Westsiiiiiiiiiiide!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas, Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know it's been a while since I posted. For anyone who doesn't follow me on Facebook, I apologize for not updating when I returned from Guadalajara. I haven't been much in a writing mood. I know some people are missing my updates, however, things are going so well, I didn't want to jinx myself by getting to concentrated on having to report to everyone again.

I hit 171 lbs. in Guadalajara. I missed 184 lbs. I held my ranking, 10th in the world, which was good. I have one more national meet in Oklahoma in February before the deadline for rankings hits, which is the end of February. After that is when we find out who made the Paralympic Team.

Since I came back from Guadalajara, I have found a sports psychologist. He is located in Cleveland and it takes me a little over an hour to get there. However, he's been very good so far & when you want something you have to do whatever is required to get it. It should benefit me a lot and I should be ready to hit some bigger weight in February.

In a separate subject of interest, I'm now 'officially' ranked 7th on the able-bodied federations National ranking list. In December, 2 weeks after I returned from Guad., I went back to Cincinnati to visit Laura Phelps-Sweatt & crew. Laura signed me up with an SPF Federation membership and they allowed my lifts to count in federation at their meet. I'm so grateful to those at SPF for allowing my lifts to count and allow me to be a part of their federation. I lifted 170 there, and missed 185 twice. It was the first time I had really failed in Cincinnati, which was disappointing, however, it turned out to be somewhat of a blessing because Louie Simmons of Westside Barbell, in Columbus, was there and watched me lift. When my lifts were over, Louie was kind enough to sit with me about a half hour or so, and give me tips, while Brian texted me back and forth and asked questions about what to do in my training. It was all very helpful information and I'm officially on a Westside template for my powerlifting training program. Laura & Shane have offered to answer any questions that we might have during my training cycles and I also have spoken with Amy Weisberger who is very helpful and also belongs to Westside. I'm sure I'll have an adjustment period to deal with, but, I'm pretty excited about the program. Brian tried it with me before, but, as Brian says, it was at the very beginning and I didn't have much confidence in the program cuz I didn't know much about it...and I didn't have near the confidence in him that I do now.

I'm sure I'll be back blogging at some point. I'm just not in a proper mental state to be able to do it at the moment. I've been doing so much better since I don't know my numbers. But, rest assured everything is wonderful. "Just another day in Paradise." The gym is still my very favorite place to be & Brian is my trainer, 2 years and 4 months and counting. I couldn't as for anything more. I'm humbled and appreciative beyond words. It's been an incredible journey.