First Posted: 1/26/2015

Week eight:

Sarah Haase: I’m happy to report that I completed a burpee! In an athletic way, not the I’m-so-out-of-shape-I-can’t-get-off-the-ground-without-using-my-entire-body way.

Five, actually. Then I switched to push-ups. My brain still can’t comprehend that I’m throwing myself on the floor for the start of a burpee.

Samantha Stanich: This type of workout is my least favorite. It can give me the opportunity to be lazy because instead of instructing me to do a certain number of reps of a move, everything is left up to me. It is my decision on how hard I will work and how many reps I will get in the allotted time. I don’t like the pressure but it does make me push myself because I don’t want to feel disappointed at the end of the workout.

This particular workout was intense. As Tom Burke, an athlete in my six o’clock class, put it, “I wanted to take a sip of water but I didn’t want to take away from me breathing.” Everyone went balls to the wall and at the end of the workout, I was proud with my performance. It is still my least favorite type but I am committed to getting better.

Jeric Foulds: I still haven’t found the courage to score myself at the end of the workout. I’m not terribly athletic so I’m focusing more on completing every work out correctly. Today’s would have been a great place to start though. It was intense because it’s up to you to push yourself to the limit, but all of the movements I am more than capable of accomplishing.

Sarah: Such. High. Numbers. We’re talking, 100, 90, 80…but it’s actually 300 double under jumps or 900 regular jumps. Intermingled with sit-ups (90), candlesticks, twists (70) that work the obliques and a few other core-strengthening activities. To get through these workouts, it’s best to try to block out the pain and focus on the smaller numbers to come. During a set with high numbers, I find myself saying, “OK, a quarter done, half way done, only 25 more to go” and it helps bring an end around quicker.

Samantha: This is the type of workout I like. There are numbers and I have to hit them or else I am not finished. There is no way for me to slack or make it easier on myself. I did have to scale the work out to single jumps but I committed myself to toes through rings and strict toes to bar. These exercise weren’t done very fast in fact they were probably completed one at a time, but that was okay because I was completing them as is. I was making myself want to cry thinking of how many I had left but I was finishing the workout. Next step, double unders for the whole workout.

Jeric: My stomach sinks a bit when I look at the board and see these numbers written down for the workout. I know the words “I can’t” aren’t acceptable in CrossFit, but I can’t do double unders. With that, I have to increase the numbers even more, A single jump muliplied by 3 equals one double under. As daunting as it seems, the feeling of accomplishment is incredible when you pull off work outs like these … even if you end up scaling a few numbers.

Sarah: Often, workouts can be packed with a variety of exercises. I think this is a great benefit because there’s less time to focus on something that I may not love to do — like burpees. Knowing that I can move on to a new challenge in just moments helps the “I’ve got to get this done” mentality. Especially if the unfavorable exercise is sandwiched between two, or even one, that’s awesome and that I’m good at. Today, we started out with the jump rope. Great. Then came burpees. Awful. Then, wall balls. Although not my favorite thing to do, I do enjoy feeling the muscle soreness it creates later. Weird, I know.

Jeric: Double unders, again? Fifty of everything? Knowing that this class would be my last until the following Monday, It was important to complete everything. By wall ball I was wearing down, by the lunge steps I was about spent, but somehow another work out was completed.