Month: March 2013

 

March 28th is my CrossFit birthday. I turn 1 today. I guess that means I can officially no longer play the newbie card. Even though I still feel like I just walked in the door for the first time.

It’s interesting how this experience still feels so new. Every time I walk into HyperFit I’m excited to see what they have in store for us. By now, the luster should have worn off, but it hasn’t. I’m just as pumped up about going in now as I was 12 months ago. I’ve logged over 250 workouts, and I’m not bored. Not at all.

Along those lines, I’m still making progress. Measurable progress. If you are looking at beginning CrossFit, just do it. Give it a month and see for yourself. As I’ve said many times, this isn’t for everyone, but it is for me.

Big thanks to all the people that make it awesome. Thanks to Doug for putting this together and assembling the perfect mix of trainers in MOB, Steve and even Jeff. Big thanks for keeping me motivated to Lexi, Whitney, Lee, Craig and everyone else at HyperFit. And of course, huge thanks to Colleen, Bob, Mike, Baylen and the rest of the 7:30 crew, getting up shortly after 6AM every day is a little easier knowing I’m not alone!

And lastly, this would not have happened were it not for my former classmate, Chris. I owe you big time buddy. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

You would think it would be impossible to stand 18 inches from a wall, throw a medicine ball at it, and miss.  But alas, not only is it possible to miss, it’s repeatable.  At least it was for me on Friday.  My goal for reps for the CrossFit Open 13.3 was 151.  I thought I could get through 150 wallballs, and have a minute or two to get one double under.  Well, I landed at 138 reps when time ran out.  I think this was the first time I was ever disappointed with a WOD.  I know I am still recovering from an illness that took me out of action for 6 weeks, but I didn’t expect to be put that far behind in my wallballs.

The good news is that there are always more WODs.  Like Griff yesterday.  After running a half-mile backwards, and enjoying it, it helped to wash away the sting from getting my butt kicked the day before.  And now, I am extra motivated for Karen next time she shows up.  And I know she is going to show up.

All that aside, the CrossFit Open 13.3 was the first time I ever felt like I lost while playing this sport.  Losing sucks, and I don’t want to lose, even if it’s just against myself.

I’m just over one week back into this after my unplanned rest. It feels great. Taking it slow and light, but not too slow or too light.

Those first few WoDs were pretty daunting, but now I feel like I’m close to hitting my stride again. I definitely noticed a loss of some strength on the barbell movements, and it will be a while until I get it all back. But on some things, like ball slams, I don’t seem to have missed a beat. It’s finding the little things like crushing the 30 pound ball slams that are making this transition back feel good.

And not to mention, I PR’d during the 13.2 wod on Friday. That was a damn good feeling when Whit pointed that out to me after the fact. A month and half off doesn’t mean starting over. It just means starting again.

So I had CrossFit ripped from my life for the past 6 weeks.  Due to some unforeseen circumstances I was unable to work out at all during this time.  It sucked.  I missed my friends.  I missed my box.  I missed doing pull-ups and burpees. I honestly missed my soreness.

The people at HyperFit were great.  Kept me motivated to return as soon as I was able, were very supportive.

But this event in my training highlighted a new challenge for me.  Going back for that first WOD after an extended break was f’ing scary.  I was filled with anxiety.  I had dropped almost 10 pounds in the six weeks since I stopped, and I had convinced myself that was 10 pounds of pure muscle, and that I would be near starting over again.  I worked myself into quite a depressing state in the end.

I’m not sure if it was a blessing or a curse that the first WOD I was able to jump in on was the 13.1 open.  I had been gearing up for this for months, so I knew I had to get in for it, and what ever the results, it didn’t matter.  I wanted to participate.  I wanted to play in this WOD.  But, I knew it was going to be hard.  So, I put it in my mind that it was about showing up and pacing myself properly, and not about my score.  And, I have the score to prove that I executed on that (91).

I also felt good enough to make it back in today for Jackie.  Again, pacing myself (13 minutes).  But it feels great again.  And the fact that my 1000m row was 4:01, and I was actually able to bang out the 30 pull-ups with no band felt like huge wins for me.  Different kind of wins, but huge for me nonetheless.

And last but not least, I have to say thank you to all my CrossFit friends who were a great support while I was out of commission.  It was so hard to be out, but it was less hard thanks to you.

It is great to be back.