It's been too long since my last blog post. But, I've really been focused on my training.
May 3rd the AKC Classic was held in Las Vegas. As always this was a great time to catch up with many friends like Ken Blackburn and Steve Cotter (and of Course Fellow Team Captain Marty!) and there were also many new faces. I was very happy to finally meet Scott Shetler. I feel like I know the guy from seeing him post online. He didn't disappoint. It was great seeing Steven and Maya again. They brought down several folks from the "Ice Chamber" in Berkeley, CA to compete. Kevin Jodrey brought in several impressive athletes. This competition was very cool in that Gyms and Clubs were represented!
In addition to having many new men and women step onto the platform, we had several Junior athletes (under 18 boys) compete. I'm told there were 40 competitors. There were many inspiring performances and the attendance at this meet I believe signifies the growth of this sport in the USA.
On Saturday, we got to see Ivan Denisov attempt to break his own World Record. He fell a little short. But, how many times do you get to see someone do 169 jerks with 2-32kg bells in 10 minutes?
My performance was lackluster compared to other competitions. This is the first competition where I didn't hit what I expected based on my training. There were several factors or excuses :) I'm not going to dwell on those. It was just not a good day and it wasn't for lack of preparation. Head Coach Valery Fedorenko looked at this meet as a training day and further preparation for Hamburg.
Regardless of my disappointing performance, I had a great time. I got to spend more time with Ivan Denisov (Towering over me above). He came over and helped several of us at the certification. He's a really cool guy with really nice thighs :) The man is an awesome athlete and did several jaw dropping demonstrations that I'm sure will be on Youtube soon...stay tuned.
On Sunday and Monday, I assisted at the AKC Certification. I did several demos. Some of which included a 6 min 20kg Jerk set, and 6 min LCC&J set with the 24kg with one hand switch. I also managed to Jerk the 36kg bell. I was happy I could do this since I wasn't feeling "quick" all weekend. Before this weekend, I hadn't put anything over my head except the 16kg bell since early March.
It was great meeting several new folks at the cert and catching up with friends like Lisa Shaffer and Mike Mahler who attended the cert. Thanks to the folks in my Squad. You were a great group and I enjoyed working with all of you.
Thanks to Chris St. Onge, Jon Hoskins, Valery Fedorenko, Michael Stefano and of course Eric Liford. Thanks to all who helped Judge and Organize the Competition and Certification. These events would not be possible without your great effort. Thanks to all the competitors for traveling and stepping onto the platform!
Valery gave me most of last week to recuperate from the Competition, Certification and Travel. Of course I didn't actually need recuperation from Vegas itself. Kelly and I didn't partake in any gambling or "Show Girls" even though we had the hookup (Mahler ;) !
This week I'm back to training for Hamburg. Now is the moment of truth. I've got some very definitive but challenging goals in terms of what I would like to accomplish with the 16kg snatch before moving to the 20kg. It is now or never. So, I'm dropping most jerk work for the next few weeks and focusing on the snatch, swings and some rowing.
My next blog will likely be the Hamburg blog after June 9th!
CI
