Posted by Andy Petranek : Tuesday, Aug 28, 2012

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ATHLETE PROFILE: Ron S.

Hometown: Los Angeles
Age: 67
Occupation: high school social studies teacher and wrestling coach
When did you first start CrossFitting?: I believe I started in late 2008 at the behest of beautiful Jane Kim
When did you first start training at CFLA?: I think it took me two or three months to decide that CFLA was the place after my introduction to crossfit--it helped that I teach at the same school as Jane
Favorite WOD: I love any of the workouts that have running or some type of cardio where I can get my ADHD self moving
Least Favorite WOD: The Olympic lifts kill me--man I still struggle with the clean, and the snatch, forget about it.

Tell us about you sports & fitness background: Whew I have been involved in athletics my whole life--its probably why I'm still around. I played organized baseball, basketball and football growning up. I ran track and played basketball in high school. I enlisted in the US Navy in the mid-60's upon leaving high school. I served on the USS Bexar which was a Marine Corp troop transport and we had a combined Navy and Marine Corp boxing team of which I was a member. We had great coach who had recently won some Golden Gloves tournaments in Portland Org. It picqued my interest in martial arts that remains with me to this day. It also made me realize that interval training was a key training component, but one that I have never been able to do consistently until crossfit. After the navy I continued playing ball, boxing and hiking as much as I could while making my living as a cross-country truck driver, it was not easy to do. When I switched careers and got into teaching being involved in athletics became much easier. One last note at the age of 50 while I was a grad student at UC Riverside I was a member the men's 1996 intramural championship basketball team--and I have climbed 3 14000 ft mountains here in the US including Whitney and Mt. Sneffels in Colorado.

How did you first get exposed to CrossFit? Take us back to your first WOD... what was it, and how did it feel? Jane convinced me to come as her guest around four years ago and if I remember correctly I just did the basic baseline in something like 7 minutes or so. It felt great and I was very intrigued with the science behind it. It took me two months or so to join, but crossfit was something I had wanted to be a part of for a long time.

What sort of changes have you seen in your body, health and fitness since starting CF (before/after)? I'm still a relatively decent athlete even as I enter my dotage and that's great--I feel like I'm as strong and fit as I have ever been. Its the only way that I have to do consistent interval training as a key part to being fit and active. Also I'm still capable of learning and being coached. And its cool to be chronologically a senior being coached to be an athlete.

What sort of changes in your life have you experienced out of taking on something like CrossFit that were totally unexpected? The friendships, comradarie, excellent coaching and sense of teamwork on the different WOD's were unexpected in the beginning--but now, they are some of the main motivators to get me down to CFLA. Particularly the sense of team and teamwork on the workouts were completely unexpected. When I first joined I thought the workouts would be sort of like every man or women for themselves, but the opposite has been true. I never feel like I am competing against anybody else, but myself, and that I have great teammates to help me along the way.

Please share with us any favorite CrossFit / CFLA moments: Watching Andy learn to not laugh at his own jokes, no that's actually been painful. Hangin out with Jane, Kenny, Jonsey, Logan, Niki, Sam,
Jim, Andy when he is not telling jokes, Mattie, Emily, Chino man the list goes on and on. I never have anything but a great time at CFLA even when I'm close to dying on the workouts. Love it to the end.

Any advice for people just getting started? Have fun, work hard, but at the same time, only do what you can do to make yoself stronger, and more athletic. I can only really speak for myself, so compete against yourself if want to compete against somebody and be a great teammate to those around you, and they will be great teammates to you.

What are your hobbies, interests and/or talents outside of CrossFit? Music both listening and playing--hangin out with my lady and beloved members of my family--laughing my ass off as much as possible, while not laughing at my own jokes. Hangin out with people from all over the world, traveling and spreading the crossfit message around the world. Finally, never taking myself very seriously.

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Tuesday's Workout
Complete as many rounds as possible in 15 minutes of:
6 Snatch-grip deadlifts (95/65)
6 Hang power snatches
6 Overhead squats


... and coming Wednesday
Burpee Ladder (with a lateral jump)
Minute 1: complete one burpee (with a LATERAL jump over a cone)
Minute 2: complete 2 burpees w/ lateral jumps
Minute 3: complete 3 burpees w/ lateral jumps
- continue in this fashion until you are no longer able to compete the requsite number of burpees in that minute

- when cut-off, rest one minute, then...

800m run for time.

Score is total number of burpees + time for run