Joanna Muir

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Humble and Kind Hearted

9.23.19

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Alex and I would like to acknowledge a very special person who we feel is well deserving of the spotlight, Joanna Muir! Joanna you are so very special to Alex and I and the rest of our community. You are so welcoming, humble, approachable and such a good friend. You are one of those friends who you could literally tell anything to and trust that there wouldn’t be judgement and more than anything laughter! It has been such a pleasure having you with us for almost 3 ½ years. You have submerged yourself within our family, been so friendly to new faces and literally been to almost every one of our Chateau get togethers. We appreciate your kind heart, giving hands and loving smile hun. Love you so much!

Joanna Muir’s Personal Testimony…

I started CrossFit in May 2014 and right away I was hooked. At first, it was the workouts that got me but what kept me going was the view ;)

Growing up, I swam on a summer team each summer and on my high school team but swimming was kind of boring since I couldn’t really talk with people or listen to music while I was doing it. As an adult, I joined a “regular” gym and tried classes, they were OK, but I never saw impactful results. After I finished college in 2013, I needed to get back into working out so my husband suggested I try a gym that one of his co-workers owns and runs.

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I started at Seatown CrossFit in May of 2014 in hopes of feeling a little better about myself and my physique by my planned wedding date of August 1st, 2015. I started with 3 days per week doing the On Ramp work and quickly realized that I needed to go more frequently to avoid the amount of soreness between workouts. I steadily increased my frequency to four days and then to five and now I try to go 4-5 days per week.

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I was surprised at how out of shape I was in the beginning. After a few months, I was feeling better about my endurance and strength and most importantly, I felt welcomed by the other members and encouraged in my fitness goals. Then I started noticing muscles in places I hadn’t had before. WOW! I had always been a “skinny b!tch”, like skinny-fat, and seeing muscle definition is incredible! I’ve always wanted to be a strong woman but felt like it was a “grass is always greener situation” for me. Although putting muscle on my frame has been changing, I appreciate the journey and look forward to the continued challenge.

I was at Seatown for about a year and a half before I started a new job in Bothell and my family moved there. I didn’t know what I was going to do about finding a box close to home and work. I was really worried that I wasn’t going to find the same level of workouts or make new friends. I looked at few gyms and tried one out for about a month but it wasn’t a good fit. I liked the people but the workouts weren’t what I was looking for. Then I found CrossFit Chateau. When I came in the first person I met was a member named Dawn Cargile. I think she just finished a workout because she was all sweaty and red faced. It was an intense introduction! When I saw Dawn again, she smiled at me so I felt much better about joining. She remembered me so I thought this might be a good place with good people.

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One of the many things I really love about CrossFit is the community. I had heard people talk about this but when I experienced it, it really resonated with me. I could probably get a decent work out in different ways but the encouragement and support I feel at Chateau is more than any gym membership can deliver. I love celebrating successes with others! This is the only sport I know of where competitors encourage each other while they are in the thick of it. I love the selflessness of the community around the sport. I feel like we are exercising our bodies and our psyche by building both up at the same time together. I like this holistic approach. It makes me feel like anyone with the mind for it can do CrossFit. It’s made for all ages, body types, and abilities, especially someone like me who needs lots of modifications.

CrossFit has empowered me in a way other physical activities and communities have not. I wish I had found CrossFit sooner in my life because it has helped me connect with so many like-minded people and increased my physical and emotional well-being. I feel like CrossFit are my people and more importantly, that CrossFit Chateau is my home away from home. My family there makes me want to share it with everyone because it makes me feel welcomed and inspired by so many wonderful people and I wish I could connect others to this so they can have the same experience.

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