From L-to-R, my friends Frank DeBernardo, Joseph Smith (aka; "Joey", aka; "Joe"), Shannon Tompkins, Steven Wright, and I on New Years Eve. We wanted to keep it mellow and go to a place where we didn't have to worry about being stabbed to death or hit in the head with a bottle. Joe is one of my best friends and has been for a long time. He's a great athlete and has been CrossFitting for longer than most of the trainers at CrossFit. He is a highschool teacher and is the Boys Varsity Basketball Coach at Aptos High. Frank has become a good friend as well, and is in Real Estate and is the Girls Varsity Softball Coach at Aptos High. Shannon has been a dear friend to me for, well, she's 24 now and we met when she was 16, and she is the one who got me to go to church for the first time.--(Back when I got all light headed and woozy and had tunnel vision and was sweating and felt like I was going to pass out simply from being there.) Steven is her boyfriend, and is the first guy she has dated that I really feel good about and approve of. He loves her, respects her, and treats her well.

They all started out as clients by the way, and became friends. But that's how it is with me and my clients. :) I forge some amazing friendships with my clients and they become a very intrical part of my life on many levels. I am greatfull for this of course.

Steven is a new client of mine. He was just drafted by the Cleveland Indians MLB BaseBall Team as a Pitcher, (their second pick of the draft) and will be one of the 5 in their starting lineup. He is a phenominal pitcher and has racked up some very impressive stats. He is staying here in Santa Cruz until he has to report back to Spring Training at the end of February, JUST to train with me at CrossFit. As with Dwight, I feel a great deal of responsibility in making sure he is in the best shape possible without getting any injuries durring the process. As we all know, a pitchers shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand of their throwing arm is their "bread and butter" as they say, and is how they support their family. It is every bit my goal to add 7, 8, 9, or hopefully 10 miles an hour to his fastball, as well as make his pitches much more consistent and accurate and his recovery much faster. (I have worked with four pitchers in the past and I've added between 6 and 8 mph to their fast balls, and have greatly improved their consistency, accuracy and recovery, but again, that was with limited exposure or 4-6 weeks at twice a week.) He made it very clear to me that the only reason he is here is to train with me, and that he wants the full spectrum of everything I have to offer. I am very committed to this. I have him on the 3-day-on/1-day-off format. (AND ON THE ZONE DIET!!!) Asside from my normal thought and effort that I put into the programming of my clients workouts and my group classes, I have been somewhat consumed in my efforts to help both Steven and Dwight. Between the two of them, with workouts at CrossFit and with doing research and planning in their training programs, I sometimes will spend 7+ hours a day between the two of them. I don't mind this of course.--I'm not complaining by any means. I'm just very driven to make sure I do the best job possible to help them succeed and not only survive in fiercely competitive sports, but thrive and dominate in them. Just as with Dwight, I see it as though Steven is placing his career and future as a pitcher in my hands and that is a responsibility that I take VERY seriously. I have to make sure that I do a better job than anyone else could or would do.