A Quickie about Rebecca...

I high fived her like 70 times. Swear.

About a month ago I had the honor of flying out to Detroit to coach my student  Rebecca at the IKFF Invitational Kettlebell Competition. Rebecca has been training with me and the rest of the Juno/OKC folks since August of 2011 and has made remarkable progress. From the start, I knew that she would be good at kettlebell sport--she is long, has an excellent rack (ahem) and caught on to the movements very quickly. Her strength in the beginning left a lot to be desired, she could barely press a 10lb dumbbell. She was a yoga/hiking gal who in our initial conversation mentioned learning kettlebells in order to have a workout to do "at home" that was quick (hey, at least she didn't ask if they would make her bulk up... or if we had an elliptical for her cardio) and efficient.
Anyways, by the time January of 2012 rolled around, she was ready to compete (biathlon no less!) with the 12k. We made our arrangements to go to Michigan. Now, training for a competition is no joke. She worked really hard, improving technique and strength four times a week: three in the gym, one at home. There were times that she almost decided not to go, an elbow injury was treated with technique tweaks and acupuncture and healed before she could cancel.

Jumping to March. After Rebecca weighed in (2k under, I might add) we stuffed our faces and went to bed. Now, she doesn't know this, but I was really nervous for her. Competing is difficult on so many levels: distractions, stage fright, mental and emotional difficulties, traveling issues. And this was her first competition, I had no idea how she was going to do.
Her first set was early-ish. She got up on the platform and...she was great. She didn't get distracted by the judge or the lifter next to her. She heard my coaching (mostly key words) and did very well. Now, she did not make the numbers she wanted. Her goal was 75/75 and she made 70/65. Personally, I was really proud of her. I made sure she knew that her technique was excellent. About a bijillion people came up to her and praised the fuck out of her technique, including the organizers of the event.

Look how happy we are!

We had an hour or two to sit and wait for her snatch set. I was worried that her jerk numbers would screw up her snatch set, she even had a weepy moment or two.  She got on the platform and...WOW. She just blew away her goal. She just settled, got in the "zone" and snatched the fuck out of that 12k. Her goal was 72/72 and she hit 80/78. I was so excited for her (well, it is all about ME), she hit her goal of rank 1. Here are her jerk and snatch sets. Again, everybody praised her technique.
Rebecca is preparing for a May competition, along with 2-3 other of my students. May will be the last time she competes with the 12k. On to the 16k.