Readers who weren’t at the games are probably getting pretty tired of this topic by now. Too bad. If they’d been there, they’d still be pumped about it! I’ve posted about 200 shots below, and lots of video (there’s another 2 hours of video floating around in Ty’s camera somewhere,) but these are a collection of ‘snapshots’ in my mental bank. These really point out WHY I had such a great time.
Looking up during my 510 deadlift and noticing that I couldn’t see through the crowd at the door. The noise was crazy. If you haven’t lifted that much before, you’ll know that you really can’t hear anything or see anything once you start lifting (or remember it, at least.) But I remember that.
My voice breaking – twice – while yelling at Ty during his big 500 deadlift. The noise was unbelievable. Cameras were going off everywhere, and the best picture of the games, in my opinion, was when he locked it out. Tyler jumping up and down and hugging everybody with his red face was wicked.
Shaking hands with everyone on the final run of Murph. As I passed them (most were way ahead of me, and on their way back,) we all had some congratulations and high-fives for each other.
Orrie (my 10-month-old son) clapping as I carried him across the finish line, holding my daughter’s (4 years old) hand. Now I know why this is Santana’s favourite part!
Matt rocking the truck pull, hand-over-hand, to set a new Catalyst record with terrible form. Watch out for that kid.
Taylor hitting 280 on her second deadlift attempt, after the first barely left the floor. You know how HARD that is? 2 attempts at 280lbs in under 1 minute, the second successful. Unbelievable.
Anna out-sprinting Matt at the end of Murph. I left my feet, I was so pumped.
Eddy nailing a 400lbs deadlift. 3 weeks ago, he couldn’t get 380. It was crazy.
Seeing Joe ahead of me on the second run, doing the “Joe Scott Shuffle.” It looks like he’s walking. He’s not.
Watching Gowlett ‘gear up’ for his lifts. NOBODY gets pumped like this guy. Amid the email barrage that night, I asked him to tell me something he was bad at so we could make it an event next year. “Folding laundry” was his pick.
Shawn talking to me during the last 2 rounds of Murph. The prison talk didn’t work, but the ‘3-2-1 GO!’ did.
Joe Scott – Sergeant Ridiculous – volunteering to ref all day, then jumping in and doing Murph with us. Empty stomach, no preparation, no shorts, no running shoes – and he did all 100 pullups without breaking them up! Wish your kids could have seen it, Joe. Really something to behold.
Crista Wardell succumbing to pressure and jumping in, doing the event on a moment’s notice in borrowed sweatpants, winning the Belt, and sending me this picture afterward:
Getting these comments on facebook, via email, and text:
Thanks sooooooooooo much Coop!!!! I am on such a high right now it’s insane!!
🙂
The games were incredible Chris, we had a great time! Congrats on coming first (well tying for first).
Thanks Chris! I had a blast! If I were closer I would live at that gym! What an incredible thing that you’ve brought to this town…..I’ve already made plans for training for the next one. As far as being bad at something, a certain someone will tell you that I’m horrible at folding laundry!! hahahaha Take care and we’ll talk to you soon.
Hey man thanks for one of my greatest day..Honestly you will never know how far you can go till you push your limits and kick its ass.
chris… the games today were truly inspiring…. i really wish i would have done them…. i will do a dry one next week at the gym…. it was awesome…. you guys are my heros…. i will do the next one for sure….
One final thought: though very few competitors will admit to being competitive at heart, every single person either broke a PR, set a gym record, or won something. WHO’S not competitive?