Wah Wah Wah Wah....

 Chatty Cathy, chatterbox, windbag, gabby, yapper, yacky, motormouth, jibber jabberer, bionic mouth...the list could go on but these are just a few of the terms of endearment given to a person who is graced with the gift of gab.  In some social situations these nicknames would be considered a badge of honour.  Out there in the jungle the ability to small talk with your husbands coworkers at a office party, chat your way through a long wait at Tim Hortons, even kill an 80 minute English class when your lesson plan has fallen through would be considered an asset. 

Growing up I was one of four girls so I had seventeen long years to hone and master my craft before I left the nest. To me being chatty was a trait that would ensure my survival in a variety of circumstances unfortunately for me the gym is not one of those places. It was brought to my attention this past week that I tend to be a bit of a "social loafer", to quote one carrot chomping coach.  Granted I had been at the gym for a good part of half an hour and still hadn't started my warm up, but really to call Nurse T my enabler, we hadn't seen each other in over a week:(  . 

Why is it always assumed that if you are a gabber that you are slacking off.  I have been a talker for a good part of my thirty years and I have developed a keen ability to carry on a conversation and be productive at the same time.   For example; I can do cook dinner and clean the kitchen while W and I debrief after a day at work, I can catch up with my sister on the phone while feeding, changing, diapering even entertaining the kids, heck I can even maintain a serious conversation about current affairs while hanging from the bar doing knee tucks.  I can imagine its hard to understand for the Crossfitters of the male persuasion that a person could actually do more than one difficult task at one time.  News flash gentlemen, women are born multitasking! 

Every social circle has to have at least one Mouthy Marty...and isn't that what we are at Ignite, its our social network, a group of people who enjoy doing something together as a collective.   The way I look at it....if I am going to put my body through this torture with people around me, I should probably get to know them a little bit better! There are many good reasons for all the talk and if you think about it one of the most efficient ways to share information and transfer knowledge is by talking.  There is a lot of stuff you need to know and understand when it comes to Crossfit, could you imagine if we couldn't talk about it?  Its not like we are heading out to the local pub for carb rich beer at Happy Hour anytime soon so we may as well have a good visit before the WOD because god knows there aren't too many of us who will be in any shape to chat it up after! Besides like many good little Libra's I enjoy being social and of course popular, and I can't be those things UNLESS I can visit.  

BOTTOM LINE: Just because I am talking doesn't me I ain't doing and I am smart enough to know who NOT to chat to during the middle of fifty fifty!!!! But I am all about an authentic Crossfit experience. and conversation builds relationships, relationships build community and isn't that why this stuff is so magical....So how bad can that little bit of yackyity yack be?