Kelsey and her team at the Affiliate Cup.
Growing up, I always considered myself average at sports, never calling myself an athlete. I placed the blame on my brother and told him that I left all of the athletic talent behind in the womb for him. I'm such a kind big sister.
Sure, I participated in sports in high school, but always jokingly said I did it for the free sports swag. I made friends, had a good time, but never felt that I excelled in any one particular sport. I certainly never considered myself a runner or swimmer, or even an athlete. At some point in my life, I had told myself, "You're not good at sports," and stopped trying or believing that I had any athletic talent.
In college, if my friends were playing an intramural sport or just tossing a frisbee around, I would sit on the sidelines and cheer them on, but claim that I wasn't athletic or had poor hand-eye coordination skills (this one is true, I have been hit by volleyballs, baseballs, and basketballs at sporting events more than the actual athletes participating have been).
I still remember my first ever training session with Coach D where I learned the building blocks of CrossFit. She said to me, "I'm sure you've heard that you're naturally athletic before," to which I responded, "No, never!" I was so shocked she had said that to me. The words "Kelsey" and "athletic" didn't go together in my mind. Bootylicious? Yes. Athletic? No.
But CrossFit has changed that. Now I'm certainly no Sam Briggs (see previously mentioned bootyliciousness), but I now consider myself an athlete. CrossFit and CrossFit Santa Cruz have given me the confidence to believe that I, too, can row a half marathon (not that I ever willingly would).
Yes, I still have my moments of, "Oh no, there's no way I can do that," but it is said a lot less. And I would never say that in front of Jill because she will kick my butt if she hears me say it.
When you see your fellow classmates crushing workouts and people who are two or three times your age beating you, you begin to realize that it's only you and what you're telling yourself that is stopping you. When there are almost 8,000 CrossFit affiliates in the world, you begin to realize that they can't all be filled with just elite competitors. And you start to understand that by coming in each day to work out and better yourself, you are an athlete.
I am an athlete.
-Kelsey K.
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Workout
Front squat 2-2-2-2-2-2-2 (pick a weight make them all heavy)
Muscle up 3-3-3-3-3-3-3
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Happy Halloween! The last class of the day is 3:00 p.m.
