searching for heroes

Evening quad queens

If you're reading this blog & thinking I am a rare breed being female and in the world of weightlifting, you'd be wrong - I am no trailblazer in this sport; there are a huge number of strong women & this was recently brought to my attention.

The reason why this is so exciting to me is because I look for inspiration & I personally find it a huge motivation to aspire to reach achievements others have - I like to aim for a bar set by others. I have to say now, I am not happy setting the bar myself and get uncomfortable being chased by others; luckily this isn't a problem as I am a long way from the front of the pack.

Here's my ultimate hero in the sport of weighlifting. He's Russian, he's huge, he's absolutely gorgeous (relevant) and he is every male weightlifter's man crush:

Well, actually, a special mention should be made to the man who got me past the tears the first time he made me squat with a wooden pole and who bought me my first pair of weightlifting shoes and gently guides me through training sessions despite any grumpiness I direct at him:



handsome isn't he?

But I really want to show you a girl I was introduced to (as in "have you heard of..." & a quick google later) who lifts for Canada and has one the tightest techniques I've ever seen (admittedly, I've not seen many):

and weirdly, she seems to smile beautifully throughout her lifts, which makes it look like it's like lifting cotton wool and makes for beautiful photos. Her name is Marilou Dozois-Prevost :) and she's my new hero(ine). I love her attitude and how happy she seems - I also admire how tiny she is and so strong :) I firmly believe (or want to) that size doesn't = strength.

I feel even more inspired now I feel like I've found someone achieving what I hope to - showing me it's not only possible but happening now.

Find your inspiration wherever you can & grab hold of it with both hands & hold on tight :)

(P.S. Training on Wednesday went well I think - I had no official coach there with me - just a scrap of paper with instructions on and a very generous Iranian lifter giving me much needed advice. I'd ran 5 miles the day before the session and was fully fatigued - at the time I felt like crap rubbish and had to be reminded to put 100% in - but afterwards we decided the occasional fatigued session is good for making me realise even when I feel tired I am still equalling my fresh training days. Not every day will feel good so maybe making a few of them a little bit harder is not a bad thing. Having said that, running is absolutely the worst thing to couple with lifting, but hey, what can I say? you don't always have to do what you're supposed to.)

If you haven't noticed by now, I am both very easy to coach and extremely difficult at the same time ;)