February Featured Athletes - Leon & Elisa Miller-Out

1. Where are you from? If you aren't from here, what brought you here?

Leon's originally from the Netherlands, but mostly grew up downstate in Putnam County. Elisa's originally from Ithaca, but mostly grew up in New Orleans. We got together in NYC after college, then moved up to Ithaca to be near family and to start our own family. 

2. What do you do for a living? 

Elisa is an investor and entrepreneur. She runs Chloe Capital, a venture firm that invests in growing companies with traditionally underrepresented leaders. Leon is a techie by background and runs Singlebrook, a software consulting company, and Peerfocus, a platform for research surveys and benchmarking.

3. What brought you into Pallas?

Elisa started way back in the day at the first Pallas gym (a garage on Court St). Leon thinks this might have happened after he shared a Crossfit video with her. He got roped in later after listening to Elisa talk about Crossfit for several months.

4. What keeps you coming to Pallas? 

The coaching, the community, and the fitness! The coaches are really fun and so helpful, and the highly varied programming keeps it really interesting. We have friends at the gym (that we met at the gym) who we always look forward to seeing and catching up with. Staying in shape as we get older is also really important to us.

5. What are some goals you've crossed off the list? 

Elisa: Pull-ups and double-unders

Leon: Double-unders, chest-to-bar pullups, 300 lb back squat PR 

6. What are some future goals you have? 

Elisa: handstand pushups and longer handstand walks

Leon: handstand walks and muscle-ups

7. How has it been with your daughter joining classes with you? 

It's been fun to have this activity to do together. It's great coming out of class and reflecting on how good we feel to be outside in the cold after getting hot and sweaty indoors.  

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

Elisa: something with rowing, pushups, and clean-and-jerks

Leon: pull-ups, bike cals, and a modest number of handstand push-ups

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

Elisa: a rower

Leon: a barbell 

10. Who's the better cook? 

Elisa for dinners (and cocktails!), Leon for breakfast and baking 

11. Do you have a favorite date night spot (or are you still wondering what date night is, because I am..)

The Rook. It's cozy, has a great outdoor space, and is consistently delicious! It's also about 3 blocks from home.

12. What's your favorite thing to do in the summer? 

Swim in the lake and the creeks! 

13. Do you have a vacation spot that's on your bucket list?

Elisa: Australia

Leon: Iceland or somewhere else with baller auroras 

14. What do you do for self care?

Crossfit, mostly! Lots of saunas... Elisa does yoga a couple of times per week. Leon likes to go out to hear music and dance. 

15. Do you have any upcoming concerts planned?

So many! Especially Trombone Shorty at the State and the Phish festival in Delaware in August. Leon's also going to see Khruangbin and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard later this year.

16. What would you say to someone hesitant about joining CFP? 

Just do it! It's a deeply welcoming community and very supportive. Everything is scalable so you can get a solid (and safe) workout, no matter your fitness level. We've learned so much, and accomplished things we never would have thought possible.