Briana Shelton

Tell us a little about yourself.

Wow, this is difficult. As I reflect I have done a lot, been through a lot and am thankful to be where I am. First and foremost I am a mom to my two children Adam and Stella! it is by far the most difficult job I have ever had (especially a single mom during a pandemic) but single handedly the most rewarding. I am so lucky to be able to help my children learn, grow and become good people. As for my paying job, I am a medical laboratory scientist, cryptic for when you get your blood drawn at the physicians office or hospital I am one of the ones that analyzes the blood based on what the physician has ordered and get the results back to them. In addition I am the education coordinator for the medical laboratories at UVA Health and I get to set up and oversee clinical rotations for future medical laboratory scientists and teach them. I love what I do and I feel extraordinarily grateful to share my knowledge with future colleagues. When I am performing lab work, I specialize in hematology (the study of Red blood cells, White blood cells and platelets). Ironically shortly after becoming an MLS I was diagnosed with lymphoma, cancer of the white blood cells in the lymph nodes) one of the thigs that I help diagnose in the lab. What a perspective going through the cancer journey gave me! There are many days I forget this, but I am thankful to wake up everyday, be in nature, give love and be of service. I grew up in Harrisonburg and found my love of running in High School, however quickly got burned out after running a year in college! After many years and lymphoma I started running again with group that was sponsored by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Through running and fundraising with this group I found my love for running again x 100. I also found out how much I love marathons (also how time consuming training for them is). I love to be in nature in any form, hike, cook, drink coffee, eat, act like a kid with my kids, find adventure and smile.

What are your goals for CrossFit? Why do you do CrossFit?

I came to a point after having kids knowing that I needed something more than running for whole body fitness and for my mental health. I love CrossFit because it works every aspect of the body from all of the muscle groups to improving my mental health. My goals are to make small improvements every week; improving my form, lifting a little more weight, getting that pull up or T2b that I had not been able to do yet (but I can now). Ultimately I want to stay healthy and strong for me and my family.

What are your favorite movements to do in a workout? What are your least favorite?

FAVS: running, hang power cleans, sit ups, box jumps, push ups, light snatches, slam balls, dancing to the music while waiting for the workout to start :)

NOT FAVS: deadlift, wall balls, shoulder press, push press (mostly because I need to work more at them and get stronger)

What do you think is special about CrossFit Anazao?

The coaches, the athletes, the support; everyone goes above and beyond to support each other, the coaches are always rooting for you and helping you improve and the friendships.

Anything else you wish to add?

I just want to say Thank you all for helping me become a better version of myself!

A note from one of our coaches:

Briana is everything you want your athletes to embody.  Her positivity is contagious as she can always be found uplifting another athlete during their workout or dancing to the music between her sets, keeping the energy level high in class.  Briana brings a high level of consistency in her attendance which pays off because she is setting new PRs weekly at the gym.  She has shown our members that balance in life is key and she demonstrates how to get her work done in the gym but also outside the gym, between her day job and also being a single Mom of two.  Thank YOU Briana for all that you do and being an AWESOME representation of CrossFit Anazao!