A Day in the Life of an ELF

My new weights! And my less-new barbell in the background. Love them!
Teaching in the women's class.

...Not an ELF from the North Pole, an English Language Fellow in Afghanistan!

Tuesday was the kind of day that I never want to forget. I laughed, cried, was surprised, pushed out of my comfort zone, cooked, shopped, had a phone conversation in Dari, welcomed students home from their time as captives of the Taliban, talked about Martin Luther King, taught students very inappropriate slang, then listened to them use it, took a nap, had an allergic reaction to nuts, cooked again, and went to bed early . Yes, Tuesday was close to an ideal day for me; emotional, successful, challenging, relaxing...the only thing that was missing was the ocean and my friends back home!

0500
Woke up earlier than usual to finish my lesson plan for class.
I had done a lesson on Martin Luther King Junior with the women's class the day before and wanted to change some things before I did it with the men's class (this winter I am teaching an American Culture class; I have about 85 students and have split them into two sections--one male and one female--so the female students will feel more comfortable talking).

Before the first call to prayer, I had already fried an egg, eaten a cucumber, then sat down and finished planning. I practiced reading MLK's "I have a dream" speech a couple of times. If I had to read it, I wanted to do him proud.

0745
Off to school.
Morning traffic wasn't too bad, but I could see that all of the puddles were frozen into blocks of ice. Of course I wore inappropriately high heeled boots to school that morning. As soon as I got out of the car I slipped and skidded everywhere. Thanks to my coordination (yay crossfit!) I was able to make it to my office without breaking a hip.

1000
Somehow, before getting to Martin Luther King Jr., I found myself in the most uncomfortable of conversations with the "boys" (I call the men's class the "boys" even though they are 18-45 years old because their questions are so adorable and innocent).

Student: "Miss, what does chicken head mean?"
Me: (surprise immediately followed by hysterical laughter)
Me: (deep breath, more laughter)
The boys: (laughing a little at first, then uncontrollably because I couldn't stop laughing)
Me: "It means...it means...I am too embarrassed to say it!"
Boys: (laughter), "tell us PLEASE."
Me: "It means a couple of things...one, a girl with bad hair. Two, a girl (or a boy) who has a lot of boyfriends (or girlfriends)."
Boys: (More laughter followed by many absurd attempts at using the word in a sentence, which I cannot bring myself to repeat here)

On the heels of the "chicken head" discussion, I had to gather my wits and read the, "I Have a Dream" speech to the boys. Turns out they loved it and clapped when I was finished as if I had written it myself.

I told them MLK did it much better than me.

Now they are working on their own, "I Have a Dream" speeches about Afghanistan.

1145
One of my former students, who was kidnapped by the Taliban at the end of the fall semester, appeared beside me as I was walking out of class.

I almost forgot where I was (Kabul) and moved to hug him. But I didn't. I shook his hand (in the courtyard!) and stopped when I realized people were staring.

My student grinned widely and said, "Miss, I have returned from being captured!"

I swallowed my tears and told him to come to my office to chat. As I poured a bag of raisins and nuts on the table for him to snack on while we talked, I noticed how dark his skin had gotten and that he seemed a little skinnier. He quickly ate ALL of the raisins (about half a pound). My heart broke. But then it immediately sewed itself back together when he smiled so innocently and said, "It is nice to be back, I love raisins."

1225
I called my driver to ask him where he was and to change my plans. In Dari. AND he understood me!

1230
Finally, I was able to withdraw enough money from the bank to buy weight plates for my new barbell. I bought a few different sizes of plates, threw them in the back of the car and excitedly rode home while my driver bemusedly asked me what I was going to do with those weights. I tried to tell him that I was going to lift them, but I didn't know the verb "to lift" so I told him I was going "to put them in the gym and play with them." That seemed to satisfy his curiosity. I could barely wait until my workout a few hours later when I would be able to test them out...

1330
...But first I ate and took a nap. I had an ordinary lunch, chicken, veggies, and a handful of nuts. I went to sleep pretty quickly, but distinctly remember itching my face as I drifted off.

1430
Woke up an hour later with my eyes swollen shut. Did I suddenly become allergic to something?
Even though I could barely open my eyes, there was no way I was going to NOT do crossfit (with a new barbell and plates waiting, who could resist?!). I washed my face, took some Benadryl, put my glasses on, and rushed down to my gym.

The doorman was startled by the sight of my face.

He asked if I was okay. I told him I ate too many almonds. He laughed. I told him I was going to the gym now. He laughed even harder.

1800
Baked some more chicken and veggies.
Listened to Garth Brooks.
The swelling subsided and I could open my eyes again.

1900
Practiced Dari, worked on a lesson plan for the next day.

2100
Went to bed in my new leg-warmers (thanks Heather!). Snuggled up with a good book, Eat, Pray, Love, thanked God for another fun-filled and (relatively) safe day in Kabul, then fell asleep reading and itching my eyes (I know this because I woke up for school the next morning with my book under the covers and my eyes swollen again!)

Another day in the life of an ELF.

DNF-Did not fail

DNF-Did Not Fail

A week has passed since crossfit Southwest Regionals. Some of you may already know; I didn't win. Actually, I didn't even finish in the top half of the women. Officially, I DNF'ed (did not finish) 3 of the 4 events; I was a couple of rungs from the bottom of the ladder, the second fiddle, THE biggest loser. If I were a mediocre college football player my red shirt would have been taken away.

The irony in all of this is that I couldn't be happier with my performance. Last weekend I pushed my body to its limits and triumphed over...myself. All log carrying and tire flipping aside, it was the best competition of my life! Here is a re-cap.

DNF #1=The most terrifying, and then fun, WOD ever

*5 rounds of:
2 muscle ups
10 power cleans at 85#
200 meter run

*must be completed in under 15 minutes

When I saw this WOD on the games site I gulped and cried on the inside (maybe on the outside too). Circa three days before the competition I had never done one muscle-up in my life. I knew I had to get at least one under my belt before the competition so I set out practicing. Bruised wrists and sad faces mixed with some frustration later, I got one muscle up--it was Thursday, two days before the event. I immediately tried another one and couldn't repeat the move. I was officially terrified.

Come event time I was nervous but focused. There was no option for me but to do muscle ups and do them well--I would need to get ten (!) done to complete the workout.

Before the event I didn't practice the move. I didn't want to feel what failing was like, so I swung my arms around, clapped a bunch of chalk on my hands and stared the rings down. As the start drew near, I could see the Crossfit Ventura (CFV) crew standing by the sidelines along with my vociferous mother. At that moment, looking at my friends, before the clock started, I remembered that I love crossfit for the people and the community and that the competition was icing on the cake. Happiness suddenly enveloped me and I felt like giving hugs all around. Since I didn't really have time for multiple hugs, I just ran over and laid one on my mom. That was enough. I ran back to the rings for what felt like my impending doom.

When the clock started I wasn't ready for a muscle up. I thought about what I should do, hung on the rings, kipped and missed. I repeated this for about three minutes and then told myself to cut the BS and just do the muscle-up. So I did.

I found myself on top of the rings, locked out, grinning. I wanted to stay up there forever.

After that first muscle-up in the WOD, the next ones weren't so bad. I ended up doing most of the WOD, finishing 4 rounds plus one more muscle up in 15 minutes.

I couldn't believe I had just done 9 muscle ups (and a bunch of cleans and running)! I will never forget how good that felt.

For days after this WOD I repeatedly jerked myself awake dreaming of doing muscle up after muscle up. The last dream I had I was doing 30 for time. I can't wait to do this for real now.

On to the next...

DNF #2=A heavy WOD

In less than 7 minutes:
20 Clean and Jerks @115#
40 Burpees over a parallette

The scene: me and two Valley Crossfit amazons putting heavy stuff over our heads. Them=20 clean and jerks (C&J) unbroken, 40 burpees fast. Me=4 (very broken) C&J and 39 burpees labored.

This workout seemed insurmountable at first, but apparently competition pushes me to do things I never though possible before. My previous C&J personal record (PR) before the competition was 100 pounds. 115# 4 times was awesome. 39 burpees after that was even more awesome.

I almost felt as if nothing could get better than 9 muscle ups, but doing those C&Js and then getting hugs from Rebecca Voight and Katie Hogan added to the sheer amazingness of the day.

DNF #3=AKA, "This WOD was over my head"

In less than 20 minutes:
1000 meter row
30 overhead squats @85#
1200 meter run

For some reason, after Saturday, this WOD didn't seem very tough. I thought that I would get through the row and overhead squats and then kill it on the run. I planned on passing everyone on the track and just smoking it. Of course I underestimated how hard the OHS would be.

The row went by quickly. I pulled at a pretty easy pace as to not burn myself out for the overhead squats. Running to the overhead squats, I planned to do 6 sets of 5. I did 2 and dropped the bar on my head on my third rep. Laying on the ground I knew this was about to be a fight.

It was.

When it was all said and done, I cleaned, jerked, snatch balanced and overhead squatted 85# 25 times. I never got to the run.

At the end of the workout I couldn't believe it, but for the third time in two days I thought that I had just completed the best workout of my life. Even if I didn't REALLY complete it.

All in all, Regionals put some fire back into my mind. I realized that placing and winning didn't matter much to me; that the effort I put into each workout was what really counted. And, being as I almost got last, I figure there is nowhere to go but up. So make some room amazons, you may see me (not spectating!) at the games in 2011!

If you want to see some video, look here:

http://live.crossfit.com/

The drop down menu is on the left and you need to choose from that...here are some approximate times:

May 8th 13:44-14:44 I am doing some muscle ups at minute 1:20-2:37 and then there is an interview with me at minute 11:10

May 9th 10:55-11:55 Event starts at 28:19 and you can click for the next 20 minutes on various points but I know there is some video of the overhead squats at the end around 43:50

May 8th 16:44-17:44 26:54 is the beginning of the C&J heat and it goes until 33:53

A Year Later

OGs --My original crossfit family! I love you all at CFV!
(L to R: Mitch, Kat, Martha, Colin, Jenna, Benny, Matt L. me, Brandon)

Level 1 Cert., February 2010, Matt M., Faith, Corey and Jaala learning from the best!

CFV Affiliate Challenge, October 2009

The ladies of CFV (L to R) Lindsay, Jeannine, Brittney, Katie, Fatih, Lisa, me

The beginning...finishing on-ramp with Alex M (February 2009).

In the End...

In the end, there was no after action review, no test, no evaluation, no final WOD. Instead, there were hugs, great people, and a bold statement that will always stick with me. As our Level 1 Crossfit Trainer Certification came to an end, Todd (one of the instructors) said, "Now go out and change the world." Nobody laughed. Every body's eyes gave their hearts away; we believed we could.

Flashback to exactly a year before that moment when Todd told us to change the world...

...It was my first workout at Crossfit Ventura. I had come to crossfit with a lingering injury; a torn rotator cuff from years before that had never healed. In addition to the torn rotator cuff, I brought with me a broken heart and a broken spirit. I was going through a tough time in my marriage and had just had a miscarriage. In addition to being out of shape physically, I was out of shape mentally. I arrived the day after completing my "on ramp" (introductory course) to crossfit scared and insecure about what may come up in my first workout. It turns out I came on our first ever "benchmark make-up day." My choices were Helen, filthy fifty, and 5k run. Still babying my body and mind, I chose 5k run. It was a strength of mine and I didn't quite get the idea of crossfit yet (to attack weaknesses in order to be good at everything).

Although I did great on the 5k, I don't really remember the details of the run itself. What I do remember is all of the people that were there helping me along and joking with me to make me feel at home...Upon finishing the 5k, I remember everyone who had done Helen waiting at the end and cheering loudly for me and the other runners. I remember Dave, still hungover from his bachelor party the night before, doing the filthy fifty (it was a choice!) through sweat and pain. I remember Mitch high-fiving me and Jenna and Jenny giving me big hugs. I remember Huff jumping up and down and yelling with a huge smile on his face. I remember thinking how badass Katie Bann was after hearing about her huge PR on Helen and how sweet of a person Faith was as she cheered on everyone while PR'ing on the filthy fifty (at the same time). I remember doing the humpty dance with Jeannine. I remember telling Colin that he had beat CJ on the board to grab the #1 Helen spot (I later found out that CJ is Colin, duh). That morning, I realized that I was not only joining a gym, but a community of awesome people. Crossfit couldn't have arrived in my life at a better time.

Come July, my old self was emerging again. I was competitive, confident, and my shoulder was feeling better every day. That month, after I attended the 2009 crossfit games, my goals concerning crossfit shifted. Now I wasn't just doing crossfit to get my life back in order, Crossfit had become my sport; I was doing it with competition in mind. Each day I worked out after the crossfit games, I envisioned myself as a participant at those games one day. I had gone from being worried about my shoulder and insecure about lifting weight to attacking my weaknesses and killing workouts where my strengths were involved. I was eating strict paleo, getting PRs regularly, and loving the sheer exhaustion I felt at the end of each workout. I couldn't get enough. Crossfit had made me into an athlete again.

But...Just as I was hitting my stride...life changed again. Early in the fall, after I had an amazing experience at my first ever crossfit competition, my husband and I filed for divorce. My diet fell apart and loneliness crept in. Promptly, I moved out of my old life and into a new, very challenging one. I found a roommate, a second job, and lost virtually all of my free time.

But the thing that remained constant was crossfit.

Feeling low, I could come in to crossfit any day and get encouragement, hugs, and my ass kicked (in a good way). Each day I left crossfit I knew that regardless of what my goals were or how my life was going I had found a group of friends that would always be there to lift me up.

As time wore on, I realized that the best thing I had gotten from crossfit, hands down, was a wonderful community. After the workouts are over and the paleo foods are eaten, it's the people that make crossfit great; it's the people that heal broken bodies and hearts and crossfit is the bridge that brings these people together. As I made my way back to normalcy, it occured to me that being a crossfit coach, and helping guide all of my friends and members of the crossfit community to better lives would complete the healing process for me and enrich my own life for years to come. Late in the fall, I decided that it was time to pay back all of the people who had supported me; I would become a crossfit coach.

So, a year after my first ever crossfit workout, I found myself among the great crossfitters, Pat Barber, Jolie Gentry, Jason Kalipha, and Josh Everett, studying the fundamentals of crossfit. I found myself learning from the best crosfitters, how to be the best coach. And, to top it all off, besides learning coaching skills from the best, the best were coaching me! I was lucky enough to have those crossfit legends teaching me how to do muscle-ups. Muscle-ups! A year before this weekend I could barely even hang on the pull-up bar without my shoulder feeling extremely painful. On Sunday afternoon however, I practiced this gymnastics move with the most famous crossfit eyes focused on me, willing me to get on top of those rings and lock my arms out. Unfortunately, I attempted about ten muscle ups and failed at every one. But remember when I said that in life, "close is more than enough?"

This is true for those missed muscle-ups as well.

Each muscle-up that I missed, another famous crossfitter or instructor approached me and gave me advice. Kalipha told me to get more aggressive. Jolie showed me how to keep my arms in tight, and gave me tape for my wrists. Todd said, "trace your sternum and pretend like you are elbowing someone behind you." Pat proclaimed, "just do it, you are strong enough, just DO IT!" Others looked on and cheered. Every time I missed one, people gave me more advice and assured me that I was so, so, SO close. With all of that support and encouragement, I felt like I got a muscle-up anyway. The fact that I missed does not weigh heavy on my mind, because in the process of missing so many times, my crossfit community grew.

Alas, in the end, why did we (the coaches in training) all believe that we could change the world when Todd suggested this bold action? I think we all felt this way because of the inspiring people who surrounded us. In the end, we all believed we could do anything because we were a part of this amazing network of strong, healthy, intelligent people; crossfitters.

So to all of my people in the crossfit universe...thanks for a wonderful first year! Lets continue to change the world, one crossfitter at a time.

Gearing up for Sectionals: The OPT Challenge

I was happy because I was done with 50 chest to bar pull-ups and 50 burpees; I wasn't smiling as I tried to take a shower an hour later (top). The workouts and our results (bottom).

Gearing up for Sectionals

Competition has paid me a visit and I can't shake it. At night I wake up after falling from the rings in my dreams, doing muscle-ups like they were nothing. Videos of crossfit women, games competitors, Olympic lifters, and badass athletes stream on my MAC for inspiration. My toolbar bookmarks are crossfit affiliates, Robb Wolf, crossfit blogs, world news, crossfit games, and the Daily Show (gotta have some humor). My goals are taped to the wall by my door so I can physically see them each morning. Today, the countdown on my calendar is at 47 days until sectionals. It is almost too much time to wait, yet I want more time to get stronger before I see Drake Stadium.

Saturday was a good test as I gear up for Sectionals. Come high noon at Crossfit Ventura, six local crossfitters, Colin Jenkins, Matt Major, Traver Boehm, Craig Wobig, Mindith Rahmat, and I competed in the "OPT" James Fitzgerald Online Challenge. James Fitzgerald, winner of the inaugural crossfit games and a super-cool Canadian chap, programmed the workouts. This was the third "challenge" in a series of (3-4). We were to complete 3 workouts, programmed by OPT, within a five hour time limit, submit videos of ourselves completing the workouts to his website for review, and then wait to be compared to other crossfitters from all over the US and Canada.

The day went better than I thought it would. The first event was 3 attempts at 15 reps of the maximum weight that you could do for overhead squats. The standard for women was 65% of body weight. For me that standard would be 80#. Being as I had never done any lift at 15 reps before, it was hard to gauge where to start. I ended up succeeding at 60# on my third attempt. In the wide spectrum of things, strength is my biggest weakness and compared to other women this is not an impressive number. However, only about seven months ago I was using a PVC pipe with 5 pounds hanging from it for overhead squats. Thus, I am stoked about 60#.

Post-lifting, the day got interesting. The next event was the following: Complete a 2000 meter row and do as many double unders as possible in 10 minutes. The standard for women was 8:00 on the row. My previous best time was 8:02.9. For this event I focused as best I could on keeping a good pace and attempting to meet the standard. For those of you that don't know, I think crossfit HQ guy, Tony Budding, said it best when describing the rower: "this is a machine that is very effective in absolutely wrecking human beings." With 500 meters left to row, I could hear this refrain in my mind (too much crossfit games t.v.!). Closing my eyes, I pulled, grunted, and SCREAMED my way to the end of 2k. I finished at 7:51.5. But I wasn't done. I half-crawled and limped to my rope and somehow completed 55 double-unders before 10 minutes had expired. Ouch.

An hour later, Mindith and I started the last event: 50 chest to bar pull-ups and 50 burpees as fast as possible. This workout terrified me. The last time I did a pull-up workout was not pretty. 100 regular kipping pull-ups (just chin over the bar) for time took me 12:30; I can still remember how much that workout destroyed me mentally. The women's standard for this workout was 8 minutes. My goal was to complete it in under 20 minutes. Before the clock started, I warmed up with 3 chest to bar pull-ups. It was hard. The clock started. Somehow though, through blood, bruised chests, and screams, Mindith and I pull-upped and burpeed our way to sub-8 minute times. Mindith did her final burpee around 7:10, and, thank God for everyone counting, I completed the workout at 7:39.

Just six weeks away from sectionals and I am already visualizing myself doing MY best at Drake Stadium. Saturday gave me a little confidence. The weekend made me believe that I may have a chance to make Regionals if I give it my all at UCLA. But there is still so much work to be done. Each day I will try to lift more, use better form, and be a better version of me. Sectionals, here I come!

Two Months and Crazy

Two Months and Crazy

I must admit, I have gone a little crazy.

It has been over two months (almost three) that I have been eating Paleo and strange things continue to happen; new behaviors continue to emerge.

When I originally decided to eat like this (meat, fish, nuts, seeds, fruits and veggies only), I thought that it would be a neat experiment for a month. However, my life quickly changed (see previous post) and I have continued on this trajectory for much longer than I intended because it works for me.

First, my progression as an athlete has not halted. Although I have now lost about 13 pounds, my strength continues to increase. For example, I have improved 32 pounds on my thruster in the last four months (now my PR is 100#). The 34 second drop on my 5k since the last time I ran it at crossfit in April is also notable (now my PR is 20:26). My deadlift continues to increase (5 rep max has gone up 15 pounds to 190#).

Second, although I did SUPER strict Paleo for the first 30 days, I have surprisingly allowed myself to cheat once in a while. Take for example the day I ate ten chocolate chip cookies at Crossfit Ventura. Or the time I put almost half a stick of butter on a tiny piece of bread. And the night I bought two gourmet cupcakes, asked for extra frosting, then ate both of the cupcakes (along with the frosting) in my car on the way home. Or the afternoon I ate half a pack of gum...oh yes, I do mean EAT! I tend to swallow gum accidentally and the excitement that engulfed me upon ingesting so much sugar via gum caused many mis-chews.

And now to the strange...
I get monster headaches after eating any amount of sugar, so when I eat sugar I go BIG. The headache isn't going to hurt less if I eat less (I have experimented, trust me).

Dizziness overcomes me when I drink caffeine. I have found that this has not cured my addiction to soy chai lattes though. I have remedied this by taking the time to practice handstands and forward rolls after ingesting caffeine. These things make me dizzy independent of caffeine, so it goes along with the same concept as the sugar and headaches...I am already dizzy so why not get as dizzy as possible?

My eyes get blurry when I go off Paleo. I know I will not be able to see as well if I do ingest artificial sugar or complex carbohydrates, so I tend to indulge in sugar-laden luxuries in safe environments like moving cars (of which I am driving).

I once ate an entire jar of almond butter in a 24 hour period and promptly could not swallow for almost another 24 hours.

So folks, I am still doing Paleo and it still rocks. If you were wondering :).

Strength in Numbers

Strength in Numbers

When I was a tad bit younger than I am now, my swim coach used to pull all of the individualist bad girls aside and tell us the story of the geese.

It goes like this: Geese fly in a V shape to help one another soar more efficiently. The V is aerodynamic in that the goose at the front has to conquer the most resistance while those at the back can cruise on the jet streams of everyone else and rest. When the goose at the front gets tired, all the others move forward and a new goose replaces the old leader to take up the resistance and give him a break. The geese rotate like this because they need each other to keep flying, otherwise they would all die of flying exhaustion and never accomplish much in their short geesy lives.

Thus, when we (the smaller versions of ourselves) were being too catty and self-centered; too focused on competing with each other rather than supporting one another, our coach liked to remind us that none of us would get better alone; we needed each other to thrive.

Recently, I have been reminded of this story. For those of you that are familiar with my obsession, aka, crossfit, you will not be surprised when I say that crossfit has brought this concept back to me. Being your best at anything is always easier when you have people trying, accomplishing, and struggling with the same things you are. No matter how someone is doing at the gym, there is always another person cheering them on. When one or two people decided to try and eat Paleo this month, over ten of us joined them; we have shared recipes, questions, thoughts, successes, and failures. Although I am only the first week into the challenge, it seems easier to do this with others. It is quite possible that anything is easier to achieve with the support of a community.

So go out and act like a goose. Get to it!

The Converted

One can't help but be inspired when surrounded by hard-working, positive people. Since becoming a member of the Crossfit Ventura community, and by default a member of the global Crossfit community, I have affirmed this assertion.

But at first glance, I was a bit skeptical of the cultish-like feel that Crossfit emanated. I thought Crossfit may be something like a pyramid marketing scheme. I feared that I may be entering the Landmark Forum of fitness. I asked myself, "Could I really become a Crossfitter?"

My skepticism grew as every person I asked about Crossfit said the same thing, "It has changed my life, I am stronger than I have ever been, I eat in the Zone, and feel great." They had their own language and threw around terms like "clean and jerk," "snatch," and "WOD." Talking about "doing Josh" and "conquering Fran," or getting their asses whipped by the "filthy" were typical topics. Just like when Happy Gilmore was learning to putt, they joked that Crossfit was "all in the hips." I clutched my purse and hoped the sexual innuendos might stop.

I wondered to myself, "Does anyone dislike Crossfit out there?"
I found that the answer to this query was a resounding "YES."
But I was immediately reminded by a Crossfit lover that "...Crossfit isn't for everyone." He said that "... some people just don't like to work so hard they may puke; they don't like to feel they have accomplished something great everyday; they don't like to have a close community always supporting them..." I laughed and nodded at his sarcasm, but on the inside I was afraid that I would never be a Crossfitter.

Soon enough though, I fell down the rabbit hole; I realized that Crossfit was for me. Being a somewhat retired competitive athlete, the excitement of being on a team had been missing from my life. Having athletic goals was not a priority for me any longer. Crossfit brought that back to me. It brought friends who were goal-oriented, hard working, driven, concerned about their health, and supportive of each other to the forefront of my consciousness.

Now, I feel born-again, but in the church of sport.

After returning from a gig as a spectator at the Crossfit Games, this week I find myself among the converted. I caught myself making "snatch," "box," and "clean and jerk" jokes. I laughed at the rather vulgar shirt slogans (censored). I hugged my sinewy, healthy friends and vowed to place in the Southern California Qualifiers or to be on the Affiliate Cup Team next year. I told myself I would do a muscle-up by the end of this year. I wrote in my journal that I would be a badass when I could do ALL benchmark workouts as "Rx'd" (prescribed).

Then, before I went to bed last night I laughed and realized that it's too late to turn back now. Without even realizing it...I have become a Crosfitter.

Through the Other Side

*In the middle of a power clean, nice face*

Through the Other Side

What is the worst thing that can happen?
I often ask myself this question before I attempt anything that is remotely off-putting or scary. Usually if the answer is short of death, I will attempt whatever challenge lies before me. However, on the rare occasion that partaking in an activity could push me six feet under, I will accept the challenge anyway. Yes, soy loca en la cabeza. But it makes for an interesting life.

This weekend, I attempted a feat that could have easily ended in death: three crossfit workouts in two days. For people who do crossfit, you know what I am talking about. For people who do not know crossfit, imagine this: first stretch your muscles beyond where you thought they would ever go, then go surfing and get pummeled into the rocky floor of the ocean, next run six miles, later have somebody jump on your biceps really hard, now take a sharp stick and plunge it into your eye...and do that all in a really hot room. Then do it all two more times. That's three crossfit workouts in two days.

I have to admit, it was fun.

This weekend I did just that. Not the "sharp stick into my eye bit," but I participated in Crossfit Ventura's affiliate cup qualifiers competition. Whoever did the best on these three workouts would represent Crossfit Ventura in the Crossfit Games in a month.

Beforehand I knew I had no chance of qualifying for our team due to an injury, but I did the workouts anyway.
You may be thinking:
"Why did you do that Jaala?"

I did it because it is a very rare occasion in our adult lives that we push our bodies to the limit just to see if we can come out the other side. The "other side" is whatever you choose to interpret it as. For me, it is going through those workouts and going so hard that I can't imagine giving one more ounce of my body, mind, or spirit if I had another chance. And then waking up the next day and wanting to do it again. That, to me, is fun.

I challenge you to experience my kind of fun for yourself and see how it feels when you come out on the other side.
Take your vitamins...and good luck.

Crossfit Looks Like This

What is Crossfit?

a community of friends
dedicated athletes of all ages doing handstands
dumb bell-bruised shoulders
ripped hands
eating in the zone
chalk dust in a musty gym
goodmornings
foam roller torture devices
grunts and screams
kipping pull-ups
cheering and encouragement
workouts for time
skid marks on the walls
midline stability
heroes
cleans, jerks, and snatches
doing more and better than was once possible
breaking through barriers
a way of life