CrossFit Challenge Part 3: Endurance

This is what my Saturdays look like. All four kids come to the CrossFit gym with Alex and I while we workout with our team. Sometimes I have a little extra help to get me in shape! (Extra 25 lbs. for me, but he loved the ride – sled pushes and toddlers.)

Endurance – There’s No Comparison…

Clean and Jerk: the movement of lifting a weighted bar from the ground to your chest/collar bone, then jerking the bar over head, extending and straightening the arms before dropping it back to the ground. Repeat. 

Grace: 30 clean and jerks, 1 round for time. Prescribed weight for men – 135 lbs. Prescribed weight for women – 95 lbs.

Teams earn points based on individual ability to complete each challenge WOD. So far we had run the mile, done Annie (double-under’s and sit ups), and a 5k row on a rowing machine. With each challenge my stomach churned with nerves. And each time I finished, I harshly critiqued my performance and shook my head in frustration. Never mind that I had only been doing CrossFit for less than a month and was completely out of my comfort zone; never mind that I compared my efforts to athletes who’d been training for years, I was livid with frustration just the same. Did I mention I’m a little competitive?

If you missed it here’s Part 1 and Part 2

But the challenge WOD I was most anxious about was Grace. Despite the fact that I had never done any weightlifting before, Alex kept reassuring me I could do it and to stop comparing myself to everyone else. He had been working with me on my form and technique for a couple weeks. I knew how to get the bar from the ground and over my head with good form…it was once I added weight that things got tricky.

That morning I psyched myself up, drank my protein like any good athlete, and went to the gym. I wanted Alex there to coach me through the WOD and give some much needed moral support, but he was home with the kids. My stomach ached with nerves and I wondered if the protein shake would come up before I even started.

Honestly, I wasn’t as sick about the workout itself, it was because I couldn’t do the prescribed weight. Let’s face it 95 lbs. is only about 20 lbs. less than my total body weight. So I tried the modified weight of 65 lbs. Nope. Still more than half my body weight and I just couldn’t get it over my head. I had to settle for 55 lbs. With that weight I’d only earn my team points if I did it crazy fast. My friend and one of the trainers, John, was going to do the encouraging while timing me and making sure I was doing it right.

10 second countdown. GO!  I fixed my eyes on the wall and started pumping away. 1, 2, 3, 4… I was already struggling to get the bar over my head. My irritation boiled as I used my legs to help hoist the weights past my chin…5, 6…BAM! I heard more that felt the bar smack into my face.

Please, tell me I did not just knock my teeth out. The bar dropped to the floor and I leaned forward, resting my forearms on my knees. I could still hear the ringing reverberating through my skull and hear John and the others asking if I was okay, but all I could think was, Please, tell me I did not just knock my front teeth out! Cautiously I ran my tongue along my top teeth. Whew! All the pearly whites were present and accounted for. Next I ventured to my bottom lip. There it was, a gaping hole where my top teeth had gone through my bottom lip!

“Are you bleeding?” I heard John ask.

“Yep.”

I covered my mouth, stood up slowly, and walked to the bathroom. One glance in the mirror and sure enough my top teeth had nearly gone all the way through and out the other side of my bottom lip. I pressed my filleted lip back together with a paper towel. Surprisingly it really wasn’t bleeding much, and truthfully I still couldn’t even feel my face. That didn’t matter though, the tears came anyway. 

When I started this challenge I knew it was going to be hard, but I had no idea. There have been few instances that I can recall in my life when I’ve had to push myself as far physically or mentally – you know, like natural child birth. Okay, seriously giving birth to my four children trumps any degree of commitment or endurance I could or would ever give to a fitness challenge. However, it’s all I have to compare it to. And that’s what I learned as I nursed my lip and my pride for the next two days. I had to stop comparing myself to everyone else and only compete with myself.

Thanks to some DoTerra essential oils (frankincense and lavender with a little coconut oil on my lip several times a day) I didn’t need any stitches. I went back to the gym, this time with Alex in tow to finish Grace. John stood close by as he counted off my reps and both he, Alex, a few others in the gym cheered me on – only 50 lbs. of weight this time, but the weight didn’t matter so much to me now. I just needed to finish.

I ended up finishing in under 7 minutes, but most importantly the remaining challenges and the daily workouts since have been a different experience than before. Like a particularly wonderfully over-sung song I “Let It Go” and just started doing what I could. And do you know what? I’ve improved. Gotten stronger. Learned. I’m beating my own record all the time now.

I still have my fingers crossed to win a cruise, but as cheesy as it sounds I feel like I’ve already won. I have muscle that I didn’t have before, stamina, agility, and a better understanding of what it really means to endure. If any of you are debating about trying CrossFit or any fitness program the answer should be YES! It will push you in ways that you would never expect.