On to the NEXT

The Fittest Games 2012

 

“When you win, say nothing, when you lose, say less.”- Paul Brown

 

 

Tags: crossfit, kris kepler underground shack, The Fittest Games

The Fittest Games

#BAM

….are 2 days away.  It has a been 3years since the last time I competed in the Fittest Games, so to say I’m excited to compete would be an understatement.  Training has been outstanding, I have improved in a lot of areas, but I have seen some decline in others.  Which is what training is all about, as well as doing competitions… to see where you are at, what you need to improve on, etc..  The most exciting part about my training is that I still have roughly 4-5 weeks before the Open!  Last year at this time I had just started Crossfitting again.  I ran an Ultra in November, and had to take 2 months off to recover.  With not being sure I even wanted to do the Open put me in a really big hole after the first week (260th or so place after the first workout).  That SHIT is not going to happen this year.  If I start off 260th+ place after the first week of the Open it’s not going to be the fact I wasn’t ready I can promise you that… 

saw this cat in concert Monday night… Outstanding TIME!

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Tags: Avicii, crossfit, crossfit open, fittest games, kris kepler, underground shack

Move… move…move… move… move….

and move some more.  It’s amazing the inner conflict I battle every time I workout.  Sometime it’s really loud in my head, sometimes I can barely hear it… but once I give it attention it’s a bitch to get it to shut the f*ck up!  Today for example, we had to finish off the tryout number 3 with a 5k… no sweat right?!  I’m the runner of the group so I should be ok… well I haven’t run farther then 2 miles at a time since August when I ran Leadville.  So today I hadn’t even made it 1200m’s and I was already having to deal with the little voice in my head… The next 1.5 miles was a constant battering back in forth in my head that went like this.. “this is fast enough, … slow down a little… SPEED UP!…. slow down.. you are sitting in 4th no need to go any faster… and finally SPEED UP”  which I did for the last 1200m’s gagging and spitting as I went.  my time was 21:20, the fastest time was by Elliot which was 19:47.  I should be right there with E who probably could have went faster himself if I was with him pushing him, but honestly I have NO EXCUSES… To put things in perspective, my fastest 5k is 18min, so when I say I can go faster, that really means that I CAN GO FASTER!   But I will say this, for the last 3 days of tryouts at CrossfitCentral, I have improved each day and will continue to do so…

I am and I will, …. Be prepared for the Crossfit Open this year.

Tags: crossfit open, crossfitcentral, kris kepler, underground shack

The Significance of 1.1.12

my heart.. SGK a few years back

….that date is just as important as 12.31.11, or 12.30.11, or 1.2.12… pick a date, it doesn’t matter.  Don’t get caught up in the hoopla of writing down New Years Resolutions and putting all that pressure on yourself to follow through on them, don’t do it.  You know what you should do???? Make every day count… do at least one thing a day that makes you a better person.  I’m not saying not to not have goals, by all means have them.. write them down, have them available to you everyday that you see them and you go out and attain them.  What I am telling you not to do is put all your eggs in one basket so to speak.  SCREW THE DATE 1.1.12, if you haven’t noticed that day has already passed, crazy shit huh?!  And before you know it, the date 6.15.12 will be staring you right in the face and half the year will have passed and those New Years Resolutions will have whipped your ASS in the first month and you probably chose not to write down any new goals to go for after that. 

One bit of advice I want to pass on is to be GRATEFUL for what you have now, because whatever you choose to chase in 2012 will not fulfill you…. so take a minute and reflect on 2011, take the good with the bad, and now you are ready to crush 2012… I did this last night and it put the biggest smile on my face, and for the last 24 hours I have had this feeling of peace within me that money can’t buy!  So to all my friends out there, #Crush2012 with a smile on your face!

 

…my SOUL

 

 

Tags: 2011, 2012, carey kepler, kris kepler, undergroundshack

The Fittest Games

….time to commit!  I half-ass committed to ACO which in doing so I missed out on registering for the event!  Crossfit comps are not what they use to be…. the Sport of Crossfit is growing at a rapid pace, and if you snooze you lose.  With that being said, The Fittest Games use to be my fortay…. I won the first 2 years, and came in second the third year, but I haven’t competed since.  I know it’s not going to be a walk in the park, and the likelyhood of me finishing in the top 10 is a LONG SHOT!.  But if you know me, you know that I am always up for a challenge so let’s see what happens! 

 

#BAM

 

“The survival of the fittest is the ageless law of nature, but the fittest are rarely the strong. The fittest are those endowed with the qualifications for adaptation, the ability to accept the inevitable and conform to the unavoidable, to harmonize with existing or changing conditions.”

 

Tags: crossfit central, kris kepler, The Fittest Games, undergroundshack

Take A Stand

…in what you believe in!

 

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes

 

I have found that the greatest help in meeting any problem with decency and self-respect and whatever courage is demanded, is to know where you yourself stand. That is, to have in words what you believe and are acting from.
William Faulkner Quotes

Tags: courage, kris kepler, Not Them, take a stand, undergroundshack

Wake Up Call!

…..this just happened to me.

The Greatest Glory in living lies not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail… Nelson Mandela

I’m not going to get into the details of my recent trial and tribulations other then this… When I succeed, it’s huge, when I fail it’s just as huge!  The Nelson Mandela quote was sent to me by a special person, and I thank them very much for it, and will be giving them a huge hug the next time I see them.  The point is, to live an OUTSTANDING LIFE, I have to make only a few changes in it… that’s all, just a few changes!  In the past, I have been up to the challenge for only a short period of time… what makes this time any different?  Because it’s no longer a WANT, it’s a MUST!  #BigThingsPoppin

Tags: kris kepler, neslon mandela, underground shack

Leadville

… leaving the last aid station it was 6am, that is 26hours after I started.  I had 13.5 miles left and 4hrs to do it.  Should be easy right?!  To backtrack a little bit, it took me 2hrs and 20minutes to run it the first time, so I should be able to walk it in 4hrs was my mindset.  I was rejuvenated to say the least.  I had made the final cutoff, with one leg to go, plenty of time left.. all positives, but physically I was falling a part.  I couldn’t run anymore, and walking was now starting to hurt.. 

I could tell Carlos was getting antsy again… we came this far and I know how bad he wanted me to finish and we had no guarantees that I would make the time limit, especially at the pace I was moving at.  Out of all the legs, this was probably the most zoned out I had been.. I had a hard time focusing, even though I was so close to my goal yet it seemed so far away… the last 13.5 miles seemed to take forever!  About the midway part of the leg I heard my name called…”Kris, Kris,..Kris!”  all with laughing, as I turn to my left to see where it was coming from and low and behold was BIG CHRIS (for those that missed the blog about him, he had finished the first 6 Leadville runs he had attempted, this would be number 7)!!  My first “single serving friend” that I attached to.  Big Chris had to stop the run around mile 36 or so because of  severe stomach pains, but because of the comradery that runs through the running community (just like crossfit) he went back to the trail to cheer on his fellow competitors.  SO for a quick second I stopped and gave him a big hug and all Big Chris said was “You are going to make it man.. don’t quit!”  That right there was huge for me!  And to be quite honest with you, it was through divine intervention that Big Chris would be standing there all by himself and for me to see him at mile 96, right when I needed him most!  So with 4 miles to go I had one last descent, and then the final 2.5 miles was a steady incline…  The crazy thing about running at night and then hitting the same trail in daylight is that nothing looks the same.. perception is all f*cked because you can’t relate certain spots with distance.  So the closer we got to the finish the farther it seemed we had to go.. with 2miles to go I finally, sort of cracked.. just a little..  We had 45minutes left to make the cutoff, with 2 miles to go but one HELL of a HILL to climb!  Carlos turned and looked at me and all he said was “Kris.. we have to move faster or we might not make it..”  and for the first time I snapped back.. ” I am moving as fast as I can f*cking go!”  Like a Pro that Los is, he took it all in stride and we actually upped the pace a little.  Just thinking about it, makes me laugh now.

FINALLY… we reach the top of the hill and down towards the bottom was the FINISH!  The streets lined with people cheering, other runners finishing.. all beaming about the experience… “I can’t believe I did it!” was what I heard most.. With about 100meters to go I turned to Carlos and thanked him for everything, gave him a hug.. and at this point the last 29 hours and 39 minutes was played back through my mind and I can feel my emotions start to build up.  As I crossed the finish line with might I add a slight jog I was greeted by the race director who gave me a big hug and placed my medal on me and the  main himself who started the Leadville race series Kenneth Chlouber gave me a huge hug.. he told me how proud he was of me and was rooting for me to finish.. ( we crossed paths a few times on the trail).  And just like that I was a Leadville 100 finisher on my first try!  To top it all off the rest of the 6Soles crew was there at the finish and I got to go and hug and celebrate with everyone.  A huge thank you to Zac, Nicole, Elliot, Lindsay, and my boy Rhys for braving the last 18 hours as my support team.  I couldn’t have done it without you and that is no lie!  So after celebrating for a minute I had to go and do my final weigh in… and then WHAM!!!

All the adrenaline, all the emotions that had carried me for the last 29+hours left me in an instance!  I all of sudden felt this overwhelming feeling of loneliness.  I laid down by a tree outside the medical tent and started crying uncontrollably…  The people I wanted there most were not there, and it felt like bitter sweet success.. I will admit it, Yes I do the crazy shit that I do for myself.. to prove to myself I can do it, but just a little is for the people around me that I want to prove something to…  After losing my shit for a minute, I go it together just about the time Rhys found me.  He helped me up, and we went to go meet the rest of the crew to eat.  After sitting in the diner for about 20 minutes just poking at my food I told the guys .. “someone help me to the car, I just want to go to sleep”.  And so my boy Elliot did just that.  E helped me to front of the diner, then went and grabbed the car because at this point walking wasn’t an option…  next, he scooped me up and loaded me up like some crippled individual I had become, and like that I was asleep.  My Leadville run that had started a little over 30 hours ago had come to an end…  I DID IT.

Tags: kris kepler, leadville 100, underground shack

Leadville

.… as we approached the base of Powerline the first thing I see coming back at me was a runner and his support team who chose not to make the climb… they didn’t think that they had enough time to make it to then next cutoff so it wasn’t worth attempting!  They were ahead of me, and the guy sure looked in better shape/ condition then me and the way I felt!  But instead of taking it as a negative, I used that runners lost as my gain.. I wasn’t about to quit and was going to give it my all and let the chips lay where they fall so to speak.  Once we started the climb up Powerline not 2 words were spoken between Carlos and I.  I was so focused on moving up the steepest f’ng mountain that all I could think of was reach the top…reach the top.. reach the top, plus over and over in my head I repeated the mantra the race director said to us.. “Commit Not To Quit”!  And almost 3+ hours of climbing up the mountain where the elevation rose 2300ft, I stopped 1 time… for less the 5 seconds, and then off we went!  Once we reached the top of Powerline was honestly the first time I really felt confident in the fact I was going to finish Leadville… but I was far from the finish.. I still had roughly 20 miles to go, with one more check point to make.  

Coming down Powerline was a lot more painful then I wanted it to be and it was slow going because what goes up must come down… elevation dropped 1800 ft in less then 8 miles.  Because of this my time that I had gained back on the back 50 was slowly getting ate back up.  I could tell Carlos was getting antsy and was trying to push the pace, but I could only move so fast.  All the people I had past going up were starting to catch back up to me.. every once in awhile I would turn around and I could see a trail of light coming down the hill.  This did make me move a little faster but only for a bit.  Finally we reached the bottom of Powerline and had to make our way through the woods to our last checkpoint.  All was good until Carlos asked a crew running with us, what the next checkpoint cutoff time was.. (back and forth between Los and the other guy) “Dude, its at 6am”… “OH SHiT!, “that’s in 15minutes!” “how much father?!” “a little over a mile!”  Carlos turns around and looks at me with the biggest eyes “Kris WE HAVE TO RUN, YOU HAVE TO RUN… OR WE WON’T MAKE IT!!”  Without hesitation, I put my head down and took off… the most pain I have ever felt in my life (other then passing multiple kidney stones…)  We bounce out of the woods and hit the pavement, less then half a mile to go and we are moving.. “Kris.. we have 10 minutes, keep it up!!”  We come blazing into the checkpoint with 7 minutes to spare again!!  We were so short on time that my support team was yelling for us to stop but I couldn’t, I had to make the cutoff.  We get into the aid station and start refueling and just for shits and giggles I ask one of the volunteers what time we did we need to have  had to make to avoid the cutoff… “oh son..your good, you made it with 37 minutes to spare”  Are YOU F’NG kidding me!  As mad as I wanted to get, I knew it was for the best… I had just added time to my last leg that I would need.. trust me! 

..to be continued

Tags: kris kepler, leadville, underground shack

who is Dj IPOD

I am amazed at radio DJ’s today. I am firmly convinced that AM on my radio stands for Absolute Moron. I will not begin to tell you what FM stands for.
Jasper Carrott

….that is what my boi Randy called me.  But funny thing is I have no problem with that.  I don’t scratch and I don’t cut, what I do is mix and drop songs together, as well as loop beats.  Does that qualify me as a DJ??   sure it does.  I am so new to this that it would be silly of me to have attempted anything I’m not comfortable with at the parties that I have done lately on trying new stuff ie.  mixing and cutting.  I do practice it though… shit ain’t easy.   I have the utmost respect for the cats who have put in the work in the music that I play.  That is me showing respect to them, by no means do I take credit for the original sound….  playing  music is a passion!   For example, I spent 2 weeks compiling music for the #dirty30bdaybash, I spent $45 on CD’s , $25 on the PA system I rented, and then almost 3 days to put the music in the order I wanted it played… which during the 3 days, I practiced my mixing, looping, and drops for at least 4-5 hours.  Which during the party, that all went out the window…  and the last 3 hours of music was played on the fly getting looped/ mixed/ and dropped… because I wanted to keep the birthday boys happy.  I didn’t take many requests, but when the birthday boys asked me to play something I did.  I’m not sure where I’m going with this other then that I am developing confidence with the music, and combining shizzz on the fly… and I have only been at this since July… and last but not least, I did it for free… that’s passion. (by the end of the party my boi Randy was quite impressed with my Dj IPOD skillz)

So back to the DJ IPOD comment,  I actually kind of like it and may take it on as my DJ name….  now that I thought about it I would if Apple wouldn’t sue the shit out of me… hahaha, anyhow DJ OutLaw is my handle… so if you are looking for a house party, company party, birthday party, happy hour, even possibly a wedding party let me know…  Word.

this is my all-time favorite DJ… DJ Rectangle!!!

and Dj Qbert/ and D-Styles

Tags: dj qbert, dj rectangle, dj'ing, kris kepler