Our athlete of the week is Cheryl Shaw! We’ve had the privilege of working with Cheryl for the last ten years. We’ve trained her husband and some of their kids as well. The Shaw family has been a fixture at Endorphin Fitness for many, many years. Day to day and year to year, Cheryl is a great example of what it means to “be more”. From focusing on incremental progress to setting and achieving big goals, Cheryl has puts in the work to constantly improve.
Since 1982 when Cheryl saw Julie Moss crawl across the finish in Kona, she wondered if she could do that. If she had what it takes to persevere through a long and grueling race. It would be many years before she began working to achieve this goal, however. Years later, her husband and children began training with EF and this question came up in her mind once more. Finally, after years of training she had her answer; yes, she had what it takes.
As Cheryl began training, her teammates at EF were certainly her biggest encouragement. However, she also appreciates the structure and planning the coaches provide. When she doesn’t have to plan for herself exactly how she’s going to work towards a goal, it frees her to focus on the work. She loves to show up and do whatever workout a coach has for her, no matter how hard.
For Cheryl, the little victories are as important as the big ones. This is so crucial- to be able to keep the long term goals in mind while being able to focus on the steps. She enjoys being able to see incremental improvement on her bike and run times. She even says that being able to work her Garmin can sometimes feel like a huge success!
For Cheryl, the main takeaway from the coaching at EF is to not be overwhelmed when difficult things come her way in life. She approaches problems similarly to her training- break a big goal down into smaller steps and take it little by little. Her teammates at EF helped her through one of the hardest challenges of her life: a breast cancer diagnosis. It was a teammate that first educated her on the need for self checking and awareness, and her teammates were with her the whole way through. Five years later, she was able to celebrate a major post-cancer milestone with friends, family, and teammates at a great race!
Cheryl and her family have been a huge inspiration to us for many years at Endorphin Fitness. Her advice to beginners is what we tell all our athletes- you are capable of more than you can imagine! Stay focused on the details and on daily improvement, and you’ll achieve great things!
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