I am absolutely filthy. Covered in dirt. No hugs. ;}

This was my fourth week doing five CrossFit classes a week—Monday through Friday—so I decided to celebrate by doing one more day, and making this week six. There was a free boot camp this morning, under the bridge downtown near Town Lake, so Marty and I hustled down there around 8. Push-ups on the ground meant we all ended up covered in dust and dirt and little leaves, and all the sweat meant it stuck. It was awesome.

I should mention, too, that I’m still the last one back from the run (apologies to my teammates at the end there), but unlike my starting situation in May, I can now do real squats, like a person with… muscles. In their legs. Holy cow. It seems like a little thing until I remember exactly how weak I felt when I started doing this. What I’m experiencing is progress.

So I’m sitting here writing this entry, covered in dirt (at least it’s not mud, right?), and the only clean thing on me is my hands. Because I washed them. And while I wait for my breakfast to be ready, I figure, I have to say something about these people. Because these folks really watch out for me, and it means a lot, and furthermore it says something—about Crossfit Central in Austin, about the kind of people who work there, about the folks coaching their classes.

Zachary Thiel taught us CrossFit Elements when we started out—it was fantastic. Now, I have Chris Hartwell Mondays and Wednesdays and Lance Cantu Tuesdays and Thursdays. I drop in on Carey Kepler’s Monday-Wednesday-Friday women’s class on Fridays (which Jen Cardella helps coach), and it’s the only class I have that isn’t a beginners’ class. All of these classes kick my ass, and I don’t know how I lived without them before.

This isn’t like grade school gym where the teacher is frustrated with the slow kids, and mostly ignores them. This is something else entirely. This is a whole different motivational ethic, and I love it. There’s tons of encouragement to go around. No one gets forgotten. That’s something I was really sure would happen, the more behind I was—I was worried I’d get forgotten.

Never happened.

These coaches all go out of their way to be helpful and share advice as needed. They’re friendly and they know their shit. They have senses of humor, good hearts—and high standards. I walk out of these classes feeling so proud of myself, feeling this enormous respect for what I’m doing even though I can’t really do it any better than anyone else (and, uh, far from it). But I still leave feeling amazing. Competent. Adult, not just because I’m 28 years old and “legal”, but in a true sense of what it means to be responsible for yourself and your own well being.

In my conversation with Marty this morning, we decided that it wasn’t the exercise we liked, specifically. It wasn’t even that we were doing something that would be good for us, result in better health and flexibility and longevity—though those are all great effects. It’s that we like the way we feel when we do these things that are hard. It raises your self-esteem to know that you did the thing when most people wouldn’t have bothered. It feels good to have made the extra effort. It feels good to know you can do it, no matter how far you still have to go.

It makes it all even better that Chris always has a warm smile and Lance always has a word of encouragement and Zach has a friendly hey when we walk in, and Carey cheers us on and Jen cackles when I lose count (Jen is awesome, and yes, I probably should have been using the 20lb dumbbells. Next time!!) and that they all adamantly push us to do our best, every minute. I love seeing these people every morning. Man, I can only imagine what a hardcore gym workout every day could have been. What I got was so much better than I imagined. Jesus, if I can do this, who couldn’t?

And crap! Exercise isn’t my thing—it’s never really been my thing. It’s not that I was born to do this stuff or that I’ve gravitated towards it all my life. I’m a freaking couch potato. So it has to be something else. It has to be the challenge and the play of it, and the environment, and the people.

Hell.

It’s probably just CrossFit Central.

Thanks, guys. :}

I’m really looking forward to my birthday. It’s on Monday the 26th, in case you haven’t scheduled it (recurring, ad infinitum) on your calendar. ;}

I have thoughts.

I’m thinking that I’d probably like to move on that raw transition later this week. It’s long overdue. I expect that I’ll use Angela’s new program to help me do it, even though the weight loss part, specifically, is less interesting to me than the raw produce part. (That said, I could use a safe area to run in. I’m going to scout out nearby neighborhoods soon so that I don’t have to spend so much time in the dinky gym.)

I’d like a hitch for the car, so that I can use the bike rack I was offered and start going down to the Veloway more often. It’s amazing down there. How can it be this beautiful outside in January? Last year it was much colder and rainier, but the last few days have been all warm and sunny. Texas, you minx.

I’m thinking that it’s time to get more shelves into this apartment. We have a lot of books, and a lot of other items that still don’t have a proper place after three moves and four years. For my birthday, I could use a willing friend with a truck! Given my way, I would move in five or six new bookcases. (Yes. We actually do need that many bookcases. Impressive, huh?)

I’d like a wall rack for the bikes, too, that hangs them flat against one wall (one above the other). I might ask someone to make one for me. (I think I may already have a willing party.) That’s exciting!

As I level up, I find that I value peace of mind more and more—even as my life gets increasingly more exciting. (Maybe one begets the other.) This week I’ve been adjusting my environment to engender peace of mind, ease of movement, clarity of workflow. It’s not perfect, but it’s improving. There are lots of books and gadgets and fun things I would like to have, and it will be brilliant to have some of them magically appear on my doorstep… but peace of mind is getting almost all my attention lately. Rightly so, I think. Especially considering the challenges I intend to take on in the next few months.

At some unidentifiable point, it became more about what I can do than what I can get. Which means that on birthdays, I look for presents that I can do something with. Things that give me a nudge forward.

First person who gifts me a catapult gets to catapult me. ;}

I’m conscious that I’m moving through my life. Things don’t stand still the way they did when I was growing up. It’s time to make something happen like never before. (If only I had realized this when I was ten.)

Plenty of time left, but none for dilly-dallying.

I’ve been using Lumosity games to exercise my brain this week. Has anyone else taken a look at this? I love it so far! It feels incredibly useful to my work day. All the testimonials that talk about increased focus and productivity are right on the money, as far as I’m concerned.

From the information they provide on the site:

The Lumosity brain fitness program is the result of synthesizing and building upon the cumulative work of neuroscience, psychology and cognitive science researchers worldwide. Their research forms the basis for creating the most effective exercises in each cognitive domain:

Memory
Memory exercises target the types of memory that are important in everyday life such as working memory, spatial memory, and remembering names and faces.

Attention
Concentrating on relevant information while ignoring irrelevant information is improved by exercising visual attention, selective attention, and shifting focus.

Processing Speed
Quickly perceiving, interpreting, and responding to new information underlies proficiency in many areas.

Cognitive Control
Control of other cognitive processes is necessary for thinking and acting according to internal goals.

And if you’re curious… here are my scores so far:

Speed Match (Processing Speed) 2760
Raindrops (Processing Speed) 487 – basic math! curses!
Birdwatching (Attention) 4504 – improving
Spatial Speed Match (Processing Speed) 2750 – improving

I haven’t quite figured out what it all means yet. The difference in my brain functioning is so obvious I don’t really care just yet. I hope they continue to develop, and I’m not even half-way through what they’ve got now!