2015 World Championships Part 2

The night I had that interview I didn't get any sleep. I was up at 5 am to get ready to go to work. I was at work at 7 am then got off at 12. I tried to make myself nap but, couldn't so I went to the training hall. I was very emotionally and physically tired that day. I contacted a friend of mine to text me funny jokes because I was doing my best not to cry that day. I don't know about you, but, when I get tired like that, I find it hard to control my emotions.

The rest of the day and week was spent eating with my teammates, hanging out with Jessica, I went and had some Thanksgiving dinner at my house, I watched world records and attempted to get to know my World Championship Team better.

The day before the competition, I spoke with my sports pysch/neuro coach Tom and he helped calm me down. I was worried that I wasn't ready for the competition, I was nervous that I wasn't rested enough, I felt pressure to perform well for Team USA, I was worried about other people's opinions. I was very distracted and I was worrying about all of the wrong things!

He helped remind me of who I was and that I didn't have to prove anything to anyone and at the end of the day, my friends/family/coaches would all still love me. He also reminded me of something very important: HAVE FUN. Having fun is one of my greatest motivators. I was letting all this stuff clutter my mind and I stopped having fun. Why put myself through mental and physical hell if I am not going to get any fun out of weightlifting? I needed to do what I did best and that was enjoy myself.

I spent the rest of the day watching weightlifting, talking to my friends, and watching funny videos. That night, I had the best night of sleep before a big competition than I ever had.

The morning of the competition, I just ate breakfast, did a very light shake-loose workout, showered, beautified myself and hung out. I was luck enough to have my session at the end of the competition and in the evening. That way, I have time to get a couple of good meals in me and see sports med or do anything that I need to get done.

I weighed in, and chilled out in the athlete lounge area and tried to rest my eyes a bit and enjoy my coach's company.

I had the pleasure of working with the National coach, my personal coach, and Jessica's original coach, Danny Camargo. Danny helped with loading weights and counting attempts, I'm not sure what the National Coach was doing but, I know it was important and Tim helped with weight loading, strategy, and making sure I was doing ok. Side note: Tim does an exceptional job tending to his athletes.

Anywho, warm ups went well and I don't think I had any misses (I'm writing this months later because I'm lazy) and I was pain and stress free. I was also enjoying myself.
My first attempt in the snatch was 118 kgs for a lift caught really high, that was followed by a solid attempt at 122 kgs.

 I felt really good and confident and we wanted to put 127 kgs on the bar to put myself in a position to possibly medal. I was ok with this call and felt confident I could make it. Well, I didn't. I pulled the heck out of it and it flew right over my head! Gosh dang it. Which has this hilarious moment of lamentation on the platform:

I had a fair amount of time to use the restroom, get a little snack in me and get ready for the clean and jerks. Warm ups went well. I had big plans for the clean and jerks this day. I really wanted to break the American Record which currently stands at 161 kgs. My goal was to take 152, 157, and 162 kgs attempts. Cheryl Haworth currently holds them and she had just got inducted into the hall of fame there so I thought it would be great to break the American Record that same weekend. My 152 and 157 attempts were solid and felt easy. After the 152 opener, the National Coach approached me asking if I wanted to take an 8 kgs jump to 160 kgs so we could be back in medal contention. I wasn't too comfortable with this as the most I had clean and jerked in training leading up to that was 145 kgs. I had cleaned and missed the jerk with 160 kgs back in summer of 2013. I didn't really feel like that was a safe bet. I was willing to budge a bit just to add kilos to the total and agreed to 148 but my coach, Tim stuck to his guns and we stayed with our game plan. By the time is came for us to take 162 kgs, I was sitting around a lot waiting to go. There was a lot of strategy going on with the coaches and athletes. This usually isn't too big of a problem for me but, sitting a long time like that, it's hard to stay focused. By the time 162 kgs was loaded on the bar, I thought I was feeling ready to go. I pulled the bar from the floor and by the time it got near the hip position, it felt like it was too far away and that I wouldn't be able to get under the bar to clean it so I dropped the weight. Even though I'm disappointed I didn't make the lift, I'm glad we had it on the bar. Better luck next time!

After all was said and done, I had a personal record snatch, clean and jerk, and total. I had my highest international placing to date, and I helped score valuable points to help secure 3 Olympic Slots.

I had people from work, and church and my club come watch me compete. This was so amazing. I rarely have anyone in the crowd to support me as I am far away from home and we usually compete in places my friends are not. This was a treat! I may be biased but I think I had the loudest and largest fan base in the competition venue that week. I encouraged those who came to wear silly costumes and to make signs. Here are some pictures:

After the competition was over, I had to go to drug testing, I spoke with the Houston Chronicle and made it out to see my friends and go to Texas Road House to gorge ourselves.

Thanks to everyone who supported me during my two year hiatus. Thank you to my supportive friends, family, followers, teammates and coaches who all helped make the 2015 World Championships a successful and happy competition.

-Sarah