Strongman Panic Attack
I turned up at the competition venue for East London’s Strongest. I signed in, collected my t-shirt and then the anxiety started building.
I looked around at the scattered weights and I began to doubt myself big time. I’d already told myself that it didn’t matter if I couldn’t do all the events, trying was a success in itself. Getting myself to the point where I could even show up was a success given the sorry state of my physical health just a year ago.
But none of those platitudes had any effect on my desire to do a runner. I was prepared for the strong possibility that the 20kg circus dumbbell was not going to go above my head but the other overhead press stations were suddenly psyching me out. For some reason I’d expected to be pressing from a cage and they were all currently lying on the floor, I’d trained with the barbell at a comfortable chest height and now I was going to have to clean and then press.
Then there was the Atlas stone which was never going to go over the yoke and I’d not tried running with a keg and all of a sudden I wasn’t going to be able to successfully lift anything.
I sat on the floor with Lynn and discussed just driving the hour back home again. I pondered why I do this sort of thing to myself when I could just be sitting comfortably at home or pressing a kettlebell in the garden if I felt energetic.
Then the event started and I was first up and my time to escape had vanished.
I think the pictures say it all really - thanks to John Sanders Photograpy I look like a flipping epic badass!
But if you want some more reasons to recklessly sign yourself up for a scary challenge…..
- Pushing yourself far out of your comfort zone can be a massive adrenaline rush and hopefully, you prove to yourself that you can achieve more than you thought possible. It’s worth reminding yourself from time to time that you can do more.
- It’s super empowering to work with women who are also challenging themselves and doing more than society expects of them.
- The world generally feels like a nicer place when you spend a day supported by your partner and a community of strangers.
- And finally because competing in a strongman competition automatically gives you the right to buy bling like this
