Fit and qualified and from Oceanside

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Working out is rewarding work for Oceanside resident Lori McMahon.

McMahon, 45, was invited to compete in the 2016 CrossFit Games from July 19 to 21 in Carson, California.

She received the invitation she finished fifth in the world in the masters category for women ages 45 to 49 — a category with 8,000 other women, and the only New York woman in her group. She’s also ranked third on the competition’s worldwide leader board for open workouts.

“It’s such an honor and it’s so prestigious,” McMahon said. “It’s an honor and something you work for so hard and to get to. That itself should be enough but you want to do and want to be better.”

CrossFit is a competitive sport and exercise regimen that incorporates Olympic weightlifting, gymnastics and aerobics. People have to complete workouts posted online and send in their scores to qualify for the games.

A video of McMahon shows her walking on her hands, lifting weights and running on the Long Beach boardwalk.

“It’s no so much how you look but more how you feel,” McMahon said. She tags her social media posts with #LoveTheWayYouFeel because she sees the end goal of working out should be to feel physically and mentally better and not just about looking better in a bikini.

McMahon started CrossFit almost six years ago. “I was a runner and a gym rat and always looking for next fitness challenge,” she said. “Something to push me and make me work hard — and change my life or challenge myself. Once I found CrossFit I found what I wanted for my own fitness.”

Eventually, she became a certified CrossFit instructor, and she trains and coaches other people. Right now, she trains from three to four hours a day, sometimes one two-hour session in the morning and another at night. “The beauty of CrossFit is that you’re always looking to improve on something,” McMahon said. “Improve time or technique or form. You’re never 100 percent satisfied with what you do. You’re always looking to do better all in the training.”

She lives with her husband John and their three children, Paige, 17, Payton, 15 and Johnny, 12. Paige does CrossFit with her mom.

She will open a gym — Barrier Island CrossFit — in Long Beach this summer with her friend and business partner Jess Thurman. “We’re so passionate about it,” McMahon said. “We feel like CrossFit has changed our lives and we wanted to do it for other people.”