Reflecting Back on the First Year of Drop-In Diary

I can’t believe it’s been a year since Drop-In Diary launched.  I also can’t believe everything that’s happened since then, as I’m sure most of us can’t.  When I first set out, I wanted to help travelers feel more comfortable about dropping in as an overall way to help people stay healthy.  A new location, new people, different styles of coaching and programming can be intimidating.  I had to overcome that intimidation and knew if I could others could as well.  As a pretty average CrossFitter, I found that sharing my experiences was a way I could give something back that would be helpful.

Who’d have thought that a couple of months later there’d be no dropping in?  For a while we couldn’t even go to our own gyms, let alone try a new one.  Fortunately, I had something to keep Drop-In Diary going…a backlog of notes and experiences I could share.  I also had material for product reviews, nutritional information (with some help from my nutrition coach) and other general observations.

While I was still able to post, like everyone else has experienced, conditions weren’t optimal.  Afterall, it’s a lot more useful to read about a drop-in experience when we’re actually planning to be in that area.  Fortunately, these experiences will still be valid as we begin to return to relative normalcy…hopefully soon.

As an addition to the “conditions weren’t optimal” category, I had learned in the middle of the year that I needed hip surgery for a torn labrum.  And, just for good measure, a couple of weeks before the hip surgery I learned that I needed hernia surgery.  So, in three months I had two surgeries that didn’t allow me to truly do CrossFit workouts again for about four months.
 
However, lemonade out of lemons.  It was an opportunity to share a different set of experiences, as I’m not the only person to need surgery so I started the Rehabin’ Diary to document my recovery process.  Unlike Drop-In Diary, I was hoping I would run out of content in a relatively short amount of time.  Thank goodness that seems to be the case.

Personally, I’ve felt very fortunate to have been able to interact with athletes, coaches, owners and experts in new ways and learn different perspectives.  I’ve received great feedback from people who have read Drop-In Diary content.  My most surprising discovery was how useful some of the owners had found my feedback and how it helped them make some positive changes. 

What’s in store going forward?  Believe it or not, I still have some backlog reviews and additional content that you’ll be seeing soon.  I plan to continue to help those who have apprehension about dropping in to feel more comfortable.  If it’s worthwhile content, perhaps I’ll even expand beyond dropping in.  I’m passionate about giving back in the best way I can. 

I particularly want to thank all of those who have read content on Drop-In Diary, shared their feedback, given my posts a like, contributed their knowledge, rooted for me during my recovery and supported me in even the smallest of ways.  I encourage you to keep checking in and I would love nothing more than if you join the conversation.  Your feedback only helps make the information more valuable to everyone. 

Here’s wishing you a safe, healthy, happy and successful 2021.