*dusts off cobwebs from my part of the blog*

(Props to Sabrina for keeping the blog alive while I was MIA!)

It's been so long since I've written anything (blog, article or speech-wise!) but the first day back to Uni meant that a 4 hr lecture was cut short to less than 30 mins so that granted me ample of time to write a post! At least before I dive into more work, of course.

I can't think of anything better to kick start my writing spree again than to talk about my long awaited success in nailing 100 unbroken skips!!!

Skipping has always been one of my most dreaded workouts because back then, I couldn't skip for my life! My first go at it was last December during one of my very first classes in CrossFit. I will never forget how horrible my first few tries were. 

I would either be desperately trying to get my skips right or completely disregarding the whole idea of even considering to skip for the day. I hated it. I hated the idea of not being able to do it and I hated the idea of failing. 

When I say I dreaded it, I really do mean I dreaded it. It wasn't just some workout that I was lazy to do or just hated the burn. No. It affected me emotionally. I hate failing the first time because that would make me fear the second and the next few tries. When I say I couldn't skip, I really could not skip. I would trip at every try and all those failures have brought me close to tears multiple times. 

There are a few moments which are still burned at the back of my memory:

The Opens

Before the 3rd workout of the CrossFit Opens, I tried practicing my skips almost everyday. Some went fairly okay, while some were bad. Little did I realise that all those afternoons and nights practicing would lead to shin splints. I did not know what the pain on my shins was, so I just shrugged it off thinking it was just sore. Days passed and the pain continued to grow to the point where it hurt to even touch it. On the 3rd week of the Opens, I ignored the pain and tried to skip anyway. That was when things when horribly wrong. On the day, I was fairly convinced that I would do alright considering all the practice I've had but I couldn't be more wrong. Everything that could go wrong actually went wrong that night. I kept tripping on the rope and the rope kept getting stuck in my hair. Needless to say, I did not complete one round before the time was up. I think that was the very first time I have ever slumped on the ground in disappointment and was on the verge of crying. I did not only go home with a heavy heart filled with disappointment, but I also brought back added pain on my shins that lasted for another 2 weeks. From that day on, a roller coaster of emotions have been following me on my journey to perfect my skips.

Trying to get back

After that incident, I gave it a break for a few months and completely threw the idea of skipping aside. What made the thought creep back in was the fact that in order to Level Up to Level 2, I had to get my 100 unbroken skips done. 100 unbroken skips?! How was I going to do that? Over the semester break, I tried doing just that. Another wave of emotions hit me almost every night. Over the course of a few months, I went through nights of at least an hour of non-stop trials. Some nights, I got 0 skips done but as I progressed slowly, I got up to 20, 50, and squeezed my way through 89 unbroken. By the end of those nights, I would have done hundreds of skips but none of those consisted of 100 unbroken ones.

Some nights, I would tell myself, This is it. I am not going home without that 100 unbroken skips. But guess what, I still had to go home without it. This repeated itself more and more until I actually got it when I least expected it..

The day I finally nailed it

It was just like any other day walking in the box not expecting anything extraordinary to happen. Without thinking, I grabbed a skipping rope and started skipping not even considering trying to get that 100 unbroken that day. Everyone was minding their own business so I counted my skips myself. (I usually have someone count for me and Nash normally does it for me. 100 unbroken skips for the Level Up only officially counts if someone was there to witness it.) For the first time ever, my breaths were even and I did not feel tired when I found myself counting past 89...90...91...and eventually hit 100!!!!! I stopped after 100 and just stood there speechless and sat on the floor for a few seconds before I walked over to Nash and told him calmly that I got it. I got it. I had mixed feelings about it. I was over the moon that I finally FINALLY got it but what if that was just a one time thing and I can't do it again? Convinced that if I've done it once, I can do it again, Nash talked me into trying it again and this time, he counted. My first try got as close as 98 but I wasn't going to stop there. I requested that no one counted out loud so I would not freak out when I know I'm close to 100. I skipped blindly not knowing whether I'm close to finishing or not when I heard voices from behind saying "SHE DID IT RIGHT?" and I heard joyous laughter. That's when I turned around and realized that I officially nailed my 100 unbroken skips and that proved that it wasn't just a one time thing. Of course, I did not let the moment go without a shriek that echoed throughout the whole box and I was ecstatic the entire day!

They say practice makes perfect. I found that practice makes phenomenal progress.

They also say it's not going to be easy, but it's going to be worth it. I learnt that it's never easy, you're going to crash and burn but the success is worth all the pain.

The support of people you love and people around you should never be underestimated because without them, you might not be able to get back up again.

Here's to my crossfit673jerudong community and of course the one and only Nash who stuck by me from Day 1!