Mince pies

Hercs Club Championships, Saturday 10th December 2011

Snatch: 60kg, Clean and jerk: 75kg, Bodyweight: 63.0kg

After the Northern Ireland Championships last weekend, I took two days rest and went back training on Tuesday at 90%. I should have stopped at 85% as there were quite a few fails. I don't normally struggle with cleans but I'd a few fails at 68kg which I would think is a pretty routine weight for me by now. Wednesday was a few doubles at 80% and then rest till Saturday Morning.

I spent the week using my 60.9kg weigh in at NI Open as an excuse to pig out on take away, mince pies, ice cream and hot chocolate. This was quite a departure from my usual diet of home made stew and proper sausages. This explains why I weighed in at 63kg on Saturday morning.

I spent a lot of time activating the glutes and stretching my ankles during warmup and I felt really good. I was hitting all the positions and really getting the speed. I finished my warmup at 50kg about ten minutes too early and that timing is something I should probably work on for the next competition but it didn't seem to bother me too much for this one as I hit 55kg easily. My first attempt at 60kg was high enough but I was soft in the catch and lost it forward. 60kg has been too close too many times and I've just failed to hold it so there was no way I was going to let myself miss it again. It has turned into a big mental block for me at this stage. I know I got 61kg in York but I felt that was a fluke. With all this running through my mind and trying to distract me, it was difficult to put it all aside and focus on the lift. It sometimes helps to be a little wound up for a lift but being too emotional will definitely not help!

I stood in front of the bar and took a minute to steady myself. I pictured a great lift, then turned off my brain and just pulled as hard as I could and kept it close. The next thing I know, I hear the down signal and all I know is I'm very happy. Good lift!

I took a moment to be pleased with myself and sat down before warming up the clean and jerk. Warmup was good but I probably shouldn't have taken that time to sit down as I was just hitting 60kg when I heard the announcer say the bar was loaded for me at 70kg. I had planned to open at 75kg so that I could have two shots at the 80kg if needed. I may or may not have gotten visibly cranky at having my plan disrupted but I made the 70kg and 75kg both very easily. It's worth noting that I used to have a horrible growl of effort with these weights but with the clean technique work I've been doing lately, they feel very easy and quick now. I was feeling really confident about the 80kg and the clean was easy and quick enough, although the big nasty growl was back to help me get a little bit of oomph! I took a breath and went to jerk the 80kg but unfortunately, it just wasn't there and I sort of melted under the bar and lost it behind. Rare that I'd lose them that way and I was damn lucky I didn't kill myself!

I was still incredibly happy with my lifting and even though I earned less sinclair points this week (due to a higher bodyweight), I felt my lifting was better. This is only the second time out of many attempts that I have hit the 60kg+ in the snatch and this time definitely wasn't a fluke so the confidence is there to hit it again soon. I'm just going to keep drilling it as often as I can (allowing for recovery) so I can move past it and focus on getting to the next milestone: 70kg. I'm incredibly chuffed that I got my shot at the 80kg clean and jerk and even though I didn't make it, I am satisfied that I gave it my all, that the clean was so easy and that I didn't squash myself with the bar!! It was very close so I reckon I'll be able to get it in training this side of Christmas.

I don't underestimate the effect that the extra kilos had to my lifting. I felt better in the days before and on the morning of the competition and I'm sure this led to a better mental state and more confidence. I think a good strategy for me would be to eat the way I normally do and then bulk up to 63kg in the week before a competition. My previous strategy was to try to weigh in as light as I can so I can get as many sinclair points as possible but that's not necessarily the best considering I normally eat fairly healthy anyway. Amazing how much difference such a few kg bodyweight either way can make!

I'm going to take a couple of weeks to feel out my training and do some general strength stuff before getting on a new training programme. I'll wait a week or so and max again before Christmas and hopefully hit the 60kg at least once more and get that 80kg under my belt. That's all I want for Christmas!

Here is a video of my lifts minus the 80kg clean which will come at a later date once I track it down.