Hello
everyone,
It has been a
busy, busy past 6 months.
On September 1st, Seattle
Kettlebell Club found a new home at Ridge Fitness. At about this time I decided I wanted to
compete in my first kettlebell sport competition at the IKFF NW Kettlebell
Championships. With only one month to
train I set my eyes on the 5 minute snatch with a 24 Kilogram kettlebell. A few weeks in to the training, I realized
my hardstyle kettlebell training systems were not adequate to get me to the
level needed to compete in kettlebell sport, so I enlisted the help of Mikhail
Marshak to refine my technique. Although
we had only three sessions before the meet, he was able to get me to a level
where at the competition I achieved a 1st place finish and a rank
1.
The fitness level and mastery of the
kettlebell I was able to achieve during this short amount of time had me hooked
on kettlebell sport. Shortly after the
competition I saw an event for another competition on facebook. I immediately signed up for it, not knowing
it was a much larger competition with a much higher level of athlete
attending. For this competition I called
Mikhail right from the start and asked him to write my program and he
agreed. At about the same time I decided
I wanted to test a kettlebell sport class, so we began a free kettlebell sport
series that was to happen every Saturday for 7 weeks. The sport class became my favorite, right off
the bat. The same people kept signing up
for the class as soon as registration opened up and the class would be full
only a few days into registration. I
knew we had a winner. It was so great to
watch how quickly the student’s fitness levels and ability increased using
kettlebell sport techniques and by the last few weeks people were practically
begging me to start a regular paid kettlebell sport class. On January 3rd we started the
kettlebell sport series. Since I knew
the program well and could do a good job teaching it, the focus of the class
series was the same as the event I was training for: the biathlon. (The biathlon consists of a 10-minute set of
jerks and a 10-minute set of snatches.) In
just 7 short weeks, I watched our members go from barely finishing a one-minute
set to having completed multiple 10-minute sets. The
series ended February 21 and the next competition, the “OKC California Open Kettlebell
Championships” took place the following Saturday in Costa Mesa.
Throughout the sport class series, two other
class attendees developed enough confidence and skill to also enroll in the
competition: my wife, Amber, and Adrian
Cowens. So on Friday, February 27, 2015
my wife, son Aleksander and myself flew to LAX and drove the rest of the way to
Costa Mesa for early weigh-in at 6pm. I had been adhering to a no sugar, low-carb
diet for the past week to hopefully make the 73 kg weight class, but the night
before the flight I was still 3 pounds off, so that Friday I refrained from any
food or water and even turned the heat as high as it would go in the rental car
on the way to the weigh-in to hopefully sweat out those last few pounds. I was
so nervous but it worked! I came in at 72.55 kg, but Lord was I hungry and
dehydrated!
At the weigh-in I had my first glimpse of our
competition and they looked fierce. I know most of these people on Facebook,
but kettlebell sport athletes must be a humble bunch because their Facebook selfies
did not do them justice. Usually it's the opposite! LOL. After the weigh-in we went to our hosts home
to get some rest - which our 23-month-old was having none of. The three of us got about three hours of sleep
the night before the competition.
Game
Day! The next morning, Saturday,
February 28th, we woke up around 7 AM pretty groggy but we were
feeling good because we had plenty of time before the competition which was
supposed to start at 10 AM. As we took turns showering and fixing coffee I was
thinking about a big breakfast. Amber checked the OKC website for flight times
and said "Oh, no! We start at 9
AM, not 10!" “So much for breakfast,” I thought. We hurried to remember
all of our gear and get our son dressed, but made it to the event in time. The
flight times were: Amber
9:10 AM jerk, Adrian 9:45 AM jerk, Amber 10:50 AM snatch, Adrian 11:35 AM
snatch, Nikolai 1:15 PM jerk, Nikolai 3 PM snatch. During the morning my
responsibilities as father, husband and Coach were to watch Aleks, prep Amber
and Adrian, chalk their bells before snatch and make sure they know what
pace to work at. Oh and set up the camera to film their sets. The most
difficult of all those jobs by far was watching Aleks. He could not be left for
a second or he would run headlong into the warm-up area where people are
swinging heavy bells or into the parking lot with moving vehicles. Amber's
first set came and it was the jerk. Adrian held Aleks just long enough so I
could set up the camera and wish Amber luck. I took Aleks back and watched the
start of Amber’s set. She looked smooth and steady, but Aleks began to scream,
so I ran him outside so as not to disturb anyone. We came back in at the very
end of Amber’s set where she had put up a respectable 126 reps. I was stoked
she had completed the ten minutes!
We had 25 minutes before Adrian's jerk,
so I helped him pick his bells and went over his strategy. Amber was itching to
go over her set, so we went out to the car to talk about it. She was definitely
feeling like she could've gone faster, but I assured her she did great and that
just finishing is a huge accomplishment for her first meet. A quick glance at
the clock told me Adrian was up! I ran from the car just in time to set up the
camera as everyone was already on the platforms waiting for the countdown. 321
Adrian and the five other competitors and his flight were off. I prayed he
would stick to his pace and not get rattled by the fast pace of the guy
directly to his right because it was obvious he had been doing this a while and
Adrian's only chance was to be consistent and catch him later in the snatch.
Adrian's pace was steady for the first three minutes, but around three minutes
30 seconds he started to slow. It looked like his breathing was out of sync,
but he charged along holding at about seven reps per minute. I yelled at him to
breathe and he seemed to snap out of it. At the seven minute mark he was
looking good again and at the eight minute mark I yelled “two more minutes!” You could see everyone was getting fatigued,
but they were tough SOB's and were grating it out. I yelled again “one minute
left, give me 10 more reps!” Adrian
began pumping out the reps as I counted them out loud. Adrian finished with an
incredible pace for him of about 14 reps per minute. All of the lifters dropped
their weights at the end of the 10 minutes. It'd been a shootout for the final
minute.
We had about 55 minutes until Amber's
snatch set, so we focused on getting her hydrated and we congratulated Adrian
on his set. With 15 minutes before Amber’s set we picked her bell and took it
over to chalk it. We discussed her strategy and got her settled on the
platform. I was able to watch her first minute before Aleks began to melt down.
She really seemed to be enjoying herself and was actually smiling. Amber's pace was a little slower than the
other girls, but I knew she could pick it up. I took Aleks outside and was able
to calm him down by the five-minute mark, so we headed back in. By the six-minute
mark she was still on her left hand and had not switched. She looked like she
could go all day with her off hand, but that's not the goal. I yelled "okay Amber, go ahead and
switch!" She did and settled into her new pace with her strong arm. The
other girls had switched hands quite a bit ahead of her and were already
starting to fade. At the nine minute mark her top two other competitors had
dropped out. Their grip simply didn't have it that day and they had to set the
bell down. Not Amber though. We had done copious glove sets in the weeks
leading up. Glove sets are when you wear cotton gloves and snatch the bell for
as long and as fast as you can. It can be excruciating, but gives you an iron
grip. At the nine-minute mark Amber smiled and completely ran away from the
other girls hitting about 20 reps per minute in the end. Everyone was cheering
her on and even the judge came over and commended her performance.
We had 35 minutes until Adrian’s set - or
so we thought. I helped Adrian choose a
bell and took it over to chalk it for him. At the chalk station I chatted with
other coaches and competitors. It's weird but chalking the handle is one of my
favorite parts of the sport. It's calming to me and I can see instant results
from my effort. I also know it can mean the difference between a personal
record and a lousy set. At the chalking station I met Moses Dungca, owner of
Las Vegas Kettlebell Club. He's a super nice guy and I was really enjoying our
conversation when Adrian ran up and yelled "I'm up!" I grabbed his
bell and chased him up to the stage and set his bell on the first open
platform, but the judges motioned to me that he was on the far end, so I picked the
bell up and ran it down to the other end, but at this point the time had
already started. Everyone had about a
seven second head start on Adrian, but Adrian went ahead and started anyway. John "Wild" Buckley was next to me
and informed me that because he was late on the platform, his set would not
count. He was very apologetic and I totally understood. I decided to let Adrian
go on with his set even though the judge was not counting his reps. Adrian's
pace was good and his grip has always been strong. Unlike in the jerk, Adrian was keeping pace
with everyone and around the 8 to 9 minute mark his other competitors started
dropping like flies. At about the nine minute mark I yelled “last man standing! One minute left!” and Adrian kicked it into
high gear finishing very strong! John “Wild” Buckley came over and
congratulated him after his set. I could tell there was a comradery between the
two heavyweights. I congratulated Adrian myself and told him how proud I was. I
carried his bell back. When I had him alone I asked him if he wanted the good
news or the bad. He looked at me seriously and said "the bad!" I said
"because you were late on the platform your set didn't count." His
face dropped and I could see the anger and disappointment building. I said
"Listen! You came here with lasting
the whole 10 minutes as your goal - plus you smoked those guys! You did
great!" He started to settle down and shake his head yes in agreement. Neither one of us could figure out how we let
that happen, but under closer inspection of the flight roster his original
start time had been crossed out and his new time five minutes earlier had been
written in. A tough break, but better to learn this lesson early on rather than
at a more important juncture.
I had a little over an hour until my jerk
set and I was a ball of nerves. I had only completed 10 minute sets with 16
and 20 kg bells in practice. Now I'm going to be on stage with a pair of 24 kg
kettlebells at my lightest weight in 10 years and barely anything to eat. I
continued drinking water but didn't have much appetite and kept having to use
the bathroom. Not exactly nerves of steel. When my time came I grabbed two
matching bells and headed to the platform plenty early. I did not want to be
late! I anxiously awaited for the time to pass and finally the other
competitors took the platform. We waited out the countdown, cleaned our bells
into the rack and it was on. Initially I felt pretty good finding a slow steady
pace, but at about the four-minute mark my leg started to fade and fast.
Each second in the rack felt like an eternity. With my legs cooked I had to
wait longer between each rep and with each rep my form deteriorated. About
halfway through, my judge began telling me to "fixate more" and
"lockout". I knew I was in
trouble. At about the seven-minute mark I started missing reps. First one, then
two in a row. When I missed three in a row at seven minutes 30 seconds, I dropped
the bells. I was totally dejected. I’d
been trying so hard up till then, but that day the weight was just so darn
heavy. Amber and Adrian tried to lift my spirits, but once I get down it's best
to let me alone.
I had another hour to stew before my
snatch set and that's what I did. In my
head I told myself I could pull off a miracle snatch since that is my strength.
I had originally planned on 13 to 14 reps per minute but now I was thinking I
would do 16 to 18 reps per minute. Crazy! Finally the time had come. 15 minutes
till go time. I headed over to choose my bell. I had a dilemma… there were two
to choose from. The Valerie Fedorenko
with a wider handle and smaller hole for hand insertion, or one similar to the
ones I had back home, but the handle was super rusty and would take a lot of
work to prep. I grabbed them both, but started prepping the Valerie Fedorenko.
After checking the bell I looked at it and had a moment of doubt, so I grabbed
the one with the rusty handle and began sanding the old chalk and rust
off. I soon realized this would be a
tough job. I had another moment of doubt and said "screw it," grabbed
the Fedorenko, and headed to the platform. I set my bell on the platform and
ran to the bathroom one last time before my set. I arrived back to the platform with a minute
to spare. Kevin Jodrey was on the platform directly to the right of me and gave
me a little elbow bump. I was feeling pretty good at this point. I love the
snatch. They did the countdown and we were off. In order to work at a higher
pace I only did one to two breath cycles at the lockout position as opposed to
3 to 4 when I work at my normal pace. My pace was fast, but I was getting more
torque than normal during the hand insertion and on the drop I was feeling my
grip start to slip. This has never been an issue. I really pride myself on my
grip strength. I felt my grip slip really badly at about the four-minute mark
which led me to pull the bell up very awkwardly and outside of my center of
mass. This rep was getting away from me and fast. I knew I had to switch hands.
I began to let it drop, but it was still quite a bit outside of my sweet spot
and when the weight hit my grip it popped right out of my hand and fell on the
ground. I was disqualified and dumbfounded! I hadn't even gotten a chance to use my strong
side and despite the bad form I had been cooking at 20 reps per minute. I left
the platform and took a seat to watch the rest of the guys complete their sets.
It was tough to watch. I had so much left in the tank. I let my team down, my
coach down and myself down. These are the risks you take when you go for it
all. Sometimes you fall flat. In retrospect though, in four minutes on my left
arm I had completed nearly as many reps as I completed with both arms five
months earlier and I still had plenty left!
I learned a lot during this competition
and it's because I set high goals. Because of the way the competition was set
up, people who had never competed in a Ketacademy event were placed in a
beginner class. That included Amber, Adrian and myself. Adrian took first place in his class, Amber
took 2nd and a “rank 1” - a very high honor especially in a first
competition - and I took a humble third place. The event was full of ups and
downs, but the one consistent theme was “how can I improve and where's the next
one?” Our new goal is to increase the
number of team members, continue to improve on our technique and finish the
next sport series with a trip to Vancouver, B.C. for another competition!
