Digging Deep

On Fridays we often have a work out that is known as a "chipper," meaning you chip away at it until you finish it. Oftentimes, these chippers are what they also call Hero WODs. The CrossFit community is very encouraging, supportive and generous. I think that is why I like it so much. In addition to meeting some great people and having a common torture to bear, the people that take part are also community minded. You won't find many selfish people doing CrossFit workouts. At least not at the gym I go to. A Hero WOD is one in honor of a fallen soldier and it is a chipper. You will often get both the work out and a little bit about the hero that you are honoring by doing said workout on that particular day. I don't mind Fridays. They are a gentle (or torturous) way of keeping in mind that there are people stretching themselves to their physical limits every day so that I can keep on blogging and saying what I want to say, when I want to say it.

This past Friday was a Hero WOD (thank you, Lt. Nuttall for your sacrifice) and it was truly a chipper. It was terrifying. I struggled just coming up with a reason why I should go to the gym on Friday, but I think the fact that it was a Hero WOD made me go. If these people can be out in the deserts doing this stuff, the least I can do is give it a try at the gym where people aren't shooting at me in addition to making me exercise for my very life. So, off I went. Any time you see a workout that says there is a time cap of 40 minutes you know it's going to be a tough one.

I have done 3 work outs that have included double unders since my initial kiss of death. The work outs have included a fair number of them- 20, 50 and then Friday- 200!! WHAT?! You are kidding me, right? In a moment of humility, I realized that 200 was a few too many and the routine would take me at least 3 hours to complete if I attempted to do all of them. So, I scaled it (you are allowed) and decided in a moment of lapsed judgement that I would attempt 100 double unders. Keep in mind that I am only able to do 1 at a time. 1 double, 2 singles, 1 double, 2 singles- you get the idea.

3-2-1 go! The workout started without much problem- some deadlifts, some push ups, then came the pull-ups and I felt myself getting winded. On to wall balls-100 of those suckers. OUCH!!! People are good at different things. I like to think that I am not so bad at a wall ball, but 100 can render me unable to walk on a good day. This was just the middle of the workout. I was tired, but I think it was more because I knew what else was coming. *Insert the Psycho music here* Double Unders!!

And this is where CrossFit mentality comes in. I like to think that perhaps I got a little taste of what some of these soldiers feel also as I was working through these. I had to dig deep on this one-deeper than I have ever had to go before. There are work outs that have made me feel like stopping right in the middle, but I have never really had to talk myself out of it. By double under 32 I was ready to quit. I told myself-just make it to 50 and you can scale back to sit ups and finish with sit ups. Nobody will notice. I got to 50 and I wanted to cry- I almost did, but I couldn't breathe enough to cry. Somebody yelled, "You got this, Kasey" and I decided that I would try for 10 more. When I got to 41 left I realized that I couldn't give up. I had to keep doing it. By the time I got to 30 left I was telling myself that even if I did go over the 40 minute cap, I was going to finish this thing, damn it. So, from 32 to 70 I  gave up, I cried (internally), I got pissed and I kept going. I found a place inside of me that I didn't think I had and I made it through 100 of the damn things!

Hallelujah! Oh, wait. I still had a 400m run with a 25 lb. sandbag left. Katy helped put that sandbag on my shoulders and off I went. The first 200 didn't go well. My legs would barely carry me and I went so slow that while I thought I was running, I was actually walking. I picked it back up though as soon as I could control my breathing a bit and by the second 200 I thought I could actually go farther. I will note that once you turn around you are going down hill-it's the slightest slope, but when you can barely lift your feet a downward slope feels good.  Then Katy challenged me as she was running with me at the end. "You aren't going to let me beat you, are you?" And there it was...NO! She wasn't going to beat me and this work out wasn't going to beat me. I dug inside for the last ounce I had and found the ability to sprint the final 50m and make it in 37:40.

Lt. Nuttall and the CrossFit community-thank you. Because of you I found inside of me a place I have never been. A strength that I knew was there, but haven't called on in a long time. Physical or mental, the whole package had to work together on this one and while it almost beat me, I am proud to say that I was able to dig deep and conquer the WOD. It was a good day.