My Journey Back to CrossFit

Early last month, I went home to Texas for a much needed visit. After being hiatus from CrossFit for about 4 months due to personal reasons, I challenged myself to visit as many boxes as I could along the way.



I had never stepped foot into another "box" before, so I was quite nervous when I called the owners, Trey and Stephanie, of "Be Challenged CrossFit". They immediately welcomed me into their box as if I were their very own. I was quite impressed with their generosity, and their gorgeous CrossFit playground.

They had an indoor AND an outdoor training area. What I really liked about this particular box, was the showers. CrossFit tends to leave me extremely dirty and sweaty from burpees, chalk, etc. so having the ability to take shower immediately before stepping into my car was quite appealing. Too bad I couldn't take them back with me to Virginia! Trey and Stephanie truly made my experience enjoyable, and I was able to get two workouts of the day, (WOD) in.

I wanted to continue my journey to other boxes, but I developed a mild case of Rhabdo in my arms, and was out of commission for a couple of weeks until they started to recover. It happens from overuse and break down of the muscle fibers, which somehow gets into the blood stream. It can be potentially deadly if not treated immediately.

I started to CrossFit a little over a year ago, and I started to feel stagnant and unsure in my abilities back in February, and visiting "Be Challenged" rekindled my desire as an athlete. I started CrossFit to improve my running endurance, and it gives me confidence in my strengthening, running stamina, and injury prevention.


If you are in south-east Texas, go check out their box. They are quite amazing!

Their Facebook Page: Be Challenged CrossFit

Thank you Trey and Stephanie! I look forward to visiting when I come back in town. :)

Heritage 5 miler race recap

This week marked the first official week of marathon training for me. By my training matrix for the next 17 weeks is a little intimidating! However, it also appears that I need to get super clean with my diet again for the duration. Tuesday evening kicked off my training, and I attempted 3 easy miles, except my stomach had other plans. I had to stop my run by mile 2. So, I was like, okay, I will run again tomorrow. Well, it turns out that the Heritage 5 miler was on Thursday, and it would be a great training run to participate in. Plus, I love running amongst a crowd, even if I am talking to myself the whole time. So, I wake up super excited, and I eat a banana.

I saw some of my CrossFit buddies, and got a photo op with them.



Then, as soon as the race kicked off, my stomach or should I say, colon, started to protest. I forewarn you now, that I am very unfiltered about my bodily functions, so if you are prudent, please abort this blog post now. I have decided to call my spastic colon, Theodora, after the wicked witch from the Wizard of Oz. In previous race caps, I have mentioned my colon mishaps, but I thought I was slowly getting into the clear this week. Apparently not.

I start to jog a slow steady run, as to pace myself, so I don't make the mistake of burning out too soon. It was hot and humid, but I was doing quite well - until Theodora decided to protest around 2 miles. By this time, my pace started to get slower and slower, and I panicked due to no port-o-johns along the way. By mile 3, we were along a canal path with deep brush. I was able to ask a race official to step aside into the wooded area, to do my business. I want to say 10 minutes were added to my time. It was quite embarrassing, and I felt defeated as I finished the race, and throughout the day.

Now that I can reflect on it, I can honestly say, "You know what? I went out there and I tried. I did what I could with the conditions my body gave me, and I didn't just quit."

I am going to have many more runs and races by the time I do my full marathon, and I will have plenty of redemptions. "Just because it burns, doesn't mean you're gonna die, you gotta get up and try, try, try." -Pink