A friend of mine and her husband invited us to join them for a Crossfit Saturday session. Much like any drug, the first time is free... so I jumped on board with that right away (I probably should have paid more attention during those after-school specials...) Also, for the past 4-5 weeks, Dan has been indoctrinating himself into the crossfit world by following the posted workouts online. Of course I supported him completely, but I was pretty convinced this was not for me. So, I had to find out for myself.
So that's how we came to find ourselves in a warehouse filled with CrossFit equipment at 9 am on a Saturday morning. The marker board innocently presented today's WOD (Workout Of the Day):
"100 Thrusters/3 Burpees; Men 75 Women 45."
We later learned that this meant we were to perform 100 thrusters with breaks as necessary, but every time we took a break, we had to complete 3 burpees before returning to complete the 100 thrusters. Men would start out with 75lbs and women with 45lbs. Seems pretty straight-forward.
First, our instructor asked us to run around the block to warm up. When we returned, he taught us the Thruster motion using a very light-weight pipe. We mimicked him and he walked around the room correcting our form. This basic and simple intro was enough to build my confidence in this full body movement that I had never performed. After performing a few more stretches we moved over to the barbell area. It was only my first day, but as I stood amongst my fellow crossfitters, I felt empowered and ready to take on the challenge. Before we started, the coaches came around one more time to review our form, which I really liked since it built my confidence even more. Finally the coach set the timer hanging on the wall to 20 minutes. It was at that moment, I realized we were being timed.... nice. The countdown began: 5... 4... 3... 2... oh poop here we go:
I picked up the bar and counted the reps out in my mind... 5... 6...7... I recalled my training and checked my form... head forward, push through the heels, upper arms parallel to the ground... got it. 10... 11... 12... body starting to really heat up now. 13... 14... 15... put the weight down - time for burpees... 1... 2... oh man, chest burning from yesterday's workout... 3... pop back up. The sound of grunts and weights clinking bounced around the room. I heard coaches encouraging my fellow teammates, my crossfitters, my Spartans. Yes, in these 20 minutes, these people that were once strangers were now the people that knew my pain best and in the end... they would also know my glory. Sweat soaked the floor around me as I caught sight of rep 50. My mind clicked it's heels at the prospect of reaching the coveted "half-way" mark. I checked my form again... elbows are dropping... lift them up... watch your hand positioning. I came up on 70 reps. The sounds around me phased in and out like a radio searching for a signal... the rhythm of plates hitting the floor and burpee claps, the melody of silence inside my head, and the chorus of encouragement... I hear snippets of lyrics, "How many are you on?!", "Come on! Two more burpees! Let's do them together!", "Let's go!" No more turning back - 100 reps is the goal. I rounded 90 reps. I felt the world around me... the bar... 95... the movement... 96... me... 97... this is it... 98... this is it... 99... I do not exist... 100... silence
The clock: 16 minutes 12 seconds
The room: still, humid
Me: breathless, complete
It's all over... until next week :)
If you're interested in learning more about CrossFit, visit your local CrossFit facility... or you can join Dan and I on another Saturday morning. See you on the floor.
yours,
LuLu & Dan
