“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit.”

— Aristotle

YOUR Deep Squats (Thoughts)

Bill (pictured above in 2011):

Why did you start CrossFit?

I started CrossFit in June 2010, just as I was turning 40. One of my college friends who was in the process of starting up CrossFit Malibu was here visiting, checking out gyms and he brought me along with him to the Flower Shop location on El Camino for my first workout. Really had no idea what CrossFit was coming in that day. I’ve been in the Tues/Thus 7PM class ever since.

Why do you keep coming back?

Physical Health: Prior to CrossFit I was “fit”, had run a few marathons and long distance bike rides. Looking back my habits were to “train up” for a big run/ride and then basically crash to being inactive for some number of months, and then work back up. After after few months of CrossFit it hit me that this was a forever thing – that with this base I’d always be in a position to jump in and train for a marathon or bike ride. Setting PRs and seeing my body do things I’d not ever considered was very addicting. That’s why I kept coming back initially.

Gradually, the “why” evolved. Seeing my parents and some friends deal with health challenges, it  became more and more apparent that CrossFit was the primary way I was going to be able to maintain my overall health and best deal with any unforeseen health problems that might hit. Very specifically I had recurring problems with kidney stones in my late 20’s and 30’s, required surgery on multiple occasions. It dawned on me that once I started CrossFit, I hadn’t had a kidney stone since and it was not a coincidence. As got towards 50, realized many of my similarly aged friends were very commonly on meds to manage cholesterol, fighting back pain, etc. I’ve never had any of that, again not a coincidence. Prioritizing and investing in long term health is now the “why”. 

Mental Health:  I don’t know the brain science of it, but am positive the exertion and intensity of CrossFit helps manage the stresses of life, most specifically work. I am a more focused and attentive husband, father, worker thanks to the “mental release” CrossFit provides. If I miss a couple gym sessions, I can be a real grouch.

I have an amazing wife who values her and my physical and mental health as critical for the long term success of our entire family. It’s funny that when I’m not at an event on a Tuesday or Thursday night and a friend will say to me later, “you wife let you go to the gym instead?” My response is that she wants me at the gym as much as I want to be there myself. We put ongoing health very high on the list of shared priorities.  My basic rule is that if it’s something with our kids (eg a game, play, teacher conference), something for a friend or my mom that is specific to that time – those are the only things I’ll miss gym for.

Other reasons:

• Bonding: for me and my kids.  We built a small gym on the side of our house and as they grew, all three of them gravitated one way or another to working out with me, on their own or with friends with CrossFit fundamentals at the core.  Especially during COVID. Plates, kettlebells, etc are common Christmas presents at our house. Comparing Murph times is routine.  Seeing fitness as a priority, part of the routine, just a normal part of everyday life is one of the best things I’ve passed on to my kids.

• Community:  While I’ve not been a big participant in the community events, the breath of people I’ve come to know from 13 years of Tues/Thurs 7PM is something I really value.  It’s opened me up to knowing a much broader set of people than I would have otherwise.  

• Preparedness:  In 2015 I had a “nobody is coming to help moment” that CrossFit helped get me through.  Visiting my grandparent’s lake house deep in northern Minnesota woods, house is at the end of a three mile long narrow peninsula, one road. One night a big storm came up we hunkered in the basement, my wife and kids, my parents and my 96 and 93 year old grandparents. Trees were “exploding” all round us. By the time the storm ended it was dark, we had no power, no land phone, no cell phone connection. Got up with the sun the next morning, climbed, crawled, lifted and cut my way half mile up the road and realized there was no way anyone was getting in or out by road.  So many trees had fallen our boat was completely inaccessible. Found a neighbors boat I that I could access and carved a path that the entire family was able to navigate to that boat and got them all out by midday. No doubt we would have been “rescued” eventually, but getting everyone safely out of there thanks to strength and endurance from CrossFit has stuck with me.

What’s Going On?

Holiday Potluck Party and White Elephant Exchange

Location: CFPA

Saturday, December 9th, 5-8pm

Holiday Schedule Changes

12/25 – CLOSED

12/26 – CLOSED

1/1/24 – 9am “Murph”

Overheard in Class:

“Feelings aren’t results.”

Holiday Movie Influencing

“Non-Traditional” referrals from the community

Gremlins – A young man inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet and unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters on a small town.

Diehard – A New York City police officer tries to save his estranged wife and several others taken hostage by terrorists during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles. (Guaranteed NOT to happen at the CFPA party.)

Scrooged – A selfish, cynical television executive is haunted by three spirits bearing lessons on Christmas Eve. (Bill Murray. Need I say more?)

Planes, Trains and Automobiles – A Chicago advertising man must struggle to travel home from New York for Thanksgiving, with a lovable oaf of a shower-curtain-ring salesman as his only companion.

Love, Actually – Follows the lives of eight very different couples in dealing with their love lives in various loosely interrelated tales all set during a frantic month before Christmas in London, England.

Four Christmases – A couple struggles to visit all four of their divorced parents on Christmas.

The Holiday – Two women troubled with guy-problems swap homes in each other’s countries, where they each meet a local guy and fall in love. (Hallmarky)

Send me your influences. Music? Books? Movies? Series?