The post below was originally published in 2011, and it's been updated each year to reflect where I am in my life and the new...
Read MoreWhy Do You CrossFit?
It cracks me up (in an internal, snarky, unkind way that I should really work on eliminating, but f*ck it, I’m not gonna…) when people learn about the way I eat and the way I workout and ask, “What are you training for?”
Um… life. I’m training for life.
Yes, the Moonlight Margarita Run and 3M Half Marathon and Austin Half Marathon and The 21st Annual Bataan Memorial Death March are in my future, but that’s not why I train. Not really.
I train like an athlete and eat like an athlete because I want to have a Great Life… a life full of adventures and cute clothes and delicious food and romantic vacations. I want to be able to carry my own keyboard amp and to haul my own damn suitcase in and out of the trunk. And I want to sleep the sleep of the righteous every night. None of that is possible without keeping my body strong and my noggin on straight.
I don’t really train to get better at CrossFit; I train for my Great Life. Which is why I only got 5.5 hours of sleep last night… ’cause I was at a super-kickass, awesome, “we’ve got a great vibe going” band practice until 9:30, and I ate dinner in bed at 10:30.
P. M.
I almost didn’t go to my CrossFit Women class today because I was kinda tired and worried I wasn’t going to have a good workout. My little voice was, like, “That 400m warmup is gonna suck and you’re going to be really slow and the last one to finish. Again. You should stay home.”
That’s a goddamn stupid reason to miss a workout, y’all.
So I got my sorry ass up.
I give myself a guilt-free pass to skip my training if I’m truly tired, but ego-driven concern – about being slow or not being able to toss around shit as heavy as usual – is just nonsense. I will not skip a workout to assuage my ego.
Yeah, I was a little raggedy around the edges this morning, but not too tired to perform the workout in a chillaxed, scaled-back way. My performance on the main part of our workout isn’t brag-worthy: Last time we did cleans, I hoisted 75-lbs. but today I used the 65-lb. bar… but my goal is to have a Great Life, so every workout doesn’t have to be a PR.
Last night and this morning are really the whole point: We rocked it real good at band practice. I enjoyed my training. I ate great. I slept soundly. Who can complain? In the last 18 hours, I’ve had it all.
Well… all except that 75-lb. hang clean.
CrossFit Women Workout
5 rounds:
10 hang cleans, 65lb. barbell
25 situps
My time: 14:32Bonus sprint: 800m for time
My time: 3:36
(which astute readers will notice is approximately :20 faster than my previous 800.)
Why do YOU CrossFit? Give a shout-out in the comments and let us know…
Cool post alert:
My pal Erika – the very best combo of brain, brawns, and heart – has a really nice post today about ambition and training. Look at the two of us, taking ego out of the equation.
More Like This...
July
08
Posted by
A Little Respect (Strength Monday 7/8/13)
In my quest for lean superhero-ness, Dave and I are hitting the craptastic gym in our Converse to lift heavy stuff and work on skills...
Read More
I CrossFit because I love it! Half the time I walk in the gym I'm completely intimidated by what's on the whiteboard… but it's always fun, even when it's not fun.
I work a Globo Gym, so I Crossfit solo and hit the nearby Oshawa affiliate when my sked allows. I do it because I don't like to waste my time, because it makes me feel like rebel, because from a trainer's perspective, the sciene makes sense. I crossfit to have people ask what I do for my arms and I say pushups, dips and pullups, I do it because it makes me feel like an athelete and not a robot, I do it because it's hard and also cause it's easy. I"m never bored, I do it because I meet some of the most supportive and wonderful people(MEL THATS YOU) that I'v actually never met…it's like a cult that doesn't have pologamy or weird haircuts….ohh man, this is good stuff, cut and paste, thank you..just wrote my blog post in your comments, thanks Melicious!
First off – I can't believe no one has posted!!! I found your blog just in time to keep me entertained on a very very long road trip!! So thanks for making the journey interesting!
Why do I crossfit?? After reaching epic ass-proportions, I needed something…..anything…to get me moving again. I kind of lucked into Crossfit, and it is the first thing that's kept me interested, and darn close to obsessed, for a year and half. It is also the first athletic endeavor that I feel like I'm reasonably good at. (despite STILL failing miserably at getting an unassisted pullup!). I do it, because, although it's taken me several decades to figure out, I like being strong, and taking on a challenge. So that's it – in a nutshell – I'm just training for a better me!
I love the "What are you training for?" question. Even when I do have a race/event/something specific coming up, I usually don't want to give that as my answer, because that is not nearly as important as the fact that I am training for a great life. (But is definitely so much easier to just name a race…)
Why do I crossfit? It's been 6 months now, and I still get butterflies in my stomach on my way to boot camp or the gym. But as soon as we start warming up, the butterfly feeling turns into this excitement and drive that I never knew I had, and that pushes me through the workout. And the feeling at the end of a workout, when I know I gave it my all, is awesome. I crave that feeling.
A very close second reason: the crossfit community is amazing. I am surrounded by people who are constantly pushing themselves and each other to be better- in crossfit, in life. It's inspiring, and I love being a part of it.