Congratulations to Dan Cornell for being selected as the May 2018 Athlete of the Month. Dan has been committed to Mission CrossFit since 2012!! He is by far fitter now than he ever imagined. Dan put in his work at the 5am class, if you say ” Hey i’ve never seen Dan at 5am class ” its because he gets to sleep in 30 more minutes and come in at 5:30 am to Mission Strength class. Over the past 2 years in the strength class he has increased his back squat from 300 to 390, his deadlift from 315 to 380 and his bench from 235 to 285. Amazing gains!!! For those reasons and many more is why Dan is deserving of Athlete of the month.
Started CrossFit- August 2012
Favorite WOD- Cindy
Least favorite WOD- Anything that combines running with heavy squats or cleans.
Favorite lift- Squats!
Least favorite lift- Sleds or the assault bike. Both of those are like bad girlfriends – they’ll take everything you give and still demand more.
Story- Somewhere in mid-2012 I agreed to sign up for a Tough Mudder with a bunch of my high school buddies. For whatever reason I thought it was some sort of 5k trail run where you jump over a hay bale and run through a mud puddle at the end. When I actually looked at the website (10-12 mile course, 26 obstacles, tons of mud, electric shocks…) I realized I had made a horrible mistake. I had always done some running and light lifting, but at that point in my life I had let myself get pretty out of shape. When I looked in the mirror six weeks out from the event I had to say “this guy ain’t going to make it.”But – while I will disappoint my wife, and I will make my mom sad, I refuse to look like a pansy in front of my high school buddies so I knew I needed to do something drastic.
I had a friend who had lost a bunch of weight on a low carb diet so I stripped all the sugar and most of the carbs out of my diet to try and lean out before the event. And I had a friend in the Secret Service who had started doing CrossFit and got huge seemingly overnight, so I Googled around to find the closest CrossFit gym and I was tremendously lucky to find Mission CrossFit. I did an intro class and did my Elements work and was hooked. I loved the variation in the workouts and really enjoyed how the workouts mixed lifting – squats, deadlifts, cleans – with bodyweight exercises, running, and so on. I survived the Tough Mudder and kept coming to CrossFit because I was having fun and getting fitter. Since then I have used CrossFit as the basis for my training for other events –Tough Mudders, a marathon, a half-ironman, and a bunch of GoRuck stuff.
About two years ago my wife started doing some powerlifting with her trainer and she was making great strides in her deadlift. And I was really proud of her. But I also noticed that if I didn’t step up my game her deadlift was going to outpace mine so I reached out to Coach Mike about working out with the Strength Crew. Lately that’s where I’ve been spending most of my time, and I’ve made a lot of gains and had a great time doing it.
I travel for work and that gives me the opportunity to drop in at CrossFit gyms all over the place. I’ve had positive experiences pretty much everywhere, but it has also shown me how exceptional Mission CrossFit is. The facility is top-notch. The coaching is fantastic. The community couldn’t be better. We are all really fortunate.If there is one thing I have learned from CrossFit and Strength Crew it is that if you set goals, show up, listen to your coaches, and do the work then you make progress. I’m grateful to Coach Mike and all the coaches, the Strength Crew, the 5am folks, and everybody in the Mission CrossFit community. I’m in way better shape than I ever would have been if I hadn’t found Mission CrossFit, and I’ve met amazing people as well.
