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State your Name and/or Nickname, please.
Nick Schittone; “Schittone”

Words to live by?
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
– Martin Luther King Jr., Strength to Love, 1963

What is your fitness background?
My fitness background? A five second stretch before I throw my leg over a dirt bike is about the extent of it.

How long have you been CrossFitting?
Wow, I guess it’s been about 2 1/2 years.

What’s your favorite part of CrossFit Austin?
You know, everyone says “the people,”… but when I started with CFA, there were not many people there. I got a lot of one-on-one treatment in the early days. I’m going to say the Coaches are the reason I continue to come back and not go to another box, even after taking a job in Round Rock.

What are your training goals?
My goals have always been just get better each day, in every facet of my life. But my CrossFit goals at this time are to Back Squat 300 lbs  (I’m at 290 lbs), run my second half marathon on Dec. 9th, and continue to up my capacity in a work out.

Favorite sport or activity?
 Motorcross/ motorcycle racing. Give me a motorcycle and I will race it.

Recent adventure you’re planning?
Traveling to San Francisco for Christmas vacation with my wife, Christine, aka “Teeny,” and the BCS Marathon on Dec 9th.

Tell us something we don’t know about you…
Some people know…but most don’t know that I’m a recovering alcoholic and drug addict. It just so happens, that I’m hitting the decade mark as we speak.

Longhorns or Aggies?
All I have to say about that is: “Lets Go Packer’s, Lets Go!!” I’m from Wisconsin and I’m always rooting for my state.

Over the past two years, you been awarded the “2×4 Award” and the “Ear Muffs Award.” What does it take to be the only 2-time award winner at CrossFit Austin?
Well, it takes a lot of work and dedication to get so far under the skin of the coaches’ that they need to call you out in front of everyone at a Christmas party two years in a row.

Leave the fine folks of CrossFit Austin with some parting words…
I just want to say thank you to all the people I have had the pleasure to work out with as we all chase our goals. Joining CFA has been one of the best decisions I have ever made. It filled a void in my life needing to be filled.

State your Name and/or Nickname please:
Meredith “Mer” O’Brien

Words to live by?
“Life’s for living.”

What is your fitness background?
I’ve always gravitated toward being active — I’m not good at sitting still. In high school I decided one day to run home from school instead of take the bus — eight miles — and I did that pretty regularly. I taught tennis for Club Med for quite a few years, having played a lot in high school and college, as well as on my neighborhood courts growing up, I really just like tennis clothes better than other sports uniforms, so that probably explains it.

How long have you been CrossFitting?
I started on October 6, 2011 — almost a year.

What’s your favorite part of CrossFit Austin?
There are elite athletes rooting on perfect novices and vice versa. The communal feeling is mind-boggling. Ego and attitude are checked at the door. We are all in this together.

What are your training goals?
I want to just keep having fun, keeping it positive, and learning about myself.

Favorite sport or activity?
Favorite sport: CrossFit because I really enjoy a challenge, and even if I’m moving two steps forward, one step back, at least I’m moving forward into new territory.
Favorite activity: traveling with my husband and kids because it always makes me realize how lucky I am to call those three people my family.

Recent adventure you’re planning?
Finish writing my second full length play.

Tell us something we don’t know about you…
I used to dance nightly with fake bananas on my head (Club Med, again.) And also, I wrote my college thesis on James Joyce’s “Ulysses.”

Longhorns or Aggies?
I always root for Roger Federer.

In addition to being a super mom and world traveler, we hear you’re pretty handy with a unicycle… What’s your secret to being a one-wheeled whiz?
Well, my unicycling skills are far surpassed by that of my seven and nine year old sons, but the secret to learning to unicycle is this: Don’t. Give. Up. If you fall down, get up right away and try again. Trust the movement. And keep a sense of humor. A lot like CrossFit.

Leave the fine folks of CrossFit Austin with some parting words…
We will never part! You can’t get rid of me! I’m going to be ninety years old and still trying to get that kipping pull-up. When I walk into the gym I am sometimes nervous — will I be able to complete the workout? Will I get hurt? Will I disappoint myself? — but that feeling always goes away as soon as I see the people there –the coaches, Caitlyn, friends, even people I don’t know or whom I’ve never met — because it’s like there is this incredible support, like I’m being cushioned or protected by people who have similar interests and hopes and concerns, and we all want to slam that wod the best we can. I feel like my world has been enriched exponentially through being a part of the CFA family. It’s just so great.