Seven years later

Seven years ago today I picked up a kettlebell for the first time. To say I was sceptical starting out would be understating it. At the time my sister and her husband had been running kettlebell classes  ( before they went full on Crossfit) for quite some time . I didn't know a whole lot about it other than the fact that it was mad Russian shit involving a weight with a handle and that they both looked great. 

My very first workouts were in my sisters yard/ driveway. Body weight, a light dumbbell, a plate and a kettlebell . I remember it being very sore, very sweaty and running in a way that was apparently so hilarious that my brother in law used to come and watch it. That driveway will forever be known as the lane of pain to me. 

As I became less hilariously unfit I agreed to join in with some of the classes but I only participated in the ladies classes wearing loose t-shirts and tracksuit pants because i was too self conscious  ( and unsure of my commitment to fitness) to buy proper workout gear. I remember in the early days we didn't listen to music during the workout so we could feel our pain and on more than one occasion finding myself on the verge of tears or throwing up.  

Over time I got into better shape and bought proper clothes and stopped giving a damn and joined the mixed classes where I realised the men were too busy working out to actually care what I was doing. The gym moved away from kettlebell classes into crossfit  ( with kettlebells still included) with a whole world of things I never thought I'd ever do like olympic weightlifting.

In the seven years since I first picked up a kettlebell, a lot in my life has changed. I've gone from being a super dedicated gym goer to suddenly disappearing for months at a time for one reason or another be it a change in my work or a lapsed week turning into a month or longer. I think the fact that I lived a 40 minute drive from the gym only helped make my return harder. One thing however doesn't change, no matter how long I stay away, I always find myself coming back. Starting over and over . Relearning all the stuff I should be good at and feeling very sick and dizzy as my liver protests all the extra work I'm making it do and walking like John Wayne for days as my muscles seize up with the pain I had forgotten. Each time though my absence has been forgiven and I am welcomed back into the fold like I was never gone .

Crossfit gives me something no other form of fitness ever has. Every single time I've taken a sabbatical  ( and trust me there's been a few of them ). I find myself feeling a sort of guilt related to my laziness and the gluttony that normally follows. I also find not working out has a knock on effect in my life that's never positive. It also feels like something is missing and it's only when I finally drag myself back to suffer through a killer workout that I realise what that something is.

Since moving to Kilkenny six months ago I made one major change. I think in my heart, whatever name it goes by ( the forge to Crossfit Tipperary or Optimise) that Optimise health and performance is always going to be my gym. The reality is that it's not realistic for me to train constantly at a gym that's 40 minutes from where I live. It makes it far too easy for me to take a day off which becomes a month off before I know it. So I joined another Crossfit gym. In fact I found it the day I moved into my new house because priorities and did my very first class the following day and have not looked back. The gym is a 15 minute drive from my house and I pay for it. Having to pay for Crossfit classes  ( when I previously got a family discount) may not seem like an advantage because hey who needs an extra bill but actually it's turned out to be the best thing because I dont have money to waste and this drags me out of bed on my laziest days. Bar a three week break over Christmas  ( which only didn't become a longer break because the next month's gym money came out of my account and I didn't want to throw it away) I have been training my most consistently ever.

I feel great and I dont look half bad and I've come miles In terms of strength and ability  (just dont ask me to skip) and I've never felt better. I've even managed to train eight times while on a fortnight of night duty which I previously would have told you was impossible.  I mean I feel like death and I'm definitely sorer than normal due to lack of sleep but nights are so horribly draining mentally so I think this is my way of telling myself I won't be defeated by them. 

Hopefully in seven years time I'll still be training and have some skills to show for it. They say Crossfit is for everyone but not everyone is for Crossfit and I think I know what camp I fall into.