"I started training with Paul in January 2017, and since then, I have found physical and mental strength that I never knew I had. Last month, my husband, fellow Resilient athlete Jason, and I completed the Spartan Trifecta (Sprint, Super, and Beast in the same calendar year) with the Beast in Killington, Vermont. It indeed was the most grueling day of my life. Almost 12 hours up and down and back up the steepest ski mountain I've ever seen for about 15 miles. When we told the Resilient coaches last winter that our goal was the Trifecta, they never once doubted my ability to complete the race. They wrote me some pretty intense conditioning programs, and at 48 years old, I have achieved something that most people would never attempt.

The Resilient team sends us Facebook and Instagram messages all the time about training through an injury. They helped me modify my program when I had a bad ankle sprain. I've seen them coach multiple athletes back from hip, foot, and back surgeries. Sometimes, I wish I had a bad hip or a bum knee, and they could prescribe a program to help strengthen the area and bring it back to its top function. Unfortunately, you can't write a strength training program for depression. Depression has been part of my life for as long as I can remember, and I have always used physical activity as a coping mechanism. I've had gym memberships since I was 18. I've done boot camp, kickboxing, and spinning classes. I've done yoga, pilates, and ran a half marathon. All of those activities gave me a much-needed outlet and a positive way to focus my energy.

During the past 2 months, I have been struggling with my depression, but I keep showing up and training. Some days, I have the energy to get my program done, other days, it just doesn't happen, and that's okay. Training at Resilient helps to fill the well that depression runs dry. I've learned not to be embarrassed by my illness, but to reach out to the coaches and the friends that I have made over the last 3 years. Depression is an illness that, by its nature, isolates you even when you are in a room full of people, but I get so much energy being around the positive energy and encouragement I get when I train. I know that this episode will pass. I have a great doctor and treatment plan, and I'm feeling better every day. Just showing up to train, doing what I can do, and showing up the next day is just as important to what a doctor or therapist can do for me.

I truly wish that I believed in myself as much as the Resilient team believes in me, in my strength and my abilities, but I'm getting there." - Michelle