On Sunday 24
th of April I was part of a group from England who took part in the Kristiansand Open in Norway. It was a
Showlifting contest, which is a type of strongman contest where medals are awarded for each event, and competitors pick which events they would like to compete in.
We flew into Norway on Saturday then hired a car for the drive down to Kristiansand where the contest was being held. The roads were quiet and the scenery was spectacular - mountains and lakes all the way! We checked into the hotel, and met up with the rest of the English contingent from Physiques gym in Bexhill in the hotel bar. I went upstairs to get changed, then when I returned to the bar the group had been joined by Svend Karlsen and his lovely wife Lene. We chatted for a while in the bar, then we split up to find food and get some needed rest for the coming contest!
After a bad nights sleep on what had to be the least comfortable bed ever designed, it was time to get into contest mode!
We all met in the hotel restaurant for breakfast, then I ferried the English contingent to the contest venue in our small hire car. This was a welcome distraction - I had to concentrate on driving an unfamiliar car on unfamiliar roads, and so I was too busy to be nervous!
Once we arrived and weighed in (132kg, fully clothed), the waiting began. This is the bit of contest day I don't like - the period between arriving at the venue, and actually doing the first event. I felt tense, but excited. The contest included competitors from Norway, Sweden, Denmark and England, and the standard was going to be very high.
The first event was the arm-over-arm pull. The heavyweight class had to pull a 10 ton truck, and, whilst after seeing the first few competitors in my class I was convinced I would complete the course, they struggled enough for me to know that I would be a really hard challenge. I got a few really powerful, long, pulls in at the start. The truck soon picked up speed and was moving well. This is where I made a tactical error; I continued to do the long pulls, where it would probably have been better to switch to shorter faster pulls. I struggled a few times to keep up with the rope and this lost me a few seconds of time overall. I think I finished in about 37 seconds, and this was respectable, about halfway down the field I think. I was very happy with this, as it was the first time I'd done arm-over-arm with a vehicle and I learned enough to know that I'll do much better next time.
My second event of the day was the Yoke, 320kg. I'd been training for this event hard, and wanted to put up a good performance. The yoke we used on the day is, I believe the same one that Svend Karlsen uses in his training DVD. It is quite wide, and my arms are quite short, so I was forced to hold the bar at the top of the yoke, rather than the sides. I had not trained like this, and I worried that it would make me unstable. I need not have worried, as it felt GREAT and I managed a huge personal best (PB), 10.7 seconds - good enough for 3rd in the event! I was both surprised, and delighted. I just wanted to hold my own, didn't think I would come close to the top places in such a high standard field of competitors.
Next up was the farmers walk: 125kg for distance. I managed about 28m, I'd done better in training, but I think the arm-over-arm pull fatigued my grip, so I was not overly disappointed.
Tyre Flip was up next, and I'd not entered this event, so I got a nice long rest before the stones.
The stones were never going to be a great event for me. I just wanted to have a go. They went 120kg, 140kg, 150kg, 160kg, 170kg. My PB is a 120kg stone for 4 reps... So I knew I would get the first one - then just have a crack at the second one... That is exactly what happened. The first one was no trouble at all, and I had a couple of attempts at the second one - but it didn't come more than about 2 inches off the floor. Not disappointed though, as I at least got to give them a try.
The English contingent all did well. Hanne Bingle set a couple of new PBs, including a superb farmer's walk, and won a nice haul of silver and bronze medals! Mark Smith in the under 105kg class managed a silver medal in the yoke, and came very close to completing all five of the stones in his class as well. My fellow heavyweight, Jon Bowles put in solid performances in each event, and has a platform now to build on in his next international contest.
I entered this contest 12kg lighter than the last one I did, and a whole lot stronger. I came away with a medal, a PB, and a lot of good experience and advice. Couldn't have asked for more! My last contest in December was at the same sort of level as this one, and whilst I managed a few personal bests, overall I was not really competitive and a bit out of my depth. My weight loss, and the bit of extra experience I now have, has allowed me to improve to the point where I am now competitive at this level, and can realistically challenge for medals in some events. I plan to continue now to drop bodyweight slowly; the plan is to get under 120kg eventually. By losing the weight slowly I hope to improve my fitness and mobility, but without losing any strength.
Starring:
Hanne "Queen of the Farmers" Bingle
Mark "Baby Face" Smith
"Mr Natural" Jon Bowles
"Skinny" Colin Anderson
You might spot a cameo appearance from a certain Viking if you look closely!