Magic Friends

Posted on September 25, 2014 by tosabarbell

magic

I first met Liz and Loz in Ruka, Finland last year when Bigg competed in the Iceman IV for Champions League. Liz and I quickly became BFF’s cuz we spoke English and lots of other wives/girlfriends only spoke Finnish. We also became BFF’s cuz we’re both incredibly witty and cool. True story.

Actually, her ‘witty’ factor is higher only because she’s English and ya know, the English are a witty people. Anyways. We bonded over fags and spiked hot cocoa and the rest is history. Matt has competed with Loz since 2008 and had remained one of his favorites over the years and I can see why. Although one of the Strongest on the planet, Loz is warm; soft spoken; concise; incredibly smart; friendly as hell; a helluva competitor and one of the best deadlifters in the world.

Here they are after Loz kicked ass in Ruka…

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…heeeheeee. Sneaky Juli with a camera.

Anyways. We clicked and hanging with Liz while the boys were doing their thang out in the 30 below arctic circle weather was an absolute blast.

Luckily for us, the Facebook helped us stay in touch here and there. Keep current on goings on with competitions, training, the kids (while we didn’t get a chance to meet Loz’s daughter Ava, we were able to take in the whole Lewis experience. Lewis is Liz’s son and an absolute character. He also now owns a piece of my heart, miss you bud.) While we were hoping to meet again at a competition, things haven’t worked out that way and so last spring when we started making our plans for Scotland we thought it would be fun to stop in London and hook up again with our English BFF’s.

While London may be fun, it’s a big jaunt for two people and kids who actually AREN’T on holiday like we were. Matt had a meeting scheduled but when we kicked around the idea of staying outside London in Swindon, where Liz and Loz live, his Rep said that he’ll come out and they can have the meeting there. Shweet!

So Swindon it is. The day we flew in, Liz was working near the city and said she’d pick us up. It took her 3 hours to drive less than 20 miles due to general London traffic PLUS a huge demonstration by Brits who wanted Scotland to stay part of Clan U.K. Her running late worked out for us since my bags had decided to spend an extra night in Amsterdam (they know how to party) and we spent an hour dealing with that fun.

So we were all a bit fried when we finally hooked up at the airport (NEVER fly into London City. EVER!) Nonetheless, Liz had smiles on and even made us our own sign so we wouldn’t get lost among the locals…

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…heeeheeee.

And away we went. Once we got out of the city, we got to enjoy the English countryside and reconnect with Liz. As we entered Swindon, she told us about their Magic Roundabout. Ummmm, huh? Yup, magic. See, it’s foShizzle five roundabouts that go around one ginormous roundabout. They actually make the poor children of Swindon learn this thing during Drivers Ed. Which I guess is a good thing, but geez, it’s brutal. Here’s a video of some poor Finnlander couple trying to get in and out of it…

I thought it was funny. During our few days there, we cabbed a couple of times and at each roundabout I’d ask the driver if we’re going on the Magic Roundabout. They’d laugh and say no, not this time.

Our days with Liz and Loz (and Lewis!) WERE magical. We got to train with Loz on Matt’s birthday; have an awesome birthday Italian dinner at one of their favorite restaurants; train AGAIN with Liz and her sister and Mum and I got to deadlift with one of the world’s greatest sitting right next to me. What a treat! And that Lewis, Oooooooo, what a gem. One of the first things he did was teach me how to get my pinky up to drink a proper cup of tea:

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He helped me pick out a proper English Gnome (we picked the one reading a book because Lewis said he loves to read.) I taught him that the best way to be woken up in the morning is for Mum or Loz to say, “It’s uppy uppy time Lewis” and we practiced in the car on the way home from Tea. He helped pick out an Angry Birds mask book for Bigg’s birthday AND found an Angry Birds cake for later…

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…and we DID send home a piece for Lewis.

The entire visit was an absolute perfect way to end our UK time. It just reinforced that we’re exceptionally good judges of character and are fortunate enough to have so many wonderful people in our lives that we can call friends. But our MAGIC friends? They’re in Swindon…

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Our training crew the night before we left. Liz and her sis and Mum. So much fun! #liz’sgunztho

…strong and awesome.

Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.

Mark Twain

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Bullshit!

Posted on September 24, 2014 by tosabarbell
bullshit

When the ladies decide to lift the Caber overhead, they left me & Meike in the dust;)

On Thursday in Scotland, Matt and I checked out of our first night’s hotel and headed into the City Center where our shared flat was. We were able to drop our luggage off at the hotel in a safe room and went on our way to take in the city. After a little shopping, we stopped back at Tastle Cavern for some lunch and a(nother) beer. At the picnic table next to us, some definitely American people were talking and after introducing ourselves, it turns out that the woman was throwing in my group. Edie from Colorado is energetic, very grounded, down to earth. Her hubby is just as comfortable and we had a nice chat.

Something Edie said though kind of stopped me in my tracks. She said that she had heard we have some very intense people in our group and she was wondering if we’ll have fun. My response? “Bullshit.” Pretty direct eh? Welcome to me.

Now, while I did not know all of the ladies in our group, other people I’ve thrown with did and ALL had good things to say about each other. I hadn’t thrown yet with the Germans but when I introduced myself to Michaela Pennekamp, she instantly gave me a hug and told me how nervous she was (interestingly enough, she also made a comment that she was worried whether or not our group would be fun. Huh.) I liked her immediately. What you see is what you get. I like that. No hidden agenda. Real. Comfortable enough with herself that she just puts it out there. I respond warmly to that. Add Petra and Meike (the only other competitor shorter than me. I struggle) and they were absolutely a delight. Big smiles! Lot’s of laughter. The Petra v. Becky challenge, hilarious.

Festive. That’s how I would describe our group. Incredibly festive. Having a flat mate in my group was perfect. I could go on for months how awesome Stephanie is but I already kinda have. Heh. I hadn’t met Becky or Kenna yet but had heard wonderful things about them. And they were spot on. Laid back, fun, supportive, festive. Becky had some sort of challenge rivalry with Petra and watching the two of them go back and forth for three days was a real treat.

As I mentioned earlier, I’d briefly met Victoria at Enumclaw. Friendly, warm, funny, fun, sparkly, put together on the field more than I was for my wedding. True story. And that HAIR!!!!!

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Or,

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Absolutely awesome.

We had a chance to talk with Allison and her hubby a bit at the Cavern prior to throwing. Enthusiastic, friendly, excited. So fun. Little Meike. Powerful, adorable, who brought prizes for all of us that her daughter made and I didn’t realize until yesterday that it was actually an awesome little bag tucked into a stuffed toy. I met Gretchen right away on Thursday when we got to the field and she opened with: “I get to meet all these people I’m Facebook friends with!” AFTER some huge dude came up and gave her a hug. Well done Gretchen. Well done. Heh.

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When we were waiting to get the green light to begin the Heavy Weight for Distance event, one of our judges told us he wants a picture of his favorite group. Of course, we obliged.

But then we made him get in on the action…

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…happy judge. Heehee.

But ya, we’re intense. Ha.

Of course Mona and I always have fun pushing each other to throw just a little bit further and we’re fortunate for that. Edie was a great competitor and always kept herself positive and upbeat. She was also the Caber Champion of the group. Well done!!! We ALSO ran into her at the Cavern late into Sunday night…

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I don’t know how “in focus” Edie was by this time of night. Hopefully better than me:/

I think I said goodbye to her. But we were on about hour 12 of a little Scottish drinkfest here so no clue.

As for our group? It was the best. The absolute best. We laughed. We cheered. We passed the PR’a around until I refused it when I bombed out of the next event after wearing it (I’m uber superstitious girls, sorry.) With each event won, Michaela was right there to give hugs. Sportsmanship was off the hook. Smiles were a plenty; hugs were even better; and our group?

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Those shirts tho:/

The best.

Obviously.

All of them had restlessness in common.

John Steinbeck, East of Eden

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Distractions

Posted on September 23, 2014 by tosabarbell

distractions

I was wondering how I’d be able to handle my nerves going into Scotland. I tend to get pretty nervous but usually calm down once I step on the field and get moving. This worked pretty well overall. On Friday, after warming up with the hammer a bit, I was feeling good; nice and focused and then I looked across the parkway and saw this…

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…srsly. I walked over, took a few big breaths and just let it in. Throwing in Scotland. Hot damn! A nice little distraction before getting started. A good reminder, ‘Hey Jules, you’re throwing stuff in Scotland. Whatever happens throughout the weekend, this is the shit.’ FoShizzle.

My goal for the end of day one was to be in the top 3. Hammers and Caber are my poorest events right now so to get out unscathed was my goal. Hammers are hammers, only this time with hills. Goodie. I did ok on the light, got near my PR but really struggled with the heavy. A 3rd place in each though kept me in the running and I was just happy to get the hellz away from the hammer cages. The caber was very nice, I believe around 15′ and 65# so completely doable. It had a nice taper on the bottom but was a bit top heavy with a twist towards the top. I was first up, blah! It felt good but was a bit difficult to manage. I was happy to turn in but a 12:07 wasn’t going to do it. On my second try, I had the weight in the back and just played with it long enough to get worn out.

Enter some helpful folks…

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…awesome Caber judges. They pointed out things people were doing who were succeeding and failing at turning the caber. Finally, things started to click. See, so often in Highland Games cues are repeated from Games to Games and while I understand concepts, I don’t fully comprehend their application. This time though, AhHaaaaaa. Helpful.

But mostly? This guy:

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Mark Wechter of Portland. I was throwing in a group with his wife, Victoria, who I’d briefly met at Enumclaw. Big smile, big hair (more on her later) and so much genuine nice she almost glows from it. Good people.

Now, I’m used to well intentioned mens coming up and giving me instructions through out Games. I’m NOT used to these instructions being concise, to the point, and completely useful in the moment. SRSLY. Mark has an excellent coaching eye and is able to give one thing to improve on, yell it from the sidelines while I’m struggling with the log and suddenly I’m no longer struggling. It was awesome. And thanks to all of their advice (including helpers Justin and Leslie) and I turned my last attempt a perfect 12:00. Tell you what, it was one of the most exciting moments of the Games. I’ve tried to work hard at Cabers coming into it and to apply practice plus excellent coaching makes me feel pretty fuzzy inside.

On day two, Mark had more good insights on stones and weights and I’ve already put them into play here at home during practice. Then came day 3. One event. The WOB. Now, my season started with the WOB being the most solid thing I was doing out there. 12, 13, 14 with the 28# and 13 to 16 or 17 (once in Indiana) with the 21 pounder. Then July happened and my WOB took a major poo all over my Games drawers. True story.

I’ve worked at getting it back and hitting 16′ with the 21 pound in Cherry Valley late August was helpful. But this was Scotland. Add a knock off bar and enough people told me that even looking at the bar will make it fall off (which brings me to effective trash talk. That won’t happen again. You want to trash talk me and try to get in my head I will walk away. I won’t be as rude as the trash talk attempter-that’s a word, really. But I will walk away. True story.) So when we got to the field for our last event, I was as nervous as I’d ever been.

I had already planned on coming in a foot early due to nerves and the knock off bar so it was going to be 12′. But I was nervous enough that I decided 11′ would be better. Things get a bit fuzzy here. I believe I made 11 but missed my first 12′. Too much tacky, no more tacky. 12 and 13 were better I think but I really have no idea. All I know is that it was around 13′ or 14′ when Mark came up and told me to settle down. This is my good event, just chill out.

Then we started talking about training. Ya know, normal gym talk. It completely took me out of the WOB and let me picture other things. When it was my time to come up again, I was significantly calmed down. Ok, time to just throw. And I did. I made it to 17 and missed all three in various fashion, but none of them due to nerves. I’ll take it.

As the first whisky and beer were handed to me, I looked around for Mark and couldn’t find him. See, although I kinda knew he was purposely distracting me, it worked. Good coaches are like that. Sneaky.

There are lots of people who were incredibly helpful throughout the weekend that will impact my throwing even beyond Scotland, I’m thankful for them all. Michelle Crownhart gave me some more Caber advice which I implemented. Bret Lathrop gave me some encouragement on the hammer just when I needed it (I don’t always need to hear everything I’m doing wrong;) A Scottish ‘well done‘ from the judges here and there, so awesome.

But it’s rare when I’m coached in a way I directly respond to. Mark did that, and even got sneaky when he was doing it. I’ll always be grateful for that. Thanks coach.

Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you have now was once among the things you only hoped for.

Epicurus

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Monday Bacon: Mates

Posted on September 22, 2014 by tosabarbell

mates

The first time I heard the term ‘Mates’ was while watching the movie,  The Man From Snowy River (to this day, one of my all time favorite movies.) There was a scene when the superstar Clancy handed his horse over to Jim Craig and gave his condolences to Craig about his father. He then went on to say, “He was a good mate” which earned the respect of other ranch workers for Craig.

Huh. It made an impression. Mate is a big deal. Special. Now sure, it could just be a different way of saying friend in other parts of the world but I just didn’t get that impression. I envisioned Clancy and Henry Craig at a campfire; out in the Australian mountains and wilderness; taming the wild together having formed a bond that was different than friendship. Friendship is special, sure. We extend ourselves to others and learn more and more about them as we bond. We’re there for each other in thick and thin when possible and carry each others secrets to our graves.

But I had a feeling Mates was just a wee bit different. To me, Mates represented a commonality among peers; the ability to either quietly or loudly exist together in all conditions, brief as they may be. Paths crossing and picking up exactly where things were left the last time. A switch that turns on. Aye, g’day Mate. A twinge at goodbye but the security that we’ll meet at the next campfire, whatever that looks like.

A good Mate. A treasure.

Enter our trip to Scotland. When we knew we were going, Matt and I booked a B&B on the park side of the river. It seemed quaint and had a great location. That was plan A. Up until mid June when Stephanie Lathrop put up a notice in one of our throwing group’s FB pages showing the layout of the flat they were renting with two extra rooms. Hmmmm, I says to the Bigg man, hat kinda sounds fun. The location is closer to the center of the city (and as it turns out, within stumbling distance to the Castle Tavern which became the Tastle Cavern after another Melanie, one of our flat mates renamed it. heh.)

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Bigg and our flat mates Bret and Stephanie getting their electronics groove on.

Now we hadn’t met either of them (having blown off the ClawBque the year prior at Enumclaw due to the fact that I was on my feet all day volunteering and then had to go throw the next day. Old people get tired ya know!) but listening to them on Fork Talk episodes gave us a little insight to the fact that these folks know how to rumble. So we cancelled the quaint and went for the rumble.

Thanks gods. Add in the fact that Melanie Mellinger, who’d I thrown with last fall in Kirksville and this spring at The Arnold was taking the other room and shit just got serious. True story.

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As we made our way out to Tastle Cavern one last time, Mel peeked out her window and gave me possibly the spookiest picture of all;) Love ya!

We quickly connected and the weekend was more than we could ever have imagined. They introduced us to THEIR good friends, Max and Yvonne Sadtler and I quickly thought of the term, Mates. That’s them. Common interests; common humor; common cussing, ya know, the important shit. Though Yvonne didn’t throw, she took advantage of playing golf (her passion) at some of the best courses in the world (I think, I don’t know golf. I DO know that when she talked about playing, her eyes lit up and you could feel the excitement she had for her playing. It was awesome!)

Our times shared on the field; on the way to the field; on the way home from the field; at home; the hobbit bathroom; Melanie making grilled cheese sammiches for all at breakfast; Staci’s smooth southern drawl; dinners with Max & Yvonne; saying “It’s fooked” 2000 times a day; Candy Sprinkles grabbing the mike; Hoss’ help with the hammer and having them all to help celebrate jobs well done. Coffee in the morning; bar/ TT stops on the way home where we get to meet cool German World Champions; funeral crashing (yup, that happened); Tastle Cavern; Curry Dinner; Cigar smoking with Yvonne; Emmerdale; so much laughter I can’t even log it all, everything.

Now I’m back in ‘tosa, my hubby is on his way to St. Petersburg, and my mates are back home safe and sound. But I miss them. I miss the festivities; the camaraderie, the knowledge that I’ll be getting out of bed each morning knowing I will laugh many times throughout the day.

Cheers Mates. Until next time.

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Curry night with Max, Hoss, Bigg, Yvonne, me, and Candy Sprinkles.

Friends will keep you sane, Love could fill your heart, A lover can warm your bed, but lonely is the soul without a mate.

David Pratt

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