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Saturday, October 31, 2009

Halloween WOD 2009 - Gibson Garage Gym


Had Vic Zachary and Webster Smith over to do "Nate" today.

"Nate"
AMRAP 20 minutes:
2 muscle-ups
4 handstand push-ups
8 kettle bell swing, 2 pood (70#)

Vic = 17 rounds!  Friggin' amazing to watch.
Shane = 13 rounds.
Webster = 7 rounds, but more importantly he defeated his muscle up demons.

Had a bad-ass time having these two monsters over for a WOD.  Vic is just damn impressive, he killed it.  Webster broke down some barriers today and got his muscle-ups figured out, he is well on his way to being a serious force.  I started having some serious muscle fatigue issues towards the end of my WOD which cost me several muscle up failures and brought my party to an end, but all in all I am satisfied with my performance.

I love CrossFit.

Karen did her "Nate" like this:

AMRAP 20 minutes:
2 pull-ups
4 parralette dips
4 self assist handstand push-ups using 28" box
8 kettle bell swings (she started with 1.5pood)

She did awesome, 14 rounds + 2 pull-ups (7 with 1.5pood and 7 with 1pood).

Davey Getting Some Squats

While playing the other day, Davey just up and started doing air squats.  He had done dozens before we got the camera out which distracted him a bit, but we still got some of the action.  I guess he really does soak it in when he is watching us WOD.  Really opens your eyes to the power of setting a positive example.  We are so proud.

Friday, October 23, 2009

The Future


~2030 Future CrossFit Games Champions

This picture of Alexis Smith (daughter of fire breathers Webster and Lindsey Smith) playing with my son David Gibson II inspired my thoughts and hopes for the future of CrossFit...

At 30 years old and having only discovered CrossFit a little over a year ago, I spend a fair amount of time thinking, what if I had known about CrossFit for 5 or even 10 years?  What could I have done, what kind of athlete would I have become?  I like to believe that I would have thrived.  Now, I know CrossFit has only been around a relatively short time and that all of today's champions and fire breathers are probably thinking the same things...What if?

Well, what if you grew up in a world where CrossFit was there from day one?  What kind of athletes and CrossFitters will we see 10-20 years from now?  The thought boggles my mind.  For those of you familiar with the UFC, you know there are many parallels between mixed martial arts (MMA) and CrossFit in the sense of mainstream awareness, where it started, what people thought and where it is now.  I see another parrallel in the athletes we are seeing in the UFC today and will see in future CrossFitters.  Yesterday's champions in MMA were boxers, wrestlers, Brazilian jiu jitsu practitioners, etc that started training mixed martial arts when it became a sport.  Today's top performers in MMA were raised and trained as mixed martial artists from day one, not specializing but focusing on all aspects of the game, and they are dominating the field.  I see the same thing happening in CrossFit.

Today's top performer's at The CrossFit Games are ex-division one athletes in various sports, former football players, traditional weight lifting/cardio enthusiasts, etc that started CrossFitting when it became a sport.  I am talking about amazing athletes here, but athletes that specialized for the vast majority of their life before altering their fitness towards CrossFit.  Of course there are exceptions, but you get the idea.  What if these same people had been CrossFitting for 15 years...or since they could remember?  What kind of "Fran" and "Murph" times would we be seeing?  What kind of performances will it take to dominate?  I, for one, can't wait to find out.

My son, Davey, and many other children like him are being raised in households that CrossFit and in communities with a CrossFit box within driving distance.  Not to mention the diet and nutrition awareness that comes with it at family meal time.  At just over 13 months old, my son already picks up my warm up PVC from the floor in both hands, grunts, and yanks it over his head with a huge smile...it's normal to him, he sees it all the time.

At 30 years old, it is far from over for me, but I am reasonable in knowing that I am getting older and the sport is getting better, everyday.  The future looks awfully bright, and I can't wait to see it and be a part of it in every way I can.

Thanks for reading, I would love to hear all your thoughts.

-Shane

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Week of 10/19 Paleo Menu

Sorry to be posting a weekly menu on Wednesday, this week has been a crazy week and I don't see the craziness going away anytime soon!! Our menu will be pretty simple this week.

Monday - Shane's Paleo Scramble (He will have to let us know how to make this)
Tuesday - Beef Scramble
Wednesday - Lemon Dill Chicken
Thursday - Grilled Chicken with steamed veggies
Friday - Beef Patties with mushrooms

Hope your have a great rest of the week!!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

1st Annual Oktoberfest Obliteration

What an incredible event!  I want to start off by saying, I love CrossFit.  I continue to meet amazing people and have great experiences with this one of a kind community.  Matt and Pam of CrossFit Champions did a hell of a job hosting this event and I send my thanks out to them and all of the volunteers and judges for their efforts and great job.  This competiton was a special day for me as it ended up being my greatest CrossFit victory to date.  No, not my less than stellar performance in WOD1, but in watching my wife, Karen, do things she didn't think she could do.  Karen competed in the women's scaled division and this was her first CrossFit competition, and her first anything competition since highschool.  Karen started the day placing 9th in her division in WOD1 which qualified her to move on to WOD2 later in the day.  And I know Karen would want me to send specific thanks to Vic Zachary of Bayou City CrossFit.  Vic was Karen's judge for WOD1 and he did a badass job motivating her through the WOD.  You should have seen her face when she found out she had to do another WOD!  She went on to a 10th place finish in WOD2 and on the day, but she showed grit and determination toughing through 2 tough WODs and going hard and giving her absolute best.  I am so proud.

Karen and I are at home garage gym CrossFitters, and I have the joy of being her trainer, writing and scaling her WODs and teaching her everything I can about CrossFit standards, movements, intensity, etc.  This basically makes me her coach and trainer.  Not only did I get to see my wife make a major breakthrough in mental and physical barriers, but I got to watch an athlete I trained do it as well.  This has been an overwelmingly rewarding experience for me.  But this isn't about me.  Since giving birth to our son 13 months ago, Karen has dedicated herself to raising our son and living a healthy lifestyle.  Her hard work and dedication was on display for all to see this past Saturday.  Karen has put in the hard work, and it shows.  Keep it up baby!  The results speak for themselves.  You are making everyone proud!  Congratulations on a successful showing at your first competition, you deserve it.

A few quick words on my performance on Saturday...it was yet another disappointing one for me.  I had a couple of extra obstacles factoring in, but I don't want to make excuses and at the end of the day, my mental game failed me.  I have my best performances in my garage, when it doesn't matter.  And I tend to have my worst performances when the world is watching.  By my own calculations, I think I ended up with a 16th place finish in the men's standard division.  I am going to refocus on my mental game and find a way to turn "it" on for game day.  Next time my mind WILL be steady.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Week of 10/12 Paleo Menu

This week we have our best friends coming into town so I am only cooking Monday through Thursday. Friday will be Chuy's!!

Monday - Stuffed Green Bell Peppers
Tuesday - Pork Chops with Spaghetti Squash
Wednesday - Beef and Spinach Scramble
Thursday - Taco Soup or Steaks

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

October 5th, 2009: Shane & Karen, 7 Years Married and Counting...


An old pic of Karen and I, but one of my favorites.

Yesterday October 5th, marked our 7th wedding anniversary.  Many of you may be suprised to find out that Karen and I are highschool "sweethearts" and we have actually been together well over 13 years.  What an amazing experience it continues to be to share my life with Karen, and it just keeps getting better.  I want to take this opportunity to publicly thank my wife for sticking with me through all the good times and all the bad times.  Any one that knows me, also knows that I can be quite a handful at times and stay pretty amazed that Karen has been able to put up with me for so long!  I have the best wife in the world!

Karen, I love you and I thank you.  You are everything I could ever ask for and more than I deserve.  Happy 7th Wedding Anniversary!

Monday, October 5, 2009

Happy 1st Birthday Davey!


As many of you know, my son turned one year old on September 10th.  We were supposed to have his party on Sept 12th, but Davey had other plans as he was sick that entire week with a stomach bug of some sort.

So, we rescheduled his party to our next open Saturday which was this past Saturday October 3rd.  What a blast.  Everything went great.  I send my sincerest thanks out to my parent's for hosting the party at their house, as well as for all their help with set up, clean up, etc.  Special thanks to my Dad for spending half of his Saturday grilling up his famous ribs for the party, they turned out great as always.

I also want to thank everyone who took time out of their weekend to attend and/or be a part of the party in any capacity.  It means a lot to us to see all of you that care about our wonderful son.  He is the highlight of our life, so bringing everyone together to celebrate a great and healthy first year was very special to us.  I know Davey had a great time, we had a great time and I hope everyone who made it out had fun as well.  Thanks!

Happy birthday to my little man!  We love you Davey!

Week of 10/05 Paleo Menu

This week we are trying some more new recipes!! And some that we have had before that are really yummy!!

Monday - Coconut Ginger Steak and Shrimp
Tuesday - Lemon Dill Chicken
Wednesday - Beef Roast in Wine Sauce - Crockpot Recipe
Thursday - Basil chicken in Coconut Curry Sauce
Friday - Spaghetti Squash with Tomato and Beef Sauce

If you wondering why a lot of what I make has a sauce. One reason it makes it taste so much yummier and also I start preparing and cooking when Davey is having a snack at about 4pm and then he eats at 6 and Shane and I don't eat until 7 or 8. Having a sauce for the meat to sit allows it to not get dried out during the time we are working out and having some family time.