Stronger.

"Stronger today than Yesterday"- Anonymous (banner hanging at our gym)

As we are rapidly approaching the "double digits" mark for our angel baby boy (God help us), I feel the need to pour out some positivity and take a little bit of time to brag on his Daddy. I also want to highlight some really incredible people that we have grown to know and love.

This past Sunday, Jackson would have been so proud of his Dad. Scratch that. Jackson is proud of his Dad, always. However, this Sunday he was proud on a whole different level. I am sure of that.

Russ competed in the team competition at the Garage Games One in Atlanta on Sunday. He was asked to join a team at the last minute, and had little time to prepare. The fact of the matter is that he is just naturally athletic, and he did not need the prep time. He did fantastic. I can only imagine with more time and training under his belt how these types of things will look in the future. When we were talking (er,debating) about whether or not he should join the team and compete, I kept telling him, "I know you will regret it if you don't compete!". I know Russ and I know how life works. I knew he would want to be out there, even if he was unsure of it all. He is a person who is usually hesitant and fearful of the unknown. He has to be sure before making a step. He calculates and is meticulous. Me? Not so much. I can swim in the unknown and as I mentioned before, I am a say a Hail Mary kinda girl and just hope it works or something sticks. I am not reckless, I just am willing to try most anything at least once. I do know my limits though. Let me be clear, me competing in this type of thing IS NOT a good idea, at this time. Just trust me on that one. No Hail Mary on this needed. That would have been a spectacle and I would have left with something broken, something bleeding and more than likely on a stretcher. This is how Russ and I work. When I am fearless, he is fearful. When I am fearful, he is fearless. We balance each other out in  so many ways. Ying and Yang sometimes. It is beautiful.

You know what he said as soon as we got in the car to head home?

"As they say at Camp High Harbour, I am glad I did".

Response:

"WE are glad you did and WE are so very proud of you."

*Insert internal wife thought: Well isn't that something. Always listen to your wife*

I felt like this. Literally. Long day. Tired. But so very proud.

 And on with the photo purge, with some commentary:

On our way there....cold morning!!

My one-and-only cousin competed as well! A photo with two of my favorite boys!

And a special photo collage. Shoes, shirt, smile and son. Perfection. Can't go wrong with any of those "s" words. Especially the last two.

More photos before the action got cranked up! Game face photo below.

 

 Whole group shot!

 Back of team shirt!

 Another cousin photo!

 Here he is with his team. Blood, Sweat and Beers!

 The photo below is before he did the jump rope part of the competition. This photo was taken by the owner of our gyms daughter. She was so into helping me take photos! She is a cutie!

And now for some action photos. These were hard to take because I never got a "great" angle and could not get as close as I would like. OR I had someones hand, arm, leg, and more often than not, someones butt in my photo. Many had to be deleted because of excessive body parts in the shot. Ain't nobody got time for that.

Russ had to do 4 minutes of what we call "Double Unders" for his leg of a one of the work-outs. Double Unders are when you get the jump rope under neath you twice with one bounce. They threw in a twist at the last minute and informed the competitors that you could not use your own jump rope. Russ loves his jump rope, and is comfortable with his own rope. This was a rough change of events, as Russ had to crank them out with what we jokingly referred to as "the garden hose". You can see the thickness of it in the photo above. How did he do? Great! He did 220 Double Unders with a rope that....sucked.

 In flight....

 Doing his thing. You can see off the the right one of his team members doing 4 minutes of "Thrusters" at the same time! And of course getting yelled at to pick up the bar by multiple team mates. Good times.

The next work-out was very hard to photograph because I was super far away, there were lots of people everyone and I had a rough angle. Here is the only photo I have of Russ pulling a team mate across the gym floor....

And his final event was a relay. It was a doozy. 15 back squats at 135 pounds, 15 pull-ups and 15 burpees (aka cardio purgatory) per person for 15 minutes. Russ went twice. After this relay, he was cooked.

 And the final results....

 16 out of 24 all mens RX teams

 112 out of 147 overall!

I am so glad he did.

We are so glad he did.

And some more general photos of some super awesome folks! Lets start with the teams...

Team Blue Ridge CrossFit #1

 Team Blue Ridge CrossFit #2

Team MissFits...How cute are they?!

 And the team that took 2nd place overall in the whole competition...Team Name? Wait for it...wait for it...."Pissing Excellence". They are hardcore and all four of them wanted to punch me for taking a team photo right before game time. What was I thinking to mess with that?! They put on a show that was something else.

Alright, now for some more action....

 

 This is the same face I would make if I was dragged across a floor 10 times. She is a rock star.

 

 This awesome lady below has lost nearly 90 pounds since she started CrossFit. She is an inspiration and this was her first competition. She went out and tried her very best and she rocked it!

 Oh and this one below? Strong and steady for her team. She knocked out over 500 single unders in 4 minutes!

 And this one? The owner of our gym doing his favorite move, Thrusters, with his t-shirt that he always wears while doing his favorite move :)

Oh, you know...just two guys going "beast mode".

 

This chick cranking out wall balls is one of our trainers, and a good friend. She is also an inspiration as she has lost 30 some pounds and can do anything. She always pushes me and I usually do something new that I did not know I could do when she is training!

 And this one below competed both individually and on a team. She is an all-around amazing athlete. She is also a trainer! She makes you better, that is for sure. Try and tell her you "can't" or "won't". Good luck with that.

 This about sums up the day....

 

 And she busted all her fears and jumped the 20 inch box for her team during their relay!!

 And one final shout out. The rock star below helped her team beat the other BRCF team by ONE rep. ONE. She moved faster than I have ever seen someone move, and it was one of the most exciting competitive moments I have ever seen! She is another inspiration of mine. Mother of two little girls. Amazing person and the kindest person you will ever meet. Incredible athlete.

Photo of both BRCF Teams! They wanted a photo because they were mixed teams each. 2 girls and 2 guys for each team. They went head-to-head in every heat!

 And one last group shot after all the madness!

And there you have it. The Garage Games One.

Russ,

Everyone is proud of you.

Most of all the littlest one.

You are an inspiration to all around you and you are strong.

Keep it up. Always.

Remember to try the unknown, because you are brilliant in the unknown. We are constantly in the unknown these days, and moments like this past Sunday show us a glimmer of real HOPE. It makes the unknown less frightening. You can do anything. We can do anything.

After all, The DeLoach Three is a pretty amazing team.

We love you, so very much. You are the best Daddy and person we have ever had the privilege of knowing and loving. Thank you for being you.

Our favorite two photos of YOU!

Team DeLoach. Stronger today than Yesterday.

Love,
Emily (and Russ!)