I started CrossFit for the first time just 11 months ago. The year leading up to that decision my wife and I had traveled quite a bit. As I looked back at our pictures (and there were a lot) I was not happy with myself for the shape that I had fallen into. I recall during those trips I couldn’t keep up during hikes, had to forgo activities I wasn’t physically able to safely complete, was uncomfortable shirtless at the pool or beach, and most embarrassingly my gut was so big it would compress my diaphragm so that I had to hold my breath to bend over and put on my shoes. It was a far cry from what I always considered “my normal self” because I was always very active, even as as a child: dabbled in gymnastics at 5, then soccer in elementary thru middle school, football=life in high school, and all the while was also doing 15yrs of martial arts. In college I stayed active playing every intramural sport and joined the UTSA Cheerleading Team (GO ROADRUNNERS!!!). So nearly all my life I was agile, flexible, quick, and athletic. But as I transitioned out of college and got more career focused, the activity level slowly dropped until I was literally paying for a Gold’s Membership for 3yrs, yet I never stepped into their facility once after enrollment. Enough was enough and I went hunting for a CrossFit gym because I knew I needed that level of intensity and the constantly-varied programming. Lucky for me MCFSA is literally one parking lot away from my work. From Day 1 I told the coaches I am committing to a new routine, but truthfully I had no idea what I was in for! My very first workout was Fran- which I scaled with just the 35lbs bar + jumping pull ups and I hit the 10min time cap. I was sore for days after that. But now, here we are 11mo later: I’ve lost 40lbs and 2 pants sizes, nothing fits anymore (in a good way), my PR’s are way up from where I started, and I feel stronger and more nimble than I’ve ever been at any point in my life.
Again I want to thank all the veteran members of the noon class who immediately adopted me into the community, have shared their training tips and been so supportive every day. I also want to thank my WOD partner Tyler for making classes as fun as they can be and for always keeping me on my game. Lastly, I want to thank the staff of MCFSA for literally everything you do in class and behind the scenes to provide a clean, safe, supportive, and rigorous physical challenge in class every day.
