Patty's Long Lunch

I became a certified Level 1 CrossFit Coach June 1st 2008.  October of the same year I opened my own affiliate, CrossFit Empower.  I began training my 3 clients out of my friend’s massage therapy clinic in Surrey.

Before CrossFit, I had coached Judo since 1998 and had been running my own dojo since 2005.  As an elementary school teacher I also taught gym class from 1999 to 2001.  Besides the dojo, I had also run a staffing company in Surrey/Langley with my father.  So I had both business and coaching experience.

Nevertheless, as I started out, I thought it would be best to consult with Canada’s 1st CF affiliate owner and one of the most successful coaches in the CrossFit world.  I called up Craig Patterson and offered to buy him lunch in exchange for picking his brain.

In typical Patty fashion, he instead upsold me on attending CFV’s first affiliate training seminar.  The $1500 price of admission probably bought him several lunches (and a few drinks as well).  It was a worthwhile investment.

A weekend that would change my life.

Self Defense guru Tony Blauer instructs his coaches to become more than a ‘Subject Matter Expert’ who can parrot all the right answers but to instead strive to become a ‘Substance Matter Expert’ who can embody the principles they are teaching.

In the presence of Patty and his coaching team, I recognized them as Substance Matter Experts.  I also recognized that I was not. Not in CrossFit. Maybe not in any area of my life.

Instead of opening the CrossFit gym I’d planned on, I paid for a year’s tuition at CrossFit Vancouver and began training in earnest with the goal of embodying the standards of excellence demonstrated by the CFV coaching team.

As luck would have it, May 2009  saw the first trial of the CFV Apprenticeship program.  I closed my small Surrey practice and threw myself 100% into the apprenticeship program.

What this looked like for me is I stopped all other paid employment and began shadowing my coach at EVERY group class she taught and EVERY personal training session.  Every day. 

I watched other coaches give intros, teach group classes and coach clients.  I invited every person I could to attend a free CrossFit intro even if I knew they wouldn’t join, just so I could get practice reps.  I even agreed to attend network marketing sales presentations if the rep would first attend my CF intro.  I made one of my first sales this way.

Luck held and the departure of my coach left an opening in the group class morning schedule which I jumped to fill.  This meant I got to coach classes alongside Andy everyday and there is so much to learn from watching that guy!

Before any money began to flow, I was investing myself completely.  I attended every CF specialty cert and seminar I could (I think only Andy has attended more).  And slowly – ever so slowly – I began to grow competent.

I have spent less time at CFV than I did at university but it has been more character building.  It has demanded more, stretched me more and rewarded me more. 

The discipline of pursuing mastery has forged me into a man I could not have recognized 4 short years ago.

I called looking for business tips and received instead a lesson in becoming who I always hoped I could be.

Thanks Patty for the long lunch. 

Warm Up: Dot Drill

Tech: Assisted Muscle Ups
Sometimes hanging around watching other coaches can be educational and inspiring.  Saw Shep and the High-Performance athletes practicing this and remembered how great a progression it is and how many folks succeed at a muscle up this way.  Check the video:

WOD: Tag Team Angie
One partner working at a time:
100 pull ups
100 push ups
100 sit ups
100 squats