Diane and Crossfit thoughts

I was kind of excited about today...the workout - Diane. 21/15/9 Deadlift/handstand pushup. After the whole functional month, I wanted to see what I could do on the handstand pushup part. Despite knowing that I couldn't be strapped into my favorite bouncy contraption, I thought I could do fairly well. In retrospect, I may have wanted to stick with the pike knew bench method today - after my weird stomach thingy, and 4 days of eating Lipton Cup o'Soup - I probably am not at my strongest/most coordinated. But, I still decided to go a bit larger than previously. I did the HSPU's with feet propped on a bar. They weren't bad until my hands and arms started going numb.......that was an interesting sensation....minimal feeling in your arms, while you body weight is resting upon them. I got through it...11:29. Not fabulous, but not bad considering. Now I just need the last vestiges of feeling to pop back..musta squeezed on some nerve or something, no worries, it'll be fine.

Now, one of the things that came up tonight was giving our thoughts on Crossfit, what it's done for us, etc. So - this one's for you Jonathan!! This is my evil test to see if you actually read these things. If you see anything useful in my thoughts- pilfer away.

Here's the thing , I have struggled with weight, fitness, body image, etc. my entire life. I think I was in 6th grade the first time I went on a diet. We find out at 16, my thyroid a bit crappy. It's highly underactive, which makes me highly underactive. So throughout the next 25 years (YIKES!!!) I hit the diet thing, did the "Jane Fonda" work outs(yes, it was the vinyl record version!), got a trainer at the gym, or did whatever mood hit at the time. Sometimes, just giving up and not putting much attempt into being healthy at all. Some things worked for a short period others not so much.

Then along comes a new job, new stress, another 15 lbs, the big 4-0 and a new roundness that had never been there before! Time to step things up a notch - in steps Jonathan. Started off normal training once a week at the gym, but a bit more interesting..hmm this was more of a back to basics approach...old school. Cool.
Suddenly a couple months into the training, Jonathan opens his own Crossfit studio-DEFY!. I think to some extent, it's surprising that I follow, and then become the loyal 630 trooper that I am! Crossfit and it's methodology have given me a piece of mind after a stressful day. It has allowed me to keep work at work - where it should be. I can do things that I wouldn't have even thought about trying....like jumping on a 22" box, clapping pushups, handstand pushups, one legged squats - some successfully, some not so much. But at least I tried - and the things that I've actually done with success, like the unassisted dips (I may not be able to do a stinkin' pullup yet, but at least I can wallow in the glory of the unassisted dip!) bring on a certain bit of pride, that makes you brag to people you work with. (seriously, they must find me annoying!) Overall though the experience has been unlike any other. The variety is about perfect. Always keeps you interested and coming back for more. Rare is the month that you do the same workout twice, so you keep coming back for more. Yet, there are the core "girls" the old friends you always come back to. Fran, Annie, Diane, Cindy.......
The girls keep you on track. Let you know how you're doing. For me, in every way DEFY! and crossfit have been one of the best and most rewarding things I've done. I've met spectacular, interesting people, whose paths never would have crossed mine. I couldn't say a bad word about any one of them. All are there for different reasons, and have different struggles and challenges, yet in a session, everyone is there and rooting for each other. Not sure what else to say - it's just awesome...and I love it - wouldn't change a thing.
The end.
Holy crap this is long!!!