Starting at eDiets at my highest weight, I weighed 253 pounds.  That's a lot of weight to carry, and it felt miserable.  Now soooo many years later, that number has a new meaning, and who could imagine how incredible it feels?!

Below is my report from my very first USA Powerlifting Federation meet.  It took place on Saturday April 18, 2009 in Orlando Florida.  Crazy when I think about where I was, to half marathoner, and now to powerlifter.and now...record holding powerlifter?!  Crazyness!  It's happening, and yet I can still hardly even believe it!  253lbs has new meaning, now :)

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I didn't sleep at all the night before - typical.

30 lifters total, 7 of them (including me) were women.

Turns out that I'm the FIRST lifter of the day, which has me totally freaked out.  The time between when we got to the convention center and when that lift took place was ENDLESS, I was so nervous.  But once that first squat was overwith...I settled down, all was well.  Here's how it went:

Squats = 9 white lights!  And yes, they mocked the weight ;)

My squats were lame weight as far as powerlifting goes - but you know why as I mentioned - I had a specific goal in mind for squats  and it wasn't weight related (to get 3 white lights on each attempt - 3 perfect squats).

So I go out there, I was the FIRST lifter of the day with my opening squat, hahah...lame-o 66lbs LOL.  I make this with no problem, and the announcer goes "Hey Cathy I dunno if you know this but warmups are done in the back"

So second attempt, I went up by 10lbs and I make that with no problem and the announcer continues to rib me, "Hey Cathy this is *power*lifting..")

I also made my 3rd attempt squat and at the end you can hear them start to say something about being the announcer's new training partner..."reps all day" or something.

S'ok I don't care, I know they were just messing, and now I know I've *got* the squat, I've got a full meet under my belt, experience with all the lifts in a meet setting, and so in Charlottesville (my next meet, planned for late July) I can go in with confidence on the squat and at least do *some* weight :)

Sooo....onto Bench!

The plan for bench was to open with 80, then 95, then 110!

Decided to go conservative on the opener, then 95 again, and what I SHOULD have done at the first meet - 110.  I got the first two lifts with no problem, but on the 110, I missed it, gah! My coach/training partner says he thinks what happens is that I "go loose" in the lats/relax a little at the bottom of the bench, and that doesn't matter so much for me until it gets heavy, then I just die in the water.  I dunno - better than any theory I can come up with.

Benching took FOREVER, since in addition to the full meet lifters, there was a "bench only" class that consisted of another near 30 lifters.  Then after THAT, they did some cash prize contest, whoever got the most reps at 300lbs, 400lbs, and 500lbs.  Seriously - waaaaay too long of a wait with all that business going on, until we finally got around to deadlifting.  NOT to mention that this is inherently sexist, as very very very few, even elite female lifters, can do a whole lot with a 300lb bench press, nevermind out "rep" a guy at that weight.

When I FINALLY went out for my opening deadlift (209lbs), one of the judges said to me, "I see you finally decided to lift some weight today!"

Hah ;)

From a technique standpoint, these deads were a huge improvement from the first meet.  In watching the 2 heavier lifts from that meet, we noticed some "hitching," which was sucking power away from me off the floor.  You can see it, because the bar rolls away from me and then back into me on those lifts. 

We worked on correcting that in training since then, and I think it made a big difference!  Before lifting I am now setting my chest/arch, and then dipping my hips juuuuuust a little right as I started pulling, and that keeps the weight pulled in, no hitching!  Stronger lifts!!

So here are the 2 record lifts :)  When I went out onto the platform for each, I can't even tell you how my heart was racing, and how I was shaking!  It was nuts!

2nd Attempt - USAPL Raw American Record 148lb/Open Class @ 105kg/231 lbs

3rd Attempt - USAPL Raw American Record 148lb/Open Class @ 115kg/253.5 lbs

On my 3rd attempt, I did get 1 red light, boo!  When I asked why, I was told it was for "downward movement," of the bar.  That means one of the judges saw the bar go down at some point, after it started up - not allowed.  I don't see it at all, but no matter - I still got the lift!!!

And I officially broke the record!  And then I did it again, hahah that is some kind of CRAZYNESS :)  And I qualified for C'ville, woot!!

I also got to see Honu, which was really crazy!  I mean how was she even there?!  Totally whacky coincidence!  But it was soo great having here there through that, even though I felt bad because at times it got soooo long.  But the added cheering section and the super GF hugs and support was excellent.  She's also quite the videographer :)  YAY!!

My coach/training partner was also super sweet and supportive all day long, totally wouldn't be able to do all this without that coaching uber-awesomeness, and also without those "voices" Honu talks about in one of her posts on her thread - the ones from here at eDiets cheering you on, the ones that won't let you give up on anything :)

I'm super tired today (Sunday 4/19) and low on energy, no sleep the night before and no sleep again last night..just really dragging.  This week will likely turn into another deload week for workouts, I'll just do some cardio and maybe 2 light fullbody workouts as I recover.

Raphael is going to try to help me with my nutrition, because I'm still struggling with that and ultimately it affects my strength and recovery - that'll help with the energy level too no doubt :)

Thanks so much you guys...:)

Hey guys...we all know that sometimes life throws us a curveball, it can come when we least expect it, or sometimes it comes when we are expecting it, but it still throws us for a loop.  Nancy's curve ball was pretty big, but here she shares a big success in dealing with some of the after affects, and how she's making the changes she needs to come back healthier and stronger than ever!

Way to go Nancy! Read on to see how Nancy is getting it DONE!

Excerpted from a post on the Exercise and Fitness Board, with Nancy's permission!

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Good afternoon all.

Another pound down this week!  I love feeling like I am back on track again.  I have been tested and I am not following a perfect plan - however I am on plan far more often than off plan and it is showing.  I'm still journaling my food - did I mention that I'm doing that now?  It is making a difference.  Last night we were heading home after working on Mom's house and dh said "lets just stop at culvers" - eeeek - What I really wanted to do was head to the gym - despite all the work I had just done, I wanted to have a release, ya know?  Well, my dh is needing some attention as well and I need to find that balance.  I don't think he as everasked me to skip a gym run so I knew he needed me.  So off to Culvers we went - do you all know Culvers?  They advertise "the Butter Burger"    So I am looking at this menu and feeling a bit overwhelmed.  I asked the cashier - do you have a plain chicken breast?  She said "sure" - sweet!  One chicken breast for me with water thank you very much.  Well turns out it is a battered fried chicken breast (a real chicken breast, bone in and everything) I actually peeled off the skin and ate the just the chicken, plus one (yes ONE) french fry from my husbands order.  Soooo... made the best out of what was available and it pays to ask for things that may not be on the menu.  Trust me, after the time at my Mom's house a big ol' burger with a heap of fries was tempting - however, feeling good, reaching my goal and making a healthy choice felt SOOOOOOOO much BETTER!  Yay me.  :)

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Read Nancy's original Success Story here!