In my opinion, it was late in the game to start competitive training, or, to start "Games" training. When I decided to begin my competition regiment, 3 or 4 months had already passed since the 2008 Showdown in Aromas. You see, only in my opinion, you need EVERY bit of a full year to train for the Crossfit Games, and even still, one year is NOT enough. There are too many things to be good at, too many WOD times to beat, too many Oly lifts to master, too many rows to do, too many tires to flip, and too many hills to run.... and even still, with all that accomplished, you can still never be good enough for the Games. But I still trained. I trained HARD.... I trained the only way I knew how.....and that was giving nothing less than MY best. I was lucky and inspired when I qualified in Seattle to go to the Games. I knew my next competition after Seattle would be in California against the Best of the Best!!! My training continued, and I trained Harder, and I was determined to know, how good my good really was.
My experience at the Crossfit Games was INCREDIBLE! I will never forget the day to come of pure HELL, and once it came, I embraced it! The moment I left Portland and was in the air headed to Aromas, I had my game face on. The flight was only 1.5 hrs long, but it seemed to take forever... I just could not get there fast enough. After 9 grueling months of training, and a week long recovery from the Seattle Q's, I was ready to compete again.... I was ready for something, anything.... I wanted a piece of the action and I wanted it NOW!!!
That chilly morning of July 11th was intense. We had our mandatory orientation for all the athletes competing in the Individual events. The meeting was held in "The Barn." This was where all athletes would gather and hang out before, during, and after the events. I remember sitting in that room waiting for Dave Castro to start roll-call for over 150 Elite athletes. I remember him calling off the names alphabetically of guys and gals that I had only heard of or seen on the Crossfit Main Site, or on the movie "Every Second Counts." I remember him calling names of guys who I studied religiously, their bios, stats, profiles, workout videos. It never felt more real when I heard Castro call off, "Josh Everett", "James Fitzgerald-OPT", "Jason Khalipa"... Everyone, was checking out everyone else. Nobody in that room knew who was going to prevail and win the Games. Would it be one of the "Big Names???" Would it be a "Nobody" like the year before??? No one knew, so, all we could do during roll-call was look at each other, no dialog, no facial expressions, just a blank gaze and wonder how each of us matched up.
The first event was painful!! The run was long and hard! But it was GREAT!!! I remember over 150 Elite athletes herded up like barn animals, and waiting to take off like running bulls as soon as Dave Castro gave the countdown of "3-2-1 GO!!" It was surreal for me at first. I was running, but it felt like I was floating.... I could not believe that at that moment, all the preparation and training put me in the middle of an event that was taking place right NOW!!!..... It was INSANE!!!!! Guys and gals were running and fighting for position in the pack. Early and even later on in the race, I remember passing athletes that I had heard about, that I watched in videos and movies. It was so crazy at first because I didn't know if I was supposed to be passing them or not. Why was I passing this athlete, I thought to myself..... do they know something about this race that I don't??? But I kept going, and going, and going. The run got harder, and it got hotter. By the end of the race, we all ended in the Barn. We were ALL exhausted, and dirty as Hell from falling, climbing, clawing and sliding down the rugged hills of Aromas.
After I had finished the race, I sat down exhausted. One of my biggest highlights I remember, was seeing Jen Kellams come in the Barn.... she had finished the race, and she had a dirty brown face with the BIGGEST smile I have ever seen. She looked at me with BIG eyes, just laughing and smiling. I got up from my chair and gave her a hug because I was so proud of her. Words could not describe the emotions we ALL felt after finishing that run. After training with Jen for nearly a year, I knew what her smile meant. I knew what was behind the glare in her big eyes..... it was accomplishment, victory, pleasure and pain, it was months of training in the hot and cold, it was the SACRIFICES, sacrifices of time, friends, family, it was commitment, to diet, training, and intensity. The emotions were personal, yet shared unspoken, throughout all the athletes that crossed that finish line. That first run was the beginning of a long day.
The 4 other events I participated in that day were also grueling, and I loved it!!! There are other highlights, but none as personal and memorable as those mentioned above. I will train again for next years Games. I am appreciative to have been able to experience all that I did this year. I will be back, and I will be back more prepared, physically and mentally in 2010.
My experience of the 2009 Crossfit Games was Incredible! I will never forget that day of pure hell.
Jerome Perryman
2009 CrossFit Games Competitor
17th Place
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