It was that dirty.
Keep in mind, I did thirty. The rest of the class did fifty. That's insane. I've detailed this WOD in a previous blog, therefore I will tell you this. Mike did this in around twenty-five minutes. The FIFTY. Yep...twenty five minutes. It might have been twenty four, or twenty six, hell, who cares. Twenty five minutes is insane. He was finishing his workout when I was on wall ball. There were two more exercises to go after wall ball, and he was DONE.
Box jumps started out ok. I don't mind box jumps. My leg strength is ok. Thirty box jumps and it's off to jumping pull ups. These weren't awful, because I can use my legs. I'm starting to breathe pretty hard though. Kettle bell swings aren't so bad either. I'm having to pause, only using twenty six pounds. Ten here, five there, I get them done. Next...walking lunges. Walking lunges are wobbly. But walking lunges are a reprieve at this point.
Because next are knees to elbows. Before the workout, Coach Paul made a point to say that if your knees don't touch your elbows, it's not a rep. Don't count it. That being said, I get back to the pull up bar, and for the love of all that is holy, I cannot get my damn knees to touch my elbows. WtF?!? I do it ten times, and each time I think, "this doesn't even count, I'm never going to get this done!". It was so hard. After about ten or eleven I hear him say, "if you can't get your knees to your elbows just raise them as high as you can." Seriously????? He must have seen me. He saw me struggling, about to lose it with this pull up bar. About to quit on my body. He must have seen the "what the hell" look on my face when I couldn't get my stupid knees to touch my elbows. Is my core this week? Sheesh.
Being the big girl I am, I decide not to count the ten I had attempted. I started fresh. Five here, three there. Finally I'm done. With knees to elbows...now onto push press. At this point in the workout, I've developed this hacking cough. This can't escape it, attacking my chest cough. The back door to the gym is wide open, and it's cold outside. Every time I suck in a breath of cold air, the cough hits me. I can't get away from it. I start to tear up from coughing so hard. Water doesn't help, breathing through my nose doesn't help. But onto push press. Thirty of these. Push press is ok with me. I enjoy it because it allows momentum from the legs to allow the arms to work.
Three here, then cough...cough...COUGH!!! Couch Paul has to think I'm joking. Mike is working out, hopefully he can't see this. Five more...then ten...then eventually I'm done. Next is back extensions. This is a slight reprieve for me, with the exception of the coughing. The floor is littered with my germs. Back extensions done. Next.............wall ball.
Wall ball and I have a very rocky past. Mike made me wall ball once before. It was the worst thing about my workout. Wall ball is an evil, evil invention, made up by a man that wants to see your body crash. Indeed, for a lot of crossfitters, wall ball is nothing. For some of you reading this, wall ball is nothing. However, wall ball is to me what sunshine is to a snowman. It melts me. It makes me wither away. It makes my arms feel like sticks, and my base come out from underneath me. Alright alright...I'm done. Wall ball with a six pound ball...pathetic...but it's done.
At this point, I'm still coughing. I'm sucking air, and I'm feeling pretty low. My body is shutting down. And there are these people working beside me, working ahead of me, doing more work. It's.......defeating. But I say to myself, "I'll quit when I'm done, I'll quit when I'm done."
Burpees are next. Burpees are...in a word...nearly impossible at this point. Okay, that was five. I don't care. The first three are....ok. Then I find myself standing there. I hear Coach Paul say, "I see a lot of contemplating and not a lot of doing! Less thinking, more burpee-ing!". Back to it. I pause again, then I hear Mike's voice urging me to continue. I nod to myself, and keep going. They are slow, they are sloppy, they hurt, but they are getting done. After my last burpee I still have double unders to complete.
Something isn't right. I take a swig of water, and off to the bathroom I go. For the first time, in the history of my life, I get sick while working out. Sick! What in the world? Am I really working this hard? I'm going slower than these people doing the fifty, and I'm getting sick? Holy crap. As I'm rinsing my mouth out, I hear Coach Paul, "where's Brooke?". I'm in trouble. I walk out, Mike is there. Oh gracious. He asks if I'm alright, and after telling him I got sick, he asks me what I have left. Since double unders are the only thing, he suggests I go out the back door to finish outside where it's cool, also just in case I get sick, I don't do it in his gym. This is the same cold air that was ripping my lungs apart a few minutes ago, but now it's a relief. Since I don't have it in me to do double unders, I have to do ninety repetitions of regular jump rope. On the last one, I say, with what little breath I have left..."time". Thirty fifty two. Thirty minutes and fifty two seconds.
I'll remind you that Mike did the fifty in around twenty five minutes. Coach Paul did it faster than that in the previous class. Sheesh. These men are monsters.
When I'm finished, I have a chance to tune into the other voices besides Coach Paul's. I'm new to this gym, but these people are encouraging one another. The coaches are encouraging by name. I met Coach Paul five minutes before this workout started, and he's calling me by name. He's acknowledging me. He's calling everyone by name. The members are encouraging one another, motivating one another, supporting one another. This is truly a moment for me. I've spoken in the past about how crossfit is a community. This gym is already a family. After just five or six weeks, this gym has become a family. These people have welcomed me, and everyone around them.
After everyone is finished, I shake Coach Paul's hand, give Mike a weak little side hug, and tell him I'll see him Monday. Down the road when I stop, the text I send him says this, "that workout made me feel like a little bitch". After a text back and forth, I tell him I need to get on his level. His response, "give it a year" and a moment later, "you have the potential". That text has stuck with me the past day and a half. That text will be the reason it is easier to get up tomorrow morning and go back.
There is nothing like these workouts to humble you. I walked out of that gym defeated on Saturday. I walked out knowing I almost quit. I thought about quitting. Hell, I got sick, I had an excuse right? So even though I finished, I considered quitting.
The flip side, I'm going back tomorrow morning. The cool side of the pillow is that every muscle hurts, and my body is beaten. I dig it.
I encourage anyone and everyone to try this. I don't care what your goal is. Whether it's to increase your tone or ability, or whether it's to lose weight, this WILL work. Whether you are light and look like you are in shape like me, or whether you are overweight, these workouts will work. The best thing about this gym is that it is either as many as you can do in twenty minutes, or do all the repetitions until you're done. Either way, you go at your pace. There is no beats to keep up with, no dance moves to learn, no stupid little twisty here and toe touch there. This is real, Olympic weightlifting, technical movement. These are moves that your coaches do. These are workouts that challenge your coaches. The very people that teach you these techniques and coach you through these moves also rely on these same techniques and workouts to stay in shape. You will workout alongside the men and women that coach you. They will encourage you, and celebrate your successes with you.
If you want to make a change, do it now. Don't wait for your "biggest loser" moment. Don't wait for the doctor to tell you that in order to make your life better you need to get moving. Do it now. It's going to be hard, and you're going to feel like a failure. But with this, it's in your body's failure that you will find your biggest success. You will find that after time, your body fails later and later in the workout. You find your time decreasing, and your weight limit increasing. You'll find yourself using less assistance with bands, and performing more advanced techniques that before you merely admired. If I can do this, anyone can do this, because I've quit everything I've ever started. The difference now, is that I've met my match. This workout will challenge me and make me feel like more of a failure and a success in one hour than I could make myself feel by quitting. Bring it on crossfit...bring it on.
Keep in mind, I did thirty. The rest of the class did fifty. That's insane. I've detailed this WOD in a previous blog, therefore I will tell you this. Mike did this in around twenty-five minutes. The FIFTY. Yep...twenty five minutes. It might have been twenty four, or twenty six, hell, who cares. Twenty five minutes is insane. He was finishing his workout when I was on wall ball. There were two more exercises to go after wall ball, and he was DONE.
Box jumps started out ok. I don't mind box jumps. My leg strength is ok. Thirty box jumps and it's off to jumping pull ups. These weren't awful, because I can use my legs. I'm starting to breathe pretty hard though. Kettle bell swings aren't so bad either. I'm having to pause, only using twenty six pounds. Ten here, five there, I get them done. Next...walking lunges. Walking lunges are wobbly. But walking lunges are a reprieve at this point.
Because next are knees to elbows. Before the workout, Coach Paul made a point to say that if your knees don't touch your elbows, it's not a rep. Don't count it. That being said, I get back to the pull up bar, and for the love of all that is holy, I cannot get my damn knees to touch my elbows. WtF?!? I do it ten times, and each time I think, "this doesn't even count, I'm never going to get this done!". It was so hard. After about ten or eleven I hear him say, "if you can't get your knees to your elbows just raise them as high as you can." Seriously????? He must have seen me. He saw me struggling, about to lose it with this pull up bar. About to quit on my body. He must have seen the "what the hell" look on my face when I couldn't get my stupid knees to touch my elbows. Is my core this week? Sheesh.
Being the big girl I am, I decide not to count the ten I had attempted. I started fresh. Five here, three there. Finally I'm done. With knees to elbows...now onto push press. At this point in the workout, I've developed this hacking cough. This can't escape it, attacking my chest cough. The back door to the gym is wide open, and it's cold outside. Every time I suck in a breath of cold air, the cough hits me. I can't get away from it. I start to tear up from coughing so hard. Water doesn't help, breathing through my nose doesn't help. But onto push press. Thirty of these. Push press is ok with me. I enjoy it because it allows momentum from the legs to allow the arms to work.
Three here, then cough...cough...COUGH!!! Couch Paul has to think I'm joking. Mike is working out, hopefully he can't see this. Five more...then ten...then eventually I'm done. Next is back extensions. This is a slight reprieve for me, with the exception of the coughing. The floor is littered with my germs. Back extensions done. Next.............wall ball.
Wall ball and I have a very rocky past. Mike made me wall ball once before. It was the worst thing about my workout. Wall ball is an evil, evil invention, made up by a man that wants to see your body crash. Indeed, for a lot of crossfitters, wall ball is nothing. For some of you reading this, wall ball is nothing. However, wall ball is to me what sunshine is to a snowman. It melts me. It makes me wither away. It makes my arms feel like sticks, and my base come out from underneath me. Alright alright...I'm done. Wall ball with a six pound ball...pathetic...but it's done.
At this point, I'm still coughing. I'm sucking air, and I'm feeling pretty low. My body is shutting down. And there are these people working beside me, working ahead of me, doing more work. It's.......defeating. But I say to myself, "I'll quit when I'm done, I'll quit when I'm done."
Burpees are next. Burpees are...in a word...nearly impossible at this point. Okay, that was five. I don't care. The first three are....ok. Then I find myself standing there. I hear Coach Paul say, "I see a lot of contemplating and not a lot of doing! Less thinking, more burpee-ing!". Back to it. I pause again, then I hear Mike's voice urging me to continue. I nod to myself, and keep going. They are slow, they are sloppy, they hurt, but they are getting done. After my last burpee I still have double unders to complete.
Something isn't right. I take a swig of water, and off to the bathroom I go. For the first time, in the history of my life, I get sick while working out. Sick! What in the world? Am I really working this hard? I'm going slower than these people doing the fifty, and I'm getting sick? Holy crap. As I'm rinsing my mouth out, I hear Coach Paul, "where's Brooke?". I'm in trouble. I walk out, Mike is there. Oh gracious. He asks if I'm alright, and after telling him I got sick, he asks me what I have left. Since double unders are the only thing, he suggests I go out the back door to finish outside where it's cool, also just in case I get sick, I don't do it in his gym. This is the same cold air that was ripping my lungs apart a few minutes ago, but now it's a relief. Since I don't have it in me to do double unders, I have to do ninety repetitions of regular jump rope. On the last one, I say, with what little breath I have left..."time". Thirty fifty two. Thirty minutes and fifty two seconds.
I'll remind you that Mike did the fifty in around twenty five minutes. Coach Paul did it faster than that in the previous class. Sheesh. These men are monsters.
When I'm finished, I have a chance to tune into the other voices besides Coach Paul's. I'm new to this gym, but these people are encouraging one another. The coaches are encouraging by name. I met Coach Paul five minutes before this workout started, and he's calling me by name. He's acknowledging me. He's calling everyone by name. The members are encouraging one another, motivating one another, supporting one another. This is truly a moment for me. I've spoken in the past about how crossfit is a community. This gym is already a family. After just five or six weeks, this gym has become a family. These people have welcomed me, and everyone around them.
After everyone is finished, I shake Coach Paul's hand, give Mike a weak little side hug, and tell him I'll see him Monday. Down the road when I stop, the text I send him says this, "that workout made me feel like a little bitch". After a text back and forth, I tell him I need to get on his level. His response, "give it a year" and a moment later, "you have the potential". That text has stuck with me the past day and a half. That text will be the reason it is easier to get up tomorrow morning and go back.
There is nothing like these workouts to humble you. I walked out of that gym defeated on Saturday. I walked out knowing I almost quit. I thought about quitting. Hell, I got sick, I had an excuse right? So even though I finished, I considered quitting.
The flip side, I'm going back tomorrow morning. The cool side of the pillow is that every muscle hurts, and my body is beaten. I dig it.
I encourage anyone and everyone to try this. I don't care what your goal is. Whether it's to increase your tone or ability, or whether it's to lose weight, this WILL work. Whether you are light and look like you are in shape like me, or whether you are overweight, these workouts will work. The best thing about this gym is that it is either as many as you can do in twenty minutes, or do all the repetitions until you're done. Either way, you go at your pace. There is no beats to keep up with, no dance moves to learn, no stupid little twisty here and toe touch there. This is real, Olympic weightlifting, technical movement. These are moves that your coaches do. These are workouts that challenge your coaches. The very people that teach you these techniques and coach you through these moves also rely on these same techniques and workouts to stay in shape. You will workout alongside the men and women that coach you. They will encourage you, and celebrate your successes with you.
If you want to make a change, do it now. Don't wait for your "biggest loser" moment. Don't wait for the doctor to tell you that in order to make your life better you need to get moving. Do it now. It's going to be hard, and you're going to feel like a failure. But with this, it's in your body's failure that you will find your biggest success. You will find that after time, your body fails later and later in the workout. You find your time decreasing, and your weight limit increasing. You'll find yourself using less assistance with bands, and performing more advanced techniques that before you merely admired. If I can do this, anyone can do this, because I've quit everything I've ever started. The difference now, is that I've met my match. This workout will challenge me and make me feel like more of a failure and a success in one hour than I could make myself feel by quitting. Bring it on crossfit...bring it on.
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