Box Sickness: WOD Abroad To Stay Connected...

“You don't have to travel around the world to understand that the sky is blue everywhere”

We all go on some sort of vacation at one time or another. Some of us leave our respective homes more than others. Some are required to change everything they know for one or more special trips. PCF satellite trainer Heather presents us with exactly what its like to be a trainer on the road...or ship rather. Heather has set sail on the open water to return in the future different than when she left, and thankfully we can follow our CrossFit family, and support them below in theirs and others efforts to CF abroad.

Authored By Heather K

Most folks in the CrossFit community either begin or end their day with something they look forward to – a challenging WOD with friends, coaches, and competition at their “home” box. “Home” box has brought on a whole new meaning to me as I work a job aboard a ship. For now, my “home” box is the tiny closet they call a “gym” aboard a constantly rocking & rolling ship. Next week I may get the chance to visit a box during a short port stop. Every now and then I get to workout with some newly-made friends in Milwaukee at the ship’s home port. In the fall, I will return to my “home” box and family at Practice CrossFit in Troy, Ohio. 

Where we WOD, who we WOD with, and who coaches our WODs we often take for granted – I was guilty of it. I have been blessed with the opportunity to visit other CrossFits, along with creatively programming WODs for myself that can be completed with limited resources. Among my recent travels I have encountered a number of boxes at different ends of the spectrum. And as any normal human being would do, I can’t help but compare them to what is familiar to me – PCF. 

I have been to boxes that have become too large for their own good. They have multiple classes with multiple trainers – not a single one providing instruction or even paying attention to their clients – just talking to a buddy throughout the entire WOD. Being among the first few to finish, I stand alongside another CrossFitter struggling through the workout to encourage them while everyone else in the class packs up their stuff and leaves. After the class I stuck around to watch some of their athletes and talked to a couple of members. Here’s the thing that gave me hope for this gym. The members I talked to were so positive. They had such wonderful testimonies of how CF has changed their lives – weight loss, improved eating habits, attitude changes, disappearance of illnesses, vibes of “I can” instead of “I can’t”. It’s amazing to see how much, and how positive, of an impact CF can make on people’s lives – even in places where the training is way less than I believe it should be.

One “home” box that tugs on my heart is in the ship’s home port. While I was not with PCF in its beginnings, I can’t help but feel like this box is exactly what PCF was like at the start. Despite being a smaller box, the trainers truly believe in CF and it shows by the amount of time, effort, & research they put into their classes and beyond. While some trainers may not be very experienced, they are truly passionate and each day they are learning more and more. It really shows through their members also. I walk into that box and it’s just positive ambiance. Everyone is there to work hard, try to improve upon some goal, and encourage each other along the way. 

Between ports and “box” jumping, I have been WODing in what seems like a closet-spaced “gym”. Crammed in this room are a treadmill, bike, and a universal machine, along with a limited selection of plates. Recently one of the ship’s engineers welded a pull-up bar for me to use – a removeable bar made of scrap metal. Where does it hang? In the staircase to the gym. While the weight selection, low ceiling, thin floors, and cramped space limit what I can do, it is still amazing to me the amount of equipment I do have available considering my floating home. While I’m not able to do wall-balls or drop weights on the floor, I can still do most CF movements. The most interesting WODs haven’t been the ones where I kill the clock or beat the bar, but instead dangling on the rings trying to do dips or balancing a weight overhead while the ship is rocking in 5 foot seas. I just consider it an extra core workout during my WOD. 

“Home” boxes are many things to many people. Maybe it’s the same place you do you’re WOD every day. Maybe it involves more like the people you interact with. Maybe it’s just where you can challenge and push your body to the limits. For me, it’s all of the above. As I get further away from my “home” box of PCF, I have found other “home” boxes. My “home-away-from-home” box has become the young gym at the ship’s home port where I have already made friends and see a strong CF spirit grow. No matter where I travel, even if I’m just WODing by myself on the ship, I can see what I call the essence of CrossFit – the thing that just draws people in and encourages them to be a better person in all arenas of life. This essence, or spirit, of CrossFit is familiar, positive, and feels like home. 

Strength:

Rest

For Score: 

"Open WOD 11.4"

5-Power Cleans 100/145

10-Toe 2 Bar

15- Wall-ball (14/20)-(9/10)

AMRAP 20 Minutes

Post rounds and reps to comments.

Comments

[k]

nice read, heather. aligns well with the "good of CF" message in the recent guide.

"...set sail on the open water to return in the future different than when she left..." remember what i told you? now you've heard it twice so it MUST be true. ;) take care.

[Bonnie Mac]

To everyone attacking WOD 11.5 tomorrow - kill it!!!

[heather with a T]

4 rounds + 23 reps m

Excellent post! I highly encourage everyone to follow Heather's blog. jb has it linked in the post above. She's taking an amazing journey this summer and it's cool that she allows us to be part of it through her journaling.

[Min]

Cool article, Heather. It's good to hear from ya and its a great point that u make. We're spoiled and forget it sometimes. I loved readin bout the new box u visit occasionally. I have so many neat and just raw memories from our old place from when I first joined.... glad that exists somewhere else too :)

[runmelrun]

9+12

[HN]

Kara - it must be true! :)

Heather T - thanks for the plug on the blog ;)

Mindy - I wish you all could see this box I go to - such a great community! :)