….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!
“Human beings are made up of flesh and blood, and a miracle fiber called courage”
-George Patton
“A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more. Nobody is going to win a 5,000 meter race after running an easy 2 miles. Not with me. If I loose forcing the pace all the way, well, at least I can live with myself.”
Pre
…. So the Town Lake 52miler. Not one of my brighter ideas to say the least. The idea was actually run the Cactus 50 miler on my birthday (November 1st). But after thinking about the drive home afterwards I chose to bail on it, and instead run my own Ultra at home… by myself, in the dark, good idea right?! ridiculous idea! Training for this run started about August. I stopped crossfitting and just ran 4 days a week at 4-7 mile clips, wearing a 20# and sometimes 40# vest (at all times). that was it. I never totaled more then 30miles for the week. My thought process was that if I could run the 7mile loop at town lake with a 40# vest I can run 50 miles w/out a vest. Fast forward to the night of the run… The idea was to start at 5am on Saturday, which was the start time of the Cactus 50 miler…. that quickly changed. After packing all the food I would need, I started getting antsy! So I moved the start time from 5, to 3am…. after lying on the couch twiddling my thumbs, I moved the start time again, 2am start time, no… how about midnight. Screw it lets just go now! That was at 9:30pm… I walked in to the bedroom kissed CK good bye and said I was leaving to do the run, she just laughed at me, gave me a kiss and said “OK”…. and like that I was off. Took me 15 minutes to get to town lake, and by 10pm I was off on the run. 9 hrs 45minutes later I was done! Special thanks to Aaron Arehart, Lance Cantu, and Mr. Tom Green for knocking some of mileage off with me! So just like that I had completed my first ultra… Time to start thinking about doing a 100miler now! (If you want to read about the actual details of the Town Lake 52Miler check the archives for last November)
and just like that the games have come and gone…. The wife placed 28th. Not the placement I’m sure she was expecting, especially not the placement I was expecting. I really don’t have a lot to say other then that if you are a Games athlete and you expect to compete at the highest level YOU BETTER NOT have any weaknesses! You will be exposed, period. Carey will be back I promise, 28th place finish is not acceptable in her book. I want to thank everyone that helped Carey this past crossfit season! … 2012 crossfit season has already begun
5 days from now, the wifey and I will boarding a plane and heading off to Cali… This year the Crossfit Games have taken themselves to a whole new level… athletes must be in Cali by Tuesday for check in, media interviews, fitting of Reeebok gear, and so on! Keep in mind the Games are not until Friday, but trust me when I say that I am not bitching about having to be in Cali an extra 3 days! Cali is like a second home to me, when I am there it just feels right…
I know I have said many times before but I will say it 100 more times… I am extremely proud of what my wife has accomplished this year in the Open and The Regional competitions this year. Finishing the Open 11th in the world and then finishing 1st in the Regional with probably the most demanding and grueling conditions is a huge accomplishment. But besides kicking ass, she a part of a multi-million dollar Crossfit business! Busting ass at that and putting in 12-14hour days. Plus being a mother of 2 small children who demand her attention when she is home and what do you have…. Superwoman, or what I like to call her The PeoplesChampion! I can’t wait to watch her compete on the biggest stage again, and this time Crossfit Central will be rolling 50+ deep with her parents in tow this time…. the Games are going to be SPECIAL!
thank you to our good friends Kelly and Colleen Brown for helping us out this year…. the caretakers of our beautiful offspring while mommy goes for gold!
cause when the games are over it’s time to party AfterGlow style!!!
this is how we should live…. yet I don’t know that many people that actually do. I understand that their is a time and place to be “serious”, but hell, you should have very few of those moments… and what is being “serious” even look like?! I have my moments where I get caught up in all the garbage that doesn’t make me who I am…. SO I take a step back and laugh(sometimes yell) and get back to having fun… But Do you know who is the one that reminds me the most to chill because that is suppose to be my reputation.. the chill one…
#PatientFast
In the love of sports I truly wish the ones who deserved the media actually got the attention they deserved… who knows your Sport might be bigger because of it!
I love you babe.. nothing means more to me then you regardless of my actions…
I coined (borrowed) that phrase for Carey awhile back for one reason only…. through thick and thin, people love to watch her compete. They almost expect her to kill it every time she steps out in the “arena”. That is a lot of pressure to have on your shoulders, but through it all the Peoples Champion has almost always risen to the occasion… Even when she doesn’t come in first, she still does better then most athletes could hope for! The great thing about this year that most people don’t realize is that Carey is healthy, she won’t admit it, but last year she had more nicks and injuries then she would talk about! And since I know her better then most, I could see during the Crossfit games last year that wasn’t Carey out there.. it was an athlete trying to hold it together as best as she could even th0ugh her body had stopped working! And she still made it to the last day of the games and finished 16th in THE WORLD!
July 29th-31 2011 Crossfit Games will be in full effect, and Carey Kepler aka The Peoples Champion will be ready to finally show the world what she is really made of! So buy a camera, extra memory card, some snacks, a few frosty beverages because you are going to be a part of the EXPERIENCE! if you watching at home record that shit! peace
the Underground Shack always has and always will be about Synergy… The Underground Shack does not have an address, it does have a FOUNDATION though… Like the old movie quote from Friday “It’s the Principalities”… Big Worm. So come one, Come all… those of you that fall into the Synergistic realm of the Underground Shack will be accepted, those of you that don’t will be rejected…until your ready. Because when it all boils down to the nitty gritty, we all were born to serve a purpose, it just takes some longer then others to figure it out. Peace
this song by B. o. B is very reflective of my past, which thank God is in the past….
Fast forward to may 2011
Time to catch you guys up on what the UndergroundShack has been up to for the last few months….. The Crossfit Open has wrapped up, I finished 104 out 900+ South Central Athletes. Not great and definitely not what I was shooting for.. top 60 was my goal even though I was going as team the whole time, but as an athlete/ ego I would have loved to qualified as an individual. The great thing is that I improved every week of the Open as did my teammates on the RedBlack Gym. So going into the Open we have a great chance of moving on to Cali which has always been the ultimate goal. As for my training overall… hitting prs left and right… hit a front squat pr of 280#, snatch balance of 190#, 405#deadlift x 2(tap and go..no bounce!)165# snatch..almost have 175 (real f’ng close!) ran a marathon in Feb with ZERO training in 4hr 25min…. I will leave you with those, with plenty more to come. I did just get back from Cali, where Brian and Jill Baker of CrossfitFly put us up for 10 days….. amazing trip to say the least. Some of the before mentioned pr’s were accomplished at their gym… you gotta love SoCal weather! There you go, life is good the family is doing great, my killed the Open finishing 11th in the world, and 1st in our region, SGK starts K in the fall, Stone is Stone…. Peace and Love
This past weekend up in Dallas Texas, Crossfit Dallas Central hosted the 2nd Annual All Cities Open. A one day event packed with 4 workouts as well as a “Fran Off”. I was just a spectator for this… this time! It has been 6 weeks since my run and I have started to amp up the intensity of my workouts, because a little birdie told me something is coming up in February! Back to the ACO, I want to acknowledge all the competitors who competed, especially the crew from Crossfit Central and Crossfit Point Break… Big Mike, mad potential son!! The one I am proud of most is my wife….. you brought the fun back to working out, and look what happens when you do! A 2:59 Fran time, and 3rd place overall!!! Your untouchable when you are having fun, remember that!
Workout Recap: In the last few weeks I have been taking main site wods and modifying them, all in all I feel good about my progress. I hit a pr the other day on Snatch 150#, which is a full snatch. And considering I haven’t attempted that weight in 4 months I am pleased. I did 165# at Regionals this year, but it was more of a power/ muscle press.. very ugly but hell it counted. MY 150# would have counted as a legit lift in an OLY comp., no press out. Word SON!!! Just thinking about competing again gets me lit! Stay tuned
A lift that I use to hate for many reasons… reasons; I was unfamiliar with the movement, not flexible enough, not strong enough, not not not.. Now it’s one of my favorite lifts to do… The last couple of weeks I have probably done close to 200+ lifts or variations of the Snatch. Snatch Balance, Power Snatch, Hang Power Snatch, Hang Snatch, Muscle Snatch, Split Snatch. I have kept the weight low in order to get the lift perfected, or as close to perfection as possible. I can remember Carey coming home from Coach Burgener’s Oly lifting Seminar (a few years ago) and telling me all about it.. the one thing that stood out the most was that he demanded excellence in the lifts.. he didn’t care about weight. So that is where I am at… getting familiar with the lift, being explosive, the weight will come…
the last couple of days I have been working on my snatch, jerk, thrusters, cleans all at 95-105#. taking it slow and light, and really working on perfecting my form. It’s funny, I actually stopped “crossfitting” 2 months before my Ultra. All I did was focus on my running, which in hindsight wasn’t the best idea, but what can I say I’m hardheaded. The beautiful thing was that I was able to complete the run on such little training that I’m super stoked about running a 100mile run in August, yes the Leadville 100… I have 2 buddies lined up right now to run with me, I won’t mention their names yet until I get a handshake that way i know they are serious about doing it (Don Ward, Julie Ward’s husband of Crossfit Central is in). So if anyone is looking to test themselves in one of the most difficult ways possible, join the group.
Back to my training: pushing your body to its utmost limit is very liberating as well a huge learning experience. Pre TownLake52ish, my training was mediocre at best… my lifts were sloppy, my composure was lacking, mentally I was all over the place. All I wanted to do was get through a workout as fast as I could. That way of training has changed! Do it right, do it efficient, be with the discomfort.. I never really thought about OPT’s quote “Get comfortable with uncomfortable” until I did my run… 9hrs and 45minutes of constant running will give you a lot of time to reflect on things, and I finally took the time to understand that quote. It doesn’t mean don’t think about the pain, it means embrace the pain with a smile on your face and keep on pushing through. While running, the words I said over and over were “I run for fun”, which kept a smile on my face. Trust me my legs hurt like shit with about 10 miles left, but I was on cloud nine for going as far as I had because I never quit… by the way I still have a few aches 3 weeks later that keep reminding me what I was able to do (very satisfying)! So as of yesterday, I have started to throw around some weight. Acting as though I have never done crossfit. Going over all the lifts, staying PRESENT through all the movements… making sure I am doing it proper. And believe it or not I am more excited about lifting then I have ever been. I will start timing my workouts today, but I will NOT be COMPETING against it. Just using it as a barometer in my training development. I know I told the wife I was done with Crossfit Competitions, but knowing me….that’s just plain silly, I’m just getting started!
Game On suckas!
You in the Office Baby!
OPERA
20min AMRAP
3 Snatch @75#
3 OHS @ 75#
3 Strict Pullups
3 Ring Pushups
100m jog
(I did 10 rds, plus 3 snatch, 3 OHS, # pull ups, 3 push ups/ keeping the running very light! )
my heart.. SGK a few years back
…my SOUL
