SW & Central Championships 2012

SOUTHWEST & CENTRAL CHAMPIONSHIPS 2012

 

 

Hey Leo Lions

So it's been some time since my last blog but as ever, I have been working hard and I hope you have too. The run up to the SW & Central Champs has been one giant rollercoaster.

 

3 weeks before, I put my back out on a light clean warming up. It was an A&E trip where all I could say was "you're kidding me" - I couldn't walk. They gave me the greatest drug of all time - valium. I was out of training for over a week and had to see my physiotherapist, but then slowly, in the final week and a bit we started with a broom handle, and worked up again - this week and a half was the most frustrating agonising nightmare ever.

 

Well, until we arrived at the Championships. We had been training in the week leading up with power jerks to protect my lower back and my best power jerk so far had been 48kg.

 

The snatch started and it was a relief to start warming up. Watching the class before was just absolute agony as I was so nervous and had nowhere to put my energy. Luckily I weighed in at 62.1kg so I was comfortably in my class (63kg).

 

I was so focussed on the first lift that on coming off my coach said "that was good, but can you try not to look as if you're hating life" - I went back into the warm up room and laughed my head off - just the tension release I needed! I went up to 36kg on the snatch because of the POTS (and also why I am power snatching). Before my injury, the goal had been to reach a 90kg total and qualify for the English Championships, but this was dashed. I needed a 37kg snatch for that to be plausable, especially with the back injury and PB power jerk needed. I was so frustrated at my coach. Then we went into the C&J and then on my last lift, we just went for it. 54kg. That was a 2kg C&J PB and a huge 6kg power jerk PB. I nailed it - the best clean I've ever done (thank you knee-knocking terror and adrenalin) and a shakey but there jerk. I QUALIFIED!

 

On top of that, the girl in my weight class bombed out on her snatch and so had no total, but major props to her because she still did her C&J - major mental strength.

 

Here's the video:

 



At the end of the day, I had the best coach in the world who timed my warm up fantastically and controlled me in the face of my impatience as well as had iron-clad certainty when I had tears in my eyes with frustration at my snatch weight. I always argue, I'm not a fun lifter to train sometimes, but I will always trust my coach now.

I hope you've enjoyed reading about this journey and here's to the English Champs in February.

Southwest & Central Champion, 2012