Coach Spotlight – Sarah Gahagan

I love Coach Sarah’s enthusiasm for life! What I have found in the time Sarah has been on the team is that she is not competitive at all, hates being outdoors and doesn’t have much to say. 🙂 Seriously though you can’t pretend to have passion, and I think most of us who find our way sleepwalking through life could take a lesson here. I am sorry to say that I see Sarah remaining single, because qualification #2 (read below) just ain’t happening!

Writing autobiographies are dreaded for some, while others may thoroughly enjoy writing them either because they like to boast about their own accomplishments, or simply because they like to boast about the many blessings in their lives that make them who they are.  I am of the latter.

My name is Sarah Elizabeth Gahagan and I am a proud daughter of Hayes & Linda Gahagan (married 41 years!), and sister to four older brothers (yes, they’re very handsome and that’s why I was popular).  I was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on August 20, 1984.  After living there for 6 years, the family moved to Maine (home state of both parents) and took residence in Southern Maine before locating to Presque Isle, one hour South of Canada and North of Nowhere.  Presque Isle is proudly considered my hometown (yes, I picked potatoes and wore Carharts), and it’s a town “where everyone knows your name.”

Ever since my brothers and I could walk, our parents put us in any sport they could (not to get us out of the house, but to give us that lifestyle…hmm, I think).  As the youngest and only girl, my mom desperately tried to make me a girl in every way.  My brothers played hockey and I figure skated.  I was in ballet, gymnastics, and wore pink and ruffles…until I was old enough to have a say in the matter.  I laced up the hockey skates and played goalie, I looked at comics and baseball cards, I played with Legos, I did everything outside, I played contact sports, and I wore my brother’s old jeans (I will never forget how excited I was when they finally fit!).  I loved my brothers and I wanted to spend every minute with them.   I was a tomboy to the core.

I loved my brothers because my parents loved us.  Never a day goes by that I don’t thank God for the blessing of my amazing parents and the role models they have been for me.  I will never know the sacrifices they made to give us the life we had, but I will always know that their love for us grew stronger and stronger each day we lived.  Why do I deserve such a wonderful family?  I did nothing to earn it; it is by the rich grace of God.

Yes, God.  I said I was a proud daughter of Hayes & Linda, but more than that, I am a daughter of God.  I know that I was created by Him and for Him.  It is He who has given me these healthy lungs, this heart, and the hands to help those around me.  It is Him I thank when I complete a race or while I’m out training by myself.  My health is a gift and it is my desire to take care of that gift and honor the One who gave it to me.  There is freedom in knowing that I belong to Him and He will be faithful to me, and there is joy in knowing that His will for my life will indeed be good for me!

So that brings me to His will for my life…after high school I attended Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA where I earned my Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science.  I had the naïve idea that I would be married right after college and wouldn’t have to work…false.  I chose the degree because I loved to exercise and was fascinated with the human body, not necessarily because I thought I’d use it.  When senior year came and the fact that I had four older brothers probably kept me single (read on to know why), I realized I needed to find a career!  Ever since high school, I enjoyed giving people massages and I was told that I was good and that I had “magic fingers.”  I knew I had a gift, a gift God gave to me, to bless others.  So I decided that I would go to school and make it an effective blessing.  While I was in school, I got a job at a gym as a personal trainer, which would eventually turn into their massage therapist as well.  During that time, I started seeing my own massage clients while learning more about personal training and coaching, and developing a love to help others, to inspire them to reach their potential, and to help them see their worth.  Everyone must see their worth before change can be made.

After some time, I moved away from Virginia and spent my summers in Alaska and winters in Maine (yes I know, I’m strange).  I was a tour guide on a historical train in Skagway, AK that followed the path of the 1898 Gold Rush into the Yukon in the summer and a substitute teacher and middle school ski team coach back in my hometown of Presque Isle in the winter.   I eventually cut the ties with AK and resided in Presque Isle for 3 years.  I started my own massage therapy and personal training business, was a ski team coach, a youth ski program director, an outdoor adventure director, volunteered at our local mountain bike/Nordic ski club, and had frequent lunch dates with my amazing mom, gleaning much wisdom and guidance for my life after being gone for 6 years.

“The County” as my area is referred to, was truly a wonderful place but it came time for me to leave again.   At 28, I decided it was time to move so I began the hunt.  There were three reasons I wanted to move:  1) To be near a local Presbyterian Church (I drove to Canada an hour away), 2) To have a bigger market for business, and 3) To have a larger pool from which to fish… J After some searching, Concord was the winner, mostly because of its close proximity to my New England-based family, as well as Get Fit and the methods of their training.  I was intrigued to know more, to work with others who are smartie pants, and to go where I didn’t have any connections…a reason to rely more on God.  So I became a Get Fit Coach in September 2013!

By now, many of you know that I’m not married.  I’d love to be, but I blame it mostly on my brothers and Dad.  Their love and care for me over the years, and their care for their wives has set the bar so high that it’s hard to settle.  For now, I’m confident knowing that God has a good plan for my life, and I’m content that until the day comes when I meet someone, my faithful Dad has my heart in safe keeping and I will always be grateful for his love.  But if you’re curious – my two main qualifications are 1) He must love God more than he loves me, and 2) He must look good in spandex. J

Through high school I played soccer, softball, and was on the ski team, and now I road and mountain bike, strength train, swim, run, roller ski, Nordic ski, and snowshoe run…and anything else that can be done outside!  I love to train and I love to race, but oftentimes it’s by myself.  Another blessing that I have is you.  Yes, you and all the others who I have trained in the past.  It is you who I think about when I’m out training and pushing myself to be better.  So, thank you for choosing Get Fit to help me be better.  I hope that I, along with the other coaches, will be a blessing to you as you seek to better yourself.

Writing my Coach Spotlight was not a dread to me.  It’s not a dread to write about the great blessings I have in my life that make me Sarah Gahagan.   Ask me more about those blessings and I’ll talk forever because my cup overflows!

Cheers to seeing your worth and finding joy in life! J