OWA Fall Classic - Competition Recap

Now that we are getting into the 2014-2015 competitive weightlifting season, the standards are starting to be set. Two of the largest OWA competitions, the Fall Classic and WinterLift, now have minimum qualification standards required for competitors to be eligible to enter. The standards must be performed at a sanctioned event at least 30 days prior to either of these competitions. Both events are good measures to check out the competition and attempt to qualify for the provincial championships.

In order to qualify for events, competitors are required to hit a minimum total which is the amount lifted during the snatch added to the amount lifted during the clean and jerk. For the 2014 Fall classic, competitors in my weight class (75 kg) had to hit a minimum total of 108 kg.

For this event, I had to lose 6.8 kg in October. Let me say that again... I had to lose weight in OCTOBER! Both Thanksgiving and Halloween are events in October which I enjoy greatly, primarily due to the food! But alas, the event organizer decided that the best date to host this event was on November 1 - the day after Halloween. This meant no Halloween candy for me.

Before the last competition I participated in, the Kanama Summeriest, I also had to lose some weight. I didn't really take it seriously though, and ended up having to cut 3 kg in water weight in the sauna the night before weigh ins. In an attempt to avoid this issue before the Fall Classic, I tried to cut all my weight through diet manipulation. Thankfully, my previous life as a wrestler has prepared me well for weight cutting and I was successful in reaching my target, weighing in at 74.6 kg 2 hours before my event began. However, going without beer and mini chocolate bars was a challenge!

On the day of the competition, my goal was to hit both my opening lifts. Historically, I have this issue that a friend described as "monkey's having a shit fight in your head". Which, I must admit, is a pretty apt description of what goes on up there! So this time, I wanted to hit those bastard openers! I had planned to open my snatch with a 57 kg lift and to open my clean and jerk with a 75 kg lift.

Getting ready for my warm up, coach Adrian told me to tell my brain to "Fuck off", which is easier said than done. But we had a great warm up without missing a single lift on my ascent up to 55 kg. I went out, stepped on the platform and hit that 57 kg! Totally pumped, we bumped up to 60 kg for my second lift, which I successfully executed, meeting my previous competition PR. We decided on trying for 64 kg for my third and final lift, which if I had hit it, would have been a new personal record. Sadly, although I was able to get under the 64 kg snatch, my weight was too far forward and I fell to my knees. Upon seeing this, one of the other coaches apparently commented to coach Adrian, "Yep, THAT'S a CrossFit snatch!"

We had a quick turn around after the snatch component and began the clean and jerk right away. I aimed to open with a 75 kg lift. I hit this lift and the clean came up with ease! Jacked up, we went for 79 kg for my second lift, which was a competition PR. Aiming for a 144 total, we bumped up to 84 kg for lift number 3. On my third lift, I pulled the barbell off the floor and caught it low in the front rack position. In doing so, my elbows touched my knee, which I have now learned is a fail in weightlifting. So the buzzer and lights went off indicating that my attempt had failed. 84 kg would have been a new PR.    

After the competition was complete, the first thing we did was try to find a place to grab a great meal
and beer. We left Variety Village in Scarborough and headed West on the Danforth until we found a pub. What did I find instead you wonder? An absolutely delicious Russian Imperial Stout from Guelph's own Wellington Breweries!

Overall, I had a great competition and although I didn't hit new PRs, I did achieve my goals. I had wanted to increase my OWA total from the previous 135 kg and I had wanted to hit both my opening lifts. NAILED IT!

Now to start a new training cycle in preparation for the Winterlift in February, which requires a 122 kg total as a qualifying standard. Coach Adrian says that I have to focus on 2 objectives: (1) all my squats need to be pause squats (hooray!) to work on getting up out of the bottom and (2) I have to add hook grip to my repertoire. The ultimate goal is hitting a competition total of 144 kg (which I have previously hit in practice) to qualify for the Ontario Provincial Championships.

Thank you to all my friends from Royal City CrossFit who travelled to Variety Village to cheer me on. Guelph Barbell REPRESENT!