Jenny and I showed up for our first class knowing that we were in for a gymnastics-heavy Crossfit workout. Roger was once Crossfit's gymnastics SME (Subject Matter Expert), having 20+ years of experience in gymnastics and 15+ in coaching. Even before the WOD began it was clear that this box prizes agility as highly as strength.

Andreas led us through a warmup which had us running on all fours, leaping like frogs, and jumping sideways over a box, like action heroes over a car hood. We performed a variant of the hollow rock called the candlestick rock, where you finish your rock by standing up and jumping in the air with an overhead clap like a burpee.

The WOD included handstand pushups, just not the kind we were used to. We performed the HSPUs on paralettes, not against a wall. This enables a wider range of motion, allowing the head to dip below the hands. Our elbows were to keep close to our bodies, not bow out. We were constantly coached to keep our bodies in the hollow position, making sure our pushups were straight up and down, not travelling in an arc. Both Jenny and I were confident in our hands-to-floor handstand pushup—mine modified with a kip at the bottom—but using Crossfit Marin's style, both of us were forced to scale with our knees on a box. It was gruelling, and we were hooked.

We decided that for our next visit, we'd try the adult gymnastics class. I'd had acrobatics training at San Francisco's Circus Center and had competed in New Zealand's gymnastics circuit as a child, so I knew what I was in for. Jenny has a trapeze and martial arts background, but she'd never so much as cartwheeled before, so understandably she was a little nervous before we began.

We ran through a warmup and then split into gendered groups. The men tackled rings and pommel horse with Roger, while the women focused on beam and floor with Russ Bruel, Crossfit Marin's other gymnastics coach. This segregation might seem odd to those not familiar with gymnastics, but in fact the sport is almost completely different for men and women. Only two apparatuses are shared: floor and vault. In competition, women work the uneven bars and beam while the men compete on rings, parallel bars, pommel horse and high bar.

As adults, we have no such limitations. We were free to join the men's group if we preferred, but as first timers we felt it was wise to keep to the smaller groups and the more beginner-friendly floor and beam.

It was hard to wipe the grins off our faces as we practised handstands and cartwheels on a chalk line, getting us accustomed to the constraints of the balance beam. This was fun. This was play. We pranced up and down the beam on our toes, experimenting with little jumps and turns. Moving to floor, we practised handstand forward rolls, backwards rolls to handstand, cartwheels, roundoffs, and back handsprings. We watched in awe as a woman in her thirties, who had been attending classes for three years, performed a roundoff back-handspring back-tuck.

Remember Jenny, who had never cartwheeled before? She did five back handsprings. Granted, they were heavily spotted, and she has an uncommonly high level of body awareness, but it's incredibly satisfying to have coaches who can spot even complete beginners on complicated moves. I just about burst with excitement when Russ promised to teach me to string together my roundoff and back handspring.

It will be hard to rip myself away from gymnastics classes long enough to take a dedicated parkour class with Andreas, but he promises it is even more fun. Suddenly I see myself making the 45 minute trip from San Francisco to Corte Madera far more often than I had bargained for.

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