Contestant energized by competition
Shellie Cantrell is seen doing a squat during week 7 of the Get Fit Challenge at CrossFit U-Ttown.
Shellie Cantrell does the wall ball during week 7 of the Get Fit Challenge at CrossFit U-Town.
Shellie Cantrell is seen doing a deadlift during week 7 of the Get Fit Challenge at CrossFit U-Town.
Shellie Cantrell is seen doing a burpee during week 7 of the Get Fit Challenge at CrossFit U-Town.
Shellie Cantrell is seen doing a pushup during week 7 of the Get Fit Challenge at CrossFit U-Town.
After getting hit by a car in 1993, Shellie Cantrell’s fitness journey had been on hold for the most part.
“I was a runner in my 20s and 30s, but after my accident, that kind of deterred me from doing any kind of exercise for awhile,” said Cantrell. “And then you have children and slack because you’re busy.”
A caseworker with the Department of Health and Human Services, Cantrell began to think about health and fitness after hearing from a co-worker about the Get Fit Challenge.
“When I found out about it, I knew that I really wanted to be a part of it,” she said. “I called and bugged Jason (CrossFit U-Town gym owner Jason Tungate) several times to see if I had been chosen.”
In her excitement, she also encouraged her husband Randy Cantrell to call about being part of the competition.
“When we finally did hear back from Jason (Tungate), he actually texted my husband first and said he had been chosen,” Shellie Cantrell said. “I was so anxious that I hadn’t gotten chosen, but then I got a text about 10 minutes later.”
And so, it became a family affair for the couple, even more than they ever knew at first.
Unbeknownst to them, her cousin Zach Hixson, a middle school teacher, applied and was accepted, and her neighbor Ray Newhouse Jr., also applied and was chosen.
“I will be 49 in August, and I wanted to get in better shape and learn better eating habits,” said Shellie Cantrell about choosing to get involved in the competition.
“My 11-year-old son is a gymnast and competes with a team in Morgantown, and he is physically fit,” she added. “I want to be able to be out and active with him. I don’t want to be 60 years old and just sitting around.”
Going into the challenge, Shellie Cantrell had never been part of a CrossFit training regimen.
“This is extremely hard,” she said. “It really challenges you. The first week they did a boot camp with us and afterwards I couldn’t walk down the stairs right for two days.”
But keeping on track and finding her way through week seven of the competition, Shellie Cantrell is finding out that she is more energized and just feels better overall.
“It’s been a great journey so far, and ultimately we would like for one of us to win, but even if we don’t, we’re pretty hooked at this point. I can’t imagine that we wouldn’t be back,” she said.
Because of the strides she has made with this CrossFit journey, Shellie Cantrell said she has been thinking about getting back into running and possibly training for a 10K.
“I used to be able to run seven or eight miles comfortably, so I wouldn’t mind doing a couple of races,” she said. “I feel this made me more ready for that challenge physically.”