Holy crap I made it!
Today at CrossFit was another team WOD, this time in teams of three. And a good thing too, since some of the exercises were things I wasn’t sure I could do. There were four stations, and each team would have three minutes at each to complete as many rounds as possible before having 1 minute to change stations and get reset. There were stations for deadlift/rope climbs, tire flips/push ups, wall walks/burpees over box, and farmer’s carry/wall balls, all in 3 rep increments.
I had never done rope climbs, tire flips or wall walks before today. The tire flips aren’t complicated, and I figured out wall walks during the warmup, but rope climbs… Well, I was just glad that there was somebody on my team (Emily, a visitor) who could do them.
The clock started and we set to it, blowing through reps with the same rowdy, kid-like fun I’ve come to expect from Saturday WODs. When we got to the station for deadlifts and rope climbs, Emily powered through three of the latter with impressive ease, and I pumped out the deadlifts. When it was time for our second round, Emily lurched up the rope again, but it was clear she was tiring. I had been watching what she did with her feet and decided to give it a go, locking the rope between my shoes and using them to push me up instead of just pulling with my arms.
And it worked! All the sudden I was at the top, and I touched the rafters before shimmying back down, grinning like a kid. Or better, because I could never climb ropes when I was a kid. I’ve never had the strength, and nobody ever showed me the technique before.
Any time you try a new sport, there’s a honeymoon period where everything is new and exciting, and you’re setting “firsts” every time you go out. Because CrossFit has you doing so many different things, the opportunity for that excitement is very frequent, and it’s not hard to see why it becomes addicting. I can climb ropes now! Who’d have ever thought?