Where Everybody Knows Your Name

I joined my first globo gym when I was 13 years old. I spent the next 13 years bouncing from gym to gym, from treadmill to eliptical, from 3 pound free weight, to 5 pound free weight. I never made one friend, not even the people at the front desk knew my name.

I spent one year running. Twenty five to thirty miles a week. My Ipod and I would hit the road and trudge along, silently... alone. I never made one friend, I was an anonymous runner, like anyone else.

I spent two weeks in private prenatal yoga classes with my first pregnancy. I hated the silence, standing like a tree, and the weird music. Even my private instructor didn't take the time to learn to pronounce my name right. A-Roll has a nice ring right?? Something you'd name your child??

Thirteen years of working out the wrong way, in the wrong places, and not one person knew my first name. No one cared if I lost weight, or improved my stride. They wanted my money on the first of the month. They wanted me to wipe down my machine, and not complain if someone broke into my locker.

Enter Crossfit.

Working out was suddenly more than something I just forced myself to do. It was something I wanted to do. Going to the gym became a part of my weekly schedule. Gone were the days of making myself put my running shoes on, of pushing the same annoying buttons on the treadmill, and climbing the stair stepper to nowhere.

Working out was suddenly something new and different every day. It was pull ups, push ups, squatting, stretching, sweating. It was about watching the changes in myself, not on the scale, but in my body, on the weights, in my speed, my desire.

But something was still missing.

Enter Crossfit Legitimus, "The happiest place on Earth."

I'm not sure why we are all so happy at Legitimus; it could be all those freaking endorphins we get from lifting bajillion pounds a week, or Jen's ridiculous outfits, or the way the sun shines through our garage doors.

If I had to guess, I'd say it's the community. The endless support we give one another, the way we rally around each other at every wod. Crossfit Legitimus has excited, eager athletes, because we laugh, we have a good time, and we take this shit seriously. There is no two ways about it, at Legitimus, each and every person WANTS you to succeed, and actually CARES if you show up and do well. If it feels like the Coaches are invested in you, it's because they are.

by Arell Nankervis