#8: Back 2 School 🤓

Hi Team!

Happy strava wrapped for those that celebrate! Since us endurance athletes are in off season right now, it’s important we have these stats for bragging rights (and strava knows that, cute). 

This year, I apparently spent 1743 mi on foot and over 400hrs training. Actually, if you count my indoor bike mileage (and pretty rude of strava not to 🤔), it’s about 5000 miles total. Pretty sure that says more about my sanity than it does my physical fitness. 

Speaking of year-end fitness goals, I shared with you all this week that I officially decided to collaborate with NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine) and start my personal training certification. One of my goals this year was to do some type of fitness certification, even before I left my 9-5. Originally I envisioned this being yoga teacher training in Bali (although at the time this was sort of an eat, pray, love situation lol), but things changed and I made room for something a bit different. I still want to do a yoga retreat abroad at some point, but that might roll over into next year now. 

I started the NASM training this week, and before beginning, they asked for my why - what brought me here, to this course. I thought I would take the opportunity to share my answer with you all:

I started my endurance journey, as most of you know, after watching my mom race multiple half and full Ironmans. When her health no longer allowed her to compete, I saw how heartbreaking it was for her to lose that community and lifestyle. Coaching me through my first 70.3 was such a full-circle moment for both of us. Through my personal training account and Train Payne, being able to give some of that back to her has meant more than I can put into words.

What I didn’t expect was how this journey would completely reshape my brain chemistry. I grew up with a debilitating anxiety disorder (like I’m talking put on meds by the 4th grade so I could do normal things like go on a class field trip lol). I felt unsafe all the time, and needed constant reassurance that I was going to be okay. As I got older, this led to me defining my worth and building my identity around my achievements, external validation, and everyone else’s expectations. I was constantly concerned with how I measured up to the person next to me. If I was achieving the most, surely I’d be okay, right?. This kept me moving forward, but at a cost. I was completely detached from the present moment and never able to celebrate my milestones because I was so consumed with what came next.

Like many anxious students, I went on to study the brain, doing my undergrad in cognitive science with a neuroscience concentration, and topping that off with a master’s in biochemistry. I then went on to work in clinical research in psychiatry. Postgrad was my worst nightmare brought to life. No grades, no midterms, no built-in benchmarks to compare myself against. I had no idea how to measure whether I was “doing okay.” I found myself in a corporate job that should have inspired me but didn’t. I felt stuck. On paper, it all made perfect sense. But a few years in, I felt deeply unfulfilled, disconnected, and unsure where I went wrong and how I could change it. 

So I took a leap, and I have this sport to thank for it. Training and racing have given me back a version of myself I didn’t know I’d lost, teaching me to loosen my grip on control and trust my own choices and abilities. Learning to overcome, adapt, and make space for myself in this world has taught me more than two decades in a classroom ever did. I want to help others feel that same way. NASM feels like the natural next step to deepen my understanding of why I fell in love with this lifestyle and to pay that growth forward.

From the outside, what I’m doing now - racing, training, and gaining a new certification - might look like another chapter of achievement chasing. But it’s actually the opposite. Choosing to leave the corporate world and invest in myself is something I never would have had the confidence to do a few years ago. This chapter has given me community, purpose, and a sense of identity I didn’t even realize I was missing.

As I start this coursework, I’m not just learning how to be a better athlete or future coach, I’m learning more about the person I’ve grown into through this sport. I’m excited to deepen my understanding, expand the way I support others, and see where this leads. It feels like the beginning of something that aligns with who I am becoming, not who I thought I had to be.

Anyways….I’m sure NASM was just looking for “I’m really passionate about health and fitness!” and instead they got my entire life saga 😭. But that’s me for you, trauma dumping every chance I get <3

Here’s to learning, unlearning, moving forward, backpedaling, and stepping into the every new version of ourselves more confident than the last. 

& as always, thanks for being part of it!

Caleigh❤️‍🔥