This girl as a coach

When I was a child, if you would have asked me what I want to be when I grow up I would have listed out all kinds of careers. My dreams started with being a mommy of twelve, then a teacher, later a journalist, even later an accountant, a small business owner and finally a doctor of nutritional sciences. Never in my life would I have ever answered, “I want to be a CrossFit coach.”

I have said this before in my older blog posts but I have never really been athletic. It is a running joke in my family that I abhorred being sweaty. It was gross and uncomfortable and made my hair look messy. But obviously all that has changed. I feel like now that I am coaching five classes a day I am living in sweat and I am utterly amazed at how I got here.

I’ll admit that I never gave being a coach a whole lot of merit. It just didn’t seem that difficult to me. But I am completely humbled by all the work that it requires. I am obviously lacking hours under my belt in coaching but everyone has to start somewhere, right? And I think because I lack arrogance in my experience it makes me a better coach because I am constantly reading and learning and diving into more information on how the body moves and functions. I take this job sooooo incredibly seriously because this isn’t just about giving people a list of actions to accomplish to make them sweaty but about knowing how someone with fibromyalgia should scale the workout differently or what mobility workouts someone with a shoulder injury should do, or how someone with adrenal fatigue would need to tweak their nutrition. I feel like I cannot soak up enough information right now and until time ticks by and I finally have a lot of coaching hours logged I am going to take every opportunity to learn all that I can and that means not only doing my own research but taking additional classes.

Our entire coaching staff is actually really crazy stinkin’ excited about all of the CrossFit Certification courses we are signed up for in the next few months. We have Olympic Lifting, Mobility, CrossFit Defense and CrossFit Kids (which is the one I am most excited about and makes me want to do a happy dance.) And on top of the CrossFit cert classes I am still pushing on with school so that hopefully someday I’ll have those pretty letters behind my name. Whew! That made me feel a bit tired all of a sudden! Goodness!

To be honest I may be a little insecure about how I am as a coach. I am really good at book knowledge. I can take tests all day long but putting something into practice is a whole new ball game and for a girl who never even played ball this is unchartered territory. Fortunately for me I have an ABSOLUTLEY INCREDIBLE team. We have several coaches who have experience coaching in other boxes and I am so grateful to be able to rely on their experience when I need some guidance. 

In fact none of this would be possible if it wasn’t for the wonderful people God has surrounded us with. I am in absolute awe that our Core family has not only believed in our purpose and dream for the Hunt County community but they have ripped up carpet, hammered in nails, begrudgingly put in insulation, helped carry our burdens of worry and stress, and covered us in prayer through this whole experience. Levi and I are so humbled by their love and will treasure it always.  The Core and my dream of being able to participate in leading Hunt County in a healthy lifestyle would not have been possible if I was doing this by myself so I want to take just a quick minute and thank my sweet Core team:

To Levi: Sharing this dream with you has been such an incredible adventure already. I love building and creating with you. You make me feel like I could do anything and everything I put my mind to. I feel strong, brave and powerful because of you. I am absolutely in awe of your determination to see the dream come to fruition and it doesn’t go unnoticed that you are the first one up and out the door to your real job and then you put in countless hours at The Core until you crash late at night. You are amazing. Plus you look really incredible in a tool belt…so all of this construction has been totally worth it just for that. J

To Jack and Addie: You two have been amazing in all of this. You have handled all the disappointments of canceling vacations, living on a budget, and spending hours and hours at The Core all in stride. I am in awe of how both of you have embraced Mommy and Daddy’s dream and have made it your own.

To Jim: You were there to guide and challenge me when I needed it the most. Your friendship and loyalty are priceless and Levi and I both appreciate how precious of a gift you are to our family. We have said from the very beginning we did not want to do this without you. Your incredible knowledge, experience, energy for life, true integrity and pure desire to educate people on health and fitness all add up to an incredible man and amazing coach. It gives me such confidence to know you have my six.

To Mom: I cannot thank you enough for helping out with Jack and Addie this summer. At times I am riddled with guilt for not providing the kids a more exciting summer but I am so grateful that they have been able to enjoy being with you and your fun vacation adventure. It also means the world to me that you believe in what we are doing at The Core so much that you have begun to attend our On-Ramp classes. I never thought you would do CrossFit and it gives me assurance in what we are doing at The Core.

To Steve and Karen: You guys have always been there for our family when we needed it the most. You are a rock for Levi and me. Being able to walk across our fields and into your backyard for a chat and some guidance has been such a source of security in our lives. Having your support in our endeavors has given us conviction to continue on and to push forward. You will never know how truly treasured you are in our hearts. We love you.

To Zoe: Thank you for coming up to The Core to watch all of our kiddos. You are such a blessing to all of our lives and I am so grateful you are ours! 

To Haley, CJ, Curtis, Ashley, Christie, Benny, Dustin, Amber, Cleve, Hillery: You guys are our family and I am overwhelmed at the amount of time and effort you have put into our new group project. I truly feel like The Core is yours just as much as it is ours. I have enjoyed our get-togethers, cramming into my kitchen and cooking amazing meals, working out in our teeny Lawson Barn box, hammering nails at The Core, playing with all of our kiddos, and sharing in the excitement. We could not have asked God to surround us with more amazing people.

To our On-Ramp classes: It means the world to me that you took a chance on this new fitness center that hasn’t even opened up yet!!! You all have given me confidence that what we are doing at The Core is special and effective. I cannot express how much pure joy comes from seeing you all walk in looking scared and nervous and then seeing that transformation take place as you realize ‘I can do this!’ You inspire me to be a better coach and to constantly be learning more. I adore you all and are just so stinkin’ proud of the steps you are taking with your fitness and nutrition to be a healthier you so that you can do amazing things with the body God gave you!