Elite Athlete At 56 Years Old: Suzanne Boyd
My journey with CF began in the autumn of 2012. After years of fitness boot camp classes and spinning, aerobics classes became quite boring week after week. A very good friend gave me a month’s free pass to our local CF box. Needless to say, I was hooked onto CF after just two classes.
I am 56 years old, still working part time as a Dental Hygienist, married for almost 28 years to Andrew, a retired HS PHE teacher and competitive athlete, and we have three adult children. Fitness has been a big part of my life and our family life.
I have had a lifetime of athletics, competing in track and field through Elementary School and High School and in HS gymnastics. Downhill skiing was a family focus and a large part of my upbringing from six years of age.
Once our children came along, we continued our healthy lifestyle, committing to fitness activities of our children. They were all active in track and field and the girls competed in Provincial level gymnastics while our son was a national age group swimmer. Once our children became more independent with their sports, it was time for me to get back into regular fitness and thankfully they all continue to have healthy, fitness-filled lives.
I have been a member of three local CF gyms. The community atmosphere that exists at CF gyms is like nothing else and is a very important part of my day. My husband does not participate in CF but has often been the gym photographer and has strong friendships with the members as I do.
In my first CF Open, I placed 36th Worldwide and was before they had AGOQ. My goal was to improve every year and I’ve been in the top 200 and qualified for the AGOQ for the last six years.
I have been able to experience some fantastic competitions like the Granite Games in 2015 and 2017. I’ve also visited several different boxes around the World, including Cape Town, Paris, and Cancun. Travel continues, but if the CF Open is occurring I make sure I get my workouts in wherever I am.
I’ve had several struggles with injuries over the years. After returning from GG in 2017 my body basically shut down: I had horrible wrist problems, to the point I couldn’t do a push-up from my knees and had constant pain in my right knee. It took many months of therapy, shockwave treatment, chiropractors, massage, and nutritional supplements before both these problems settled down. In March 2018, I pulled my hamstring in the 3rd week of the Open and it took over a year before it felt normal again after many months of physiotherapy. At one low point, I thought I would never run again.
In August 2018 I started working with a Nutritional Coach. This changed my performance in so many ways: my diet is clean, very low in sugar, and I consume little alcohol. I lost ten pounds and became much more efficient in my gymnastics movements, even the pain in my
right glute is very minimal now. My regular supplements from Nova3labs have helped in my journey with hormone regulation, sleep, recovery and daily energy.
Early in 2019 I decided that I wasn’t going to try to qualify for any Worldwide CF events but my competitiveness came back to haunt me in July. I had the strong desire to compete on the BIG stage again…my goal being to qualify for Wodapalooza. On February 19, I travel to Miami to compete with many other like-minded fit ladies that are 55+ years old, catching up with international CF friends, and hoping that I can continue to inspire those younger athletes around me to continue with such a diverse, functional sport.
I am content and satisfied with the path I have chosen, have made great friends, extended my capacity for endurance and pain, and yearn for more Crossfit adventures.
