CrossFit camaraderie

(A-Z Challenge: C)

A few months ago, my sweetie, G, and I decided it's time to get back on the exercise track. We had previously been members of a 1:1 personal training gym and we'd schedule back-to-back sessions with the trainer, and then hang around and either encourage or smack talk each other through our sessions. Then stuff happened. I took a new job that required me to commute into the office downtown rather than slump around at home firing off a few documents in between chores & errands. My sweetie decided to work from the office more, too. Appointment times were harder to come by at the gym. And geez, this was getting expensive.

So we quit the gym and decided we'd just go for hikes more. In the rain. In the winter. We both co-parent our kids, so that this plan also meant that every other weekend we'd be doing this with 3 kids in tow. 

As believable as we tried to make that lame story, we found ourselves looking for options again. I realized that I rely on competition to spur me on. He appreciates focused time with a trainer so he can get precision in his movements and in his results. So, we tried another gym where a trainer would train the two of us together every Friday morning at 8:15. Our Friday mornings went one of two ways:

1) Fridays with kids: "Everyone in the car! Now! Yes I know, but we have to get you to school early so we can make our appointment! IN THE CAR. NOW." 

2) Kid-free Fridays: "Oh, baby, go ahead and go without me. I have to get to work. No, really, it's okay. Please. Go." (We took turns on that dialogue.)

Also, again, it got expensive. So that lasted all of about 3 months. Back to the drawing board, but this time with a checklist in place: flexible schedule, manageable price, small classes, friendliness among the members, and a high-intensity workout that'll whip me into shape.

I found a CrossFit gym near my house that looks like it'll hit the mark. I went to my first class this week and found a sense of camaraderie and fun amongst the grittiness of burpees, bench presses, and pull-ups. They took it easy on me, but I'm still sore. It's the style of workout I want, community focused, and they have classes going several times a day so it's really just a matter of me figuring out a schedule on the fly a few times a week and holding the belief that because I went in feeling clear about what I want, this'll be the start of something good.