I was going to wait and post this a few weeks but sometimes I think it's better to celebrate an anniversary all month instead of all day. This is my Journey into CrossFit!
February 22nd will be 1 year that I walked into the Crossfit gym. I can't believe a year has gone by. Months before I had been talking with someone online about Crossfit and she encouraged me to find a box and try it out. When I discovered a box had opened 5 minutes from my house I was both excited and scared to death. I emailed and then stopped by one night and literally stuck my head in the door long enough to meet the owner/coach and gone in less than 5 minutes. Then on their FB page it said there was going to be an Open House. Again, my friend Gretchen was encouraging me from Seattle to just go try it out. So, on Feb. 22, 2013 I walked in scared out of my mind.
I met a few folks and then came the start of a class. The warm up of all things was jumping jacks. Now, those sound easy for everyone else but for me I didn't have a clue and my hands and feet were not cooperating (they still don't a year later). I wanted to walk out at that moment but I stuck with it. I remember doing air squats and being given a box for my target for my butt to get some depth. Me and that box have tried to end our friendship amicably but we seem to be stuck together for life as it just won't go away permanently. Then there was the big box climb. Nobody knew anything about me especially at that time and unbeknownst to them they were getting ready to find out my fear of heights. I still don't know how to this day a complete stranger got me to climb up on that box. But I saw how determined this coach was and he didn't back down when I told him NO he said YES! That battle went on for a minute or two and I found myself standing on top of that box scared out of my mind. I don't even remember if I did a jumping pull up or if the coach finally said it was time to let me down because by then everyone was staring at me probably not sure what was going to happen next. After that I have no memory of anything else that happened at that open house.
After I recovered from the open house I emailed asking if I could join now that the coach knew how unathletic and out of shape I am and seeing for himself I was going to be a challenge and he said YES! I came back and joined the following week on March 1st.
Joining came commitment which meant get myself to classes on time. I started out 3 days a week for the first month to make sure I was going to like it. Joining also meant sharing my goals which meant the weight loss struggle I have been on for 30 years. I had never shared my goals with anyone not even my closest friends. Here I was sitting down with the same person that made me stand on top of a box and now standing on a scale. That was the moment I knew I was going to make a change in my life and get healthy and lose this weight. I won't lie that was hard. All I could hear in my head was all the overweight jokes and teasing but when I got off that scale I heard none of that from this coach. Instead I heard how I could change things by my nutrition and exercise and how he and the other coaches were going to help me. I wanted to cry at that moment but happy tears not sad ones. For the first time I had hope I could do this.
So the journey began... The first 6 months were hard as far as workouts. I even endured my first 5K a month into joining. I don't think anyone really knew how slow I am even though they encouraged me to do this. It took me over an hour to complete this 5K. I had a 2 car police escort the entire way as I was last. I wanted to go home several times as this 5K took me right by my subdivision. But one of the cops kept talking to me and encouraging me and told me she wasn't going to let me give up. She stayed with me the entire way. I am so thankful for her being there because if not I would've gone home and called a friend and said come get me and take me to my car. As far as I knew everyone would be packed up and gone so it wouldn't matter. I finally made the halfway point. I got about 3/4 of the way and to my surprise here came 1 of the coaches with some of her friends and another friend of mine who had ran the race. With all of them they kept me going. I'll never forget that moment. I made it through the finish line with everyone and my police escort. I DID IT!!!
The first 6 months the weight came off fairly easily. The last 6 months have been the hardest yet. I hit a plateau with my weight and stopped losing. I wasn't eating right so I started to work on that. I was still drinking whole milk and almost 3 gallons a week. I was also eating too many cheat meals. I was never good at eating a lot of meat for protein and this has been my biggest struggle. So hear came all the meltdowns of:
I can't do this!
I want to quit!
This is too hard!
This isn't worth it!
I don't think I missed out on any complaining and whining. And as tired as my friends got of hearing it they still put up with me and encouraged me to continue. My weight loss isn't where I had hoped it would be at this time. I thought I would be over halfway to my goal by now. But when you go in with the goal of losing 157lbs. that's a huge goal to achieve and it won't happen overnight. I'm not even halfway to my goal and I've had to revamp some of my goals but I hope to be by my birthday if not sooner. Not meeting the goals I had set for myself by the end of the year was difficult. I felt like I let myself down and that was hard to handle. But I know as long as I keep working towards my goal I will achieve it.
I am almost always the last to finish because I am slow but everyone still encourages me. I can handle being last to finish but I still struggle with finishing 10+ minutes after everyone is done, especially with warm ups as I feel like I'm holding up class time. I'm working on getting faster and better but even I know that is going to be a long journey and I have to suck it up at those times but it is easier said than done. I'm working on it.
So here came the end of the year and I knew I needed to make some decisions. It was either accept that this was it and quit or work harder and achieve my goals. I chose to work harder and achieve my goals and that's what I'm doing! My advice to anyone wanting to achieve a goal no matter what it is... Just go out and and work hard for it. Know there are going to be struggles but if you surround yourself with the right folks that help you stay positive and encourage you and you do the same for them anything is achievable!
What I do know after a year is I will achieve my goals but not in the time frame I had wanted. But instead in the time frame that is meant for me. I know I will still have struggles and I will hit walls but I also know my determination is there and stronger than ever before. I will continue to tweak through my regiment of workouts and nutrition and fine tune what works and discard what doesn't. What I won't do is give up. I spent 30 years giving up after starting something but this time I've made it a year and I'm not stopping!
So to all the folks that have watched my journey and helped me along I say THANK YOU!!! Looking forward to see what this next year brings!
I have the best coaches!!!
Gretchen, you may not be one of my coaches at my box but you are such an inspiration to me from across the country. Without you encouraging me to walk through those doors last year I wouldn't know I could do this. And you still encourage me. I hope one day we get to meet and do a WOD together. That is one of my goals!
Jessica, who now fills in from time to time I'll never forget you coming back for me at that 5K - means the world to me!
Emily, I love seeing you on Thurs. I really do! You always have encouraging words to say!
Jeremiah - everybody loves Jeremiah as we say! Love your laid back attitude! I'll never forget having to do 83 burpees 3 or 4 months into this journey and you stuck by me the entire way encouraging me and you still continue to never let me give up even when struggling. And then you posted a picture of where my forehead hit the ground all 83 times ;-)
Michelle - you are so patient and encouraging and always making sure we have our form correct. And I love how you take measurements ;-)
And last but not least Jim, you put up with so much more from me than anyone else. You don't let me give in to my whining, complaining, fears or self pity and never afraid to be honest and just tell me like it is. As much as I don't like hearing the truth it does make me stronger. I'm also learning messaging Michelle is just like messaging you - LOL! And you 2 have the best kids! Which means I have the best running buddies anyone can have!
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