Do you ever have one of those days where you sit down and take it all in?

I mean REALLY take it all in??

I had one of those days on Sunday.

My flat was like an air mattress museum, my overnight guests had just left and I was sitting with a coffee (decaf) minding my own business when suddenly I just started on a train of thought that ran and ran and ran………….

I’m gonna re-wind a bit (I do that sometimes) back to the week between Christmas and New Year 2015.

I’d been roped in, hook, line and sinker into helping to give the Reactive Training Studio a bit of a facelift.

Now I’m not going to trivialise it, it’s a big-assed studio and all I was thinking was that I’d need a serious shoulder massage by the time the painting was done.

So I think it was around the tenth hour on the 3rd day that the conversation turned from 80s music (Five Star, Bucks Fizz, Adam Ant) to goals for the year ahead.

This was when Robert casually dropped it into conversation that he thought it’d be a good idea for me to think about becoming a Coach.

I laughed.

I was 6 feet up a ladder covered in white emulsion and I laughed.

I told him that he was being ridiculous and I’d only been at class for 3 months so it was a bit early to be thinking about Coaching.

The thing was, it was Maria who laboured the point, and she was the one who reminded me that she started her Reactive journey as a client, just like me.

Maria reminded me that she was Robert’s “worst client ever” (I must ask him if I’ve stolen her crown for that title!) but she stuck with it and it changed her life.

Now I’m not saying she convinced me on that cold night last December but she did make me think that it’s good to have goals, to be aiming for something and to be moving forward in some way.

So in the New Year the three of us started training on a Friday afternoon.

I was still going to classes and was still a client, but this extra session allowed me to see a whole other side to things.

It was baby steps for me; a way to feel comfortable and to build my confidence and the crucial thing is that both Maria and Robert understood that I needed that.

They knew that throwing me in at the deep end would send me running.

They both get it and that’s because they’ve both been there……..

Coach Maria. Mamma Mia. Maria Cee.

This lady has also told you bits of her own story too.

As a Coach she’s the quiet type and I call her “the lurker” – you’ll find her keeping an eye on your technique from the other side of the room.

You can’t always see her but you know she’s there somewhere and let me tell you, she doesn’t miss a trick.

Maria will give you pointers, she’ll help you to get better at what you’re doing and she’ll support and nurture you.

She’s also a VERY strong woman!!

By contrast you have Coach Robert. The Boss. Fab Rab.

This guy is in the middle of everything and he ain’t hiding anywhere!

He will be right there watching, coaching, encouraging or even doing crazy stuff with 32kg kettlebells!

Robert knows at a glance what’s going on and he will always find a way to help you understand what you need to do next – and he’s actually a pretty good listener too.

This pair are the yin and yang of Coaches and that’s why Reactive Training works.

But I digress.

With the “Coaching” seed planted, I really thought a lot over the first half of the year about how things were before and how life had changed.

I realised that even if I didn’t totally know what I wanted, I definitely knew what I didn’t want.

I didn’t ever want to go back to being the way I was before and to do that I needed a plan and, for me, it needed to be part of my lifestyle.

So in July 2015 I stepped away from doing 3 classes a week and I started a training programme leading up to a course to become a Level 1 Kettlebell Instructor.

Well, that course was a couple of weeks ago.

24 hours of hard graft over 3 days.

It was the best thing and the worst thing I’ve ever done in my life.

It challenged me physically and mentally and it tested my nerve.

And the crazy thing is – I passed it.

So on Sunday morning when I was sitting taking it all in, I was thinking that it’s not even a year since I picked up a kettlebell for the first time and I’m sitting here having just passed an instructor’s course.

I was thinking that goals are great cos they keep us moving forward.

You get goals in all forms and sizes (just like us humans) but they’re all just as important and just as powerful.

They’re also OURS!!!

We all have goals at Reactive Training, Clients and Coaches alike.

We all have things we’d like to achieve and things we’re aiming for – walking more each day, doing your first full press-up, squatting with a heavier kettlebell, making it to 3 classes this week, drinking more water or snacking less.

Each goal is a little piece of our own puzzle.

So on that note, I’m away to celebrate a job well done and give myself a wee high five cos in amongst the sweat and grit, I think I forgot to do that part!!

Have a great week ladies.

Kelly x

P.S: I think the Boss is gonna be writing a bit about the infamous instructor course next week, make sure you’re sitting comfortably ;)

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