Tall Tara

If you haven’t picked up on it yet, most of my challenges seem to revolve around athletic themes. There are the obvious physical and mental obstacles involved, but I’m pretty sure that I’m still trying to make up for lost time. And convince myself I’m an athlete.

In September of 2009, I ran my first trail race in Oregon. 14 miles on uneven dirt with exposed roots and rocks, uphill and down, with the threat of stinging bees along the course. Pretty much the hardest half-marathon I’ve ever run…and it wasn’t the biggest challenge of this year.

Earlier in 2009, I ran a new race, the Fort Collins half-marathon. I wanted to run it so I could say, “Take a bus up the Poudre”, as often as possible at 5:30 in the morning. And it was as fun as I thought it would be. However, around mile eight, my knee started hurting and making it to the finishing line was mentally tough. Still not the biggest challenge of the year.

[I asked my husband about his biggest challenge this year and he answered marriage. Funny. That was the easiest thing I did all year.]

Nope, the hardest thing I did in 2009 was starting CrossFit.

I already blogged about how nervous I was before the first class and made the requisite cult jokes. Now, after almost five weeks in, I can say that it was, and still is, one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I absolutely love it. And it might be a cult.

It wasn’t just the workouts. Although they were tough. Pull-ups, push-ups, dead-lifts, squats and kettle-ball tough. Yes, I cried out for baby Jesus. Yes, I sweat. And yes, I bitched about  CrossFit on Twitter.

And it wasn’t just because these killer workouts took place at 6:45 in the morning. Before I had to go into the office for a full day of work.

It might have been because getting to those workouts required perilous walks or bike rides in the dark, across ice and through snow, at a time in the morning when I’m normally snuggling in bed with the warm hubby.

That was definitely the hardest part.

(Besides the burpees. I hate those things.)

Despite all my grumbling about being sore, the results of my hard work were crystal clear this past weekend.

I rang in the new year with two days of skiing. The first day was spent remembering what I was doing and getting used to the snow. We got a full day in and I felt pretty confident.

Day two was amazing. Five inches of new powder, lots of tree skiing and three black diamond runs. My goal for the entire upcoming ski season was to feel comfortable on black diamonds and here I was, day two, in knee-deep powder and amongst trees. Shredding it, feeling good and breathing into my quads.

The fact that I kicked ass my first two days on the slope this year is proof positive that CrossFit has already helped me to become a stronger athlete.

And if that wasn’t enough, waking up today, I wasn’t sore at all. While the husband talked about his sore legs, I simply smiled.

Bring it, CrossFit.