Of course, being me, my bag was packed and ready on Saturday night, and food and water were ready to go. A few sausages, nuts and black coffee down, I was set.
On the drive down to WHS, I of course had my playlist on full volume! I had decided to ignore my phone too, as well wishes I had received the previous night had started to make me jittery, so I didn't want it to happen again just before competing! That was the first PB of the day, not looking at my messages / Facebook / Twitter for nearly 7 hours.... SAD?!
Anyway, once at the gym, I was a nervous wreck. Tried really hard not to show it as the other competitors that were already there all seemed to know one another and so I didn't want to stand out even more! I needn't have worried though, all the competitors from the 3 weight categories were all really friendly and supportive - a much needed boost!
Soon enough, the room started to fill up with spectators -and to my surprise, quite a lot of them were for little old me! It was time for us to pick out our starting positions (numbers from a hat) and were told that there would be 6 competing, not 7 as originally thought. Luckily for me, I pulled 6 - last up, meaning I could see what the other ladies managed and what I needed to beat...
Event One - 35kg Log Press, FTOH reps in 1 minuteI like this event and feel it is one of my best. I guess this is helped by my experience with Olympic Lifting as it is quite reminiscent of a Clean and Jerk. Originally I had aimed for 10 reps, but it just felt so comfortable and quick, I kept going, time being called just before I could finish rep 13. Amazing result for me, and meant I drew 2nd Place...
Result - 12 reps, Joint 2nd Place
Event Two - WSM Squat, 70kg for reps in a minute
I have really been working on my squat and felt confident with this one too. Again, I had aimed for 10 but after seeing the competition from the others, James upped this aim to 16-18reps! Seemed like a big jump, but stepping into the rack, I knew I had it there. As I un-racked, the bar felt so light - perhaps that was the pre-workout saying that! - and the first 3 reps felt effortless. I think I then got a little over confident and did the next few a bit too quickly, resulting in taking a moment to pause and catch my breath, which really did cost me another rep. I managed 17 in total, but 1 was disallowed as the bar didn't touch both pins...still smashed my original goal though!Result - 16 Reps, 4th Place
Event 3 - Arm over Arm Pull and Drag, 50kg - Timed
I was unsure how I would do in this event, I have always felt pretty weak on the pulling events. Luckily, this was really quite light and so it was more about being quick. I recall leaning as far forward as I could, stretched down the rope, heels dug into the tyre, when I heard someone say ''Ooh, I could only dream of getting into that position!'' and it made me chuckle, but I didn't loose focus, I used it as incentive, and once I started pulling the rope, I just didn't stop. Maybe I was a bit too quick as I lost my handing 3 times when pulling in, but I made up for the time with the drag back - no mistakes on the switch round and just kept my feet moving, despite my quads screaming at me to stop. And as always, I collapsed in a classy pile at the end :)
Result - 33.71 Seconds - 2nd Place
Event 4 - Farmers Walk - Timed
Ah yes, those lovely hunks of metal! The warm up was fine, and felt good about going into this second to last due to my placing in the previous event. I barely watched the other ladies this time, I just needed to keep my head in it. I had practiced this and managed it in 15seconds, so this was my aim.... But I knew as soon as I had picked them up that something would go wrong. I stupidly tried to move whilst picking them up, not my usual, Stand, Stabilise, Go technique. This put me off balance and I wobbled my way up the first 15m....I was nearing the cone and all of a sudden lost my footing and completely rolled my right ankle. Luckily, my left side took most of the weight, so the damage that could've been done was limited, but it still shook me. I picked them back up though, got through the cone and then all the way back. But I was kicking myself every step. It didn't help that it hurt like hell and I was holding back tears. The encouragement from the other competitors and the spectators was incredible though, that was a massive help!  |
| The Ankle Roll...OUCH!!! |
Event 5 - Loading Medley, 40kg Sandbag and Keg, 50kg Sandbag and KegAnkle throbbing, I tried my best to prepare for this. I knew if anything would give me a shot at a good time, it would be my sprints between the platform and objects, but knew that I would get the speed now I'd done my ankle. But I surprised myself; the 40kg sandbag and keg, and then the 50kg sandbag went up with speed and ease and I was feeling great! Then came the turn of the 50kg keg, which I had only ever attempted once, and only just got it onto the platform from a standstill, let alone a run carrying it! I knocked it, picked it up and started moving...but of course, dropped it! Got it back up to my thighs as this was all I could manage, again, quads, calves and ankle were all going crazy at me, and it felt more like I had 100kg in my arms....
But I managed what seemed like a painstakingly slow walk to the platform, and with one last burst of effort, managed to clean it up and took my hands away...then I think I collapsed onto a bench, with James quickly at my side...
The next 15 minutes were a blur as the other categories finished their event, I think I was wondering around talking to people?! Cant recall much other than Kat offering me some Lindor Mini Eggs! and I only ate one?! What was that about?!
Then it was the announcements of overall placing - and who would qualify for a place in the Finals of England's Strongwoman Championships. We weren't sure if I had placed 3rd or 4th at this point, and so when 4th place was called, and it WASN'T my name, my mum, bless her, was already cheering. Stepping up to greet Aaron to accept my 3rd Place trophy was exhilarating, the applause was immense, I was so happy! Gina (1st), Jenny (2nd) and I posed for photos for what seemed an age!
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| 1st 2nd and 3rd with trophies! |
Once all the trophies had been awarded, all the ladies gathered for a group shot.
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| All the ESWC Competitors!! |
What a day!! I am certainly looking forward to the Finals now! Date is TBC....
Maxine, Polly, Becki, Jenny and Gina, all competitors in the U63kg category, are all fantastic ladies and great athletes. It was a pleasure to meet all of you, and I look forward to seeing you for some training sessions soon!
Thank you also to Aaron and Tom for organising and running the event yesterday, I really enjoyed it!
Just to end, thank you again to all those that came to support, especially to my family, training partners Zuz and Charlotte (and Mia!) and of course, James, my coach and inspiration to constantly improve and challenge myself. Thank You for always believing in me.
Annoyingly, I am experiencing some technical difficulties when trying to publish the video montage of events, so I will post this separately soon!
You'll be pleased to know that I demolished an Easter egg, three double amoretto's and a glass of red to celebrate! Back to clean eating tomorrow though...my bulking phase is over ;-)
Franki x
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