Because my Beloved Gym has Closed Down

Leave a comment October 27, 2015 drworobec

Over the years, you’ve heard me write about my gym many, many times. Okay, many, many, many times. And that’s what I’m going to do again today, but this time there’s a twist:

Because my beloved gym has closed down.

There was a member’s meeting last week and we were told that the gym was closing and we were being transferred to another CrossFit gym nearby. Everyone’s making the switch; coaches, therapists, and members alike. We are all moving over. So the reality is, while the four walls of our gym have ceased to be, the important parts remain.

Some of you may be reading this and thinking “what’s the big deal?” But, you see, my gym is not just a gym- it’s my safe place and my stress relief. My friendships and my sweat, my inspiration and my accomplishments. If you’re a member, you’ll agree. If you’re a CrossFitter, you’ll agree. Because that’s what makes CrossFit great….. the community.

I’ve been a member at CrossFit Altitude from its very beginnings, back when five people was a busy class and no one had yet mastered double-unders or pullups. I joined in January 2010, anxious to feel like myself again after the birth of my first child. After a couple weeks of ranting and raving about what an amazing thing I’d found, my husband tried it out and was also hooked from the start.

So what is it that has kept me coming back, usually in the dark, cold morning hours before 6:00am, year after year? Well, the getting in shape and enjoying newfound strength and skills certainly help. But that’s not it. Not really. It’s the people.

This is the place that rallies around battles with cancer, losses of loved ones, of families broken apart and families rebuilt. This is the place where I have sobbed silently, mid-workout, as my worries and stresses melt away with my efforts. This is the place where I went after my miscarriage, in the depths of my sadness, to start to heal. This is the place that I brought my new baby girl, barbells crashing and music blaring, to get back to being me. This is the place where I’ve met some of the most wonderful people, the most wonderful friends, the most wonderful parts of my life. And while this place is no longer, what it stands for still is. What it is capable of, still is. What it does, still is.

Change is tricky and tough, but familiarity only comes with time. And so we will give it time. We will find our new normals, our new routines, and new ways to challenge ourselves daily, just as we always have. And in the process, we will expand our community, grow our community, and continue to rally and support and comfort and nurture and improve. Our community has doubled, and so too have our opportunities.

Thank you, Jen.

3-2-1 Go.

For Mark Freeman

Leave a comment August 18, 2015 drworobec

We went to a friend’s 40th birthday party on Saturday night. He’s a Phys Ed teacher, and it was a costume party- the theme being Phys Ed wear through the ages. You can imagine the hysterical possibilities.

“Why don’t you ever blog about me?” he asked me. “Not even a shout-out?”

“You got a shout-out when the Burlington flood happened,” I responded (you can read that here).

“Yah, but that wasn’t about me, that was about the flood,” he said.

Fair point.

So to you, Mark Freeman, I dedicate this entire blog post. Happy birthday my friend. Allow me to get sappy:

Mark and his wife Jacquie have become wonderful friends of ours over the last ten years. They are the kind of people who you can count on. The kind of people who come through when it really matters. The kind of people who offer to help you move, who pop by unannounced for an afternoon visit, who bring you fuzzy pajamas and cozy slippers when you’re strugging the most (true story).

We love you, Mark Freeman, and we hope you had a great birthday party. Wishing you many, many more years of health and happiness!

Now how’s that for a shout-out?!

148577-Happy-Birthday-Im

The World Needs More Girlfriends

2 Comments April 14, 2015 drworobec

This one is written with my female readers in mind. Not that men don’t need/value friendship as much as women, but I’m writing from a place of personal experience, and that experience comes from a female background.

The world needs more girlfriends. I was in my car this morning, running around amongst school drop-offs and library pickups and patient appointments, and this statement rang out in my brain like a bell. The world needs more girlfriends. More specifically, we all need more girlfriends. More connection. More support. More friendship. In fact, I had a different blog post all polished up and ready to go today; but this statement came so quickly and so clearly, that I felt it needed some attention. The world needs more girlfriends.

I’ve always been lucky enough to have a large circle of friends. I moved from small-town Alberta to bigger small-town Alberta when I was ten years old, and one of my most vivid memories of early childhood is the ‘going-away’ party that was held for me when we moved- it included sitting around in a circle of my closest girlfriends, crying, listening to ‘Every Rose Has its Thorn.’ Quite the visual, right? And it’s no secret that my Junior High and High School experience centred around my friend Sarah, who’s still my foundation, 25 years later. My University days brought me my other sounding board, Shannon, and our friendship has spanned the distance of miles and time changes. And CMCC, the four-year all-in-or-all-out program that uprooted my life and moved me across the country, gave me friendships that I lean on daily.

Lifelong friends.

So when I moved to Burlington in 2004, and then finished school in 2006, it was the first time in my life when I found myself not surrounded by girlfriends who knew me; the real, authentic me. I was starting my practice, living in a city that didn’t feel like home, and my closest friends were a phone call and a plane ride away. I remember lamenting to my husband that I felt lonely and isolated, and I just needed more friends….

The world needs more girlfriends. And I found some. I grew roots. I met people. I built my practice, I joined a running club, I started CrossFit, I moved to a new neighbourhood, and my circle began to expand. Now I have those go-for-coffee friends that I so longed for ten years ago. I have those come-over-in-my-sweatpants friends and those listening-ear friends, those go-for-a-walk friends and those can-you-do-me-a-favour friends.

And yes, I still have all those friends I mentioned at the start, who are still a phone call and a plane ride away. And they mean the world to me too.

xo.