Saturday night as my mom and I were driving to her soon to be former home, she got a traffic alert for road closures the next day due to a race.

Oh, there’s a race tomorrow? I knew the Miami Marathon had passed. I didn’t know there was another one only a few weeks later, the 305 Half Marathon.

It was 11 PM. I’d only get about 5 hours of sleep. I’d have had whiskey and the Benihana trio as a race prep meal.

I had every reason to not do it. But I did it. And it was a blast.

To me, that’s fitness. Having the ability to do something I want to do, and having the confidence to know I can do it.

At the elite end of CrossFit, fitness is about finding the limits of human performance. Is it possible to run a sub-5 minute mile and deadlift 500 pounds the same day? Yes.

One of CrossFit’s mottos is being prepared for the unknown and unknowable. It’s a slightly more detailed version of the Boy Scout motto: Be Prepared.

I’m looking to find my own limits of what’s possible, and that’s why I do CrossFit. It’s to create that solid foundation so I’m prepared to go do other things, like run an impromptu half marathon or climb a mountain.

Did Crossfit make me a better endurance runner? No.

Did it give me the confidence to pursue running? Yes.