Today I realized something about my new found love in CROSSFIT. There is a big difference between a passing phase and a lifestyle change. I have gone through several diets and workout programs in my life, as I know most people have. Some of them lasted a little bit longer than others, but until recently I hadn’t found anything that interested me enough for it to stick long term, with two exceptions, running and riding, even my dedication to those two things is for very different reasons.
Running has also been a part of my life for over 20 years, and I do love it for lots of reasons, but the challenge isn’t there. I dont really care if I run much faster or further, with running I just want the result of what doing it for longer SHOULD bring. I never really thought of being able to run 8 or 9 miles as some miraculous feat, I just wanted the calorie burn and hopefully the weight loss that went with it. I run more out of habit than anything else, its familiar and comfortable to me, but thats NOT what I’m looking for in a workout. There is no challenge and there for no success or even failure. No highs and lows, and that gets BORING. Which is why I am sure Im not too heartbroken that I have moved away from it a little bit.
I have been riding as long as I can remember, my earliest memory is of a horse. With riding, I’ve always wanted to get better and be better, not just to win (although Id never complain about winning), but it wasn’t just that. I love the challenge of it, figuring it out, working at it, and I mean working HARD to fix problem horses and my own bad habits. In all my years of riding I’ve never felt “accomplished”, the fences could always be higher, the times could always be faster, the conditioning more complete. There was always something to work on, and it is my love of the challenge that keeps me going year after year, fall after fall, failure after failure, I just want to be better. When I’m 80 I will still be working at it, I’ve had tons of great rides, but to me that just doesn’t seem like enough, so I will continue to work at it.
CROSSFIT feels like riding to me, its the challenge that draws me in. Its knowing that EVERY time I show up to the gym for a WOD that I will be challenged in a different way, just like getting on a different horse or jumping a different course of fences. In the past few weeks I have really stopped thinking so much about my weight and how I look, it has been more about the work, more about the WOD and mostly about the challenge. I know the results are there, but to have such a sense of satisfaction just from FINISHING a workout is a great feeling, much better than getting on the scale and seeing the numbers go down but not really feeling any different. The challenge and the feeling I have when the WOD is over are the kinds of things that will keep me coming back for more. Its the difference, the difference between a passing fitness craze and a commitment to a lifestyle change, I know CROSSFIT will still be challenging me in years and really, thats all I want.
Check out Coach Schef and all his propoganda, I mean knowledge at www.uncommonwellness.com
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