I’ve just started to open my eyes to where things can go.”
