It’s been about a year since we’ve opened the gym. People have come and gone, lots have stayed. But sometimes life gets in the way, and things happen and you stop working out. I get that – I try not to judge and always give people the benefit of the doubt. In fact, when people stop coming, I don’t automatically think “Oh no! Less gym fees!!” I’m actually thinking that I wish the person would’ve stuck with this longer because I truly believe it’s good for them…
Which brings me to Jim Smith. I met Jim last year, right about when we opened the place (not exactly sure when) but about a year ago. Jim was doing the whole ‘bootcamp’ thing but was always kind of just waiting around for an affiliate to open close to him. As soon as we opened he went through intros and was immediately hooked. He is an extremely valuable trainer for MCCF as he is CF Level 1 certified, CFE certified and also certified in CrossFit Nutrition. Not to mention an all around good guy.
Did I mention that Jim is nearly 49! Not that that’s old, but he is the oldest member of MCCF…
Where am I going with this? Here’s where…Sometimes poeple stop working out and for good reason. Shit happens right? People get busy, they have jobs, they have kids, they have injuries, there’s no showers at MCCF so they can’t work out before work, whatever the reason…That’s fine! But I’m a bit emotional, and when I hear stuff, I can’t immediately control my thoughts. And so when people tell me this stuff, I often think of Jim Smith.
Why?
Are you busy with work? Jim is a Director of Strategic Planning at OnStar – I think once you reach that level, you have no choice but to be focused and goal oriented in your career…Not to mention that jobs like that don’t get done in 40 hours per week.
Do kids make it impossible for you? Jim has 3 of them. Smarty pants Engineering student Zack is away at college (NMU – Keep working on your Oly lifts Z!) right now but Jim also has 2 other kids (Meg/Cam), one in middle school and one in High School – All 3 of them are very smart, have great personalities and are genuinely good kids – I mean, he has to be a good Dad then right??
What about an injury?
Don’t get me started!!
Jim had a Type IV SLAP Tear. The labrum is cartilage that goes 360 degrees around the shoulder joint attached to the bone to hold the shoulder in the socket. He tore off the top 180 degrees of this cartilage off the bone and also split the bicep tendon. All of this torn-off stuff then fell into the joint (The falling into the joint moves it to a Type III, and the torn bicep tendon moves it to a Type IV – which is the most severe type of SLAP tears).
I’m pretty sure Jim hurt himself trying to do a TGU with his wife or something but that’s besides the point. CrossFit is funny. Once you are doing it for a while you really start to change your mindset, you start realizing what your capable of and you don’t want to ‘lose it’. Which is why it’s so ‘addicting’. People look in their log books in amazement sometimes and they can’t believe how far they’ve come. I love this. It shows not only how far they’ve come but their dedication and will power. A major injury can derail this sort of thinking. I could totally understand somebody with Jim’s type of injury taking a few weeks off, and those few weeks turning into a month and so on. Then, once you think about going back to the gym you get discouraged and just say forget it because you wasted all of that hard work out put in for the past 8 months.
But here’s what Jim did a few days after having several screws put into the shoulder to tack the labrum back to the bone. Which holds it in place so that the cartilage will hopefully re-attach itself to the bone….He ran a CF Endurance running clinic.
For somebody as intense a Jim, 6 months of rehab would’ve been nearly impossible…after about a week of rest he was back after it. Doing 1 arm wall push-ups, single arm KB snatch and C&Js. 1 arm 8 lb wall balls, box step ups (instead of jumps). Probably the funniest thing I ever saw was Jim doing a 1 arm row/1 arm deadlift workout.
I have absolutely NO idea if I (or anybody) could’ve done what he did, to push through these workouts and to stay on track through a major injury like that, and I hope to never find out. If something like that does happen to me though – I’m going to shoot for Jim, even if I fall a bit short, I think I will be fine.
Can’t work out because there are no showers at MCCF??
Don’t get me started…
This all came from a shower comment?????
No.
Great writing JD. You are funny. And YES…………Jim is such and inspiration!!! I love to see what he comes up with as subs in the WOD so he can get the MOST out of it without hurting his shoulder.
Jim, have you done a one handed hand stand push up?
T-Bone dont get me started!!!!!!!
JD, great piece. You should be published more often on the main site.
As for Jim, he is pure inspiration. Here’s a guy more than 10 years older than me and he consistently challenges me in each workout. Keep up the great work Jim. Thanks for everything.
JD, that was a great post…
Simply put – Jim, you are amazing. I’m so glad I have met you & had the opportunity to workout with you.
MCCF would not be the same w/out you there.
You have taught me a great deal & have pushed me to achieve goals that I thought I could not obtain.
You are a true inspiration… What can I say: You da best!
Great article, JD!
And as for you Jim – your dedication and hard work is inspriational! I am still waiting for the one-armed Jim Smith WOD to show up on the whiteboard so we can all see firsthand how hard you are working!
Thanks for the kind words JD, Joanna, and Tom. MCCF has been so much fun for me. Right when I started, the group there quickly felt like family. The workouts our great, but it is the people that make it so special. I certainly would not be able to have anywhere near as intense of workouts, or as much fun, working out alone – or at a big, anonymous gym. The way everyone encourages each other there is just fantastic.
On a side note, I did not realize I’m the oldest member of the gym. It is definitely time to institute an age handicap, don’t you think? Just like we have a Men Rx and a Women Rx, how about an AARP Rx?
Carey and Cara, I just saw your posts after I wrote mine. Thanks so much for your notes. It use to be a challenge for me to try to keep up with you two. Now you have become so strong and fit, I have given up trying to keep up, It is fantastic to see how far you have both come. The amazing part is, you both are still improving at such a fast rate, it is almost scary to think how incredibly fit you are going to be in 2010. You really make the 6AM workouts a blast.
JD…great writing…..
Jim….like Tom said, keep doing what you are doing, cause it is an inspiration….
as for the AARP Rx, as the second oldest guy in the gym I am all for it….
miss you all….in TX this week.
Great piece JD and an amazing tribute to Jim’s hard work and dedication. As one who may have appeared to have fallen off the wagon I can speak first hand on how hard it is try and overcome some of the bumps in the road that we all face when trying to incorporate fitness into our life. The fact is you can’t just compare two people and wonder why it works for him and not for another. Each family has it own set of challenges and dynamics that come into play on why one person succeeds and another person fails. In my situation I’m faced with some pretty huge obstacles and that is why I haven’t been attending regular classes at the gym, but I can guarantee you that everyday I am making decisions that will get me back to crossfit full time. I guess my two cents is to try to look at the big picture vs. someones lack of attendance. The great thing about crossfit is that the owners do care and that combined with the most effective workouts I have ever experienced is what makes the gym a true success not just for the owners but for the members as well.
I see what you are saying Catherine – and like I said, many, if not all, start out with the plan that it is going to be a lifestyle change. But things don’t often work out that way.
I’ve started plenty of ‘workout plans’ multiple times and failed and can identitfy with anybody’s reasoning.
The minute it changes is when it no longer is a choice. Has that happened for me? I hope so. Only time will tell.