Athlete of the MonthMay
How old / young are you? 45 What is your occupation? Real Estate Development When did you join Widespread CrossFit? Sep 2017 Why did you decide to give CrossFit a try? A few years ago I began to feel that my age and weight were impacting my ability to keep up with my fit friends when skiing and hiking. Upon moving to Denver with some free time on my hands, I decided to focus on my health and fitness. A former colleague, Bill Ohlsen (father of CrossFit athlete Noah Ohlsen) attended CrossFit classes regularly and had suggested I join him numerous times. After doing a little research, the functional focus of CrossFit made sense to me, and I decided to give it a try. What was your athletic background before starting CrossFit? While I did sports throughout high school (swimming, soccer, lacrosse), I have not done any programmatic fitness since, other than a brief a few months with a personal trainer in my late twenties. I have been overweight pretty much all my life, and I continued to especially after college. Despite that, I have always actively enjoyed skiing, hiking, walking and tennis whenever possible. What changes in your health, physique, and overall performance have you seen since starting CrossFit? I have seen noticeable improvement in my overall health since joining CrossFit. I have much more stamina skiing bumps, which was one of my primary objectives, and I am looking forward to a number of challenging hikes this summer. After not even attempting to run a mile in the last 15 years, I’ve run 5k twice in the last month, and I am beginning to supplement my 3 weekly CrossFit workouts with additional cardio. Chronic lower back pain has disappeared, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the degree of increased muscle definition all over. In 8 months I have lost 28 pounds, 4” off my waist and 1.5” off my neck. I’m very pleased with my results thus far and looking forward to losing the next 25 pounds to get to my target weight. What advice would you give to someone with regards to starting CrossFit? Be patient… Pay attention to form and technique, and err on the side of lower rather than heavier weight. You will see results. What is your favorite and least favorite CrossFit exercises / movement? My favorite exercise is probably a power clean. Every once in a while I get it almost right and the bar floats up. I feel like it is something that will take years to truly master. I’m definitely not a fan of high rep wall-balls and burpees, although I’m warming up to burpees as I lose weight. What is your most memorable CrossFit moment so far? The “Filthy Fifty” was the workout that really made me realize the intensity that can be achieved in a relatively short period of time. Running a 5k for the first time in 15 years was also a high for me. What do you like to do outside of CrossFit? I try to get as many ski days as I can in the winter and as many hikes as I can the rest of the year. I also love to cook, and I read food and cooking related magazines, blogs, and books daily. What is your favorite “cheat” food or meal? Carbs such as pasta, a good bagel, french fries or crusty bread. What is something people would be surprised to know about you? I wanted to be an artist, and I studied oil painting two summers in college, one at Parson’s in Paris and one at RISD. I also have dual citizenship in USA and Italy. What is one goal you would like to accomplish through CrossFit. I have a number of long term goals, such as being able to do one unassisted pull-up, run 5 miles in 40 minutes, and be able to do a respectable number of proper push-ups. But my primary goal remains to lose another 25 pounds and achieve my target weight.
