Aggressively engage life, because it is very short and should be lived fully.
The spirit of the competitive soul lives on. You have to be a competitive person to go from empathizing to embracing.
The sexy CrossFit sensation Colleen Fotsch most certainly embraces that philosophy.
Her record speaks to it.
Her athletic life shouts it out.
You should meet her, especially if you love fitness and are crazy about athletic, beautiful, strong, young women.
On Apr 25, 2016, CrossFit expert Pat Sherwood talks with Colleen, who finished fifth in the Open in the Northern California Region. They discuss her swimming background and how that has helped her with CrossFit. They also talk about her competition past and how that might strengthen her performance in regionals this year. Very nice interview. As usual on YouTube, catch it while it lasts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djReMsJI-gs
She started playing sports at a really young age and virtually played every sport imaginable. Later she would even try the sometimes dangerous open water swimming.
Sexy as she is, she was always on the muscular side. She really enjoyed the lifting program at UC Berkeley and wanted to continue lifting in some way, shape, or form after her college career was over.
She started CrossFit a few years ago and within a few months of consistent training, started noticing a big change in how she looked and felt.
Since she started doing CrossFit, Colleen receives a fair amount of questions about what she does, both in training and nutrition.
Apparently they love feminine muscle.
She often gets asked if she plays a sport, what type of sport or if she is a body builder.
At her athletic profile site, lifeaidbevco.eu, she engages, “I’m 25 years old and the oldest of six kids. I have two brothers and three sisters. I was born in the Bay Area, but have lived in Illinois, Maryland, and came back to the Bay Area in high school.
I played almost every sport growing up and stuck with swimming in high school and qualified for Olympic Trials in 2008 and 2012. I swam at UC Berkeley and graduated in 2012. I had the opportunity to be a part of two National Championships while on the team in 2011 and 2012. I was on the 200 medley relay that broke the American Record in both 2011 and 2012.
I am currently a Strength & Conditioning Coach at UC Berkeley.
My friend took me to watch NorCal Regionals in 2013 and I immediately decided I needed to start CrossFit. I started taking classes at United Barbell soon after and have been there ever since. Choosing to start CrossFit is one of the best decisions I have ever made and can’t wait to continue on this journey.”
We are extremely glad that she pursued this competitive journey and Gandalf staff in her hand and all, we are ready to follow.
We have company on the trail.
The Cal Bear Alumni site swimswam.com is walking along with us and adds, “She majored in American studies at Cal, and is a bay area native having swum for PASA. She also broke Central Coast Section Records in the 100 back and 100 fly to win titles in 2008, and was the 2008 NCSA Junior National Champion/record breaker in the 50 fly.”
A truly competitive, championship pathway.
Colleen emanates from a powerful village. One of the wealthiest and most highly educated regions in America.
Let’s visit Palo Alto, California.
Palo Alto means “stick”, colloquially “tree”, and alto “tall”; thus “tall tree”.
Having traveled through there and enjoyed numerous dining experiences at their local restaurants, Palo Alto is one beautiful San Francisco suburb with expansive tree lined streets.
It’s a charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County and shares its borders with East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Portola Valley, and Menlo Park.
Palo Alto was established by Leland Stanford Sr. when he founded Stanford University, following the death of his son, Leland Stanford Jr. The city includes portions of Stanford and is headquarters to a number of high-technology companies, including Hewlett-Packard (HP), Space Systems/Loral, VMware, Tesla Motors, Ford Research and Innovation Center, PARC, Ning, IDEO, Skype, and Palantir Technologies.
It has also served as an incubator to several other high-technology giants such as Google, Facebook, Logitech, Intuit, Pinterest, and PayPal.
As of the 2010 census, the city’s total resident population is 64,403.
The entertaining and educational visitor’s site destinationpaloalto.com stands tall providing color. “Whether you are visiting for business or pleasure, or to attend a conference or other event at Stanford University, you will quickly discover the unusual blend of intellect, innovation, culture and natural beauty that makes up Palo Alto and the rest of the Mid-Peninsula.
Palo Alto is home to Nobel Prize winners, Silicon Valley CEOs, venture capital firms, Hewlett-Packard and one of the most renowned universities and medical centers in the world.
Though Palo Alto developed as a sleepy college town, the emergence of Stanford University in the 1970s as the nation’s leading high-technology research center paved the way for hundreds of startup businesses with connections to Stanford professors and their inventions. Thus, Palo Alto became known as the birthplace of Silicon Valley and attracted engineers and others from all over the world to pursue their dreams.
The Stanford campus itself is the biggest visitor attraction, and visitors could easily spend a day or longer exploring the beautiful campus.
But at a minimum any visit should also include a walk or drive through the tree-lined residential neighborhoods (among the costliest in the nation), a walk in the foothills or Baylands, and some great shopping and eating in the handful of nearby business districts, including ones in Menlo Park and Mountain View.”
The descriptions of this unique village cannot do it justice.
The weather is so often fall like. It’s somewhat inland so there is barely a breeze. If you love eating well-prepared, interesting, tasty, healthy foods while sitting outside and socializing with friends, Palo Alto is perfect.
The South Peninsula is well known for encouraging and nourishing great athletes like Colleen. The weather, the resources and the “we can achieve anything competitive passion”, is not only an incubator for high tech companies but future world class female warriors as well.
Tom Brady of the New England Patriots attended San Mateo high and the former 49er great, running back Bill Ring graduated from Carlmont High. This writer still remembers his clippings and wondering who in the world is this Bill Ring?
Colleen is very passionate about her work out.
At her athletic site she speaks to her work ethic. “I train 5-6 times a week for 3-4 hours—sometimes split up into two sessions. James Kusama is my coach and I also use the Barbell WOD programmed by Dave Spitz. I work with Nick Shaw at RP Strength for my diet and I eat one cheat meal a week. Having good training partners is huge for me. Every day I go into the gym knowing I will be pushed to my limits and everyday no matter how I feel going into the workout I leave with a smile on my face.”
On her CrossFit journey, Colleen also makes it clear that she will continue to be very competitive and engaged.
She’s confirmation that so many greats emanate from the San Francisco Bay Area.
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Sources: brainyquote.com, Wikipedia, fciwomenswrestling2.com, FCI Elite Competitor, photos thank you Wikimedia Commons.
https://www.npgl.com/athletes/colleen-fotsch
http://www.calbears.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=208202188
http://games.crossfit.com/video/update-show-skype-colleen-fotsch
http://www.und.com/sports/w-swim/mtt/fotsch_colleen00.html
https://swimswam.com/cal-alum-colleen-fotsch-takes-womens-strength-conditioning-coach/
https://www.lifeaidbevco.eu/athlete/profile/view/athlete_id/26/