I faced my fear and attended “Condition with the Chiro” at Crossfit Gym, Elkhart IN. I figured out there were three parts to my fear: fear of working out in public, fear of being on a team and fear of embarrassing the Chiro (my daughter). After the Chiro introduced the “newbies”, I realized I was probably the oldest and the only one that does absolutely nothing to stay fit. So my fear levels were highly elevated at this point.
Facing the Team Fear: First was pick a partner (thank goodness for my son-in-law). All I could think was “great I’m going to be humiliated in front of my son-in-law”, but at least I wasn’t standing there and nobody wanted to be my partner. Picking partners caused flashbacks to school gym class…which I absoluted hated…and I have avoided anything close to it ever since (hmmm I’m learning the root of this fear).
Facing the Working Out in Public Fear: No way to avoid everyone seeing how good or….uhmm…not so good you are. They cheer you on, tell you how great your doing, and show you their total support. Good news, this was nothing like gym class where people were snickering and avoiding the non-athletes (hmmm – another finding the root of a fear).
Facing the Fear of Embarrassing The Chiro: This one was easy, she was so thrilled I even showed up and made an effort that how well I did was not an issue. I have no clue why this was a fear to begin with.
So after an hour of running, pull-ups, squats, push-ups, over-unders (my fav), and many other things I have no clue what they were, it was over. I finished, I did the best I could and I was proud of myself for sticking with it to the end. The workout confirmed two things I already knew: I’m out of shape and my balance isn’t what it used to be. I also got to see first-hand why my daughter and son-in-law and many others love Crossfit. The support of the instructors (Jim and Carol) is amazing. Also the support from everyone else that is working out is inspiring. There are all levels of fitness, so everyone knows your pain.
Not sure what my next step is, but today reminded me to get moving and get in shape (note: being normal weight does NOT mean you are in shape). I was happy to see that many of the things we did today I can do at home, so that is probably where I’ll start.
A huge thanks to my daughter and everyone at Crossfit for helping me face my fears!
Coming Soon….sooo cute!
