Doctor Renee Cortland... in her own words

I am a 38 year old mother of two with a very busy life caring for my children and practicing as a busy OB/GYN in Hartford.

Prior to having my 7 year old son and 4 year old daughter I was an avid swimmer and runner. I have been sidelined from running over the past 4 to 5 years because of recurring knee injuries. I have been trying keep up my fitness through spinning classes, body pump classes, multiple work out videos and elliptical training.

At the previous gyms I went to I was one of 30 or 40 people in a class. At home I could motivate for a time, then bore of the same work out video over and over again. I have felt over the last few years that I would get to a certain mediocre level of fitness on my own and have not been able to bring myself to the next level of fitness. Also, like many women I see have held onto the last 10 pounds that stuck around since the birth of my daughter 4 years ago.

In the fall, I watched my sister Brenda join and get very excited about Crossfit training. She talked about it frequently and was more excited about working out than I had seen her in years. Her focus on her fitness and her weight loss was inspiring.

I decided to give Crossfit a try in late November and have been hooked ever since! Merle and Glenn have a very obvious commitment to every member's fitness. They are constantly teaching, pushing, cheering and motivating. They take the time to know each individual's ability and guide each member accordingly. It is also a lot of fun working out with a group of people again. It feels like I am part of a great team and this is very motivating. I am waking up and going to 6 am classes 4-5 times a week.

Although my days are starting an hour earlier, I find my physical and mental energy level is greatly improved. Whether I am working in the office, delivering babies, doing surgery or carrying my daughter to the bathroom in the middle of the night, my stamina has improved tremendously!

Like a lot of women, I have always been wary of working out with a lot of weights. When I came to CrossFit and looked at the amazingly slim, fit, strong bodies of the women that have been doing crossfit for a long time I put those worries aside! Merle and Glenn have both been great teachers to a basic novice with weight training. Both my strength and endurance is improving greatly over the past month. I look forward to seeing what I can do 6 months from now!