Today, we celebrate Mike K’s birthday with a fantastic guest post from his fairer half, Kathy.  Happy Birthday Mike!

Even if you haven’t met Mike in person, you still might recognize his laugh. It is a loud, resounding, joyful sound – one that bursts out of him spontaneously and makes you feel like the funniest person alive. Before I got to know Mike, I was familiar with that laugh and as my best friend once told me when he and I first started dating, one could only be so lucky to be with a guy that happy. Because Mike is, one of the most optimistic, naturally cheerful people I know. Grumpy people smile after they talk to him, and he converses easily and always with a smile with nearly everybody he meets.

Another great characteristic about Mike is how willing he is to help a person out. During Marcus-opedia 2012 (Marcus’s b-day wod), Mike stayed late to help cheer our storied trainer on, put away all the equipment upon my request, and then proceeded to do a number of Marcus’s cash out burpees. Well, that did the trick in catching my attention. Since then, I have not had to carry anything, do a task I don’t like or bring water to the gym. As those of you know who have ever asked him for anything at the box or outside, if you need something, the guy will always help you out, willingly and happily. It’s really not an act.

Mike turns 35 today (gasp!) but really, I would say most days I see the 8 year old Mike in him.  One who still sees the wonder in life, loves adventure and going off the beaten path (no, he does not stay on any properly groomed snowboarding runs), who might still stick a live wire in an electric socket to see what happens (yes, he did that as a kid), who loves to eat good food and a lot of it too multiple times a day (little Mike used to wait for the Domino’s pizza man to deliver his afternoon snack!), who rides a beat-up beach cruiser around town because he was so stoked to find it discarded by its previous owner, who loves people, conversations and fun times, who kicks butt at everything he does and is truly good person.

Happy birthday babe! Love you and I am super excited to move into our new house tomorrow!

WOD 07.19.2013

Front Squat 3 x 3

1) Partner WOD

AMRAP 6

• 1 Rope climb
• 1 Bear Complex (7 reps)

Rest 2 mins, then

2) Non partner WOD

AMRAP 6

• 6 Toes to bar
• 6 15yd Shuttle runs