The Drop

Aftertouch

I've never been a people's person. If anything, over the years I've grown more and more reserved. That said, my work demanded that I'd be around people, working with groups of them or one-on-one. The funny thing is, most people I work with think that I am indeed an extrovert, so at least I can sell it very well. No one needs to know how exhausted it makes me feel by the end of the day - listening and talking, I swear it makes me more fatigued that my trainings as a professional athlete. 

At this point, I can tell that I've drawn up so many walls that I didn't really let anyone in. I have a very select few 'best' friends and then I have some family members that I consider close yet they aren't still fully in on my life as they ideally should be in case of an emotionally healthy human being. 

When it comes to me and my personal life let's just say communication isn't my strong suit, that's why I don't understand how can I communicate so well with anybody else in professional settings. Certainly, movement is the language I express myself the best, and professional or personal, people who know me know this best. 

This day on vacation was like all the others. Compromises were made, and we finally got to the part of the day when we'd go to the beach. Oh Ibiza, I love you to the moon and back. These days I'm at my 'I don't give a fuck' stage again, but movement is in my blood so checking out this calisthenics park on the beach was a no brainer even though we came here so I'd forget about all the shit that had happened and party so much in a week that I've never had in my twenty-something years in total. For the rest of the squad, well, they can tan and just vegetate on their towels whilst they recover from last night before we hit another club later tonight. 

One thing I'm not exactly familiar with is what the street workout scene is like here in Ibiza. I'd prefer not drawing any attention on myself while letting out some steam in the form of playing around with freestyle routines but mostly focusing on hitting my statics right. But who knows, maybe some others will join in, maybe even start a random comp on the spot. 

Having spotted the bars, I got excited and started jogging towards it in the sand. Even though, CrossFit is my main sport, I do have a love-hate relationship with running as it is, and I strongly believe that the fantasy of running on the beach is way more enjoyable than it is in real life. The distance grew large enough between me and my friends that I'd come to a stop and wait for them to catch up, what a wonderful feeling it is to not have to fight to keep my food down hanging onto dear life hangover. Not really worth mentioning, but they were painfully slow so I shouted at them to up the pace a little bit, but not too loud, you know I was trying to be considerate. Two of my best friends have caught up from the bunch, with looks on their faces I couldn't quite decipher. 

I smirked at them knowing that they'd help me film some of my routines so I can get the best angles, analyse them and then improve on them right there and then. But then Lindsey gave me a sign to look to the side, and I realised the mysterious exchange between her and Emily wasn't about laughing at me for growing overly excited for a statics session on the beach but much more so about them being keen on hooking me up with somebody during hour holidays. Unwillingly, I looked over there without tilting my head spotting three women and two men with their eyes already on me. I looked back at my friends, lifting one eyebrow as if to ask 'what the fuck', but then decided to just give half a smile and keep moving toward the bars. 

We're seven in the friends' group, and needless to say I'm the most athletic one of the crew. Well, that's what I do for a living, so it makes sense, but even if I didn't that's just my element so I don't think this would be any other way anyway. As a woman though, I'm more muscular and lean than any of my girl friends, but not necessarily bigger. I am however definitely stronger-looking and structure-wise more built than some of the guys, and so I'm used to getting the looks but I never quite know what to do with it. I'm not a female bodybuilder who (just for arguments' sake, not a fan of stereotypes) enjoys having attention in tiny tiny pieces of clothing whilst having jaw-droppingly lean and muscular physiques. Me, I like to have the body not much the attention. My focus is on movement, performance and what I can do skill-wise, period.