Get Fit contestant continues health journey, trains for half marathon
Christine Pocratsky
Kathy Reed is seen doing a psoas stretch during week 6 of the Get Fit Challenge at CrossFit U-Town.
Christine Pocratsky
Kathy Reed is seen doing a burpee broad jump during week 6 of the Get Fit Challenge at CrossFit U-Town.
Christine Pocratsky
Kathy Reed is seen doing a pigeon stretch during week 6 of the Get Fit Challenge at CrossFit U-Town.
Christine Pocratsky
Kathy Reed is seen doing squats during week 6 of the Get Fit Challenge at CrossFit U-Town.
Christine Pocratsky
Kathy Reed is seen doing a burpee broad jump during week 6 of the Get Fit Challenge at CrossFit U-Town.
Christine Pocratsky
Kathy Reed Age: 44 Hometown: Uniontown “I want to be strong and learn a new technique. Health and wellness is my thing.”
Christine Pocratsky
Crossfit Contestant Kathy Reed
Over the last five years, Kathy Reed has been working on her health and wellness journey.
“When I was 39, I weighed 260 pounds, and I came across a health scare — I was getting bloody noses during the day while I was working and just a lot of physical stress and stuff — so I went to the doctor and found out I had high blood pressure and high cholesterol.” Reed said.
“My doctor helped me with getting on the right path of health and wellness, and it took me five years, but so far I’ve lost 100 pounds, and I’ve kept it off,” she said.
At the beginning of her journey, running was the starting point for Reed.
“I started on the treadmill at five minutes a day because that’s all I could do at 260 pounds,” she said.
After two years, Reed made a goal to run in her first 5K race since she had lost some weight. She completed that goal and the next year she ran in several 5K races.
“This year, I wanted to challenge myself, so I decided in November that I wanted to train for a half marathon,” she said. Her half marathon is on May 6 in Pittsburgh.
Reed applied to be a contestant in this year’s Get Fit Challenge because she wanted to increase strength and do other things besides running.
“When it was in the paper about the (CrossFit U-Town) challenge, I didn’t really understand what that was, so I asked some of the girls at work if they knew about CrossFit, and they told me I’d be great at that,” she said.
Really not understanding what it was, Reed signed up for it anyway and was called in for an interview.
“I came in, and I was like, ‘Wow, this is definitely different from what I’m used to,'” she said. “This is not a typical gym, and I was praying that they would pick me for the CrossFit Challenge because in the long term, I want to do other things, not just running.”
Now, halfway through the competition, Reed said she has learned that she can do so much more than she ever thought she could.
“It’s a more challenging fitness for me, which is what I wanted,” she said. “I’ve learned better overall technique on how to have more health and wellness in my life. It’s been challenging, but you know what, we all start somewhere, and I’m working on it.”
Reed said one of her motivating factors to doing CrossFit is to gain more upper body strength because she wants to participate in a tough mudder competition next year.
“So even if I don’t win the challenge, I still plan to continue with CrossFit and being a part of this community,” she said. “It has become a part of my life. We’re like family here. It’s never too late to get started with your health and wellness program, and I feel the only thing missing at CrossFit is you.”