I could not find a better way to start my shiny new blog than this:
I haven't been completely honest. I'm not going to a "bootcamp" all these nights a week. I've started doing CrossFit again. There. I feel better.
I decided to come clean tonight as I was rowing the last 500m of a partner chipper WOD. I saw 4 new faces (students of the Foundations class) standing to my right staring at me as my partner and the coach stood to my left, cheering me on. There I was, the last to finish. After an admittedly weak finish of my portion of the row, I got up, walked to the fan and proceeded to lie down on the floor. A few minutes passed and I got up, got my jump rope and went to hang it on the wall. One of the new girls asked, "Really, how was it?" And I answered her with complete honesty, "It was great!" She and the other students beside her looked at me like I was the biggest lunatic on the planet. They'll understand one day.
So here's how it happened....
In 2013, I tried CrossFit for the first time. Though it wasn't a successful "go" for me, there was a certain element that was "different" than anything I'd ever done. I completed about two months and never walked back into that Box again.
In May, 2015, I decided to try again. I'd been doing a myriad of exercises over the last two years just trying to "love" anything. ANYTHING. I did Zumba, walking, running, hot yoga, regular yoga (which I like and still do classes), TRX, Cardio Combo (@NCSU) and Insanity Max30. As I was sitting in Bojangles with Nate on a Friday night, I blurted out "I want to do CrossFit again." Now, Nate isn't a big advocate of it and that's ok. He just said "Ok..." I saw some posts from my friends and former colleagues about this particular Box that was running a special: 6 Foundations classes for FREE. I got up some nerve and decided to go for it.
I got a lot of "feedback" after my experience in 2013. So many people told me "It isn't for you. It's dangerous. People have been known to die. It isn't safe." You get the idea. I didn't want to worry those folks. I know they love me and just want to protect me. But, selfishly, I just didn't want to hear it. My "secret" wasn't meant to be hurtful. I just needed to find my fire. And, well, I found it.
I'm nervous every day I walk in the doors of OCCF. Every time I complete a WOD, it is the most humbling and at the same time, motivating, experience. I "scale" OFTEN. I am not ashamed. In fact, I am so proud of how far I've come and how happy it makes me. I love all of the athletes and coaches at my Box. Yes, I said "my". I'm a part of something; I belong.
I cannot lie to you. I do not believe that it is for everyone. Yes, I believe that every person can try it, but I do not believe that it will elicit the same feelings for every person on the planet as it does for me and my fellow CrossFit athletes. I don't think there is one exercise on this earth that is for "everyone". And that is ok.
But this is for me. And I will no longer hide it or apologize for loving it.
#strongerthanyesterday
