“This sport is here to make anything you do outside of the gym better.  So use it for that.  Have fun with it.” Chris Spealler

I love that quote – it makes so much sense to me now that I’ve been a part of Crossfit for three months.  I can see things happening to my muscles I never would have imagined, I can tell that I am stronger and more aware of my movements and I am having fun.   I have a hunch though, that when Spealler says “anything” he is speaking of more than just fitness and movement.  The “anything” that Crossfit is impacting for me spills over into my family life, my job, my sleep, my energy, my happiness, my desire to eat better and because all of those things are better, so is my quality of life!!

Fitness, in one form or another, has almost always been a part of my story.  I started ballet at an early age and studied that all through grade school, I moved on to group fitness in college and ended up getting certified as an instructor and taught group fitness classes for a few years.  Then I spent a couple of years in performance clogging and most recently I poured all my energy into running.  I loved all of those challenges but there is something different about Crossfit than I have found with anything before.   During my marathon training Chris started Crossfit.  He was all in from his very first workout and kept telling me I needed to give it a try.  For months he would mention it and tell me that my personality as a “rule follower” and my quiet competitiveness would work in my favor.  I could see where he was coming from, but what I argued is that those things mean nothing when you can’t do a push up or a pull up and feel intimidated by anything heavy.  Eventually he convinced me to see for myself what this thing was all about.  The week after the marathon (exactly 3 months ago) I went to my foundations class.   I remember feeling overwhelmed and scared of hurting myself, but that class helped me understand that you start this sport at exactly the fitness level you are and focus everyday on getting better.   What’s great is it doesn’t appear to me there ever becomes a point at which you have “arrived” – there will always be room for improvement, for pushing yourself harder.  I like that because it’s how we should be in all aspects of our lives; start from today, keep trying harder and never stop growing!!  What I also quickly discovered is that a lot of those feelings of being scared and overwhelmed came from not believing in myself.  Everyone at CrossFit Tally has been so instrumental in helping me over that hurdle.  I never feel (unless it is self-imposed) like I didn’t do well on any given day – even when my score is the very lowest of the day.  This community of athletes, that I am honored to be a part of, have become extremely important to me.  I care deeply for their success, in the gym and out – and it is because of this magical thing that is happening when we are breaking ourselves down to build ourselves up.  You can’t help but bond with folks when you are putting it all out there like this.

A couple of weeks ago when I cracked my tooth after hitting my chin with the bar I realized that something about me had changed. The me before CrossFit would have likely stopped and felt no desire whatsoever to push through – but CrossFit is helping me find this different kind of strength and resilience I didn’t even know existed, and that is making a difference in every aspect of my life!  I still have a long way to go to RX every move and get through workouts quickly, but I can also see how far I’ve already come.  I can’t wait to discover what the next three months brings!