January Featured Athlete - Timothy Wu

1. Where are you from?
Born and raised in Plano, Texas

2. What brought you to Ithaca?
I moved here to attend vet school at Cornell, and have been here ever since, finishing a residency, and now a PhD

3. What’s your dream job?

I’d love to be able to work somewhere where I can continue to teach the next generation of vets, but also contribute to new research and treatments

4. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Hopefully working as a professor somewhere, and consulting with different institutes on the side 

5. What’s a CF goal you crossed off the list?

Finally got the hang of those pesky toes to bar last month!

6. What’s a future goal you have?
I’m working hard on getting my handstand walks down, that’s always been a consistent goal of mine that I’ve been steadily working towards 

7. What are your CF strengths?

I love anything that involves jumping (I used to be a dancer, and jumps were always my favorite). I think I’m very happy with my high box jumps.

8. If you could write a workout, what would it look like?

Probably a short run, followed by box jumps and some dumbbell power snatches 

9. If you could only use 1 piece of equipment the rest of your life, what would it be?

Dumbbells
10. What’s your favorite home cooked meal?

Mac and cheese

11. What’s your favorite restaurant in the Ithaca area?

Tamarind thai, best noodles in Ithaca

12. What do you do for fun?

I like going on the occasional hike, shopping or going to the movies with friends, and having people over for game nights

13. What do you do for self care?

Take a super hot bath, then stay up late watching a cheesy romcom in bed

14. Do you have a favorite author or book?
Last book I read that I really liked was Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

15. What motivates you?

I like seeing how far I can succeed if I just go for it and not second guess things. It’s a bit of a grind to get there, but the view from the top is amazing

16. What’s a random fact about you that not many people know?

I learned to ride a bike on YouTube when I was 18 years old. As you can guess, I’m not great at it, haha.

17. Do you have any hidden talents?

I can fall off a bike in less than 30 seconds. Also I can still do the splits! 

18. If someone was hesitant to start CF, what would you say to them?

I was hesitant too starting out, but the coaches are really great at explaining the movements before you start, and scaling things back if you’re feeling cautious about anything. After a couple of months, you’ll feel stronger, more confident, and more comfortable pushing your own limits, while staying safe the whole time. And the people here are so friendly! It’s truly like gaining a whole new fitness family; that’s been the best part of the whole experience for me.

Tim Paulson