Found this pretty motivating. I will always love stories of those succeeding after overcoming situations where the odds seems stacked against them. There is a poster for this which is equally inspiring.
Flattering
This morning I just didn’t feel like I had much energy. This head cold feels like it is sucking the life out of me. Felt sluggish during the WOD and like I was merely going through the motions this morning in general.
As I was cleaning up my stuff, a lady approached me and asked my name. She said that she had told her husband, who has been doing CrossFit for around 2 years now, about me and how well I have been doing. It really threw me for a loop. Not like our gym is a giant place, but she works out on the other side so I didn’t think she would even notice me. I told her thanks but that I am usually one of the back of the pack type of guys.
“Well, you are really strong!”
Put a smile on my face for sure. Sometimes comments like that from people that you would never think knew you existed make all the difference.
I mean, seriously, how could I not reblog this awesomeness?
Gotta love school pictures!
From left to right: March 2010, March 2011 (had lost about 20 lbs), March 2012 (down 114 lbs from weight in Feb 2011)
It is incredible to hear people (colleagues) say that they do not remember me looking like the first or second me. Boy, do I remember what it felt like, though. My goal is to not forget, as to not return.
“Mental strength outweighs the physical by far. There are people who are a lot more physically gifted than myself, but you have to be able to push past that point when you want to quit, when you think you can only do so much, when you think you can’t do anymore. The mental aspect is huge.”
- Rich Froning, Jr.
Sweat RX Magazine, Spring 2012
20 lbs. lost as of today! April 5, 2012
I love seeing stuff like this. I have followed my homie B and watched as he has started running and exercising. Despite the fact that sometimes running and exercising isn’t always fun, especially when starting off, he has kept it up. And check it out: He dropped 20 pounds. Anyone who has lost weight knows that going from losing 19 to 20 feels like a lot more than just a pound. I think that is a great accomplishment and salute him for the hard work! Keep it up brother, we are in your corner cheering you on.
GPOY. Showing the support edition.
While I am much more comfortable looking at my photos than I used to, I still focus on the areas that I am working on rather than focusing on what has improved. This photo is a perfect illustration of that and one that I was not going to post.
But I read this post by Katy and thought otherwise. First, this lady kicks all kind of butt. And no, I am nowhere close to kidding. I’d love to move through a CrossFit WOD the way that she does. She is a fighter and has worked tirelessly to get where she is now. I related so much to her posting of her photo, however. She sees flaws, not always progress. But for those of us looking at her photo, we just see someone who is a real BA. Period. In all honesty, I never would have pointed out your flaws. I just thought of you going through that course, being on the news, and doing it in the all-out manner that you attack life. Never would I have looked at your photo and said “there is the fat girl”. Primarily because that is the furthest thing from the truth and second because you are more than capable of beating me up.
Anyway, I didn’t want to post this photo of me because all I see is my gut, which is what I really want to work on and which is hanging around like an unpaid bill. It is easy to forget that I am able to RX workouts now when over a year ago I had never even lifted weights, much less have it overhead. Regardless of the progress, there is a part of me that only sees the old 300lb me. And like Katy stated, people that have never struggled with weight will never know that feeling.
So yea, I got more I want to work on, but it isn’t anything compared to what it once was. Every day is better than the day before. Here is my deal for you Katy, if you work on it, so will I. Deal?
Need more days like today
Today was the end of the Shauna Hicks I Am CrossFit 3 Challenge at our box. I have written about Shauna before and what a warrior she is and how much of my growth at CrossFit is because of her. She left some big shoes to fill. A little over a month ago our box kicked off a fitness challenge and the benchmark workout was Cindy. That workout really tore me a new one. So I was pretty nervous about going into it again. But it really turned out to be more than just a workout.
Another one of my long winded posts, so I will save your dashboard and put the rest behind the jump.
When there are seconds left on the clock, it doesn’t matter if the guy next to you is 10 reps ahead or 10 reps behind your score, you cheer and yell and scream for the other guy. What matters the most is being there to push that person to their limit, to see them nail that one last rep.
If you are one of the ones yelling, you know how great it is to see someone push themselves and achieve. That is all that matters at that moment. If you are the one hitting the WOD looking at a wall of screaming support right in front of you, you too know the importance of that, and feed off of the energy level to move that bar one more time off the ground.
Nobody in our gym doing the 12.2 Open WOD had expectations of qualifying for Regionals. We were all there to make ourselves better, test ourselves, and to be there for the guy right next to us and cheer them on. Sure, the Games is a competition and we are all there to do that, however, when it comes down to the last minute of the AMRAP, the intensity gets jacked through the roof. Everything is turned up about 12 notches. Yelling. Sweat. Determination. Fighting. That is where it counts the most, the home stretch.
I took this photo of one of our guys doing the 12.2 WOD. He had about 30 seconds on the clock and all everyone wanted in those few seconds was for him to do only his best, and then some.
This is what the Games is all about.
Who do you surround yourself with?
This is Randal. This is his “rest” day.
When I first walked into CrossFit, intimidated and unsure of any of my abilities, one of the first memories I have was his wife speaking to me and encouraging me. I also remember the feeling that she killed me during the first workout and how defeated I felt. Then I remember watching Randal ascend two ropes, holding one in each hand and climbing up. Once at the top, he did pull-ups. And this is what I signed up for? I mean, I couldn’t do a pull-up and 20” box jumps were nearly the death of me.
As time went on, I have come to appreciate guys like Randal and am fortunate to call him a friend. Very, very few people I have come across have a drive like he has. There doesn’t seem to be much that will slow him down and he always seeks the challenge. His workout regiment is borderline insane, as seen from what he did this past Saturday:
“Back squats, heavy shoulder presses, Helen wod, 8 am partner wod, Heavy deadlifts - pulled 415lb. today!, pullups, ring dips…nap time.”
Some lifting and Helen would have been enough for me.
Last week some guys were at his place and he was showing us his workout room in his house. As I walked out, I caught a glimpse of the closet doors, both knobs draped with medals. He never once mentioned them and then shrugged them off a bit when I brought them up. We all know his is a competitor, and a great one at that, but he never once pointed them out.
There have been two occasions recently where he has played an integral role in my success. First, was when I hit a new PR of 415 on deadlift. He was the one who said, after I hit 405, that he thought I had more in me. And standing next to me as I pulled 415 off the ground, he was encouraging me along the way. The second was during my first experience with the CrossFit Games and 7 minutes of burpee hell. I could hear the music in my headphones and his voice. He kept saying good job, keep moving, you are doing great, etc. It made a big difference to me. I do have to point out that he did the burpee WOD at least 3 times, breaking the 100 rep mark (His blog about the experience is well worth a read also) and blowing me away. But that didn’t matter to him. He did his part and then took the time to yell and encourage me to do my best. That speaks volumes and goes a very long way with him.
I caught on Facebook where he would hit Gold’s early on Sunday mornings and do an hour of core work. I knew any of his workouts would be tough but I thought I would give it a shot. Sunday’s are his “rest” days, which is funny because I don’t really think that he knows what that word means. Through this, it has left me with a feeling of thankfulness. I am thankful that I am surrounded by those who are constantly outperforming me. It gives me another reason to keep fighting. I’d be lying if I said that there are times when I do not struggle with always finishing close to the back of the pack in our 5am class. As fast as I progress, those rabbits I chase are getting better as well.
The point of all of this rambling is that you will come across some really great people on this journey of yours, just as I have. Chances are many will be better than you. Latch on to these people and allow them to challenge you. You never know where you may end up because of that. I can only hope to one day provide this same level of inspiration and motivation to those around me.
Check out Ben on his TV appearance here. The guy just never stops being inspiring. On a side note, if you have met Ben, and didn’t like him, then I will be punching you in the throat with a surfboard. He is one of the must humble people I have met. Congrats on the great work!
Atlanta & Company Interview
It went better than I thought. Very nervous, as you can see from my toe tapping. Glad that my wife was able to go with me, very neat experience overall. On a funny note the next guest was a health food expert and as our segment was ending he was walking over with a 2-liter of coke to mess with me about being soda-free.
Welcome to the Games
I am sure some folks looked at my registration in the CrossFit Games and laughed, writing it off as “why is that guy doing it?” And part of me felt that way at first, too.
Because one year is no joke. Many don’t make it beyond weeks or months. Amanda has made it a year, dropped over 100 pounds, and become a new and improved version of herself in the process. Happy Health Anniversary!
Today is my one year anniversary of living a healthy lifestyle! My sweet friend, Beth, brought me an Edible Arrangement of yummy fruit.
Big warriors come in small packages
Came back from lunch, wrapped up in my usual routine, started to walk upstairs to my office. To my left, I caught glimpse of someone that looked familiar, but it didn’t register at first. I set my stuff down in my office and then went back downstairs. Sure enough, there was Shauna, one of our trainers who was responsible for so much of my growth and who also suffered a major stroke and nearly died.
I was immediately overwhelmed with too many emotions for one single one to register. She was in a wheelchair and seemed small. Never a dominating figure, as she was always small, her presence was mighty. She carried more than just her small frame, which was now no longer stacked with muscle. Despite that, she looked great. She seemed alert and appeared very fresh. I don’t think she recognized me at first, but when it clicked she smiled and said “Did you go to the gym today?”
It was all I could do to stop from breaking down right there.
Here in front of me was this mighty, mighty woman, a pillar of strength and the very definition of fight. Not 5 months ago, she had all but been written off as dead. Surviving what she did was beyond incredible and to see her right there in front of me left me unsure of what to say. I asked how things had been lately and she replied “Getting better”. We joked a little bit despite it seeming difficult for her to focus on our conversation. Her sister was with her and seemed to appreciate bumping into a familiar face.
I wanted to stop everyone in the building and yell at them to pay attention to this little warrior with more heart than all of us in the building combined. I wanted to tell them that many never expected Shauna to make it out of the E.R. alive. I wanted to tell them all how important she was to so many and that they were all in the presence of something extremely special. But I know that making a big scene would not be anything close to what she would have wanted. All I could offer was a smile and my complete and total respect.
Got her sister’s number and a buddy of mine and I plan on going to see her next week. She always wanted a red workout shirt, which is part of the reason why our Hurt Locker shirts are what they are. We will make good on that promise and spend time with her.
Anyway, I told Shauna that I missed her and that I wanted her to someday come back to the gym and yell at all of us. I mentioned that the CrossFit Games started this week. She just looked up said “workout for me”. As I mentioned before, I have a slightly difference perspective on the Games, but now even more so. I owe it to Shauna, and then some. For me not to participate in the Games seems like it would be a disservice to her and her tireless efforts to push everyone in that place to new heights of achievement. I plan on carrying that with me in the gym.
“I never thought I would be good enough to do the Open.”
This quick video hit home with me over the weekend. Big time. This woman briefly shares an emotional moment that I have felt over and over again, down to my very core. I watch videos of monsters like Froning and Spealler and feel like my $20 to register for the Open would be a waste.
But then I saw this video.
Ironically, this morning a friend sent me a text saying this “Tomorrow you show up and give it all not thinking about the Games. Tomorrow you show up and think of the old you.”
Dear Internet, hold my wife accountable.
As I mentioned earlier, the wife and I are starting training for the RNR Nashville half. She is pretty excited about and I dig that. She has really been doing great with hitting the gym and switching things up, staying active. I think she will also tell you that eating has been a weak point for her. I got her back on that and plan to help as much as humanly possible, but she also said that once she exercises more it makes her want to eat better. That said, I am excited to see where this takes her.
I have mentioned to her several times about how supportive this community can be and that I think it would be cool to blog more. Posting regularly online offers me some accountability and has connected me with people that are on similar paths with similar goals, pushing me more. Good stuff. She has said that she is going to blog more, so do me a favor will ya… and hold her accountable with some of the same awesome support you all have shown me.
Go say hello, will ya?
