The Queen of the Point is Celeste Calkins. Celeste is an amazing woman and truly inspires us all. She is a busy nurse, ultra marathoner, and new Mom to the custest Baby Bodhi. We are proud we trained together before and through a healthy pregnancy. We continue to strategically strengthen and condition in her postpartum journey. Recently, Celeste led the CJP Endurance Team through Ragnar’s hardest leg with a race total of 26.4 mileage. We are humbled she continues to choose CJP as her gym through all the seasons of life. CONGRATULATIONS Celeste!
Learn more about Celeste below:
What brought you to East Boston?
My husband bought a house here in 2011 and I moved in with him in 2014.
What drew you to CrossFit?
Hmmm, it’s a pretty boring answer really, I wanted to add some type of cross training to my running because I felt like I was becoming imbalanced; I love running and would “run” all day but I was never really going to make myself do any type of weight lifting. I’m not sure CrossFit in general would have been my first choice because I had the perception that it was all about “getting huge,” but when I met with Javy and started at CJP my mind was changed. I felt like CrossFit Jeffries Point was a great compliment to running; I do things I would normally never do and I really like that. I feel encouraged to push myself but not to the point of injury. I love the focus on form at CJP.
What was your expectation on your first day at CJP? How has your perception changed since that day?
I expected to learn lots of new things/movements and I expected to be thoroughly challenged; I think I expected everyone to be a little “intense” but I didn’t expect how much fun it was going to be. I was/am pleasantly surprised to find that people are appropriately intense? Is that a thing?
What keeps you coming back to CJP?
Basically the people and a touch of masochism? J I love the challenge of the workouts and working out with people who are committed to improving their fitness. Training with the CJP endurance team has been a highlight as well as feeling so supported on many levels throughout my partum and post-partum journey. For me, CJP is more than just a gym.
Biggest improvements/struggles with CrossFit?
Hmmm I think this is a complicated question for me because there were improvements/struggles before pregnancy, and then I was ecstatic to continue working out throughout my pregnancy (seriously thankful), and now, there have been improvements/struggles postpartum but in a different way than before…it’s been 2 roller coaster years. Overall, I am happy with my core and pelvic floor progress which has been a big recent goal.
On the flip side, any of the barbell movements that end in a squat vs power stance still tend to be very challenging for me.
Mentally, I think I’ve improved but still struggle with anaerobic workouts in general. In ultra-running you never want to go “all out,” it’s all about pacing and leaving something in the tank, so it’s been really challenging for me to mentally let go but I’ve definitely seen improvement and will continue to work on it.
What are some of the changes you have experienced in your physical appearance, strength and/or body composition. How have you used this outside of the gym?
I definitely feel overall much stronger rather than just in good cardiovascular shape. I also think that practicing proper form for lifting has made safe patient handling in nursing so much better (being stronger and having better mechanics has helped me to stay injury free). Also, I have a huge baby! J I love being a strong mom who can toss and haul Bodhi everywhere!
If you could create your own WOD, what movements would you use?
Most importantly it would have to be a looong WOD! Those are my favorites!
Of course running (jogging) should be involved and probably something with a kettlebell or dumbbell? Perhaps something outside? Med ball run? Suitcase carry? Maybe some core stuff? Maybe we could brainstorm this?
Meat head nickname (with explanation)?
The amazing CJP Endurance/Ragnar team came up with the nickname Zesty? Not very “meathead-y” but a nickname at least! Thanks Van 2!
If you were to encourage someone on the fence of joining the CJP community, what would you say?
Just come and try it even if you think you can’t do it or it’s intimidating. The coaches are so great at modifying workouts and being supportive of individual fitness levels and the athletes are nice…you might even make some friends while getting fit!
Get ready for the “Celeste” workout!
Honestly, I was thinking it was going to be like the other CrossFit boxes I had been to before CJP. I thought I wasn’t going to last and that my first class was going to be a try out. I was surprised by how much commitment and effort the coaches put into each of us to make us better, a month try out turned out to be 3 years of continuous work. What started as a couple days a week turned out to be a life time commitment.
I was brought to CrossFit because of the functionality it provides for every challenge life versus just bodybuilding or power lifting. CrossFit forces you to break through mental barriers and past what you thought you physical or mental limit was.
We have something at CJP that I see and appreciate at every CrossFit gym I’ve ever vistied: a community of capable, caring judges and athletes of all shapes and sizes united under one goal of helping each other to get as fit as possible. That was my expectation when I showed up here on Day One (June 2015), and that perception hasn’t changed at all in the four years since.
