Friday, February 18, 2011

I may have found what I was looking for

Those that know me, know about my love for the long distance swim/bike/run. However, as I've previously discussed in this blog, it's been awhile since I've done much racing in it. And I really don't have the time to train for the ultra stuff like I once did. Well, I could, but my priorities have changed over the years. Anyway, so one of my main goals this year was to get more back to me...get healthy and fit. And I can do that without 20+ hours of training a week. My eating has been great since the New Year. I'm down about 15 pounds since Jan. 1st and I'd say 99% of it is due to my change in eating habits alone. I've been running and biking, but as crazy as our lives have been lately, I wish I did more.

After my 100 mile run in February of 2009 (hard to believe it's been two years already!) I was ready for a break. Perhaps it was a bit of burn out, I don't know. I still loved the sport, but I just wanted to rest. After some time off, I was looking to get back to it so to speak, but I was looking for a change. I'd clearly mastered the art of long and slow. I wanted something with a kick! A friend told me about this bootcamp and it sounded like what I was looking for. And true, I was sore that first week because it was something different from what my body was used to. But as the weeks rolled on, I quickly became bored with it. We did the same few exercises over and over...not much variety. The instructor seemed much more interested in chatting with the girls rather than leading us. There were so many breaks. But the worst was the whining! Gosh I don't deal well with whining adults in my workouts. I mean, they PAID to be out there, if it's hard, don't come! Workouts are for me; where I get re-energized and leave the world's worries for a bit. So, I didn't enjoy feeling like I was in a room with a bunch of toddlers. My coach in high school used to say that whining (in practice) was like cancer and that once one person started, it spread like wildfire. So true!

Observing some of the other 'hard core' boot camps around town, I was finding more of the same. Lame workouts, whiny adults. And I don't mean to be bashing these programs. I think they are great for those that aren't accustomed to working out, but I've been running or doing some form of exercise since I was in eighth grade. So, I gave up on that. I wanted to do some stuff at home on my own, but I admit to not being very creative. I've heard so much about CrossFit and it's amazing! I did a few of the online workouts, but it's hard to do in a gym that isn't outfitted for it. I discovered that there are some CrossFit gyms springing up in town, but I just can't swallow paying that much to workout, especially when I can workout for free out my front door.

So, I'd given up on a high intensity class with strength and anaerobic energy. Until, someone in our small group told me about this other gym and its 'CrossFit' class. The price was reasonable. I was intrigued. I couldn't help myeslf I went in the next day to see what I could find out about it. I went in and was totally honest with the gym worker. I wasn't looking around for another mamby pamby workout class where we all hold hands around the water cooler. She told me this class was what I was looking for. I went ahead and cautiously signed up for a month. I could give it a month and if it wasn't 'it' I wouldn't be out months of membership. I went in for my assessment last night. I was worried at first because I thought the guy in the office was the instructor and well, he didn't look so in shape to me (the bootcamp instructor I had was overweight and kept cramming those 'get weight loss quick with this 9 day cleanse' junk). To my relief, that wasn't the instructor and he went to get him for me. The instructor definitely looked the part at least so that's step one. He took me back to the room and had me run through some exercises. The exercises were only maybe 10 min. and I am already slightly sore today. Ha! I have a good vibe about this guy and this class. It definitely seems like it will be high energy, kick my butt.

My first class is this evening! He said I was free to go to any of the classes and didn't have to start out in the beginner class, which is good because the beginner classes really weren't working with my schedule right now. But, I am nervous about jumping in with people who know what they are doing. I think I'm more anxious than I want to admit because I did not sleep well at all last night. Funny how I can get so worked up over working out, but working out is a part of me and I just need a change to keep things interesting. So, this gym has one month to see if it can hold my attention! I already know it's going to have me on the floor in the first week.

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