A Tribute

June 6, 2011 I walked into the doors of Brazen Athletics as a member and what ensued was a whirlwind of life changing attitudes, experiences and friendships. One experience in particular I want to point out as it directly relates to the meaning behind this blog.

I was in Boston watching the Northeast Regionals at a time when about 37 people gave a shit about watching competitive exercise. I spent some time with longtime friend, Rick Buro, whom I had not seen in a while, and he told me he was opening his own gym in a month. I was floored. Quite honestly, and he knows this, I was impressed.

I’m still impressed.

It’s now 2015 and here I am. Sitting on my couch thinking out loud. Thinking about how unbelievable it is that I’m in the process of writing a blog with an announcement of my own.

I’m opening my own gym. Sorry. Let me revise…

I’m opening my own gym!!!

So where does this blog go from here? Not sure. My fingers are shaking in both excitement and nerves. Grammar and punctuation are now at serious risk and I’m not going to apologize for it. After all, I’m opening my own gym…

…and it’s called Tribute Strength

www.TributeStrength.com

Open Your Door

"Deep down inside that's why I was so emotional yesterday. That's why when I was by myself I had tears in my eyes." - Constantly Learning

In the days prior and shortly after writing that blog I had a ton of people ask me if I would ever do it again. Not the blog – the triathlon. They knew how hard it was for me both physically and emotionally ‘cause, well, I wrote about how hard it was. My answer was always a resounding “absolutely...”

Some called me crazy while others called me a jackass. Despite the fact I may agree with them I’d rather make note those that said things like, “awesome,” “good for you,” and “more power to you.”

I’m a firm believer that if you are going to ask others do something than you better damn well be willing to do them yourself. I’m in the part-time business of asking others to do things that challenge them. Do things that force themselves to face fears. Fears that can be as simple as raising their hand in class amongst a group of people or as commonly frightening as climbing to the rafters of a warehouse with nothing but 20’ of time and space in between them and ¾” floor mats.

That being said, training for the 26th Annual starts tomorrow and if there is one person out there that finds the fact that I am facing an “ultimate fear” inspiring then the second I shut the door on that challenge is the second I’ve shut the door on that one person…

…even if that one person is me.  

Inspiring Enough To...

One thing I like to say and is no secret to anyone is that performance does not inspire me. People do. And these two people inspired me to write about them…

(Writers Note: Have a funny feeling this wont be the last "Inspiring Enough To..." blog)

Over the past couple days each of them has come up to me and told me about different yet similar moments in their lives where they realized CrossFit is panning out for them. One is more mental and the other more physical…and both are perfect examples of what happens when you not just CrossFit but when you do anything hard for an extended period of time.  

First is Hillary. Hillary recently applied for an advanced position at her job against many others whom are older and potentially more experienced. She looks at herself as a long shot but that’s not the point. The realization that a short time ago she would have hesitated at just the thought of applying for this job is the point. She views this to be a direct result of the work she puts in at Brazen and is beginning to understand the idea behind how this crazy crap you do legitimately translate to “real” life. When she told me I could tell she was genuinely proud of herself and that’s inspiring. 

Inspiring enough to write about her.

To some it sounds corny or cliché but the fact remains that it’s true. I’m a living example of it. Hill’ is a living example of it. Others are living examples of it. Walls become easier to overcome the more you overcome them. I get it. I get the realization. I get the eureka moment. This shit is hard and we’re all overcoming the hard together. We should all get it. And if you don’t get it now be patient and you’ll get it soon.

Got it?

The other is Jeffrey. Jeff's eureka moment came the other day after hammering through heavy back squats at, oh, just about 100lbs more than he was doing this time last year. We’ve all been there. That time when you think back and remember what you once thought. “There is no way I’ll ever be able to lift that much weight. If only.” The idea of getting stronger and stronger seems so far-fetched to most and it should. Things you don’t do and never imagined being able to do are always that way. But good things happen when you work towards them. He was jacked up about it and for good reason. The proof is in his journal...and posterior chain. It was awesome to see the smile on his face when he showed me. Big smile from a great guy. His smile was inspiring.

Inspiring enough to write about him. 

The moral of the story is that CrossFit is a combination of mental and physical progression but it's not about how much weight you can snatch. It’s about attempting to snatch in the first place. In Hillary's case it's about applying for the position. Not about whether or not she gets offered the position. In Jeff's case it's the fact he's been going that hard for that long to even see the increase in plate'age. (made that word up). 

Just be a good person and work hard. That’s what counts...and that is what's inspiring.