A few years ago a friend wanted to try Crossfit. Somehow she talked me into it. I had been in a rut and wanted to get to a gym and it was great to have someone ask me to go with them. We could support each other. I had mixed feelings about it though. I was excited to be asked to go with a friend and not excited about how the heck I was going to fit it into my schedule. The gym (or "box" as Crossfitters call it. I think it's dumb and continue to call it a gym) was in CdA and I work in Spokane. And Crossfit has class times. It's not the kind of gym that you just go to when you have time. You have to go to a class and everyone does the workout together with a coach watching and encouraging you. They have the classes at times throughout the day and the evening and it's the same workout all day (the Workout of the Day, or WOD). And on top of that in order to join the gym you have to do a "boot camp" to learn the moves safely. I think the bootcamp was a couple days a week for a month when I did it back then.
So I signed up for boot camp with Heather. The only time I could fit it into my schedule was in the morning before work. So I would get up earlier than normal to go to CdA to the gym for an hour. Then head to Spokane for work. I live between the two towns which are 40 miles apart. I liked Crossfit a lot. I liked the idea of having a coach all the time. I like the workouts. I felt stronger even after that short time. But I could not get around the location. I could not make it work for me and still have time with my family. So I did the boot camp and did not sign up for the gym after that.
I looked for alternative Crossfit gyms that might work better for me. There is one in Spokane Valley. It isn't directly on the way to or from work, but it isn't far off the path. I never plucked up the nerve to look into it after looking at the website and getting the impression that they are way more hardcore than I am. Last June I saw little yard signs in the grass off the freeway on my way to work, advertising a brand new Crossfit that is only blocks away from my office. I checked out the website and I sent them an email to say that their signs worked and I knew they were there. I had planned to start going there when summer was over. When school started up again I looked up their number after work and made the plan to call them in the morning and stop in to see them and get signed up. Then, on my way home that very day I drove past a *brand new* Crossfit building in Post Falls. It is literally on my route home. I was so excited that I sent them an email that night before I headed off to Aikido. And they returned my email immediately. I was one of the first 15 to join the gym. I have been going three days a week ever since then (barring the weeks that I was on a business trip and the week I thought I was dying from the flu).
I have set goals. I have learned some of my weaknesses. I have made progress and I can see changes. I love it. I love the coaches. I love the other people who go (though most of the time I have a class time to myself still). I love the workouts. Even the ones I hate. This is the gym for me.
It's made me reevaluate my weight loss goals. I am no longer focused on losing X number of pounds and watching the scale. I haven't stepped on the scale in weeks. I am now focusing on what I can do now that I couldn't before. And that list gets longer all the time. I am now focused on the jeans I am wearing today and the ones I just sent to the thrift shop. I have to buy new workout gear already because some of my sloppy yoga pants slide down more than I'm comfortable with. I'm focusing a little bit on breaking PR's, to challenge myself. Those are the good numbers that mean something, not the ones on the scale.
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