Member Profile: Sarah Smith

Member of the Month – Sarah Smith

How did you find Crossfit and MobilityWod?

I ran cross country for a couple of years and figured that was the way to go to college. I was in a really competitive area and the girls team was really highly recognized, so I was fighting for the seventh spot on the varsity team.

At the beginning of my senior year, for our first practice, we were on a six mile out and back on a boat trail on a lake that’s nearby. It’s about half a foot wide – the trail is so skinny and it’s uphill the first half. We turned around and looked at the view and started to head back downhill.

Part of the way down there was a little piece of tree root sticking up and then a two foot drop down to a piece of rock. I thought I’d cleared it, but my foot caught on the edge. My knee was the first thing to hit the rock and it smashed my knee back so far that it tore the ACL in the center. I made a joke about it and ran back, but I knew something bad was happening. I didn’t stop running because I really wanted to get this varsity spot, so I ran on it for another two weeks.

Eventually I wasn’t able to walk and I went to the doctor and they said it was a mid-line T tear. It’s not a complete detachment, but they recommended surgery. I was seventeen at the time and my parents decided they didn’t want me to have major surgery because they work in the medical profession so they know what the recovery is like.

I had to go through extensive physical therapy after that, and I didn’t have a car or a license so I couldn’t drive myself. I turned to the internet and I found Kelly Starrett. As I was looking at Kelly’s work, I realized that it was the most comprehensive thing I’d seen so far and I had been digging for a really long time.

I thought I would try it out and now Kelly is basically the reason I am the person that I am today. I committed to that for two years and all I did was physical therapy. I wasn’t able to walk for a long time, but I immediately picked up voodoo floss, a rumble roller and a rogue ball and that’s what saved me.

At first it hurt to drive, to walk, to stand for any period of time, it hurt while I was sleeping. After two years I was finally able to walk for extended periods of time. I was so into physical therapy that I ended up helping a lot of my other teammates with physical therapy and proper form. I started personal training at 18 years old. Later I decided to try Crossfit and I fell in love with it and I’ve never looked back. Even though the doctors said I would never be able to run again or lift weights again. All I did was focus on form and now my knee works great, and Kelly Starrett is the reason I can do all of that.

My back squat is almost 300lbs and my knee just doesn’t bother me at all. I remember thinking that it would be a dream for me to come to San Francisco for even an hour and have a consultation with Kelly and thank him. I was about to give up my athletic lifestyle and I just couldn’t do that. Kelly is the reason that I’m here. A year ago I started crossfit and it’s been great – I’ve had no injury since. My knee hardly ever bothers me, and when it does I know exactly what I need to do to take care of it. I’m living proof and that this stuff works.