May 2014 – Taiisha Pleasant

I came to Beaverton CrossFit at a major low point in my fitness life. I had been on some medication that definitely didn’t help me lose weight, I was the heaviest I had ever been and feeling pretty depressed. I had tried the gym across the street, but after wasting a lot of money I have realized that I am much better suited for a group exercise environment. So, when my friend Kelly Ryan told me that BCF had a groupon for a month membership, I figured, why not? I drank the juice, and I am hooked! My life is changing for the better every day!

Truth be told, I had no idea what I was getting myself into, I had seen a lot of acquaintances posting on social media about WODs and AMRAPs, and all I thought was WTF? I didn’t know what it meant; I just knew that they sure seemed to post about it A LOT! Needless to say I was a little nervous when I came in to do my baseline workout. Chad took me through the workout, and I was able to do all of the movements, Yay! His positive and energetic personality made me excited to start the real classes.

I had done a lot of Olympic lifting in college while training for Softball, so I was pretty confident in all of the strength movements, however, the conditioning part was a different story. I had to scale the running for the first week, which definitely motivated me because it really frustrates me when I can’t do what everyone else is doing. Before too long, I was able to do the WODs without scaling the running…I am always last to finish but, at least I run the whole way and I am getting a little faster every week. That is what I like best about crossfit, it is a constant challenge. No matter how much I improve on any WOD or Lift, I can always get faster or lift more the next time. That is part of what motivates me to keep coming back.

I wouldn’t say that I had an “ah ha!” moment, but I have really noticed a change in my attitude and mind set when it comes to working out. For example, I hate running with the white-hot fire of 1000 suns! But, lately when I see any running in the workout, I look forward to seeing if I can do it any faster than the last time. I have been trying to go into every workout with a positive attitude; I won’t lie and say every workout ends with a positive attitude…but starting that way has certainly helped. Even when I was in tears in the middle of “Kelly” I just told myself that by the next time we do this, it won’t suck as bad. When you start at the bottom, the only direction to go is up, right? This type of outlook is definitely new to me, and so is sweating so much that I need a sweatband, but I like it! (I am a child of the 80s after all). I have been learning to push myself beyond my comfort level and I am seeing myself improve because of it.

As far as goals are concerned, my initial goal was to come to a class at least three times a week, but I am enjoying it so much that I try to make classes 4-5 times a week and twice a day when there is an Oly class. I never thought I would like working out so much! My most immediate goal is to finally get a Toes to Bar, which seems like it should be easier than it is for me. My other goals, aside from pull ups and to Rx every WOD is to get to a point where I am not the last person to finish and to become the strongest girl at BCF…I think that would be cool. 🙂

I am really inspired by watching everyone around me working their butts off every day. There are no slackers at BCF! But, I am most inspired by the crew at 6:30pm. Especially, Haley, Sam, Stephanie, Danny, Christine and my super squatting partner Piper.

I never would have made it through the open workouts without Stephanie’s constant encouragement especially 14.5 (ugh, burpees are my kryptonite!).

Coming to class is like hanging out with friends, while you burn a bunch of calories. Working out is much more fun that way! The coaches are really awesome too! Shout Out to Christian; thanks for being awesome! Chad, Shay, Marcus and Mike too!

I love being a part of BCF. CrossFit is something I think I will continue to do for as long as I can move!

-Tai

Tai is a hard ass worker and one of the strongest people in the box. She has made dramatic improvements in many aspects of her fitness game including PR’s on her 400 m run times, nearly all of her lifts and has stepped up her conditioning tremendously since joining BCF. She’s always attentive in class, receptive to feedback and ready to do her best at whatever it is that she’s doing. She’s just an all around great person to be around and coach.

-Christian