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.