oops...guess who quit again...

Me? No!!!!  To be sure the girl who's blog is titled, "Tales of a Quitter" hasn't quit something again!  Gasp!

It happened. The last time I attended Zeal was January. If you haven't noticed, it's July. Hello, summer! Oh, and let's be honest, I went ONCE in January. This after only attending once or twice in December, and possibly November as well.

So, here's the update. Do you want the long story or the short story? Long, you say? You got it.

Over the past few months, I canceled my membership at Zeal. You know how much I love that place. Well, then I'll explain. I leased a car, seemed like an awesome idea, right? Cheaper payments, newer car. Oh wait...the mileage restriction! Riiiiiight. I figured out that my eighteen mile, one way, drive to Zeal four or five times a week would KILL my mileage. Admittedly, that's not the only reason I canceled, I had gotten lazy. I decided I could take what I had learned and put it into good use at the regular gym.

I. Was. So. Wrong.

First of all, I didn't join a regular gym until the last day in January. It gets better. I didn't attend said regular gym until March. Yep. You read that. Please feel free to cringe now.

I decided after a two mile run on a weekday in May (after being absent for three weeks, okay, four), that I HAD to get back into CrossFit. I just had to. I was unhappy with the way I felt, the way I looked, the way I was eating. I let the laziness overcome me. I let the comfort of my home and food completely destroy all my hard work and progress. Keep in mind, I say I let it happen, because that's it. It didn't happen TO me, it happened BECAUSE of me. Let's get that straight. Too often people don't take responsibility for their actions, or in my case, lack of action.

So, I started looking for CrossFit gyms closer to my house. As much as I miss Zeal and love my Zeal family (more than most of them realize), I had to find another option. Michael Kelley then recommended one gym out of the list I sent him. That gym was CrossFit Brave. He said he liked the coach, and that he was a good guy. That's all I needed to hear. I emailed Mike Darlington (whom I may call Michael Darlington just for history's sake), and he invited me in the next day.

Thus my CrossFit journey begins anew. I am weaker than I was, of course, and everything seems so much harder than it used to. Luckily, Coach Michael Darlington, Coach Mike?, Coach D? Coach Michael?, I may need some time to decide. I digress. Luckily Mr. Darlington is very patient, and very kind. He is also very knowledgeable. So far it's been an immense pleasure being there. He truly cares about his athletes, their progress, weaknesses, and goals. No wonder Michael Kelley likes him.

Starting from the bottom is no fun. Deadlifting 70% of your old max and feeling like you might die sucks. Burpees suck. 16" box jumps suck. But that's the life of a quitter. Forget what you used to be able to do, that means nothing now. Those are just goals to re-attain. Now I deal with my decision to quit, and find a way to let it motivate me, and remind me never to quit again. Not something like this, something so life altering that you amaze yourself every week.

So here I am, once again, sharing my tale of quitting, giving up, and facing a fresh and frustrating start.

Lemon, out.