My affair with Crossfit

For those of you who don’t know me well, you may think Crossfit is something I have always been passionate about. The truth is, my love affair with Crossfit is still fairly new. My journey here started way before I knew what Crossfit was, and it started with the community of people I have grown with over the last 3 years.

And so, the story starts like this: Jess Murden and I are trying on clothes for our job at MetroPark, and I ask her a ballsy question “Do you model? My friend is working on a project and is looking for models, I think you would be perfect.” Her response was a simple “No,” but her face said “Get away from me you creep!” This was day one of our friendship! Who knew what would come of this? I for one, was scared of the scrawn bag!

Fast forward a few months, and that is when Jess Murden, and Katie Lapp thought I would be perfect to move on from MetroPark to lululemon Athletica along with them. Lululemon was a company I had never heard of before, it was athletically focused and attracted amazing people, and yoga was its base. I had never done yoga at that time!!! I’m a large man… I don’t belong on a yoga mat!

I learned quickly that it doesn’t matter who you are, or where you were brought up, or how much you sucked staying still during savasana. The only person judging your actions enough to hinder you is yourself! So, I kept doing yoga…. Mostly because I was really crappy at it! Ha!

Fast forward some time and Bill Shockley stepped into our store talking all this Crossfit jazz, I had never heard of it. He created a great relationship with some of the educators in the store, and held a complimentary class in the store. My first Crossfit wod happened that day, 100 burpees for time! (insert cringe face here) Chris Santamaria, another educator at the time, and I went at it hard! I was moving, I was jumping, and dropping, and breathing, and….. Wait, I can’t breathe, I CAN’T BREATHE! This was on burpee 5, and I had 95 to go! I almost collapsed, and had slight urges to throw up! What did I get myself into!
I hate Crossfit!

I did, seriously, I sucked at it and it made me mad! I was finally getting to a place in yoga and running where I felt I was close to mastering “fitness.” apparently I had another thing coming! This was my eye opening awakening. Maybe I was mediocre…. Maybe I could be better… Maybe I just needed to set harder goals and stop being such a wuss and endure the pain that comes with growth!

This was the beginning of my love affair with Crossfit. I set goals, and worked on skills, I changed my diet, but more importantly I researched everything! I journaled my results, and I took opportunities to cook, and the more and more I enriched my mind and strengthened my body, the more I realized I had a whole community that was riding the same road and were willing to take the journey with me! I became friends with good hearted people like Jan Agay, and Anthony Iovino, Rob Owen, Liz O, Omar Bejarano. My friendship with Jess Murden just grew way past the dirty looks she used to give me. Ha! And I found a love in people like JD Derasmo that I would not give up for the world. I got the chance to grow with these people, and pass it on to others like my sister Ana Rosado, brother in law, my mother, my father, and even my 3 year old nephew does burpees with me when he sees uncle just came from “the big gym.” My relationships with these people are solid, I owe them all so much for giving me the support I needed to grow and I am finding it still in people like Joe Guam, Brother Mike, and Jacob Cavins, who take the time out to have intentional conversations for our own growth.

I may not be the next athlete to reach the Games, but I am here for my community if they ever need me. Crossfit is not a sport to me, it’s a group of people pushing pass mediocrity into greatness. I can see it in everyones eyes when they PR, when a movement clicks, when they pass a threshold, or when they fail and get right back up.

My love affair with Crossfit is fueled by people. The names in this post shouldn’t matter to you. We all have our own version of a Bill Shockley, or a sister that has found herself through our community, or a friend that has lost 100 lbs and living happy. Cherish the support you have, the hearts that fuel us through every tough time, and those that look up to you when you didn’t even think you had something to offer.

So you might look at Crossfit as a sport, but I see it as my family, because no one will truly know me until they have suffered and risen with me. You all, everyone of you, named or unnnamed, are my fuel.

PS…. Don’t tell my yoga mat, I’m having an affair!