It’s been awhile since I posted. I went on vacation, was working 7 days a week, then this little team in Chicago called the Cubs starting winning a whole bunch of games, so I picked up some more hours at my 2nd job during the week, then I was house sitting for 2 weeks, and then it was Thanksgiving. And here we are!!
At the end of October, I participated in my 3rd power lifting competition, the Starting Strength Fall Classic. The same meet last year was my first taste at power lifting competitions and thus the catalyst to my obsession. It was hosted at my crossfit gym, Bucktown Crossfit, and by my power lifting coach Dave Abdemoulaie. Gotta love home court advantage!
There were some bad ass lifters at this meet! There was a 79 year old man competing. A 56 yr old woman was out lifting me in all the lifts. One guy was pulling 640 lbs of the deadlift! Best of all, there was a guy who wore a cat singlet.
But enough about them.. let’s talk about me! I had all the best intention to dominate the month of October with my training. Well they say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I achieved little to nothing in the gym BUT I did keep up with my Sober Through the Holidays challenge. I decided to go into the meet with little expectations and was going to use it as a benchmark for my February meet.
First off, let’s talk about the hair: I forgot a hair tie and as I was walking into the meet, the wind took it on an adventure. I decided to tap into my afro power and let the mane be au natural. It work out great! Got Dave to even call me Afrodisiac when I would walk up for a lift.
Lift 1 – Back squat
My PR was 210lbs but since I didn’t workout and my biggest issue is hitting depth in the squat, I decided to focus on that instead of trying to hit a specific amount. I expected to maybe hit 200lb with proper depth. I ended getting a 1.5lb PR!! I squated 96kg=211.6lbs
Lift 2 – Press
The second lift was Press. It’s my worst lift of the three. My PR at a meet in June was 95lbs with a strong attempt at 100lbs. This meet, I failed at 92 lbs.
Lift 3 – Deadlift
My PR in June was a huge 10% increase to 250lbs. I had not idea what I would hit at this meet. But when I was warming up, I picked up my opener easily. Since I was feeling good and hitting decent numbers, I decided to go for it! My biggest lift at 255lbs didn’t count as a successful lift (don’t know why) but I am counting it in my heart!
Results
- Weight 75.9kg = 167.3lbs (down 6 lb! and only .9kg away from a lower weight class. My Sober Through the Holidays Challenge is working!)
- Wilks Coefficient Score: 228.35
- Place – 13th out of 14 women
Overall, this meet went really well. It’s a great place to launch off from for my next meet in February.
All photos credited to Jessi Bishop-Royce of The Forty by 40 blog
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