Crossfit Community, Raising Awareness, & Breast Cancer Research

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and although I have celebrated it in years past with Race for the Cure runs, Barbell for Boobs crossfit workouts, and other events, it's obviously my first year as an actual breast cancer fighter and survivor. It sure makes it a lot more special...and fun! First I need to say one thing in honor of it being Breast Cancer Awareness Month- ladies, check your boobs. Like seriously, your yearly is not enough. It may be scary, it may give you slight anxiety but I promise you, it's better to discover something earlier than later. And obviously age doesn't matter.

This October we didn't only take part in a beast cancer event. On October 3rd and 4th, Sopris Crossfit hosted the Move Mountains event with Jenny Labaw to raise awareness and money for epilepsy. Jenny is running 500 miles across Colorado and we were the halfway point for her. We had a 2 day event that consisted of a silent auction-full of lots of goodies, including signed swag from Games athletes.

Tony & I rocking our signed gear from Aja Barto & Sam Briggs

We also had multiple workouts with Kevin Ogar, Michelle Kinney, Becky Conzelman and Jenny coaching us.

But more importantly, and what really inspired me were the people that came together to talk about epilepsy. From the parents of the 5 year old living with epilepsy, to John, the gentlemen that is hiking Colorado 14ers as his way of sharing his story, to Jenny and her inspiring life and journey.  Click HERE To access Jenny's blog.

Jenny sharing her story

What sparked my curiosity was when I heard that 1 in 26 people have epilepsy. I realized that I definitely have over 26 close friends, yet none of them have voiced that they are living with epilepsy. Is it because they aren't, or is it because they've never told me?

If it is the latter, what is their reasoning? Are they ashamed, embarrassed or scared? Is it because there has never been an "appropriate" time to discuss it? Whatever their reasoning, it's obviously their call. But as I watch and read about Jenny's journey it made me wonder if more people did share their stories, would there be more support to help those with this fight? Of course, it then made me think about breast cancer. I feel so fortunate and thankful to have a type of cancer that is so well known, discussed, researched and supported. But I know it wasn't always like this. I am thankful to the hundreds and thousands of women and men that were diagnosed before me that were open about their fight. If everyone kept it to themselves, there wouldn't be as much research, money and understanding of breast cancer. There may not be the chemo that saved my life. So thank you to all the people that are brave enough to share their stories, for whatever fight they are going through. And thank you Jenny for inspiring me. On Monday the 19th she finishes her 500 mile journey. That is the day I will be in surgery and I know during the rough moments of that day I will be thinking of what she has gone through and it will inspire me to deal with any pain I may be experiencing.

Community of Crossfit: 
While following Jenny's blog, she mentioned a book called Hope RX which is written by Kelly Anne Graham.  It's full of short stories submitted by crossfitters around the world that have overcome hardships. Everything from epilepsy, to cancer, from obesity to rare diseases. It's a great book that I highly recommend and you can find it on Amazon! The theme of the book is how crossfit helped them through these hardships. Obviously you know my story would fit right in there with theirs.

But what continuously brought me to tears throughout the book is the community concept of crossfit. A lot of people who don't crossfit assume we do it just to get a good workout in. But for most of us, we know it's more than that. We may have begun our crossfit life because of the workouts, but if you have a good box, you know it quickly became something much more.

Slowly, you make friends with your fellow crossfitters. How can you not? You are probably spending multiple hours a week with these people. That may not seem like a lot but how many hours each and every week do you spend with your best friend (assuming they aren't a crossfitter :))? So the friendships start to build.

As your friendships build, the comraderie within the gym increases. You have more like minded people connecting. Together you sweat, you suffer, you may want to puke and die at times.

Tony & Tito sweating and suffering

But together you also have huge accomplishments, hitting PRs, motivating one another, and also pushing each other. I know my closest crossfit friends push me to go harder. I'm not going to let them beat me! But when they do, I'm still all smiles and high fives (our high fours in my case).

High Fours!

Tito is so stoked for Tony!

Then your gym rallies behind the comraderie that has developed. They host fun events, both inside and outside of the gym and you become more and more connected and these people, this place, they become your family.

You have your own language you share. Your own values and ideals. You even have your own diet....that some people may share. There is literature, videos, sporting events <----a lot of those, and even your own fashion-lulu and reebok scored on that one. The culture of crossfit is infectious and if you are new crossfitter, just wait for it to hit you. Usually you know when you buy your first pair of Nanos.

If you want to see the community of crossfit in full force- go check out a fundraising event or a competition.

If you have the chance to compete with a team, do it!

I love this photo- take a moment to look at all the people in it and what they're doing and feeling!

Or be there the day someone gets their first muscleup. Stop in to a gym when they are doing their open workouts and watch as everyone cheers for not just the best crossfitters, but everyone. One of my most favorite moments this past open season was watching a fellow crossfitter get her first unassisted pullup. And the next week she did a workout with no assistance and it had over 50 pullups. I was so inspired and stoked!

The excitement they have for the athlete that just accomplished something huge in their open workout is so awesome!

But what I have really loved to see and be apart of is how this all leads to one amazing community of crossfit. From local gyms rallying behind their members going through hardships (which I have very much appreciated in my own life), to the coaches of those gyms that take extra care with their clients. I've read and seen so many amazing stories of adaptive athletes going to a crossfit box and having the coach spend hours of time and energy on finding the right modifications for them to be able to crossfit.

What has been really special this month is watching all the gyms put on events to raise money for different causes. From my box, Sopris Crossfit joining forces with Jenny Labaw to raise over $7000 for epilepsy. To this past weekend where I competed in a Barbells for Boobs event at a friend's box in Avon, Colorado. It was so fun to see all the men and women coming out in all their pink gear to raise money for a nonprofit dedicated to the early detection of breast cancer. And, the other team from Sopris was put together by my good friend Lynn Mirriam aka "Snack mom". Lynn had these super awesome shirts made for her team and Tony and myself that say "For the Love of Kelli". Not only are the shirts Lulu...which you know my love for Lululemon....but it was so kickass for them to have this as their team name.

And in a few weeks, Crossfit Fireside out of Meridian, Idaho (close to my hometown) is hosting a very special event that I am so excited about.

I was only able to attend Crossfit Fireside once while I was back in Idaho last year. But once was enough to consider myself a friend of the owners. They are great people, with a wonderful gym and a really good community in their box. In September the owner, Catie, reached out to me to ask if they could raise money to an organization I suggested for their October Breast Cancer Awareness event. I recommended the Breast Cancer Research Foundation because as they state on their website: "The foundation advances the world's most promising research to eradicate breast cancer in our lifetime. By spending 91 cents of every dollar on research and public awareness, BCRF remains one of the nation's most fiscally responsible charities. We currently support more than 200 researchers around the globe who are dedicated to six critical areas of focus- tumor biology, heredity & ethnicity, treatment, survivorship and mestasis- ensuring we learn more about breast cancer at every stage."

Well Catie ran with the recommendation and is putting on an amazing event on October 24, 2015. I am so thankful she asked me to be apart of this event and already I have been brought to tears by the people donating, raising money and being involved. One of Crossfit Fireside's members, whom I have never met in person, has a son that decided to be apart of this fundraising event in his own way. 4 year old Marco decided to sell lemonade one afternoon with the goal of raising $60 for the event. Well, Marcus raised over $140! I am so impressed with him not only for surpassing his goal, but at 4 years old to be thinking about something like this! How cool is that dude??

Click HERE to see the facebook page of the event. And click HERE if you want to donate to our fundraising page. Every dollar counts! And if you are in the Boise area on 10/24/15- go to Crossfit Fireside to check out this awesome event. I would make the drive back to Boise just for this event if I could. Unfortunately though, it will be 5 days after my surgery so I won't be able to make it.

I'm also so excited for Halloween this year! Tony and I usually try to escape for Halloween because we suck at costumes. But this year, Sopris Crossfit is hosting an internal comp to raise money for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.  And to make it even more fun, for every dollar you donate, you get to hand out 1 burpee to a coach (remember, my dear hubby is a coach there ;)). I took a quick glance at the signup sheet today and was so impressed with all the athletes that are coming out on Oct. 31st to support and raise money. Thank you!

Anyways, to recap my random thoughts. If you are struggling with some hardships of your own, and you feel comfortable enough (which you should!) to share your story, do! It could make a big difference in someone's life...including your own. Join a local crossfit box and know you are joining a family and the best community ever. Lastly, thank you everyone for all your continued support and for donating your time, money, or even sharing our fundraising efforts! And here's some fun quotes I recently read and thought they were worth sharing. :)