19 months, 82 weeks, 578 days

My first day of Crossfit was Dec 9, 2012 at Crossfit Annandale. I was nervous, but Sam was with me and we were going to suffer together. My first WOD? Glad you asked:

5 rounds: 7 thrusters and 7 burpees. Took me 7 minutes.

That sounds horrible, even now. Thrusters and burpees are hell - so my first workout was killer and I still came back for more.

literally day 1

The epic picture of day 1. Workout had not started yet. We were being silly, meeting the owner of CFA, and hoping that we would not die. Look at us - a bunch of rookies. Running shoes, cotton shirts, big ol shorts....hahahaahhaha. No Crossfit gear yet ;)  So glad I'm growing my hair out now - man that was short!

Of course I took pictures, measurements, the whole deal. I was doing Crossfit to get in shape and loose weight. I didn't even know about the strong part....yet......the BEST part! I started with some serious inches everywhere (hips 44.6, waist 37.1.....). Thankfully everything has gone WAY down. My BMI stated at 33.2. I know. EEK! A few months ago it was checked again and I was down to 25.9! Progress Progress Progress. Thank you to CFA for taking measurements and having a cool machine that does BMI - it's never fun hearing all those high numbers at first, but you gotta start somewhere.

So we started Crossfit three days a week. The first week was rough, so hard to move. Everything hurt. Places hurt that had never hurt before. For whatever reason I NEEDED to keep going. I was hooked. Right from the beginning. I do have an athletic background - played sports my whole life - and I think that helped....sorta.....kinda....wishful thinking?

Field Hockey at Longwood

Lacrosse at Longwood

Then I did running and triathlons:

Burke Lake with my girls

Wine Country 1/2  marathon

Marine Corp Marathon

Reston Tri

I got to a point with running and tri's that I wasn't as motivated to train. I wasn't very fast and was getting frustrated with that. I needed something else. Crossfit fit the bill! So starting at three days a week I was very happy. I scaled EVERYTHING and loved it. As I started getting stronger, learning lifts, and becoming more confident I was able to do more and more. Which, really just means more soreness. I also made great friends at CFA - which helps keep you accountable and coming back. Who doesn't love to die workout with friends?

Then my first competition. It was last minute, I was helping out a friend with an injured partner. I was SUPER nervous - but was on a team with a VERY experienced crossfitter. I had a great time and have wanted to do every competition advertised since then. 

This picture makes me laugh. I look like I'm dying - maybe i was :)

I'm competitive. With myself. With others. I LOVE to compete. Doing crossfit competitions for me meant I needed to do extra work to place and perform how I wanted to. Insert my coach - Bijan (blkstrengthandconditioning@gmail.com). If you want to do competitions, if you want to kill those weaknesses I highly recommend contacting him. He is awesome. 

Superfit Delaware. 3rd place after the first workout. Mary, Me, Bijan, Phil

Doing competitions are fun for me, but I also have big goals for each one. I now have an unlimited Crossfit membership at CFA and I am in week 34 of extra programming with Bijan. I would probably make progress without working with a coach, but not as fast and not as focused on my weaknesses (and remember I'm an intense competitive nut), and certainly not to the level where I want to be. My typical week looks like this: 4 WODs at Crossfit Annandale, 3 WODs in my home gym from Bijan, a set of sprints, and 3-ish skills to work on (chin ups, farmer's carry, handstands, etc) - also from Bijan. I email him each week and give him the results of my work, we text, email, call, and do some workouts together. It's the push and guidance I need to reach my goals. 

Since working with Bijan I have made gainz (that's right.....it's serious with a Z) in all areas. Strength, mobility, form, nutrition - all have improved. Confidence is the biggest area for me. I go through ups and downs with it, but Bijan helps put it all in perspective (mandatory rest and "remember it's just a workout"). I can get very intense about sports and he pushes me at the right times and reins me in at the right times. I also share all my goals with him. All of them. Even the silly/stupid/embarrassing ones. He tells me which ones are do-able, works them into programming and also tells me which ones are not appropriate.

I participated in The CrossFit Open in 2013 (ranked 2020) and 2014 (ranked 1321). My goal for the 2014 Open was to place somewhere in the 1,000's. I was VERY happy with 1321! I have currently competed in 3 scaled competitions (Superfit DC 8th place, Superfit Delaware 15th place, capital throwdown 10th place) and 2 RX competitions (Cold War 3, Rehoboth beach battle). My goal is to get top five at Superfit DC in October with my awesome partner Holly!!!

Jake, Bijan, Me, Holly - my partner in crime

Crossfit can be anything you want. A place to sweat. A community of people that want to work out. A place to get stronger, faster, and more awesome. I have met so many great people, have changed my body image and improved on my nutrition. Whatever Crossfit is to you, as long as you are working towards improving that, I think you are doing great! If you are looking for a little more shoot Bijan an email at blkstrengthandconditioning@gmail.com and I'm sure he can help you reach your goals!