The 2012 CrossFit Games are over and so too is my trip out to California. Sitting in the horribly sprawled and ugly Los Angeles International Airport with nearly an hour to kill before my flight, it would seem that now would be a better time than ever to make sense of this whole experience.
First, I highly recommend anyone who does CrossFit to make the pilgrimage out to Carson and plop his or her toosh in one of the Home Depot Center’s plush plastic stadium seats. The Games are a spectacle par excellence. From the three athletic venues to the vendors’ arena, the spectator is totally immersed in an orgy of everything CrossFit. At the “market”, I walked up and down amongst the rows of eager merchants, drooling every step of the way. From CrossFit clothing and shoe lines, to new gimmicky nutrition supplements, I had never been bombarded with so many products geared towards the CrossFit masses. Suffice it say, I could not withstand the brutal onslaught of advertising as I succumbed to the purchasing of a couple of choice new items.
The Portabello Road of the CrossFit Games!
The athletic performances were stunning. Seeing Chris Spealer crank out double unders with lightning speed and watching Talayna Fortunato bring the Home Depot Center to its feet by valiantly fighting off Kristen Clever in the day’s last workout was electrifying, awe inspiring, and humbling all the same. I also caught a glimpse of The Source. You know, that moment of present-mindedness that all athletes experience when thought leaves the mind and the body moves no matter the obstacle, no matter the discomfort? While the caliber of athletes may have been different, it is a state of being found daily even amongst the members of The Movement Program.
No one gets left behind…
The Games were also a confirmation that CrossFit at its core is all about community. Time and time again throughout the weekend, when athletes finished workouts they would go and cheer on their competitors who had yet to finish. Total class. Take notes, Movement. No one gets left behind. However, I was a bit saddened to see many spectators leave the venue after the last heat’s winner had been decided. Droves of spectators just up and left while other athletes had yet to finish. To me this was very disrespectful to the competitors still slugging it out. Maybe I am making a big deal of something that shouldn’t deserve two seconds of thought, but I wonder, is only the victor of a sporting event worthy of our respect?
Finally, on a side note to the Games, I was not really a fan of Los Angeles. Hollywood was a cesspool and downtown LA really had nothing to offer. Thank God for Huntington Beach though. Not every day you get to see dolphins ride waves and do backflips! The weather was absolutely gorgeous and, suffice it say, I am not looking forward to returning to the sweatbox of Philadelphia. With that said though, I am looking forward to coming back home, cleaning up my diet (everyday was a cheat day!), getting back to training, preparing to open the gym, and of course, making Movement Program monsters!
Class resumes tomorrow at 9:00 am. An evening class will also be available at 6:30 pm. Please email me if you are coming!
Terpak.
Yes, I really was here…
