If you've never met Shane Gillespie, you soon will: he's the always-smiling post-WOD greeter around the Park. He turns up in the midst of every event, and it's easy to mistake his relaxed attitude for one of noncompetitiveness. That's usually why you don't anticipate him passing you…until it's too late. Behind the grin is a steel will; he just. doesn't. stop. ever. This is his take on the Catalyst Games 2011:
My start at Catalyst was to a group class in January 2010 and I had bought a 16 class punch pass. My wife and some of her friends had joined a group coached by Watson and she said I would love it, it is so much fun! I managed to convince a friend of mine to try it with me and I remember Tyler punishing me with a smile for an hour. It seemed so much easier on the wall then when I was gasping for air in the end. I went off and on through the year, participated in Fight on Friday 2010 and the Midnight 5k run but didn’t make Crossfit my top priority at the time. I remember at the end of FGB think to myself ‘You are in terrible shape!’ That was the wakeup call and I started working out with my wife a few days a week. In December I started the monthly membership and attending a group class once a week. The coaching at the group classes is amazing, I think the individual instruction and corrections help me learn movements correctly and the people in the group make it fun. I am also in the Running Group where I think I have made huge gains in running ability and endurance.
This is my first year competing in the Catalyst games and I am excited to give it a try. In preparation for competition I have competed in Defiance,Murph, Fight on Friday, the Mountain Maple, Midnight 5k run and Ray’s marathon.
My goal is simply to compete at the Rx level and complete every event. Sounds simple, but depending on the events, it will be challenging.
I love events with running, three rounder’s and WOD’s with 3 or four movements. I have achieved many PR’s in the past few months being in my infant stage of Crossfit and I love the challenge of trying to beat my previous times and weights. I still find the five round WOD’s and the 30 minute plus WOD’s a mental challenge. I am still chasing my first elusive muscle up, still fighting with over head squats and slowly getting better at handstand pushups.
My perfect day at the Catalyst Games 2011 will be finishing every event at the Rx level. I am my only competition and I will challenge myself to achieve my best results possible.