What we’re doing…

As far as moving our bodies – I’m doing everything. Working out. Playing. Competing. Failing. Laughing.

The HOW part is due to CrossFit. Maybe you’ve heard about it. If you know me maybe you’ve heard about it more than you ever wanted to. But, it feeds me.

CrossFit is defined as: Functional movements, executed at a high intensity across broad time and modal domains. In implementation, CrossFit is, quite simply, the “sport of fitness.”

I took my first class at the (then unopened yet) CrossFit Cape Ann on October 25, 2010. I had just signed up to train for a February marathon and had a tight running schedule already, coupled with belly dancing and yoga 1x per week. I was already paying for a gym membership. This was not exactly the ideal time to drop everything and start CrossFitting. After 1 class, though, I pretty much did just that. I came home and said to my husband, “I LOVED it. I know it’s more expensive than what we’re paying now, and I know I just committed to this marathon (in New Orleans) but I know this is the thing for me.” God love him. He just looked at me and said, “Then do it.” Not that I needed permission, per se, but we’re Team Fraelick and I needed his support too.

You can read up on the program at CrossFit and see what I’m doing on the CrossFit Cape Ann blog but this is my experience:

Since November my life has transformed. It’s not an over-statement. Frankly, when you FEEL good about yourself your whole life just starts to look better. Be better. Notice I didn’t say when you start to “look” better – yes, that comes and, yes, I do think I look better but that’s not the thing that keeps me jazzed about my “box”. CrossFit (CF) makes me feel STRONG and the way it’s designed tracks as you hit milestone after milestone and that is what keeps you focused and driven.

Last night our skill was overhead squats (OHS). If you’ve never done one, well, they are a treat. I have a pretty good squat so it’s always a shocker to feel just how hard and different this exercise is.

Last night I PRed my OHS at 105#. Sweet! I looked back in my journal (CF is very quantifiable and we track everything) and saw my first OHS was 11/17/2010 and my 1 rep max was 25#. Now, I’m not going to explain all the CF lingo I just used – the only thing that important was that from November to now I have increased my weight on this exercise from doing one rep with 25# to doing it with 105#. That makes  me feel badass. That’s why I CrossFit. For that feeling. That’s why I got certified this past June – to help other folks feel like that.

I CrossFit so I can do anything. Or do anything and not get hurt doing it. So I can try new things and play new games. So I can properly move granite blocks to build the perimeter of my veggie garden (true story)

so I can FINISH a marathon after not having run in 12 weeks leading up to that race and having never run more than 16 miles (with a time of 4:40)

so that I can compete in the International Dory Races in Lunenberg, Nova Scotia with Karen Conant (CrossFit Cape Ann coach/owner) after only 10 times in a dory boat (I just counted to be sure I’m not exaggerating – 9 times in the boat before hitting the road, 1 practice run on the course) and finish the race in 7 minutes and 30 seconds

so that I can do a 35 inch vertical box jump (although this picture is actually only 3 plates, I can now do 4) This one is important because I can remember my Dad telling me (in a loving way) at city-league basketball that you couldn’t slide a piece of paper under my vertical.

That’s why it feeds me. Now I got ups. And, almost, maybe, kinda, on a good day, when I’m fresh – my deadhang pullup.