Tali At 14 Months

A break from the reflections on Bratislava to post some pictures of Tali at 14 months. I think the pictures speak for themselves. She's maturing into a quite beautiful and distinctive young lady. There's a nice one of Raani tagged on at the end.

Some of the backgrounds are less than picturesque today. My normal Saturday walk is around Frodsham Marshes. A lovely walk that the dogs really enjoy, but unfortunately the huge Ineos Chlor (formerly ICI) plant looms in the background.

I frequently get asked about wolfdogs. The best advice I can offer in the first instance is to visit the Cry Wolf website, http://www.cry-wolf.co.uk , where you will find all the information and advice you will need if you are interested in the breed. Happy reading!

More Reflections On Bratislava

As you can probably see from the pictures on the previous entry, a great time was had by all - yours truly included.

None of the Brits disgraced themselves. Yes, there were a few bombs. 120 proved to be too much for Mike Edwards on the day; Steve Demeis tried to lift in a shirt for the first time ever in competition and didn't quite master it - but he'll be good for 225+ next year, mark my words. Bill McFadyen seemed to have issues with the shirt as well - the bar kept twisting as he lowered it, hence his bomb. But if the true mark of a lifter is how they react to adversity, then these guys are right up there with the very best. They held their heads high and vowed to do better next time. And they will.

Cliff Haynes, my room mate, got another silver medal, that would have been gold if he had weighed in 205 grams lighter. Alex Lee got a bronze that would have been a gold if he had failed to make the weight and lifted in the heavier class. Such are the foibles of life.

The Geordie lads all did themselves proud. Allan Hulme in the 125s (although he was only 112.4) lifted a superb 215 and went for 225 on his third attempt. If he had got it, it would have been the heaviest ever bench press by a British 50+ lifter. Julian Massey also lifted solidly in spite of work problems in the lead up which severely curtailed his training, and he managed to break the 400 pounds barrier with his third lift.

In the 110s, Dave Brookes is coming back to form after a really bad series of shoulder injuries. He made 192.5 look easy and was very close to hitting 200. Steve Demeis was really unlucky, but I reckon he or Allan can be the first British bencher to hit 500 pounds (227.5 kilos) - unless I get there first!!!

Derek Fender also did us proud with a double bodyweight opening lift in the M2 67.5 class, as did Keith Arkle in the M1 90s. Keith nailed 210 second lift, before narrowly missing a brave attempt at 215. He was unlucky to be competing against Dennis Cieri, whose opening lift of 265 was an M1 World Record and enough to win the M1 Wilks award. Oh - and Dennis then narrowly missed 291 for a new open World Record.

Keith was last seen contemplating a move to the 82s!

Last but not least, the wonderful Norman Anderson, now aged 74, came 7th in the M3 100 kilo class - weighing 92 kilos and giving his competitors 14 years as well as 8 kilos bodyweight.

Most of the Geordie lads brought wifes and kids, and it was a privilege to share time with them. Every one a class act - especially Maxine, who laughed at all my jokes!

Many people won't get this, but the point about the IPF Worlds is that you're there. Mixing with like-minded, and like-driven, people. Some are a bit better than you, some are a bit worse, but at the banquet you're all just lifters. No egos. No badges saying what you lifted. No medals being worn. Just lifters having a good time together.

I'm normally a social pariah. I hate going out, standing at a bar and hoping that I'll know someone. So I normally don't bother. Plus there's always some prat who could lift more than me five years ago, someone else who wants to know how many steroids I take, another drunken mickey taker who does an overhead press motion when they see me, and of course the drunken wanna be hardman from the "...you think you're tough cos you lift weights..." school of charm.

You don't know how many time I want to say "yes", but of course you never do...

So I tend not to go out much socially, unless it's to something specific. I'm not a barfly. And I'm pretty much teetotal most of the year. It doesn't go with my sport, I've never been much of a drinker anyway, and I had a bad experience of the effects of alcohol with an ex girlfriend.

But get me at the Worlds and I'm a completely different animal. Maybe it's going out for the evening with like minded friends. Maybe we've all been peaking for months and all need to let off some steam at the same time, so we do it communally. Whatever. If you told me with absolute 100% certainty that I'd bomb at the worlds, I'd still go.

I also seem to have developed an amazing capacity to drink lots of alcohol and stay compus mentis. Normally, if you rarely drink, a couple of drinks would get you pretty drunk. In Schwedt, I think I had about 45 shots plus beer chasers and I walked home. At this year's banquet I think I had about ten or eleven large beers, and then finished off with three double vodkas in about five minutes. Yet I was fine - well slightly tipsy, but nothing more. In the process, I think I dragged a couple of others out of their comfort zone. Sorry about that, guys! We found out next morning that the local beer was 12% proof! Whoops!!

I also confirmed another rule of social drinking. If you want to have a good time and mingle well, the world's greatest icebreaker is to wear a kilt. Everyone wants pictures taken with you. If you want to go one step further, wear a faux tiger skin thong underneath - even if you have to order it from ebay under the sub-heading "Possible Gay Interest"! Lots of thong pictures were taken, but none on my camera, but I'm sure they're enlivening my spaces and blogs here, there and everywhere.

I love mixing with the Americans at these events. They're fun, generous of spirit, and great to be with. If you want a good night out, tag along with the Americans and try not to enjoy yourself. You'll fail! I love their enthusiasm, their willingness to work hard, and their capacity to play hard, and their love of men in kilts!

It's Not Just About Lifting...

Here are some of the fun pics. I was going to go through them one by one and say who everyone was, but I've ended up posting so many that it will take ages, so this post is going to follow the "a picture paints a thousand words" principle.

Just a couple of mentions. The top picture is taken with Bill Phillips, the first M4 at any weight to break through the 400 pound barrier on bench press. Huge congrantulations, Bill. In a better publicised sport, you'd be a superstar, my friend! The last three pictures come under the heading of gay bench porn, and would probably be good for caption competitions!

Five pictures up from the bench porn is me with young Alex, Steve Demeis's nephew. I found I was in everyone else's camera, but not my own, so I got Alex to follow me for 20 minutes with my camera and you can see the results of his work. Thanks, Alex!

If anyone has any specific questions about any of the pictures, or would like me to email them an original, you only have to ask.

2008 IPF World Masters Bench Press - Bratislava

I've just got back from four days in Bratislava for the world championships and I had a quite fantastic experience. It's too much for one blog entry, so I'm going to break it down into three separate entries over the next day or so. In coming blogs I'll write about the people and the place, but I'll make a start with the competitive side of things. But first the pictures...

The Venue, Hotel Dom Sportu, from the outside; the competition arena; the opening ceremony (note the GB spelling error!); the warm up area; me in action; and a couple of snaps of Cliff and me.

Before writing anything else, if any of my fellow competitors stumble across this blog I'd love to hear from you. Contact me on Fitflett@aol.com . If you have any pictures, send them to me and I'll be happy to add them to the blog. I've also got lots of pictures I haven't posted, which I'll be happy to email to anyone that asks.

I flew Manchester to Bratislava on Wednesday and checked into my room at the Hotel Nivy. I room-shared with Cliff Haynes, a great bloke who won Britain's only silver medal in Germany last year and was once again our top performer in 2008 - only this year he only missed out on gold on bodyweight after tying the Japanese winner on 155, only to be 200 grams heavier. That's a couple of sneezes and the sweat on your underpants! Or, more accurately, his! Next year Cliff, next year... It would have been this year if he didn't have to retake his opener!

The hotel was fully booked - all 200 or so rooms, the majority occupied by hungry powerlifters flying in from all points of the globe. The hotel responded to this situation by having one chef in the kitchen, one waiter to work the whole room, and one barman. Cue chaos, half hour waits to even ORDER, and when we eventually did, it was turkey or pork.

I was competing on Friday, but when you're not lifting you're helping other team members out. I did Alex Lee's shirts and Alex did Britain proud by winning bronze in the M3 75 kilos class with a great lift of 155 kilos. Alex struggled to make the 75 class, only to end up lifting more than the winner of the next class up! If he had not made the weight, he would have won a gold medal!! One of the paradoxes of this great sport.

Before Alex lifted, the women's championships were held. It always seems odd and rather insulting that the womens event is held BEFORE the opening ceremony each year. My two great pals from the 2007 event in Germany, Deborah and Michelle, both lifted superbly and won gold medals in their respective classes. Michelle lost something like 7 pounds in the last 24 hours to make the weight. Deborah opened with the heaviest lift of any woman at the championships, 165, to win her class, before attempting a world record 197.5. Yes, you're reading that right, 435 pounds! And if she'd had a little longer to recover from shoulder surgery, she's have got it. As I'm sure she will next year, if not sooner.

It was Deborah who inspired me to my 200 bench last month. We struck a bet in Germany as to who would break through the barrier first. I think the only person more surprised than her that I got there first was me! She's an awesome lifter and a great person.

After Alex has lifted, I was accorded a great honour. There were only three Danish lifters present. One of them was 87 years old and only took the sport up aged 70, when he was "no longer able to chase the ladies", in his own words. They had no coach, and my friend Hans Jorgen Jorgensen asked me to be the unofficial Danish coach. After checking with British lifter Mike Edwards, who was competing in the same class as Hans and who graciously agreed to let me assist a competitor, I coached Hans and, although he was down on his normal numbers (as many lifters were this year) he won the gold medal with his third and final lift - after failing the same weight with his first two attempts.

Well done Hans! Title defended. Great stuff. I then turned my attention to Finn Knudsen in the M3 100 kilos class. Finn the Dane was battling with two Finns from Finland for the title. He secured second place with 182.5 and we agreed to try a huge 192.5 pb attempt to try and get gold. Finn just missed it, but I hope the near miss motivates him to get into the 190s next time. One of the Finns then did a 200 to win the title, and Finn was a gallant runner up to the Finn.

On the Friday, it was my turn. After struggling to get the weight down, the efforts of getting four shirts on the day before, and generally running about here, there and everywhere stripped the weight off me and I weighed in at 99.2.

I decided to open with 192.5. Bear in mind that the British record had been 190 for the last 8 years until my day of days in Solihull, but I needed 192.5 on the bar to get a touch in my main shirt and there was no point in a 'safe' opener. I was never going to medal anyway so what the hell. First attempt, I pressed the bar but got a 2:1 no lift for downward movement. Second time, I left the weight the same and got it - just! It felt much heavier than it did at the British and I knew then that I just wasn't in the same shape. Still, I had successfully opened heavier than ever before, got a lift on the board, and I decided to try for a new British record 202.5. There was no point in not trying for it. It was scary heavy at the top when the loaders let go and the shock to the system literally made my body convulse momentarily. I got it down, got it half way up, but couldn't finish it off. Just not strong enough on the day. It happens! At least I know I can do 192.5 on a so so day and I know what 202.5 feels like. But as I walked off the platform, 227.5 seemed a long way away. But go back 12 months, when I was just returning from injury, and 140 seemed a long way off.

There will be smarter and more intense training and there will be better days!

In my next entry, I'll post about the 'off piste' side to the championships and reflect on how other British lifters performed.

One last thing for this post, though. As I was going out on Friday night, Hans and Finn called me over and Hans gave me one of his Danish tracksuit tops as a thank you for helping out. What a lovely gesture. I shall wear it with pride. As I did on Friday night, complete with kilt. And Bratislavans were no doubt wondering who the mad Dane in the check skirt was.

Tali In Portrait.

I was out today taking photos of Raani as she's 9 months old today, but I got some really good portrait style ones of Tali too. It seemed a pity not to share them, so here they are.