About Me

In 1985 as a high school freshman, I started training in earnest with a 110# weight set, running and bicycling.  I ran Cross Country and Track in High School (mile, 2 mile, 2 mile relay) and gained access to the football weight room which looked like a wonderland compared to the training I had access to before that.  My athletic endeavors prior to that included little league baseball and youth basketball, but never included strength and conditioning.

My programming was essentially Arnold Schwarzenegger Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding for strength training and The Complete Book of Running by Jim Fixx.  I also participated in local road races from 5K to 15K and the MS150.  Finally, I did take a training for triathlon swimming as the 1989 Memphis in May Triathlon was my first multisport event.  

Throughout college (1989-1993), I trained "chest and triceps, back and biceps and leg day" with a smattering of running thrown in.  After my freshman year and the Purdue Triathlon Club, my athletic endeavors fell off a cliff.  I worked out a lot my senior year getting ready for spring break.  I did participate in intramural basketball, softball and flag football.

My training hiatus continued to take its toll on my body and did not reverse course until I quit drinking in 1997.  I bought a mountain bike and began to rejoin life.  My training really jump started when I joined StorageTek and had access to the corporate gym complete with 4 lane lap pool, basketball court, indoor running track, weight room and group fitness studio.  A group of us would train in the evenings after work and play pick-up basketball.  I also started running again and the campus had a nice 3.4 mile loop that I would alternate running clockwise and counterclockwise.    StorageTek also sponsored softball, basketball, soccer and flag football leagues.  I also took advantage of moving to Colorado by going rock climbing with Nolan Kemp.

I ran the Motorola Austin Marathon in 2002 with a reported time of 4:32, it was closer to 4:12.  I ran the BolderBoulder in 1998 and from 2001 to 2003, posting a personal best of 48:13.  Along with John Twa, I started dabbling in mountain bike racing, never getting past the beginner class, but racing all over the state with a series that included events in Winter Park, Fruita, Gunnisson, and Keystone.  My training dipped from 2003 to 2006 while I was working on my MBA, but I stayed on a plateau.

One of the more consistent sports in my life was softball which I played in a co-ed league from 2001-2011.

In 2008, I restarted multisport training again and was all in.  I participated in duathlons and triathlon focusing on the sprint distance.  I got involved in the Arvada Triathlon Club and even served on the Board of Directors as Treasurer and President.  I also enjoyed training with the Jeffco Aquatic Masters Club.  My last event was 2015 and some of my race history is on the main blog at teamgupta.net.

I became involved in CrossFit in March 2015.  My triathlon training and strength training were getting stale and I wanted to dip a toe in the Micro Gym phenomenon.

I was very impressed by the emphasis on Olympic Weightlifting and Gymnastics movements.  I like the community atmosphere and have found balance between being motivated in a group workout setting and checking my ego at the door.  While my metabolic conditioning and mobility has improved, I continue to struggle with nutrition.  This is described as rowing with only one oar in the water.

I find the costs astronomical.  Typical box memberships are between $150 and $200/month.  My benchmarks are Globo gyms that can be as cheap as $10/month, Masters Swimming that is around $40-$80/month, and my former corporate gym access which was included as part of my compensation package.

All of my fitness and lifestyle goals were being met.  I am learning new things.  I was more engaged in fitness than I had been in a long time.  Finally, I was making more friends along the way.

CrossFit Undeniable - March-June 2015
MBS CrossFit - July 2015-December 2015 (with 4x/month drop in at CorePower)
CorePower Yoga - January 2016-August 2016 (with 4x/month drop in at MBS)
West Metro CrossFit - February 2017-April 2017 (Groupon trial membership)
CrossFit Golden - January 2019-April 2020; June 2021-November 2022

From April 2017-December 2018 I was training on/off as my schedule allowed with calisthenics (2-3 Rounds of Cindy), Powerlifting and easy running or cycling.  I knew I would be training by myself and tried to follow a mix of main site programming at CrossFit.com and sometimes HyperFit programming.  My intention was to customize and focus on powerlifting and gymnastics progressions while adding monostructural components 2-3x/week.

Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, I had been training out of my garage since March 2020.  I was taking advantage of remote coaching in March and April, but have since suspended my membership.  I have been mixing up my programming with a combination of Running, Comptrain, Crossfit Golden and CrossFit.com programming.  I still tend to gravitate towards powerlifting, but have been maintained an effort to work on my weaknesses.

As of June 2021, I have resumed my membership at CrossFit Golden.  This was primarily due to me returning to the CDOT Golden office for work.  I am still ramping up to the intensity and volume of coached group workouts.  I had more of a tendency to focus on movement and technique and did not maintain conditioning.  With travel in December 2022 and changing jobs, I have again been in the home gym and training for my office fitness center a couple of times each week.

2023 has been an exciting year in stepping away from CrossFit.  I still believe constantly varied, functional fitness performed at high intensity, but I have been achieving that through sport.  This year, I have taken advantage of the opportunity to dabble in Strongman, Powerlifting, Tough Mudder, All-Round Weightlifting, Highland Games, Triathlon and Grip Competition.  The biggest absence in my athletic endeavors has been team sports.

I re-branded this blog on June 8, 2020 from crossfit.teamgupta.net to training.teamgupta.net after some racist remarks by Crossfit CEO Greg Glassman.  My experience with the brand is one of inclusion and cohesiveness.  Rather than a knee jerk reaction of quitting Crossfit and burning my t-shirts, I will stick with Racism Sucks.  Training has been more inclusive of my current athletic endeavors as well.