Transformation Tuesday: Court Marshall

If you’re a member of our Bay View Boot Camp family, you know who Court Marshall is.

He’s one of the first to say “I’m In!” for one of our weekly challenges.

He’ll be one of the first to post “Awesome workout!” on Facebook after 6 AM class and inspire the rest of that day’s crew to crush it.. and sometimes he’ll even come back at 6 PM for a second round!

He’ll be one of the first to welcome a new member and share a few inspirational words of wisdom.

I can’t imagine our Bay View Boot Camp family without Court – and I am so excited that he is sharing his story with all of you so you can also be inspired by his example and the changes he actively made for himself to be the person he is today.

Be inspired – read Court’s journey.. in his own words…

Most of my life I had been very active, my family was very “outdoorsy” backpacking around the country, canoeing, white water rafting etc. I played several sports, baseball, football, hockey and was always in pretty good shape. This lasted through my 20s where I played baseball at a fairly high level. At that age I could eat just about whatever I wanted without consequence. Fast forward 15 years later, throw in a failed marriage, work stress and, I hate to admit it, laziness and I found myself having gained 80 pounds. Crazy to even type those words. I didn’t gain it all at once but if you add 5-10 pounds a year over 8-10 years it’s easy to get there.

I felt, as you could imagine, horrible at that weight. Even though in my mind I was still an athlete, it was a struggle to cut my grass. I couldn’t sleep well, exhausted all the time which lead to excuses for not exercising or doing anything to get healthy. I still ate just about anything I wanted and far too much of it. It’s the feeling of being trapped at the bottom of a well looking up at the world with no way out.

Once you’re in that cycle, it’s very hard to get out of it. At some point you do reach rock bottom, a combination of some lab results and the feeling of “what the heck am I doing to myself” hit me on a Saturday afternoon in January of 2013 and I decide I would make a change. I downloaded the “Lose-It” app on my phone, set my goal and then started counting and logging calories and started riding a stationary bike. To force the change, I singed up for the November Tough Mudder with friends from work (forcing a deadline and giving me something to shoot for) and vowed to stick with it. Weird thing about me is when I eventually commit to something it’s total. Over the course of the year I lost 60 pounds, worked heavy weights in the gym and started feeling better about myself. Finished the Tough Mudder and kept moving up weights in the gym. I started to finally feel like the old me again.

Even still I felt like I was missing something. I kept my diet very strict, read all I could find on healthy eating while working out, ordered books and subscribed to websites and still plataued. I wanted to reach my Chris Platt goal (he lost almost 70 pounds to film Gaurdians of the Galaxy). I have known my friend Erin Flock for years and she was always raving about the boot camp classes she was taking and how they were life changing and so much fun. I thought, well I want to lose the last 20 pounds (or more importantly get my bodyfat down to 10-12% if only briefly) so I agreed to give Bay View Boot Camp a try to burn off some calories.

I remember my first couple of classes, it was all I could do to finish the warm-up lap and then try and catch my breath during the “warm-up” exercises before the actual workout. I realized I was no where near as in shape as I thought I was. I worked as hard as I could and was barely able to make it the whole hour. I could only physically manage a couple of classes a week as I could barely walk on off days. After Saturday classes, I would go home and collapse on my sofa, unable to do a thing the rest of thne day. I couldn’t believe other people at class were talking about going out for dinner, doing yard work etc after class. How was this possible?

All the trainers were so encouraging and motivating as well as the other people in class, just keep pushing they would say and it will come. So I did and suddenly I was getting stronger each week, even the weight I lifted in the gym started to go up again. I felt like I hadn’t felt since football practice many years before, exhausted, challenged and wanting more. Thanks to Laura, Gail, Geoff as well as Deb and Mackenzie, I was reaching new PRs every fit test. Instead of dredding fit test week, I was looking forward to it.

They say exercise is the best stress relief in the world and I couldn’t agree more; my job is extremely stressful and yet, now that I go to class 5-6 classes a week, I never really feel any stress. My moods are amazing (unless I miss a workout) and I do not feel 48 years old at all. I rediscovered my love of running sprints and pushing myself to exhaustion each class, always looking to do a little more or a little bit faster each day. While last August I couldn’t imagine doing anything after class, now I regularly go to the gym two to three evenings a week or even 2 boot camp classes a day.

I would say to everyone starting out with Bay View that do the best you are personally able to each class and stick with it because in 6 months you won’t believe where you can end up. I have now lost over 70 pounds, hoping to lose some more body fat (weight doesn’t matter to me vs my bodyfat goal of 12%). You can see by my before picture, which wasn’t at my heaviest, how bad things can be at the start. I have included 2 recent pictures as well. I wouldn’t call them after pictures as that would imply the end of the journey and I don’t see and end to this journey.

Thanks to the support and encouragement of the Bay View Boot Camp team, I have no idea what my limits are and that’s a beautiful thing but I am excited to enjoy the ride getting there. This has truly been a life changing experience for me on so many levels. I am recently engaged, feel great, 90% of the way to my Chris Platt goal (actually have some abs for the first time since I was 25) and don’t plan on quitting as long as i am upright and above ground.

If anyone else reading this finds themselves starting off in the same place, know that change is possible, it’s not easy (as Geoff says, you can’t cheat the grind) but it is more rewarding than you can possibly imagine.

Start today!!

I have also included this link to the poem Ulysses by Tennyson. The last paragraph quoted below has been inspiring to me and part of my motivation

“And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”