1) Who is Kate Kennedy? (where are you from, what do you do, a bit about yourself (hobbies, etc)
I am a sarcastic Canadian athlete who pets a lot of dogs, laughs a lot (to cope with the insane amount of training I do), and I am a self proclaimed ice cream addict.
2) How many years have you been training?
I am in my fourth year of CrossFit but have always been an athlete. I played high level ice hockey (goalie) and rugby until I went to Culinary School in Florida. I won't cook for you.
3) Whats been the most challenging/hardest part of your journey so far? and how have you overcome them (set backs, rejections, injuries, basically anything difficult that you have had to overcome)
The hardest part of my journey has been what I deal with mentally on a daily basis. Or to make it more simple: dealing with myself on a daily basis. I have a lot of heart in every aspect of my life, I am extremely hard on myself and beat myself down on a regular basis. I am a professional over-thinker. I put a lot of pressure on myself to excel at CrossFit as it is what I put all of my energy into; I've completely molded my life around CrossFit to be able to be the best athlete I can be on a daily basis. When I find a weakness I become so obsessed with it to the point where I can't sleep at night until it isn't a weakness, but that doesn't come without a few tears. I overcome this by looking at my dog.
4) What does your typical workout/diet routine look like?
I use Hyperfit by Doug Chapman for my programming. My workouts range between 4-6 hours a day (some met-cons run longer if there's a weakness in it because I won't quit until I'm done). I love working out in the afternoons. Don't ask me to wake up early unless you have an Americano. I use Working Against Gravity for my nutrition coaching. I eat high carb, medium protein, low fat. Right now I'm at about 2600 calories a day, but I don't count calories, I just focus on hitting the macros. I also don't meal prep for the week. I like to toast my eggos and pour milk into my cereal on a daily basis.
5) What new knowledge have you learned over this past year regarding training, lifestyle and nutrition?
I have learned how important skill work, recovery, and working with a nutrition coach is. I am always eager to find more ways to control all the variables of my lifestyle to become the best CrossFit athlete I can. I don't get frustrated by failures because I don't see it as a failure but a chance to get back up and keep learning (ever fallen off the pegboard on your second rep because of muscle fatigue and had 8 more reps to do in order to move on with the workout and chosen to ride it out and not quit?) That sort of thing. My recovery has improved 100%. I had no recovery program prior to last year and upon moving back to Toronto I have a team all with different specialties that have become my lifeline. I beat myself up, it has been important to learn how to nurture myself and take time to heal so I can push harder without injury or fatigue usually less than 24 hours later. Nutrition is like a fun and exciting game to me. I eat a lot during the day, like any athlete and very similar foods regularly and then at night (the third period) it's up to me to take the winning shot or score the winning try and figure out how to hit my macros right on point. Hello Eggos.
6) Whats your favourite cheat/Treat meal?
Hard..........Ice Cream.
7) Whats one supplement that you could not live without?
Protein Powder. I hate chicken (I eat it anyways) but that makes hitting my protein without going over my fats really fun. Also Tim Grover. I follow him. His words are like little dancing angels on my brain.
8) If you had to start your Journey from scratch with your health & physique what would you do differently and why?
I'd get a nutrition coach sooner. I've gotten a ton of bad advice that made my journey longer than it needed to be. Nutrition is 80% of the game and even knowing that I thought I knew what to eat or who to listen to. Man was I wrong. Team WAG has been a huge part of my journey as I've advanced to a regionals athlete.
9) Who do you look up to in the fitness industry and why?
I look up to Sam Briggs because she's worked through multiple injuries and come out stronger. I also look up to Sara Sigmundsdóttir because she's also overcome hurdles like getting disqualified in her first regionals and says no one expected anything of her. I was in rehab at 17. I completely understand that.
10) If you had to give one bit of advice to people starting out what would that be?
Understand why you're doing what you're doing. Set a solid goal that speaks to you and burns a fire so hot it hurts in your heart. It's going to get frustrating and it's going to hurt. You're going to have to put in the work and make sacrifices even when you don't want to. You're going to want to quit sometimes. But if there are more days than not where you are missing what you sacrificed, start again with a new goal. Achieving the end result of any journey seems impossible at best, but you're going to need to find gratitude in the journey, otherwise, it's not going to happen.
11) What new goals do you have on the horizon?
Learn from my first experience at regionals and make it to the Games in the next few years. Also get sponsored by Kellogg's for unlimited Eggos.
12) Where can people find you? (website, social media accounts)
I'm not a frequent world wide web user. I'm really not sure I was meant for this century of high tech-ness. The dog park or Instagram. @thecanadianninja
