The past five days have been surreal.

I’m engulfed in a world that barely overlaps with the one in which I am usually surrounded.  It’s weird and inspiring and scary all at the same time.

Every year in March — during Spring Break — South by Southwest takes over Austin.  Some love it, some hate it.  I have found that the best way to get through the masses of people and changes to my town is to embrace it.  And as a result, I am on my last day as an attendee of the Interactive portion of the conference/festival.

For my work, it’s important.  But it’s played havoc with everything else in my life: time, family, sleep, exercise, nutrition.  I consider the disruption like being on vacation — it’s the 80/20 rule, right — but as a result, I’m exhausted.

Literally.

I’m exhausted.  I’m running on empty.  I’m loving it, but I honestly believe that SXSWi is trying to kill me.  Between the panels and the special events and all of the after-parties (which is where the networking is), I’m averaging 4-5 hours of sleep a night.

It hurts so good.

And because I’m completely stubborn, I refuse to slow down.  I want to see everything.  Do everything.  Plus take care of my family.  Plus… exercise.  At least a little.

So when I rolled into Crossfit this morning after yet another night of just 4 hours of sleep, I felt like a zombie.  And I REALLY believed that there was no way I would finish the workout.  I was questioning my own sanity for being there.  Why?  Why put myself through this?  What is driving me?

So we began.  And it hurt.  38 burpees for my friend Beth’s birthday as part of the warmup.  Dynamic warmups.  A 400m run.  And a workout on the big white board that loomed.

5 rounds
500m row
21 KB swings (M 24kg / W 16kg)
42 Double unders

And then something happened.

I woke up.  Or rather, my body did.  I was aware of how hard I was working, but I forgot about being tired.  It was just me and the WOD.  It hurt.  Oh, yes, it hurt.  And if I hadn’t been allowed to do 84 single jumps instead of 42 double unders, I never would have made it through round 1.

But I pushed.  And. It. Felt. So. Good.

Time: 23:58 @ 16kg and single jumps

Beth teased me about flying through the workout after I said I wasn’t going to finish.  It turns out I was one of the few who did.

As I was leaving, the Crossfit Central gal who was minding the front desk asked me how I was feeling, since I walked in looking so tired.

“I walked in a zombie and I came out alive.”  That made her laugh.

The workout bought me time.  It gave me that last little bit of oomph I needed to finish out this conference.

I’ll be glad when life returns to normal for me.  I’ve been eating (and enjoying) bread and beer and other crap, and I need to cleanse my system.  I figure it will take a few weeks to get the gluten out and get rid of the sugar cravings.  I hope I haven’t erased the progress I made during the challenge, but then again… I don’t regret anything.  It’s been a really nice break, even if it has been a shock to my system.