The Crying Crossfitter
The CrossFit Open – 5 surprise workouts over 5 weeks that will push your physical and mental limits. A celebration of a sport that changes lives and bodies. A worldwide competition open to the absolute beginner and the toughest on earth. And above all else, to me, a reason to bring together our amazing team from Ariston CrossFit for a night of comradery, fun, determination, nerves and a whole lot of cheering! The community is what makes CrossFit! There will be shouting, grunting, hurting, sweating and laughing, and there will be crying.
This week was workout one (17.1) of the CrossFit Open, and she was pretty tough! A combined total of 150 dumbbell snatches and 75 burpee box overs with a 20-minute time cap. I actually went into the WOD (workout of the day) fearing I was not going to be able to manage the prescribed dumbbell weight for the snatches, as I had a bit of a twinge at the bottom of my shoulder blade, and of course I was mindful of not over exerting my back. I also had a slight concern about doing the box step overs with my shins being quite tender this week – thankyou shin splits! Nevertheless, I was going to give it my best shot!
Credit: Krystal Gordon / Ariston Crossfit
Five minutes into the WOD, and none of my concerns were even a slight problem, but my foot was hurting like hell! This issue popped up recently and I have been working with health professionals to address it, so I did have it strapped just in case this occurred. I had also worn different shoes than I normally would, hoping they would prevent my shins from hurting (which I think worked) though in hindsight this may not have been the best idea, as I feel like my shoes may have contributed to my foot arch pain. Regardless, it wasn’t a great position to be in right at that moment! Fast forward another ten minutes and I could feel myself starting to wheeze and breathe very shallow – the start of a bloody asthma attack! No way! I haven’t had one in over 9 months! I stopped for a few seconds and was able to compose myself. Thank goodness, I could breathe again! By this stage I knew I wasn’t going to complete the WOD by cut off, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to stop either.
Credit: Krystal Gordon / Ariston Crossfit
As 20 mins approached, my breathing started to shallow again, I just couldn’t suck any air in. Shallow breathing then turned to panic and in that moment, I looked up to see my son in the crowd. I was instantly overcome with emotion. As the clock stopped and I kicked off my shoe, the tears started. Yes, I was hurting. Yes, I was panicking due to struggling to get that air in my lungs. But, more than anything else, I had just caught sight of the very reason I was at CrossFit to begin with. The reason I push through the mental blocks. The reason I push through the superficial ‘pain’. The reason I won’t give up. My son is the reason it is so important to me to continue gaining health and being the fittest, strongest and healthiest woman and mama I can be. When you have lived majority of your life not caring for your health and body the way you should, carrying around shame, regret, embarrassment and fear, but now, here you are, doing hard things, being a good role model and honouring your body – it can be very emotional, and tears will sometimes fall… Sometimes they tell of frustration and sometimes they tell of pride – but they will always tell a story. There is no shame in crying, ever, and certainly not when you are out there giving something everything you’ve got!
