Today Hurts.

I remember when I was in Kids Inc. basketball, I would carry around a water bottle that had the phrase "NO PAIN, NO GAIN!" written on it. I remember thinking that water bottle automatically made me an athlete. With that being said, the truth is that I never felt anything close to what was written on that bottle. I've been sore from a work out before but nothing like this. This is the kind of sore that you feel right when you wake up in the morning. It's the kind of sore that makes it almost impossible to get in and out of your vehicle. Going up a flight of stairs can seem more than challenging. The point of this blog would be useless if I never wrote about the challenges of CrossFit. It's tough. It's hard. It can and will be painful. It's why I keep going back.

Yesterday, I was able to push through the pain I felt during my first rep of back squats. I was proud of myself for pushing myself through the rest of my work out. Normally, that would have been enough for me to quit. Somewhere in the past two weeks, quitting has become a non-existent option. Yesterday was tough on me. Our warm-ups are close to most peoples actual work out. Our warm-up alone consisted of a 400M row, 16 box jumps, 10 ring dips, 16 shoulder dislocators, and squats. Anyone who gets the opportunity to ever see me do a box jump will have a good laugh. However, I do them. During the actual work-out, I had to do a series of work outs that included eight sets 30 second intervals and 10 seconds of rest in between them. This included planks, tabata rope, weighted steps, and inverted sit-ups. I reached a point where I was going to pass out or vomit but I was determined to finish. I had to take a small breather but nonetheless, I accomplished what I wanted. I wanted to finish and I did.

I spend countless hours a week talking to my fellow crossfitter, Erin Brown, about our work-outs, diets and progress. She once told me that if I didn't feel that challenge in my body after every work-out then I'm doing something wrong. She's right. It's suppose to challenge you that much. It's part of the reward. It amplifies how proud you are of your progress. You leave knowing that you pushed your body to the max. If that isn't rewarding then I don't know what is.