Miss Me?

Well it’s certainly been a long while since I last posted here and it’s been a manic two months.  Let me sort through the chaos….

The week before Christmas I lost my job as a contractor down in Sydney. Crisis stations ensued and I madly began scrambling for options.  After all an income is critical.

Returned home to QLD as scheduled over the 2 week Christmas break and decided to give my PT business Accelerate YOU Personal Training a test run to see if maybe that could be my future.  I was very surprised with the interest in my sessions for that 2 weeks and it gave me hope that maybe I could make this work long term. For the first time in a long time I felt completely happy and fulfilled by what I was doing. So the decision was made to pack up and move back home.

I had some mixed feelings about leaving Sydney. For as much I had not been happy there for over a year there were some aspects of my life I had come to live for.  The main one being my box & crew at Crossfit New Beginning.  This was very much my second home and truly I have never felt as included or welcomed into a community as I did there. It was the one place I could go and just be me. The sessions were awesome, coaching second to none and the atmosphere was fantastic. I loved being there.

Also I had been doing some good work with my coach James and had seen such real progress over our time working together. I didn’t want to lose that support & momentum.  I very much knew my life was about to turn to chaos once again. For me the hardest thing I had to do in my final week in Sydney was go tell James I was leaving then deal with telling my friends in the box and seeing the workouts tick down till my final one.

The last day at the box was something very special. James so thoughtfully named the WOD after me and included some of my favourite movements, and some of my least favourite.  

It was a team WOD and my partner was the awesome Chantal.  

Chantal & I post WOD

We came up with our strategy and went for it. Powered through the burpees and lifts. We knew we were a few reps ahead of the dream team of Jake and Mark.  Last big effort for us was the kettlebell swings and we knocked out 165 in the time remaining. We beat the boys by 20reps and won the WOD. I’ve never won a WOD in my life so I have to say it was very cool to win my own named WOD.

I will be forever grateful to the crew at CrossFit New Beginning for all they have given me in the few short months I was there. It was the best CrossFit experience of my life.  I have to give special thanks to my coaches Matt & James who both had a profound impact on me in different ways.  James in particular through his 1:1 sessions and putting so much time into helping me get where I wanted to be.

Coach James

My CFNB Family

So mid Jan I moved back to QLD and commenced being a PT in my own business full time. Somewhat daunting and scary and a lot of pressure to make it work.  I was determined to do all I could however to make this successful.  It is very much my passion and I loved every second of it. From the super early starts to writing up new and challenging programs.

To be honest the results have exceeded my expectations. Business is growing quickly which I needed it to do but didn’t expect it to. For the first time in a long time I am truly happy and loving what I do. I love seeing my clients push through barriers and achieve things they never thought possible.

So whilst all this has been going on I have been trying to sort myself into a routine. Easier said than done, but I am working on it. 

I have joined a new box, which feels like home anyway as I have trained here on my visits back to QLD. I am now a proud member of CrossFit North Lakes and am loving the challenges that are thrown my way through the workouts. I am not getting there as often as I like but am working towards a better routine.

I have also commenced 1:1’s again with my very original coach Adam out of CrossFit Northside. I really enjoy my sessions with Adam and he is a lot like James in that he can always push and challenge me and helps me work out a plan to get to my goals.

So…..what are my goals now?  Excellent question.  Apart from the continual work to improve my CrossFit skills and also my lifting skills, and the endless quest to improve my fitness and body, there are some specific things I am working towards.

I am firstly continuing with my run training. Was very sad when I left Sydney to not be able to run with my coach Tash weekly. She has done an enormous amount of good with my general confidence in running but also my performance. One of the best decisions I ever made was to ask for her help. However she continues to guide and support me by sending me through run programs to complete and analyses my results. Without that I simply wouldn’t bother.  And I am looking forward to a visit to Sydney at some point to run with her again.

I’ve also stepped up and entered 2 strongman events. One major event in April and a smaller event in March.

I wasn’t going to enter the March event until my coach Ellen from CFNL tagged me in a Facebook post asking if I was entering and if not why. I responded saying my training was a bit underdone and she replied about all she was hearing was excuses. Button pushed and I toddled off to enter. Only after entering did I find out the most exciting news.  One of my CrossFit idols in Rob Orlando would be attending. The thought of him being at the event and the chance to meet him was beyond exciting to me.

Then Ellen mentioned he was running his CrossFit Strongman seminar that weekend as well. That is a seminar I had said I would always love to do. Cost was $300 so I set about finding a way to make it happen, and I did. I signed up. That seminar is going to be particularly valuable for me to learn properly a lot of the strongman techniques I will need for my big comp in April, such as atlas stones. It’s going to be one VERY cool weekend for me and a big leap out of my comfort zone. But as this picture Ellen posted to my wall says it’s always about taking action and accepting new challenges so I continue to grow.

I’ve only ever had one go at Atlas Stones in the past so my super strong friend Alli connected me with a friend of hers up here who could help me. So next week I’m off to work with Rebecca and see how I go.  Adam is using my 1:1’s to develop training plans that will help me overall in the event and working on building some key strength components.

So that’s my focus. Getting ready for these two events and learning as much as I can. CrossFit is my primary love and it is through CrossFit I am able to pursue these other interests. Let’s face it, I am never going to be overly competitive in a strictly CrossFit event and I probably never will have the right range of movement for power lifting or weight lifting. Strongman provides a great compromise between the 2 and gives me that competitive outlet in something not everyone can do.  I love the challenge.

As you can see my life is pretty full on at the moment but am beginning to regain that feeling of control and purpose.  I have something to work towards and can see a path. Plus my PT work fulfills me in other ways and I want to keep being the very best I can be for my clients and helping them push towards their goals.

Life is good.