December Member Spotlight: Tina Bauer

Our December Member Spotlight is on Tina Bauer.  If you have had the chance to meet Tina, you already know how friendly and welcoming she is and her 5AM and OCR teammates also know how hard she has been working this year as she completed her Spartan Trifecta earlier this month.

Tina grew up in a rural community in MO where she was outside all day every day until the streetlights came on. There was no such thing as sitting still so being active has always been a part of her life. As an adult she says that she still doesn’t sit well. She is an early riser, so the 5AM workout group is the perfect fit for her.  Tina married her high school sweetheart Dale, and they have two dogs Madden and Agnes.  They have a lot of nieces and nephews and now great nieces and nephews, and she loves being an Aunt. Tina and Dale enjoy traveling and most of the trips they take include a lot of hiking, skiing, or some form of outdoor activity.

When asked why health and fitness are important to her, Tina said that she smoked for many years but 20+ years ago she made the decision to quit. “We are given one body and it is up to me to care for it the best that I can. I do enjoy working out and have found it to be one of the best ways to burn off stress from work. I also like to eat sweets and I know that it takes a hard workout to burn off that cupcake.” 

Tina credits her husband Dale, and his constant support, for helping her to keep fitness a part of her life. Dale is also physically active and health conscious which makes working out a part of their daily lives. Tina has completed 25 half marathons, 4 OCR races, numerous other obstacle course races and too many 5K’s to count. 

Coach Cati is the reason that Tina joined Forward Fitness. “She would talk about FF and kettlebell classes, the clients and how much she loved working at Forward Fitness. I could see a difference in her fitness level and I wanted that, so five years ago I decided to give kettlebell a try. I’ve never looked back. I am now going to 5AM Fit Camp, joined the OCR team and am doing some semi-private workouts.” Fun Fact: Tina is fortunate to know Coach Cati outside of the gym because Coach Cati is her niece.

When asked about challenges that she has faced Tina says that she loves working out but there are some days when it is a love/hate thing. She might want to sleep in, but she knows if she doesn’t make it someone from the 5AM Club will contact her to make sure she is okay and she can’t tell them she was just being lazy. She adds, “In general that sums up Forward Fitness. The support of the gym and everyone there motivates me and keeps me going and I SO appreciate that.”

The accomplishments that Tina are most excited about and proud of are her 25 half marathons and the Spartan Trifecta that she completed this year. She says, “By far, the Spartan Beast was the hardest thing I have ever done. Over the last year I have increased my ability to pick up and carry much heavier weight than I ever thought I could. Also climbing (I am terrified of heights) and hangs. I still have so much to improve on, and I am looking forward to it.”

When asked what advice she would give to someone thinking about adding fitness to their life, Tina says, “Do it! Quit making excuses and just do something for YOU. I don’t know one person who is physically active that regrets taking time out of their day to work out.”