Tex | 18.07.2012

“I wear a mask. And that mask, it’s not to hide who I am, but to create what I am.”
-Batman

SWOD:

Power Snatch
2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2

DWOD:

Complete 5 Rounds for time:

6 Overhead Squats
10 Strict Pull Ups

Post loads and times to comments.

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Our ‘Why I Train’ Series continues with Mark Andrew’s story. Thank you for sharing, Mark!

Up and At ‘Em
-Mark Andrew

At the end of a recent WOD Tex asked the group “Why do you do CrossFit?  Why are you here at 6:15 in the morning?”

I found that to be an interesting question as I was asking myself the same question at that moment!  With sweat running off my face on to my already soaked shirt and shorts only to further display the results of the WOD by eventually falling on the floor around me and thus gathering my own little puddle…It was a proud moment for anyone at that early hour.

Tex asked the question again so this is “why”:

At 55 years old (yes, I said it: “old”) I have always been proud to be in fair shape.  Nothing amazing but in good enough shape that I could swim a couple of miles or run a marathon with little training.  But all my training was sport specific.  Even after a marathon or a long swim I would find myself susceptible to pulling my back by doing something as easy as picking up my grandson.  This I found frustrating.  In fact two years ago while I carried the Olympic Torch (no big deal but I did carry the Canadian Olympic torch on February 10^th, 2010) I was in so much back pain that I wondered if I was going to be able to tote that 3 pound object the required half mile.  A great day personally; yet, a day I vowed I would work on improving my fitness.

Since the days of the torch I have tried P90X, more swimming, low-impact running, and even more bicycling.  Nothing worked to prepare my entire body for just everyday living.  Then CrossFit came up on my radar as something I might want to try.  My initial impression from the CrossFit Games was that this would be a great way to totally destroy my entire body…let alone just my back!

I met with some folks from Reebok who said I should try it with them so I did.  While lots of fun for the initial hour I was still unconvinced.  Not to give up so easily and at the urging of my wife whose friend in Canada is a CrossFit coach, I did the CrossFit DuPont Foundations program with Tex and Cali.  It was amazing.  Their focus on training for the long run, in that everything we did had a right way to do it, made all the difference in the world.  I found myself doing things like lifting barbells with actual big weights (well, big for me anyway!), standing on my hands, jumping on fairly high boxes and really enjoying the training.

Since Foundations I have trained with Tex, Chris, Cali, Tom, Jim, and Spencer: all at CrossFit DuPont and while each has their own style, they are each client focused and totally committed to getting the participants in total shape…and doing it safely.  Now I try to attend CrossFit at least 4, if not 5, days a week at 6:15 AM and I love it!  It is not training for a sport…it is training for a life.

So, “Why do you do CrossFit?  Why am I here at 6:15 in the morning?”  I guess the answer would have to be:

Because there is no 5 AM class.  If so, I would be there!

With CrossFit, it just keeps getting better.

Mark Andrew