CrossFit L1 certification at Reston Crossfit- July 2011

It’s true — you can now call me Coach Steph! Has a nice ring to it don’t you think. The truth is it’s only the beginning. I have lots to learn and now I have to shadow some experienced coaches to really learn how to Coach. And i think I have said this before –what I really want to focus on is CrossFit Kids. Helping Kids develop a healthy foundation is really important to all of us –and I love to see and learn about how they approach it all.  That’s my next goal –CF Kids cert.

I took a ton of notes from my cert class and will be sharing what I have learned over the next week or so. I am so inspired not only by the info I learned, but the people I met. The team of coaches that ran the cert were top-notch. Very experienced, bad ass athletes who know how to train all fitness levels. And maybe it was just in my head, but they really took time to get to know your name and coach to your strengths.

During the course of the weekend we did Fran, a team WOD (8m kb swings, push-ups, 400m run), Pull up clinic, Muscle up clinic and muscle snatch clinic- in addition to learning and practicing the 9 Foundational Movements of CrossFit – 1)dead lift, 2)sumo deadlift high pull, 3)clean, 4)squat, 5)front squat, 6)overhead squat, 7)press, 8)push press, 9)push jerk. The weekend went like this —

DAY 1:  intro, lecture, get up and move, lecture, practice, lecture, practice, lunch, lecture, practice, lecture, practice — Fran 8:20 (35lb, jumping p-ups)

DAY 2:  welcome, review, practice, nutrition lecture, pull up clinic, Team WOD (w/warmup), lunch, programming lecture, muscle up clinic/muscle snatch — TEST time — 1h later, goodbye and find out if you passed.

And no time during the weekend, did I feel that I didn’t belong there or couldn’t be counted among the athletes. Coaches Nicole and Christmas were especially inspiring to me. As I said my goodbyes to them — I shared a bit about my blog and story and I just can’t even describe how  much it meant to me that they really took the time to listen and get what I am about. I actually started to tear up when sharing –there is something very FULL CIRCLE for me about getting this cert.

Although I had been doing HIIT training at my first bootcamp — it was at CrossFit Reston that I took my first official CrossFit class. I even wrote about them back in Feb 2010. So to get my certification here — and see Jeff and Maggie as a part of it, was emotional for me. I don’t know if anyone out there gets it — the redefinition of who I am is huge for me. I was not athlete Steph growing up and in fact if you would have told me about the way I am now — I would have laughed and said  – yeah right, you have the wrong person. Move on —

I really know in my heart of hearts, that I have found my passion. My whole life I have always wondered why I didn’t have a hobby or something i was into — and here I am, 40 years old and found it a short 3 years ago.  Goes to show you – you are never too late to learn how to cartwheel, create a new you, or commit to being the best you. Sounds awfully schmultzy doesn’t it.  I just realize that if I can do this — anyone can and want to help the younger generation do it before they have all the other life pressures to contend with.

I have come a long way baby!