I get all fired up and excited around the Crossfit Open. I think all of us Crossfitters do. There is something about the anticipation of the announcement of the open workout each Wednesday that has me waiting by the computer to find out the workouts and watch them. I had a pretty awesome moment with my 7-year-old daughter yesterday. She walked by my computer while workout 13.2 was about to start. As Annie Thorisdottir and Lindsey Valenzuela started hammering away at Shoulder to Overheads, Deadlifts and Box Jumps, my daughter’s eyes lit up. She was asking a million questions, “was that our gym?”, “is that the the Olympics”, “I love her socks, will you get me some like that?” and, “wow they are strong!” .

It got me thinking about the shirt that Lindsey Valenzuela was wearing that said in the interview prior to the workout that said, “strong is the new skinny”. I grew up playing all kinds of sports. But, as a young girl, the only female athletes I remember are Mary Lou Retton, Peggy Fleming and Martina Navratilova (yes I am THAT old). Don’t get me wrong, all those women are incredible athletes and great role models. But, I think I was taller than Mary Lou Retton by the time I was 10, (probably weighed more than her too), and I was never interested in figure skating or tennis. It wasn’t until junior high that I remember really looking up to women who were competitive athletes.

I realize it was probably a dorky mom moment, but I was so excited about sharing those few minutes with my daughter yesterday. And, she has been exposed to Crossfit (she’s taken classes from Bre and Heather and loves coming to the gym, by the way) in all these different ways. As a parent, you worry about how your actions impact your kids, and about all the things they are exposed to. One trip to the grocery store and they get bombarded with several celebrity females that I would argue are not the best role models. So, the opportunity to see women kicking butt in a setting we never would have imagined 20 years ago is pretty awesome.

There are many things I love about San Carlos Crossfit, but one of them is that my kids are always welcome. They get to see me, and a lot of other awesome women and men, running, jumping, doing pull-ups, handstands, climbing ropes, lifting weights, etc. And, yesterday, I saw a glimpse of my daughter understanding the more competitive world of Crossfit. Now, whether she remembers Annie Thorisdottir’s name in 30 years is another story, but for today I’ll take it!