my first competition.
There are a few things in life I thought I would never do - CrossFit being one of them. Even more so, a CrossFit competition.
I have always avoided sports due to my lack of skill, and stuck with the activities I liked most - at the time, that was spending most days on the water in my and my sisters' little 17' Key West, wakeboarding, fishing, or just running around the river or the ocean on (mostly) flat days. I also took up running and started to crave that time to myself each day.
Fast forward to college, where I took up yoga and discovered P90X... then graduated from FAU, moved to Panama City Beach, started doing classes at the local gym and thought that those "CrossFit people" who would make guest appearances at our yoga classes were jacked.
My husband and I eventually moved back down to Jupiter (we couldn't stay away!) about the same time some friends from high school opened a CrossFit gym. We were there the day they opened, and haven't looked back since. I love how our abilities started at not even being able to kip, and have grown significantly. You can check out my husband's stories here and here (he's pretty much a badass...)
But today's story is about me, haha. I stuck with CrossFit through 37 weeks in my first pregnancy, and 33 weeks in my second pregnancy. My two babies were born 15 months apart, so I feel like I've been pregnant or sharing my body and stuck on the same PRs for FOREVER now.
Declan was born May 5, 2015, so when my friend Erica asked me to be her partner for our gym's Deadly Duo II competition this past weekend, I was so hesitant that I didn't say yes for a few days. My previous fears of being "less than" kept coming to play, and I knew that while my body would be up for some scaled versions of the workouts, that it would be nowhere near enough for a podium finish. Erica's enthusiasm was catching, so I hesitantly agreed to do the competition. Erica herself has a gorgeous 4 month old daughter, so if she could do it, I could do it - and we would be there to support each other! Besides, how many times do I have to remind myself that CrossFit is about competing against myself? The competition would just be a way to prove to myself I can do something I wouldn't normally do, maybe get a PR or just try my best during the WODs.
Turns out, we got second to last place. But - we had some amazing accomplishments along the way!
The first WOD, I matched my clean and jerk PR I had gotten just the week earlier, and Erica got a 10 lb PR.
The second WOD we actually did really well - Erica busted out 4 chest to bars out of nowhere and I did the most pull-ups and toes to bar in a row than I have since before I was pregnant with Declan. Also, I'm pretty sure the only thing that got me through all those front squats was Patrick sitting within viewing distance with Declan, and me thinking that if I can push out a couple babies, I can finish the damn front squats.
The last WOD involved rope climbs and death by rowing and assault bike... but Erica did 3 rope climbs after having just learned them two weeks prior, and we didn't completely collapse (hey, I said "some" accomplishments)...
Am I glad I did it? Yes. Will I ever do it again? Maybe, maybe not. The nerves I get prior to competing are a little intense. I did really feel like I earned that beer after the competition, though...
I have always avoided sports due to my lack of skill, and stuck with the activities I liked most - at the time, that was spending most days on the water in my and my sisters' little 17' Key West, wakeboarding, fishing, or just running around the river or the ocean on (mostly) flat days. I also took up running and started to crave that time to myself each day.
Fast forward to college, where I took up yoga and discovered P90X... then graduated from FAU, moved to Panama City Beach, started doing classes at the local gym and thought that those "CrossFit people" who would make guest appearances at our yoga classes were jacked.
My husband and I eventually moved back down to Jupiter (we couldn't stay away!) about the same time some friends from high school opened a CrossFit gym. We were there the day they opened, and haven't looked back since. I love how our abilities started at not even being able to kip, and have grown significantly. You can check out my husband's stories here and here (he's pretty much a badass...)
But today's story is about me, haha. I stuck with CrossFit through 37 weeks in my first pregnancy, and 33 weeks in my second pregnancy. My two babies were born 15 months apart, so I feel like I've been pregnant or sharing my body and stuck on the same PRs for FOREVER now.
Declan was born May 5, 2015, so when my friend Erica asked me to be her partner for our gym's Deadly Duo II competition this past weekend, I was so hesitant that I didn't say yes for a few days. My previous fears of being "less than" kept coming to play, and I knew that while my body would be up for some scaled versions of the workouts, that it would be nowhere near enough for a podium finish. Erica's enthusiasm was catching, so I hesitantly agreed to do the competition. Erica herself has a gorgeous 4 month old daughter, so if she could do it, I could do it - and we would be there to support each other! Besides, how many times do I have to remind myself that CrossFit is about competing against myself? The competition would just be a way to prove to myself I can do something I wouldn't normally do, maybe get a PR or just try my best during the WODs.
Turns out, we got second to last place. But - we had some amazing accomplishments along the way!
The first WOD, I matched my clean and jerk PR I had gotten just the week earlier, and Erica got a 10 lb PR.
The second WOD we actually did really well - Erica busted out 4 chest to bars out of nowhere and I did the most pull-ups and toes to bar in a row than I have since before I was pregnant with Declan. Also, I'm pretty sure the only thing that got me through all those front squats was Patrick sitting within viewing distance with Declan, and me thinking that if I can push out a couple babies, I can finish the damn front squats.
The last WOD involved rope climbs and death by rowing and assault bike... but Erica did 3 rope climbs after having just learned them two weeks prior, and we didn't completely collapse (hey, I said "some" accomplishments)...
Am I glad I did it? Yes. Will I ever do it again? Maybe, maybe not. The nerves I get prior to competing are a little intense. I did really feel like I earned that beer after the competition, though...