Hi, we are Erica and Mark DiBella. As of December 18th, we’ve been married for 20 years. We have two kids, Emarie (7th grade) and Gavin (6th grade). Erica is the Upper School librarian at St. John’s School, and Mark is the CEO of YES Prep Public Schools—a public charter school system. We’re heavily involved in our church, City Church, where Erica is an elder. We love the food scene in Houston which is a major reason why we need to work out regularly! We are diehard Stros fans! We also love to travel—especially to see U2. Mexico City and Belfast were our two most recent groupie runs! When did you start doing CrossFit? Erica started CrossFit in the fall of 2013, and Mark started in February of 2019. In other words, Erica is a seasoned vet, and Mark is a newbie. Erica got started because she was bored with...Read more

“We are family I got all my sisters with me We are family Get up everybody and sing” – Sister Sledge My intention was for you to sing that in your head. Maybe you did, maybe you didn’t. Either way, I know that my current family situation doesn’t make me wanna “get up and sing” all the time. This blog post is not meant to be melancholy, but more to bring up conversation around this topic. Holidays can be cause for family drama and a lot of us can get stuck in what we think we “should” do or say when it comes to being around our families. Often times, we end up only spending time with or conversing with these people because they have the title of aunt, cousin, dad, or sister. I grew up as an only child. I’ve never wanted anything more than to have a big,...Read more

Goal setting season is officially upon us here at District H Strength & Fitness. A lot of you may not necessarily know where to start, so here are 5 Tricks to get you on the path to success. 1) Start with “Why”: As “cheesy” as this concept sounds, it is the most crucial piece to setting goals and forming healthy habits. I recently wrote a blog post about finding your “why” or “purpose” for wanting to come into District H every single day. Spend some time thinking about your “why,” write it down, and place it somewhere that is going to be highly visible to you every single day (e.g. bathroom mirror, car dashboard, desktop monitor, etc.). This is something you can share with the coaching staff or you can keep it private. 2) Make SMART Goals: I am sticking with the “cheesy” on this one. The reason why you...Read more

Hey, my name is Debbie Markey! I have lived in the Heights area for almost 35 years and have raised three wonderful children – ages 26, 25 and 21. Born and raised in Houston, I think the Heights (then and now) is hands down, the best neighborhood in the city. I have a great job as Executive Director of the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center for the last 14 years. I love to cook, garden and hang around my beautiful (and small) home on Highland Street.   I started my CrossFit journey at District H over 6 years ago after physical therapy ended for a torn meniscus repair. The other knee also had a tear, but I never had to have it operated on…District H fixed it for me! My decision to start CrossFit began with a bone scan in 2013 that showed signs of pre-osteoporosis in my hip and...Read more

Ahh yes, Thanksgiving is upon us. It’s the time of year that we spend with our families giving thanks, and stuffing our faces. Quite honestly though, I’m not looking forward to turkey day. Thanksgiving is all about the feast, right? Well…technically its supposed to be about expressing our gratitude. But lets be honest, most of us think about food first when hear the word “Thanksgiving”, and that gives me anxiety. I love my family, but I’ve always been under the impression that those in your family are the people that are supposed to support you the most in everything you do, no matter what. However, as I’ve gotten older I’ve found that family members are typically the ones who tend to judge and comment on our choices the most. Recently I’ve been battling a lot of digestive issues. Without getting into nasty details, lets just say I was probably the...Read more