Always consistent, never making excuses Marty is coming up on 6 years at BeachSide CrossFit. He was the founding reason for starting our noon class. A big heart and hard worker it has been incredible to watch his fitness and strength increase over the years. If you see Marty give him a thumbs up and a high five!
Tell us about yourself:
I am turning the corner on 45 (mind of a 21 year old), father of 3 boys (2 of which are now members), and a workaholic. I have surfed most of my life, competitively in the past. I love to mountain bike, however I no longer bounce when I fall, I break. I love to live life.
What do you do for a job?
I own a mortgage bank. Basically, play with numbers, and put puzzles together on a daily basis.
Tell us something people might not know about you:
I am shy.
What brought you to CrossFit in the first place?
I had broken my elbow mountain biking at night. Not being able to do much during recovery I became very sedentary and enjoyed at least “2 Beers” an evening (maybe hourly). This led to having to hold my breath just to tie a shoe. Not to mention the funny contortions I had to get into to reach that shoe. I knew that as soon as I was good to get back to normal life I’d want to jump on my bike or paddle out and that I’d most likely be disappointed in myself for flailing I thought it would be good jump start “my recovery”.
What was your first impression? How has that changed?
So the obsession began. I googled CrossFit gyms near my office and Beachside came up. Read a review by Mee and Herb, it sounded cool so I called. Met Nate 15 minutes before the 4 p.m. class a day later. My arm still in a sling, he asked a few questions, gave me a one over and said to wait until the Dr gave the ok. so I respected the “Let’s wait until you are healthy enough. Two weeks later I am in elements. I think there were 7 of us in that Elements, 4 lasted a while, and 2 of us are still at Beachside (7 or 8 years later). I was impressed by Nate, the gym, the members. The 4 o’clock class trickled in and the class started. It wasn’t frilly, it was core. The music has changed, the décor, the size, the programming. The comradery, hardcore work ethic of the members and the coaches, the honestly and attitude of the gym have not and the biggest reason I am still a member.
What was your first “bright spot”?
A 1-rep max Thruster at 195#. I fought for it for so long, seemed like an eternity, maybe a whole 3 seconds. As I dropped the bar and the world started to spin I could hear the fellow members, all these other athletes, shouting in encouragement. That was a moment. There have been so many since but that one will never be forgotten.
What are you working on now?
Almost 8 years in and I am still working on muscle-ups. It will happen!
What’s your favorite “Beachside CrossFit memory?”
My first BeachSide Beat Down! I was an idiot. A little pressure from Nate, some other members, and being told Paul Koch needed a partner (I have chased Paul’s numbers for years, he was my bench mark, still is a lot of the times), so I signed up. Rx! Not smart. The Thursday, 1-week before, Mee taught me my how to do a kipping hand stand push-up, I did my first one 9 days before the Beat down. Guess what was in the Beatdown, 60+ Handstand push-ups! If you fail, you were able to do 5 regular push-ups instead. It gets better, learned double unders the day before. I put 10 together on Friday, I thought no worries, I can do a few hundred for the last workout of the Beatdown, got this. I got CRUSHED! HSPU’s went out after 7, I had to do so many hand release pushups I lost count. As I sat there defeated on my knees I remember watching this lady kick out like 40 in a row as if she was skipping in the park. The last part of the workout was rowing and double unders. Pretty sure it was 5 rounds of a 500M row, Deadlift of 225, and 60 double unders. Paul is killing it, I am stepping on the rope every other jump. Thinking that I am letting my partner down I decide I will go all out on the row, try and pick up some time, backfires. Fourth round my right calve cramps up and my body starts to fail me. Not sure how I got through the double unders in the 5th round (I think Dawn was counting by 5’s or something) but I eventually got back to the rower. I am about 100 Meters in and the left calf cramps, both are locked up. I just wanted to quit, I was done, BEAT! In this moment of defeat and pain I am literally looking around to see if I can crawl away unnoticed. NOPE! I think Nate sees it in my facial expression, starts yelling to go, Courtney, Monica, and some other members just yelling with encouragement. It was a blur, but those shouts pulled me out of defeat and kept me going. I don’t think I moved for like a week after but I will never forget that day
