If you read my last post before this, you would see that I was struggling with my weight, strength, overall fitness, and motivation. I had less than 500 kilometers on my cycling computer and had set some fairly reasonable goals for the end of this year and 2014.
So I'm glad to report that after determining that I just wanted to surpass 1000 kilometers for this year, and being told by my friends that it was too ambitious, I very easily passed 1200 kilometers by mid-October. However, I did not fulfill my goal of doing one century (100 mile) ride this year because I've had some struggles with returning to work life and frankly didn't want to spend the money. But I did enter one metric century riding from Deefield, MA up to southern Vermont and back with my brother called the D2R2, and though I didn't ride the full hundred (I took a shortcut and ended up doing 85k) it was a great experience.
The most enlightening part of that experience wasn't how much I struggled up 12% and steeper climbs on sand and gravel, but the photo my brother took of me in my lycra before we started. I looked at it later and said to him, "Really? I'm THAT FAT now?" And he said, "Yes. I was trying to put it to you gently."
Not saying I haven't made tremendous progress, but that photo was a real kick in the pants--and those pants should have been extra-extra-large. When I compare it to a photo of me just a couple of months before I was hit by the car it's hard to believe it's the same person. I immediately started a gallery on Facebook called "John Get His FAT ASS Back on the Bike" and have been posting clothed body shots of myself before rides and workouts just about weekly. Some of my friends have told me this has been a great source of encouragement for them.
In my mind, I'm still just as strong and lean as I was before I was hit. Numbers on a scale don't tell me otherwise, and failing to finish an event or finishing but struggling for every inch seems to only have an effect of bringing my attention to the reality of the situation of only about a week.
While my struggles with my physical and professional comeback have been making progress, I definitely see how I should have been trying harder. As my wife said, "It's not your fault you were hit by a car." But at the same time I am the only one who is in control of how hard I exercise or how much effort I put into starting a new career.
Professionally, I have been studying to acquire new skills and update old ones. Physically, I've started doing CrossFit to regain my athletic abilities as quickly as possible.
For those of you who are unfamiliar, I can only describe CrossFit as 'everything.' It covers everything. It's not the same from one workout to the next. And at the gym I've been going to I don't even have the same instructor from one workout to the next. So one day I might be doing power lifting and the next running--which are completely different types of training.
The other thing I love about CrossFit is that while I'm still very weak or even the weakest at many things I could have done easily before I was hit, I don't feel embarrassed. The classes are mixed, so people who are in great shape are working out alongside people who can't do a single pullup. It's structured so that this isn't a problem, so there is no need for a beginners class and an advanced class--we just have class.
But the bottom line is, the effects of this training especially on the parts of me that I hadn't really worked on at all have been tremendous. As I wrote in the last post that I still couldn't run or jump, I wasn't really trying either. Now I might be the slowest one in the Workout Of the Day (WOD) but I'm doing it, and I'm doing better and better each time. CrossFit training doesn't miss a thing.
So if you're serious about wanting to get back in shape when you have to start from zero, or even if you've never been in shape at all, and you want to do it without having to suffer through ego bashing or pity encouragement, then I can't recommend CrossFit strongly enough. No sport I've done until now, including running, swimming, or Chinese kickboxing can get you in as good shape in a 'whole' way.
CrossFit is making me whole again.
So I'm glad to report that after determining that I just wanted to surpass 1000 kilometers for this year, and being told by my friends that it was too ambitious, I very easily passed 1200 kilometers by mid-October. However, I did not fulfill my goal of doing one century (100 mile) ride this year because I've had some struggles with returning to work life and frankly didn't want to spend the money. But I did enter one metric century riding from Deefield, MA up to southern Vermont and back with my brother called the D2R2, and though I didn't ride the full hundred (I took a shortcut and ended up doing 85k) it was a great experience.
The most enlightening part of that experience wasn't how much I struggled up 12% and steeper climbs on sand and gravel, but the photo my brother took of me in my lycra before we started. I looked at it later and said to him, "Really? I'm THAT FAT now?" And he said, "Yes. I was trying to put it to you gently."
Not saying I haven't made tremendous progress, but that photo was a real kick in the pants--and those pants should have been extra-extra-large. When I compare it to a photo of me just a couple of months before I was hit by the car it's hard to believe it's the same person. I immediately started a gallery on Facebook called "John Get His FAT ASS Back on the Bike" and have been posting clothed body shots of myself before rides and workouts just about weekly. Some of my friends have told me this has been a great source of encouragement for them.
In my mind, I'm still just as strong and lean as I was before I was hit. Numbers on a scale don't tell me otherwise, and failing to finish an event or finishing but struggling for every inch seems to only have an effect of bringing my attention to the reality of the situation of only about a week.
While my struggles with my physical and professional comeback have been making progress, I definitely see how I should have been trying harder. As my wife said, "It's not your fault you were hit by a car." But at the same time I am the only one who is in control of how hard I exercise or how much effort I put into starting a new career.
Professionally, I have been studying to acquire new skills and update old ones. Physically, I've started doing CrossFit to regain my athletic abilities as quickly as possible.
For those of you who are unfamiliar, I can only describe CrossFit as 'everything.' It covers everything. It's not the same from one workout to the next. And at the gym I've been going to I don't even have the same instructor from one workout to the next. So one day I might be doing power lifting and the next running--which are completely different types of training.
The other thing I love about CrossFit is that while I'm still very weak or even the weakest at many things I could have done easily before I was hit, I don't feel embarrassed. The classes are mixed, so people who are in great shape are working out alongside people who can't do a single pullup. It's structured so that this isn't a problem, so there is no need for a beginners class and an advanced class--we just have class.
But the bottom line is, the effects of this training especially on the parts of me that I hadn't really worked on at all have been tremendous. As I wrote in the last post that I still couldn't run or jump, I wasn't really trying either. Now I might be the slowest one in the Workout Of the Day (WOD) but I'm doing it, and I'm doing better and better each time. CrossFit training doesn't miss a thing.
So if you're serious about wanting to get back in shape when you have to start from zero, or even if you've never been in shape at all, and you want to do it without having to suffer through ego bashing or pity encouragement, then I can't recommend CrossFit strongly enough. No sport I've done until now, including running, swimming, or Chinese kickboxing can get you in as good shape in a 'whole' way.
CrossFit is making me whole again.
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