So Busy!!!

Helloooo!!!!! Is anybody out there?!?!?! Haha. I've probably lost you all with my horrible inconsistency of posting. Things are pretty super!!! I go to Dubai to compete in World Championships in April! My training is going wonderfully. I don't think I mentioned on my blog that the ROAD DOGGZ, that helped me with the concert this summer, gave me a paralympic-sized bench and it has really helped with my stability! I go to Oklahoma in a couple of weeks and that will be the first test I have of being in competition on a para-bench since I got my bench so I'm excited to see what kind of carry over I get. I am interning right now, for school, and I graduate in May with my Bachelor's degree in Counseling!! I'm pretty happy about that. I will start my Master's program in the fall but I'm REALLY excited to have this summer off! haha. It will be my first summer off since I started my Bachelor's. I am going to attach a link to an article that I'd like you all to read. I saw it on the Spina Bifida Association's Facebook page and it really hit me as something I've tried to express for years. I'm hoping that this summer I will gain more of a consistency back with blogging; however, I have a feeling that my blogging will be taking on a different theme than lifting. No worries; I'll still keep you posted on my competitions, as well :-) Here's the link:

Rockin' Concert!!!

Hey everyone! I just wanted to update you on the magnificent concert that was put on to benefit me. Buffalo Hollow is an absolutely gorgeous outdoor venue. My cousin Jamie and also the ROAD DOGGZ got together some great bands and some fun activities! I had 57 items for my Chinese auction! It was just fabulous! My mom's cousins came and worked the early shift at all the tables, and my friend, Doug, and Brian & Steph came to work the late shift for me. I have such an awesome support system around me. My mom and my cousin Neil & my cousin Boots & my Uncle Mick & a couple aunts helped set up. We had about 15 mins of a rain spat but the rest of the night was beautiful. It was a success and helped me to pay off several expenses that needed taken care of before I go to Dubai. Now everything that I take in can be put toward my plane ticket. It was really a fun time. I couldn't have asked for anything better and really appreciate everyone that had a part in putting it on for me. Training is going very well. I'm really liking working submaximally right now. My body definitely needed a switch in gears. Just kickin' back and gettin' ready for December in Cinci. :)

Fundraiser Date Change

Everyone~ Please note that the concert fundraiser to help me afford my Dubai trip will now be on Saturday, July 20th! Please mark your calendars!!!

Dubai, Here I come!

Hey everyone! Just back from another Nationals competition! Well wait...let me back up. I did the Women's meet in Cinci in April & had a BLAST. About 60 women competed and it was a really great time! So, I'm just back from another Nationals competition! lol. I got two lifts up and the second was 183! Pretty excited about that! However, the second one was not counted because of technicalities. My pause at my chest was not long enough. Live and learn, right? I did find out the week before Nationals that Worlds is going to be in Dubai next year! Totally excited and can't wait for that! 8 people have qualified for our Worlds team! I'm pretty excited about that as well. The more, the merrier! Worlds are in April 2014. It'll be here before we know it! I'm having a concert fundraiser at Buffalo Hollow on July 13th to help me begin to gather the funds I'm going to need for that. My Uncle Jim & Aunt Marlene are going to be our opening singers. My cousin Jamie Figley lined up a band called Patron Saint, from Pittsburgh, to perform for us. And also Reign of One, a local band that did a concert for me in 2010. The Road Doggz, a biker group from Salem, is helping to get another band and they're organizing a bunch of activities to have happening as well, in conjunction with the concert. They're a great group of guys. They do a lot of work for veterans and for sick children, and they have a Toys for Tots event and Wounded Warrior event coming up in the next several months, so, keep your eyes open for those as well. As for my training, we've decided it best for me to take a small hiatus from competing. I'm going to try to make it down to Cinci in September for some training. But I won't compete until I go down again in December for the North of the Border meet. Then I'll have a training clinic in February with my National team and then it's off to Dubai in April! I'm really looking forward to this little break and seeing what Brian and I can achieve. Now that I've done so many meets in the last year and a half we've really gotten a good look at strengths and weaknesses and what needs special attention. It should be a very productive 5 months!

National meet report

I feel the need, yet again, to apologize to all my blog followers for my lack of blog updates. Honestly, between Facebook and emails and everything else, I kinda forget about blogging. It's hard to keep up with everything! Well, I went to my National meet last week. I was happy with what it felt like, but, not necessarily so pleased with the number results. I got good lifts of 161 & 174. I missed my lift of 183. The 174 went up better than it has in a couple of months, so, I was extremely pleased with that. 183 felt real light on the way down and all I knew was that when I went to press, once it got off my chest, my elbow either came back or down & I lost the lift. When I sat up, I felt my ribs out of place and they didn't feel like that before the meet, so, I'm thinkin' that was part of it. That's the first time that's happened during/in between lifts. We're workin' on some ways to fix it. Right now we're trying kinesiotape. I'm pretty excited about the new addition to our National Team. The chiropractor that was assigned to our team in Guadalajara and that accompanied my teammates to London was officially added to our coaching staff at the beginning of this year. So, he adjusted me & taped me up after the meet & took pictures of the tape for Brian to duplicate back here at home. Once I got the videos up of the meet, Brian noticed that on the way down on my last lift my elbow went out of groove. It was so slight that I didn't even feel it or know it until I watched the video with him. But, it's right there in the video. So, apparently I didn't get it back into the correct placement to be able to make a good press, either. Lots of things to work on. Continually learning. Brian has completely rearranged my training program for this cycle. We're doing more lats than we were and we're kind of making bench a secondary exercise right now. I'm still doing a lot but it's more the oxidative bench, so, it's not heavy right now. He also had my widen my grip out. It has taken a good chunk out of my stroke so that will help. He also anticipates that it'll help me tuck my lats better, and help teach me how to use them more instead of my shoulders. So, I'm anxious to see how it all works out. He also got a new toy that we started playing with today. It's called an EMS machine. Electro-muscular-stimulator (or something really close to that). He can hook me up to it on off-days and it'll contract my muscles and give them a workout, but, it'll bypass the central nervous system so I won't be worn out from it. There are a lot of programs on it, even one for recovery after a really hard workout day. We're hoping to start seeing some results from that in a few weeks or so. There's always progress! I wish I'd remember to update you more often on all of it! But, things are good. :-) I know I have mentioned it a time or two before, but, I'm so blessed and so lucky to have found Brian to train me. I couldn't ask to be taken care of any better. I know I'm right where I need to be to become the strongest that I am able and to achieve my dreams.

New Year...New Adventures

Well, what better time to catch you all up on my journey than the beginning of a new year, and not to mention a sport form week! I believe I'm a couple meets behind on informing you all of my progress. In October I went to Florida for an able-bodied meet. Brian Schwab with EliteFTS was my handler. He did an OUTSTANDING job with me. I was extremely impressed and would be more than happy to do a meet with him again some time. My actual meet results, however, were less than satifisfying. I only made my first lift of 160 lbs. I attempted 175 on my second attempt and it went nowhere. I thought I could make a few minor adjustments, and the 3rd lift would be no problem, so, I increased my attempt to 180. And again it was stapled. I had been in some pain in my back for a good portion of the week...come to find out when I got home, I had about 3 or 4 ribs out, which compromised my arch pretty badly, which totally took me out of my groove and made it pretty impossible for me to get any kind of decent weight. In December I was feeling much better in my back, although it's been rather continuous that a rib or two pops out & I need an adjustment. As a matter of fact, I had to go to a chiropractor while I was in Cincinnati for the meet because the day before, I had several pop out. I got all fixed up though. I lifted 160, but, on my second attempt, I missed 175 again. My stability was off extremely bad, right from the lift off. We took a look at the video & Amy Weisberger (WR holder) said my straps should be tighter. So, we moved them up and Shane tightened them for my third attempt and 175 went up like a shot. It was night and day, literally. They were all amazed at the difference. It was a pretty big lesson for all of us for just how technical my lifts are. If something is off in even the very slightest of ways, there's just no way I am going to be able to push the weight. It was a good year to learn more lessons, being that I was off from any National or International IPC meets. My next meet is just under 6 wks away. I'll be going back to Oklahoma for my first National of this quad. I'm pretty excited about starting up with them again and seeing my National team again. Brian has added a new type of bench to my routine. It's called Oxidative Benching. It's a timed tempo type bench. I do 10-12 reps (depending) for 30-40 seconds (depending if it's 10 or 12). Then I get a minute break and repeat 3 times. Then I get a 5 minute break and repeat the entire series 3 times. No pauses at bottom & no solid lockouts at the top, so, that I'm always under the tension of the bar. It has given me A LOT more push and drive through my lifts. I don't get fatigued nearly as quickly when I'm doing reps, even heavy ones. My sticking points are almost nonexistent now. Even when the weight feels heavy, I'm able to shove through it. It's helped me improve my technique with the slower & methodical practice. I also have a range now of knowing if I have 1 left over or 2 left over, etc., where as before, if Brian added 5 or 10 lbs to my bench sometimes it would just crush me after I got the previous weight so easily. It's really helped in so many ways. I'm so thankful for a trainer who's open-minded and just hasn't stopped searching for the right formula for me. That just about brings you up to speed!! I would greatly appreciate all of your prayers for Brian and his family, as his son has come up with some pretty serious health issues. I'm extremely thankful to have some pretty awesome friends who are stepping up to the plate and filling in to train me when Brian has to be committed to appointments and such with his son. My New Year's Resolution is to keep you all more informed, as I used to. We'll see how well it sticks.....you know how those resolutions go, I'm sure. ;-) Thank you all for your continued support in my journey. I'm having the time of my life. I absolutely love it. And I'm continually thankful to have found a trainer who's so committed to sticking with me and helping my dreams come true.

ALLLLLLLLLLLLLL TIME PR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm feeling a little sheepish. I've been so preoccupied. I think often about blogging, but, it's always when I'm out and about. Then when I get home I have a slew of things I need to get done and blogging is never one that comes to mind. I went to Cincinnati for about a 36 hr visit the end of August. Laura Phelps-Sweatt was in a meet and I really wanted to go see it. I've never had the opportunity to see her in the competition arena. She didn't have her best meet, but I was so grateful to be there for it. She handled it beautifully. She definitely has a world-class attitude. It taught me so much about learning from your experiences and moving on to put those lessons into practice instead of dwelling on what should've been. At that meet, I also got to see the Sweattshop's sponsored lifter, Derek Wade. He put on an absolutely amazing performance. He missed his first squat attempt, and submitted a second attempt that was 30 lbs. heavier. He missed his second attempt and submitted a third attempt that was 20 lbs. heavier. Derek has been chasing a 1,000 lb. squat for a while. And he finally got it. I can't believe the confident attitude and guts that I witnessed to take such jumps when it just very obviously doesn't look to be your day. But, Derek knew what he wanted. And there was nothing that was going to stop him. With nothing to lose and everything to gain he went after it and he got it. This meet was 3 weeks ago and I still think about it like it was yesterday. I learned some valuable lessons. It was an amazing trip. The Paralympics was on!!! It ran for 10 days, the beginning of September and I suppose that's where my preoccupation really took off. I spent every spare minute I could find watching them on the livestream on the Paralympic website. It was so awesome. I cried much. I can't wait to get there. It's such an honor to be a part of something like that. My teammates Mary and Ahmed were able to get many of their lifts up. However, the judging at the international level is extremely strict. All of Ahmed's lifts were DQ'd on technical issues. Mary got a good lift of 283 lbs. and ranked fourth in the world. I didn't get to watch either of them on the livestream. But, I did catch my buddy from Greece, who won a bronze medal in his class. I met him when I was in Malaysia for World's. MY lifting is also going VERY well. I lifted an All-Time PR of 190 lbs. this week!!!!! It's been a while since I hit an All-Time PR on my competition bench. It was VERY exciting. Brian did say that the pause might have been a little short according to Paralympic standards. But, I definitely paused it. It was just not quite long enough to ensure that the subjective opinions of every judge would have given it to me. Walking is going very well. It still makes me tired, but, I'm doing well with it. I very much like to just stand. Brian and I have started some extra recovery methods with the medball. That should help with the stress of walking. So! I THINK that's about all I should catch you up on. I am about 6 weeks out from my competition in Florida. Very excited for that. And then I'll be back in Cincinnati in December.