Athlete Of the Month November 2013 - Tom Ituarte

October 2013: Athlete of the Month

Congratulations to Tom Ituarte, CFEB’s Athlete of the Month for October! Tom works hard and beasts workouts every month, but this month, he really stood out. Even with limited resources at our new facility earlier on in October, Tom was fully engaged in the programming and humble enough to realize that even an experienced CrossFitter like himself could learn a thing or two from going back to basics. On top of that, Tom took on every killer workout with a fantastic attitude and has enthusiastically engaged the new members who have come on board since we opened our doors at JLS. Good work, Tom!

We chatted with Tom to learn a little bit more about his CrossFit experience, goals, and music preferences:

How long have you been doing CrossFit?

I started attending CrossFit classes in June 2012.

Favorite WOD/movements:

This is a really tough one for me, but it’s a toss up between Fight Gone Bad, Murph and Bring Sally Up. The appeal of Murph and FGB lies in the mental game. For both of these workouts you can always get one more rep, you’re unlikely to reach muscular failure. The real challenge lies in how much discomfort you can accept and keep moving. But of course that’s why we do this, isn’t it? As for Bring Sally Up, it’s just really fun to squat to audio cues.

Least favorite WOD/movements:

EMOTM for 60 minutes, back squat 5×135# (This is NOT a CrossFit East Bay workout and never will be – ML). It doesn’t have a name that I’m aware of, but it’s by far the worst workout I’ve ever done. The Airdyne machine is probably my least favorite movement right now…does that count as a movement? It’s terrible.

Greatest CrossFit accomplishment:

Coming into CrossFit, I had serious issues with shoulder hyper-mobility. Stabilizing weight overhead was an overwhelmingly difficult experience, every single time. But I just finished “Fran” as prescribed for the first time and even though my time wasn’t the greatest, that’s probably the single biggest improvement marker that I’ve hit thus far. I’m exceptionally proud of that.

Current CrossFit Goal:

“Fran” in under 5 minutes, FGB of 350+, and finally being able to do a strict handstand push-up.

What do you like to do when you’re not doing CrossFit?

Recreationally, I’m an avid rock climber and mountaineer. I’m hoping to make an attempt on Denali’s West Rib route during the summer of 2015. I also play the drums and have been breaking sticks/drum-heads/stands way too often since I started CrossFit.

If you could only listen to one musical artist while you worked out, which one would it be?

At the moment, I’m spinning Four Tet and I’d be pretty damn stoked to hear him blasting every time I walked into CFEB.

What’s your favorite thing about CrossFit East Bay?

You mean besides the awesome new location, right? No question about it, it’s the community. People are warm and inviting, the atmosphere is light-hearted and fun, even during the most intense WODs. When you hear folks cheering for you, it feels sincere. Every time I come to the box, my mindset isn’t so much “I’m going to do something terrible”, it’s “I’m going to do something terrible…with my friends,” and that makes a world of difference.

 

Athlete Of the Month November 2013 - Tom Ituarte