March Athlete of the Month: Kirk Garza
State your Name and/or Nickname, please.
Kirk Anthony Garza
Occupation?
Currently a Senior Director at HCP Realty Advisors, where I am responsible for the valuation of commercial properties and the day to day operations of our Valuation and Advisory Services.
Words to live by?
“Wake up! If you knew for certain you had a terminal illness–if you had little time left to live–you would waste precious little of it! Well, I’m telling you…you do have a terminal illness: It’s called birth. You don’t have more than a few years left. No one does! So be happy now, without reason–or you will never be at all.” ― Dan Millman
“If babies held the same tendency toward self-criticism as adults, they might never learn to walk or talk. Can you imagine infants stomping, ‘Aarggh! Screwed up again!’ Fortunately, babies are free of self-criticism. They just keep practicing.” ― Dan Millman
What is your fitness background?
If, by fitness background, you mean the domination of fast-food on a regular basis, then yeah, I have an extensive fitness background post-college. Long day of work? Let the Colonel take away your stress with a bucket of legs and thighs with two family sides… for one.
How long have you been CrossFitting?
Started the two-week On-Ramp program August 2009 after realizing how much my work-intensive/bad food-lifestyle was taking a toll on my body. First email to Wes and Boone: “I have heard great things about CrossFit and am looking to get started. Is there a certain time frame for first sessions?” All intro sessions were full so I jumped into the On-Ramp. I haven’t looked back since.
What’s your favorite part of CrossFit Austin?
I am the type of person who is always looking forward. What this means is that I rarely have a moment where I am thinking about the present and not thinking about what I have to do in the following days. Then I joined CrossFit. CrossFit is the moment for me where my mind isn’t thinking about anything else but the now, and how much it sucks. It is something I have come to admire about the workouts because it is a source of mental calmness, no matter how terrible the work out is
And who can forget the people? Since 2009, I have seen many characters come and go from the 6:30am class but I can always count on the AM folks to provide an interesting start to the morning.
What are your training goals?
Oh man, where to begin? Every New Year I start out strong, I eat well, attend classes 4-5 times a week, and get plenty of rest. Unfortunately this aligns with my job’s slow season and, by mid-year, I am lucky if I can get into the gym once or twice a week. This year I want to change that. With the latest Circle of Awesomeness challenge I have taken the approach that this is my CrossFit reset year. I want to re-build myself from the ground up starting with everything that has been taken from the Circle of Awesomeness Challenge along with practicing skills that I neglected and avoided until now…*cough*…Olympic Lifting. I am really looking forward to the results of this plan.
Favorite sport or activity?
CrossFit. Besides that I enjoy anything water related.
Recent adventure you’re planning?
The day after the Circle of Awesomeness challenge ends, I am boarding a flight to Vegas for my brother’s bachelor party. Should be interesting considering I will have gone over one month with no alcohol, sugar, and getting 8 hours of sleep every night.
Tell us something we don’t know about you…
When I was about to start 6th grade, I burned off all my eyebrows and eyelashes playing with fireworks (after Mom told me not to be playing with fireworks, of course). So I started Junior High with braces, teen acne, over-sized shoes, lankiness, awkwardness, and no eyebrows or eyelashes. Awkward City, Texas; population: me.
Longhorns or Aggies?
Fightin’ Texas Aggie Class of 2005! WHOOP! (I haven’t done that in a few years, so I took the opportunity.)
You have won every “New Year” challenge that we have ever held at CrossFit Austin. What’s your secret? Are there any words of intimidation you’d like to dish out to your fellow competitors this year?
It definitely isn’t easy, but rumor has it that a former member of CrossFit Austin moved to Houston because he couldn’t take getting beat every year.
Leave the fine folks of CrossFit Austin with some parting words…
If you see something in the workout you dislike or can’t perform well you should make every effort to do that workout and forget about your time or how well everyone else performs those workouts. In the end, it will be to your benefit.