Esteban Garza

My journey into the CrossFit World started November of 2012. As my career as a football official had escalated to the highest level, I felt that I needed to re-evaluate my workout regimen. My source of exercise at that time were daily five-mile runs and push ups. This type of working out was not properly preparing me for anything thrown my way on the football field. That is when I stumbled upon CrossFit.

After attending a free class at CrossFit Incednia on a Saturday morning, I was hooked. With only a few WODs under my belt, the facts were written on the wall. I was a lot further off than I had anticipated; my core was extremely weak, my mobility was horrendous, my conditioning was suspect and my strength was not up to par. I quickly set a lot of goals for myself: lose 20 pounds and get stronger/fast/more mobile.

By February 2013, I had shed the 20 pounds and moved up from CrossFit 101 to CrossFit. The true test for me was going to be on the football field. The results were evident right away. I was able to move up and down the football field with ease. More importantly, I looked and felt a lot better.

In March of 2013, in an effort to encourage some friends to run a half-marathon, I ran the Phoenix half-marathon. Busy with my CrossFit training, I wasn’t able to “train” for the race. Surprisingly, I shaved seven minutes off my best half-marathon time. Better yet, I had plenty of energy left after the race. I felt that I could maintain the same pace over another 13.1 miles. In addition, my body wasn’t destroyed after the 13-mile run. This is when the light came on inside of me….if I could improve my half-marathon time simply with proper dieting and CrossFit, could I finally meet my 5k and 400m goals? And, the answer was YES!

That is when I came across CrossFit Endurance. CrossFit Endurance builds on a CrossFit base through increased stamina efforts. It is this methodology that is helping me achieve my running and fitness goals. I am excited to share that knowledge and passion with other Incednians that are eager to increase their inner motor aid their running, biking, swimming or any other fitness goals.