This piece was written by Jay back in 2011 and now, a 10 year member, Jay is still going strong and is a staple at CFG.

“I have been doing Crossfit for 60 days (30 days of on ramp and 30 days of the real thing) and I am totally obsessed with it. I think about Crossfit continuously, I talk about it all the time, and I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about the previous days WOD and wondering what tomorrow’s WOD will be. I am even guilty of checking the Crossfit website at 4:30 AM to see the day’s workout. (I even check the website on days I know I can’t make it to Crossfit.)

I cried like a baby when Deb told me a Crossfit membership was my Fathers Day gift.  I fought her tooth and nail about going and came up with every excuse in the book as to why I could not go. I told her it was a gift for her, not me, (partially true) and it didn’t fit in my schedule between work (I have a demanding job that typically requires > 40 hours per week and multiple trips to Manhattan each week), coaching Jakob’s baseball team, cooking dinner, walking Buddy (our dog), etc. But, like most things, Deb was right.

I am not sure why I like it so much. Although I have never given birth, doing a WOD seems similar to child birth: the pain is intense, but it feels great when it is over. (Deb doesn’t like this analogy much as she doesn’t see how, being a man, I could possibly make this comparison.)

I also find Crossfit frustrating. It kills me that I can only do 3-4* pull ups without a band and that WODs that take most people 15-20 minute takes me more than 20**. The cardiovascular conditioning is the hardest for me and the part that hurts my pride the most. I have been a runner for 30+ years. I ran cross country and track in high school and I have been running 10-20 miles a week ever since and lifting weights at the gym 1-2 times a week. How could a runner like myself be gasping for breath after the first round of the “Old Garage” WOD?

I know that I am getting stronger. I feel much stronger while running and all my old running injuries feel much better. The improvement becomes really obvious during the CFG warmup where you hang from the pull up bars and rotate side to side. Hanging there feels like home, comfortable, familiar. I can feel the strength from my fingers, down through my wrists, forearms, and shoulders. I love that part of the warm up.

Given how strong my passion is for Crossfit now, I am very interested to see how I will feel about it in 6 months, 1 years, or 2 years. Will I become a Crossfit gym rat that can crank through the toughest WOD in under 15 minutes and do 20 dead hang pull ups without breaking a sweat? Or, will my passion for Crossfit flame out after a few months? I really look forward to finding out. See you at CFG next week.”