Anna Claire Thompson
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You're So Good...!

14/8/2015

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I heard it again today, for the 47th time. From one of the school mums, as is often the case. As I'm making playdate plans or dropping off a kid I might explain my schedule or sweaty state in that I have been to/going to the gym. They almost inevitably say: "Oh you're so good!"

I'm not training to be "good". 


I do 15+ hours a week at the box/gym/Forge training, plus travel time. That's time that could be spent doing wholesome things with my family, volunteering  in the community or earning income. I spend $150+ a week on fees, equipment, supplements, and travel to competitions. That's money that could be more virtuously invested, saved for a family holiday or donated to charity. Those would be "good" things to spend it on. 
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I suspect this is what many women mean when they think of working out as being good. Trying to look attractive to pay the debt they think they owe for being female.
In Western culture there is a deep rooted, historical correlation between the perception of female goodness and being thin*. A modern expression of this is our pervasive Fat Phobia. Stacey Toth of Paleo Parents writes in a blog post Dear America, Get Over Your Fat Phobia of her own experiences. "I was once obese. And I am the same woman then as I am today. I’m smaller. Smarter, perhaps. But there’s no reason I should be treated differently today than I was 3 years ago – and sadly, I am." She writes about how fit and strong she is while still being "overweight", and the negative reactions to her appearance she endures. 

Am I training to get skinny, or because I'm scared of fat? Hell no. I've wasted enough of my life hopelessly, hungrily, trying to beat my evolutionary conditioning. At 34, I'm proud to say that I'm too old for that shit. From my own and other people's experience, I'm certain that trying to be skinny only leads to misery. It's not a worthwhile pursuit. 

In powerlifting, bigger supports stronger. I'm a few kilos under the weight limit for my class and easily keep my weight stable. I don't eat much sugar or junk food not because I fear getting fat, but because it makes me feel sluggish when I want to go fast. Burning calories is rarely on my mind when I'm training. Getting stronger and faster is. 

So it's not about being"good", or about getting skinny. So what then? Why do I train? It would be foolish to have it occupy such a large chunk of my life without knowing for what purpose. 

I'm definitely not training to fill in time. 

I'm not training to post gym selfies or have cut abs. I'm not doing it to stay young, or to hold the eyes of my husband. I'm not doing it to pay rent for the space I occupy labeled "female". 

I'm not doing to inspire anyone, or be a good example as a parent, to support my local box. 

I'm not doing it just so I can eat crap and not get fat, or for the endorphins, or to socialise. 

It's not out of habit, duty or obligation either. 

I don't train to earn respect or to prove anything to anyone. 

It's not about therapy or for my mental health, or even because it's fun. 

These days it's not about getting fitter, to beat chronic pain, or to gain confidence. I ticked those off within a year of normal CrossFit classes. 

Many of these reasons above are legitimate and do serve as motivation, some of the time. None of these are enough, even altogether, for me to train the way I do. 

I train because I love competing. I want to do as well as I possibly can in every competition I do. I want to represent my country. I want to find out the potential of my human body. 

I train out of bloody-minded, selfish ambition. 

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Some of the minor scrapes and bumps I've gathered over a few years of CrossFit. Does CrossFit make attractive shins? Hell no. Still worth it? Hell yeah.
Some articles I have read recently that have set off my thinking (besides being told I am good for the umpteenth time) for this blog post:

The Ronda Rousey Effect and Why Strong Still Isn't the New Skinny
I'm Too Old For This
Letter to My Daughters: Do Not Be Good


*See, for example: 
The Wikipedia on Anorexia Mirabilis, and 
An article from The Guardian about historical and modern anorexia.



Do you work out? Work out what? Or do you train? For what?
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It's Almost Nationals!

10/7/2015

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Anna Stuffs Up Her Training

I took a fortnight off after the Bad As, with just a couple of quiet training sessions a week. Although I had entered the South Island Powerlifting Champs and had my trip to Christchurch all planned the weekend after going to Wellington, I decided not to go. I  had already qualified for Nationals and still sick as a dodo from the flu. With a jewellery to make for an imminent deadline as well, making the trip to Christchurch was not the wise thing to do. 
Feeling much better but still coughing, I jumped back into training. My coach Bruce had a new program for me, with more reps at lighter weights and an emphasis on perfecting form. I was uneasy about all the time I had to take off training with being sick, and before that with a strained calf muscle. Nationals were close and I tried to make up lost time by training hard and long. With that work my squat has improved outta sight, and my bench press movement is surer with no shoulder pain. Those are wins.  
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Two weeks of workouts on my Beyond The Whiteboard logging page. Seriously, Anna, what were you thinking???
But cracking along at that training pace proved to be unsustainable. The cough got worse. My whole body started to hurt from DOMS as bad as a CrossFit beginner the day after Murph. I found myself horribly, miserably tired, incapable of my most important job as Mum. I went to see the Doctor again and was diagnosed as "overtrained and stressed". I shouldn't have needed a medical professional to tell me that. The Doc prescribed less training, afternoon naps, and blackcurrants. I have been obeying. I'm pleased to report that I'm feeling better and promise I will be more careful next time. 
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Today's deload session. Will just be moving without shifting weights for the next few days until after Nationals.
Right now, I'm TWO SLEEPS AWAY from getting on a plane to go to Nationals. There's so much to look forward to: the plane trip (I get inordinately excited about planes), the competition (I LOVE competing, that's what all this effort is about) seeing my friends in Auckland (old friends are  precious) and the New Zealand Fitness Expo. Seriously heaps of things going on at that, short vid below.  And not the least exciting, I have five days and nights away from home, not being responsible for anyone but myself. 
Have you gotten overtrained before? What did it feel like to you? How did you recover?
Are you going to the Powerlifting Nationals and/or the New Zealand Fitness Expo? See you there! 
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More Wellington (cos I love it)

7/7/2015

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But That Was Ages Ago!

Yeah it totally was. I'm a sloooooow writer but I still wanted to write about it, and this blog post about the Bad As 6 Women's Weightlifting Competition in Wellington was getting way too long. Some more Wellington coolness below. 

Quoil Gallery

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From Quoil's website, some of their works in the current exhibition 'Matariki' See my pieces? See? See? See? (Shameless self-promotion cos I'm stoked to have these up there, and it's my blog.)
I want to give a shout out to the best Contemporary Jewellery Gallery in Wellington - Quoil Gallery, run by the Aotearoa Jewellery legend Phillipa Gee. On the Friday afternoon on our drifting around Central Wellington I hauled Mel and Veronica in to the Gallery to see where my ambitions lie. They were patient with the little fits of excitement I had with seeing every display box and opening every drawer, full of imaginative pieces of tricks and dreams that percolate out of artist jeweller's studios around New Zealand. I was chuffed to see some of my stone necklaces up in one of the main display boxes.  

The Dowse

Loved catching up with my cuz Prue at the Dowse in Lower Hutt on the Sunday after the Bad As 6. Mel, her and I had a hot lemon and ginger drink at the cafe and then immersed ourselves in art. Bronwynne Cornish has a large collection of good natured ceramics on display in Mudlark. We puzzled out the huge folded cardboard Pou (marker post) contemporary Maori artist Reweti Arapere made called Rangimatua, and were humoured by the quirky, wistful works in Cut + Paste: The Practice of Collage. 
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'Scuse the over-filtering. Something about The Dowse made me feel all Instagrammy.
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A figure in Bronwynne Cornish's Mudlark. Brought to you by the Dowse Art Museum and my iPhone.
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I have always loved Neil Dawson's sculpture. It looks like what I see in my head.
The Dowse Art Museum is a hero institution to Contemporary Jewellers in New Zealand. The Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa has done their job by collecting and displaying contemporary jewellery, but The Dowse champions it. They have a significant collection of culturally prominent neckwear, much of which is currently on display in The Bold and the Beautiful exhibition. 

I almost teared up seeing some of the classic pieces of modern New Zealand Jewellery. These objects are dramatic, engaging artworks by themselves, but have meaning in a much wider context than as art pieces in a museum. 

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Image guiltily pinched from the Dowse's website. I took some photos but they came out crap. You gotta go see this stuff for yourself.
If New Zealand Contemporary Jewellery was a coastline, these pieces would be the headlands. They jut out as landmarks, significant in the practice of the artists and as cultural markers. When I'm plodding along the beach of my own practice, head down, picking through the sand and pebbles, I look up and recognise this jewellery. I aspire to be as substantial as an artist as the makers of these pieces. Seeing their work gives me hope that I can. 
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The snuggly living room in our gorgeous little Airbnb homestay, home for three nights. With internet, of course, because we would suffer terribly without it.

CrossFit FRF

It was Queen's Birthday Holiday on the Monday, and we had to be at the airport 11am. CrossFit FRF (Functional Results Fitness) had a class at 9am and are close to the airport so Mel and I packed all our stuff and went. They've got a nice big gym with good facilities. Gerard and Jane were coaching that day. The workout was here on their whiteboard >>
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I chose to half-arse the workout - I jogged the runs, swung the kettlebell calmly and my only real effort was doing all the pull up sets unbroken. In hindsight, I would have been better sitting on the mat and mobilising seeing as I was sick, but just couldn't bring myself to miss out. They are a friendly bunch of people with a wide range of fitness levels, but everybody (except me) was going hard out at a level suited for them. 

Gerard took us through some stretching and the end of the workout. He was doing a downward-dog stretch with both feet and hands on the ground, and this random wee kid ran up and climbed up onto his back! It was super cute and proof that this is a relaxed, family-friendly environment. People told us afterwards that Gerard often watches the little kids at one end of the gym while parents do the Mums and Bubs classes, and that's why this wee guy thinks that Gerard is a climbing frame! 

We took a photo with the CrossFit FRF crew, as CrossFitters do when they are travelling, and the very kind Kirsty (front row, second from right) gave us a ride to the airport on her way home. 
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Do you love Wellington too? What do you think I should do and see next time I'm there? 
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Bad As 6 Women's Weightlifting Competition (finally)

1/7/2015

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This photo, and most of the others in this post, are taken by Stephen Fox of MaD CrossFit. Big ups to him for his generosity in making the photos available for use to the likes of me.

Why this took so long...

In order to make my life happen the way I want it to, I've learnt to prioritise my time to the things that get me closer to my goals. Getting over influenza, and then making a jewellery deadline are things that get me closer to my goals more than blogging. Now (finally) I'm healthy! Yay for that! And then I got a bunch of interesting, new jewellery away to Quoil Gallery on time! Double yay! 

That means it's time to write up about MaD CrossFit's Bad As 6 Women's Weightlifting Competition.  Super pleased about that. I like writing, and I've told a bunch of you that I would be writing about the comp and feeling bad that I haven't yet. Although, as explained above, blogging  just didn't make it high enough on the priority list. So not feeling real bad because I am not SuperMum. 

Trip to Welly

I had been looking forward to going to the Bad As since I just missed out last year. Donna told me that in it's first year of running, she had to beg 17 women to enter. This year, 60 places sold out in 23 minutes. 

I love Wellington and this was a very good excuse to go there. I also love competing. I really, really wanted to have a go at strongman and this event has some strong(wo)man in it, as well at powerlifting and CrossFit-style olympic lifting. 
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A unique sight for us small-towners - supplements in real life! We got a bit excited as usually only see these online. I found and brought some FroPro, a new protein ice-cream. Was not impressed with the taste.
Before entries opened I had talked my long-suffering friend Mel into coming too. If you've been reading a bit here you've already know Mel as my buddy who comes along to stuff to be a friend, gets sucked into competing herself and is turning out to be a pretty good powerlifter. (Hehe I knew she would be, that's been the plan all along!) Mel organised the flights and I organised the accommodation. Another friend, and ex-Remarkables CrossFit buddy Veronica (called 'V') was driving down from her new home in Taupo to join us too. I had been crook for a week with what I thought was just a bad cold but was feeling better, and there was no way I was missing this trip for the sake of a dumb cold. 

I went through Airbnb to get accommodation. We booked a gorgeous little house right on the Beachfront at Petone, not far from the competition venue. Vanessa, our host, was welcoming and kind, the house was beautifully kept with comfy beds. The Airbnb system worked really well. It cost about as much as a cheap motel and was way nicer. Will definitely be using them again. 

We flew up from Queenstown on the Friday morning and V picked us up from the airport. We fluffed around downtown Wellington being touristy for the afternoon.  I dragged my friends along to Kura and Quoil Galleries to look at art. That evening we met my mates Andrea (a good friend I made at Art School, check out her work here) and Nick and their wee daughter at the Wellington Night Market on Cuba St. This was way cool - stall after stall of street food and crafts with live music among a crowd of happy people. I had a Portuguese pork and taro leaf dish which was rich, oily and delicious.  

The Competition

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Matt explains to use all how the Strongwoman works. It was in the carpark, right outside MaD CrossFit.
I woke up the Saturday of the competition feeling headachy and ill. Took Panadol, made a breakfast smoothie for after weigh-in and went to Mad CrossFit. We were some of the first ones there. We weighed in, chatted to the other women and started warming up. The first event was the squat, followed by benchpress, then ground-to-overhead, with the strongman running two competitors at a time throughout the day. 

The Squat

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Veronica (V), preparing to squat with the focus of a pro. V used to be with us, Remarkables CrossFit, but now trains at CrossFit Taupo, so has torn loyalties. I'll claim her as ours.
Like a powerlifting competition, the weights for the lifts were loaded in 2.5kg increments. Competitors got three attempts to lift the increasing weights. There were two squat cages up the front of the room, with one spotter and one judge for each cage. Unlike a powerlifting competition, the weights on the bar only went up once, not three times through so a lifter's three attempts could be quite close together. Because I had one of the heavier starting weights I was one of the last lifters to make my first attempt. I had started warming up my squat way too early and was sitting around waiting, needing to keep lifting occasionally to stay warm but not wanting to tire, and feeling crook. The thrill of competing can overcome a whole lot of other feelings though, so I got psyched up and did three good lifts, maxing out at my previous best of 112.5kg.  

Benchpress

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CK from W.O.F CrossFit in Auckland. She is incredibly strong for her size and came out 7th in the comp. Have you joined a powerlifting club yet CK?
Benchpress was next which followed the same structure as the squat. Bench is not my best lift but because I had been extra gentle with my shoulders leading up to this they were feeling good. 62.5 and 65kg went up smoothly so I upped my last lift to 70kg and failed. There was no shoulder pain afterwards though, so I'm counting that as a win. 

It was good to see Phil and his wife Rebecca, old friends from CrossFit Wild South. They popped in to come see me and we went to get coffee. Phil and I used to train together in Invercargill until late 2013 when he and his family moved to Wellington and I and mine moved  to Arrowtown.  Phil currently trains with the crew at MaD.
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Strong(wo)man

I got called up for the strongman event next. I had eaten as much good food as I could stomach, took some more Panadol and tried out the movements. There were four stations with different activities at each. The idea was to choose your own weights, then try to move that weight as fast or as far as possible with one minute at each station, no breaks between stations. The weight times your number of movements, or reps, was your score. It had been drizzling on and off so most of the equipment was a bit wet, to add to the challenge.

The first station was the stones or slam ball ground-to-shoulder. There was a selection of rubber slam balls and concrete stones there for us to use. I had tried the 40kg concrete stone but wasn't able to get a good hold on it so went with the 30kg rubber slam ball. I started by dropping the ball, reaching down to pick it up and lifting it to my shoulder, but soon after starting I figured out a quicker way - I kept the ball hugged close to my chest, squatted/bent right down to the ground so it touched still holding it close, then it was easy enough to hoik it up to my shoulder. I got through that minute without slowing down and ran to the frame.
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Maddie Brosnan does the ground-to-shoulder with style and grace.
I had never carried a frame before that day. I had read about how to though - keep your feet wide and take short steps ahead, like your feet are on train tracks. I carried the frame up and down MaD CrossFit's car park, two reps for each length, with 60kg extra weight on the frame. 
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At this stage, I've still got energy to smile for the camera!
I had two 28kg kettlebells ready for me at the farmer's carry where I walked, then ran, the distance between road cones back and forth for the minute. Normally the farmer's carry will burn your grip out big time, but thanks to my leather Humax gloves, purchased recently from FitShop, my grip on the wet kettlebells was secure enough, it was my legs that were burning! People I didn't know were cheering me on, because these sorts of events always have the best supporters :)
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Farmer's Walk with heavy kettlebells no problem for our Mel
I was feeling pretty confident about how I'd done thus far when it came to the last strongman station. It was the tyre pull - a small tractor tyre that had two thick ropes attached. I had weighted it up with a 15kg plate beforehand. Competitors stood behind a chalk line and pulled the tyre until it got over the line, then ran to the other side and pulled it back. I took my place at the chalk line and grabbed the rope, thought strong thoughts, pulled - and nothing happened. Regrouped, pulled again and made the tyre twitch. My arms just weren't working. Spectators picked up their cheering. It's always good to have people urging you on, but this is where it gets really useful. I heard and absorbed the encouragement, got my best grip, threw my whole body into it and managed to heave the tyre the two meters to the line. It took me the first half of my minute to get that one rep. I lugged out a few more reps before the minute ended, and with it my go at the strongman event. 
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This is a picture of the effort it took to move that god-awful tyre. A close photo would have shown the confusion and desperation in my eyes.

Ground-To-Overhead

I was feeling ragged after the Strongman. The sick had been getting worse all day, and combined with the four minutes all-out effort shifting heaving things for reps, by this time  my body ached and felt weak all over, my head was swimming and I wanted nothing more than to crawl into my bed at home and forget about lifting anything, talking to anyone and even being in my favourite city. 

But the ground-to-overhead was well underway and it was time for me to warm up. This event is called the ground-to-overhead, and not the clean and jerk because olympic lifting competition rules did not strictly apply. Everybody lifted in a clean and jerk style, but in this competition elbow and shoulder press outs were allowed. 

I was careful in my timing for this event to not do any work more than necessary to warm up. Usually I would have done a squat clean, but during warm up a 50kg squat clean left my head reeling,  so I chose to wear my lifting belt and go with a power clean and jerk. 

As for the bench and squat events, the ground-to-overhead had two platforms with two groups of lifters going up one at a time as the weights increased. With a starting weight of 72.5kg, I was again one of the last up. I did the ugliest power clean ever seen,  (except for my attempts two and three, they were even worse) but got the weight up overhead for my first lift, and again at 75kg for the second. For my third attempt, at 77.5kg, I cleaned it but failed on the jerk. 

Performing a complex movement under heavy weight, three times, after a day of intense lifting, in front of a hundred or so people when I was feeling as sick as a dingbat called for every head game trick I have. Before going out on the platform, I visualised lifting the weight in perfect form. I went over all the movements, in my body during the warm up and in my mind before the lift. I paced, breathing consciously, eliminating  doubts and filling up with strength. When my name was called, I took my time. I am the centre of this universe and will not be rushed. Most of the competitors were done for the day, so they were happy and relaxed but eager to see the last few heavy lifts. I sucked up their energy and took it as mine. Mel helped me do my belt up tight. I waited until the lifter on the other platform had finished and chalked up my hands, exactly the same way as always do. I stared down my bar and approached it, placing my feet in the places they know from thousands of repetitions. I gripped the bar, checked that all my limbs were in the right place and mentally went through the movements of the lift again. Two puffs out, eyes front, big breath in, core tight and lift. 

This will be an experience I call on in future. If I can wield more than my bodyweight overhead, repeatedly, while feeling that unwell, after that day's work, I can do bloody well anything. 
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Jazmin's winning clean and jerk, 85kgs! She can do anything.
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The moment I realised this jerk was failing.

Prizes!

The relief of having the lifting done with made me feel so much better. I ate more food and settled down to see who had won what in the prize giving. We all knew who had lifted the heaviest, but the rankings were determined in relation to the competitors' bodyweights, which we didn't know. Anticipation was high. 

As it turned out, I was the only one to shift over three tonne in the Strongwoman. Funnily enough. Mel had moved the most until I did mine - us two, the only South Islanders and both from Remarkables CrossFit, moved the most and second-most weight in the Strongwoman. We must be fit cookies! 

Darelle from CrossFit Waitakere had the heaviest squat there at an impressive 132.5kg. Vanessa of CrossFit Central Wellington and Leone of MaD CrossFit equalled each other on the bench press at 80kg, and Jazmin of CrossFit Whangaui did her dramatic ground-to-overhead at an amazing 85kg. 

The actual placegetters were calculated by adding each competitors  three lifts, then the weight shifted in the strongwoman divided by the athlete's bodyweight, and dividing that total by bodyweight. 
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Congratulations to Jazmin, for first place, Laura (Panda) of CrossFit Auckland for second place, and Colleen of MaD for third. Again Faster Equipment had donated a sweet barbell and 24 and 16kg kettlebells for the prize-winners.  I came in forth! I was a smidge disappointed to miss out on a podium spot, especially as the prizes were so good, but hey, I'm pleased to do that well considering my condition.  

Final Results: 

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The Aftermath

A few of us went to the Sprig and Fern on Jackson St for food and socialising.  There I got to know some of the amazing people I'd been lifting with. Soon enough V drove us back to our accommodation, where I got more food and crawled into bed while Mel and V went out on the town. 

I slept for 14 hours straight. Did not feel good when I woke up but was not going to waste my time in Wellington because of some stupid cold. Mel and I walked to The Dowse and met my cousin Prue there for a hot lemon and ginger tonic drink and a wander around the art. The next day we went to CrossFit FRF on the way to the airport, and home. Will write about that later as this blog post if too freaking long already! 

Interestingly, I went to the doctor after getting home. She said I had proper influenza rather than just a bad cold, and probably made it worse by competing while sick. I'm still coughing now, four weeks after the event. I have learnt my lesson. 

Some of the Cool People I Met

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Maddi Brosnan of FitMiss

Maddie is a blogger and gave me some useful tips (such as be consistent - Anna FAIL!) and how to use hashtags. Check her out on Instagram for cool photos, fitness inspiration and training tips. Maddie is a stunner, but unlike a fitness industry 'face', her emphasis is on what her body can do. She also has  spray tanning business and generously donated prizes to the Bad As comp. 
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Sorry, Paule, but I just love this photo!
Paule Paulin, Olympic Lifter and Powerlifter

Paule is currently 6th by Sinclair Formula across all the Olympic lifting Master's females in New Zealand, and won her category at last years Powerlifting Nationals. I'll be seeing her again soon at this year's Nationals - it will be close match between her and Tui Katene of Northland to see who will take the title this year! 
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Lea Attenborugh, Powerlifter I Wanted to Meet

Lea is is my class at Powerlifting, the under 72kg Open females. She went to the Oceania Champs with the New Zealand team last year and can squat a whole lot more than me. I had been stalking her online for some time, as you do, sussing out the competition, so it was cool to meet her. She's a mother too, about my age, a coach at MaD CrossFit, and a lovely person. 
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Leone Nuku, Memorable Person 

When I first saw her I thought her too-bright-to-be-believed hair, wrapped a black fluffy hairband, was some kind of dress-up for the event. But it turned out it was real hair, growing out of her head, and this is how she has worn it for years. Leone has a new business, doing "all things creative" (as she said) called Flight of Fancy. She makes beautiful food, runs events, sews and has an 80kg bench press. This is a fantastic photo of her celebrating that. 

This Would Not Have Been Possible Without:

Donna and Matt, and MaD CrossFit. 

MaD (Matt and Donna) CrossFit was one of the earlier CrossFit boxes in New Zealand, established in 2008. This is the sixth Bad As competition run by them. Although MaD CrossFit is a business this kind of comp is done for love, not profit. I very much doubt that money would have been made. This event is a service to the community of people who love to lift, and specifically, for women. On top of that, money was donated to charities of the winner's choice form MaD CrossFit. 
In spite of the undoubted stress and hassle of running this big event, with a big team of volunteers and inclement weather, and people constantly asking them questions, both Matt and Donna always looked happy! They must love what they do. Thanks you guys, you and your volunteers are good people who do good things. 
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MaD CrossFit competitors and volunteers. Donna and Matt are the ones holding pugs.

The Sponsors

Seriously, if you're going to run a decent-sized not-for-profit event, especially if there's going to be prizes, you need sponsors. These guys showed up with the goods to support the event and were an integral part of it. Remember that and give them some love so they will do it again for this and other competitions! 
Again Faster NZ
RockTape NZ
SOS Rehyration
Pure Delish
Beast Mode Athletica
Dews Constrution

The Photographer 

Stephen Fox is a MaD CrossFit member and volunteer photographer for this event. He has a big camera that would have cost him plenty of moolah, and marketable skills, but choose to spend all day working and then getting all the photos up online. That's nice guy stuff. The photos are all available for free download here on Flickr. Thanks Stephen, you've made this blog look much better than it would have otherwise! 

The Competitors 

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All the way from Auckland to Arrowtown (yeah that's us!) and in between the competitors came. Either to have a shot at the podium, to see what they could do under pressure, in support of their mates and their team, they showed up to compete against other and themselves. 
These women and their supporters are the best. On meeting, we all knew we had the love of lifting in common. We ranged from experienced athletes who had competed internationally to almost-beginners, from masters to teenagers, but we all encouraged and helped each other. There was genuine joy in the crowd to see each lifter beat their previous best and do what they had never done before. That was the essence of this competition, and in my experience so far, all competitions with strong people in them. 
Check out the lift of the day by Jazmin, and the spirit in which it was done in this cool video here.
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The Southern Classic

19/4/2015

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Event 1

Orange cones and kettlebells were lined up on the dewy grass early yesterday morning at Bayfield Park in Dunedin. Groups of chilly CrossFitters, from the length of the South Island and some from the North rubbed their hands and waited for the announcement of the first event of the competition they had trained for.

Clint Williams and I, from Remarkables CrossFit in Queenstown, had driven across Otago  for this, the third annual Southern Classic Hosted by Crossfit Dunedin. 

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Mucking around waiting for it to start
None of the athletes knew what the workouts were going to be until just before each event. This one turned out to be a run around the inlet, about 1.5km, then 50x16kg kettlebell swings (24 for guys), 25 burpees and a short sprint to the finish line. 

A young fulla was standing around alone and looking nervous so I got talking to him. His name was Mitchell and it was his first CrossFit competition. Mitchell won the first event by one second! Watch out for him later on... 

RX women went first. I saw an octopus swimming along in the inlet while I was on the run! I think octopi are awesome and got pretty excited about that. Bailey Lovett started her almost unbroken winning streak, toasting this event by almost two minutes. I came in 8th on the run, and although I got through the kettlebell swings unbroken and the burpees steadily, finished 9th for workout one. Most of the Rx guys went in the second heat, then the rest of the guys and the masters athletes in heat three. Our Clint did well as expected with a third place. 

I am grateful for my HumanX gloves, purchased recently from FitShop. After the run through the cold air I was so pleased to not have to hold onto the steel kettlebell with bare skin.  
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At the finish line of the men's RX heat.

Event 2

Everyone got a coffee and met back at CrossFit Dunedin's box for the announcement of the second workout. It was a chipper: 50 double unders, 30 wallballs, 20 chest to bar pull ups, 10 x 45kg clean and jerks then back the other way through the same numbers of  C2B pull ups, wall balls and double unders. 

I'm sure that if this workout was run a year ago there would only be a handful of females who could get through 40 chest to bar pull ups. Yesterday, there was only a handful who couldn't. The standard achieved oby CrossFit athletes, even as this local-competiton level, is rising rapidly. 

I struggled through (holy moly that last set of double unders took some mental fortitude!) for an 8th placing, the same as Clint. 
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Rebecca Bishop, of CrossFit Dunedin, Bailey Lovett of CrossFit Takapuna (originally Dunedin) and Megan Morris of CrossFit Dunedin on the bar in event 2.
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Guys on the wall balls, Clint in the middle in blue Tshirt

Event 3

After two light, fast events there had to be a heavy one where I get to show what I can do. When they announced a snatch ladder I was chuffed. Until a year ago I was training more Olympic lifting  than CrossFit, and with the recent powerlifting thrown into my skill set I was confident coming in to this one. I think they may have underestimated us females a bit as the ladder only went up to 60kg. 

My previous best snatch was 56kg, although that was done months ago. In the meantime I had been working my snatch skills at Barbell Club at Remarkables CrossFit, trying to learn to squat snatch. Although my squat snatch is still a bit shit, in competition I can switch back to the split snatch that I learnt when training under Anton De Croos in Invercargill. 

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At the catch in a 55kg split snatch. This far up the ladder the weights were going up in 2.5kg increments.
I PR'd by getting the 57.5kg lift, then made the 60kg at the top of the ladder! I bar hopped as fast as I could afterwards as a tiebreaker but was light headed so had to stop a few times. Bailey and Hayley Whiting, of Trailblazer in Christchurch also got the 60kg snatch and then barhopped much faster than me to put me in a third for the snatch ladder event. 
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On the way up for my 60kg snatch, let foot is just starting to move forward...
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Got it! Caught in the split then feet back together ok. Thanks for getting the photos Clint, you did well.

Semifinal

Clint's faster than he is strong so took the strategy of making a quick little token lift on a weight he knew was out of his reach, then bar-hopped to win the tiebreaker for that weight. It was the snatch limit of quite a few of the guys so his tactic paid off. Both of us just scraped into the top eight to get into the semifinal, Clint in eighth in the guys and me in seventh place for the females. 

The semifinal was harder and heavier than the other events so far. It was 3 x 15 foot  rope climbs, 8 x 40kg thrusters then 8 x 2 inch box jumps. That was repeated three times, except the rope climbs reduced by one each round. 

I did the rope climbs fast and plugged through the thrusters and box jumps to win my heat and get a third for the event. I slipped on a box jump and skinned part of my shin, it's still swollen and a bit sore but no deep cuts
. Clint went in saying he could only do maybe two thrusters at the guy's weight of 60kg, but got well into his third round with over twenty thrusters done before the clock ran out. 

Final Event

The top four made it through to the final event. Clint and I didn't, and happily skived off to the showers. Clean and refreshed, it's good to be able to relax and enjoy the show. 
The final was: 


10 calorie row
10 handstand push up

10 calorie row

10 handstand push up
10 90kg/130kg deadlift


10 calorie row
10 handstand push up
10 90kg/130kg deadlift

10 pistol squats

10 calorie row
10 handstand push up
10 90kg/130kg deadlift
10 pistol squats
10 ring muscle ups
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Bailey and Bubs Brennan (from Trailblazer) dropping their 90kg deadlifts from the top in the final. Beasts.
Bailey Lovett took out the women's final and the event overall. Her form is amazing. She's little and lithe and amazingly strong. She placed 13th overall for women in New Zealand for the Open. It was fantastic to have an athlete of her standard there for this competition. Bubs Brennan, of Trailblazers came in second, and Katie Robertson of CrossFit FRF in Wellington was third. 
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Riley Cunningham of CrossFit Uncut in front, Jack James of CrossFit Dunedin in the middle and Mitchell Wilson in back deadlifting 130kg in the mens' final.
The winner of the mens' RX was David Wiggin of Trailblazers. He's come in sixth in New Zealand for the Open. It was great to watch him in action for reals, I'll be cheering him on at the Pacific Regionals soon! Close behind him was Jack James of CrossFit Dunedin and Riley Cunningham of Uncut.
Kirsty Deans of Alexandra won the masters women and Peter Ryder of Dunedin won the master's men. The masters competition was just as full of drama and impressive feats of fitness as the Rx sections. For many of us Rx athletes, we know it won't be that long until we're in that age group so it's good to see the Masters included in serious competitions. 
That guy in the back of the above photo is is Mitchell, the alone, frightened guy I met at the start of the day. When he found out he had made the final he went quite pale. He's eighteen years old and only started CrossFit at Christmastime!  He finished in forth place overall. Each deadlift was obviously so tough for him but he got through and even did eight of the ten muscle ups with great drama. Obviously a talented sportsperson, he kept good form all the way through those awful last grinding reps. He's built about right, and has the talent and the guts to do very well in competitive CrossFit. Watch out for Mitchell in future.  

There will be videos and more photos uploaded to my Facebook page. Official results from the event are here, and screenshots below. Undoubtedly CrossFit Dunedin will be putting photos of the event up on their page soon too. 

Congratulations to Daz, Christian and the crew at CrossFit Dunedin for putting on a fantastic event. It was fun but challenging as hell, as it should be! And good stuff all the athletes that showed up and did their best. It's inspiring to watch the beasts, the athletes who are competing at a high level do their thing so much better than I can. And it is a special privilege to compete alongside the normal people, with a year or two of training and a love for the sport. We all have our own strengths and obstacles, but we are all equals out there on the mat and under the bar, pitching fitness and mental toughness in honest competition. Officially, it's against the others in our class, but really it's about each of us finding new depths of our own courage. 
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The podium finishers for the Southern Classic 2015. I pinched Darren's photo for this one as it's better than the ones I took.

Men's Rx Leaderboard

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Women's Rx Leaderboard

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Master's Men's Rx Leaderboard

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Master's Women's Rx Leaderboard

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    Anna Claire Thompson is an Artist, a mother and a strength athlete. 

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