We Are Pallas
We are professional followers of inspiring ideas.
We encourage inspiring ideas.
Megan chose to forgo a corporate environmental career in Los Angeles. She joined a CrossFit gym, earned the nickname “Boulders for Shoulders,” and traveled the country competing against the best in the world. In 2021, she signed up for an Ironman 70.3 to learn how to swim, and can now be found surfing waves in California – still trying not to drown.
Mark left behind high school athletics to become a Marine Raider. With two decades of service, he learned that nothing good comes from being comfortable. Once there were no flutter-kicks left to do, he left the Corps to pursue a new type of discomfort as a dedicated strength and lifting enthusiast who won’t ever stop trying to grow his legs.
Laura quit her job as Head of the Center for African Studies at Stanford to hike, run, and play on the trails and in the mountains. Apparently 50Ks and 50-milers weren’t long enough – she finished the Tahoe Rim Trail 100-miler this past summer and has her eyes on a 200-miler for next year.
Savanah is the most normal of us with a “real job” as a engineer. But you’ll quickly realize how different she is as she can frequently be found cycling up the infamous and nasty Snow Canyon in St. George Utah “just for fun” as she works to pursue her elite triathlon license and compete as a pro.
The best things in our lives have come from stepping outside our comfort zones: the opportunity to serve others, lifelong friendships forged in hardship, and continued self-discovery. We want the same for you. Whatever your adventure, we believe it’s attainable. Commit to a little chaos, and we’ll help show you through. Life’s too short not to send it.
We're allergic to specialization.
The four of us are explorers at heart – we love to try new things. Megan is a horse vaulter, turned lacrosse player, turned CrossFitter, turned triathlete, turned runner and surfer. Mark uses his body as a strength and conditioning lab. Savanah went from throwing softballs to cycling 112 miles and running a marathon – back-to-back. Laura can’t be stopped from exploring new trails and mountain ranges.
You won’t find many companies that program for triathlon, weightlifting, thru hiking, and running. That’s because the fitness industry would have you believe that coaches need 30 plus years in a single sport to be any good. We believe our range of experience, paired with our understanding of physiology, makes us better innovators, and more adaptable to your needs.
The future of sports performance innovation isn’t DNA-derived diets or new lifting techniques. It’s integration: applying training methods from one sport to others; combining strength and conditioning, nutrition, and physical therapy; enabling real-time recovery to drive training load. The information is already out there. It just needs to be tied together. And, as a team, we’re uniquely positioned to do this.
Meet The Team
Megan Smith
Megan walked into a CrossFit gym in North Carolina and immediately drank the Kool-Aid. After just a year, Megan was stronger than most Marines training at her gym. Though Megan has since traded in her Nano’s for a pair of running shoes and a surfboard, she credits her time as a competitive CrossFit athlete for changing her life. Her big takeaway: nutrition is a superpower for performance and health – rather than just being a weight loss scheme. Nutrition can make or break you as an athlete and set you up to live a long and healthy life. Megan has spent the last 5 years helping her clients leverage the power of nutrition in their own lives.
- Wodapalooza 2017, RX team
- Wodapalooza 2018, Elite team
- 2017 Indoor 500m Row Heavyweight American Record for 19-29 age group
- Las Vegas Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon
- Logan City Marathon
- F30-34 2022 Ironman 70.3 World Championships Qualifier
- Top 50 finisher in F30-34 at 2022 Ironman 70.3 World Championships
Rebecca
Rebecca grew up in the Bay Area, and her first true love was horses and horseback riding. Deeming herself incredibly unfit for any standard team sports, she dove head first into three-day eventing (the horse version of a triathlon) and spent most of her money on lessons and show fees. In 2013, she found herself seeking something new and different, and decided CrossFit was going to be that thing. With no strength training background, but a desire to be strong and healthy, she found a local affiliate and immediately felt at home. Fast forward a few years, and she’d built up a decent engine and some respectable strength numbers. Coaching others had become a “maybe one day” idea that eventually turned itself into a reality after taking her CFL1, and falling in love with showing people what they were truly capable of doing. Turns out, when you love something and it completely changes your life, it’s easy to put in hours of studying and obsessive levels of examining every small detail. For Rebecca, strength training and nutrition were these things, and she has a not-so-quiet goal for all of her clients to get strong, feel incredible, exude confidence, and surpass their own expectations. She loves doing strict pull-ups, singing to her corgi, Wolfgang, and baking cookies that have amassed a cult following.
Savanah Gibbs
Savanah, a lifelong athlete, found her first love in softball. She played collegiately while earning her degree in Systems Engineering. After college, Savanah found joy in running and strength training, but quickly got addicted to doing hard things and pushing her limits. On a whim, she signed up for an Ironman 70.3 and immediately fell in love with triathlon. At her first race, she took fourth in her age group and qualified for the IM 70.3 World Championships. She caught the triathlon bug, and is now pursuing her elite license. As a coach, she helps athletes pursue triathlon and cycling endeavors while building strength and resiliency. Savanah is passionate about helping others realize they can do hard things and achieve more than they ever imagined in sport and in life.
- F30-34 2024 Ironman Kona World Championships Qualifier
- Multiple F30-34 70.3 IM World Championships Qualifiers
- IM Chattanooga F30-34 Top 4 finisher
- Multiple top bike splits in F30-34 AG at 70.3 races
Laura Hubbard
Laura, a lifelong nerd, came to athletics later in life, finding her feet and happiness in thru hiking. Long distance hiking quickly turned into distance running, which morphed into ultras and fastpacking. Endurance sports changed how Laura inhabited the world – connecting resiliency of spirit, problem solving, and the many super powers of performance. She believes that on the run or hike, our potential as individuals and as communities comes truly alive. She is committed to the notion that endurance sports are for everyone and every body, no matter their backgrounds. As a coach, Laura combines a passion for mindful running and strength training with deep knowledge of mental training, recovery, and nutrition to support each client. She will always be there to cheer you on in your training and in life.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:
- Tahoe Rim Trail
- Colorado Trail
- Oregon Coast Trail
- Completing a PhD in Anthropology
- Doing fun ultra-trail races
- Running fast, flat, AND slow mountainous ultras
Dr. Meghan Helwig
Dr. Meghan Helwig is a sought out Doctor of Physical Therapy in Southern California. She started Primal Strength Physical Therapy on the east coast and then packed up to follow her dream to live and practice on the west coast.
Dr. Helwig graduated with her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Rutgers University. A native of Morris County, NJ, Dr. Helwig earned a finance degree from Villanova University where she was the starting goalie all 4 years for the Division I Big East Field Hockey Team.
Being an athlete her entire life, Dr. Helwig has that competitive mindset and understands the demands on the body. She has numerous “tools in her toolbox” and has combined the concepts, tools and techniques such as ART, SFMA, NKT, DNS, TPI, Rocktape IASTM/Blades, Kinesiology taping, and cupping to create her own unique system. She utilizes these tools and techniques to assess and treat her patients as a whole while uncovering the underlying “Why” behind her patients’ symptoms.
- PT, DPT
- Rocktape FMT, Basic & Advanced
- Rocktape Rockblades IASTM (Basic & Advanced)
- DNS A
- Neurokinetic Therapy (NKT) Provider
- Titleist Performance Institute Medical Provider (MP3)
- Titleist Performance Institute Fitness Provider (FP2)
- Selective Functional Movement Assessment (SFMA)
- Spinal Manipulation
- Clinical Athlete Weightlifting Coach Certification
Are you interested in templated programs?
We offer templated programs for all of our sports.