“Crossfit “Athlete”…Not how I ever would have described myself. Athletic, maybe, but more like a “wanna be”. In the summer of 2017 my husband and I joined Crossfit 128…..Yet another attempt to balance our busy life and “get healthy”. We had done things like this many times, joined gym after gym. But this one was a bit different, and we both soon began to enjoy the challenge. Soon after, my best bud Christine joined and I had two people to hide next to during the workouts. Sadly, On September 29th, my husband suffered a heart attack and passed away. Needless to say I was a mess. I came back to the gym, holding on to Christine’s shirt tails, mostly because I needed to be doing stuff. Anything to avoid being alone with my thoughts. Funny thing is I no longer cared if I was good enough or how I looked or what I could do. I just “did”, for the alternative was unbearable. I no longer cared if I fell on my ass, which I did, or if I had to modify and scale every single workout, which I still do.

Crossfit became an integral part of my life. It exhausted me, it challenged me, and eventually….without even trying…I saw improvements. Not the kind that put you on any type of leaderboard…but I could string a few burpees together, I climbed the rope, I could run the 400. The encouraging fist bumps and guidance has left an indelible mark on me and when I reflect on my Crossfit journey I am mostly just grateful. For it, along with Christine and all of you, helped sustain me through a very difficult time. I know I have many limitations in the gym, after 2 plus years I still feel confused much of the time. I still need to talk myself into getting there some days. But….I am very lucky to have had it and plan to stick around, which is another “first” for me. So…thank you! That’s from the heart people!!”