ODESSA, Texas — Being a wife, mother and grandmother already makes someone a superhero.
And for Odessa woman Joni Kouba, she definitely checks that box.
With four kids and three grandchildren, she's all about her family. On top of that, she co-owns Mojo Speech Therapy Clinic and works at the Compass Academy Charter School as the speech language pathologist.
But even superheroes fly into obstacles.
"I had a heart condition," Kouba said.
Forcing her to adapt.
"And so I had to kind of get in shape and do something quickly," Kouba said.
And the ultimate journey of adaptation is the CrossFit games.
"And my friend introduced me to CrossFit, so we did that," Kouba said. "I think I've been here maybe six years and about three or four years into it, my cardiologist told me I never had to come back."
Going from having to go to the hospital on a regular basis to the CrossFit gym on a regular basis.
"I would say it's cardio weightlifting, some gymnastics movement and there are a lot of body movements. We do a little bit of running," said Kouba.
Something that’s right up this grandmother’s alley.
And like most things in her life, Kouba made this her own.
"This year, I want to say we had 10 from our gym that made it to the quarterfinals and then from the quarterfinals, two of us made it to the semifinals," Kouba said.
And of course, Kouba was one of those semi-finalists, placing in the top 200 out of the women aged 50-54.
"It's because I'm older," Kouba said. "There's not a lot of people that are older women that continue with CrossFit. So once I kind of hit over the 50-year-old bracket, it made it a lot easier to compete for sure."
Easier or not, Kouba still overcame something that could’ve made her quit. Instead, she rose to one of the best CrossFitters at her age.
"My coach said to me, he said, 'you know, it's cause you show up every day, you're consistent.' I don't come here to lift a whole lot of heavy weights, but I come every day whether I feel like it or not, and do the workout and put the work in and just consistent with it," said Kouba.
And Kouba has advice for anyone who's experiencing a similar situation.
"Find something you enjoy doing, like we even tell our kids like we don't care what you do as far as working out, but do something that you enjoy," Kouba said. "Like just do something you enjoy that you'll stick with because anything you do is going to help you maintain and be a healthier person."
Showing how just because she ran into a setback, doesn't mean she did not have what it took to be the superhero everyone knew she was and is.
If interested in CrossFit in Odessa, visit their Facebook page.