Sometimes We Need To Take the Scenic Route

Even the best laid plans don't always go as expected.

Since beginning my CrossFit journey almost 5 years ago, I knew almost immediately that I wanted to be a coach and one day have my own gym, but not for the reasons you would expect...or maybe so.

When I found CrossFit, I was needing something positive in my life. I was empty and lost and on a terrible spiral down into a dark depression. I had prayed for God to lift me up and what He did was lead me to a place where I would learn to lift myself up...and I did.

How could I not share this? How could I possibly keep this to myself? I had found the best therapy for me.

Yes. Therapy.

When I started CrossFit, I was 15 pounds underweight, living off minimal sleep and just trying to make it from day to day. I can promise you, "getting fit" was NOT on my mind. The only reason I joined my first CrossFit class was because my boys karate instructor had been pretty excited about the "new class" he was offering and he thought I would like it. If you don't know any karate instructors, they are quite persistent.

So, I tried it out, partly because he asked me to, but mostly because I needed to do something other than sit around feeling sorry for myself.

That first class we did a little chipper. It didn't look bad at all, but I ended up in a puddle on the floor. As I was pulling out of the parking lot that night, it occurred to me that in that hour long class, I had not thought ONE TIME of anything else that was going on in my life. My focus had just been on the moment I was in and I was hooked!

As time went on, I really began loving getting stronger. I fell in love with the barbell and I had finally found an outlet for my secret competitive side by competing in local CrossFit competitions. My husband soon began CrossFitting and my boys started CrossFit Kids. To say CrossFit had changed my life would be a complete understatement. It changed my whole family.

Fast forward two and half years and I was blessed with the opportunity to open my own CrossFit gym which I would co-own for the next 2 years. What an amazing experience! (That is a whole separate blog.)

My love continued for coaching. I fell in love with Olympic Lifting. I wanted to be better, to be stronger and faster and my goals continued to evolve. I felt more comfortable in my 40-something year old body than I ever had my entire life! I made life long friendships in the community and I was happy.

I imagined how the gym would grow over the next years, all the awesome things that we could do, but sometimes my plan and His plan are different.

In June 2014, I finally had to admit to myself that it was time for me to change course and I sold my part of the gym to my business partner. Once again, I felt like a failure and very defeated for those first few weeks, but God always has a plan and I had to remember that. I can absolutely testify that sometimes the right decisions are often the most difficult to make.

Almost immediately, my husband and I began working on our garage and made it into a garage gym. It was around our 3rd workout together that I realized how rare it was that we ever workout together. In all the years I have been coaching, I can literally count the number of times we have worked out together.

It was fun! FUN! and I was given another reason to love CrossFit. My boys joined us for the next one and I was given yet ANOTHER reason to love it.

Did I imagine 5 years ago that I would be coaching people out of my garage? No, but I did imagine that I would still be in love with CrossFit and I am. It continues to be the best therapy ever. It's my "Happy Dose" each day!

CrossFit has been given a bad rap over the years, but I can tell you that it saved me and it saves me everyday. I LOVE getting stronger. I love sweating and knowing I gave a workout everything I have but mostly I LOVE coaching. I love the look on someone's face when they do their first double under, or kick up to their first handstand or get their first pull-up..when I see the joy on their face, there's nothing like it. THAT's what it is all about to me and I don't see that getting old for me anytime soon.

I'm still on my journey and what I have learned is that God's detours are blessings and I believe sometimes He wants us to take the scenic route instead. I am thankful for the detours because it causes me to slow down and enjoy the scenery.

Everyone has a different reason for beginning CrossFit and my story is just one in a million. Whatever your reason is, the goal is to be happy with who you are and what you are doing.

So go be happy! Life is just too short to be anything else.

Strength from Within

I have met some amazing people and have heard so many stories of courage and strength and how CrossFit has been huge in the lives of people going through a very difficult time. Sometimes a persons strength has nothing to do with how many plates are on the barbell. Sometimes, it is God's strength from within that shines the brightest.

Recently, I had the honor of meeting Landon Johnson who has such a testimony. Both Landon and his story have truly blessed me. With his permission, I am sharing it you.

Landon and Jaime with baby Callie.

In November 2012, Landon Johnson had big plans. He was training for the 2013 Reebok CrossFit Open with a possible shot at making Regionals, preparing for his Level 1 Certification, and expecting his first child with his wife.

All of that changed for Johnson in just a matter of days.

After a routine check-up, the Johnsons’ doctor informed them that their daughter had not shown as much growth as he would have liked and thought it would be best to schedule a C-section for the next day. 

On November 9, their daughter, Callie, was born at almost 37 weeks, weighing only three pounds eleven ounces. An ultra sound revealed that Callie also had a hole in her heart. Understandably, the Johnsons were shocked but believed that surgery would be able to fix it.

The next day, the Johnsons were dealt another blow. A second doctor said that she noticed characteristics that were similar to Trisomy 18, a chromosomal abnormality, in little Callie.

As a concerned father, the first thing Johnson did was research Trisomy 18 and was devastated to learn that the prognosis wasn’t good. Most babies diagnosed with this condition usually don’t survive past the first year of birth.

“I was just in a state of disbelief. I had all these plans for my daughter,” Johnson said. “I wanted her to grow up, play with Barbies, paint my fingernails, and us go shopping. Now they were telling me I may not see her past one year of life?”

“It hit us hard. You go from excitement to a state of panic in just a day, in just an instant,” Johnson said.

Johnson and his wife, Jaime, made the decision to enjoy every single moment they had with Callie and told the doctors they wanted to take her home.

Landon holding his daughter for the first time.

“We wanted to hold her, love on her and just have her home with us as long we could,” Johnson said.

The day before Thanksgiving 2012, the Johnsons were able to take Callie home.

“Taking care of Callie at home wore us out physically,” Johnson said. “We had a hospice nurse that came in twice a week. Callie was also on oxygen and had to be fed through a tube every four hours, but we wouldn’t have traded any of those moments.”

They cherished every day they had, taking her to see Santa and to the Christmas party at the fire station where Johnson works as a firefighter and paramedic.

“We wanted no regrets,” Johnson said.

On February 7, 2013, Callie passed away at 90 days old.

“My wife woke me up early one morning to tell me that Callie’s breathing sounded funny,” Johnson said. “I woke up to see her take her last breath. I got my stethoscope to listen for her heartbeat. It was the most difficult day of my life.”

Johnson says it was his faith and his relationship with God that helped him through this time. He also discovered how much Callie touched the lives of so many people in her short life.

“At her funeral, I was blown away by how many people showed up,” said Johnson. “People from my gym, I mean, I didn’t even know all their names! I felt bad, but they were there supporting us through this time.”

It was during this difficult time that he said CrossFit became something more to him.

“CrossFit was therapy for me,” Johnson said. “The friends I have made through CrossFit just blew me away. They made me smile. They would tell me daily how much Callie had touched their lives. Talking to people about Callie was healing, and I took every opportunity to talk about her.”

“They are loyal. We suffer together, and we are family,” Johnson said.

CrossFit was also healing for his wife. Jaime had never done CrossFit before Callie’s death, but she credits it with helping her to relieve stress during this difficult time.

One year later, Johnson is now a coach at Over the Mountain CrossFit. 

“As a coach he has such a positive attitude and always knows exactly how to push people and get them motivated,” said Clay Adams, owner of OTM CrossFit. ”Landon has been through some tough trials at a young age, and his faith and strength has made us all better people. I can truly speak for everyone at our box and say that he has not only made us stronger physically, but mentally taken us all to a new level. We are blessed to have Landon as a leader and friend.“

As Johnson prepares for the 2014 Reebok CrossFit Open, he says he has a new perspective on life. He has recently started back competing on the local competition scene, putting his name out there as someone to look out for.

Although he said his support system and coaching is essential to his training, it is his daughter’s memory that drives him most.

“Whenever I get tired, want to quit or drop the bar, I think of Callie and I think, ‘Be strong for her. Push through for her,’ and most days I feel like I can go forever!”

Johnson said his daughter taught him a lot in her short lifetime.

“This situation taught me that life doesn’t always go the way we plan. Life is short. Whether you live 90 days or 90 years, life is still short. If you are not living out your purpose, your calling, it’s going to be wasted,” he said.

As for his ultimate goal in CrossFit, Johnson said he “just want[s] to make Callie proud.”

The Johnsons are currently in the process of adopting and are expecting a son in May.

Metamorphosis

My husband pointed out to me that I always begin my posts with an apology for not posting. So, I won’t apologize, but I will explain why I have not blogged in so long.  I have been blessed with a growing CrossFit box, training new athletes and new job as Head Writer for the CrossFit South East Region. It’s amazing how much your life can change in such a short period of time!

When I first began this blog, almost 2 years ago, I was a fairly new CrossFitter with stars in my eyes and big dreams about making it to the CrossFit Games one day. I had my plans on how I was going to get there. I was going to do 2-a-days, add strength and Oly work to my training, clean up my diet, run more, ect., ect..
This was a great plan and I began competing in local competitions. (I LOVE competing!)

But  it didn't take long for me to realize that 2-a-days are not very realistic for me. Adding extra training, time-wise, is very hard for me to do. I am a mom of 3 very busy boys and a wife to an amazing guy that travels a lot. I also currently have 3 jobs, coaching, freelance graphic designer and writing. This is not to say that I gave up on my dream or that I am making excuses for myself because what happened was a wonderful thing.

 I found that my goal changed and that my dream has become even BIGGER.

What could be bigger than making it to the Games?

Changing someone’s life.

My goal did not change overnight, though. It was really more of a metamorphosis. I guess you could say I evolved …this is a good thing. I have been coaching CrossFit for over 3 years and yes, I have gotten stronger and faster.  I would hope so, it’s been over 3 years! I look back at my old blogs and my old WOD scores and I see how far I have come.  I will never be satisfied with my strength and speed. I will ALWAYS want to be stronger and faster, but during this journey of mine I have discovered something that I want even more than my desire to be stronger and faster and that is to watch that new person who walks in our doors reach their goals. To help them get that very first pull-up, that very first box jump, lose that “x” amount of weight or even compete in their very first competition brings me a joy I can not even articulate. 

My goal is to be the very best coach I can be. I want to help people dig down and find that strong person that is inside of them. I know it is there and want to help them find it!

Seven months ago, I took a big leap of faith with my very dear friends and opened a CrossFit box, CrossFit Alabaster. When we opened the doors, we had 20 members and I was so excited! Today, we have over 100 members and every single one is important to me.

My goal shifted. It morphed into something much, much bigger. I still want to be my best, but not for the Games, for my athletes and I want to help my athletes do their best! I think I get more excited when they PR than they do! If you saw the dancing I do when they PR, you would agree. Honestly, I have even cried a few times, I can’t help it.

Is my goal an attainable goal? Yes, it is! I know I can absolutely be the best coach I can be.
Can I be the perfect coach? Absolutely not. Nobody can be perfect. Anyone that claims to be is lying or just delusional.
Do I make mistakes? Of course. If you are not making mistakes, you are not learning.

So I want you to ask yourself the same questions. Look at your goals. If you don’t have any, MAKE SOME!
Is your goal attainable? Of course it is, it just requires action.
Will you make mistakes? I hope so. Remember, you are always learning.

Set your goals high and work your butt off to achieve it because it’s during the “working” part where the miracle happens. Sometimes the result is a goal accomplished and sometimes the result is an achievement that exceeds all your dreams.

Believe! You Can Do This!

It is that time again when one year comes to an end and another year begins. A time when we look back on the past year and pat ourselves on the back for achieving goals that we set for ourselves OR wonder "What the hell happened?!"

I have stated before that I don't believe in New Year's Resolutions. Why? Well, let me ask you. How many of your New Year's Resolutions have you actually achieved? My guess is, probably not that many.

Now let me ask you another question.

How many of the goals that you have set for yourself have you met? I would venture to guess that you have reached many of them.

Have you achieved all of your goals? Probably not. If you have, I would tell you it is time to make some more. We should ALWAYS have our sights set on a goal and when we reach that goal, set a new one! Remember, "The finish line is just the beginning of a whole new race."

As I have looked back on this past year, I am thrilled and amazed at how much has happened.
There were many goals that I set out for myself that I still have not reached, but I am certainly closer to achieving them than I was a year ago.

As far as goals met, I competed in 4 CrossFit competitions in the RX division,  I even came in second place in my first Master's Division at the Reindeer Games. I recieved my CrossFit Gymnastic Cert., organized my very first and successful fundraiser benefiting Autism, (WODism for Autism). I went to the CrossFit Games and watched some amazing athletes! I met Cheryl Brost, Lindsey Smith, Rich Froning Jr AND Fitness Lonnie! I learned butterfly pullups, got my first bar muscle up and got stronger.

I also surprised myself with achieving my largest goal.

Owning and running my own box has been a long time goal of mine, more like a dream of mine. I saw that dream fulfilled back in August when I and two of my good friends opened CrossFit Alabaster. It has been a huge success and that is due to my outstanding partners and our amazing (and fun) athletes! I have made some pretty incredible relationships because of CrossFit Alabaster and have the opportunity to spend time with some pretty amazing people on a daily basis. I am blessed.

This morning while I was in church listening to my dad preach, he said this during the sermon, "sometimes opportunities come disguised as impossibilities. Remember, nothing is impossible with God!"

This is so relevant to me. I don't know if I thought it was impossible to have my own box, but I did wonder if it would ever be possible. What I can say is that I BELIEVED I could do it. I don't know what your faith is, but I do know this. You must BELIEVE  for it to come to pass. I truly believed. I had a few people tell me that I would not be any good at all running my own gym/business. That I didn't know how to do "this", I didn't know how to do "that". I wasn't good at "this", I needed to be better at "that".

I had faith in myself though. I had a positive support group and I chose to listen to them. I chose to believe in myself and I chose to put my faith in Him.

Have you ever set a goal or set out to do something and had someone tell you that you couldn't do it?

Did you do it anyway and succeed? Why? Because you had faith in yourself! You believed you could do it!

The same also applies to your fitness goals, as well. One of my goals this year was to have a "PRETTY Muscle Up". It's okay, you can laugh, but if you saw my muscle up, you would agree that this is a very good goal for me to have. The other day, I was on the rings working with one of our other coaches and he told me, "Dawn, give me a few minutes, I will have you on top of those rings! It's going to happen today!"

HE believed!

We transitioned, we kipped, we broke everything down back to the basics. All the things I already knew. I could do this! I was ready to do this...right? I got back up on the rings, did this beautiful kip (well, it felt beautiful)...and felt myself stop pulling, mid-swing.

For the first time, I actually heard the words in my head. "You are going to fall."

I was scared I was going to fall. I KNEW I was going to fail. I was scared I would go through the rings...all the way through and fall out of the rings. I did not expect to get on top of those rings. So...I didn't.

I did not believe.

Guess what goal I have not reached. Guess who is holding me back...me.

So today I am asking you to make goals for yourself. Write them down. Share them with someone! My biggest goals were achieved because I had help and encouragement and I BELIEVED.

You can do this!

2013 is going to be an amazing year!

Happy New Year!

My Experience at the 2012 CrossFit Games

I didn't think it was supposed to rain in sunny California!

It has been a week since I had the incredible experience of going to the 2012 CrossFit Games and it has taken me a full week to process what an amazing weekend it was!

A few months ago, my husband told me that he wanted to take me on a weekend get away, just the two of us, no kids. Where did I want to go?

I told him, “The CrossFit Games!”

Seriously?

Yes! Seriously!

The very first event I wanted to see was the Master’s. I know that 90% of that crowd was there to see Rich Froning Jr., Annie T and the who’s who in CrossFit, but for me, the Master’s were first on my list. They had already started when we finally made it in the gate, but I was mesmerized instantly. 

These athletes were absolutely amazing! I was humbled, enthralled and inspired watching these incredible people trudge through WOD’s that would have crushed me! Watching 60+ year old women knock out pull-ups and double unders like there were nothing is something I think everyone should see! Seeing Freddy Camacho compete was pretty exciting, too!

Freddy Camacho

Master's chipper WOD

I also had my check list of friends I wanted to see. Our first stop, was to stop by the 2Pood booth and visit my friend, Justin Key. I cannot explain how cool it is to travel all the way across the country and attend an event knowing you will run into someone you know!  Friends that I have made in the CrossFit world through competitions, certs or events. Really, I think this was one of the most exciting things for me.

My husband and I with our friend, Crystal and her son Morgan.

Shelby Levy and I right before the "Double Banger" event.

I loved that I was able to visit again with Jeff Tucker, Coach Burgener and Chuck Carswell and have the opportunity to introduce my husband to them. Being able to meet people that I have become friends with on Facebook because of CrossFit was just awesome. To meet Eileen Schreiber was a big highlight! Meeting Candi, with WOD Love, Kevin Daigle and Lisbeth Darsh, I mean, really, it was hard to contain me! Seeing Nicko Kazadzis with Atlas Power Wraps and being able to finally hug his neck for all the help he gave me for the WODism for Autism...it just made my weekend.

Eileen!

Me,Tucker and Nicko

Of course meeting Fitness Lonnie was just an experience in itself!

Honestly, these moments are what my weekend was about. Yes, we watched the Games! Are you kidding? We sat in the stands and baked in the California sun and cheered. We jumped to our feet and screamed as it came down to the wire between Kristen Clever and Talayna Fortunato. We were caught up in the emotion watching Jenny Lebaw struggle through the bar muscle up triplet. We sat in awe as we watched Chris Spealler clean a med ball that weighed as much as he did and made it look easy. I had goosebumps as I watched Matt Chan take the podium in 2nd place and cried with Annie as it was announced she was the Fittest Woman in the world for the second time. But you see, I could have done all this while watching the games on my computer at home. Being there at the Games was soo much more than just watching the elite crush workouts. For me, it really was about the community. It is truly something I have never experienced before.

This past weekend, I met many of the “who’s who” of CrossFit and I remained star struck most of the weekend. Here is what really stood out the most to me.  I did not meet ONE asshole. Not one! In a place full of 10,000 souls, I was surrounded by a group of people that I had something in common with and every person I met was just nice! When does that happen?

I was so excited to finally meet Cheryl Brost. She has been my inspiration for 2 years.

I do have a confession to make. There was one person I did want to meet over everyone else that weekend. She was the top of my list and I when I did finally meet her, I became like a kid. Cheryl Brost did not disappoint me, she was adorable! I had just had my picture taken with Lindsey Smith and Jermey Kinnick when she ran up to talk to them. I looked at my husband in disbelief because she was running right at me.

I looked at her and said, “Oh my God! I have been wanting to meet you all weekend!”

She said, “Oh my God! I have been wanting to meet you, too!

And you know what?

I believed her.