Saturday's seasoned return

I am a happy camper. As of last night, I am able to train the classical lifts again and it feels sooo good. I had my second physical therapy session and although my hip felt dodgy the day after the session, it feels better now. Not perfect, but far better. Let's start off with a classic video that many of you should enjoy:



Chris Chea, an English 77kg weightlifter with 121/148 as his all time bests, came over this morning for the next few days. I can't train tomorrow as I am taking the Level two IAWA coaching course and this has to take precedence. There was a great atmosphere in ECB today with Chris, Murph who was up from Limerick, German, Laura, Wayne, Killer, Gillian, Byrdie and myself lifting. It was intense and enjoyable for all except for Byrdie who is still feeling the effects of a brutal three month prep phase. He should be just about right for the World's in Turkey.

As for my own lifting, I wanted to see what I could do on Friday night and Snatching felt good so I worked up to a nice single with 100kg and left it there for the night. The previous day I was not able to do any of the classical lifts, so I did the bench press, as many pull ups as possible in ten minutes and some bench squats. I was definitely stiffer two days after, so lifting today was not as pleasant as last night. After feeling like crap, I eventually hit 105kg in the Snatch and hit 130kg in the Clean and Jerk. Very modest numbers, but I am happy considering how long I was not able to lift properly. Starting next week I will be on the last four weeks of Wayne's program and I have promised myself to be good and to follow teh dictates of the program fully. These four weeks will be focusing on the back squat in particular and it should be quite demanding to say the least. I refuse to let myself give in to temptation and go overboard on the mid week intensity. Patience.....