This weekend I competed in my first USA Weightlifting sanctioned meet, the 2013 Baltimore Open. I entered this competition on whim after I registered for the RVA Open in April, solely because I was really excited about starting to compete and didn't want to have to wait until April. Baltimore wasn't that far away, and I'd never been there, and it looked like fun. Also, I wanted to learn. Even if I knew I wouldn't win, or hit impressively heavy lifts, or have the greatest technique, I saw value in just being in a competitive environment. Taking part in the meet and experiencing what competition feels like in a sanctioned meet. Everyone has to start somewhere and even if they start in last place, it's still a start.
I didn't feel very prepared going into this meet and didn't make much progress over the month and a half since the CrossFit Olympic lifting competition I entered in December, so my expectations for Baltimore were pretty low. I was planning on being conservative with my attempts and hitting as many of them as I could. I didn't want to make a fool of myself, but I wanted to get the feel for the flow of the meet and the rules and the timing of warm-ups. I wanted to see how other lifters acted and prepared. I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone and try something new in a new city and see what I could learn.
The first thing I quickly learned is that you really ought to have a coach with you at a competition, especially if you're new and just starting out. I was intimidated seeing the other lifters interacting with their coaches and watching their warm-ups. I felt panicked and like I suddenly had no clue how I should warm-up and how I was going to be ready when it was my turn. I tried to get out of my head and put on my headphones and my "angry" playlist. I did some foam rolling and stretching. I went outside and ran up and down the sidewalk. None of this was working and I was getting more and more nervous. I thought I was going to be okay without coach, but the longer I was there the more I wished I had one. I was lucky that one of the coaches was able to find me a coach who took me through my warm-ups and made sure I got to the platform on time and gave me some helpful tips and cues. Best of all he made it so I didn't have to worry about anything but lifting.
Another important thing I learned is that I need to be okay with missing a lift, or at least look like I am. I had two lifts where I got one red light and only one that I completely missed. I have a pretty good idea why I got the red lights and why I missed the lift, and I think they're all easily fixable, but that failed lift really bugs me because of the way I reacted to it. I also had a bad reaction to the lift I missed in competition in December. I wouldn't know this if I didn't have video of both fails and it makes me want to react with more grace when I fall short of a goal, not just in lifts, but in life. I've seen videos of top notch lifters missing and they smile, shrug it off, take a bow, and leave the platform. In the Olympics. If they can be okay with a missed lift in that level of competition, surely my failures aren't worth getting upset over. So that's one thing (among many) that I'm going to work on between now and April.
Here's the video of all my lifts from this weekend. I'm glad that I have these and that my friend Alison came to cheer me on and take them for me. They'll be good to look back on as I progress in this sport and I'll be able to see how far I've come.
Oh, and this also happened this weekend.
I hadn't thought about it over the last few months, and it's not like I haven't been driving, but I haven't adjusted the seat in my Jeep since I've lost weight and on my drive home to visit my family on Sunday I started to have this feeling that I was really far back. My feet were still touching the gas and brake fine, but then I realized that my stomach doesn't touch the steering wheel anymore. It really is the little things. (No - I wasn't driving when I took the picture. I was stopped.)
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