Kari and I had an idea to start the fitness challenges because we enjoy fitness shenanigans. But there is more to the story of how we came to be.
About 2011 I was struggling to find consistency in my fitness journey. Where I am today is far from where I started. I grew up playing sports and played on a co-ed soccer league after graduating from college. Around the age of 25 I started having trouble maintaining my weight. And by age 30 I felt I was really losing control. I tried training for triathlons and even ran a marathon in 2004. My time was slower than Oprah’s ! (I checked that box and I never have to have that experience again.) By 2011 the weight was packing on and I was really struggling to be consistent working out. I noticed my sweet friend Trinette was very consistent. She was always crushing her workouts and she never seemed to miss. After a few years of wondering how she was doing it, I started thinking, if I want habits like Trinette, I need to BE like Trinette so I joined a CrossFit Box (gym). In 2013 I walked into CrossFit New Species and to say I was intimidated was an understatement. I think the second class I went to, people were literally flying around on rings and climbing ropes they were badass and I was scared. Knowing I had waisted years of money on various gym memberships, I did not have much faith in myself that I would actually go to the classes once I joined. I finally confided in my husband, #NoButter, that I was going to try it and if I did not go 5 days a week to make it worth our investment, I would quit. CrossFit New Species had classes from the wee hours of the morning to late night, so there really was no excuse for me to miss. On the days I wanted to skip, I would ask myself what would Trinette do? Well, she would pack it up and go to a class, so that is what I did. After a year of classes, I had averaged going 4-5 days per week. So the next year, I committed to averaging 5 days and hit that target as well. By the third year, I realized how ingrained planning and making time to go to the gym had become part of my routine. I was developing a solid habit.
As the years passed, I incorporated figuring out my nutrition (that is a different journey in itself), started competing in Masters weightlifting and became a CrossFit and Olympic weightlifting coach. Kari and I have been friends for multiple lifetimes at this point and had crossed fitness paths on multiple occasions. About this time, Kari was looking for something new, she had been following my consistency and success and she was really drawn to lifting heavy and dipped her toe in the CrossFit classes with me. She is the first to admit, that there were a number of BS stories she created for why she didn't continue to come, and alas consistency eluded her. In early 2020, at her heaviest weight, and still chasing the elusive consistency she contacted me about needing to train for a race, and needed an accountability buddy. As she is the other half of #teamlifelong and exactly the reason I enjoy coaching so much #challenge , I came across a Snow Moon run where we could walk/run/ruck a 5K together. Rucking was our answer because it felt like more than a walk and not as, IMO, gross as a run. We solved most of the worlds problems while we rucked through those moonlit woods and on the ride home, she mentioned she missed the CrossFit type work outs and the weights and the muscles and walking with weight was AMAZING. I suggested she look into Street Parking, knowing it was a program that had options for people with minimal equipment and could be done at home. (removing external roadblocks to consistency, she'll regale you with a host of internal blocks but that's for another day ) Kari joined the next day and by August, I couldn't resist, based on what she was posting and decided to join for a month. That month has turned into almost 2 years of us, consistently, sharing fitness shenanigans.
How does this relate to D2FitnASS you ask? Stick with me, I am getting there. We were meeting on a regular basis to workout in my garage and our warm-ups went from walking, to adding weight, to actually pulling out the rucks on a regular basis. In all honestly, I think it was a way to get out of running but along the way Kari and I fell in love with Rucking. We found a local ruck event in May 2021, it wasn't just walking with weight there was squatting and burpees and hills and it was empowering. We were inspired to make that feeling accessible to everyone. Here is the grand finale I promised !! Fast forward another year and one morning, this spring, whilst rucking we came up with the idea to start a patch company. We are always signing up for challenges that come with trinkets (patches, tokens, medals etc) and we were both, in that moment, there because we were inspired by a "fit" friend to make solid changes and our lives have been forever changed because of them. We truly want this feeling for everyone! It just made sense to join our strengths (design and coaching) to create a monthly fitness challenge, inspired by that aforementioned empowering feeling, that people of all skill and fitness levels could join. Our hope is these challenges act as a catalyst for you and your friends to begin your own fitness journey. Whether you are fitnessing for the first time, need a jump to begin again or want to supplement what you already do, contrary to what we are lead to believe it doesn't need to be a grand gesture with a lot of gear and $ and preparation. The work has been done for you just put on some shoes and walk out the door. Fitness challenges are a fun way to connect with friends and maybe even jumpstart something great. And why the patches? Because fitnessing for swag makes it more fun !
So grab your friend! They can be super fit, not fit or anywhere in between and commit to the challenge. The only thing standing in your way is you, and you never know who you are inspiring !
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