I started writing a blog post about getting the rank of Master of Sports (MS).  Very quickly I could see it was going to turn epic, and worse come across as a lot of self indulgent crap.  So I decided to give you the abridged version, and then get onto the really good stuff, which was hanging out with the great Valery Fedorenko for a week and meeting some other high level lifters like world champions Cate Imes and Marty Farrell, and the Ice Chamber crew.

Valery & Emily 2009_2

So here’s my story:

The beginning…

It all started about 18 months ago with the proclamation to my work colleague, trainer and mentor Jeffrey Williams that I was going to get my MS before the age of 30 (then aged 27).   That very day I hit 200 snatches with the 12kg and thought I was awesome.  I felt a total lack of awesomeness, however, after a 6 minute set of one arm long cycle with the 16kg nearly killed me.

The middle bit…

I was planning to attempt in 2010, but earlier this year was convinced (over a couple of beers) by my boss Rick (founder of Australian Kettlebells) to give it a shot this year.  Seemed like a good idea at the time!

Upon sobering up, however, and seeing that the World Kettlebell Club (WKC) had put the women’s MS rank up to the 20kg Kettlebell (it had been 16kg for a long time), it didn’t seem like such a bright idea.  I wasn’t proficient with the 16kg yet, so the prospect of lasting 10 minutes with a 20kg was daunting to say the least.

Figured I may as well have a crack, though.  So set my sights on competing in Las Vegas in November.

The next bit just involved me stuffing around a lot, trying to figure out what sort of programming would get me the numbers I needed, working hard but not really having a clue what I was doing…

So, amongst others including our very own master Girevik Paul Tucker, I bugged the hell out of Eric Liford from the WKC to get some help.  Eventually, probably exhausted from my constant harassment, Eric suggested I get some online coaching from Cate Imes (America’s first Master of Sports).  I was thrilled.  It was actually watching a clip of Cate achieving rank that gave me the idea that I could possibly be Australia’s first Master of Sports.

Then came five months of pure, hard slog under Cate’s expert guidance.

 

The end…

The story finishes with my trip to the US.

On the 2nd of November I was in Vegas.

On the 5th of November I got a shocking head cold.  Not happy!

On the 7th of November, I competed, dosed up on cold and flu tablets (ones containing no prohibited substances of course) because I was producing copious amounts of snot.

So my flight rolled around and long story short I won the 16kg long cycle in my weight category, and got the rank of Contender for Master of Sports.  I was very happy, and a little bit dizzy, when the set was over and went off to find a tissue to blow my already snotty again nose.

Then on to Cincinnati for the WKC Coach Certification Course and the MS attempt.

I was still sick and the cold had turned into an upper respiratory tract thing.  I had the first MS attempt on the 14th November and it was a complete disaster.

I hadn’t slept well at all, only about four hours’ worth due to still not being over my jet lag and being unbelievably nervous.  I was so nervous I spent most of the morning thinking I might spew and my quads were already feeling like jelly.

So at lunchtime, still feeling ill and struggling with confidence, I stepped onto the platform in front of the 14 or so other people taking the course, plus Eric, Valery, Cate and Marty.

Within a couple of minutes of picking up the bell it was clear that it was all going to go to shit.  By the third minute the grip on the left had given out and every clean rep was from the dead hang.  By the half way point 57 reps was barely achieved on the left side before switching.  About a minute and a half in and death was imminent, the pace had dropped right off  then when a no rep count was called the fat lady started singing, it was just going to be too tough to play repsie catch up.  I put the bell down and apologised.  Later Cate admitted to me, smiling a little, that it was an ugly, ugly set.

Then during the lunch break I had to go cough up some boogers and have a little lie down.  I felt quite disheartened and quite frankly didn’t want to see another Kettlebell again.

Next day Valery says to me: “you do set today, for your brain.”  Which I think meant “get back on the horse”.  Very reluctantly I agreed (he’s not the sort of guy you disagree with).  We did, however, negotiate.  He said: “10 mins at 10rpm.” I said: “how bout 6-8 mins at 12rpm” and he agreed.

At the end of the day I picked up the bell and off I went.  At 3 minutes on the left I felt ok and was keeping a good pace so I figured I’d just keep going.  Made it with 10 seconds to spare – 114 reps one arm long cycle with the 20kg.  And that was that.  I got my MS before I turned 30.  I felt relief more than anything (and the need for a couple of beers).

So stay tuned for the good bits about how awesomely cool Valery Fedorenko is to train with and some of the stuff I learnt from him…

Tags: Kettlebells kettlebell Emily Friedel australian kettlebells