The Garage Games
How did Travis Mayer become Champion of 2011 Garages Games? It is speculated that his inner fire was stoked when he missed qualifying for the 2011 Crossfit Regionals by one spot; however, the drive for victory has been with Travis for much longer.
Growing up in Woodstock, Georgia, he was on the cross country team and played basketball during high school. More notably, he was a competitive motocross rider for 8 years, which might be where his edge-of-disaster approach to working out originates. After nearly a decade of mud and the smell of gasoline, Travis had had his fun, but would shortly find a new kind of thrill. “I was a personal trainer down in McDonough, Georgia when I met my buddy, Justin Saxon, who told me to check out this Crossfit stuff. So I did, and I fell in love when the wonderful Fran broke me in.”
Shortly after his first exposure to Crossfit, Travis set his sights high, aiming to be the youngest man to win the Crossfit Games. He joined The Garage in the Fall of 2010, and with the help of his new coach, Wes Harper, began working diligently to meet his goal. Come March 16th, it was time for Travis to tackle his first obstacle.
Mayer has a diverse skill set.
The first 2 weeks of the 2011 Crossfit Open went very well, which came as no surprise to Travis, considering how hard he had worked. Unfortunately, sub-100th place finishes in weeks 3-5 would cause him to miss Regionals as an individual by 3 points. Though his score did not push him to Regionals as an individual, it did help boost The Garage’s affiliate team to the event, where they finished 23rd.
Disappointed with his individual performance, Travis immediately re-aimed. The target: The Garage Games Series. Having competed in The Garage Games earlier in the year, Travis had a sufficient idea of what to expect; having missed his previous goal, he knew the pain of failure. Later into the year, Travis sought out Nate Schrader (14th at the 2011 Crossfit Games) for help with his training. He would go on to win 7 out the 12 events he competed in for The Garage Games, which would garner him a perfect score. Travis was excited to hold an over-sized check in his hands for the first time. “It was an amazing feeling to be standing on top of the podium, knowing I just won was unbelievable.” Even after his victory, Travis insists, ”I believe that all the top athletes are great, and not ever knowing the WODs that will come up, it can be anyone’s game. Just all depends on the day, how your feeling, eating. All of it plays in together.”
"...knowing I just won was unbelievable."
Travis kept celebration brief, and got back to a strict Paleo diet and training hard in short order. Despite being the champion, Travis is not without weaknesses and is ready to admit to them. “I would would not like to see 1RM on snatch. Just not my cup of tea.” He also finds himself in the occasional long staring contest with cookies, which he is convinced are staring back at him. Cookies and snatches aside, Travis will be ready for the upcoming year. His year starts on February 11 in Garage Games ONE’s team event. Joining his team will be some of the South East’s best in Brian Kost, who finished 2nd to Mayer in The Series, Irving Hernadez, and Ty Hanson, both of whom have won Garage Games events.
His ever evolving training program, eating right, Garage Games events; it all leads to one thing in 2012:
“Crossfit Games. Period.”