Iron Wars

Here are the numbers from Iron Wars at Zia Strength Systems SPF powerlifting meet yesterday in Albuquerque.

I hit competition PRs on all three lifts, though not by much. My Powerlifting Total two years ago at the 100% RAW competition was 639.3#. Yesterday it was unofficially 650#, officially 645#. My grinded out my first squat, full of unhelpful adrenaline and looking down at the floor in front of me. The second squat was feeling way better, head up, and I was moving up when one of the spotters (there in case the bar started moving back DOWN) grabbed the bar for no reason and DQed my lift (hence the 645# total). The other girls were lifting well above 200, some over 300#! It was very inspiring. I WILL train that lift one of these days.

Bench press was painful, both lifts ugly as all heck. My right shoulder hurt and I was told by more than one competitor that the judges were having me hold the bar at the bottom for a particularly long time before the "press" command. Oh, well. Thanks, Sara, for unloading the bar for me and helping me with the set-up.

Then came dead lift! Woohoo! My first attempt was second highest out of the five women, making me question my choice of 290#, but the lift felt great. Unlike for squat and bench, I love adrenaline for dead lift. I was shaking, I was so nervous. 310 felt great too. In 2014, I failed an attempt at 312, so this time I just went to 315. It felt great too. I wish I had gone higher, though I'm happy with the personal record. If we had a dead lift bar at our gym, I'd try to find that upper limit.
So, after all was said and done, I took 2nd out of the 3 of us in the 165# weight division. If the spotter hadn't DQed my squat, my total would have tied for third, though that woman weighed less than me, so I still would have been 4th out of 5. No matter, yesterday was a competition between me and the bar. I'm proud to have maintained my strength, with just a short 4 week Wendler program. I definitely don't recommend doing a powerlifting meet 7 days after a grappling tournament. I was feeling it for sure.

January Competition Schedule

January Competition Schedule- It's almost official

1/16- New Mexico Showdown Fight to Win in Rio Rancho, north ABQ, NM
         Brazilian Jiu Jitsu- White belt women, 130+ lbs
         Submission Wrestling-  rookie women, 130+ lbs

         Last year I got thrown in with the intermediate women in submission wrestling because of my higher weight.  All the white belts ended up in one class because their weren't any other women over 130 lbs.  It will be interesting to see what happens this year.  My dojo sister, Hillary, will also be competing.  Hopefully we get to wrestle lots of other women.






1/23- Iron Wars Powerlifting at Zia Strength Systems, ABQ, NM
         Full Powerlifting:  Back Squat, Bench Press, Deadlift

         I haven't done a powerlifting meet since March 29th of 2014.  My scores at this 100% RAW sanctioned event were  143.2 lb (85 kg) squat, 143.2 lb (65 kg) bench,  and 308.6 lb (140kg) deadlift, for a total of 639.3 lb (290 kg).  Apparently this is a small federation, because I still hold the Colorado records.  This next meet is sanctioned by Southern Powerlifting Federation.

1/29?- Snowdown Armwrestling Tournament at the Wildhorse Saloon

         The schedule is not yet out for the Durango Snowdown events.  Historically, there is an arm wrestling tournament on the Friday during the festival.  Two years ago I won my weight class.  Last year I bought into all the bigger women's weight classes, won the 215lb+ division and then  started to go down hill.  This year, I've been training.  There is a TON of technique involved, as I knew there was, just didn't previously have any idea of the details.  The theme this year is '80s.  I'm looking forward to it.  

        Unfortunately, the Snowdown Strongwoman Comp at CrossFit Durango filled up too quickly with New Mexicans for me to register.  Fortunately, I'll be spared Zurcher carries, the stupidest test of "strength" I've yet to encounter, aka just painful.  

Welcome. Happy New Year

January 2016, better late than never, marks the true beginning of a blog I've been thinking hard about starting for over a year.  I was hoping to create a website, but after a few trial runs last winter, I'm back to Blogger.  January is the month where I can finally settle down after six months working on a wild land fire crew, a month traveling to visit family, and the hectic holiday months of November and December.  I have finally settled into a comfortable flow of CrossFit, Durango Martial Arts Academy classes, winter sports, and friend time.  Oh, how I've missed my friends.

This blog project is motivated mainly by my need for a place for recording past and future athletic events.  I have piles of notes from ultra marathons, starting with my first one in March of 2012.  I want to share what I learned from them, from helpful gear lists to music lists, mistakes to triumphs.  I have a few pictures and many thoughts that need a venue to be expressed.  Throughout the past few years, I have referenced many runners' blogs and they really saved me a few times with logistical tips.  Along with the blogs, reading Ultrarunning, and listening to podcasts, I realized that anything was possible during a race and that the key was to go with the flow, listen to your body, and always keep positive, or at least present.  These conversations were priceless, especially before I met other runners with which to chat.

Along with ultra marathons, I compete in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (as a white belt) and rookie submission wrestling tournaments.  I also compete in power lifting and CrossFit competitions.  And, like most other mountain women I know, I play any number of ways in the outdoors- climbing, boating, hiking, skiing.... I love discussing everything from olympic lifting techniques to the drought situation to avalanche safety to CrossFit mods to the latest learned wrestling move to new recipes.  I am also an Wilderness EMT, trying to get more involved with the local search and rescue association. 

When I am not playing, I am probably working 80+ hour weeks on a USFS fire crew.  During those six months I take dozens of photos and look forward to sharing more of them here, especially for the non-Facebook people.

"Boots" in the "boots to bare" refers to the half of the year I am clothed in heavy logging boots and protective nomex.    The "bare"  is my contrasting personal time.  I hope to post often on this blog.  Posts will probably come in spurts because of my seasonal life.  This winter I hope to share my Susitna 100 experience from two years ago, the goal being before I head back to AK for the White Mountains 100.   My 2016 is full of other goals, to be shared soon.

Happy New Year!  I hope this January finds you happy and healthy and that the year only gets better.  Till next time.