Fit for Crossfit

I recently made the decision to join CrossFit. When I informed my two daughters of my decision during one of our group texts, this is how they responded.

I recently made the decision to join CrossFit. When I informed my two daughters of my decision during one of our group texts, this is how they responded.

Nicole: OMG Dad, don’t die… ha ha ha

Kami: LMAO, You did what? I can’t even get you to walk consistently anymore. And she sent a GIF of a guy lifting weights and them falling on top of him.

And this is my support system… LOL! I can’t even be mad at them because their responses were hilarious, and they were exactly the kind of responses I would say to them. Those apples are not far from the tree, in fact, they might still be hanging on it. LOL.

So, let me explain why they are concerned. I’ve always been a big guy, even when I was playing sports regularly, but I have always been able to be active and tie my shoes without calling 911. One of the funniest jokes I’ve heard recently was Larry the Cable Guy saying that he was so out of shape, when his wife bought him a Fitbit for Christmas, he put it on, and it automatically called 911. Now that’s funny!!

My routine, when I was married, was to walk 5-7 miles a day, afterwork and on weekends. I’d either walk with my ex-wife or my oldest daughter when she lived near me. But in 2014, I moved to North Carolina, I was alone, and since I didn’t have a wife or kids to worry about, I threw myself into my work. But the main reason I stopped walking regularly was the humidity. I had never lived in a place with true humidity and that first summer in North Carolina was horrible for this pampered guy who grew up around gorgeous weather. I would even joke that during that first summer in North Carolina, I wanted to jump off an overpass. I had to stop joking like that because some people don’t get sarcasm and thought I was serious.

Then in 2019, I was blessed to get this job in Sulphur Springs and again, not having a wife or kids definitely helped me elevate from Advertising Director to General Manager and then finally to Editor & Publisher. So that part worked out well, but it’s now been seven years since I’ve done anything truly active on a regular basis and boy, I’m feeling it at 59 years of age. I’ve tried regular gyms and for me, they don’t work. I could walk with another person and talk the whole time and not even realize we’ve just walked five miles, but on a treadmill, it just isn’t the same for me, so I wanted to challenge myself. And this brings me to another important part of my history.

When I was 39 years old, my middle sister Sharon asked me to raise $100 for the Relay for Life Cancer event. She was that year’s event organizer and she is a Breast Cancer survivor. At the time, she had been a survivor for five years, so I said to her, “how about we have a big family picnic at a local park that had batting cages, which I’ve always loved, and I would hit baseballs for five hours straight and people can come laugh at me and donate money?” Of course, she thought I was crazy along with my entire family, but when I told some friends at the local paper, where I had previously worked, they did a front page story about me and I raised $1,500 for the American Cancer Society. And the five hours in the batting cage went by with no problem at all. So, long story short, between 2001 and 2007, I held my Dave Shabaz’s Bat-a-Thon for Charity event every year and donated 100% of the money to various non-profits. In all, I’ve been blessed to raise over $50,000 for charity. I added hours every year and eventually ended up hitting for 12 straight hours in 2007. During those years, the Bat-a-Thon became very well-known. I was doing radio and TV interviews, I had ESPN as a partner, and the year I completed 10 straight hours, with my daughter Kami, who was 12 years old at the time, we were featured in Sports Illustrated in their Faces in the Crowd edition. Being able help to help non-profits such as American Cancer Society, The American Heart Association, Make-a-Wish and local hospice organizations, made it all worthwhile.

Then after a four-year break, in 2011, my daughter Kami asked me to help raise money for her Medical Brigades group at The University of San Diego. She once again went into the batting cage next to me and we both hit for 10 straight hours and raised $5,000 for the group. I was 49 years old at the time and that was the last time I did that. I previously tried to get into the Guinness Book of World Records because no one had ever done what I was doing, but they said that I’d have to hit for 24 straight hours to get a place in the book. I had no issue in trying for 24 hours, but there wasn’t a batting cage facility that would donate and stay open that length of time.

I didn’t tell you all of that to brag in any way, I told you because that is why my daughters are concerned. They know that when I commit to something, I do it. They knew that every year I was prepared to possibly die in the batting cage, and that isn’t a joke. I didn’t take breaks, I hit both left and right-handed and I went into a cage that usually threw in the 70-80 mph range, because slow pitch would have had me resting too much in between pitches and that was harder on my body. I did all of this while weighing between 250 and 280 pounds, so the weight isn’t an issue for me, it’s the lack of physical activity and that’s why I chose CrossFit. And for the record, I am currently around 280 pounds.

Now, I started the program this week at our local Sulphur Springs CrossFit facility and I can tell you, I’m not the type that gives into peer pressure. If I can only do one squat, I’ll do one squat. If I can’t do one pull up in the beginning, that’s fine. I won’t push myself for the sake of others, but I will end up pushing myself because of how competitive I am with myself, the Bat-a-thons being a prime example.

And by telling everyone about this, I’m also putting the added pressure on myself to not quit. I’ll be documenting my progress in future columns, be it good, bad or really ugly. I’ve done my homework and I’ve heard nothing but wonderful things about the local CrossFit gym here in town and about how supportive the other members are to each other and it was absolutely true. I was the worst person in class, hands down and other members kept coming over to me and giving me fist bumps and words of encouragement. It was like no other gym I have ever attended. I think with steady attendance and hard work, maybe in a year or so, I’ll be able to touch my toes without an emergency room being involved.

So, this is the beginning of my newest journey. Let’s hope it ends with me getting in great shape and not with six tired guys carrying my bloated carcass to my final resting place. (sarcasm).