In 2010 I was in a mess physically. I had been previously 200 pounds and admittedly I lost some of the weight very badly. I starved myself, eating like a rabbit and like so many other women I concentrated only on cardio and feared weights. I ran my life away- literally, spending hours on a treadmill or just running laps around whatever stretch of savannah I could find.
Add to that I was diagnosed with Lupus in 2009 and my joints were suffering so badly to the point that I could not sit down on a low chair, much less squat or stoop to reach something on a bottom pantry shelf. That all changed when Rodney introduced me to CrossFit. I can still recall my very first workout and I remember well the horror, fear, loathing and pain I faced when he told me to do as many squats as possible in one minute.
Needless to say my number that day was utterly abysmal, and I despised doing workouts involving squats and lunges, but Rodney also made me understand that a simple thing such as squatting is something that I would need to be doing well into my twilight years and if I lost the ability to do that now then my mobility would truly suffer as I got older. He insisted I work on my range of mobility, and taught me not to fear lifting weights. Three years later, I persevered and now not only can I squat below parallel, but I can hold my own with an overhead squat among other things, and I even managed to finish my first Half Marathon in 2012 which I ran for Lupus Awareness. I don’t know how much longer my health will allow me to remain as active as I am now- but I know that CrossFit certainly has allowed me to accomplish much more than I dreamt was possible.
Marissa G
