July Featured Athlete - Samara Touchton

1. Where are you from?

Southeastern PA

2. If you aren’t from here, what brought you to the area?

Work

3. What do you for a living?

I am a nurse practitioner at REACH Medical and Cayuga Medical. I work in Addiction Medicine, street outreach, and family medicine. 

4. What brought you into Pallas?

Peloton had a 3 month wait for a bike that cost $2000, and I have zero patience. I was looking for a way to restart exercising during the COVID pandemic; my previous gym was closed so I decided to try a new gym at the suggestion of my friend Sam Fishman!

5. What are some goals you’ve crossed off your CF list?  I

'm not as afraid of the power lifting movements anymore, and I feel more comfortable with and in my body and in trying new things. 

6. What are some future CF goals you have?

Get a full handstand and figure out how to become a more effective rower!

7. What’s your favorite movement?

Squats of any kind!

8. What’s your least favorite movement and why?

Wall walks - mainly because I can't figure out how to get back down once I start walking up :)

9. If you could write a workout, what would it look like?

Anything that can be broken up into small repetitive segments, which works way better for my mental state!

10. What do you do for self care?

Gardening, music, reading, and taking walks

11. What’s your favorite home cooked meal?

Homemade pizza because you can put whatever you want on it!

12. What’s your favorite dessert?

Key lime pie

13. Do you have a go to show that you could watch endlessly?

I don't watch much TV. We had DVR, and I filled it up to max capacity with shows I meant to watch, got super stressed out, and then cancelled our cable like the conflict avoidant person I am. I do like to watch Queer Eye on occasion because it requires no commitment on my part, and I almost always cry. 

14. What’s your favorite Ithaca related activity?

The Farmers' Market

15. What’s your favorite season and why?

Fall - I love the leaves changing, the weather, and the fact that my kids are in school so I can have some kind of schedule and rhythm compared with summer chaos.

16. If someone was hesitant about starting CF, what would you tell them?

I have never liked exercising in groups and am risk averse. But from my first class, I appreciated the encouragement, the respect, and willingness to help modify any movement in order to meet the goal of movement and strength. You can get a whole body workout, it's different every day, there are great coaches, and all you have to do is show up. It's definitely worth a try :)