April Featured Athlete - Jake Lichter
Where are you from?
-Boston, Massachusetts
What brought you to Ithaca?
-Came here for college (IC) 2009, came back in 2015 to run a club swim team
How long have you been in Ithaca?
-15 years minus a 2 year gap
What brought you to Pallas?
-Introduced to CrossFit by Jim Garofalo, he was our strength and conditioning coach at IC and a former coach at Pallas. When I came back to Ithaca, I started coming to Pallas because of Jon Husson. I am an avid fitness enthusiast and CrossFit provided a nice segue from competitive swimming for 20 years and a nice community and team feeling.
How long have you been a member at Pallas?
-Since 2016
What keeps you motivated?
-I'm pretty internally motivated, but the people, coaches, and programming are far and above anything else that I have experienced at other gyms and coming back day after day makes a lot of sense because it doesn't feel like a chore.
What’s your favorite and least favorite CrossFit movement(s)?
-Any long running/mono-structural workouts with gymnastics
-Anything really heavy ;)
What would your ideal WOD consist of?
-Something like the Helena workout from CrossFit Games. I did this workout below and really enjoyed it:
8 Rds:
200m run
3 clean & jerk
4BMU
Above WOD playlist/5 song max?
-Split (Only U) by Tiësto & The Chainsmokers
-Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf) by AWOLNATION
-Groove is in the Heart by Deee-Lite
-Cigarettes on Patios by BabyJake
-Stop It by FISHER
**you should listen to the LO-JAK bangers playlist on Pallas spotify**
You are a former IC swimmer, what were your events?
-Breaststroke 100m/200m
-200 IM
What’s your personal favorite/most meaningful sports moment?
-I’ve had lots of meaningful sports moments, but a massive influence has been Steve Prefontaine, distance runner and massive influence for amateur athletes and Olympic athletes to have greater opportunities to be successful nationally and internationally, if you don’t know his story, you should look him up.
What do you do for a living?
-Assistant Head Coach for men's swimming at Cornell
Favorite scene from Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels?
-Whole gambling sequence(the music and how it's set in the scene)/The narrator explaining what Rory is saying
What’s your go to comfort food?
-Nachos
How do you drink your coffee?
-With cream and sugar
Where is the coolest place you’ve visited?
-Yellowstone, Wyoming
What book would you recommend to a stranger?
-Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
If you could live anywhere and money wasn't an issue, where would you choose?
-Wherever my family is
Tell us something about yourself that would surprise most people?
-I can wiggle my ears!
What advice would you give to someone who is hesitant to start at Pallas?
-It's just like anything else that you do, if you give it a try, engage with the community and coaches you are going to have a great time. It’s far less overwhelming than it appears on the outside. These are some of the nicest and supportive people that you will ever meet, coaches included. You risk far more by not giving it a try than by giving it a try.