Thursday 08.02.12

August's Warrior of the Month: Mike "Can Do" Klebe

Mike started WCFM back in February, and 6 months later he impresses us more and more with each WOD. Let's find out what makes Mike tick...and read more about why we chose him as this month's WOM in our August Newsletter!

1) Describe your athletic background and your job.
I've worked for Muscatine Power and Water for the last 11 years in the mechanical maintenance department down at the generation site doing anything from simple carpentry and weld jobs to complete tear down of the units for inspection. My athletic background is pretty bleak, I was more the farm kid growing up so I never got into sports in school. After, between work and life in general, I was more into the hunting and fishing part of the world. It wasn't until about 15 or so years back that I met this lovely young girl, that you all might know as Cindy, who I later found out, is not one to sit still. Since then, we joined the Muscatine Y, learned to play racquetball, picked up on the frisbee golf bit and got into doing some rock climbing and try to go hiking as much as possible. Around February, Cindy heard about this new "CrossFit thing" and short story even shorter, we joined in late March.

2) Favorite Workout? 
I would have to say my favorite "part" of CrossFit is the strength training with the weights. Up to the point of starting with Warrior Crossfit, I hadn't had a whole lot of experience with free weights and was a little apprehensive about using them, now it's something I really enjoy. My favorite workout though would be the "Filthy Fifty". I know, burpees are one of my least favorite things to do in the workouts, but if you start at the bottom of the fifty and get them out of the way right of the bat, the rest is fun.

3) Least favorite workout?   
I still don't know many names of most of the workouts in general, so I would have to go with my least favorite parts. There it's a real toss up between the dreaded burpees and those damn bear crawls. Those freakin bear crawls sound so easy, but it doesn't take them long to really creep up on you.

4) Advice to newcomers?   
Get Thru The First Week! Yes you hurt, you hurt in places you didn't realize could actually hurt. Stairs are not the enemy! We all had to hold on to the bathroom sink to help lower us down onto the toilet. Eventually it will go away, or at least it becomes much more tolerable. Once you get thru that initial first couple of weeks, you'll find out how addicting this stuff really can be!!!! Lastly, when I am asked what is it about CrossFit that I seem to enjoy the most, that answer is the easiest of all. It is hands down, without a doubt, the people themselves. After 10 years of going to the Y, there just seemed to be some sort of "Something" when you walked into the gym area. You just didn't really feel welcome there. That has never been the case here at Crossfit. The minute you walk into the door, to all the people you meet in the classes, whether you known them for a good long time or just met, there is always positive attitudes and great people to workout with.

WOD

Warm Up

5 minutes:

1 barbell complex with pushups

instep stretch

--

Run/row 800 m

Then,

21-18-15

pullups

HSPUs

Then,

Run/row 800 m