My first weightlifting competition.

So I completed my first weightlifting competition. I've been lifting for about 6 weeks. I've been in Crossfit for a while longer - about 8 months. It's been such an exciting journey. 

Let's start with why I love weightlifting. I'm strong and I feel strong when I lift. No one cares about body type. They care about how you move. It's a liberating feeling to be judged solely on what you do and not how you look, what your job is, or what purse you are carrying. 

I love weightlifting because I'm accepted for who I am right now. Not who I might be or who I was, but who I am right now. 

It helps that my training environment rocks. Everyone is supportive and fun to be around. No one makes you feel weird for being a beginner. Everyone is just so welcoming and fun. 

My coaches are also amazing. I couldn't do it without Chris H. and Nick C. They have the best attitudes for me: enough praise coupled with enough pushing and sarcasm to meet my needs. And they don't mind cracking jokes in between working hard. It's been said that good coaches help you, but great coaches push you. I have two great coaches. 

Weightlifting seems so easy, yet is so technical. The difference between making and missing a lift is so minuscule. It's fun for my brain. Although I really need to turn my brain off when I love the bar. 

So I competed for the first time in

Sacramento. It was great. The hardest part was simply relaxing between lifts and before warm ups. I can't describe the adrenaline rush when I stepped on the platform to lift. My coaches got sick, but hooked me up with a great coach in Uncle Charles. It was great. 

I had been really well coached. I could make my openers with no problem, which allowed me to enjoy the meet. It was fun to try harder lifts too. I didn't make the harder ones- I forgot you have to get under the bar - but I did make my openers and one more. 

I totaled 99k between the two lifts.  Which qualified me for the 205 Masters World Cup in Texas. And it qualified me for the 2016 Masters Nationals. I'll be attending both. 

My coaches assure me that I'll be able to lift more once I get my movement patterns and technique fixed to better than it is now- which shouldn't be hard. I'm really excited about this journey. 

It's been a long time since I've felt so excited and sure of myself. I step in to train and everything falls away. It's me and the bar. That's it. If nothing good happens, I still tried. If I get frustrated, it doesn't matter because I still tried. 

Don't get me wrong, I still like to pound things - like a heavy bag. And I still practice martial arts because you don't throw away that many years of practice and training. But this is my new thing.  

Weightlifting is great. And I really hope that there are more adventures to come.