Back in the day Alida called us girls at the time (heather, Alida and me) the flair of Sayre. At the time it was us 3 v. all the men at Sayre and it was fun. We brought non-stinky arm pits to the basement of Sayre park and a whole lot of neon. Wait actually I don’t really wear neon but that’s beside the point. We were loud and giggly and chatty. But when it came down to it we took our lifting seriously.

Things have changed a bit though in my year and a half at Sayre. We have a lot more girls! Heather has moved on with her sweet new job of owning a crossfit gym and also coaching and programming at another. I don’t get to see her much but when I do I value that time because she is still one of my lifting idols. I remember this one time when we were watching her current coach lifting and she was like, “won’t it be nice one day when our form is so good all we need to do is get stronger and go for more kilos?” It’s funny because I think about that quote all the time and I seriously can’t wait to be good enough with my technique and be at the point I’m just getting stronger.

Anyway there’s a whole new dynamic down in the weight room now. No longer are we outnumbered trying to find space on a platform. I mean we actually have an entire side if needed. But we will still pile 3-4 ladies together because we got so much love going on. I used to be the girl that didn’t want new girls around because I always feel so judged and for some reason girls get really competitive with me. But as of late I’ve found some good friends and training partners. I do miss the old days but Sara and Lauren are really awesome. Genuinely happy for my prs as they are their own. And I feel the same about them. Sara is so consistent and it amazes me every day that someone so small can throw weight above her head with such calmness. And Lauren my long lost sister I can’t say a single bad thing about her.

And now there are a few more new ladies coming down and I am starting to like it. I feel like we can really empower each other and really give each other the support to succeed. No reason for women to bring down other women. We can and should totally bring the Flayre to Sayre every time we are there. Because let’s face it. We do a weird sport and it’s pretty cool that we are a bunch of strong women doing crazy amounts of weightlifting!