Working out my new workout

Something about life in Hermosa inspires fitness. Look at this chump doing pull ups on the traffic lights at Pier Plaza. Like it's normal.

I've caught the bug too. It could be the sunny skies putting a skip in my step. Or just the perfection of the set up: bike paths and running trails abound. More likely it's the sight of all those hardbodied beach volleyballers, lighting a fire under my fat ass.

So I've raised my game. No longer content to settle for a couple of short runs each week, I've been dabbling in Crossfit. Crossfit is a special kind of torture that I think is still pretty new in the UK, but well established here. Not so much a workout as a way of life, Crossfitters are serious about what they do. And what they do is serious. It's a lot of weights and being strong and pushing yourself hard, and using your body efficiently, to do as much as you can. Which is so much less relaxing than drinking a margarita and eating chips and salsa. But apparently better for you (although it may hurt in the shortterm).

The new Crossfit gym in Hermosa Beach came highly recommended from our good friends and near neighbours, who have done Crossfit for years and have the abs to prove it. Their enthusiasm and a Groupon collided and as a result yesterday I did 150 crunches and jumped on and off a box about 80 times. And that wasn't even the half of it. AND I liked it.

At this point I should fess up and admit I am not doing proper Crossfit. I'm doing a bootcamp class called Cardioflex which involves a bit more running around and a bit less heavy lifting. Still, they have us swinging off monkey rings trying to touch our toes to our hands (impossible, btw and the reason I saw others doing it is, I'm sure, the result of hallucinating from sweating so hard) and  other slightly dangerous stuff like that. It's more fun than it sounds, and more fun than it was when I started two weeks ago.

My idea was to have a month of fitness and then just 'maintain' (i.e. go back to my lazy jogs). But I'm getting pretty into this Cardioflex business. I may even try an actual Crossfit class, and see how those dumbell thrusts feel. However I think it will still be some time before I am ready to do pull-ups off the traffic lights.