AAU meet December 2, 2005

Not bad for an old woman, two firsts and a second. Martin was gracious enough to cross me over into two classes that I hadn't originally signed up for. He has a soft spot for me, I think it's because I've always been easy going and not a pain in the butt. Did I want to deadlift? Jeez, I hadn't been focused on deadlifting because I hadn't entered that discipline, but I guess I could. And I did. I equaled my existing world/american record, but could not break it. I benched 192.8 which isn't a world or american record and is about 10 pounds away from it. I'm happy with that lift though. I blew out my shoulder mid August at a meet. I had the flu and lost 11 pounds. So I weighed-in in a different class, but then a lift that should have been no big deal, 192.8, was a major struggle. The next lift 198 came crashing down on me and my shoulder was toast. I tore the bicepetral tendon, not completely, but bad enough. I couldn't lift for 6 weeks so I'm happy with the progress, to be back where I am and not hurt two days after the meet.

Now let's talk about grace. My goodness, there was a woman there that was so obnoxious I would think she was taking her cues from TO. Yeah you lifted a ton, bully for you, but I couldn't even be in the same room with you, yeah, you were that embarassing. Not to be a jerk, but I hope they test you, I think your voice is a little funny, your hair was a little thin and maybe you had a little help. For the most part women aren't as, well, testosterone fueled as you appeared. I would like to be wrong, but I don't think I am on you. That little Mexican girl outlifted you and I think she was clean. 26 years old and just about as gracious as they come. She lifted a ton and was sweet and kind and a joy to compete with. She kicked my butt, but I don't mind losing to someone like her.

Ron Santee the head ref was very kind to me. After my first bench he told me what a nice lift it was and thought I had room to add more weight. I knew my shoulder was crap so I only went up 2.5 keys. After the second lift he told me that my second lift was technically one of the best lifts he'd seen that day. That made me very proud, I smiled and thanked him. I missed my third lift, but I was happy about the day. I try to take a businesslike approach to lifting, focus on the job at hand and execute. That works best for me. I would like to be thought of as the technically sound, gracious powerlifter, and maybe a charactor of the game :-)

My deadlifts were sound in spite of the fact that I hadn't trained for competition. The first one was 236.5 and while it was heavy, it came up just fine. The 2nd was 242.5 and it was a bit of work, but came up fine too. The third was a mistake, it was 253.5 which was my existing record and if I had added 1/2 key it would have been a new record. I got the third but missed the fourth. Still not bad for not training to deadlift. A good day all and all.