I had my first Olympic lifting meet the other day. This was my competition EVER and probably the last time I’ve done any sport of any type in front of an audience since I was 10 and played hockey. I’m 26 now…

I weighted in at 75kg, which surprised the hell out of me. I was worried I wasn’t going to make weight in, as the lowest number I had seen on the scale in months was 79kg. Amazing how much water and food weight adds to the total. Felt jones’d during the warm-up and was throwing the weights around but when it came to going out there in front a shit load of people I choked hard, failing on my first two snatch attempts at 45kg but managed the third. I was just happy that I managed one lift so I could at least get a total. And when I say choked I mean choked like a fat kid wolfing down a box of smuggled smarties while at fat camp.

C&J was better hitting 63kg pretty easily, 65kg no problem and then jumped up to 70kg but had a bit of a press out and got red lighted.In the end I finished with a 110 total (yeah laugh it up) but I had fun and it was a cool experience. I’m also happy that I don’t feel really shitty and down about myself. I think that’s the most important thing that I left there with. I’ve also left with a couple observations, questions that I’ve been asking myself, and some goals that I’d like to obtain.

I saw a lot of people pull some awesome weight and some great athletic abilities.

The weight, to me represented a mental toughness that I know I don’t have. I can fail a couple times at a squat and keep getting under the bar until I hit it, I can push myself past the lactic threshold that has others quit and leaves me in a crumpled heap of sweat and flesh on the floor but the fast lifts rattle me. I fail a snatch attempt once and I’m done. I hesitate throwing large weights as fast as I can over my head.

The athletic abilities, again to me, represent a kinesthetic sense, speed, power and confidence.

For goals, a 60kg snatch and a BW+ C&J by next spring/summer. Nothing ground breaking there and perhaps a bit too modest but I’m a modest guy and I’m not that good at this sport. These goals aren’t really to do with getting stronger but more to do with my goals of that mental toughness and the athletic ability that I observed and stated above. I don’t think I’m a competitive lifter but I do like the classic lifts and have fun with them.

I also observed a lot of guys that were kicked to shit because of the lifts, guys fighting injuries at all the levels. That’s something that I’d rather avoid and is probably a reason why I don’t see myself competing and training in this sport for a long period of time. I do miss the CF kool-aid, to an extent. I miss the metcons, the variety, the overall feeling of wellness while training it, the lower BF (vain I know). There are also a couple things that I hate about it too. The fact that I can’t hold onto weight on CF, averaging about 69kg/150lbs at 5’-10.5”/1.8m sucks. I hate the long runs, I was also really hating the major set-up I would have to do to do CF at my gym, setting up rowers, weights, pull-up bars and praying that no one would come along and take it was a pain.

So somewhere, somehow there’s a happy medium, I just need to find it. I’m looking along the lines of some season training based around a rotation of SS/PP style strength training and CF like that mentioned here. The CA WOD looks cool but I wonder how much value it would have for someone who trains nothing but the O-lifts but just really sucks at it? But that’s a ways off. In the meantime I just have to keep working at obtaining my goals and getting myself into another competition or two.