Monday, September 26, 2011

Testing Day

Last Saturday was testing day for Mel and me. I didn't feel as loose and flexible as I usually do, so I went into my snatch test somewhat doubting my abilities. I power snatched 50 (ugh!) and missed my first attempt at 51. After a few moments of mental focus, I made 51, albeit unprettily. Mel put on 1 more kg for me to attempt 52, but try as I might, I just ralphed it twice. I was so mad! It didn't feel heavy at all, but I couldn't figure out what was stopping me from pulling myself under the bar. Mel got 62, a 2kg PR, and I know she had more in the tank, but that was her 12th rep, so it was time to stop there. We rested for 15 minutes before moving on to clean and jerks. My first triples at 45 were pretty ugly--again, I felt too tight and limited somewhere but couldn't pinpoint where. But once I was up to 55, I felt more warmed up. 60 felt easy, as did 65 (new PR). I successfully cleaned 68 but chickened out on the jerk!!! My right arm was already locked out, but my left one wouldn't do what it knows to do. Then I made two more attempts but couldn't clean it again, so Richard had me stop. Mel cleaned 75 (PR) three times but couldn't lock out the jerk. She's gotten so strong getting out of the bottom now! She'll be hitting 80+ soon. It was really awesome working with her and witnessing her strength.

I finally figured out later that my ankles were the issue holding me back on the snatch, so Richard made me do a 10-minute squat hold, as well as pushed on my knees to stretch my ankles. I have to do the squat hold everyday, plus I sat for 2 minutes with 35kg and then 50kg resting on my legs while sitting in a squat on Sunday. OW!!!! It'll be worth the pain, though, if it means I can snatch 55+. Richard wants me to start at 45, go to 50, and make 52 my last attempt at the meet. On C&J I'm going to do 60, 65, and 68. My goal for the meet is to make every one of my attempts. I'll power snatch if I have to!!! But I HATE the way power snatches and cleans look. They're so unnatural looking and just plain ugly. I have until January to make 142 total, which means at least 60kg snatch and 80-something C&J. Eeeek!!!! Nationals are in March at the Arnold Expo in Columbus!! That freaks me out AND excites me so much! I'm going to put my all into it and see how January goes. I'm actually pretty stoked about the gains I've made since starting my training with Richard--I've gained 11kg in the snatch and 9-10kg in the C&J from the May meet. Looking forward to more gains!!!! Oh, and I'm so excited--Richard finally put me on 3/6s for squats! No more 4/8s for now, woohoooo!!!! The heaviest I went on those was 83kg. I'm going to do 85kg for 3/6s tomorrow and go from there.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Finally 50

Went to Spoon today after work not really expecting much in terms of my snatch and 4/8s. First two sets at 35kg felt wobbly and quite inflexible. It takes me quite a few warm-up sets to feel really comfortable sitting at the bottom of the snatch. I worked in with Christina while she did her snatches and cleans. After one set of triples at 40, Richard told me to go to 45. I had planned to do two sets at 40 but figured coach knows best. Admittedly, I started feeling insecure about it because I was nearing my PR I set two Sundays ago--46kg. I just went and did my best at 45, and I guess I did them so well that Richard decided to "reward" me and put on 2.5s. So I started getting really nervous about snatching 50 because a) that'd be a 4kg PR and b) it would be for triples. I got two "good" reps in at 46 the last time, so I felt doubt nudging me. Christina told me I could do it, so I chalked up and made the first attempt, but it was quite ugly (power instead of full movement). So I did it again and still did a power snatch because I was too afraid to relax my hips so I could sit at the bottom. Jose gave me great advice for my third rep, and I nailed it and sat easily at the bottom. I wished I'd videoed that rep!!!!! Anyway, that's a really nice PR for me, and I'm going to make 55 either my second or third attempt at the competition next month. It's so close!!! I squatted my 4/8s with 75 for two sets, just to warm up mentally as well as physically, and then Richard made me go to 80. I must say I felt a lot stronger and more confident finally at that weight. Last time I used it, I tweaked my calf awfully and had to put up with it for several weeks. I'm loving the PRs I'm getting, but I don't want to lose focus for the meet. I'm not going in to it thinking about winning my weight class. I would like to PR and have new percentages to train with for the next meet. Perhaps that's not the right attitude to have, but I've missed too many sessions to feel confident/capable of beating Christina. She has 75kg on clean easily, and I'm almost there to 68. I'm thinking we'll be closer on snatch, but we'll see.