The York Open - Part 2

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In April Christy, Jaimee, Meaghan & I attended a USA Weightlifting, Sports Performance Coach certification course at the University of Richmond. When we walked in the door the strangest thing happened. Former Olympic Coach, & our instructor for the weekend, Harvey Newton took one look at Christy (my wife), & his tongue literally fell out of his mouth & began to wag. At first I thought I’d have to knock out a 60-year-old man, but then he started to ask questions. How old are you, was the first. I stood silent, beginning to simmer inside when Christy answered, “soon to be 28”. Next he asked, “Can I see your thumbs?” I didn’t know what kind of a strange fetish this dude could have, but I decided it was time to break the whole thing up with a good natured joke about how if he asked any more questions we’d have to duel with pistols. Everyone laughed, but Coach’s next question may have started something pretty amazing. He asked, “Are you a weightlifter?”

Let’s get this straight. Christy didn’t win on Saturday. It really wouldn’t have made much difference - there weren’t any other competitors in her weight class. There were; in fact, only five women competitors overall, & one of them was 68-years-old. She would have had no chance to win overall, because the women who won the overall competition outweighed Christy by 130 pounds. Yep, you read that right - 130 pounds. Christy did learn a lot, I think, about herself, the sport of weightlifting, & where future competitions may take her.

After Coach Newton’s odd line of questioning, we began to talk with him. He said he wanted to see Christy’s thumbs because the trademark of most good, small weightlifters is long thumbs (Christy has monkey thumbs by-the-way). He said that at her size she would have an easier time excelling in the sport, & then he used her as a demonstrator in one of the teaching sessions.

There is a former weightlifter named Tara Nott who has quite a few distinctions associated with her athletic career. Coach Newton is the one who told us about her. Tara was the first person ever invited to the Olympic Training Center for three sports. First she was an Olympic caliber gymnast, then a soccer player, & finally a weightlifter. Tara actually saw weightlifting for the first time when she was working at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. She was evidently working at the weightlifting venue, watched the event, & thought that it looked like something she could do. Four years later she won a gold medal in Sydney at 28-years-old.

Coach Newton didn’t tell us about Tara until after he had seen Christy move with the bar. He told us that she was “built to be a weightlifter” & that she should start training now. When he told us the story about Tara I didn’t get what he was trying to get at until we were in the car later. Christy asked us, “Is Coach trying to say that I could go to the Olympics?” It hit me that he was saying just that, but I didn’t believe it until I asked him during the second day of the cert. He said yes, that he did think that she had a shot, but we had to get started as soon as possible.

Just so everyone knows, I do think that my wife has the perfect physique, size & proportions to be an excellent weightlifter. But, you have to realize that Christy has never done anything competitive. Really, no sports growing up, no gymnastics, no ballet - she really has no athletic background. I say that because I hope that through her story you can all realize what you can do. Not to give a pep talk, but every one of you is made to excel at something, or be pretty good at everything. Christy has, however, CrossFitted hard for the last two plus years. There is no doubt that is one of the big reasons she is beginning to see some level of athletic excellence. That, & she also works her a** off every time she walks in the gym - EVERY time she walks in the gym.

We started training weightlifting more & more. We added assistance exercises to the beginning of workouts, & threw as many heavy cleans & snatches into our met-con storms as possible. We didn’t really have a direction at first, but when I read about the York Open, we had a light at the end of the tunnel.

We knew that Christy would have to cut body weight for the competition. She registered for the 53kg (116.6lbs) division, & had to cut about ten pounds in about three weeks. Those of you who weigh in the 120s & have tried to cut weight, probably know how hard this is. It’s no problem for a 200 pound dude, but when you’re a lightweight already, there isn’t much to drop. After a hard two-and-a-half weeks, & an absolutely miserable last few days, Christy wieghed in at 115.8 - almost a full pound under.

To make a long story short, the competition didn’t go as well as expected, but also wasn’t a complete loss. She bombed out (missed all three attempts) on her snatch, & was basically eliminated from the competition. The painful thing was that she had been warming up with a weight that was three pounds more than the weight that she missed. The snatch is Christy’s weakest lift, & the competition left us knowing exactly what she needed to work on. After bombing out her snatch, she came back with a gutsy effort in the clean & jerk, & made all three of her attempts. She hit lifts of 58kg (128lbs), 60kg (132lbs), & 63kg (140lbs). The 63kg lift was the biggest lift of the competition by a non-heavyweight, & was a pr for Christy.

After we returned home I started to do a little research on qualifying for national & international events. It seems that for Christy to qualify for the national championships, in her weight class, she will need a total (total of snatch, & clean & jerk) of 117kg. If she had made her opening snatch in York she would have had a total of 110kg. Guess what that means? Coach Newton may have been right. Nationals are December 5th in Arizona, anyone up for a road trip?

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JUST A REMINDER:

-Saturday & Sunday, September 27th & 28th: CrossFit Gymnastics Certification

-Saturday, October 11th, 8am: The Mid-Atlantic Hopper Challenge @ CrossFit BWI

TODAY’S EXERCISE EXCUSE EXORCISM:

“I’m pregnant.”

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WOD 080916

“The Day That Never Comes”

10 DB Clean to Thrusters