LOVING WHAT YOU DON’T LOVE: JEN’S THOUGHTS ON CROSSFIT

By Jen F. 

We love including blogs written by others on the website. We all know that you get enough of Lisa and Brian and it’s nice to hear from other people as they make their way through the CrossFit Journey. Today, we feature a Guest Blogger: Jen. Jen writes about her CrossFit experience in a fun, sarcastic, honest way. You can check out more of Jen’s work here. Enjoy! — Lisa

If you know me at all, you know that generally… I don’t take things too seriously.  I don’t take myself that seriously.  I love joking around and I speak fluent sarcasm.  Sometimes, people think I’m complaining, but in reality, I’m just trying to make things less scary.

These past 5 weeks of the Open have brought out some other things in me, and I thought I’d share them with you.  I’ve seriously been working on this for 5 weeks, so… enjoy!

There are so many things about CrossFit that I LOVE.  And a few things I don’t love.  There are things I excel at.  There are things that I think I will NEVER be able to do.  It’s so easy to love!

I love the intense (Oh, Em, Gee… I’m going to die) workouts.
I love the way I feel when I get to do a lift or movement I am strong at.
I love when I PR.  Who doesn’t?
I love when realize I actually CAN do something.
I love the people I get to see almost every day.
I love when I get to witness someone else’s accomplishments.
I love the community I get to be a part of.
I love when my non-CrossFit friends ask me, “You PAY to do that???”
I even hold a special place for the bruises I get from this crazy sport.

But what about all that stuff I don’t love??
Instead of telling you what I don’t love, I am going to tell you what I love *about* what I don’t love.  Ya with me?

**I love that when I see a WOD that scares me, I know that I’m not alone in that feeling because we all stand around the whiteboard and whine about it for at least 5 minutes.

**I love that if I were to ever think about skipping a WOD, there are people that will hold me accountable for it and call me out on Facebook.

**I love that when I feel like quitting, there is always someone there to encourage me, or in some cases, say to me, “Jen!  Pick the bar up.  NOW.”

**I love when I see someone KILLING the WOD, it fuels me to push a little harder.  There are so many “When I grow up, I wanna be just like…” athletes that this applies to.  Yes, I’m talking about YOU.

**I love that I might walk into the box feeling like I need a pity party, but walk out feeling strong enough to be a shoulder for someone else.  Even if it’s a little (ok, a lot) sweaty.  And dirty.  Really, really dirty.

**I love that even though the Open was hard, and frustrating, and at times I thought, “what’s the point?”… I love that when it comes up again, I will be stronger.  I will be better.  Please note:  This does not apply to 14.5.  You can keep that one.

**Speaking of 14.5….. I love when a WOD literally makes me cry, it usually means I was working through something that needed to come out.  And it really does bring out the green in my eyes, so it’s a win/win!

In all seriousness, loving what I don’t love might be the best part about this awesome sport I LOVE.  Let’s face it:  It will always celebrate when I don’t suck.

But, more importantly, it will consistently challenge me.  It will consistently put me in my place.  It will consistently remind me that I will have a bad day, but that I will come back from it stronger.  It consistently reminds me that I am not without friends or support on my worst days: my ugly, what-did-you-do-to-your-hair, I suck at everything, why can’t I be like X,Y, Z… kind of days.

Here’s to loving what you don’t love, on the daily.  🙂