As John G. said it, I was a much different person two years ago than the one you see at the gym today. I was embarrassingly weak and had toothpicks for appendages. I was doing push-ups on the box, pull-ups on the green band, and I ran as fast as a granny (with a walker). I ate like shit; candy, candy, and more candy, noodles, and lots of packaged things. I would sometimes eat a little fruit and meat, but few vegetables, my diet was very off balance. Oh, and I drank, a lot (I may or may not still partake in this habit.)
I wasn’t too serious about Crossfit and I wasn’t very competitive, but for some reason I really liked it and I kept with it. I liked the sense of community I had here and the fact that there was no getting out of a HARD work out. I’m not a gym person, I’m not an athlete, I barely ran track in high school, but Crossfit really motivates me to work hard. Most days I leave the gym feeling better than when I came in because I know that I have accomplished something.
I didn’t get serious about Crossfit until I saw a competition. I had this mindset that because I was “small” I would never be able to lift like those “other girls.” I had had pull-ups down for some time and I was okay at other body weight movements, but lifting, that just wasn’t for me. That way of thinking totally changed for me when I went to The Crossfit Sectionals in D.C. and saw other smaller girls lifting way more than I ever thought possible. I came back to the gym ready to train hard.
I began coming consistently, five days a week, this past December. That was when school started winding down my senior year, a.k.a. senioritis. Since then I have seen improvements I never thought possible (the paleo challenge helped too). I started doing chest to deck push-ups, chest to bar pull-ups, one abmat HSPU’s, and I got a one rep max on my Clean and Jerk of 100 lbs. Most recently I tackled unassisted dips and finally did them in a workout. My next goal is to get a muscle up, run more, lift heavier, eat better, and the list goes on.
Although all this stuff about eating right and working your ass off is great, there is nothing that compares to the people I have met and the relationships I have made at Crossfit RVA. I have met my best friends here, and half the reason I show up everyday is just to see you guys. Thanks everyone and see you at the gym!