When I signed up last year (I can't believe it's been that long), I was so very out of shape and so desperate for help. I knew that the hefty financial commitment would at least guilt me into going--no $10 per month "LA Fitness" running on treadmills and Zumba classes for me. No...I would jump into the deep end first and swim or die trying. I'm not direspecting Zumba--it actually looks fun. I am disrespecting treadmills, make no mistake, but I digress. I took the hefty plunge and signed up for one whole year. Six months was not enough--it would have been too easy to excuse myself if progress was taking longer than I hoped. Two days a week were not quite enough. I needed a regular commitment for a longer period of time. I signed up for three days a week for one year.
Dan asked, "Are you sure?"
Say what? "Never match wits with a Cicilian when death is on the line," nor question me when I've made a decision. (insert chuffing noise here)
I have a lot of thoughts and feelings concerning the completion of one year, and while I haven't reached that point just yet, I do have to begin to consider seriously how I want to approach CrossFit in the future. Do I increase the days I go? How far do I want to take this?
Now it is time to evaluate, ponder, pray (yes, I actually pray about these things, because God cares about every aspect of our lives), and finally decide. By next month's end I will have a new contract with CFW, new goals, new challenges, but quitting is not among the options.
Today was a baseline check-in plus 1 mile. My last recorded score for this WOD was 5:24. Once I got started with the WOD, however, I had to wonder if that was accurate.
500 m rowing
40 squats
30 situps
20 pushups
10 pullups
time: 6:23
There were several things going on that might attribute to the slower time. One is that the last time I had my #1 CF buddy, Justin, cheering me on, and I always work better when he is there. The second factor is that I had to pause several times on the squats, as my lower back was still very stiff from a tough deadlift last night. Oh, and I just looked back at the blog post for that WOD--it was the pull-up bands. I'm using a skinnier band than I used to and today those pull-ups were tough. All of these factors probably contributed.
With the one-mile run my total time was 21:03. This was after walking to the track to catch my breath, and that after dawdling a little, not realizing that we were not supposed to take a breather between the WOD and the run. I thought they were separate. With all that taken into consideration, I probably ran about a 10-11 minute mile. Slow, I know, but...today I ran the first unbroken mile I have ever run in my life. I have run a mile at CF before, but never unbroken.
In spite of still feeling like I am constantly at the back of the pack at CF, I look at days like today and realize just how far I have come. I have always hated running. Hated. Running. I have always hated it for the very reason that I was feeling on the first, second, and even third laps. Then I started thinking, "I did that one, I can do one more." Every lap I completed, I would count it and then think to myself, "Okay, one more" until all of them were done and I had not walked one step of that mile.
Tonight I will celebrate this literal milestone. Here's to a great weekend!
**Wait...I have run an unbroken mile. I have run two. I used to jog around my mom's neighborhood when I thought I wanted to take up running when I was about 22. That was a very brief flirtation with running and so insignificant that I actually forgot it when I posted this. Still that mile is huge for me!
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