“Burpees and I are pretty close friends," she says.
The headlines in the Latin America Facebook page and Twitter accounts read Friday morning, “Jennifer Chailler from CrossFit 7 Mile gets 120 burpees, No. 1 in the Latin America Region!”
Well, apparently that was not enough because on Sunday of Week 1, Chailler submitted a second score, this time it was 140 burpees, ensuring her win of Workout 12.1 for Latin America. Later, she was passed in the overall Leaderboard by Kristan Clever (143 burpees) and Andrea Ager (141 burpees), but 3rd worldwide isn’t too shabby.
When Chailler left last year´s Latin America Regional, you could catch in her eyes a glimpse of the deep sadness she was carrying inside after she was disqualified early on the competition due to a foot fault in the thruster ladder. However, sadness is the least used adjective when describing Chailler these days. She is back and ready to perform and to have fun this year.
“Burpees and I are pretty close friends,” she says. For the time being, Chailler still plans to compete on a team, and admits that not only did she re-do 12.1 to help her team, CrossFit 7 Mile, but it was because of their encouragement and “having my CrossFit 7 Mile family members screaming at me to keep going that took a lot of the pain away.” She also confesses the first time hurt more than the second go.
Chailler has always been involved in some sort of sport, ever since gymnastics at a very early age, up to 13. She also participated in figure skating, ice hockey, kickboxing and running. She has been CrossFitting for three years. “CrossFit is my sanctuary away from all the stresses and worries of my life. Ican turn a really crappy day into something amazing,” she says. “To be able to spread my passion and infect others with motivation makes all the pain and hard work more than worth it.”
12.2 was a bit more challenging for Chailler. She got through all of the 45-lb. and 75-lb. snatches, leaving her with 60 reps total. Heading into event 12.3, she’s still solidly in the running in Latin America, as the 6th-ranked female.
