First Competition!!!

March 14 was my very first Olympic lifting meet, and I am already hooked. First of all, it wasn't really what I expected because it was so laid back and casual. It was held in the Spoon Barbell Club owner's barn! Spectators sat in pews and on old couches/chairs. I weighed in on target although I did have to take a sweat bath before leaving for Van Alstyne. Luckily Mel knows the tricks of the trade. In retrospect, I would have been much more disciplined about my eating habits not just the week before but for the whole time (9 weeks) before. I plan to go down a few weight classes from 63 to 60. I have until August to hit it, but I know that once I go 85-90% paleo, it won't be too difficult to accomplish.

The most nerve-wracking part of the meet was standing on the platform to do each attempt and have everyone's eyes glued on you, no one saying a word. It was unsettling at first because I'm used to people working out and dropping barbells in the background at Deep, so the total silence unnerved me. Hit 38 and 40 on snatch with no problem, although I'll admit the first attempt took me by surprise because I didn't pull it beforehand. Mel taught me to pull the weight before attempting to snatch or clean it. Well, I felt good so had Spencer make my last attempt 45, which would have been a PR. Too big of a jump, though. Had I started at 40 and gone up by 2 or 3, it would have been a PR and I would have likely made it. I watched the video Javier took of me on my last attempt, and I can pull that weight all day, but I just didn't drop under it like I'm supposed to. Argh! Same thing on the clean and jerk. First two attempts weren't too bad, although I did start feeling it on the 59 (130#), which is my old PR that I hit last month during the mock meet. Tried 62 (136), which would have been a nice PR, but again, I didn't drop under the weight and missed the clean. It was a rewarding experience to go up there in front of people and the judge and give it my best effort. I also enjoyed watching the other athletes, especially the exceptional ones, like Spencer, Bobby, Dutch, Gunther, and Mel. I learned a lot and am looking forward to many more meets. Maybe one year I will compete in the Arnold! :) Got lots of work to do before the August meet. June 3 can't get here soon enough, though. The students have checked out mentally, and most of my colleagues have followed suit. Just a few more weeks!!!

P.S.: Discovered that my opponent at this meet beat me on C&J by 1 kg!!!! 62kg, I'm coming for youuuuu!!!!!! I'm shooting for 45kg on snatch by the August meet, as well.