Local Folks: Stacey Steiner
Stacey Steiner is a native of Chicago, Illinois who has been a Jacksonville resident for more than two decades. She said of the area, “It’s a beautiful community.” She especially appreciates the camaraderie among the neighbors. She moved here immediately following her 2001 graduation from Purdue University in Indiana. For the past two years, she has been working alongside Jason Pratt at the San Marco marketing agency called Prattify.
The nature of her job has Steiner in front a computer for many hours a day, tending to social media, building websites, and doing digital marketing for clients. Her getaway is kayaking. “It’s a technologically free way to get out on the water,” she said. She packs her phone for taking pictures, but that’s about it. She likes to launch out back of Wicked Barley Brewing Company, into Goodby’s Creek, a tributary of the St. Johns River. She likes it mainly for its shady tree covering and quiet privacy. “It’s really cool to see everybody’s different backyards, too. And then you can get a drink at Wicked Barley when you’re done,” she said.
Steiner’s more intense fitness journey began well over a decade ago with running. She’s participated in some 5Ks (3.1 miles each) and a couple of half marathons (13.1 miles). “My favorite race of the year is the Gate River Run because there’s so much crowd support and because it runs through San Marco, which I love,” she said. Steiner has run that 9.3-mile annual race on the second Saturday of every March for ten years. It is named for Gate Petroleum, its underwriting sponsor, and its route that crosses the St. Johns River at two spots, the Hart and the Main Street Bridges.
Since 2013, Steiner has involved herself with high intensity CrossFit training. Depending upon which workout she’s following, sometimes she focuses on repetitions. “I lift weights fast,” she said. At other times, she focuses on the weight of each lift. It all depends upon the goal of her workout for that day. Occasionally, she enters CrossFit competitions. Her goal is always the same on those days: “Not to come in last,” she said.
Just prior to the pandemic, Steiner joined the Street Parking craze, a home-based fitness program. “It’s called Street Parking because you can park out in the street and work out in your garage,” she said. And that’s exactly what Steiner does. It gives her the opportunity to easily modify her workouts and scale back the intensity as a way of pampering the parts of her body that might need a bit of a rest while continuing to work on others. It’s a more private way of exercising. Street Parking is more than just an exercise program; it’s an entire fitness community, and Steiner runs the local Meetup group for it, which includes members from all over North Florida. “I help keep other people motivated in their health and fitness journey,” she said. It has helped her bring together all aspects of physical wellness that she’s been learning about over the years, including nutrition.
At times, Steiner has had to put athletics on hold due to a variety of injuries she has sustained over the past six years. They include plantar fasciitis in her foot, tendonitis in her knee, and a torn labrum in her hip. “But I’m finally getting it back together,” she said.
Such injuries are not unusual for an athlete like Steiner. But not all of them came during runs, or lifts, or workouts. “I hurt my hip doing yardwork at my house. I was mulching,” she said. It resulted in surgery. People have admonished her to quit working in that yard of hers. She knows it’s a never-ending task. But she enjoys beautifying the surroundings of her St. Nicholas home, which she’s owned for six years, just as much as she enjoys any other type of exercise.
“I’ve always been in the fitness world,” she said.
By Mary Wanser
Resident Community News
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