This Is Who I am. This Is What I Do!

The run in to this world championship has been quite a smooth one. No major injuries except a couple of silly niggles which intelligent rehab and pre-hab have kept in check.  After the British Champs we started working with a coach for the first time. We only had about 8 weeks between the two so there were no major changes as there just wasn’t enough time so we focused on small manageable technical changes and a change in the approach to the competition with the long term plan of getting the results from this competition and then coming back assessing and then in the new year taking a whole new view point on training methods, applying them and then seeing what the results are.  So this competition was going to set a new base line performance.

The main thing we established was that we had to approach the competition with a clear set out plan for a World Championships. What our openers would be? What our 2^nd options would be in the eventuality of a good lift and no lift? What our ultimate end goal was? What jumps in weight we could manage that then dictated how to get from A to B to C? We looked at what would be the minimum that we would accept and what the best possible outcome would be and what we thought was realistically probable? How many white and red lights we expected? We set our plans in stone, packed them in our kit bag and they came with us to Prague. Our aim was to hit numbers but also to get as many white lights at an international competition as possible. To be strong and technically good was the ultimate goal.  We had a small group of four lifters (plus one handler & one camera man) travelling and this was the focus of all our performance discussion and it appears to have served us well.

The journey to Prague for the World Powerlifting Congress World Championships was nice and easy. We stayed in an apartment about a ten minute walk from the venue. Arriving in the evening we settled in deciding on rooms and then me and Mr G went to the restaurant and had something to eat. I had stopped water about 4pm after a few days loading, vit C & aqua ban and I only had a couple of pounds to drop to take me under 75kg so there was no real stress. I had some very tasty Carpaccio and tuna tartar with an espresso.  We chatted through our plans and then went and got some shut eye.  I woke up at stupid o’clock and couldn’t get back to sleep so just had a read and rested as well as I could.

We got up early and mooched down to the venue getting there early so that we were pretty much front of the queue and just sat and waited. Again weigh in was smooth and for us uneventful and I tipped the scales at 73.9kg and I was entered in the Raw Open & Master 1. We went and got our event t-shirts with the awesome slogans of Powerlifting Warrior and Lift or Die. Off we went to eat, have a little walk around, eat some more, snooze & eat. Over the course of this year we have tried a few things and have found that high carb, high salt foods work well for us rather than a majority sugary food intake.  We knew the next day would be a long one as Laresce and Cheryl would be the first ones lifting at 9am with Mr G following at around 9.30. I wasn’t due to lift until late afternoon. So an early night to bed after the last feed.

The morning was spent helping the girls for the initial warm ups and then handling Mr G, all of whom were fucking amazing and set a bloody high standard for me to follow.  I had to leave Mr G after his bench so that I could go and warm up for squats. He was however in good hands after making friends with the Portuguese and U.S team who were all roaring for each other. I got back to the warm up room and staked claim on a monolift along with the Sarah Edgar and we just ticked over nicely warming up to our openers. I felt surprisingly calm and this was throwing me a little mentally but I thought the adrenalin will kick in soon when we go to the auditorium. As I rounded the corner I could hear Disturbed playing Down with The Sickness which Dave the DJ puts on when Mr G lifts so I raced around just in time to see him get 3 whites for his last deadlift of 272.5kg which broke his own World Record.

To be honest the actual process of lifting becomes a little bit of a blur with just fragments of clarity. It is quite common knowledge that I am not the most confident squatter, in fact my ultimate aim is to be competent and technically good rather than beast strong. I had chosen a very reserved opener as I didn’t open well at the Worlds in Vegas the previous year and this was something I was conscious of. I knew if I got a nice simple opener in then this would set me up for the rest of the squats. My aim was to replicate my last lift from BPU British at international level which I did with –

120/132.5/145KG 3/3-9/9

Hardly a squat to write home about but I was in the running and had hit my first goal, surpassed my expected number of whites and attained a PB raw international. First job done!

Mr G had joined me to keep my head on track as I was still super calm and this was still worrying me slightly. Where the fuck was the adrenalin? How was I going to make it through if it didn’t kick in? Mr G told me to focus on what I needed to do and believe in the work we had done. Warm ups for bench were strong and controlled and I went to platform confident in my opener which went up a treat BUT there was a wobble at the top which was totally unnecessary and I am still unsure as to why. I must have relaxed for a split second so I was very mindful of this on my second lift and the mistake was not repeated. The second felt so good that I decided to go for my ‘option 2’ in my plan and go for the heavier choice on third lift which was hard but I got it. Again this gave me not only an international PB but also beat my national PB by 2.5kg and matched my push/pull PB.

100/105/110KG 3/3-9/9

I am fucking delighted at this. I at this point have absolutely no idea where I stand in the running. Tracey Draher of the US was putting in some incredible lifts in both squat and bench, only just missing out on an Open 75kg world record on bench. I nearly lost my fucking voice shouting for her. As far as I was concerned my second job was done!

Deadlifts are the lift I love above all else. Warm ups felt good even with some shitty bars in the warm up area.  Mr G said my last warm up looked tough but I was pretty confident that my opener was going to be good once we got onto platform with good bars. We train on a Texas Power Bar so when we get to comp and there are the lovely deadlift bars everything feels so small in the hand. From the beginning of this year when I decided to lift raw I have had the goal of a 200kg deadlift and have come close a couple of times but not quite had that last couple of KG on the day. This 200kg was my target but I knew I would have to lift it well for it to be passed. Opener of 180KG was fast and smooth and set Master 1 Raw new World Record. My next jump to 192.5kg was my stepping stone and I knew that my 200kg would depend on this. Now I was fucking nervous, I still had no adrenalin kick and was starting to fall apart and doubt in my head and this is where having someone with you who knows you is priceless. Mr G got me and said ‘Tania George. This is who you are! This is what you do! Remember LIFT OR DIE! And this is what I took to platform with me for the next two lifts. My walk to platform and bar I had on repeat’ This is who I am! This is what I do.’ Address the bar ‘ I am Tania George and I am powerlifter’. Grab the bar, set up….PULL and all that is running through my head is LIFT OR DIE! LIFT OR DIE! LIFT OR DIE!!!!! Now I know to an outsider this seems rather fucking melodramatic but at that point in those seconds of my insignificant life THAT was all that mattered to me. I cannot begin to describe how bad I wanted that 200KG last lift. These milestones are mine and I am damn fucking proud of them I am also aware that they mean jack shit to most people and I am so fine with that too. I have no desire to be the centre of anyone’s universe except my own and Tania’s Universe was having a damn fine day.

180KG(WR)/192.5KG(WR)/200KG(WR) and PB 3/3-9/9

Third and last job of the day well and truly fucking NAILED.

Now the thing I am most supremely delightedly proud of is 27 WHITE LIGHTS! This tells me more about how I lifted and you will have to trust me when I say I was giving it 100%. We have yet to sit down and evaluate what we did well and what we can improve on. The main difference for me was how I felt during the competition. There was no rush or surge of nerves and this is the first time this has happened. It was quite unnerving as I was expecting something totally different. The lead up to this competition was different as this is the first time we have had a coach run in the whole way with us that we have been able to use as a sounding board and advisor but also someone that would hold us accountable.  Each time I go and lift as a competitor I learn something new about myself physically, mentally and spiritually. Never have I walked away not having felt I had achieved something even if it wasn’t always what I set out to achieve. Time will tell exactly what I walked away with this time. But for now I will pat myself on the back for a goal set, attained and, in parts, surpassed. Always remember to pat yourself on the back when you do well.  Be humble, be successful, be proud…but don’t be a cock! :0)

Love & Light

T