Raising kids, daily lap swimming and watching sports can take up a lot of one’s day and even make one believes finding time for anything else seem unlikely. However, in the grand scheme of things, staying healthy should be high up on your list of daily priorities. As a parent this became painfully evident while watching my son rehab his way through a sports-related back injury. The upside to his journey into and out of competitive soccer was his decision to be a health and wellness major in college.
CA 101 – The early months
Based on my son’s incessant pleading and logical arguments to do something else other than swim laps, I drank his youthful Kool-Aid and entered the world of CA. Overcoming the fear to walk into CA was step one and step two was participating in my first CA session. Crawling, stretching, box pushing, running, twisting, jumping, squatting, inch worming, rowing, and burpees are not life threatening but they sure do make you question the logic behind completing steps one and two. If sore muscles and creaking joints are a sign of doing good work then I must have a perfect record. CA humbles you but it doesn’t knock you down. Everyone shares the same fun!
CA – The middle months
Some might say that drinking the Kool-Aid is easy and buying into the whole exercise regime isn’t rocket science and they might be correct. However, most of the fitness advertising touting a perfectly sculpted body through the use of this device or doing that exercise routine fails to mention that without a personal commitment you likely won’t achieve anything beyond a growing sense of frustration. Perceptible change isn’t achieved overnight but with continued work and CA helping me I can attest that it does happen.
CA Today – Believe
Although a medical issue created a three month gap in my routine, not returning to CA did not enter my mind. One problem with an exercise routine is not really knowing how long it will take before you start feeling fitter and looking better. Hearing those encouraging words during sets of burpees or kilometers of rowing made me a believer in the CA experience.
CA Tomorrow – keep doing it
If life is just another terminal disease, you can either let it slowly kill you or you can get out of your chair and do something positive for yourself. I am about to turn 62 and my CA adventure is certainly not over. I survived the early months, the middle months, today and I will be there tomorrow!
I love a project and fortunately athletes love to bring me slightly unreal timelines for their impending greatness. Let me start by saying I too suck at time management. It is generally because I think I can do way more than I physically or mentally can do in a reasonable amount of time. Training goals can also operate like this. When emily came to me with her Tough Mudder goals, and timeline, I knew the happy go lucky conversation was going to shift drastically to something that sounds a bit like this.
“Well, I think what you have are great goals. Here is what it is going to take to get there and just so you know I am more than commited to helping you; but this is going to suck. A lot. I mean a whole lot. I want you to go home and really think about this because the next conversation we have might be a bit overwhelming.”
With that being said Emily came back a week later and we went to work. Sometimes we all just need to let it settle in that there is no quick fix, and that getting from point A to point B is gonna take serious mental fortitude (In Mudder language, that’s called Grit) – Bender
Mudd? No Big Deal. Electrocution… uh, can I skip that part?
Monday morning. Do I want to get out of bed? No. Do I want to get out of bed and go work out? Definitely not. Do I suck it up and realize that champions are not made by sleeping in? yes!
Over the course of 5 months I’ve become what some might call a “gym rat” I love the gym and if I’m not there I legitimately miss it. My teammates became my family. My trainer became my friend. My favorite place is Contemporary Athlete. But lets be clear, sometimes you just don’t want to get out of bed…let me rewind for a moment.
My name is Emily, and I’m a Ninja. I started coming to Contemporary Athlete because I was sick of hiding my bad decisions in layers of sweatshirts. I wanted more. I wanted to have muscle definition without flexing. I wanted to eliminate the muffin top, but seriously who am I kidding – I was smuggling more than adorable muffins. From bad break ups to a serious car accident, I had stopped any physical activity and began to wallow in self pity and depression. Eating tasted good and its not like I was ever going to be skinny, it just wasn’t my “body type”. So when my friends decided that running a Tough Mudder race was a good idea, I surely didn’t want to be left out. It can’t be THAT hard, and there’s no time limit. I could do that. And then it hit me. “I can’t walk up a flight of stairs without getting winded” “I can’t lift more than 10 lbs” and “was college the last time I worked out?”
The competitor in me flared up and I started talking to Dave Bender about a SERIOUS plan to get in shape. I had barely 5 months to go from eating a box of doughnuts on the couch to running an 11 mile course full of obstacles and not die.
(Scale is the same but the body is not…)
The first few weeks were brutal. I am not kidding. There was swearing. There was crying. There was whining and there were incredulous looks shot at Dave regarding what he thought I could accomplish. Initially I lost weight. 11 lbs by week 3 and 18 pounds by week 6. No one was really noticing, but I found I didn’t need them too. My pants would not stay up. My endurance slowly but surely improved and my favorite part was that I was getting stronger. Things I thought I could never do were starting to happen but OH MY GOD was it slow. My patience is heinous and I’ll be the first to admit I’m quick to quit if I don’t get immediate satisfaction. I began to do 2-a-days training, starting at 7am and then coming back at 5:30pm. People called me crazy. I loved it. I felt good. I felt like I could do anything. I would push through the exhaustion and I found this beautiful potential to go further than where I previously felt like I had to end. My mind had flipped from doing the least amount possible into how much can I do? The possibilities seemed endless.
Then the weights got heavier. the workouts got harder and there were days when I would get so frustrated not understanding how I could still be so out of shape when it had been 3 months of training. I wasn’t losing weight and that felt like such a failure. Those days Dave was able to quietly remind me of where I had started. I got lost in the desire for what I thought perfection was, and how far from an airbrushed model I was, it would pile up and it all started to get me down. I can’t even begin to count the amount of times I would try to articulate my poorly thought out and for all the wrong reasons desires to be skinny. I’m a firm believer that no matter how great the plan, you will always have bad days. I had plenty of them and I still do, but I get through them with the help that Contemporary Athlete provides. What I found to be the most important factor in my training was that I was never alone. Dave is the best trainer I’ve ever worked with and while he instructs and inspires, there is something more magical happening at Contemporary Athlete. Something I had never experienced before.
(Sometimes outside the box, sometimes on it, but always improving)
The Team:
Everyone and I mean EVERYONE is pulling for you. There has never been a group of more supportive, sincerely caring, and downright helpful people ever. Every single one of us had to start somewhere. Some have been athletes since pee wee soccer, and others might have stumbled into an athletic hobby, but I kid you not we were all beginners. I know, I know, you watch Jim do pull ups, and Ryan do push ups, and Lindsey do planks, and Leigh Ann do suicide drills and its easy to think Ok they are freakishly good at those things, but the way they got there is by doing them, over and over and over again. Next time you end up whimpering next to one of them, ask them how they do it. I did. I was floored at the fact that they HELPED. They shared tips and tricks to make the most effective work possible and what not to do to avoid injury. These people are NICE. The bonds get stronger, and the knowing laughs during things like turkish get ups, are what will keep you going. It’s what got me through 5 solid months of training. Team CA runs deep.
(sometimes you just have to start somewhere)
This is not by any stretch of the term “easy”. But it was easy for me to understand that if I didn’t change anything about the way I was living, my life would not change. Food is no longer comfort. Food is fuel which your body needs to go beast mode the next day. I found that no matter how much I trained, if my eating reflected a scene from Animal House….my progress suffered. That being said, I quickly realized how awful I felt if I ate anything close to junk food and not because of disappointment in falling off my path, but because junk is junk. If I ate garbage I felt like garbage and it made training SO much harder when I didn’t have the proper fuel.
(6 months of work, but these pull-ups happened)
There is a champion inside each of us ready to emerge victorious over a slothy lifestyle. So when I started, did I want to get out of bed and jump on the ski erg? no. no I did not. But I did it and you can too! I finished the Tough Mudder in the Poconos, got through every obstacle, and not only did I not die, I was back at CA training in less than 48 hours. Day by day its one more workout down, one more goal accomplished and its beyond amazing to look back on the progress you can make. The only thing standing between you and your health is your mind. So start now. Make the decision to be better, run faster, jump higher, and tackle life with the remarkable ability to keep going. It just comes down to that very first step. At Contemporary Athlete, we take that step together, and we go a lot further.
It only took only took 11 months for me to plan an open house. (When I say me, I really mean all the awesome people that helped me in SOOOOO many ways put this together!)
What to bring: Bring Friends! Lots of them!
Some people say I am slow. I like to think about it as tactical. All the pieces had to be in the right place and I think that they finally are. So on the eve of my initial lease signing almost a year ago I am quite ok with saying, hello public. Contemporary Athlete is here and Team CA is ready to change the Capital District.
Here is your opportunity to show off the place many of you call home.
Meet my friends and associates while you nosh on some awesome healthy food from Nancy and her staff at Good Morning Café (The Good Karma Ninja, oh and my favorite Thursday Breakfast Ninja); Robin Morgan of ANew Nutrition who I trust with all my nutrition (“What do you mean no more cookies?” The Food Ninja); Paul Jensen of Albany Therapeutic Massage and Sports Performance Center (“Paul I did this…so can you fix me?” Ninja) oh and ME (Humble Ninja)!
There are going to be some awesome door prizes to win, for anybody that’s interested, a 3pm “Warm Up”, and something I am really excited about, and have been for a long time now…
The Official Launch of…
CAIR
Don’t know what it is? Well, hopefully the anticipation will make you excited enough to show up!
It’s September now, the weather is changing here in upstate NY. The temperature goes from crazy hot to cold enough to snow on any given day. The rain comes in in droves and leaves just as quickly leaving devastation in its wake it seems. There is snow on the horizon I can smell it on the morning air in the darkness when I wake to run. Well before the CA opens I am alone with my thoughts, generally empty as I prepare for the Ultra. It’s the peace I need in preparation for the day as shortly after my last step I get to face the always growing and developing L.
By the end of Lauren’s warm up I know what it is going to happen that day. I drink deeply of my morning coffee. Enjoying the oily, acidity of its blackness. Tasting the richness of it. It’s complexity, breathing in its heat. Feeling it roll down the back of my throat to fill my belly. It’s simplicity, in that fact is all encompassing. I square my head with what needs to be done that day. Another check mark in the logbook to help Lauren become the Lauren Salter I see. When I look at her is that of a future world champion, Olympian, star of the national team and combine perfect scorer. In my world that journey started 4 months ago.
Lauren recently wrote an article on her blog about her heroes. The USA soccer: women’s national team and how it shaped her. It made me think about my heroes; they were not entire teams; they were individuals looking to be the best at whatever they did. Not all of mine are athletes, but all learned to steel themselves against the naysayers, the haters, the jealous, the misunderstanding. They smashed themselves on the jagged rocks that are greatness. Did they shatter? Yes. Did they get back up and go back to work? Yes. Did they succeed? Yes. Greatness comes from the fire within. The impenetrable, self-confidence in your ability to be all that you can be. Nothing fancy, just knowing in your heart you belong there just as much as anybody else.
Interestingly enough Laurens sport is purely individual. The long runs, individual training sessions, remorseless driving that I put her through has changed her. Lauren is strong, fast, and mentally conditioned. She has struggled this summer occasionally at my hand, (well more than occasionally). She asks a lot of questions and I have a lot of answers. Her concepts of fitness have been destroyed and rebuilt. Her emotional breakdowns happen. She has learned how to keep moving forward, instead of running away to hide. She asks for help and she fears little these days. Other than her last big hurdle, her fear of accepting her own greatness. She can finally start to face that fear, as she will be deep into her US Skeleton Combine test when this posts. The combine will be the beginning of a long week of inter-team competition at the US Push Championships, in Lake Placid.
I don’t know where I will be. I might be in the CA doing what I do, possibly in her corner in Lake Placid helping her fight off her inner demons, maybe preparing myself for the Ultra, I am not sure. I asked her last week if she wanted me to come up to Lake Placid. She looked confused, like no one had ever asked her that. The decision is hers ultimately. All I know is this the happy go lucky, smiling brightly, excited young woman who walked into my facility back in February of this year is no longer that girl. She is a strong mostly fearless woman. Her weaknesses have been explored in depth. She has survived. She has an amazing support system, and is one step closer to getting that coveted place on the podium with people cheering for her.
Lauren is complex and everyone that meets her or trains with her knows this. She empowers the CA juniors with her excitement and physical prowess. Her peers look to her for strength and cheerleader like encouragement. In her time here she has become an embodiment of what this facility is. Who the athletes are that train here and why they are here. In her own way Team CA is her team. She is one of the captains of it and for as long as she chooses for it to be. Her strive for excellence, relentless self-motivation, and the willingness to keep walking through the door to this school for ninjas solidifies this for me everyday.
“Over time, grit is what separates fruitful lives from aimlessness.” – John Ortberg
In life there comes a point when you just want to know. Or maybe I just want to know. Am I to old? Broken? Battered? Strong enough? Fast enough? Courageous enough? Crazy enough? Or is the ultimate glory of the challenge enough?
So, here is the story. I decided I wanted to do something great: to create a community where exceptional is the standard and not because of the resumes or backgrounds of the people within it, but because of the goals and desires of those people. These are the lions amongst lions. These people separate themselves from the everyday prey. They are the hunters of greatness and, for any number of reasons, they found themselves in the CA. I proudly call them friends, and this is why I do this.
Run the Ridge, Team CA
The hunt for greatness lies within all of us. Mine has been clawing out of me for a long time. I just didn’t know how or when it would happen. I started to consider this adventure I call the “Ultra” back in May of this year. I put together my training plan after a winter of getting the gym going, and got to work. I didn’t know if I would get the opportunity to race but figured I damn well be on the pointy end of the spear if the opportunity presented itself.
The “Spartan Ultra Beast” (which is a ridiculously cheesy name, but I’m just a participant), it is a race of unlisted distance somewhere over a marathon, which includes obstacles and happens on a mountain, in this case at Killington Ski Resort. If you have ever been to Killington to ski, you know it is no joke, and running anything past 26 miles is well…intense. So, throw in some obstacles and: well now, apparently we have a challenge. Getting acceptance into the “Ultra” took a full athletic resume and a follow up survey. So either they are limiting their pool of athletes, or they are worried about the pool of athletes surviving to tell the tale.
My brother and me before running the Mt Snow Tough Mudder
(I think there is a moment in every persons life when you just kind of go, hmmm this is a bad idea… I’m in!)
From the Ultra, Application site:
For 2013, we will have two new rules:
1. Each racer may only compete in the Beast, or the Ultra Beast, but not both. It will not be possible to win both events in 2013. You must choose: Beast or Ultra Beast.
2. If you cannot complete all 26+ miles, you will be considered a DNF. You will NOT be considered a Beast Finisher if you’re only able to complete 13+ miles. It’s all or nothing.
If you’re not sure if you’re ready, or you spend more than one hour per year at Bed, Bath and Beyond, please only register for the Beast. The Ultra Beast will be too much for you.
Every Spartan Race is a baptism.
The Ultra Beast is considered an exorcism.
So let’s fast forward a bit. I got accepted to the race via email. Which in my head I went, “HOLY {explicative, explicative, explicative,} I GOT IN!!!!” Then I went…“HOLY {explicative, explicative, explicative,} I GOT INTO WHAT?!!” I got accepted to run with the “Elites” which either means I am above the average applicant they accept or they were trying to bait an old man who still thinks he’s young to die on the side of a very steep mountain. Either way, I said what all crazy people say… “I’m in!” then smiled, took a deep breath and doubled all of my previously planned mileage I was supposed to do in training for this race.
Setting a new 1RM PR in 2012. I have since tagged on 150lbs more)
(Excerpt from my acceptance email)
Hi David,
Congratulations! You are among the fifth group of approved racers selected to race the 2013 Spartan Ultra Beast! Based on your recent responses to our Ultra Beast Application process, you have been approved and are eligible for an Open Wave Registration or an Elite Ultra Beast registration. If you think that you’re competitive enough to run with the Elites, this is your chance to prove it.
Apparently, on September 22nd of this year, I will get to stand at the base of a mountain with a group of elites athletes and find out if I really am all that I try to instill in the amazing people I work for.
Post 13.1 training day time trial. 7:05’s on repeat. Cue the Darth Vader music in my head
Even as I sit here and write this, September is closing in quickly. My fear is turning to fire, and my anticipation is sometimes overwhelming. I care how I do and I am not “just there to finish”, because honestly, sometimes when I hear people say that, it makes my soul throw up a little. You can either do just enough to finish or you can go on the attack.
I choose to attack. If you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, then teach that dog to do those old tricks better. I find myself frequently running with less in my head: empty in thought, just breathing. I’m listening to my steps, counting them, looking deeply into the trails, and looking for the clearest path to fast. Lungs burning, throat on fire. Smiling widely, on the hunt.
Kid bro and I post running Mudder. Honestly, all I wanted was Gatorade. Not beer.
My training partners are sometimes young and invincible, sometimes they are family, sometimes future Olympians. All of them, though are awesome and just crazy enough to join me even just for a snippet of this quest. It keeps me hungry and leaves me with clear vision. There is never enough to say about great training partners.
You feed their desires and support them and in return you get their support. You only need to ask once and they are in. It is an unspoken agreement that can and will take you further than either party ever thought possible. If they truly have your back they will grind you into dust when you need it, and when necessary, they will pick you up too.
The crew that decided to run up Buck Mountain with me in May. All smiles too.
Live loud, smile often, cry frequently, and occasionally do something great. I’m working on the great part. Say a few quiet words for me that I don’t die on the side of a mountain, and I can write the part two of this.
“Erin Little? Really? I love people with ironic last names.” – Bender
Erin Little at Syracuse University
“Optimist Prime” as we like to refer to her, is possibly the most excited, most peppy person I ever have had the good fortune to work with. At a solid six feet of awesomeness, Erin’s laugh is infectious, her drive unparallelled, and her support of those around her is unwavering.
Erin attempts a hit during a volleyball match.
A little bit about Miss Little: she is a recent NCAA Division 1 volleyball standout at Syracuse University, and was a professional player with Finnish League Bronze Medalists Oriveden Ponnistus VC. As you can see, Erin came to the CA well-decorated. Her sensational attitude toward others and training made her an easy fit here.
There was work to do though, and finding the right training partner was important. This is where “Optimist Beta” comes in. Lauren Salter, a CA sponsored athlete, got a tweet one day from Erin, who inquired about the Facebook pictures under Contemporary Athlete’s page. The two kept in touch via Twitter until Erin returned from Finland. Only a few days later, Erin made her CA debut.
Lauren has been as much a driving force and supportive role for Erin as Erin has been for Lauren. Together, they have learned to succeed here in the CA and out.
Attempting a block
There is something important to be said for having a great training partner: the right one will always make you perform better and vice versa. Erin’s place in the CA is important: She is an athlete of constant confidence, of moral support, and ultimately she is a leader by example.
Erin (right) and her training partner, Lauren Salter during warmups at Contemporary Athlete
I’m not sure of what Erin thought when she first showed up at the CA. Probably that I was a little crazy as most of what we do is unconventional, but Lauren talked her into staying and she has been a stalwart of hard work and fun. This carries through her work within the CA Professional Athletes as well as with the other amazing people I work with in my open training groups.
Off-weight lunge and twist…a “favorite”.
Erin, like many of the athletes I see walk through my doors, suffers from OTS (Over Training Syndrome). Too many days of training in a gym, on a court, and on game day, and not enough rest had left all kinds of issues in her body, and she was headed down the road towards injury. We reigned in her training and essentially started at square one with her lifting.
A particularly early Monday morning usually means coffee in hand during warmups.
Erin’s foundation as an athlete is solid, so stripping away the clutter was easy to do. With the right support, her goal-setting is moving forward, and watching her grow has been extremely fun. Erin recently decided to return to her alma mater to act as an assistant volleyball coach in order to further develop her own game, and losing her for the school year will be hard. Knowing she will be back next summer, though, has made that loss much easier.
Life offers you what you need when you need it. The question is will you know how to see it and will you accept the opportunity when it walks through your door? – Bender
Lauren pushes her sled at the start of 2013 US Skeleton National Championships
Lauren goes by many names here in the CA, Captain of the “Salty Crew”, “L”, “Salter”, and my personal favorite “Optimist Beta” (Thanks Erin!). All of them are good, yet small indicators of who she really is.
I met Lauren through a great friend of mine, Lindsey Murray, who was Lauren’s roommate when they both slid skeleton together. Lauren was visiting Saratoga Springs, and Lindsey told her she should come check out the gym while she was in town.
Working on snatch
Lauren came during a Saturday workout and we talked a bit of shop before I said I would love to help her train if she decided to move to Saratoga for the summer. A few months later, I got a phone call saying she was moving down, and wanted to know when she could start. I replied, “Great! I’ll see you in 6 to 8 weeks”.
She seemed perplexed.
Lauren (right) and Erin Little during a heavy lift day
As her trainer (I’m not sure what she actually calls me) I was going to help her get to the next step, but she was coming off of a season that essentially had lasted eleven months. Lauren needed time off. So I made her take it.
We talk a lot about what training is, and I have a simple formula. W+R=T (Work + Recovery = Training). It’s not complicated, but it takes all of those parts to make things happen. “R” is what she needed, so that is what I told her to do. During her month and a half of rest, she apparently finished several TV series via Netflix.
Another day, another test.
Lauren’s first day back was with my super awesome “Team XXX” (the Tuesday night women’s group). Unfortunately, she came out of the “pan” that is the Olympic Training Center, and into the “fire” that is CA. It was a dreaded “cards” day, where each suit is a different workout, and the number on the card is the number of repetitions the athlete does. I am pretty much sure that Lauren will never look at step-ups the same way again. She got through day one, but the road was long and full of adversity.
Lauren and Haley Sive (right)
We all come upon forks in our psyche at one time or another. As we go from “faking it” to “making it,” there is a place where we are unsure, insecure, and question everything. Eventually, it takes us to a place where we ask no more questions, put our head down, and accept our wants and desires in order to take the next step.
Braving the heat during an early track day
Let’s jump ahead a bit. Lauren has now learned that “awesome” is a mindset, and it comes from somewhere that even most 13-year-olds know instinctively. Ironically, a 13-year-old client of mine reminded her of this during a goal setting session.
In order to win races, games, or matches, an athlete has to be strong and fast. If they want to be fast, they have to have to have fun. If they are having fun, then they will be awesome. As we get more experience our views change, but ultimately, it’s about having fun. If you want to win a 5k, or go to the Olympics, it all boils down to having fun, because if it’s not fun, it’s not worth doing.
A long time ago in a galaxy far far away… about 5 years ago to be exact. (Also I love star wars, just so you know) Shane and I started down this path to his development as an athlete, and ultimately our friendship. He was a young kid, who was already too big to be sitting on the bench, at about 6 feet tall and 14 years old. Shane just wanted to get some time playing in, instead of sitting on the bench for his travel soccer team. Being 14 years old and 6 feet tall and probably a buck twenty soaking wet at that point of time. Shane finding the ground with his feet, instead of his head bouncing off of it first due to his gangly nature was the first thing we had to sort out.
It has been a long road to get to this point of time. I made a lot of mistakes back then. (Let me make sure to get something straight, I still do.) I was still a relatively young post collegiate athlete, and a wet behind the ears trainer who had only recently gotten his ACSM certification at that point of time. Shane was the first person in this line of work that would change my life. He asked me to help him get some playing time in.
So our journey began. We had our ups and downs, injury, travel, school, team drama, and summer vacations. Shane learned that I was relentless. I learned he was tough. Some days I played the slave driver, other days the mentor, many days the psychiatrist, and occasionally offered sage advice, generally consisting of “I did that, don’t do that it worked out poorly. Trust me on this one you don’t want to be like me.” Which then led to a personal story in which we would both laugh. Then the Burpees or sprints would begin again.
We learned about pull-ups, and deadlifts, and cone drills, and footwork. Along the way we got a few good videos of bad dancing and goofball antics, and some life lessons. We have both grown from one another; I went from operating out of my pick up truck, and using space out of the good graces of a friend of mine, to the big green of the CA.
Life offers you challenges it’s whether or not you accept that that really sets the bar on how you are defined by them. Good luck at Colgate next year and am looking forward to watching 4 more years of great soccer!
Foreword: Lynda a long time friend and client referred Gregg to me. When I first met Gregg, I was in the initial stages of opening the CA and navigating those waters. We met for lunch at a diner around the corner from his office. Gregg’s general energy will floor pretty much anybody and everybody that has the pleasure of meeting him. He is high speed and invested in everything he does, and everybody he meets.
As we began to discuss his current state of being, he dropped a bomb on me of wanting to run the “Tough Mudder” in less than a year. Time was stacked against us and it was running out every second we sat at that table discussing the “plan” of action we were going to take to get from there at that diner booth. Eating grilled chicken salads; to the finish line of Tough Mudder on race day.
We had our work cut out for us. I was afraid 9 months was not enough time to get there. So I wrote a very aggressive program that weekend and away to work we went on the following Monday. I am always interested in a challenge both internally and externally. Gregg offered me exactly that. A lot of “good living”, an aggressive timeline and a race far from just a 5k “feel good” race was laid out ahead of us.
I asked Gregg to start writing about this whole process of reclaiming his life and becoming the person he is. This is part one. It’s been a great process so far and I think we both have learned much and are always learning more from each other. With race day around the corner I am excited to see how it is all going to pan out. No matter what I am proud of Gregg and all he has accomplished to this point of time. The road is long and always winding. It’s how we handle those challenges is what defines us.
-Bender
(Gregg rocking a “wiper” workout, and me just being a good cheerleader!)
My personal journey to reclaim my healthy life: Part 1.
Mired under the pressures of daily family life and a demanding professional career I had covered myself in a suit of 296 pounds. My weight gain was equaled only by the weight of the psychological pressure to make everyone else happy around me.
On January 2, 2012, I made an impulsive decision and committed to a challenge I had failed to complete many previous times- I quit drinking regular soda “cold-turkey”. I am still unsure of why I chose to make this change but little did I know I had ignited a transformation in myself for good.
Sunday May 6th 2012 would become a pivotal day in my journey to greater health. I woke around 5:00am on this particularly cold, crisp early May Sunday morning to support my dear younger sister Kathy. She and a group of friends, “The Mudder Smokeshows” hailing from Winthrop, MA were registered to compete in the 2012 New England Tough Mudder @ Mount Snow, VT. So I jumped in my sports car, to drive a road I know all too well, which by the end of the day would be a road I hadn’t traveled in a long time.
I appointed myself the designated “Team” photographer for the Mudder Smokeshows. Kathy and her friends were psyched when I was already at the mountain waiting for the arrival at registration the 36 degree day. Nerves were high as they signed the release and death waivers, inked themselves with identifying registration numbers, foreheads, arms and legs.
What I began to realize was the adrenaline and energy around all the competitors. I felt something inside me I hadn’t felt in a long time too. The Smokeshows entered the starting area (climbing the 8 foot wall) my heart began to race and I was just a spectator. After a prayer and motivation slap of mud on each other- Kathy and the gang were off on their odyssey.
I would walk and move around the mountain to catch photos at as many of the 26 obstacles to be covered over the next 12 miles. I was psyched- my sister and her friends impressed me at each obstacle. Other competitors were on a dead-run, eating up the ground between challenges like I used to eat a bowl of Penne al vodka @ Pasta Pane. What became quite apparent to me was I wasn’t in any shape to be moving up and down the trails of Mount Snow. There was a time where I could ski all of this terrain without hesitation. This day I struggled just walk around.
I made it to Everest, the second to last obstacle, as the Smokeshows arrived. As a team the ascended the front side, supporting and pulling each to the top. As the climbed down the backside of the wood structure, I hustled down to the last challenge- the electrical field dash to capture my last images of their endeavor.
Tough Mudder completed, the Mudder Smokeshows team donned the reflective blankets, orange headbands, and began consuming their victory beers. I stood outside the finish line area- heart pounding and I realized my little sister Kathy was a ROCKSTAR. As they posed for their celebratory picture, I was gasping for air. When the posing broke-up they team came over to me to thank me for the encouragement, support and photography. That’s when my life would change forever, this version of Gregg would cease to exist. They as a group declared- I was no longer the Team Photographer, rather I was joining the TEAM and doing the Tough Mudder the next year. How could I say no, anyone who has a competitive or athletic bone in their body, would accept the challenge and I DID.
(Gregg and his awesome daughter Gianna, earning it together)
On Monday August 13th, 2012 I committed to another level of personal health- this was the day I began my training with “Bender”. I had managed to shed the addiction to soda and was slowly changing my dietary intact- I was eating less at every meal. So having lost the “Healthy Gregg” along the way the rediscovery was on and I met Bender at 6:00 am on Skidmore’s turf field for my initial evaluation.
Well, to say my first workout was an event is a classic understatement. As only in true Bender style (the Zen-ninja trainer) he wanted to know my reasons for not working out. After a feeble attempt at the “I am too busy excuse” Bender and I had a coming to Jesus meeting that indeed I did have the time to give myself one hour, three or four times a week to reclaim a healthy life.
So it was on – Bender handed my first piece of equipment to train with- the dreaded band. Not red, black, blue or green, rather the yellow band, around my ankles and off I went 5 yards out, 5 yards back … The sun was slowly rising, warming the field, what better way to start the next step in my transformation. The what I now consider a reasonable and doable 17 minute warm-up routine didn’t quite go so well.
Picture the esteemed Bender/Ninja Master huddled in his hoodie, shorts, flips flops, drinking his usual hot mug of coffee. I am using all my memories of myself as an athlete around 20 years old to complete each exercise in the warm-up series. I am trying to breathe and catch my breath while moving as nimble as possible, think rhinoceros in sneakers moving on turf.
All was going well as I gulped for more air and realizing, gosh I feel pretty light-headed. Dave asks, “How are you doing Gregg?” As only those who train know- the answers sometimes come out fast, intense and inaccurate as I respond, “Fine-doing great Dave!”
(Gregg Surviving a “Drag and Carry” in January)
As I realize this couldn’t be further from the truth- Dave moves me off the turf to a trackside aluminum bench to gather myself and recover here at just the halfway point of my warm-up. I know admit to Bender I am a bit light headed and dizzy. He asks if I want to sit on the ground instead of the bench- so I lower myself on the ground- as I sit there I mentally ask- why am I on the ground – still dizzy, I stand-up and sit back down on the bench. Next thing I recall is feeling much better and relaxed. I am thinking boy I feel pretty good, my eyes are closed and I feel somewhat rested … I open my I eyes to see Dave standing next to me with his cell phone out and I am laying down- hummm that’s funny why am I laying down.
The not so relaxed expression on Dave’s face and these words, “Gregg, you were three seconds from me hitting the send button for a 911 call.” Surprise, surprise- “go big or go home” as we like to say- I managed to pass out cold- great way to start the day and week with my new trainer- medical emergency!
We will skip the many of the details, but upon reflection perhaps the lack of sleep from a weekend of partying in Boston with my Little Sister Kathy and Brother-in-law Charlie, Dehydration, mal-nourishment, and sleep deprivation partially contributed to the loss of consciousness.
I good baby-ninja fashion- we assessed the medical situation, checked my heart-rate, modified the intensity of the remaining training session and back in the saddle- Bender guided me through my first session …
Success is measured not by what lies behind you but what lies in front of you.
One of the biggest reasons I opened Contemporary Athlete was to give people a place to help them get to the next step. Both my rowing athletes and everybody else who is amazing that I get to work with. This is a story of that next step for one of CA’s very own leading athletes.
Mark Rotondi is poised and ready to take that step to the next level. Today, Mark and I are driving to Boston to a US Rowing, Jr. National Team identification camp. This is one of those opportunities to see how you stack up on the National level and see if you have what it takes to represent your country, hopefully on the international level.
When I first met Mark I had just been hired as the boys rowing coach at Niskayuna High School, prior to the thoughts of Contemporary Athlete beginning. It was a new adventure for me, and ultimately a big part of why I decided to open the facility. It’s something that I am excited about everyday both in the gym and on the water.
If you have ever met Mark he is a very enthusiastic young man. Always looking forward to whatever fun challenge is put before him. Whether that is a 5k-road race, a lifting session, Spartan Race, or pretty much anything, including push up contests outside of Chinese restaurants. His enthusiasm never ceases to amaze those he is around. This trait, that everything is fun also makes him a great team leader. For this very reason (fun) he found himself training frequently with the Saturday morning 9 am Contemporary Athlete group. His roles as both a pace setter and motivator for all that are around him, have lead to so much growth for all that are involved in it.
(Spartan Race 2012)
With FNR/Niskayuna Rowing being in its 25th year I thought it would be a great time to push us to the next level on the boys side. Mark is currently the one to lead that charge. Leaving the comfort of the Mohawk and going to Boston to row and compete with some of the regions best oarsmen to find out where he fits in the National development process.
This also is a proud and validating moment for me as a trainer and coach. On some personal level you doubt everything you do. Always unsure if you’re pushing too hard, not hard enough, or you have unrealistic goals for you and your clients/athletes. At least this is my struggle as a trainer and coach, always trying to improve my craft. In order be better for those around me, so they can become the best that they can, and to have fun while doing it.
(Lightweight Finals at indoor worlds)
Contemporary Athlete is one of those places where athletes of all levels and ability can come, and take personal risks for their own gains mentally, physically, and emotionally. That will be able to set them apart from their competitors. It’s a place where goals can be set and discussed openly.
Mark’s trip to Boston is going to be stressful, physically taxing, and an emotional roller coaster. He will weather the storm just fine and knowing him as I have gotten to do over the last 2 years (roughly) will come out excited about the next part of the journey and smiling about it the whole way. That is why he is the current CA athlete profile, if it’s not fun, even when awfully hard. Than why do it?
(Royal Canadian Henley)
Good Luck Mark! Not that you need it; as luck is for those that are not well prepared, and we definitely do prepared.
