Why I CrossFit

One of the CrossFit Solus coaches posted a question a week or so ago inquiring information as to WHY DO WE CROSSFIT?  It really got me to thinking....and I wanted to share WHY I CROSSFIT!

A year ago, when I first started with the bootcamp crossfit (aka Out of The Box or OTB),  I would have answered that question with; for curiosity, convenience, and desperate for some physical changes in my body.  I had had friends and other crossfitters tell me I would love it.  But at the time, I thought the price was ridiculous and I didn't want to drive into town for it.

But once CrossFit Solus opened an OTB class here in Gunter, I really didn't have an excuse to not "try" it.  I still wasn't happy about the price but I was committed to giving it a 3 month trial.  I was hooked after my first few classes.  Mainly because I loved trying things I had done only as a teenager.  I was feeling young again. And to my surprise I was actually doing them.  ***Even if it wasn't pretty....you know, fat old lady trying to do a handstand seems a bit awkward! HAHA!  I was having fun though!  ***Added bonus was my body was slowly changing, too.

However, the real reason I crossfit is now more apparent to me....  I don't think I started to understand this truly up until just recently.  But the actual "change" in my attitude and also my commitment to CrossFit and a healthy lifestyle started about mid-summer when I began the real crossfit class (meaning barbell and heavier lifting/olympic lifting classes).  I think the fact that even though I was a newbie to the sport but was actually performing pretty well despite my lack of knowledge and experience made me stop and realize that I am STILL AN ATHLETE!

STILL AN ATHLETE????...... I can now tell you that I know that I was a great little athlete back in my high school/college days.   "Back in the day" most everything I participated in, I actually excelled in.  My biggest love was for basketball, in which I excelled in and also played at the college level (Jr College, that is).  I was probably a better "cheerleader" though....but I cheered just for fun.  I loved tumbling and was quite the power tumbler.  And yes, I held girls over my head...which now I realize that, that is actually quite impressive! HA!  Not many girls can hold another girl over their head!  :-).  I was also pretty darn fast.  I could run a quarter right under a minute (not bad for a white girl), but I could also run 2miles in 14mins.  So regardless the sport; basketball, cheer, track, cross country or gymnastics.  I always ENJOYED and felt so PASSIONATE in COMPETING in ANY and ALL of these sports!  It was fun! It was always a challenge!  And I loved the challenge and worked very hard to be sure I achieved whatever possible.  I admit....I didn't fail too often to achieve any of my athletic goals.

This all leads me back to that question...... WHY DO I CROSSFIT??

Well, I became an adult..... and once I became an adult, I thought that being an athlete was just "something in my past" or just a "memory of the good ole days".  So the next stage in my life now that I was a GROWN UP was to move on to the next thing...which was to be a coach.  As much as I can say I did enjoy coaching....it wasn't the same as actually being the athlete or competing myself.  But I was OK with that because I was a GROWN UP now.

But life happened and so did three babies:-).  Coaching and raising kids were not a fit for my life, therefore I did away with coaching to raise my three babies.

This is where I slowly lost my PASSION for life.  ***I am by no means saying I do not have a PASSION for raising my kids.....as I do, 110%.  But slowly I found myself a bit withdrawn and lonely and only able to have a conversation with little people---under the age of 7 ONLY! HA!  At this time, I was overweight for the first time in my life....about 50lbs. The things I used to be good at (sports) were not an options any more, coaching took up too much time out of my parenting, and suddenly I was a bit lost.  It seemed that everything I was once good at....was just something in my past!!!

So I was a GROWN UP.....former athlete, former coach, and a full time mommy of three babies.  So the next step, at this stage, was to become a runner. That's what old people do, right? HA!

Running became something I began doing soon after the birth of my last child, Gabe.  To be honest, I was a walker after having Zander, but now that I had three babies.....and very little time and no extra money, I began running to make workouts go by faster and it was CHEAP to do.  With three kids under the age of 5.....not alot of time to workout and not enough money for gym fees, sitters, etc.  Running was the only INDEPENDENT thing I could do.  But running, to my surprise, sparked that PASSION in me again--and only within months.  I was slowly finding myself again...setting goals for myself and meeting them:-).  I was COMPETING again! It was an AWESOME feeling and addictive and effective for weight loss (at least some of my weight).  Running made me feel comfortable in my own skin.  Running gave me that familiar feeling of what used to be.

Back to the WHY DO I CROSSFIT??? Like I said before, after the miles and miles of running I began crossfit for ALL THE WRONG REASONS (for convenience, for the hope of finding something that would physically change my body, and just out of curiosity).  Within the last couple of months though, I have felt my lifestyle completely change.  And it has a lot to do with WHY I CROSSFIT!

I CROSSFIT because I am an athlete! I CROSSFIT because I love the challenge!  I CROSSFIT because I enjoy it!  I CROSSFIT because it makes me part of a team!  I am not too old to be an athlete, or to compete, or to challenge myself beyond what I ever imagined I could do....even at my old age!!!  

This is WHO I AM!  This is how God made me!!! I am a passionate, goal setting, competitive athlete.  I always have been and always will be!  And that's why I CROSSFIT!!!