Time Flies!

I have been doing karate 2 days a week and Crossfit 3 days a week, it's been amazing so far. Needless to say I have been exhausted. I have found my home at Crossfit Connex and it really feels like family there. Best decision I have ever made! I felt that I made a good decision for me and my health to do this.

Today we stopped by the REI sale and I found a pair of Vibrams in there garage sale section (means it was returned to the store) so these were worn once and the person didn't like them. $100 shoes they wanted $29 for. Perfect for Crossfit! So when I went to pay I had some dividends to use as well so they were only $7- what a steal!!

I have asked my coaches for some workouts that I can do at home for days when I can't get to the box. I have a lot of equipment in the basement I can use so we will see what they come up with.

Dead Last

Amazing night at Crossfit, it was a hell of a WOD but again I did survive. Our WOD was 3 rounds for time of 50 wall balls followed by 800M run. Because we had running I wore an appropriate shirt that said Running Sucks- because that is the relationship I have with running. I think the only time I was ever good or able to run was either sprinting in high school and college or when I was in the Army.

 

Anyway, we got started and I was last out of the box for my run on the first round, I already knew this was going to be a challenge and it became a fight for my thoughts as well as my body. The run can be a little lonely-it's only 2 laps around our building but that is when the negative thoughts start running wild. Watching people sprint out the door and fly past me while running started to get very discouraging and frustrating.

 

As I was coming in from the run on my 2nd round I noticed that others were finishing their last round and I started to get upset. I am so used to doing things that I excel at and can compete in, this is new territory for me in being dead last. I was struggling with my last set of 50 WB and I noticed I had a group around me, they were yelling and cheering- for me! They counted down my last 15 for me in sets of 5- give me 5 then you can breathe. It sucked, but I go through it, and I think I did better on that set than any other that night.

 

The last 800M was the toughest, because when I started out the door I knew it was just me. I was alone on this road and I had to make my feet keep moving when all I wanted to do was give up. Had I been alone, or not with this group I would have given up long ago, maybe even after set 2. While I was running I was reminding myself that we have all come here from different walks of life. I don't know how long some of my fellow crossfitters had been there or what their journey has been. And they do not know my journey to this point right now. But I was there to make a change, and no matter how slow I had to go, even if I had to walk here and there I was going to finish. I have already done things I never thought I could or would do. I showed up that night and I would finish it. That was just in the first lap because when I ran around the side they all walked out to cheer me on to my 2nd lap. It made me hold my head up a little higher, breathe a little deeper and keep going. They had been done for a little while now so they were sticking around just for that?! Amazing.

 

That last lap took everything I had to keep going- just to put one foot in front of the other. But again as I rounded the corner on that lap I saw them come out, heard them cheer me on. I heard my coach say that I had to run all the way inside, which I did, and thought I would drop dead on the floor. But I finished. Almost 10 min after everyone else. But I finished what I started.

This is why I joined Crossfit, to be better than I am right now, to do things I didn't think I could and for a community of people that I can do this with.

 

I found that in my box, I like it here. I don't know everyone yet but I have a feeling we will all get to know each other soon enough. Clearly they will push me, I just have to keep showing up and try to be better than I was yesterday. My coaches are amazing and I hope some day I can be the person someone new can look up to as well. But we all have to start somewhere.

 

 

 

 

Crossfit is an amazing community of people. We are all going through the same suck, we are all at different levels of being able to work through it and our endurance to finish. Someone has to be last, we are all here to make sure you are not last alone, we are all cheering for you!

 I did I think 2 actual, true double unders today and that jump rope was a little whip I tell ya. When did this become so difficult? When I was 10 I could jump rope forever!

After 150 WB I did get a few punches to the face by my 14lb ball, teaches you to catch the damn thing!

Whew

So somehow I got the flu after that killer workout- I will blame burpees!! But I wanted to share the sign that is on the door at my box, sums it up well.

Oh my WOD

I am still trying to explain how the workout was tonight at Crossfit. I found a box that I just fell in love with, they are just what I was looking for. Tonights workout I consider my 1st official workout. Here was what we did:

Warm-up
400M run with high knees and butt kicks
25-sit ups
25-air squats
25- push ups

400M run
10- front squat with bar
10- overhead squat
10- back squat

The WOD today was:
30 Power Cleans
100 Burpees for time
*EMOM 10 sit ups (that means every minuet on the minuet)

OMG. My times were 3:44/14:58

I don't think I realized what the workout was going to be like when we started...but looking back on it now- what a workout!! I am quite proud of myself for making it through. It sucked- and it was awesome!

Week 1 Down!

I have my first  week of On-Ramp in the bag. I love this shit! We had great WOD (workout of the day) and learning the fundamentals. Every day we would review what we learned the day before and then learn new techniques. Next week we are learning Olympic lifts..

Its nice to just go in an work hard, let myself forget everything else and just work hard. Things are not easy there, it's hard, and I love it! There is no drama, there are not politics, there are no parents dictating what is going to happen. You just do the work.

I love Crossfit!

Just for the record

I still cannot hardly walk. Omg!!

Intro Class DONE!

Showed up for my intro class this morning and was pleasantly surprised that the coach and other person taking the class with me were there early as well. Started with a tour of the box and general explanation of what we were going to be doing today.

The warmup/stretching time we did for about 20ish min, even after doing martial arts consistently for over a year now I found they had better techniques for getting my hips to open up and got a much better stretch. I can see already how this will help me in my martial arts classes with my kicks.

After that we took some time to learn how to use wall balls, kettle bells and do a proper pushup. Sure. I got this, not that difficult. Our coach took us to the board and showed us how the workouts are listed each week and what they mean. Then he wrote our workout on the board.

7-Wall Ball
14 - Kettle bell swings
7 - pushups
6 minutes

Initially I didn't think this would be too difficult to do either, average 2 min per thing...I can do anything for 6 min. Silly newbie. This is crossfit after all, not a lazy day! By my 3rd round I was really starting to get the idea on how this works. By my 5th rotation my arms had started shaking and the pushup started to feel impossible. Our coach yelled that we had 60 seconds left and I heaved that wall ball up as hard as I could, squatting as low as I could get, suddenly those 8lb balls felt like a ton of bricks!

Whew we made it! This is no joke. I love it. I love the intensity, the challenge, the fact that you can push your body to exhaustion that quickly. I love that today I find it difficult but next week I might be able to do it better, and the next week I will do even better than that.

I signed up right away for my On-Ramp session which starts in a week. It will be 2 weeks of classes to teach me what I need to know about the movements that we do in class.

6 min. Exhaustion. My arms are still shaking 3 hours later. Awesome.

I get it. I understand now. I am hooked!

Your going to do what??

A lot of people have been asking me why I want to try CrossFit. Wondering why I would want to “waste so much time” or get involved in something new again.

Here are a few of my thoughts on that.

1.       I used to be a very good athlete. College scholarship for track-3 years, played in softball world series- twice, played sports my whole life, hockey player, martial artist

2.       I am your average athletic build, which means I can put on muscle or fat pretty easy. And it doesn’t go far. So I retain my muscles years after doing anything with them but the fat doesn’t just “fall off” when I eat good or half ass a workout.

3.       Although I love to sweat and love to work hard, I absolutely suck at pushing myself. This is probably why I loved the Army so much, they would tell me what to do and I just did it.

4.       I need the community of support. I will not lie and try to say that I can do this alone, that I would rather be alone. But when I watch the videos and hear about what a great support they give each other. I want that. No. I need that!

5.       I want to look good. I want to feel good. I want to someday, be able to do my workout in a sports bra and shorts.  I know that sounds a little egotistical but I can’t help it, I have never been the super fit girl that was comfortable in her own skin. Ever.

6.       I want someone to look at me and say if she can do it so can I.

7.       I want to inspire myself to be better than I was yesterday.

8.       I want to prove that I can. Prove that I will not give up on myself this time.

9.       I want my partner to look at me and go “wow”

10.   I owe it to myself.

I want to be seen again. I know that sounds funny, but I want people to really SEE me. I want someone to look at me with that love in their eyes and a glimmer of more. I want to be looked at like I am something to look at. I want to be worthy of that type of look. 

Right now I blend into a crowd, I am not memorable  I am not pretty with beautiful features, I am nothing special. 

I want to be. 

New day, new adventure

Well I have decided that I am going to check out CrossFit. If you have been living under a rock and don't know what CrossFit is please watch:

So I made the call the other day and schedule my free intro session with a local 'box' near my house. I get little goosebumps when I watch the above video. I want to engage in activities that will change my life. This is a group activity but individual effort. I like the idea that I get to push myself to the limit every time I work out.

I have bad habits when it comes to working out. I will get into it for a bit, find my stride for a bit, and then get bored, and I am done. This is why I am not "allowed" to sign contracts for anything because I will stop well before then. So I am my own worst enemy.

Now it is time to take my inner fire, with their ability to coach, put on my big girl pants and sweat it out.

Check out CrossFit Women

I plan to use this blog as a journal on my journey. Pictures, video maybe, and thoughts on the process.
Buckle up!