I ran cross-country in high school.  Post-college, I was a recreational half-marathon runner and worked out in globo gyms for fitness.

I heard about it through a co-worker who was involved with CrossFit at a local box.  It was a pretty easy sell for me: I found the CFSV site through Yelp and signed up online – I went in head first and didn’t even wait for an on-ramp class to see if I liked it.  I have stayed because of the community – it is like my family and my home – and once you find something that changes your life so dramatically, you want to stay.

I try to follow a schedule of three days on in training so I don’t get burned out.  I listen to my body and know when to chill and recover rather than work out.

I love that everyone at the box is taking an active role in their fitness and not complaining and letting their body deteriorate, and especially that they are doing it together as a team.  It is inspiring to be around that.

I am a molecular biologist and am transitioning to being a full-time CrossFit coaching professional.

Start slow and slowly build yourself up — don’t go five days in a row your first week in the gym.  Master gymnastics and body control first before jumping into Olympic lifting.  Swallow your pride and be patient; there is no rush to become a firebreather and to do every workout Rx’d – everyone has their own timetable.

My first throwdown was my most memorable moment – it was the NorCal regionals in 2009 at the Aromas ranch.  I was scared to death but it wound up being the most inspiring experience I could imagine.

My most embarrassing moment happened this week, actually.  We had done a hard WOD already and were doing Tabata situps as a finisher.  In the fourth Tabata round, when the clock hit twenty seconds I was so fried mentally that I didn’t notice and kept going … the rest of the class had to gently tell me “Psst, Larry – you can stop now!”  That messed me up so much that I screwed up the rest-work intervals for the remainder of the workout.