People often ask me why I do what I do. When I think on how to answer them I can only come up with, “I do it because I can.” Well, it’s actually quite a bit more complicated then that. The reason I have put this website together is to give others a little insight into how and why I compete in powerlifting. To really explain, I must go back a few years to set the stage for what is happening today. The following is a shortened version of my whole story.

    In 1991 I was playing rugby for the Portland Women‘s Rugby Club, the Zephyrs. We were in Portland playing in a tournament. I had already played two full games that day but was asked to join Eugene for the last part of their game. I went ahead and played but not long into it I got injured. I slammed head on into a player who had just stopped dead in her tracks. It was a head on compression. I didn't fall down so I ran around her and started off after the ball. Very quickly I realized I could no longer feel any part of my body. I fell flat on my face and laid very still. Eventually the ambulance carted me off to the hospital where they did all kinds of tests including MRI and CT scan. After lying in the emergency room for seven and half hours, they ripped the duct tape off my forehead and sent me home, telling me nothing was wrong. Well, something was very wrong. I had, what felt like, electrical shocks running down both arms into both hands. And any touch to the skin sent a wave of these shocks. The feeling never went away but did decrease over time. I never played another game of rugby after that incident.

    In 1996 I was working as a corrections officer in the Spokane County Jail and got into an altercation with an inmate. During this incident, the zapping I had years earlier returned. I went to a nuero doc and ended up finding out I had severely damaged my neck in that rugby game. I had my neck fused (C5-C6) three days later.

    After I healed, I started lifting weights to try to gain back strength. One of my friends at work told me I should compete in this Bench Press Competition he was competing in. I had no idea about any of this and was skeptical as to how I might do. He promised to take me under his wing and show me how it all worked. Well, I went and lifted in the event and won my weight class. I was so excited! The whole experience was such a rush!! After that day, I was hooked. I went on to research and find out about how to get involved with more competitions.

    To this day, I have competed in several different federations around the United States. I started competing in 1997. I took a break from competing in 2004 to 2007. The first competition back was in March, 2007. Since I returned to competing after that long break, I have set new state records every time I compete in a meet. I am stronger than I have ever been and continue to get stronger.

My current best lifts in a competition are:

Equipped

Squat: 248 lbs

Bench Press: 185 lbs

Deadlift: 345lbs

Raw

Bench Press: 160 lbs

    My current weight class is 123 lbs. This means I have to weigh between 115lbs and 123lbs. I compete against other women in this weight class. I’m 39 years old so I also qualify to compete in the “Submaster” class which means I would only compete with other women in that weight class and they are between 34 and 39 years of age. I mostly prefer to compete in the “Open women’s” division which is women in the weight class and they are 20 to 34 years of age.

    What is the difference between Raw and Equipped? This is difficult to explain. Over time, the sport of powerlifting somehow evolved into the sport of “get it up , whatever it takes.” This means, someone has figured out a way to actually lift more weight than you can by just simply lifting the weight. The sport has now incorporated compression suits for all three lifts. There is a “squat suit”, “deadlift suit”, and “bench shirt.” These suits make it easier to lift more weight than you can without them. So to be competitive, you must where these suits. Lately there has been a surge in getting back to raw lifting (without the compression suits). So I have been competing in both divisions as much as I can.

    I am interested in finding out what my body is really capable of doing. Our muscle system is much like our brains. We actually only use about 10% of it. So what if I can wake up all those sleeping neurons in the muscle? I do believe I can continue to get stronger with the proper training and nutrition. So that is what I intend to do. My goal is to do a 300 lbs squat, 225 lbs bench press and 400 lbs deadlift by April 2010.