Kissed and Made Up

Every time I go to CrossFit, I am DEATHLY AFRAID of what the WOD (Workout of the Day) would be. You never really know what’s coming your way. Those who went earlier in the day could easily leak it, but you’re never really ready for it — at least that’s how it is for me since I’m just starting.

If there’s anything in life that scares me to my wit’s end, it’s uncertainty — of time, of a situation, of the level of difficulty, but most of all, uncertainty about yourself and your capability of handling whatever’s thrown at you. Most of the time, you just have to be ready to catch it.

This is Klaire (Yapyuco-Reyes), one of my Crossfit buddies. She’s getting ready to do a Snatch…

…and executes it perfectly! She said she wanted to look hardcore. She isn’t even aware that she actually IS hardcore and intense! Among the three girls in her group, she lifted the heaviest. She lifted 65lbs like it was a feather. (Klaire, when Jai joins, let’s show photos of you kicking his ass! haha!)

Don’t even ask how much I lifted. It’s embarrassing.

I am pretty sure I’m one of the weakest — I hate not being able to do handstands or even just plain skipping rope. I suck at burpees, pull ups, even sit ups; I could go on and on. I get frustrated about not being able to finish all the rounds and scared of disappointing my coaches. But I guess at the end of the WOD, as of now at least, what matters is that I did what I could and I pushed myself almost to my breaking point (most of the time, I can’t even stand up anymore).

Box Jumps

It will surprise you how you will most likely forget that you went there to slim down or simply just get a workout. Your goal evolves into becoming stronger and surviving longer. Klaire and I were talking with each other after the WOD and I found out she felt the exact same way. She even goes on to say that when she wakes up in the morning, one of her first thoughts is what the WOD would be for that day! Another thing we love is the fact that there are no mirrors. It’s okay to be “ugly” and you don’t waste your time looking at yourself, checking if your arms are slimmer/bigger. It strips you of vanity. It will never be about toning your arms or trimming your thighs anymore — Your only goal now is to become better than you were yesterday, to work harder tomorrow than you did today.

Burpees (my worst enemy)

(Thanks for the photos, Ayet! Sali na!)

All of those, you don’t get from your conventional gym so easily. (Side comment: Guys — yes, especially you guys, there is no “arms day” or a “legs day.” Basta, wala lang talaga, okay? It will never make sense.) In your conventional gym it will be very difficult to get motivation because most of the time you will need to do so on your own. You will need someone, or even a group of people, to push you to keep coming back and it won’t be easy to find these kinds of people. In CrossFit, well, you HAVE TO go. Nobody will force you, but you will want to go. You will always have something to prove. It becomes a part of you.

So even if I haven’t done as well as I wish I could have, I’d say I still get a reasonable amount of pride from doing what I did. I face my fears everyday. What could be more rewarding than that? I finally stopped saying “Tomorrow, I promise.” and turned it into “What the heck, I’m just going to do this TODAY.” You find a way.

Hopefully, Arki life will be nicer to me this semester. :( I really want to just keep doing this. As one of my coaches would always say “Jilli, no stopping.”