The Bear Crawl Race
Monday brought not one but two of the phone calls you never want to get. On Tuesday, we buried my grandfather. On Wednesday, my great aunt. And though neither loss was unexpected, each is wrenching and grievous. To lose both of them at once defies description.
When I woke up Thursday morning, I did not feel like going to the gym. I went anyway. As we started warming up, I wasn't myself. I couldn't get into it and was questioning my decision to go. I was too sad and too exhausted from being sad. When we finished our leg swings, Coach B had us do slow a slow bear crawl down the length of the gym.
And then he made it a race.
I'm not a particularly competitive person, but when I think I can win something, I fight - even if it's just the warmup. The bear crawl is not the most dignified exercise. I imagine that a 34 year old woman trotting on all fours down and back across the gym with her butt up in the air is pretty funny looking. It's a ridiculous thing to be good at, but I am.
Whatever was going on in my head stopped when Coach B said go. I was totally focused, completely present. The whole race must have taken less than two minutes, but for that time I was in the moment. All of my thoughts were about maintaining my lead and not slowing down. I won my heat, and then I beat the guy who won the second heat.
There's no way to make it better - my grandfather and great aunt are gone. But the bear crawl race reminded me of one of the many reasons that I am grateful for CrossFit. When the clock starts and someone yells 3, 2, 1 go, the world really can melt away. That's a good thing on the best of days, and some days it's just invaluable.
-Gym Belle-
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A little Humor for the Gym: "The Ballad of Chester's Gym Shorts" Have a Listen! http://youtu.be/99XGX_DJ_Ns