Today, I’m handing over the controls to a new friend from Elf for Health. She’s going to share her expertise about something I know nothing about: living with a crossfit aficionado. Enjoy! (And stop on by Pavement and Pixie Dust to hear me share my expertise… on beer and fitness.)

Hi,Becki from Pavement and Pixie Dust here. I’m fairly new to the run blogging community and I’m excited to be participating in the Elf4Health blog swap. Thanks to Erika for hosting my blog and make sure to check out her post over at my spot (rkjalernpan.blogspot.com)

I am good at a lot of things. But when it comes to being an expert, I really had to stop and think. The first few things that came to mind were eating dessert for breakfast, talking to my cats, impulse shopping at the front of Target, and waking up five minutes before my alarm is going to go off. I initially also quickly checked off the items that I recognized that I wasn’t an expert at, taking selfies, consistently writing blog posts, and hanging laundry up immediately after it comes out of the dryer. Once I did this soul searching I decided to focus on something that many of you may have never considered. I am an expert at using reusable water bottles. Well I am, but that’s not what I plan on talking about.

I am married to a certified meat mountain.

Well that’s what his friends call him, I just call him mine. He is a certified Crossfit Crazy. A bacon consumer, WOD destroyer, spend 5 hours a day at the ‘box’, obsessed with Rich Froning, Crossfit Lover. And much to most people who we talk to surprise, I don’t do it with him. On our wedding day, there was a crazy storm (we got married at the beach) and the threat of him not getting to do the Rich Froning wedding day WOD was imminent. I knew how important this work out was to him, so I begged a local Crossfit owner to let him and the groomsmen into the gym. I’ve also come to learn that other Crossfitters are also crazy and typically willing to help continue the trend.

Part of being an expert at making this work, is first understanding the crazy-ness. However even before I understood it, I recognized that Crossfit was important to him. And when you love someone you want them to do the things that make them happy. And let me tell you, Crossfit make my husband happy. If it were completely up to him he would live, breathe, eat Crossfit. We do all our meal prep and cooking for the entire week (lunch and dinner) on Sundays because he eats so much. He eats pork chops as snacks. He orders dinner portions at lunch, and we purchase as much food as a four-person family.

But what makes me an expert is that I’ve figured out how to be totally fine with this lifestyle, without actually being in the Crossfit lifestyle. He doesn’t drink, smoke, or really have any vices. He’s still in Graduate School working on his PhD so Crossfit is his outlet and I get that. We have always had our own things, and honestly I can’t imagine being at Crossfit with him. I’m just the photographer at competitions; the provider of meat snacks, and a runner which I’ve been told is the anti-Crossfit. I’m not sure all this makes me expert but I’m pretty well versed in Crossfit terminology, youtube videos, Rx lingo, but mostly at loving him no matter what he loves.

I was born and raised on the Big Island of Hawaii and moved to the south when I started my college career. I am newlywed, and new to the running community. I spend the majority of my days with college students working at UNC Chapel Hill. Join me over at Pavement and Pixie Dust for a bright mix of running, laughing, and a touch of sparkle.

Instagram: rkjalernpan

Twitter: rkjalernpan

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/becki.jalernpan

Pintrest: http://www.pinterest.com/rkjalernpan/