SORRY!

I guess more to myself than anyone else, since I flatter myself thinking I have much of a following, lol.

I was sick a long time before going to compete at Nationals, I finished up a course of antibiotics a week or two beforehand and trained as much as my body could handle to prepare.

Reno was fantastic and humbling and I learned a ton and have all new goals.

The weekend started with our driving to Reno, a beautiful drive, but I can find beauty driving through cornfields in Nebraska, so... except for this one stretch in OR where they neglected to place any rest stops for I swear almost 200 miles...ohmygodmybladder.. the state will be receiving a letter about rest stop placement from me. Don't they realize how much water I drink??? and road trips mean Blue Rockstar...you get the picture.

One of our last stops before Reno was a Burger King..and there were quite a few other competitors there at the same time. I am socially awkward, so I kept to myself..I had only met one of them, once..if it had been on the way home it would've been a completely different situation, I left Reno feeling like I had made quite a few new acquaintances (a less socially awkward person might even venture to say 'friends'). So, sorry to Sara Osler and other people who probably think I am some snob..when really I am shy.

Grand Sierra resort was cool, except the cigarette smoke..and it was extra cool that the Natural Mr Olympia weekend was going on at the same time as NAS Nats. Lots of awesome physiques. We sat in the lobby a while and played "which type of competitor is that?" lets see - orange, ripped - judging by level of leanness they could be bikini, figure or fitness or bodybuilding. Giant traps, no tan..Strongman :)Very Inspiring to see them all.

Check-in was a little confidence shaking - they didn't seem to think I looked big enough. LOL. I am NOT petite. But I get there and Dione (who I had met once previously) was busy so the person with her says
"can I help you?"
"I'm here to check in"
he looks me up and down "really?" Dione turns and says "she's a competitor" turns away again.
he says " get on the scale"
"umm, they said heavywts don't have to weigh in"
I get the once over again (really. I am NOT petite, I was just under 200 lbs that morning).
"ok"

Wow. suddenly feeling very confused. lol.

I guess it maybe made more sense once I saw Melissa Garrett and Amy Wattles and Christina LaFex (spelling, sorry!) who all seemed about 6'2" or thereabouts..but still..I am not small. It was just an odd reaction.

The Athlete's mtg was funny, that is one thing I enjoy about this sport. It seems like a prerequisite to have a big sense of humor, strongmen remind me of vikings in so many ways. The quips and the back and forth smack talk..I love it. Strongmen remind me of the guys I hung out with growing up. Big and rowdy and slightly insane, perhaps dangerous but only to edible things and idiots.

Our room was on the 29th floor (I think, lol) and we could see the event area from our window. I got butterflies in my belly watching them set everything up. We went down to the event area to watch the men's events for a while..and realized no porta-potties! what? Insanity. So..start timer, walk from event area to nearest casino bathroom and back. Roundtrip less than 10 minutes..5 if I hurry..ok. But still. I think that was my only real gripe with the organization. lol. if this is my first blog entry people read they will think my world is centered around the bathroom. Only other people who drink upwards of a gallon of water a day understand..

Anyhow..we watched men for a while, some amazing athletes, I love to see them power through their events. But I also didn't want to get chilled to the bone, so we hung out in our room a lot and watched from the window.

Women warmed up at 3:30ish and got our yoke height, etc.. we began at 4 with the clean and press. I was really disappointed in my performance. This was one event I have trained since I began all this in May. I had not cleaned and pressed the contest wt yet, but had come close and was hoping adrenaline would take me the rest of the way. NOPE. I could get it almost to lockout twice but failed to complete. I did clean it..lol. I am in awe of Melissa and Christina and Kristin, who made it look effortless (I am not deliberately leaving anyone out..so many amazing women did so many amazing things that day). Someday I want to be as strong as they are.

The sun went down, the temperature dropped..and we went on to truck pull. I have only practiced this 3 times, all with a fullsize truck, no rope assist. Only once weighted with the sled and some plates. lol. rope assist seemed like a good idea, except I had never done it..so I wasn't as low as I would've been without it, I think. usually I start with my hands on the ground..I moved the truck at least..but did not excel by any means. I will be training a lot heavier truck pulls in the future ;)

Third event was probably my personal best event. Yoke. The first (and only other) time I competed I had never been under a yoke, we just didn't have access to one. So we did simulated standing and marching in place under a loaded bar..and I completely bombed on it at that first event. Back to training ;) The yoke we had made is a bitch. It wobbles and shakes and jacks your spine up and I would dread the days we had to do heavy yoke work because it was so hard. I had dreaded the upcoming heavy yoke at Nationals. guess what that bitch yoke did for me? made me freaking stable and stronger than I thought, lol. I got under that big, beautiful, stable yoke and stood up and went - awesome! and ran with it :) talking to Sarge later about it, he said my training yoke is probably a lot like the chain yokes, and that it sucks but it really builds your stability and core. I will never complain again about my training yoke. lol. (that doesn't mean I won't curse like a sailor under it on heavy days).

Keg carry/Sled drag medley went a lot better than I expected - I have no kegs to train with. And except for misspent youth, I really haven't hoisted many kegs. Thanks to Sarge and his last minute tips, and all the competitors who so freely share their techniques ( I LOVE THIS SPORT ) - I picked up the keg, pulled it into my body as high as I could and did a decent run, no drops. The sled was peachy, too, four little feet instead of a big flat surface like our sled..easier drag. I almost made it but my breathing affected me too much (stupid altitude and asthma..no excuse..more cardio training in the months ahead). I was pleased though.

Stones - lol. I knew the 240 was going no where, but I taped up and tackied up and attempted it. about 2 weeks before the event we unmolded our first stone. 174 lbs.. and I have a fear I have to get over of rolling it over my face instead of putting it over the bar or onto a platform (don't have platform yet..been putting over the bitch yoke at its lowest setting). so. the 240 ain't gonna happen for a while.

IT WAS FREAKING AWESOME watching Melissa and Kristin both throwing the stone over the bar. And I have to say Erin Walterman, the lightweight champion is just freakishly strong, too. (watch her training videos, holy schmoly. )

Again, all the women there were so amazing and so strong, I don't mean to leave anyone out or offend anyone!! Like I said, socially awkward, I may look like a bulldog but inside I am that labrador who shivers and pees itself because it is so happy to see other dogs. I even managed to drunkenly fawn over Kristin Rhodes that night, after my client and her husband and my boyfiend (typo, yes but it fits so I am leaving it) all plied me with shots (add in altitude and lets say "hammered" doesn't begin to describe it. "I can tie my own boots!" half hour later "I can do it myself!" 15 minutes later they made me walk to the room in my half tied boots. Oh, I took them off so I could fall off the mechanical bull..in front of a bunch of strongman competitors who were at the nearby bar. You are welcome for the entertainment ;) ).

Anyhow - we skipped the awards event because it got kinda fubar and we were tired and HUNGRY. I wish we had gone, heard it was a blast, but I enjoyed chilling out and leaving early the next morning.

So - looking forward to some big, new goals!!!!

Dropping a weight class.

Mastering the stones.

Getting stronger on overhead portion (and clean, too) of clean and press!

More pulling, more moving heavier and heavier objects..

And become more athletic :)

easy peasey..lol

And after Reno I spent 3 weeks sick again..

So another big goal is get my asthma under control again and strengthen my immune system/avoid overtraining.

I met so many cool people..and I look forward to seeing them again at more competitions throughout the year ;)