What a weekend. This was the weekend of the qualifier. I kept my nutrition dialed in on Friday and kept up with great hydration. I ended up heading down south that evening and crashing at my buddy Loren's house so I'd have a short drive to the competition in the morning. What a good dude, he gave up his bed for me. I slept well, all things considered, although I was a little restless. It was hard not to keep waking up wondering if it was time to gear up and go compete. Then, finally the morning came.
The 2009 CrossFit Games Northwest Regional Qualifying competition ended up being the experience of a lifetime. Heading into the competition, if I'm being honest, I was almost as excited for the rest to come after as I was for the competition itself. As soon as I walked in the hanger at Magnuson park where the workouts were held, that all changed. What a scene.
Over 150 people, both men and women, ended up competing in two different events in the course of the day. With friends and family there cheering us on, there must have been close to 500 people crammed in the joint. The energy was intense and the camaraderie was impressive. Everyone there, whether their chances were good or not, wanted to win. We were all plenty competitive. But the beautiful thing about the sport of fitness is the encouragement that arises between competitors when they're faced with the same brutal challenges. Again, at the end of the day, you want to be first. But, as soon as you've set the bar high, you're cheering for the next guy to clear it. There's no pleasure in beating someone who didn't do their absolute best and at the end of the day, win or lose, that's what it's about, giving it all you have. And on Saturday I watched athlete after athlete, some elite and some wondering why they were even competing, lay it on the line and give herculean efforts. It was beautiful. And the support/cheers/yells/cries of friends, family and other competitors was at times chilling. I've never had so many goose-bumps in one day. The atmosphere during every heat of the wod was at fever-pitch. What a day. By the time it was over, as exhausted as I was, rest was no longer the first thing on my mind. I was ready to start training for next year.
The first event was a max effort clean and strict press along with a max effort deadlift. Each athlete was given 3 attempts at each. If you failed at a weight, assuming you had more attempts left, you could not go down for your next attempt. You could only re-attempt at the same weight or move up. My first attempt in the press was at 78kg and I got it no problem. My next attempt was at 80kg and it stoned me. I just wasn't psyched up enough. For my third attempt, I stayed at 80kg. I got the weight up this time but at the top, I started to lose my balance backwards and took a step that direction to gather myself. This miss-step negated the attempt. Unfortunately, according to the rules, any change in stance before the weight was lowered back to the ground constituted a failed attempt. It was a frustrating way to finish. My pr in the press is right about 85kg. It just wasn't my day for this lift.
I had a much better showing in the deadlift. My first attempt was at 200kg or 440#. I got it no problem. I was psyched up! I took my next attempt at 205kg or 451# and got it up easy as well. My third and final attempt was at 210kg or 462# and although it was a bit more of a fight, I was successful at this weight as well. It ended up being a pr in the deadlift by 17#! I was stoked. This put me that much closer to my 2009 goal for the deadlift of 500#.
I saw many amazing lifts during the max effort portion of the competition. But a couple stand above the rest. The first was a lift by a guy from Snohomish named Jeff Vale. Jeff is a stud (he finished 5th overall) and, at approximately 5'8" tall and 160#, had a deadlift of 230kg or 506# that he made look easy. That's over 3 times his bodyweight. Amazing. The lift that stands out the most was by a guy named Edwin Perryman from CrossFit H.E.L. down in Oregon. Edwin stands about 6'5" tall and weighs approximately 225#. At 6'5", he isn't built to be a successful deadlifter. But that didn't stop him from pulling 275kg or 605#. It was quite a sight.
The second workout was the infamous 5 rounds for time of:
-3 muscleups
-30 wallballs, 10ft/20#
-6 sdhp, 60kg
It was a brutal one and with the adrenaline pumping, proved to be one that pushed us all to the brink. I was unable to perform the muscleups and the sub was 9 pull-ups. I finished in 14:46. And I gave it everything I had. It was a great time for this big man, especially considering I had 45 pull-ups to do in there. I can't wait to do this workout as prescribed though. Muscle-ups are right around the corner, and once I can hit them consistently, I'll be going after this one to hit it legit.
The atmosphere during this wod was electric. Every competitor was being cheered for by their specific friends and family but the way it set-up, it was still like you were being rooted for by the whole crowd. It was beautiful to watch people give everything they had only to finish, to reach the peak, and fall in a heap on the ground. People were literally leaving everything they had out there on the floor. There were many times when tears almost came to my eyes as I watched people persevere. Again, beautiful seems to be the best word to describe it. It was an experience I will never forget and one I can't wait to re-live next year.
