One Word: Harvalicious.

Most of you know that my Dad, aka "Harvalicious", has been doing CrossFit for about a year now. The story of how it all started is somewhat random, and what makes it awesome.

We (my Mom, sister and I) have been trying to get Dad healthier for a long time. We have a history of heart trouble on that side of the family and he had a close call back in 1991, which took me awhile to recover from the shock of it all. In any event, we kept trying. Some yo-yo dieting took place and the net results were on the wrong side of being healthier.

After a close relative fell ill and was forced to live in assisted living, Harv finally reached out and said he was "ready to make a change". The call I have been waiting for... for years. But now what? I certainly wasn't expecting this call, but was overjoyed to receive it. I knew my Mom would be able to take care of the food part as she has been very successful of a very sustained period of time with Weight Watchers. So that left the other aspect - "getting moving".

I always envisioned that when Harv finally called me that I would hire a personal trainer. But that didn't seem right anymore. CrossFit entered my mind, but it freaked me out too. My sedentary Dad at CrossFit! That's for crazy people. But wait. It's scalable. This COULD work... maybe. At this point, Marc and I had been doing CrossFit for almost 2 years, and been to multiple boxes so we had a decent idea about things. One thing we knew: every CrossFit that we ever worked out at was full of super positive people who cheered on everyone.

When I told Marc and my sister my idea, they definitely didn't jump onboard. I said that we only had one shot at this and we had to strike while the iron was hot. They did agree that personal trainers can be expensive and not very consistent. OK, well call some CrossFit gyms in the area and see what you can find out.

Enter CrossFit Rapture. No email addresses on their website. But they did have a Facebook page. I got in touch and Coach Shane, one of the owners, texted me back so we could chat on the phone. I asked the owner what he would "do with a guy like Harv" and listed out the litany of physical issues. Shane had some ideas and I liked that he wasn't trying to "use my Dad as a resume builder". 

OK. Game on. We had to send Harv to get sneakers and then off he went to private morning sessions with Coach Ben. When we went to Disneyland in October, 2012, we put Harv through a mini-WOD. The pounds started coming off. He started to have more energy. Subtle changes in his mindset were taking place. Unfortunately we had a setback where Harv took a break.

Fortunately, with the help of my Mom, we were able to coax him back into the friendly confines of CrossFit Rapture. And he decided he wanted to go after work and be in class with everyone else. Things started to look up. Let's just say that Harv quickly acquired nicknames from his CrossFit buddies like "Harv the Legend", "H-Train", "Harvalicious" and now "Hollywood Harv". Harv also started to develop a "very proprietary nomenclature" to use for CrossFit. Kettles, anyone?
Harv proactively went to a workout at one of the local beaches. Did burpees in the sand. Who is this guy?! Maybe "Hard Core Harv"? Met more people in the CrossFit Rapture community. And then he got wind of "Barbells for Boobs", a fundraiser for people who cannot afford to pay for mammograms. So he decided to partake, with Mom, Lisa and I helping him to raise money for the cause. In return he had to do a workout called "Grace", which is 30 clean and jerks with a barbell. Trust me, it is not as easy as it sounds.

In parallel, I emailed some folks at CrossFit Journal about Harv's journey and they agreed that it was an awesome story to tell. I had the privilege of flying back to New York last week and working out with Harv, plus discussing how much his changes have meant to me and to the rest of our family. It was very powerful watching and hearing my Dad talk about his journey towards finally making the changes he needed to make. I finally had the chance to meet the community at CrossFit Rapture, including Coach Brad (another owner) that made me look so good by being so supportive of Harv. It was worth every penny and every minute of time to fly back for 36 hours. 

Harv is currently in 2nd place for his CrossFit Rapture fundraising efforts for Barbells for Boobs, but on Saturday he did do the workout "like a boss" as Coach Shane likes to say. I woke up to a video of him working hard and having fun with some family support there. The best was him in the large group picture at the end of the event with the rest of his CrossFit Rapture buddies. He is definitely a valued menu of the community there and our family is so thankful to them for so many reasons.

Harv still doesn't understand why people are inspired by what he does. I suppose it is easier for him to feel like that, but I know he has a huge fan club here in Seattle at our local CrossFit. Plus many of our family and friends cheer him on. Somewhere along the way, the nickname "Harvalicious" emerged. I like it a whole lot better than "Puff Daddy." And just remember, it is never too late to make positive changes in your life. Just ask Harv.