Looking Up From The Bench

This post will be a little different but it is on my mind! A lot of professional athletes have sponsors to help support their training and dreams. I got to thinking this week about certain situations that occurred where I felt incredibly supported by those around me. I genuinely feel a need to share some anecdotes about just how many “sponsors” I have. This post is by no means an exhaustive list of everyone or even everything that I have in this regard. It might not even be the most entertaining. It’s just some stand out moments from this week that highlight the army of people in my life that believe in me and are willing to go out of their way to support my training and lifestyle.   MY PARENTS go above and beyond to support me living my dream. They certainly don’t have to help as much as they do, they choose to. They believe in my ability to, with time, get where I need to be. They never complain about making sacrifices if this means they are helping me pursue my passion. ...

I think most of us feel a sense of nostalgia or reflection upon an anniversary that marks a significant change in our lives. One of these occurred for me this week as my brother’s birthday took place once again on September 15 th . This year marking what would have been his 30 th birthday. This naturally brings up some emotions and there were two streams in particular I wanted to share; most of my focus on the latter. First, I felt a sense of loss, fear, and worry about the future. What will happen as I get older? What if I am alone? What if I don’t have the help I need? He will not be here to conquer life with and has left me by myself. While I am independent in a lot of ways, I certainly rely on others maybe more than the normal person my age. So, this is scary. I think these thoughts sometimes occur as I realize that I am experiencing more and more life without him. The memories I have of our precious times together seem more distant, not just because time has passed, but ...

I know I haven’t blogged for quite some time. I’ve thought about it on numerous occasions. But somehow, I would always talk myself out of it, and determine what I had to say was not relevant, important, or worthwhile. However, I don’t know how I could have made such a determination when in the very least, the catharsis of writing and sharing helps me tremendously. So, I am making an effort to be more open about sharing and not letting fear or comparing thoughts shy me away from it. My training has been going very well these past few weeks. I finally feel I have mentally turned a bit of corner, and as such physically I have been feeling much better. On Monday, I was thinking about a workout I performed that day which had a lot of burpees. I would say in general, burpees are a CrossFit movement the vast majority of people dislike, or in the very least are not at the top of their favorite list. However, for me, they are one of my favorites. I was thinking about why this is the cas...