When Katie and Taylor founded EPIC, they were searching for high-quality protein from real food that they take with them on their EPIC adventures. My journey was no different. We were paddling through the remote Boundary Waters and I wanted a protein bar that didn't taste like a glazed donut. This is a story I've heard recounted thousands of times as I've traveled the country talking to folks about EPIC. People find us because their adventures take them far away from the comforts of their kitchens.
But it is not just adventures that force our health-hungry hands, it is life. In the first few months of 2016, I've traveled 50,000+ miles across 19 different cities for EPIC. That's a lot of time spent in airports and hotels- places where you’re more likely to find pretzels than protein. Thanks to the EPIC community's amazing support, it's getting easier to find EPIC and other healthy snacks while traveling. You are voting for better options with your dollars!
Another challenge for the wary traveler is training for a sport. Working out itself is easy if you're just willing to prioritize. When traveling with the EPIC team, its pretty normal to be woken up because a teammate is rustling around at 5am looking for their running shoes or doing burpees in the hallway. But what if you're training for a sport and that sport isn't running or burpees? (PS: WHY IS YOUR SPORT BURPEES?!?!?) I'm training to compete in my first Olympic Weightlifting meet, where I'll prove that women half my weight can indeed lift twice as much as me. Five years ago, you'd be hard pressed (PUN!) to find a gym where you could drop a weighted barbell from overhead. Thanks to the growth in CrossFit's popularity, these barbell oases are now littered across the country and this has been my saving Grace. (CROSSFIT JOKES!) CrossFit gyms* in almost every city I’ve been to have opened their doors and allowed me to stay on track with my training. A huge part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle is staying sane and thanks to EPIC and CrossFit, very little of my limited brain capacity is spent worrying about what I'm going to eat and where I'm going to workout. And it’s been awesome to discover how popular EPIC is within the Crossfit community. When I drop in at Crossfit gyms and they discover I work for EPIC, I hear the common refrain of "Wow, we love EPIC, I always keep some in my bag, just in case.”
This is why I couldn't be more excited to announce that for 2016, EPIC will be feeding the hungry athletes at all 7 U.S. CrossFit Regionals. In addition to that, we're sponsoring two CrossFit Teams for the first time ever!
Meet the champions of Team Diablo of Pleasant Hill, California and Team Dynamix of Astoria, New York!
Both of these teams feature amazing athletes that we'll be keeping EPIC-fed and checking in with throughout their journey to the games.