Athlete Profile – Laura Farley


Laura Farley age: 29 hometown: Indianapolis Indiana joined CFBR: July 2012

How many opens?

2013 is my first Open What led you to CrossFit? My fiancé, Eric Redman, led me to CFBR. He started about a year before I did. I was
always curious about his workouts and finally I decided to take a break from my running
career and give it a try. I have been hooked ever since. It was easy to move on from
training 100-mile weeks for the marathon alone. I reached a huge goal of mine, which
was to compete (strongly) at the 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials, and ran 2.41.05. So
CrossFit came at a perfect time for me. What surprised you the most about CrossFit? Most "surprises" have been positive. Our gym and the community has been the best surprise.
There is an unbelievable amount of support and encouragement for one another and that is
amazing. Personally, a challenge that has surprised me and brings me back to my gymnastics days is
performing technically difficult movements when you are dead tired. As a former marathoner,
you don’t really have to "think" very hard about the running movement. It was all about
enduring pain at a certain pace for an extended amount of time, and trying to make that pace
comfortable. CrossFit is much different. You do have to push your body through pain, but you
also have to have tremendous amount of control, power, explosiveness, patience, and
discipline to become efficient at several movements. What is the movement that you love the most, and why? Muscle ups, bar or rings, and handstand pushups. They remind me of gymnastics! What is the movement that you hate the most, and why? Heaving snatch balance. But I know I really need to work on those. What are you most nervous about with the Games? Heavy snatches. (We can check that off the list, since we did it in 13.2.) That and overhead
squats are two movements that I did not want to come up. I know the improvements will take
time. What is the one profession you wish you'd tried? nurse anesthetist Other than training, what is the one hobby you most enjoy? Baking. I make really delicious chocolate chip cookies. (I am not a strict Paleo eater.) When you need motivation, what do you think about? My grandpa. He was a player on the 1953 Indiana championship basketball team, and also
played on the NBA Championship team. He is a great inspiration to me. What is the one thing you wish people knew about you? I am the robotics coordinator at Community North Hospital. I love working in surgery.

Jeff Edwards

- National Coach USA Weightlifting - Crossfit Coach of individual and team competitors - Outdoorsy nerd - Owner and Head Coach at BR Fit Club