Welcome to another meet the team post, where we have been letting you get a better peak at who makes up Team FloMo and who they are both in and outside the gym.
Claire is our newest addition to the team as a group instructor and personal trainer. She is a NASM certified personal trainer, but because of her schedule for fall she didn't want to start taking clients full-on just yet. Claire is a graduate student at the University of Florida studying Applied Physiology and Kinesiology, to put it simply: exercise science.
Claire was a cross country and track athlete all through middle and high school. She continues to train now to compete in triathlons with her father in the southeast area. He is her "fitness role model" as he has been a long-distance runner of high caliber qualifying for the Boston Marathon three times and completing the Iron Man in Panama City. He is not able to do all the races and running he used to because of the damage done to his knees but he never misses an opportunity to race with his daughter. Claire believes that much of her passion for fitness and wellness comes from him. (Photo: Central Park, NYC)
She had dreams of running competitively in college but was unable to due to a stress fracture in her tibia/shin during her senior cross country season. Her hopes of an athletic scholarship faded away when she was unable to maintain her times and success in that last season because of the injury. As heartbreaking as it was to watch those dreams become unreachable, she used this to drive her even harder into her studies so that she would be able to prevent other individuals from facing the same preventable injuries. If she had known she was over-training and pushing too hard she might have been able to slow down and stop the injury from happening. Claire doesn't want anyone else to have to let go of a dream because of a similar scenario.
This is Claire's last week with us for a while because she will be leaving the Alachua county area to return home for an internship with the strength and conditioning program under the U.S. Army Special Forces Group. She hopes to return in January for graduate school at UF and maybe can bring back some new fun training ideas she will have learned.
FUN FACTS
Favorite Color: vanilla or creme
Favorite Food: TACOS!!
Favorite Quote: "But those who trust in the Lord shall renew their strength, they will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint" (Isaiah 40:31)
Other: Her 5k or 3.1 mile race personal record (PR) is 18:45