I was sent this email the other day, it might have been in response to this facebook post of mine:
Right now is the moment that leaves me wondering why, why do I do this? My practice is all that I really need, but now at 10:45 I am finally heading home after loading a truck full of obstacles two times, and there are still things to be loaded back at the site of the race. The truck is filled completely waiting to be unloaded, the expenses were so high that there was really no value financially to run this event. But as I think about the day, the reasons are plentiful, and they are so worthy the sacrifice. I had a woman tell me that she overcame fears that she’s had for 30 years, and that even though she had been able to get fit over the last couple years in order to do a race like this, she hadn’t been able to escape fears that it wouldn’t last or that she would slip back into poorer health. She Said she felt stronger than she has in a long time. She was one of many incredible comments, yet hers alone would’ve been enough. Now to sleep and back to adjusting my peeps in the morning!
I imagine he may have seen this, and felt like building me up some would be good. I appreciated it, but the reality is, I don’t do much. I just speak truth. It is easy, to speak truth continually. The hard part is for people to move. See how he moved:
Dr. Eric,
I did not make it in on Sunday to volunteer, I wanted to let you know it was only because my knee was so swollen I could barely walk. What I want to do is thank you though. Last year I was in about the worst shape of my life. I had started a version of Crossfit at WOW in January and it lasted till about the end of March. So 3 months of working out a couple days a week was about it for me starting in 2006. My wife knows how competitive I am and she saw a deal on Living Social for the 2012 Firebreather Challenge and signed me up. I came to the challenge all by myself not knowing a soul there and started to run. Someplace around the tarp obstacle I ran into you and we talked for a brief minute. You encouraged me to keep moving. I ran into you again at the break point for the short and long course. By that point I had walked a great deal of the course hills and was beat. You pushed me in the direction of the long course and talked to me for a short time about the Garage and Crossfit. Long story short is I finished the long course and walked a huge portion of it. no other way I could have done it. I was close to 280 pounds and had not run in years.
In the interim I joined the Garage in Mid December. I love the friends and fun I have met and had. I have done 3 competitions so far. The Festivus, the Girls, and the WWW Aftermath. I even did the WWW in the Masters RX division! I even did the Crossfit Open to get a baseline for the future. I have worked with Aubrey and Justin on my diet with the Nutrition Challenge in May and have lost 40 pounds. Some of my strength has gone with it but I feel so much better. I am eating clean now with the exception of a cheat day here and there but 99% of the time I eat clean. I would have never really known about all this without you talking to me last summer while I struggled through the FireBreather. It meant a lot then and this weekend really made me think back to last year.
I came to this Firebreather just hoping I could run half the time without stopping. I surprised myself. I ran the whole race! I may not have run as fast as my two team mates Conrad and Sean, but I ran… I finished all the obstacles pretty fast and the best part was my two team mates were waiting for me at the finish line cheering me in.
The volunteering really made the weekend. I came out and helped some on Friday night after work and then from the end of my race on Saturday morning till 4:45 at the cargo net cliff. I had to leave though cause my wife was flying in from Chicago and her flight landed at 5pm and I had to pick her up at the airport. Thank goodness the baggage return was broken cause it gave me time to leave Rope Mill at 4:50 and get to the airport with out her having to wait on me. I talked to so many people and families at the cargo net that were having so much fun. Some travelled from Florida and Alabama just for this race. I saw people do things they did not think they could do. So many came through and asked to find a way around the net, they were scared of heights, they were scared of water, whatever the reason was for them to be scared they did it! I helped, their friends helped, even strangers helped. It was great to see all the friendship and teamwork. I got to give racers tips this year. Who would have thought that would happen.
In closing I wanted to thank you for the encouragement last year and the fun experience this year. I know you probably hear it a lot, but I wanted you to hear it from me. It has made a difference in my life and health. Thanks
Joseph J. Croce III
Joe the recent World Wide WOD Competition
So why did I say “your responsibility” in the title of this article? Because most of you have been through so much of this, you have been educated, you have changed your lives, you have altered reality for yourselves and your families. So guess what, the next time a Joe comes running by, you need to be the one to stop and encourage.
I guarantee you, that after Joe has accomplished all that he has, he would stop and encourage, he would educate and he would lead someone to water. So that they might quench the thirst for a healthier path. You need to do it to… now!
The 60 Day Turnaround, it is coming, you better be ready. It will be a la carte, so you can add detox testing, dunk truck testing, BIA testing, CrossFit classes and recipe nights; you will all get the workshops, the shopping excursions, and more!
Be well and Be blessed! You got this! – Dr. E