Catalyst Games 2011

Memoir - by Jeremy Paquin

Memoir [mem – whar]

noun

-         a record of events written by a person having intimate knowledge of them and based on personal observation

 It was a perfect clear blue sky day, Mother Nature’s last ditch effort to hang onto this memorable summer of two-thousand and eleven. The first item on the agenda: a scenic 3.5k run on the Hub Trail through forested trails, over newly minted pedestrian bridges spanning the Fort Creek, to a place local crossfitters affectionately call ‘The Park’.  

 Event 1 of the 2011 Catalyst Games was built to test our engines. Of course, a casual foot race from point A to point B would never fit the crossfit criteria, so Chris Cooper and his Catalyst Fitness crew added 50 hand-release pushups and 100 squats along the way, and then topped it off with 25 burpees. Although running and body weight movements are my bread and butter, I wasn’t surprised to see the fleet-footed 2010 Catalyst Games champion Cam Wilson leading the pack. Drew Nadeau showed all those in his dust that he was for real. And on the women’s side, out-of-towner Amy Leroux could not be caught.

 Fear [feer]

noun

-         a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc

 I had repeated nightmares about event 2, even while awake ~ impending danger. Competitors were granted a mere 30 seconds to power clean, from ground to chest, incrementally higher loads until failure ~ evil. In the weeks leading up to the Games, I managed 195lbs only once, and failed six times ~ pain. My odds were weak. You can imagine my surprise when I caught 215lbs at my collarbone. A gritty post-lift fist pump to the air and I started thinking possible podium this year. The girls showed their inner beauty heaving massive weight off the ground with Lisa Proctor and Mel Rose leading the way. Every soul in the gym gazed in amazement atWilson teetering on his toes, in a deep squat under 255lbs. And the big man Vance Henson made it look easy and probably could have cleaned more.  

 Work [work]

noun

-         exertion or effort directed to produce or accomplish something, labour, toil

 Can a human being, given average weather conditions, exert an effort so intense as to produce a bead of sweat and have it roll off his or her nose after, say, two minutes and thirty one seconds? It is difficult to do, believe me. Work should be hard. Working out should be very hard. Pairing up with Brandon Corelli to put our collective work capacity to the test made that single droplet fall off my nose. Sally Moore put her stamp down in fine fashion, and the always keen youngster Charity Henson showed the spectators her resilience. Steve Leroux reminded all the men why he stood on the podium last year blasting through the short series of log lifts, sand bag carries, and truck push to win event 3 in the fastest time.

 

 

Rank [rangk]

noun

-         relative position or standing

 The noise from the crowd was there, but somehow muted. Only one voice struck clear – Josh Deluco’s - there in my right ear. Rest is for the weak. Get off your knees. He’s catching up. C’mon Paquin, this is yours.

 Ten days before the Games I had casually mentioned to Cooper that event 4 would be long and difficult to crack 16 minutes. He looked at me like I was bananas and said 18:00 was more like it. I knew he was right.

 Brad Rennison absolutely laid down the gauntlet with his gutsy sub 17 minute performance.Sudbury native Adam Ball tried desperately to keep pace. Leroux and I staged a fitness battle worthy of some serious water cooler talk (if only Steve and I lived in the same city!). He completed the Annie portion of what felt like a billion double-unders and sit-ups ahead and I thought I was toast. My hands gripped the bar and instinctively pumped out 21 pull-ups straight to take the lead, my chin jutting out over the bar like Jay Leno’s. My box jumps were wobbly and borderline treacherous as my heart pounded towards oblivion. I staggered to the twenty pound medicine ball. Seventy-five shots to a 10 foot target. The first and last time I will ever do event 4 of the 2011 Catalyst Games. Fifteen minutes and fifty seconds. Done.

 Rose, Proctor and Moore went shot for shot at the wall in an epic finale. And Amy Leroux won her second event of the day. Mr. Cam Wilson could not be reined in and retained his title. Ms. Sally Moore proved that every second counts.

 Congratulations to all. 

 

The Roster

If you're on it, you're competing. Not on it? Call 256-1344 before noon, or miss out on a shirt!

Can't read it? Download the roster here:

Download Roster

Drew Nadeau: An Athlete Reborn

Drew used to be a football player.

After a year of doing CrossFit Football, he's switched to our main-group programming. He's dropped a ton of weight, and he's got a new set of skills. He's leaner...but still can't make it through a WOD without laughing. Watch for the up-and-comer at the Games....

What brought you to CrossFit/ Catalyst?  The idea of more serious training, i went to the leach and the Y to workout before doing a stupid body building split that got me no where in the athletics and overall healthy lifestyle. also I wanted a gym where the population of people was more then the population of "machines". Before i went to catalyst i had no idea what crossfit was, when i got my first free day at catalyst i noticed 2 seperate record boards, heavy lifts, and weird named wods, for a year i strived at getting the heavy lift records and after a year finally got one of them. eventually realizing that my athletic "career" was done when i was finished highschool i started looking into those named records i saw on the board, did my first wod which i think was cindy got my ass handed to me and now im addicted and striving to get a record on the named wod board.

What are you hoping to get from the Games this year? podium finish, fun, and learn what my weaknesses are

What's next for Drew Nadeau? Im going to sudbury for school until june 2011 for firefighting at cambrian college, hopefully get into a good local gym there where i can continue crossfit , if all goes well i want to try the crossfit open next year.

Is anything making me nervous? I get nervous everytime I drive into the industrial park.

Luke Cloutier: Gun For Hire

This is Luke.

Luke does Jiu-Jitsu.

Luke was stood up by his teammate last night. He wants to compete in the Catalyst Games, and he's out for revenge. You need a mercenary? It's Luke.

Right: Luke at Fight Gone Bad with his coach-for-a-day, Ray Gowlett.

Here he is on Facebook. Otherwise, add a message on the Catalyst Games 2011 Facebook page!

A Quick Note From London...

 

Chris…a quick thanks in advance for you and your team’s hard work making this weekend possible.
 
I also thought I would share my upcoming Thursday WOD with everyone along with a quick note. 
 
THURSDAY PRE-GAMES WOD
 
Warm-Up
 
-          7 hours trying to work while watching the slow moving clock
 
Then complete the following for time:
 
-          4 luggage deadlifts (who knew you needed this much stuff for a weekend)
-          1 Portable DVD Player install (fancy word for strapping it to back of the headrest)
-          1 return trip to the house to retrieve something we forgot
-          1 “pick a lane” at Sarnia border
-          45 minute “sit and wait” (because apparently I should have let my wife “pick a lane”)
-          3 consecutive ‘showings’ of Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (if you have a daughter, you’ll understand)
-          8 washroom stops (if you have a 5 year old, you’ll understand)
-          50 “are we there yet?”
-          2 outlet mall stops (if you’ve seen my wife shop, you’d understand you can lose a ton of time on this one)
-          45 minute “sit and wait” at the Sault border
-          1 stretched truth about how much we spent while in the U.S.
-          4 luggage Farmer’s walk into mother-in-laws house
 
Cool Down
-          Watch The Telelatino Network or RAI International (if you are Italian or married to an Italian , you’ll understand) until my mother in law goes to sleep so I can watch sports highlights on TSN…note that this takes an extremely high level of endurance.
 
On a serious note,  I had just finished 2 months of rehabbing a back injury (that made even walking a challenge) when I visited Catalyst in August and had a ton of doubts about whether I would still be able to compete (or even wanted to).  After being exposed to just a small part of the Catalyst community, not competing was simply not an option…I needed to be part of this day regardless of how “ready” I would be.
 
Not unlike many of you competing, I’ve still got a long way to go to get back to where I need to be physically and a lot to learn about this crazy thing called Crossfit.   However, regardless of how “ready” we are for Saturday, we all have an equal opportunity to surprise ourselves with what we are capable of.
 
Commit to surprising yourself on Saturday and having as much fun as you possibly can (while being on the verge of puking of course)…remember, you are all beasts (this is a complement) and not too many people get to spend a whole day skipping and playing with barbells.
 
See everyone Saturday…

Catalyst Games Athlete Profile: Michele Irwin

   

I was introduced to Catalyst and Crossfit in January 2009 attending an evening work group session once a week with Coach Mike and when our group lessons ended in May of 2009 I really missed it so I started again in August and have been doing Crossfit regularly ever since. I am now in the best shape I have ever been in my entire 47 years thanks to Catalyst. Even though I was still new to Crossfit, I wanted to participate in the 2009 Games; however, I had an injury that kept me on the sidelines. It was difficult to watch members of the Catalyst family participate when I couldn’t, but I was there to cheer them on and admired their bravery. I have participated in FranFest (where I chipped a front tooth, but didn’t let that stop me from finishing), Fight Gone Bad, Murph and the 5km Midnight Run (where I achieved a PR) all difficult WOD’s but the incredible encouragement from other members and coaches made all these events a success for me. My goals for this year are to master kipping pull-ups. I have been working at them and although I can only do three at a time I am pleased with how far I have come. I definitely need to work on double-unders for the games. I have also come a long way in my running endurance thanks to Mikes running group and the POSE technique. I am hoping that I can complete most of the events this year “as required”. There are 3 things I know for certain are the reasons I continue to love Catalyst and Crossfit. The most important: Reason #1 - the amazing coaches, that actually TEACH the right way to exercise and take the time to get to know everyone by their first name; Reason #2 - the challenge that presents itself in every workout and Reason #3 - the other Catalyst members who encourage and inspire me by their courage and incredible stories. I am both excited and scared to be participating in the Games and hope that the jitters will cease once the Games start.

Catalyst Games Athlete Profile: Sarah Palumbo

I’ve always been an off and on gym rat. The only problem was there was nothing to ever keep me there. Sure I felt better when I was doing something but I always got bored and hated the stares, the judging, and the Curl King’s snickering when I lifted heavy and asking if I wanted them to help me.
 
My family wasn’t very helpful either…”You know you shouldn’t be lifting heavy weights. You’re going hurt yourself and your arms don’t look very feminine anyway, eat some pasta”.
 
I wanted to try Crossfit for years, but instead my gym membership turned into a monthly donation when I decided to take on my third job (Incidentally where I gained about 25lbs eating delicious free food late every night).
 
Finally I had enough. Tired of stopping halfway up the stairs carrying my laundry, I remembered the days of feeling good and did what I did many times, went to the Catalyst website. The OnRamp group was starting in a couple of weeks. I quit my evening job and signed up.
 
A couple of days in and I was hooked. My whole body hurt but I felt so good. I didn’t have to do three sets of ten stupid weights that where too easy just so I didn’t ‘get big’. Now I get to lift until I can’t anymore (and then do ninety more). I get to do bench presses and squats without ‘sucking in’, I just lift and lay it all out there and no one cares. Everyone at Catalyst is there doing the same thing. No one does their make up before they go; they are more likely to wash it off so it doesn’t run in their eyes and ruin their lift.
 
I love sitting at my desk job and feeling my callouses.  I love that the laundry basket feels so light now and I take the stairs two at a time. I love that my boyfriend can’t understand this place that has me so hooked or why I am so set on doing unassisted pull-ups. And mostly, I love that last Tuesday night at the Midland County Fair the big guy behind me at the sledge hammer game quickly disappeared into the crowd when he couldn’t hit it as high as I had. (Thank you Crossfit.)
 
My goal for the games is to finish. Low reps with heavier weight are much easier for me, so if I see high rep WODs I will know I am in for it. I definitely have many things I need to improve, but if I have learned anything from the coaches at Catalyst it’s to try, make every rep count and if you think you can't, do it anyways (scaled a little if you're lucky). And sure enough after just about every workout I think to myself 'Did I really just do that?'.

Catalyst Games Athlete Profile: Katherine Fryia

Last year I just watched the games, and I was so jealous. Jealous of all the people who had worked hard and were now inspiring us all. Well, this year I've worked harder than ever so that I can join in. I often say that I'm not competitive, but it's hard not to get sucked into it. I know I don't have a hope in hell of winning anything, but I've already won.

So this year, when the event was posted, I signed up right away. And then the summer Barbell program started. I've managed to do the "games prep" workout four or five days a week, except for one week in July and August. I have never worked this physically hard or consistently in my life, and I'm seeing the benefits. Most people probably wouldn't be that impressed with my current level, but for me the improvements are huge. I have the stamina to do whatever I want, I don't get tired, I can handle the stress at work and I only take half the blood pressure medications I needed a few months ago.

My goal is to finish. I would feel pretty confident that I could do that if it weren't for a knee that is giving me some grief right now. I'll definitely be scaling the events. I've improved a lot when it comes to lifting, but when you consider I've just begun to learn this skill in the last year, and factor in being 54, well, there are limits. I'm sure I'm not anywhere near those limits yet, though. And I hate running, probably because I suck at it. Several events in a short time might be a problem for me too, hoping food and hydration will help with that.

About the only thing going for me is that I'm stubborn.

I'm sure that Chris is going to surprise us all this year with some creative events inspired by the venue. For sure we'll be carrying stuff up and down stairs, and there'll be ropes and rings hanging from the overhead structure. At least if there are wheelbarrows involved I know how to maneuver them.

If all goes well Teddy, Mitch, Brent and Lisa will all be in this with me, and that will be my win.

Catalyst Games Athlete Profile: Ted Fryia

CATALYST GAMES ATHLETE PROFILE: Ted Fryia

Things I learned at Catalyst: Kettle bells don’t ring, dumb bells don’t always refer to the slow
witted of us in the gym, and don’t stomp the deadbugs on the floor. Also, that Murph is
nobody’s friend until he’s passed by, Fran is like that girl who didn’t seem like much until you
really got to know her and then you wondered why you ever left her to take up with Angie. And
Coop, our fearless leader, taking pleasure in others puking is not a bad thing (well, pretty sure
it’s not).

On top of all that, I learned through watching last year’s games, how much I wanted to
participate in the 2010 Catalyst Games. And that came as a surprise to me because, even
though I’m still involved in the sporting scene as a coach, I thought my own competitive
days were in the rearview mirror. But the daily Catalyst challenge that the WODs and the
Frat program provide, have hopefully prepared this aging athlete. You know what they say
about ‘snow on the roof’. Still, I’m not going into the 2010 Catalyst Games being overly
competitive with anyone but myself. And while I have no control over how others perform (I
hope everyone hits PBs in every event), I have no performance goals, outside of finishing each
event strong – well – maybe a top 10 finish in the 50-and-over age group.

In the last year I have made most gains in overall stamina, and as far as games events go am
naturally and athletically suited to bodyweight and agility activities. Due to the fact that I’ve
been rehabbing a back injury over the last year, the areas I need most improvement in are lifting
techniques, which translate into the high end lifts (weight-wise). But through the Frat Program,
expertly thought out and run by Tyler, things have been coming back, though slowly I have to
admit. But who knows what will happen once on the competition floor: I’m sure some of those
old juices (is there an expiry date on competitive juices?) could amp up my intensity, and there
is never any shortage of inspiration at Catalyst from so many great workout colleagues and
partners.

So the 2010 Catalyst Games, while a competition, will be more a part of the journey for me.
I know probably sounds corny and a bit cliché. But my goals are more in the long term. For
example, my ultimate Crossfit goal will hopefully come to fruition on my 98th birthday: I’ll be at
Catalyst, where after finishing my 96th burpee, I collapse. As I lay on the floor, my eyes going
dim and my pulse fading, Chris is yelling, “C’mon, get up! Just two more!” So, I get up and do
three.

“Yeah, buddy!”

 

Catalyst Games Athlete Profile: Cam Wilson

When Chris emailed me with a request that I write an introduction of myself for the Catalyst Games, I was a little apprehensive.  I'm a person who tends to enjoy doing things more than writing about them but I thought why not after reading everyone else's amazing stories.  By the way, I once made a crack at a fellow coach who was bragging about their accomplishments, and it ended up with the coach creating this fabulous Wheaties poster to get back at me.  What better picture to showcase on the website...haha.

 

  I became introduced to Crossfit one evening in a local watering hole by a friend of a friend named Tyler Belanger.  He was talking up these workouts that were going on at the gym and they sounded like something I would be into.  I came in to the gym to do a trial run with one of the crossfit groups, the first workout was Fran.  I couldn't walk or lift my arms for a couple days afterwards.  I thought I was in good shape...I was so very wrong

 

As a competitive athlete in track at University, I've spent a lot of time in the gym over my 28 years.  I can safely say that I've never been out of my comfort zone, or felt as anxious to come to the gym every day until I started to come to Catalyst.  Now don't get me wrong, I love going to Catalyst and would spend most of my day there if I could but I still get butterflies in my stomach every time I reach for the door of the gym.  What if one of the guys killed the workout before I got there, what if I can't do the workout with the prescribed weight, what if my heart explodes while doing burpees...these are the things going through my head as I enter the gym.  As I lace of the shoes and chalk up my hands, these thoughts seem to disappear.  They are replaced with the goal of pushing my body to the limit and trying to give 100% to every workout.  Not to mention, that amazing feeling I have after the workout is done and I've realized what I've just put my body through and accomplished.  That is an amazing feeling and keeps me coming back for more. 

 

I've had my eyes opened these past few months up at the gym.  I've done workouts that have pushed my body to their absolute limit, I've done movements like muscleups and ring handstand pushups that I once thought were impossible for me to ever do.  This will be my first crack at the Games and they scare me a lot.  My goals for the game are similar to everyone else who is competing, I want to test the limits of my body and see how far that can take me.  I'm out of my comfort zone every time I walk through the door of the gym so I don't anticipate the Games being any different.  The games are going to be a real test this year in the new venue but if a triplet of running, box jumps and squats comes up you can bet I'll be smiling before the clock starts.