Just an update to make sure I’m keeping track of my journey into CrossFit (while staying out of the expensive boxes and on a budget).

Today, even in the middle of the worst season for fitness and junk food imaginable, I gave my first set a try.  This is the same set that I cut in fourths on my first attempt and then in half on the next.  Today, I kept it at half for a total of 50 pushup and 50 squats.

Last time it took me 2:51.

Today’s time was 2:13.

Pretty happy with that.

Well, not really.  But this morning when I woke up and it was 28 degrees outside (with an F, not a C), I thought this would be the perfect day to try #24 on the list of 30 CrossFit exercises that can be done without equipment*.

*Translation: hard things you can do but not have to pay for at an expensive CrossFit box (which means “gym” in fancy “we’re cool CrossFitters and you’re not” language).

So, I went out the door to run ONE MILE.  That’s right, ONE.  Now, over the last 5 years of my running journey, I’ve run enough miles to go to California and back (I live in NC), and so one mile is pretty much the kind of distance I can do in my sleep.  (Wendy, my Better 99%, swears I do move a lot while sleeping, but I doubt I’m running a mile each night!)

The only difference was that the exercise calls for stopping every minute and doing 10 Air Squats.  I’ve yet to actually do an entire exercise on this list, and usually cut them in half (if not in fourth), but since I am actually a runner, I went with this one just as it’s written.

My time?  11:03, including the stops every minute to do 10 squats.  I ended up stopping 10 times, which means I totaled 100 air squats.  And the worst of all was having to stop the last time when I was at .97 miles, but hey, if you’re going to die, at least die with integrity, right?

Anybody else trying to do this CrossFit stuff without taking out a second mortgage?  Give this one a shot and post your time in the comments section.

Thought maybe it was time to see what kind of progress I’m making, even though I am REALLY NEW to the CrossFit stuff.  Just trying to do 3 items a week off the list of 30 exercises that can be done without equipment, and that’s not really CrossFitting, but it is enough to help me decide whether or not this is for me. And here’s what I learned today:

My first attempt a couple weeks back was to cut the first item in half in both reps and sets.  Today, I decided to try it again, but this time do 10 reps of each exercise like it calls for.  I did, though, only do 5 sets instead of 10.  The result? 2:51 to complete 5 sets.

The lesson? I’m dying more slowly, and my guess is that that is progress.

Yay, me.