
Editor’s Note: I’ve crossed paths with Sheila occasionally on a Masters Athlete CrossFit page on Facebook. When she won a copy of Learning to Breathe Fire and I asked her if she’d like to share a little bit about her “CrossFit Life”. I posted Sheila’s text without editing a single word. And I included her favorite pictures.
I saw Cross Fit for the first time in 2010 and knew immediately it was for me. My kids were young and budget tight, so I started in my garage using what I had: frozen turkey in a pillowcase for KBS, my ladder for squats, thrusters, dog leashes over the I-beam for ring rows, dips, etc.; a very Barney Fife approach to functional fitness!
Fall of 2014 I sought out a weightlifting coach and was smitten. I kept up with a scaled CrossFit program but was working more on weightlifting.

Currently, I’m on a road-to-recovery program for shoulder surgeries, grateful every day that I can still do what I love.
The attached photos are the closest thing to beast mode that I’ve got:) The first is my favorite memory-I was in a partners comp and we’d just finished a brutal wod that we put our whole heart into and left everything out on the floor.
The second picture is the same comp but I have a face:)
Note: I did take the liberty of hijacking one more photo from her Facebook page.
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Thanks Sheila, your story is inspirational.
Join the growing Defiant Wellness Tribe!
Thanks for sharing, Chuck (and Sheila!)
With November coming up…I’m thinking about a joint marketing effort to put out ButterBell turkeys (that must be kept frozen until at least the Saturday after Thanksgiving, so they can be used for the Friday post-holiday WOD) ; )
Sheila’s primitive garage gym speaks volumes about her eagerness and her determination to overcome obstacles. Definitely a “Can Do” attitude.