MEMBER FEATURE - Melissa Pederson
You may already know Melissa Pederson - she is one of our most fun-loving, adventurous, funny and witty members! A true OG to the CrossFit OneFifty community. Here is her CFCL story :)
"I used to play senior women’s basketball with Coach Val back in the day. Sometime in the spring of 2016 she advertised her outdoor bootcamp. I joined because I could take my son with me. He was only 3 and I was already paying for a babysitter to go swimming so paying for more childcare was a barrier. Val said bring him along and let’s see how it goes. It went great – I got to work out in a new way, he got to run around and the whole group kept an eye out for him. Having that barrier removed made a world of difference. We even got rained out and ended up in someone’s garage gym – I was in a complete stranger’s garage and my kid was in a stranger’s house playing with their kids and it felt completely comfortable. I could tell I was with the right people.
That fall Val let me know she was opening a gym with her friend (Coach Jason). Initially I was worried about childcare, but once again she said I could bring Kaleb. Turns out my son slept well on a pile of coats in the corner with loud music and weights dropping. The gym was set up to accommodate families right from the start. I am so thankful for that!
So, I did what I typically do and signed up but told my best friend Megan (Mitchell) to come too. We only went once a week for a very long time, but it was the supportive community that kept us coming back until we were ready to be there several times a week.
Once I started coming more than once a week, I started to feel more confident in the movements and just in being there. I often need remind myself that I’ve come a long way. The further I get into my fitness journey the more expectations I put on myself. This has created some hard life lessons Jason has helped me work through.
Last year I decided I was going to run a half marathon. I certainly HEARD the advice Jason gave to me about managing training volume, but I didn’t actually listen. After several months of high volume run training and 5 days a week in the gym my body put the brakes on for me. This was SO hard mentally and physically and it took way longer to recover from than I would have expected or hoped. There was a long time where I was frustrated and upset. The following months of recovery included more rest, more food, more mobility (never enough mobility), more reflection and more kindness to myself.
I recently started my running journey over, leaving my ego at the door and hearing AND listening to Jason’s advice. I’ve been successfully running 5km straight, pain free. The last run was a breakthrough mentally for me. I was able to listen to my body and I actually had thoughts of gratitude. This is how I will be competing at a master’s level for years to come and enjoying fitness well into my golden years and I’m excited for that.
[There are so many things I love about CrossFit, but] there’s something about that feeling when you first get a movement. It’s almost a shock followed by celebration then a bit of euphoria. I remember getting my chin over the bar for the first time, first toes to bar and maybe the most fun…..finally hitting a 100lb snatch!
The skills and strength I have gained in crossfit truly are functional fitness. I see it in my every day life, whether it be hauling bags of mulch to the garden by myself or pulling myself onto the boat at the lake. The community at CFCL has set the bar very high. I lean on that community for support at the gym and in life and they always show up.”
Melissa 40 and fabulous! She lives in Saskatoon with her son, Kaleb, who is 9. She works in the engineering consultant world as a regional transportation lead, specializing in roads and mining. If she is not talking about the gym, swimming, where her dog ran off to or work, she is definitely talking about growing food!