One mile run. 100 kipping pull-ups. 200 push-ups. 300 squats. One mile run. No sweat. Or so we thought. Students from the University of Texas met their fitness match on Saturday, March 29 with CrossFit Central owner and CoFounder, Jeremy Thiel ordering-up the “Murphy” workout for the first official CrossFit Club meeting on campus. Despite the over-cast weather, a handful of warrior ROTC members, book-worms needing a study break, and one eager little lady (yours truly—the club co-founder and CrossFit Central intern) gathered at Clark Field to learn the CrossFit basics and break a good sweat. And sweat we did. Thirty-minutes later, our group was huffing, puffing, panting and loving it all the same! “This is just so much fun!” club co-founder and Navy ROTC representative, Andy Lewis said lying on the ground to recover from the intensity. We four core UT students (Andy Lewis, James Dooley, Drew Anderson and myself) are determined to spread this method of fitness like wildfire, and share this with our fellow Longhorns.

It’s no secret that CrossFit (also known as the “sport of fitness”) is taking the sports-world by storm with advocates and participation steadily growing. With the popularity of the ripped actors in the movie “300,” and events such as “The Fittest Games Challenge” and “Fight Gone Bad” attract on-the-go college students looking for something exciting. However, the concept is still fairly new.

“I first heard about CrossFit from these guys,” Drew Anderson says, pointing at his two ROTC buddies. “They kept pushing me to try it—now I do the Workouts of the Day on my own and the ROTC has also started using it.” “Andy and I have been CrossFitting for about a year,” 5-foot-6 James Dooley says. He may not be Shaq, but he definitely can bring the heat. Ring dips and kipping pull-ups are no match for him. Throw me into the mix with the Navy boys and you have a team that represents the University of Texas well—true diversity. The guys and I connected when we discovered our similar interest earlier this year.

I was first introduced to CrossFit when I stumbled onto the rooftop of Whole Foods last September, lured by the live music, free weights and people who were simply getting their butts kicked in the September Prostate Cancer Fundraiser, “Fight Gone Bad”. My weight training background stemmed from high-school and I instantly wanted to know more about this unusual training session on the rooftop of Whole Foods. After talking to Jeremy Thiel about his hopes to bring CrossFit to campus, I proposed the idea of starting a CrossFit team club sport at the University. It was the answer! I had been looking for something or someone to connect to who shared my similar passion for fitness and working out.

“This is a Sport that is revolutionizing the world of fitness as we know it. CrossFit is such a new concept and it’s a movement we want to be a part of,” Jeremy told me with so much enthusiasm that I caught the bait—hook-line and sinker.

I also talked with CrossFit Central Creative Director, Nicole Holstrom, and the CrossFit Central co-founders about starting an internship program over this past semester with that very goal in mind—to spread and revolutionize this addicting sport of fitness…and I have learned so much! From helping market and “get the word out” about CrossFit training and events to participating in boot camps three times per week, I have definitely been challenged and become integrated with this aspiring sport. To top it all off, this year the four co founders of CrossFit Texas were officially added to the list of student group organizations at UT.

Onward and upward, we are in the process of rallying our troops, friends and classmates to get out of bed, off their butts or take a break from the library and try the intense, efficient—and fun—20 to 30 minute workouts, “perfect for busy college students,” we emphasize. It’s fast. A great study break. Social-building. And gets you in the best shape of your life!

In the words of Franklin D. Roosevelt, “There is nothing to fear, but fear itself.” The workouts are scalable and ultimately, you are competing against yourself—to run a little bit faster, lift a little bit heavier or do just one more pull-up. If I can do it, anyone can do it. Above all, if I am not “feeling it,” I think of the Little-Engine-That-Could: “I think I can, I think, I can.” Mind-over-matter, before I know it, I am going, going, gone!

On top of our own fitness schedules--packed with Navy training, weight-lifting, Town Lake runs and morning boot camps, we manage to find one to two times each week to come together and "CrossFit" at Gregory Gym or Clark Field. One of my favorite workouts is the Eva: five rounds of a half-mile run, 30 kettle-bell swings and 30 pull-ups. We pant and sweat as a team.

When we can't collaborate, we like to do the Workouts of the Day at our own risk. By Fall 2008, we hope to join the team lineup as an official Club Sport—alongside powerlifting, gymnastics, ultimate Frisbee, men’s soccer and volleyball—and compete against other schools like Texas A&M, as well as participate in CrossFit challenges, state and nationwide.

For now, it’s one day at a time, as we meet for joint-workouts and build our numbers. I am excited to be a part of something so new. This could potentially be the beginning of a competitive sport for years to come.

For More Informtaion Visit our Face Book Page: CrossFit Texas

Lauryn Lax is a sophomre at The University of Texas, Austin where she studies Kinesiology and Event Promotion. This semster she interned for CrossFit Central.