Saturday 11 January 2014

My first CrossFit class!

Hi hi hi hi hi!

So much to tell you yet again...there's always so many things to say, not enough time.  I was going to do a different post for each thing - but then I decided to try and fit everything onto one
post.  I've just written the first topic and it is so long that I'm going to have to go back to the first idea, and do a few different blog posts!  HA!  #girlofsomanywords

So here we go...by the way I don't have exciting news or anything, these are just random day to day things in my weight loss journey life!  Don't get too excited!  This is my first thing on my list:

MY FIRST CROSSFIT CLASS!

My Week 8 goal / mini milestone for myself was to try CrossFit!  I've never tried it before and just wanted to give it a try!  I didn't think it would be for me.  I am not strong and I
My name on a CrossFit whiteboard!
dunno...it just doesn't seem like something I would like.  I have heaps of friends who swear by it but I thought that CrossFit is their thing but it won't suit me.


But I at least wanted to do one class.  So I Googled 'free introductory CrossFit Brisbane" and found Ultra CrossFit.  It seemed perfect.  A free intro class on Saturdays at 9am so I could do it
#fearfactor
after parkrun one week.  Close to home - and the owner, Laurie, came across really professional and friendly in the emails.  Done.  So I booked in and put it in my calendar.  And that day was today.  I'd already done 2 hours this morning of stair climbs and hill runs, and my first trail run parkrun, so I was already pretty worked out.  But I was still going to try it today.


Like most things I do, I'm very process driven, until the day.  This was no different.  I didn't think much about it, it was just something I wanted to do and I was going to do it.  Until I pulled up outside and parked.  As I sat in my car, about to grab my water and phone etc. and walk in, I looked up and half a dozen people in training gear started hurtling (running) down the hill, past my car, outside the XXXX beer brewery that was amusingly right next door, and back up again.  They were each carrying sandbags, kettle bells and weights, they looked exhausted, and a coach was screaming at them from the top of the hill to hurry up.  From inside my car, I heard one guy actually call out to the coach "I can't do it, sorry, I give up.  I am going to die."

Umm, WTF.

You can imagine my wide eyed face from within my car.  THIS was CrossFit?  What an introduction!  LOL.  Lucky I don't scare too easy these days!  18 months / 40kg ago would have
My 1st WOD <3 #sopro lol
seen me in tears or driving away, but instead I got out of the car and walked up, and despite my soaring from anxiety crazy heart rate, I soothed myself with the comforting thought that my class was an introductory one - these guys were pros who had been doing it for ages.  Our newbie class wouldn't be doing anything like that.  'S'all good.  We got this ;)


Little did I know that in just half an hour, I would be one of those crazy hurtling people running down to the beer factory and back!

It was an actual class.  Yep, it was ideal for beginners but it was also a regular free community class with people who went regularly.  I don't know what I was expecting but I guess somewhere in my mind I imagined some bulky guy walking me around the box and showing me how to do each exercise, and then we'd do a nice little WOD to top off the session.

Not even.

It was a normal class!  And I survived!  I feel lucky that my first experience was good.  The
I liked these
trainers (instructors? coaches? CrossFit people?) were really nice, welcoming and on the ball.  Likewise the other people in the class, before I had a chance to even walk in, a girl came over and asked if I was new and would I like to join 3 of them in their group as we needed to get into groups of 4.  How nice was that?  I felt supported the whole time.


The workout itself though.  Whoah.  It was such a high intensity workout!  You need so much strength and cardio!  We did a group WOD and I was so excited to firstly have a WOD - and also to see my name on a whiteboard.  haha!  I've seen my ultra seemingly pro CrossFit mates have their names on white and blackboards so I felt as cool as them....ahhhh it's the little things, isn't it Kate? ;)

My team didn't even get to finish the workout in the set time of 25min.!  But we gave it our best shot.  It involved being one of those running people I saw when I first arrived,
The Willy Wonka factory of beer we had to run past #cruel
running up and down a steep street lugging a 16kg kettle bell.  And 'wall balls' - which I apparently 'a machine' on LOL.  That's the only thing I was a machine on...the rest I was a little weak and not doing it right, but it was ok.  It was all about learning and I felt fine.  There was more, I took a photo of the WOD.


The workout, my gosh - seriously intense!  My heart rate was in the 180's for a lot of it.  I burnt about 516 calories in 1 hour - but out of that hour, we actually only worked out for 25min.  The rest was listening and warming up and down.  So that's an amazing burn!

I went along not expecting to like it in the slightest....but I surprised myself!  I didn't fall in love or anything, and I wasn't that
great at it, but I won't be ruling it out to do again!  I may have told them all I will be back in a few weeks....KATE!!  We'll see :)  It may be good to do once a month or something?  And this class is free, ongoing, too!  I really recommend this box if you're in Brisbane.  I can really see why people love CrossFit :)

I'm proud I did it!

Loveeeeeeee Coco Girl xx

1 comment:

  1. Good on you - sounds fun if a little crazy and just plain hard work. Great calorie burn for 25mins.

    and you did this after so much exercise already in the am?? You ARE a machine.

    Love how you just jump into anything and give it a go too.

    Can I ask where did you do trail run park run?

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