Eduardo Parra: july member of the month
Congratulations to our July Member of the Month, Eduardo Parra! For the past 11 years, Eduardo has been an incredible part of the CrossFit Sanitas community. His consistency, willingness to learn, positive attitude, and remarkable improvement over the years are a true reflection of what it means to embrace the process. He walks through our doors every day with a smile, ready to put in the work, and his kindness and dedication make him someone our entire community looks up to. We're incredibly grateful to have Eduardo as part of the Sanitas family—congratulations on this well-deserved recognition!
Tell us about yourself! Family, hobbies, where did you grow up? I was born in Mexico and raised in Denver, so I’ve been in Colorado pretty much my whole life! I did my undergraduate degree in Math at CSU, and my graduate studies in Higher Education at CU. I used to work in Student Affairs at CU, which is what initially brought me to Boulder 11 years ago. Since then, I’ve made a career transition and now work as a software engineer for an education company. Outside of CrossFit, my hobbies these days include gardening in our community garden, maintaining a skincare routine, and video gaming (I recently rekindled a love for Pokémon). My husband Will was actually Member of the Month a couple of years ago, so now it’s my turn! We’re usually in an afternoon class together, or taking turns watching our funny 2.5-year-old toddler while we take back-to-back classes.
You have been a member for 11 years!!! What keeps you coming back? How did you get into CrossFit? I initially joined due to proximity since I lived right across the street in CU’s graduate and family housing, and mostly because I wanted someone else to tell me what to do! Thanks, coaches! Nowadays, it’s completely baked into our routine. We regularly have a babysitter watch our toddler for a couple of hours so Will and I can go work out together. Having that third person in the mix means we’ve been the most consistent we’ve ever been with a workout routine since our child’s birth.
What’s one piece of advice you would give to yourself on your first day, knowing everything you know now? I would tell myself that getting out of the door and into the gym is the hardest part, and the workout is the easy part. In the early days of my journey, it was really hard to find the motivation to go since I had to scale everything back and every workout felt so hard!
What’s one challenge you’ve overcome recently, and how did you push through? We're in a potty training era with our toddler! It's definitely had its ups and downs. We've made lots of progress on the pee side, but we're still working on the poop side. Lately, bribing with vegan marshmallows and ice cream has helped push through, for both the toddler and the parents!
3 or more favorite movements? My favorite movement is the squat clean. I also enjoy DB snatches and both front/back squats. Pull-ups are really cool too, since those are a more recently developed skill for me! I also like the jump rope because I feel like I’m close (but not quite there) to learning how to consistently do double-unders. AMRAP style workouts are usually my absolute favorites!
Numbers that are meaningful to you?
2, 3, and 9: The birth months of our family members.
24: Our child's birth year.
11: I'm now starting my 11th year at Sanitas!