Words from member Lauren Holt ~ My fitness journey started as a young girl. Since the age of ten, I played sports all year round-- basketball for 11 consistent months every year, softball, volleyball, and track/ cross country (my favorite) began at the age of 14 as a means to improve in the off-season. Needless to say, these sports fueled my competitive spirit and engrained in me a desire to be active and continuously improve myself. Now fast forward to my early 30s, and at 32, I have found my "grown up" sport, Absolute Performance Training. I never gave up running, even after college. Road races of all distances kept my focus and fulfilled my desires to be both competitive and active. However, when Absolute Fitness began its Performance Training journey in February of 2013 , I joined as a means to cross train and hopefully improve my running times. Little did I know that APT would change my vision of fitness and understanding of competitiveness. APT helped improve my 5k, 10k, and half marathon times. By only running 2-3 days a week, maybe 12-15 miles a week, I shaved 2 minutes off my 5k, 3 minutes off my 10k, and 5 minutes off my half marathon-- BY RUNNING LESS!!!!! What the numbers don't tell is of my journey in accomplishing these goals. In APT, I always had cheerleaders. I always had a friend pushing me harder, encouraging me more, day in and day out, every day of the week. My gym friends supported me and pushed me beyond my comfort zone. They came to the races, sent motivating messages on race day, and always checked on me afterwards to see how I did and how I felt. It was a team effort. Not long into my APT journey, Brandi Martin persuaded me and several other gym friends to try an obstacle race (mud run), something I never would have done on my own. I LOVED the asphalt. A group of us did our first mud run in St. Clair County in March of 2013 in the 30 degree rain~ and we loved it!!!! Now, I love these races as much as road races, and we all still run these as team APT. APT empowers women to motivate others. Everyone in APT encourages each other to push harder, to dig deeper, and to go, go, go 100% of the time. APT brings new things ~ rope climbs, sand bags, BARBARIANS, and mud runs!!!! It is supportive in new and old endeavors. APT forms bonds of friendship. Where would I be without APT?!?!?! Almost two years ago, I ventured
outside my comfort zone and found a new love and new friends. Thank you, Dawn, Teresa, Brandi, and Tiffany for seeing the initial vision and helping make APT what it is today.