I made it! After almost 7 months of training, I’m ready for the powerlifting competition on Saturday 20 July. Last week I completed my final week of heavy lifting and this week is all about the de-load 🙂 . I’m looking forward to a lighter training schedule, good food and lots of sleep.

Powerlifting has been a very big part of my life for the last 7 months and it’ll leave a big pair of shoes to fill. I’m not sure whether I’ll continue to powerlift (it’s got to the point that it’s not helping with running, rather I’m carrying extra muscle weight that gets in the way a bit), but I’ll certainly keep lifting in some form or other. Of course, I’ve learned to say ‘Never say never’, so I’ll just let things take their natural course for now and see what appears on the horizon 🙂 .

In the last couple of weeks I’ve managed to set a personal record in each of the 3 lifts:

Deadlift: 110kg
Back squat: 75kg (in spite of backing off because of pelvic floor issues)
Bench press: 47kg

For me, that’s enough to be a good outcome for this adventure – regardless of what happens in the competition on Saturday.  The main thing for me at the weekend is to get three solid opening lifts (so I get a score) and, more than that, to be completely present to the aliveness of the whole experience (yeah – I think this event is going to be brilliant on the ‘feeling completely alive’ front 😉 ). I’m going to focus on enjoying the day, enjoying meeting (and supporting) other competitors and enjoying experiencing the unique atmosphere of a powerlifting competition. If I can keep that focus, and enjoy the rewards of my training (while respecting the safety limits my body is currently communicating to me), I’ve won.

When I entered the powerlifting competition back in January, I weighed 57.1kg (bringing me – just – into the W63 M2 category). My sprinting adventure drove my weight down into the low 55s to start with, but now I’m fluctuating between 56.5kg and 57.5kg. I have until Wednesday morning to confirm my final weight category (W57 or W63) – and that’s the only thing I need to take care of right now. My kit is ‘broken in’ and ready to go. The training is done (I didn’t miss a single session, although I did get an extra de-load week to support my 400m/800m adventure). My head is in the right place.  As we say in Ballymoney (all the time🤣 ): Thunderbirds are go.  And the bonus for me is that I’m the oldest lifter in the competition! I think that’s pretty cool 😎.

In today’s video-blog, I talk about the upcoming competition. If you think my eyes look weird, it’s because I’m just out of the pool!

Right. I’ve got lots of admin to do for work today so I’m going to listen to BBC Radio 4 while I do that. There’s a programme on called ‘Worth Her Weight‘ and I think it’ll be just the thing for me because the description says  ‘ […] offers a rare glimpse into the Strong Man world: a male-dominated place that’s starting to open its doors to women.’ After that, I’m just going outside and I may be some time. (By the way, if you’re new to my blog, you can find more out about my #OldDogNewTricks project here.)

JT 🙂