June 2020 Athlete of the Month

Congratulations to Keith Donovan – our June 2020 Athlete of the Month. Keith has been working extremely hard since joining us at Capital City CrossFit last October. He hasn’t been here long, but he has made a significant impact on his fitness since starting. After a short hiatus from CrossFit, Keith came to C3 with goals (mainly besting his wife Lindsey’s daily scores). After a few months of consistency and challenging himself he is back in fighting shape. Even during quarantine, Keith found the motivation to hit the daily Home WODs and was a prominent figure on the leaderboard. For this he deserves the honor of Athlete of the Month.

In general, what is your background?

Born and raised in Springfield. I went to SHG for high school and University of Illinois for college. I played baseball, basketball and football up until high school, but never played any HS sports. I am married to Lindsey and we have 2 fun loving boys (Beckett, 7 and Miles, 4) that keep life more than interesting.

Age, Occupation?

I am 39 years old and i am a Civil Engineer for IDOT for the last 18 years. I am in charge of the Weight Enforcement Unit for IDOT which means that i am in charge of and maintain all of the weigh stations throughout the state.

How did you get to know about CrossFit and why did you start?

I started Crossfit 7 years ago in June after Lindsey finally convinced me to check it out. I had never really worked out in my life but figured i would give it a try at least. I didn’t really have any idea what to expect and the first work out i did was the filthy 50, extremely scaled. It was terrible but I came back and 7 years later I’m still doing it.

How has CrossFit changed your life, lifestyle, level of fitness?

I didn’t think i was too out of shape, but CrossFit can change that perspective pretty quickly. I am still roughly the same weight as when i started but much stronger. Working out everyday also usually forces me to eat better during the days so that i don’t feel like throwing up during the workouts. There is still the occasional Taco Bell run for lunch sometimes though when I’m traveling the state for work.

Name one goal and/or personal record you would like to accomplish through CrossFit.

I would like to be able to string bar muscle ups together better, consistently be able to get ring muscle ups and handstand walk. I would also like to hopefully get more than one ab muscle to show up one day. Generally my daily goal though is to make sure that i beat Lindsey at any timed or AMRAP workout.

Favorite CrossFit moment so far?

My favorite moment for me would be when I got my first ring muscle up.

What is your least favorite WOD to date?

There is a Hero WOD named Coffland where you are supposed to hang from a bar for 6 minutes and every time you drop you have to run 800 m and do 30 pushups. That was the worst.

What do you like most about Capital City CrossFit?

I enjoy the people and the programming. C3 is a great gym with a fun and hard working atmosphere. I get a little better every time i come in.

Favorite exercise?

I enjoy most of the 21-15-9 type workouts with a barbell and bar movement.

Least favorite exercise?

Anything where I have to run further than 400m.