Get your motor runnin’

“Get your motor runnin’. Head out on the highway. Lookin’ for adventure.” -Steppenwolf

We finished up four weeks of On-Ramp at CrossFit Marysville on Saturday. Four weeks ago, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Now, I don’t want to leave.

Saturday, Noah Prester, one of the fittest men in America, was our trainer for our last day, along with Mike Cole, 48, a coach-in-training who has become something of an inspiration for all of us in this On-Ramp. Here is a guy who has done a complete 180 degree turn-around on his fitness level. There was a time in his recent past when Mike’s idea of a perfect sedentary day involved video games, a couple dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts, three family-sized pizzas, and enough 2-liter bottles of soda to drown a child. And now he is often here for us in On-Ramp every time we need a gentle push or pull.

This was it, our last time working out in the cozy confines of our little cohort crew. The next time we attend a CrossFit class, we will be among the big dogs, which includes guys like Mike- those who have been doing this for a while and have reshaped themselves, both physically and mentally.

But I don’t want to leave our little group. I don’t mind doing a Work-Out of the Day and finishing last, as I did this past Saturday, if it is among people I have formed a bond with over the last four weeks. We have sweated together. We have laughed together. We have pushed our bodies beyond what we would do by ourselves.

Now, Noah tells us, we are ready. Now we’re ready to go push our limits just a little more with the CFM regulars, to keep challenging ourselves to do just a little more. We’re ready to branch out and become more a part of CFM.

Those guys and gals scare me, though. I see some of them so transfixed in their workouts that I wonder if they would even notice if there was a fire in the facility. I see some who have abdomens that my grandmother gladly would have done her laundry on and some who have calves with the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles popping out farther than any 12th Man’s chest after Sunday’s Super Bowl.

I also see evidence of the “C” word- and I don’t know if I’m ready to make that kind of investment. Ask my wife about how much that word shakes me. Commitment is a serious thing.

Of course, I’ve heard that the CFM regulars are very friendly, especially to the new kids on the block. But, nothing will replace the bond that the six of us developed over the four weeks. Nothing will feel quite as secure.

At the same time, I’m just starting to realize how much stronger I can become if I do this day in and day out. But, it’s always easier to do it when I know the people will be holding me accountable if I don’t show up.

Now that I’m done being in On-Ramp, it’s like I no longer have a parent watching over me to make certain I do the right thing each time. Now, I need to set my own schedule and show up regularly, no matter how inconvenient it may be. And that takes commitment.

In other words, I need to become just a little more disciplined. I’ve got to “want it” badly enough to hold myself accountable. No one else can do it for me.

Sure, it will be an adjustment. Sure, I will slip and skip a couple of days in a row. But, I need to put these workouts on the calendar as if they are etched in stone. And then insist on making them my top priority.

As I finished up the Work-Out of the Day on Saturday and the four females there doing the WOD with me were cheering me on since I was struggling to finish, I had a vision. “Born To Be Wild” by Steppenwolf was blasting out of the speakers, my gut was cramping up as it always seems to do when I do sit-ups, and yet I felt a sense of euphoria rather than fear. Maybe I could go out on the highway and start lookin’ for a little adventure.

I guess it is time to get my motor runnin’.