Support Dry Needle in Washington

Mrs. McAuliffe --

I am writing you today as a resident of your district, in Mountlake Terrace, and an opponent of House Bill 1042 (to exclude dry needling from physical therapy) that is currently in the Senate. 

Personally, I was first exposed to Functional Dry Needle (FDN) Therapy in December. I am a competitive weightlifter and suffered a shoulder injury that my orthopedist was unable to diagnose. Despite rest, it did not get better. I reached out to my national weightlifting community and was introduced to FDN via KinetaCore (a company that does continuing education for PTs) through a national-level lifter that I look up to.

The first year of my CFI journey

Fingers to keyboard, it is finally happening again... It's been nearly eight months since I've written a blog post (10, if you only count published posts). I've had so much to say, but I've either been too busy to write or too unsure of how to say it. The plan is that that behavior stops now. These writing sessions are always good for my soul, and this little bit of daily (I hope!) wordsmithing is just what I think it needs right now.

So where to begin? I have lists upon lists of potential blog topics I've been saving for this moment, but none of them feel like the perfect place to jump back in, except for one: the past year. Because so much of what has happened in the past 12 months began that one fateful night in January 2014, when I dropped in to check out CrossFit Industrious.

I knew within minutes that I was going to be happy at CFI -- the coaching staff was uber welcoming, one of the owners LOVED my Duck nanos, and the weightlifting coach's mom was part of the weightlifting crew. Coaches: if one (or both!) of your parents trusts you enough to let you coach them, you're doing it right. Driving home from CFI on the first night, I decided I didn't need to wait. I signed up for a membership online the next day.

In March, I lifted in my first USA Weightlifting-sanctioned meet. It was equal parts terrifying and awesome. During the summer, I dropped the CrossFit portion of my membership -- doing four days per week of programmed weightlifting was enough on my body. I used trips to NYC and DC for family weddings as excuses to visit gyms I was curious to see in person. I completed my first (and only) Whole 30. I met the Outlaw Barbell legend, Rudy Nielsen, and his prodigy Nicole Capurso. I lifted in two more meets, getting medals at both. I hurt my shoulder something gnarly on my 32nd birthday. I was elected secretary of the Washington LWC in December. I watched more weightlifting videos than I can count. I've made some amazing friends within the CFI walls -- both the old space and the current digs. I tried dry-needle therapy and If It Fits Your Macros-style nutrition -- both are my new favorite things.

On my one-year anniversary at CFI, I joined my partners in crime, Kristin and Dan, for the noon class. Programmed that day was 13.1 -- fittingly enough, the last workout I'd done at Interbay before I left. I definitely did not PR (I am very much not in burpee shape -- and I am content with that), but I had a blast and got to share a platform with my new BFF for rack jerks. Enjoying that moment, sans PR in a beautiful, sunny gym with friends, really reminded me how far I've come -- and just how much life really is about the journey, not the destination.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

I have one friend, Jen, at my box who is doing the Whole 30 with me. Honestly, if she hadn't said she wanted to, I probably would've wussed out again. We saw each other at mobility class tonight, clinking our water bottles afterward in celebration: 15 days down, 15 to go! But typically Jen and I only see each other on Monday evenings -- she is typically in the mornings, while I am always at the end of the day

We saw each other on Day 6, for Murph. She mentioned she could already see a difference in me. A week later, a few minutes before our weekly 8 p.m. Monday class together, she walked in as I was tying my shoe.

"Mindi, that is a different butt."

Two days earlier, I'd gone to the next notch in on my belt to keep my shorts in place. When I adjusted the belt, breaking in a new hole for the first time, I noticed that my shorts were baggy -- shorts I had just bought a month prior. They hadn't been super tight, but tight enough. Now? Loose.

Knowing that Jen had noticed -- and hearing a couple other folks murmur their agreement -- was a little boost in my confidence. It's so hard to notice the changes as they happen on your own body. The way my clothes fit is my only clear indication.

Today was Day 15. In a hurry between work and a pre-gym appointment, I ran inside, grabbed a car-friendly dinner, stuffed gym clothes in my bag and was on my way.

Tonight's gym outfit included two items of note. First, one of the pairs of purple capri pants I bought a year ago. At the time, they fit fine. During the winter, they got a little tight, but still worked. As I stretched in mobility class tonight, I grabbed the material at my hip -- it pulled a good two inches away from my body, with baggy material. In disbelief I shared my new find with Kristin, who was next to me.

The second note of my outfit was that I didn't actually look at what I grabbed. Turned out I had nabbed the CF Regionals Media shirt from 2013. This winter, it was too tight to wear comfortably. Today, a little baggy.

I am trying my hardest to not measure or weight until this entire Whole 30 is complete... but I am so excited to see the final result!

All the right moves

You know that feeling of "right time, right place"? That overused (including by yours truly) cliche about 'everything happening for a reason'? All that silly mumbo jumbo?

Well, it works for every level of life -- personally and professionally.

Why I Open

I am not Sam Briggs, Lindsey Valenzuela or Rory Zambard. Only in my dreams am I anywhere close to their levels of athleticism and strength. I have no desire to put in the effort it takes to become the Fittest Woman on Earth.

But that is why I open.

Forecast: Excited, with pangs of guilt

It is no secret to those who know me that I am a CrossFit junkie. I first appeared at CrossFit Interbay in February 2012, staying for two weeks, before returning in September of the same year.

Through some amazing and not-so-amazing personal and professional moments, I also had amazing and humbling workouts. But regardless of what was on the white board, the people at Interbay became a family. For more than a year, that little box was my third place.

And, as I find myself with nervous, excited energy and a cautionary clearance from my doctor -- low-impact, straight-line movement for me! -- I feel pangs of guilt. I didn't give CFIB a chance to fight for itself. But there's a well-known quote that keeps replaying in my head: "Respect yourself enough to walk away from anything that no longer serves you, grows you or makes you happy."