Jill Blair: A Survivor Story

 

MissFit: Jill Blair
Sport: CrossFit
Age: 39
Location: York, PA    
 
 
 
Meet Jill Blair. Wife and Mother of two.  She didn’t play a sport or run a race.  Jill didn’t set any world records or set an Olympic weightlifting PR, but Jill is a champion. She is a MissFit.  A fighter.  A survivor.  Jill is a Breast Cancer survivor. 
 
Would you mind telling the readers a little about yourself?
 

I am from Latrobe, PA and moved to York about 6 years ago to be closer to my husband work. I have been married to a wonderful, supportive man, Chris, for almost 17 years. We have two beautiful boys who keep us both on our toes at all times.  I am the owner/photographer at the Jill Blair Photography studio in Wrightsville.  I specialize in newborn portraiture, but I also love working with babies and children. I am currently working on the boudoir side of my business. I believe that all women are beautiful, no matter what size or shape.

 
What is your fitness and/or competitive background?
 

I have absolutely NO fitness background. I never played any sports in school. I grew up with two older brothers that didn't play sports either. They were avid hunters, and dirt bike riders, which is probably the reason I didn't have any desire to play sports. It wasn't really big in our household.

 
How did you find CrossFit? 
 

Chris has been doing CrossFit now for around 5 years I would say. I started doing a little bit of it right before I got pregnant with my youngest son. Then the morning sickness hit, and lasted for months. I had no desire to go to the gym at the point. So CrossFit again fell on the back burner for me. Then he joined a CrossFit gym in the area, I still had no desire to go. To be honest, I was intimidated. Everyone looked so much stronger than me, and I didn't want to appear weak. Then in 2010, all of that changed and I realized just how strong I really was.

 
Can you talk about when you were diagnosed and your survival story?
 

In September of 2010, I felt a lump in my breast. I quite honestly thought it was my rib. Chris felt it and thought the same thing, so I tried to forget about it. The next month, I decided I should go and have it checked. My gynecologist said the words "you are too young for breast cancer, and I don't really think it's anything to worry about, but since you are due for a mammogram, let's go ahead and order one." So off I went the following week, alone, for my mammogram. I sat in the waiting room and waited with women that were all older than me. I was called back, and then had to sit and wait again. The nurse came out and said that they needed to do an ultrasound, so off I went for that. I was then left in the waiting room alone.  At this point I was shaken up a bit and called Chris. He assured me that everything was all right, and I did feel better…until they called me back to speak with the radiologist who said I would need a biopsy. That happened the following week, along with MORE waiting! That was the longest week of my life. Chris and I went in to find out the results on a Friday. I remember seeing a doctor, nurse, and a social worker walk in the room, and I immediately burst into tears. I knew that it was bad news. "You have breast cancer", is all I heard and I cried even harder. I remember saying "I have two small boys to take care of!" over, and over again. The doctor was so nice…he let me cry until I could calm down, and then told me "if you had to get breast cancer, this is the kind you want to get". I was diagnosed with Stage 0 DCIS, which is cancer cells that are contained in the ducts, and it does not spread. I was then scheduled for surgery the next week for a lumpectomy, and was told I would need 6 weeks of radiation after that, but my margins weren't coming back clear, so I had a few more lumpectomies, and another MRI. My margins came back clear, but the MRI showed yet another spot of concern. The pathology of that spot showed more DCIS. My surgeon said I would need a mastectomy of my right breast, but I opted to have both breasts removed. I wanted to do whatever I had to do to give me the better odds of not having to go through this again. So on March 18, 2011 I had a double mastectomy. When I went back to my surgeon the following week, she told me that the pathology showed even more cancer than they had seen on any of the scans. That confirmed I made the right decision.  Even though some days are hard for me to get past the scars that I see everyday, I never once have regretted my decision.

  

What was your motivation and inspiration during your fight?   

My motivation has always been and always will be my boys. They were only 1 and 7 when I was diagnosed. Devin, my oldest son, still to this day wears pink for me and tells everyone how his mom beat breast cancer. Chase, he still doesn't understand any of it, which I am okay with for now. Someday we will have that chat.

 
What is your motivation now when you think about what you have been through?
 

I want to be healthy and strong! This past year, Chris become co-owner of CrossFit CDI. I made the decision to try it again. I figured, my husband is a coach, so why not give it a go. In February 2013, I signed up for their bootcamp class. The first WOD about killed me. I've always been thin, but I knew I wasn't in great shape. I would get winded walking up a flight of stairs, but I kept going. I was the slowest, I wasn't as strong as the others, but it didn't stop me. I graduated the bootcamp and began going to the main classes, and became hooked. The community is fantastic! No one cares what weight you lift, or what time you finished. What they care about is if you are putting in the intensity and the effort. I try to get in the box at least 4 times a week, and miss it when I don't. 

 

 

 
Do you have any advice to other women that may being going through the same thing or know someone who is? 
 
My best advice to anyone that is going through/went through what I did, is don't give up. Don't sit back and let it take over your life. Fight…fight with everything you have. Life is so worth it. Yes, there are days when I still cry, but that's okay. Crying is good every once in a while. Let it out, then move on. If you know someone that is going through this, just listen. That's all you really need to do. Let them be afraid, don't dismiss anything they say. All of their feeling are real, no matter how silly they sound to you. Just listen, and be there for them.
 

I can honestly say that CrossFit has changed my life. Did I think after having a double mastectomy that I could do the WOD's that I am doing now. Hell no, but I am. As long as you discuss it with your doctor, don't let anything hold you back. If I can do it, you can too!!

 

Why are you MissFit?

 

Why am I MissFit? I am MissFit because I never stopped fighting, and never stopped believing that I could get healthy again. No matter how hard things got, I kept moving forward. My faith, family, and friends never let me down.

 

The MissFit Movement was created to build a community of fit and confident women.  If you go to the mission page you can read for yourself that it is the intention of The MissFit Movement to empower, inspire, and encourage all women.  Being a MissFit does not mean that you can run the fastest, lift the heaviest, or climb the highest.  Rather; being a MissFit is about overcoming all odds, taking on any challenge, and fight to the bone for their goals.  They believe in themselves, take action, and take control of their lives and in the process motivate others to do the same. 


Thank you Jill for sharing your story and demonstrating what the heart of a champion looks like! 

October is Breast Cancer awareness month.  Take the initiative and go get a breast exam.  Go to http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org to learn more.

Empower * Inspire * Encourage

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fear Nothing

Fear nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  No one. 

Don't be afraid to face the unknown.  Don't shy away from a challenge.
Do you want to know what's behind the door?  Open it.
If you want to know the answer, you can't be afraid of the question.

Don't walk around with your tail between your legs.  Stop cowering in the corner.  Being afraid will not get you where you want to be.  It's simple.  If you want something, go get it!  In the face of danger move towards your dreams.  Champions are not made of fear.  They are made of courage.  To achieve greatness, one must ignore any and all fear and move into the life that they so desire. 

We are all afraid at some point in our lives.  We all experience fear, but that does not mean that we have to live scared.  Next time you're tempted to run away from a situation because of fear, do this.  Give it the middle finger and make your move!  Learn to fear nothing.

Remember Gymnast, Kerri Strug of the '96 Olympics?  If she had let fear take over, you probably wouldn't.

  

What Does Fitness Mean To You?

Lately I have been kind of inconsistent with my training.  I have been so busy getting ready to open a new business and studying for school, that I have not been putting in the disciplined time that I generally do for training.  I figured that I can slack here and there, and pick it back up in a few weeks.  Don't get me wrong, I train at least 3-5 times a week, but I have not been that focused in the area of fitness the way I usually am.  I have been very moody lately and not feeling like myself.  I have been neglecting fitness, putting it on the back burner thinking it is not a priority.  But I was reminded what fitness means to me this morning and why it is a necessity in my life.  Here, let me share.

My morning actually started off decent, being that I didn't hit the snooze button and woke-up on time.  I had my typical 4 egg, avocado, and salsa breakfast followed with berries and a large glass of water.  On my way in to train my class, I stopped at Starbucks to get my usual, Venti Americano.  My morning coaching session went well and I was feeling great.  Everything was going good, until it wasn't.

Immediately after the session was over, my stomach started to hurt...BAD.  I knew I needed to get home, ASAP!  Before I could leave I needed to clean up the area, and I was walking around not really paying attention to anything as I was in a hurry to leave, and BAM!  I managed to run my head into a door.  Very HARD.  Boy oh boy did my head take a ding!  I immediately took a seat on the floor and started to wonder if I had a concussion.  I then rationalized that if indeed I had been concussed that I wouldn't be asking myself if I had a concussion, so I got up and scurried out the door.  Once I pulled up to the drive way I ran in the house to appease my stomach situation.  I won't get into much detail about what happened next, but I want to inform you in case you need a plunger, Rite Aid, Giant, and Rutters DO NOT carry them!  Thank God for Drain-O!  You would think that I would catch a break at this point, but nope.  I needed to mail something off, yesterday (yes, I specialize in procrastination), and couldn't find a stamp.  Basically my whole morning was a bust, and I got nothing done that I intended to do in preparation for the opening of True Circle Strength and my school work.  After all of that, the frustration started to get to me and all I could think about was EXERCISE.  I needed to workout, and I needed to do it soon! 

I drove back to the gym, and hopped on the Airdyne and did an interval for 20 minutes of :30 all out work :30 slow pace.  I then grabbed a jump rope and did another interval for 10 minutes.  I still was not satisfied.  I then ran 3 miles with no music, and finally, finally...my mind was at peace.  I was about halfway through my run and I began to laugh at myself and enjoy the moment.  It was at that moment I was reminded what fitness means to me. 

Aside from my pursuit to be stronger, faster, better and far off from wanting to look good naked, the origin of my fitness journey is spiritual.  Fitness fills a space in my mind, body, and soul that nothing else can.  It is not tangible.  It is a feeling that I get when I workout that relaxes me, even in the pain.  I remember as a young girl, if I was having a bad day or going through stress, I would grab my basketball and play until the hurt went away.  That is what fitness does for me.  It is my escape.  It is my release.  It is my therapy.  I need it just like I need air to breathe.  I don't particularly need it to be strong physically, though I do like a nice, heavy squat.  No.  I need it because it has helped me out of dark holes of despair.  Exercise was always there for me when no one else was.  It is a physical prayer that has helped me discover, me.  Fitness is spiritual for me.  When it comes to fitness, I am not really chasing PR's (though those are satisfying) or performance gains.  When it come to fitness, I am chasing personal gains mind, then body. 

What does fitness mean to you?  How has it shaped your life?  Have you ever thought about that before?

MissFit of the Month, Tiana Johnson

MissFit- Tiana Johnson    
Sport- Olympic Weightlifting
Age- 32
Location- Langhome, PA

 

About 2 weeks ago, I just finished up a squat session at McKenna’s Gym, and I was feeling pretty bad ass.  I managed to squat my max weight six-times, and was on cloud nine.   As I'm coming off my high horse, Tiana comes in and begins her session.  If you are an Olympic weightlifter and you haven’t heard her name before, you should start to watch out for her.  If you aren't a weight lifter and haven't heard her name before you should watch out for her.   

At this point, I hear her coach, Mike McKenna, tell her, “you’re doing snatches today and working off of 85kg today” and she calmly responded with “okay.”  I’m still learning the metric system, and I quickly did the math.  For those of you who don’t speak in kilograms, that is 187 pounds!  I thought to myself, “that is sick!  I’ve got to see this.”  As I sat there, I watched Tiana snatch 72kg not once but THREE times!  Again, let me do the math for you.  If you multiply 72 by 2.2 and you will get 158.4 pounds.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen Tiana snatched my bodyweight for multiple repetitions.  Here’s the kicker, that isn’t even her max!  I was immediately inspired and thought to myself, “that was awesome!  No, no, that was bad ass.  I must learn more about her.” 

Days later, I reached out to Tiana to see if she would be interested to answer some questions for the readers of The MissFit Movement blog.  She soon responded back and was happy to do so.  If you have any doubts about whether you should  continue reading about Tiana, you should watch this video taken at McKenna's Gym:   https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10200977915187384.

If that doesn't inspire you, you might not be human!  Now that I have your attention, you should probably proceed.

Can you fill us in on your background? 

Tiana:  I grew up in a single parent home I have a younger sister and two older brothers who were just absolute badasses in sport.  I wanted nothing more than to be just like them.  I figured we all grew up in the same house with the same mother why wouldn't I be able to do the same things they did.  They were incredibly encouraging and to this day remain my biggest supporters.  I was very active as a kid.  I was also always the big kid.  Back then I thought I was fat, (I may have been big boned) but turns out I was perfectly healthy as a kid just bigger and stronger than all the others.  I had a very old school upbringing.  I grew up in a house with a single mother, we spent our days outside playing freeze tag and hide and seek, racing each other down the street for bragging rights and having to be on the porch when the street lights came on.

Did you play competitive sports growing up?

Tiana:  I played everything in grade school.  Basketball, Softball, Soccer, field hockey, I ran track, but in 10th grade (along with track) I focused on Cheerleading.  My position in cheerleading was the main base, they call this position the "powerhouse" as the main base is lifting/holding about 80-90% of the flyers weight.  Looking back on it now its interesting how similar Cheerleading and Olympic Lifting are.

I don't have much competitive background outside of the competitions and meets I had in high school and college, but once I left school I was really drawn to individual sports, I participated in triathlons for a good 3 years and I did a lot of rock climbing and swimming neither competitive.

How did you find Olympic Weightlifting?

Tiana:  In 2012 I joined a CrossFit gym in Phoenixville.  I had my daughter in 2008 and had struggled with losing weight and being active again. I had spent the beginning of 2012 at LA Fitness walking on a treadmill and taking Zumba classes with my sister in law that were more comical than helpful.  I tried all the fads spinning classes, hot yoga, boot camp, kick boxing you name it I tried and I hated all of it.  I had reached the highest weight I had ever been I was 225lbs I was unhealthy and just not myself.  I wanted to do something challenging and I remembered watching a video online about how the guys from the movie 300 got fit for their roles. (Isn't that how we all found CrossFit?) I searched for a CrossFit in my area and found ICA.

My first max lift was a clean and jerk, never heard of this before and was actually shocked at what I was supposed to do.  I had been given detailed instructions on how to perform the lift, but all I took from it was that I was supposed to lift as much weight as I possibly could from the ground to my shoulder and then from my shoulder to over my head.  When I started to do the movement all instruction went out the door.  I ended up doing a reverse curl (no squat) and an odd looking push press with my feet about 2 inches apart in what I thought was a "jerk".  I ended up having a max that day of 115lbs. This is having never even touched a barbell before.  I started training privately and by February 2013, my 5 rep hang power clean was 185 pounds.  (editor's notes:  Holy Crap!)

Are you Competing?

Tiana:   In my mind I haven't officially competed.  I decided that I was going to focus on Oly lifting full-time.  That was 10 weeks ago.  My first real competition will be in October at CrossFit Collective and then lords willing I will qualify for the American Open. After that you'll have to ask my coach if/when/where I will be competing.

Would you mind sharing your goals?

Tiana:  My goals are to go as far as I can in this sport for as long as my body will allow me to do it.  Getting medals at The American Open, at Nationals, in Worlds, the Olympics....my goals are endless.  I'm so new to this sport and one of the biggest things I hear about the differences between USA and other countries like Russia and China is lifting to them is a need, a means to take care of their families, and put food on the table. It's those kinds of driving forces that make those athletes go above and beyond to do the best they can.  It's no secret that in the USA we don't have those kinds of driving forces, we don't have a lot of incentives to make lifting a need.  Most of us do this while going to school or working full-time.  It's not a sport we can make a career unless we reach the Olympic level and even then its tough to pursue it full-time.  For me it has become a need.  I've found something I'm really good at, and something that could put me in the history books.  I'm Cherokee Indian and have the opportunity to not only do something a woman has never done before, but something a Cherokee has never done.  I want my people to be recognized in international sport.  I want us to be known for more than just casinos, myths and fairytales.  I want my daughter to be proud of me.  She's such a stellar little girl.  I've learned so much about myself and life from her.  It doesn't take much to make her proud of me she tells me all of the time.  But when she's older I want her to know that she can have anything in this world if she just works hard for it.  I want to be able to prove that to her by what I do in my life. 

Do you have any advice for other women or young girls that want to try this Olympic weightlifting (or any other sport), but are afraid to try?

Tiana:  My advice to women who want to try this sport would be the same advice I'd give someone in any situation where they might be afraid to try something.  You can accomplish anything you wish at any time in your life. It's never too late.  If you have that drive and that determination to achieve it you will.  Age, previous injuries, family situations, no support whatever it is if you believe you can achieve it you've won half the battle.  One of my favorite quotes is from William Arthur Ward, "If you can imagine it, you can achieve it, if you can dream it, you can become it."  I live my life by that quote.  By the grace of GOD there is nothing I have tried that I have not been successful at.  The fact that I even tried is success.  Fear should never be a reason to keep you from trying something.  If you want to try Oly Lifting do it. Give it everything you've got!

Why are you a MissFit?

Tiana:   I am a MissFit because I've never let anything get in the way of me achieving my dreams.  The only reality I live by is the one I write for myself and with GOD's help my reality will always be what people think is impossible.

I wanted to learn some more about Tiana, so I inquired about her to her Olympic Lifting coach, Mike McKenna.  From working with her for the last couple of month Mike says that Tiana is not only has a legitimate shot at making the international team but, "Tiana's a good Mother, a successful businesswoman, and an outstanding athlete." 

Tiana speaks words of wisdom by saying, "you can accomplish anything in your life.  It's never too late."  Anything that you want is in reach, but you have to take a chance on yourself and go for it.  We need more people like Tiana.  We need more risk takers.  We need more dreamers.  We need more women that are not afraid to own their "badass-ness" and go for what they want.  Just to think, only a year ago she stepped into a CrossFit gym to lose some weight and ended up finding her dream in life.  She found her passion, Olympic weightlifting. 

What is stopping you from taking that first step to try something new?  Stop thinking about it and go do it!

Thank you, Tiana.  You truly are MissFit!