"It proved to me that I can compete against these guys, and that I belong in this competition."
Albert-Dominic Larouche was on a plane when he found out the first event of this year’s CrossFit Games was a triathlon.
“I found out on Facebook,” he laughs.
Larouche says he enjoys running, swimming and biking, however, this event made for a brutal combination of the three. “It was harder than I thought,” he recalls. “The whole triathlon was hard.”
The Canada East athlete struggled through the Pendleton Events, finishing 27th after the final run.
He then hit the obstacle course and finished 36th.
Larouche started to climb the Leaderboard on the Track Triplet, finishing 17th overall.
He found the Rope-Sled event particularly tough. “It didn't go as I predicted it would,” he says. “It turned out to be a big challenge for me ... I found this workout to be the kind of workout that's a big achievement just to finish.”
The highlight of Larouche’s performance this year was taking first place in the MedBall-Handstand Push-up Event. He'd been practicing with Atlas stones every time he trained with a nearby team, L'Usine Montreal. “It felt incredible,” he says.
Larouche felt vindicated after the event. “It proved to me that I can compete against these guys, and that I belong in this competition,” Larouche says.
Upon returning home, Larouche started his training as a police officer. He'll continue to train at CrossFit Chambly, his home box for the last three years. Looking back at the competition, Larouche is satisfied. “I was very happy because I know that I have done the best I was able to at each workout and each moment of this competition,” he says.
“In the gym I will increase my strength and try to rid myself of weaknesses,” Larouche says of his training for 2013. “I will use all my free time to workout in the gym. I will have a little less time (next year) than I had before [this year’s] Games.”
