Thursday, May 10, 2012

Workin on My Fitness

A good friend of mine who reads my blog pointed out that I have yet to share any of my workout or running routines. All of my close friends and most people who know me will say that I am slightly obsessed with working out. In college, I learned young that in order to have the body that I wanted and to fit in the size and style of clothes that I liked, I needed to work out. No if, ands or buts (I would have a big butt if I didn’t) about it! So, while in college I would frequently run between 2-5 miles two to three times a week. This kept me in shape and helped work off some of the freshman weight that I had for a brief period of time. I also figured out that this was the best way to get a release from the days stresses and just decompress. This is where the obsession grew from. I needed the release that running gave me and as time went on my body craved it. Now if I go any longer than 2 days without a run or workout I become just plain grouchy and not a fun person to be around. On occasion I even think my Mr. has suggested insisted I go run and decompress when I get frustrated.
















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After college I started dedicating more time to running. I joined a running group in order to learn how to run better and complete my first half marathon. If you are in the Sacramento area and interested in running, I highly recommend Runnin’ for Rhett. They are an awesome group and give so much inspiration and support to their members who want to lead an active and healthy life. One of the best parts about running and training for races was being able to train with my mom. We ran our first half marathon together in 2008 and have kept going completing 8 half marathon together. After 3 years of solid racing and pretty much only running, I decided that I needed a change. I was plagued with knee injuries and running wasn’t cutting the mental funk as much anymore.

me and my mom prior to starting one of our races
Enter the world of Crossfit. I bought a Groupon for a friend’s Crossfit Box (box = gym in Crossfit language), and let the Groupon sit in my wallet for two months before I got up enough courage to even go in an check it out. I completed my very first Crossfit workout on November 1, 2011 at Warriorz Crossfit, and from there I was hooked. Yes, I totally died during the workout but for some reason I loved getting my butt handed to me (figuratively speaking). Here I was thinking that I was in good shape. I ran between 20-30 miles a the week, completed a couple of days of cross training and “weight lifting”, and here I was still dying a slow and painful Crossfit death. The first couple of classes I was completely intimidated by all the girls that could throw up “big weight”. Come on people they used the bars and plates like the freaking guys! No way was I going to be able to do this. I thought I was a bada** for using the 12lb hand weights at the gym, wrong.

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As I went to more classes and I met more and more awesome people that were excited to help me get better I gained more confidence. As time went on I kept showing up for my beatings, getting yelled at to keep going when I wanted to quit, (yea I’m into that when I work out) and encouraging me once I completed a hard work; I had found my kind of crazy workout people. I have to say that I have never met a group of people that are more encouraging and just plain nice as this group. From the moment that you come in your are welcomed by everyone, something that is very different from your traditional gyms. When people hear that I do Crossfit I get a ton of different reactions and questions about it. For me personally I love the challenge that it brings and the great people I have met through it. I've made a lot of progress from my first class and hope to continue to get stronger.

For my fitness inspiration check out my Pintrest
 
Heather

2 comments:

Jenn said...

Heather! I love your blog. I used to blog myself and I think I am going to start again. Help me out though, how do I "follow" or "subscribe" to your blog?!

heather said...

aww thanks girl! I always get a little nervous putting myself out there like that, so it means a lot to hear that! I should have a subscribe button on my page that will allow you to add my blog to your google reader.