Washington: Strongman Sunday

Before I sit down and write about my awesome road trip to the Northwest, I figured I would begin with a blog about the sunday strongman competition at RAB Fitness, the competitive reason I traveled over 4000 miles in one weekend.  By 9am on sunday morning, over 50 strongmen and women had weighed in, rehydrated, refueled, and now gathered at the front of the gym waiting for the rules meeting.  Competitors in grey, judges in red, Mike Kromer explained how the day was going to go, where the events were going to take place, and the standards for each event.  The mass of strong people then proceeded to the adjacent room to get individual measurements for the first event, the tire squat.

I spent much of the morning debating whether to use wraps or knee sleeves for the squat. For me, a 256lb squat is a bit out of my range, but I also did not want my legs to cave like a new born deer on the first event of the day.  My debate ended when HW competitor Kristy Scott pulled out a pair of SBD knee sleeves, and told me to try them.  I came close to not giving them back.  Although I knew 256lbs would have been a 50lb PR, I did not back down or scratch the event....miracles do happen.  Ok, maybe not on this day, as I took a zero for the event.  I must have missed the portion of the rules that said you have to stand up with the bar in order for the rep to count.  On to the deadlift medley!

Starting a competition with a big fat zero is not optimal, but I was pretty confident going into event #2, the deadlift medley.  Four bars (a 283 axle bar, a 365 trap bar, a 411 bar with tires, and a 500 frame) were lined up across the gym floor.  The only pull I had little experience with was the frame, but I knew it would be doable.  I was the first middle weight to attempt the event.  The axle went up fairly easy, the trap bar was a bit of a slow pull off the floor, and I hitched the crap out of the tires.  With plenty of time left on the clock, I still managed to rush my set up on the frame, didn't tighten my straps well, and just before lock out lost my grip on the right side of the frame.  With 15 seconds remaining, I reset my stance but had nothing left to even budge the frame.  But I did set the pace by completing 3 out of the 4 lifts, which would only be surpassed by one competitor.

The third event made me a bit nervous, a max clean and press on the log.  I train with a 10" log, and let me tell you, the 2" difference from a competition log is HUGE.  I knew the 130lb starting weight would make it overhead, so there would be no zero score for this event.  As the LW women finished the event, the log was loaded to a starting weight of 140lbs.  Hold the damn phone.  140lbs??  It is one of those mid-comp, mess with your mind kind of changes, but none the less, I was able to get the bar overhead.  Only one competitor completed the lift at 150lbs.

For the next event, a medley, there were three implements staggered at different lengths, all to be loaded onto a small platform and a long 410lb sled drag to the finish.  I knew there would be quicker competitors, the words "Ashley" and "quick" are not synonymous, so I decided to find a good pace and stick with it.  With the constant encouragement of my judge, Grant Higa, I never stopped moving and completed just over twenty feet on the sled portion...good enough for a first place finish.

My first place finish allowed me to go last in the final event, the atlast stones.  There were five stones ranging from 140lbs to 230lbs, all to be loaded to a 51" platform.  At this point, I knew that the only stone that could pose a problem would be the final 230lber, and I just hoped my adrenaline would fuel me enough to eclipse the 51 inches.  I moved through the first four stones in twenty-one seconds but fell short of the platform three times on the final stone.  With Mike Kromer in my ear telling me I needed to move faster, I was able to win the event by two seconds.

As I stood in the freezing weather in a sports bra and tight shorts, removing spider tack from my hands, I realized that regardless of my zero score on the squat, I was pretty happy with my overall performance.  And as my coach, Jill Mills said via text, "nice comeback".  In the final standings, I remained in third place.  The points I lost on the first event were too much to overcome...and for what its worth, one single squat would have landed me in a tie for first.  But I can not look back at what could have happened, only move forward and squat my ass off until my next competition...a return to my first competition ever, Texas Strongest Man/Woman!

Thank you RAB Fitness, Mike and Lisa Kromer, and Roger and Ally Baker for an amazing weekend of lifting!!!

Rebuilding: One Rep at a Time

Getting involved in strongman competition was one of the best things I ever did. I love every minute of it, from simply getting stronger, to learning techniques, and even starting from scratch with a simple movement. For me, it is the drive to overcome and the desire to be better at this sport.

I can't say that I haven't hit a level of frustration in having to re-learn the simple things. I mean who wouldn't at times. But I have hit a point where I know it is going to happen...having to retrain my body and mind to a more efficient and effective technique in order to keep moving up in weight.

When I competed in CrossFit, I taught myself a ton of bad habits. I was big for a CrossFit athlete and the weights back then were typically light, so I muscled through WODs with little to no technique at all. Gymnastics movements, such as handstand push-ups and muscle-ups, were just starting to become a part of competition and Olympic lifting was still a year or so away from making its grand entrance.  If you don't believe me, check out the results from the 2009 Games, where female athletes failed on the handstand push-up WOD, future Games champ Iceland Annie had not yet learned how to do muscle-ups and in fact, hit her first one at that competition, and the average snatch was only 95lbs.

In comparison, I am fairly average in size for a strongwoman competitor and I am sure as hell not able to muscle through heavy events without technique.  My coach and I have spent hours of gym time rebuilding my squat, which was without question my weakest movement, and yet so essential for strongman...and obviously powerlifting.  So now with a stronger base, and one that still needs to get stronger, I begin to tackle the power jerk.  It is something I am in desperate need of for my October competition, and overwhelmingly proved to be a weak spot for me out in California.  I spent so many years doing a push press off my toes that now I am having to rebuild this movement from the ground up, literally. 

And it is kind of funny, even when I workout alone in my garage, I can hear my coach, Jill, in my head saying "that one was better" and on the very next rep "not that one".  One day down the road, I swear I will get her to say those were both good reps.  It may only happen once, but it will happen.       

   

Capital of Texas Open

Next weekend I am headed to Austin, Texas for the USPA Capital of Texas Open, my third full powerlifting meet.  We will have a pretty good group headed up from San Antonio to represent Jill Mills' training, including a chunk of the Barn Crew.  I truly enjoy this sport and the challenges it presents, even though you are required to wear a singlet (worst idea in the history of sport's uniforms).

Since I have been concentrating more on strongman competitions, this meet will be more of a test to see where I am on my lifts.  I have remained pretty consistent on my bench, I hope to go a lot bigger on the deadlift, and it is always hit or miss as to whether my squat will show up or not.  But if it does, my goal is to go over 200lbs.  Yes, I am one of those that can bench as much as I squat.  But considering where I started with my squat, over 200 would be a big accomplishment.

My other reason for choosing to compete in this meet is to work on becoming stronger mentally. During my last meet, I put myself in a position where I had to repeat my opening weight on my very first lift...something I have never experienced.  I was shifting my weight really bad to one side, which I used to do all the time in Crossfit in attempt to avoid using an injured knee.  Now, there is really no reason for it except for a lack of focus on my form.  The squat issue then lead to me missing a lift on the bench...my butt came up on a fairly easy weight...again nothing but a lack of focus on my part. And finally, on my second deadlift, the weight was loaded improperly...5lbs or so heavier on one side.  At this point, there was nothing else I could do but laugh.  I was finally relaxed and not over or under thinking things and pulled an easy 315 on my final deadlift.

BUT the main reason I am going to Austin is to see my Barn Crew training partner, Rich, lift in a singlet.  Just kidding!!!  I can not wait to see everyone lift...some for the first time in a meet! Surrounded by a great group of friends, we will all have a good day and represent ourselves and our coach well!...no matter what anyone looks like in a singlet.