Monday 11.13.2017
8:30am class
Box Brief:
Congrats to Hugh Black for being the November Member of the Month at Apollo! Scroll down to learn more about Hugh.
Hugh
Congratulations on being the November Member of the Month! You’ve been a long time member, and I’m super excited for everyone to know a little more about you.
First things first, you’re ridiculously good at running. What helped you become a running superstar?
I owe all of my running ability and drive to one person that was very important to me in high school: my high school cross country and track coach, Carmen. When I got to high school, my dream to go to the Air Force Academy took real roots, so I knew I was going to need to be part of some sports teams and hopefully eventually a team captain. I tried out for the track team my freshman year and my coach, Carmen, took a chance and let me be on the team, even though I was absolutely terrible. My first track meet, I got lapped twice by the girl’s team on the two mile race. Carmen never gave up on me, always motivating me to do more, and to train harder. She convinced me to try out for the cross country team my sophomore year. After the season, she asked me if I wanted to train for a half marathon with her and a few other teachers before track started, I reluctantly agreed. After completing that half marathon in January my sophomore year, I was hooked, and I just wanted to be better and Carmen was always there to push me. Ever since then, my personality to always push harder and look for what is next took over, and I ran my first full marathon my freshman year of college. I became the team captain of the marathon club at the Air Force Academy, and then moved on to triathlons, completing my first full ironman in 2012. To this day, whenever I am running and feeling a little slow, I can still hear Carmen’s high pitched yell telling me to, “GO FASTER HUGHIEEEEEE!!”
How long have you been doing CrossFit, and how did you get started?
How long have you been doing CrossFit, and how did you get started? I have been doing CrossFit for about a year and half now and I got started through a previous Apollo member that we all miss so much, Allie Moore. When her and my old roommate, Alex, starting dating she was always talking about CrossFit and telling me about how good of a workout it is, and how great everyone at the gym was. I finally took her up on the offer and came to a couple classes with her, and eventually got hooked. I was looking to transition from all of my endurance training and to start focusing on getting stronger in all the movements that come with CrossFit, and now I am love everything about it and Apollo, and love the benefits that I have seen from it since I have started!
What has been the biggest improvement you’ve seen since starting?
I think the biggest improvement I have seen is just in my overall strength. When I was focusing on all of my endurance training I was so skinny and had a lot of muscle endurance, but hardly any strength or actual muscle mass. I have loved everything CrossFit has added to my training, and can’t wait to see where it will take me in the years to come!
Even when your schedule is crazy you are super consistent in terms of coming to the gym. What keeps you coming back, and staying consistent?
My schedule has its positives and negatives. I think the best part of having my rotating shifts is being able to attend almost all of the class times at one point or another. I get to meet all of the coaches and meet all of the amazing people that make up the Apollo family. I think the people and staff are one of the biggest drives for me to keep coming back. It is also my general motivation that I just want to keep getting better, stronger, and faster so I want to make all of the workouts in order to get all of the benefits of Chad’s awesome programming. One day I’ll be on Wes’s level.
You’ve been known to travel just a little bit (insert sarcasm). Where are some of your favorite locations?
I guess I have been known to be somewhat of a wanderer. My goal is to go everywhere in the world, so I haven’t even skimmed the surface yet, but here is a list of my top five places so far:
⦁ Sydney, Australia (The city and beaches are amazing! Need to go back to do some of the hiking of the blue mountains that are just outside the city)
⦁ Paris, France (Went during Christmas time and the Christmas markets were a must)
⦁ Bangkok, Thailand (It helps if you have someone that speaks thai, but this city is so fun)
⦁ Guam (The scuba diving is some of the best in the world and the water is so warm you do not need a wet suit)
⦁ New York City (Everyone needs to go, especially during the holidays)
Now for the silly questions.
Would you rather fight one horse-sized duck, or 100 duck-sized horses?
I’ll go with one horse-sized duck because I think duck-sized horses would be too cute to fight, I’d just want to hold and pet them.
You’re going to be stranded alone for thirty days. Would you rather stay on an island, in the middle of the jungle, or an abandon town?
Definitley an island. I’d just reinact the movie castaway over and over again. Find myself a good wilson. Plus, I could just build myself an abandoned town if I wanted, then I can have the best of both.
You’ve just been awarded unlimited money. Do you ever work again? If yes, what is your profession? If no, what is your new hobby?
I would work again, I would take that money and make my dream come true early of opening up my own CrossFit gym. Hopefully it will be half as good as Apollo!