I chose not to go into the gym this morning for the 8:30 class. As I sat and enjoyed a cup of coffee (black, no extra stuff π ) I thought, I’ll just do something real quick at home to get a workout in and then get busy on some to do list things. I sat for a couple of minutes longer and told myself, if not now, when?? Many times if I wait until the afternoon or even a few minutes longer of sitting on the comfy couch, I end up doing nothing.
So downstairs I went to take a stroll on the treadmill contemplating what I should do for a workout today. Our regular workout that was programmed was 5 rounds of 3min as many rounds as possible of 20 bar facing burpees, 15 hollow rocks then max effort of overhead squats at 65# for the ladies. I thought, I could do that with the 22# trainer bar…but the longer I walked the more the thought of doing that version drifted away from my thoughts.
So after walking a mile I went back upstairs equipped with my abmat and timer on my phone and ended up doing and every minute on the minute of 10 burpees, 20 situps and 20 squats. This ended up being 7 rounds for 21 minutes. Definitely got my heart rate up AND took me down memory lane. You see, as I was jumping up on one of my burpees, my eye caught a glimpse of a family photo from the summer of 2009. The summer before I made the biggest decision of my life. That decision was to finally start walking the walk that I’d been teaching to my PE students.
It was time to stop making excuses for being lazy and get my @$$ in gear. So I did…that December I decided to make treks to the YMCA (this was a couple years before CFU) at 4:30am 5 days a week to make a change in my life. I would do some dumbbell work on MWF and cardio on TTH…I would do the same exercises over and over…don’t get me wrong, it was hard and I stuck with it and after 12 weeks I lost around 12# or so. I was feeling much better about myself and I started running more…and I signed up for my first 5K! What?? I never was a runner per se, but had done sprints for basketball and volleyball in HS/College. Running more than a mile was going to be challenging, but I did it…In May of 2010, I ran that 5K and didn’t even stop to walk. That running kinda became an addiction and I was doing about 2 5K’s per month and getting faster with each one. The running along with lifting weights was doing wonders for my transformation so I kept at it and people started to notice.
In the summer of 2010, I discovered CrossFit and haven’t looked back since. It has been life changing and I KNOW I would not have met the people I know today had it not been for continuing on my CrossFit journey…
In 2010, I started sharing my experience with some moms at the school I was teaching at and that’s how Mid-MO Fitness was “born”…in my little basement in Wardsville. I had a couple of “clients” who would come over and workout. I loved (still do!) helping people, but wanted to help more so I started some boot camps – those were fun π And then…I applied for CrossFit affiliation…Next Saturday (28th) will be our 9 year anniversary. A lot of ups and downs, but in the long scheme of things, I’m living my dream…to help people become better than yesterday.
Long story short, that glimpse of that pic made me realize how far I’ve come in the last 11 years and I never want to go back. So if you’re needing some motivation to get started let me know and I can steer you in the right direction OR if you need help staying motivated, I can help you there too. Just think about where you want to be this time next year and get your rear in gear π
Work Hard, Eat Clean, Be Blessed! π
