I love my Saturday’s!!! It’s the only day I get to sleep in, maybe till 8 a.m. or so if I’m lucky. On Saturday I don’t feel rushed with traffic or school zones! The last 4-6 weeks my attitude about Saturday mornings have really changed. I’m excited to get up and eat a light breakfast before the 9:30 a.m. workout at Texan Fitness.
I can tell you this hasn’t been my normal routine. My normal weekend started with a heavy dinner and a refreshment. I may still indulge in the occasional refreshment, but I’m excited to feel good for Saturday morning. It has been a nice change. I’m not for sure if all Cross-Fit boxes have a group or team workout during the week, but I think Texan Fitness has it right.
On Saturday morning everyone is showing up and talking, maybe 30 or more people, while Coach Randi and Coach Ben are wrestling to get everyone’s attention. This might be the closest thing to an adult kindergarten classroom or herding kittens. Everyone is so excited to see each other and the laughter and smiles just make you feel great!! I’m still getting to know the other members and I don’t know what they are talking about, but it’s FUN!!
We get through the warm up and I’m sweating/breathing hard (less cardiac arrest like), but everyone is still smiling and high-fives are being thrown. The coaches are still trying get everyone’s attention to explain the WOD and how many people are on a team. Teams are formed and each week I get joined up with someone I don’t know.
SO…My team formed and I’m with Carey, my college football teammate from UTEP, and Al. I just met Al, but we became close teammates very quickly. Trash talking is starting right before we take off on the first dreading 400-meter run. I have butterflies like I’m back in junior high track before I get the baton for my 400 meter mile relay. All along the laughter and encouragement of all the teams relaxes me before I get a high five from the 400-meter champion Carey…. He hates running, its great how he embraces how much he hates it. However, like all the other members of the Texan Fitness tribe he does his part and does it the best he can. I’m off and running, it looks like a quick walk actually, with my arms pumping.
We finish the run! I get a great job from other teams and encouragement from the coaches. Al is off on jump rope like a machine. He knocks out 150 before I can catch my breath from the 5 k I just ran, I mean 400 meters… 🙂 We are doing the jump rope, wall balls, pull ups (I do the rings because that what I do in my season of exercise) and more running. We each pick up more reps in areas that we are better at. We finish with another run to close out the WOD. Al and I huffed and puffed the last bit, we both travel a lot and talked about work. Its amazing the quick bond you can build from 60 minutes of workout.
One of my goals on this journey was to build community, today I grind-ed with two fellow Texan Fitness members. One I have known for 22 years and the other I met before we started the TEAM WOD. I walk away with a new friend and time spent with a best friend. It’s great to embrace the challenge of the workout, get out of your comfort zone and learn to accept encouragement as much as encouraging others.
From the great Vanilla Ice,
“Yo, VIP, lets kick it.
Ice ice baby,
Ice ice baby,
All right stop
Collaborate and listen
Ice is back with a brand new invention
Something grabs a hold of me tightly…..”
My challenge to you this week is to learn to collaborate and listen, work with others and be coach-able. This is one of the many things I have enjoyed about Texan Fitness.