Invictus Masters Spotlight: Cheryl Brost
Interview by Nichole DeHart
Cheryl Brost has been competing in CrossFit for 7 years. Her depth as an athlete is incredible and her accomplishments in the sport aren’t too shabby. She qualified for the CrossFit Games as an individual three times, finishing as high as 7th place, before moving into the Masters division. She has gone on to kick butt as a Masters, earning a 2nd place finish in 2014 and 4th place in 2015 in the 40-44 age division. This year she entered a new age division (45-49) and she finished the Open sitting in 1st place worldwide.
She chatted with me the other day about training, life and advice for some of the newer athletes getting into the sport.
Nichole: Cheryl – tell me a little about your background with CrossFit!
Cheryl: I learned of CrossFit through a good friend of mine in Oregon, Leticia Ficek. We were playing soccer together in a recreational soccer league and I was getting a little bored with the typical 24 hour fitness scene. I showed up to Eugene CrossFit on December 7, 2009. My first week at Eugene CF just so happened to be a test week, so they had programmed a bunch of named workouts like Angie, Randy, etc. I absolutely fell in love with it…it was challenging, humbling, motivating, inspiring, and left you wanting for more.
Nichole: That is great! Did you start competing right away?
Cheryl: When I started CrossFit I did not even realize there was a competition side to it. It wasnʻt until 2-1/2 months into it when our affiliate owner Jeremy Stecker started mentioning Oregon/Idaho Sectionals coming up in Portland in March. A handful of us from Eugene CF decided to compete and I ended up placing 8th, which was good enough to qualify me for the Northwest Regionals. We had 2-1/2 months to prepare for Regionals, which I ended up placing 2nd, earning my first trip to the 2010 CrossFit Games at the age of 39.
2010 was the transition year of the Games from the Ranch to the Home Depot Center (now called Stub Hub), and a year before Reebok became the title sponsor. I can recall during some of the events there still being a lot of empty seats in the stands of the tennis stadium. The first workout that year was “Amanda” under the Friday night lights. I can recall Val Voboril being directly on my right and Sam Briggs being on my left…not to mention the likes of Kris Clever, Camille Leblanc-Bazinet, Rebecca Voigt, Chyna Cho, Julie Foucher, Christy Phillips, Annie Thorisdottir, Michelle Kinney, Elyse Umeda, etc…talk about some good company! Itʻs interesting to note that only 11 of the 41 women completed “Amanda” within the 12 minute time cap, and absolutely amazing to think of the progress the sport has made in just a few short years! I returned to compete again at the Reebok CrossFit Games as an individual in 2011 placing 7th and 2012 placing 15th. I began working with CJ Martin in early 2012.
Nichole: Have you faced any adversity as an athlete?
Cheryl: Yes, 2013 I was having a great season and was hoping another return trip to the Games, but at Regionals I ruptured my Achilles in the deadlift/box jump workout. It was unfortunate, but years prior I had ruptured my ACL and MCL playing soccer and successfully rehabilitated my knee and was able to return to play; so this gave me the confidence to do the same with my Achilles. We had a lot of change for our family in 2013, as this was the summer that we moved from Oregon to Hawaii. While still in the walking boot, I immediately immersed myself into the CF AllStar community in Waimea. It was a really neat time to stop, reflect and be thankful for the blessings in our life.
At the beginning of this year, my husband Troy was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma of the Lungs and Stomach. He has been through many tests, scans, scopes, biopsies, labwork, and just this past week completed his 3rd month of immunotherapy and chemo treatments. When a loved one is faced with serious illness and not knowing whatʻs to come of it, all you can do is live in the moment and be thankful for each and every day we are given. This perspective has provided me a new outlook on how I approach training and competition. Despite chemo treatments, Troy continues to get his four days a week of CrossFit in, and he has been a huge motivation and inspiration to our entire community. Each day Iʻm excited to go train and am very thankful for the opportunity to be able to do what we do because we can.
Nichole: Great perspective to have Cheryl! Any advice for some of the newbies?
Cheryl: Don’t overdo it between now and the Qualifiers/Regionals. Having your body primed and ready to hit the Qualifiers/Regionals is the most important thing. Trust in the program and the hard work and training you have been doing. Do not feel the need to go out there and do more work than what coach programmed for you. Make sure you get adequate sleep and good nutrition so your body can be rejuvenated, recovered and ready to perform. If you want to add anything extra to your program, then go do ROMWod!
Nichole: Last thing Cheryl. If you could walk down the street and have a theme song play, what would it be?
Cheryl: Hmmm…thatʻs a good question…not sure I have an answer for that. My latest artist I love right now is Chris Stapleton! I am in love with his music and his voice! Any song by him I will take as a theme song!