Tom Ray

Joining Widespread Fitness set me on a life-changing journey of finding strength; self-confidence; and incredible community. A lifelong athlete and runner, I needed strength training but found it boring on my own. Through fun, varied, effective workouts, CrossFit hooked me in immediately. After losing my legal role in a company layoff and then my sister to cancer in the same year, I examined how I wanted to write my next chapter. I felt a pull to coach, no doubt inspired by my late sister, Tracey, an avid supporter of my dedication to fitness. She told me I should be a personal trainer to help others lacking knowledge about working out and confidence in their physical abilities. In her final months, she wished she did more to keep fit. Her words stick with me, and I see every workout as something I get to do, not something I have to do. Becoming a coach allows me to honor Tracey by giving others support on their path to being fitter and overall healthier. For me, coaching is part of making the most of this, in the words of Mary Oliver, “one wild and precious life.” Helping others find the strength within them and realize the mental and emotional benefits of fitness feels purposeful and connective.

The questions ‘what does CrossFit mean to me’ and ‘Why do I want to be a coach’ come down to a simple quote that I immediately thought of. “It’s not the years in your life that count, it’s the life in your years.” – Dr. Edward J. Stieglitz
He wrote that in a book on longevity, and I believe that CrossFit has added life to my years and is responsible to adding life to the years of countless people and will continue to do so for many years. I have more life in my years because I’m more physically fit, because I have developed a habit of working out 4 times a week, because I track macros and count calories and because I don’t have to figure out what I’m going to do in my workouts. I feel better, I’m able to be more active with my family and friends, and I’m generally happier than I would be otherwise. And that’s all because of CrossFit. I thought about exploring coaching a while ago because I thought it would be a good way to develop my knowledge of the sport as well as help me develop coaching skills that jobs that I want in the future are looking for. Becoming a coach has given me experience with managing different personalities, meeting people where they are, motivating people in the most effective way and advance my understanding
of this sport and fitness in general. But more importantly, I add different energy, experience, capability, and level of respect to the coaching team.

Our wealth is our health…I truly believe there is no better investment any of us can make than in our mental and physical health.   Living an active, healthy lifestyle enables us to get more out of life and live it to the fullest.    As a lifelong runner, I came to Widespread looking to find balance in my fitness by building strength and power.  What I found was a community of people who motivate, encourage and support one another inside and outside the gym.  Coaching at Widespread gives me the opportunity to help our athletes on their journeys toward health and fitness.  Learning new movements, improving technique and hitting PRs motivates athletes of any age, and it’s critical for those of us who want to continue growing.   Life is better together, but life is rich and full when you are healthy and fit.

As I have reached my mid-40s, my desire to find balance in a healthy lifestyle has peaked; balance in how much I train or workout, how much emphasis I place on healthy food choices and how much time I spend socially connecting with my family and friends.  To me, CrossFit is this balance.  It is the overlapping region on my own personal Venn diagram of training, nutrition and lifestyle, and it is providing me the best quality of life and health.  It is about challenging one’s capabilities with new and demanding workouts, nurturing bodies to grow and supporting mental health with a super fun community of like-minded and encouraging people.  CrossFit is challenges and rewards. It is individually competitive and collaborative.  It has pushed me to better how I move and to mentally persevere.  And as a result, I am the strongest, and perhaps the happiest & healthiest, I have ever been in my whole life.

When I sit down to think about what CrossFit means to me this is what comes to mind…..self-confidence, strength, peaceful mind, supportive tribe, willingness to get out of one’s comfort zone, and not being afraid to show weaknesses.   Growing up playing sports, becoming a mom took a toll on me physically and mentally.  After our first set of twins, I tried to stay active, but after our second set, I found I didn’t have time.  I woke up one day sick of being tired, out of shape, and I knew I wanted to be a better roll model for our children.   After getting the courage to ask a friend about her CrossFit classes, I signed up for a No Sweat Intro.  After meeting with Matt, I just knew it was something I had to try or I would always wonder “What if.”  I quickly fell in love with everything about it.  The variety of the classes, the community that pushes you to step outside your comfort zone, and the incredible coaches who help you believe in yourself when you feel like stopping because you haven’t work out in years.  CrossFit has dramatically changed my life and I LOVE helping others realize the same benefits in their lives.  Knowing that I get to assist others become stronger, both mentally and physically, is the foundation of why I love being a coach.

Coming Soon!

CrossFit literally changed my life. Now I know this sounds cliche or a little extreme, but it honestly did. CrossFit not only gave me a self confidence I had no idea I could posses, a self love I didn’t think was possible and an outlet to any challenge life threw my way, but also gave me my husband, my way of living and a discovery into a passion that consumes my life in the best way possible.

To me CrossFit means opportunity……..

Suffering a stress fracture to my femur, while training for my first 100 miler ultra, I sought out a different outlet to prove my fitness and stay active.  CrossFit gave me this opportunity.  Besides mostly disproving my actual fitness level, it provided me with a incomparable challenge and more accurate way to set physical and mental limits for myself.

Going through heart breaking personal struggles at home and making the life changing decision to move out west alone, away from friends and family, I arrived craving personal connection and sense of belonging.  CrossFit gave me this opportunity.   All it took was suffering side by side through a WOD before it felt like I had been a part of the community for years.

Years of reading, studying, testing everything I could on fitness and what is meant “to be fit” could only be so gratifying, I wanted to share my knowledge, experience and passion with others.  CrossFit gave me this opportunity.  It’s the feeling and joy I get when, I am able to coach a new athlete through a task that seemed impossible minutes before or see their face light up when a movement feels effortless after weeks of struggle, that makes me realize this is what I was meant to do.

Whether it be working for a national corporation or coaching at the local box, I have often questioned their ways of doing business, claiming I could do it better if only it was my business.   CrossFit gave me this opportunity.   Operating a successful fitness facility is a dream come true and proof that I can accomplish anything with the determination, patience, sacrifice and the opportunity.

PRIOR ATHLETIC EXPERIENCE:

• Leadville Trail 100 Run
• Ironman Lake Placid
• Bel Monte 50 Mile Endurance Run
• Leadville Marathon
• Several other triathlons and running races of various distances