But I Had a Baby...

So this weekend I (Morgan) went to Wilmington, North Carolina, to take the Crossfit Level 1 course.

Let me tell you I was SUPER nervous.

Here are a few things that crossed my mind as I was nursing my son at 2:45 am the night before the class:

• I am six months post c-section. 
• My son has been sick and fussy for about a week and I haven't gotten more than two hours of sleep at a time in over a week.
• I am going to have to figure out when/how to nurse my son while taking a hands on course.
• What if I have the lowest numbers in the gym?
• I was only cleared to lift "light" weights about a month and a half ago.
• What if I am the slowest person in the gym?
• I am not really an athlete.
• MAYBE I SHOULDN'T EVEN GO.

Then I walked in to that gym.

There were people of all ability levels there.
I saw a 64 year old man do a muscle up . I saw a 61 year old woman do thrusters. I saw a former soldier that lost his arm while serving his country do ONE ARMED BURPEES, like a beast!

While there are many things that I disagree with Crossfit about (clothing, music, programming...) I do understand the draw of it. There is NOTHING like stepping in to a gym full of people all focused on doing their absolute best.

We have all been to the normal "gyms" and have seen the hamsters on the elliptical and the treadmill or the guy that is in the gym for two hours but doesn't ever really do anything.

The atmosphere in a Crossfit box is totally different. You can feel the anticipation. The athletes' excitement is almost tangible right before the WOD begins. And in the box, it doesn't matter if you are a beginner or a seasoned Crossfitter. They think of you the same way. You are an athlete.

This weekend reinforced for me that our training should be hard. It should push you. If your training doesn't make you better, you are wasting your time.
And then I hear people tell me, "Don't worry about it, you just had a baby".

Forget that business.
I am not going to "worry" about it, but I am going to focus on it. I want to improve myself and those people that trust me to coach them. There is no reason to be embarrassed or stressed out about people seeing you when you get back to lifting after having a baby. You know why? You just had a baby.

Babies are awesome but the can do a number on your body. And guess what? It is ok. You don't have to give up and start wearing mom jeans. Find a workout partner, someone to hold you accountable. I found mine at PWOC (a Military organization for female spouses). After having a baby it is VITAL that you take care of yourself including fitness and nutrition because now you have a little one to take care of. You want to be able to play on the floor with them, and to throw them in the air in the pool. You can't do that if you hide from the gym because you had a baby.

Is it hard to get back to it? You bet.
You know what is harder? Being too broken and weak to take care of your family.