I was excited, nervous and optimistic all at the same time. I didn’t really know what to expect but at the same time I knew I was going to sweat. A lot. That’s exactly what happened. And I loved every minute of it.
When I look back on my first day of CrossFit now, I can’t believe how far I have come in such a short space of time. When I initially made contact with CrossFit Tullamore, the friendly and encouraging voice at the other end of the phone was exactly the little push that I needed to step out of my comfort zone and take the leap.
‘If you would like to start on Wednesday, we do partner workouts on those days and the workout is shared’ Jamie encouraged me. So I committed to see them there on Wednesday and I found myself getting excited to begin. Having recently moved to the area, I didn’t know too many people but this was the perfect place to start.
When I arrived at CrossFit Tullamore that Wednesday evening, a chirpy and friendly Sharon welcomed me and showed me around. I won’t pretend that I didn’t have a knot in my stomach when I realised that I would be doing relatively the same workout as the other experienced members. But next thing you know, you’re in the middle of the warmup and everybody is focused on their own work. We moved on from there to the strength portion of the workout, and then finally to the workout of the day (WOD). I was coached and guided through everything; from the movements, to the technique, to the timing of the workouts. My fear of standing in the middle of the gym and not knowing what to do quickly dispersed as I threw myself into every movement.
Nobody commented on how slow I was, nobody commented on how I couldn’t do more than 10 air squats without sweating and needing a break. What did they comment on? They commented on how I had made the first step in getting myself into the gym. They stated how much they loved CrossFit, the trainers, the community, the support they received. They told me how I would see so much progress if I stuck at it. They reminisced on their first day, and how nervous they were. I watched as other members added more plates onto their already heavy barbells, and how they pulled themselves up over the top of rigs. I thought to myself, there is absolutely no reason why I couldn’t do that someday too. Instead of looking at all the things I couldn’t do, I decided to focus on all of the things I could achieve when I watched others during the classes.
Recently, I undertook a workout that I had completed a couple of months previously. The workout was 120 wall balls and 80 calories on the rower and the time cap was 20 minutes. My first score was 80 cal. on the rower and 65 wall balls in 20 minutes. Recently, my updated score was the workout completed in 16:57. In a short few months I went from not being able to even finish half the wall balls, to finishing all the movements with time to spare. If you ever look in the mirror and think you are making no progress, CrossFit gives you the ability to measure your progress quite easily. You might think that you look the same, but every time you show up at a class, CrossFit will show you how much stronger and faster and healthier you actually have become.
I quickly realised that this wasn’t just a gym, this was a place where people supported each other. This was a gym where you got fit, while having more fun than I thought was possible (whilst slowly sweating yourself to near death!). Most importantly, I realised quite quickly how CrossFit Tullamore encouraged and pushed me beyond my limits. My only regret in my CrossFit journey so far is that I didn’t start sooner.
Maria Keane, 25, Started CrossFit August 2019
