Remember the sweatiest high five or hug you’ve ever received after a workout?
I do; every single one of them – and as disgusting as it may sound, I miss them. I miss the days of crowding around and cheering for the last person to finish the workout and then overwhelming them with high fives, or better yet, being the last person working and having everyone encouraging you to find the fire to finish strong. I miss the days where we would try double dutch jump rope because the shipment of jump ropes that came in were a lot longer than the individual children’s ropes we thought we ordered.
Classes blended together. People who just crushed the workout would be working on handstands while you start your warm-up. Sometimes they’d still be around to support you through your wod, cheering a little louder knowing exactly how challenging it was.
For anyone new to CrossFit this may sound like an alternate universe.
You’ve become accustomed to the routine: wear a mask, temperature scan, sanitize hands, and hope you made it in time to claim that coveted box near the rig or, at the very least, away from the tropical breeze coming from the heater. If you find yourself in a corner spot you may have trouble even identifying who is in the opposite corner. The distance from one side of the gym to the other hasn’t changed, yet, in a world where 6 feet has become the norm, it feels like at least a mile.
Sure, we still support each other, the community is too strong to be overshadowed by a deadly virus, but it has the potential to be even better.
Especially as we go into the Open, I challenge you to think of that box on the floor as being the space where you are taking responsibility for yourself and all those around you; the space where you can disconnect from the electronic world we’ve become so engrossed in and instead focus on the people around you who have also chosen to take on that commitment.
As long as you remain in that box, think about how you can connect to those on the other side of the gym.
Maybe you have to yell a little louder.
Maybe it’s the solidarity of waiting to put your equipment away until everyone has finished.
Maybe it’s an air-five.
We could always bring back the finger guns!
How will you support those long-lost friends on the other side of the gym?
By Karen Clark