My Drug

According to a little reading I have been doing exercise is much like an addictive drug.
Exercise releases endorphins which are chemicals that interact with the receptors in your brain. These receptors can reduce the perception of pain and actually release a sense of pleasure much like morphine. A good CrossFit workout can create a sense of euphoria and even affect one's outlook on life.

I personally find that I want more. As sore as I get, as tired as I get and as beat up and bruised as I get - and an occasional humiliation - I can't wait to get back to my gym.
I recognize that my brain has been altered. I am ok with that.

I like being a competitive athlete and I think you have to be this way to do what competitive athletes do - marathoners, triathletes, bikers or crossfitters, there is a drive to perform, but there is also a drive to train.

This all has gone up a notch with the start of the Sports Training. It seems that the more intense you train, the more you want to get back for more.

Today I dropped a barbell on my leg and it left a dent. There was a dent in my calf. That hurt a bit. I showed my new injury to my teammate Shaunna.

You have to know Shaunna - she is a little ball of fire. Really. She may weigh 100 pounds and can overhead squat more than 100 pounds. She is like an ant that can carry a watermelon on its back.

She dashed off and got me ice for my leg. Julie came over to look at it as well. We all stared at my leg with a morbid fascination.

"That is a significant dent," said Julie.
"Yeah, it is going to bruise like a m----- f-----." I cussed. Sorry I do that in the gym.

I kept thinking two things as we were staring at the dent. One - I wished I had shaved. Two- when could I get up and finish my lift?
This second thought is important because it speaks to that chemical interaction going on in the brain. I WANT TO LIFT HEAVY S---!  Sorry its that cussing again.

Julie patched me up with a wrist band around my calf when I realized the pain was subsiding pretty quickly. I couldn't lift very easily with ice on my calf, but compression felt good.

I finished my lift and when coach Donna came out to check on me, the little scoop in my calf had diminished.

Cool.

Pain gone - pleasure returned. I walked out of the gym today happy I had taken my drug.