Saturday, January 18th. Cockeysville, MD. @baltimore_open_2020.
She has never competed before. There are many folks in this same position this weekend; their first snatching in front of a crowd. For some folks, this experience answers the question of if they will remain in the sport.
Ashley (@ashleyrichelderfer) is among those ranks. She has stepped out for her opener and her second attempt. Both were called no-lifts.
Shaking her head, she walks to the back room, her coach - husband - in tow.
She takes a seat in the corral, as Chris (@crichelderfer13) declares her final attempt. The two minute clock running after loaders tighten the collars, he steps to her. “You've done this so many times before,” he assures her, his voice sounding like a shout in the silent backroom. Seeing that it has no affect on her nerves, he leans down and gently kisses her forehead.
With a minute expired on the clock, Chris looks to her, nodding his head. “It’s time,” he says as she stands up.
There is a moment of complete and absolute silence while she is chalking her hands. When she finally moves towards the barbell, the crowd starts to yell and chant; all hoping that she can make a total.
She completes her third snatch.
Later.
Chris’s total isn’t what it once was.
Hell, Chris’s body isn’t what it once was.
His training leading up to now has been rough at best. He couldn’t squat below parallel earlier in the week. He has taken time away and come back. He has worked and aged. And he has coached over the weekend.
And now, he’s trying to ignore all of those factors to step on stage..
He’s been in and out of training. Sean Rigsby (@seanmrigsby) has been his coach since he met Chris at a seminar nearly half a decade ago. Chris took a break in the middle of his career, but his name is followed by Heavy Metal Barbell (@heavymetalbarbellclub) as he is called out for his first clean and jerk.
Sean had been watching the live stream for snatches and will now get to see just what Chris is made out of after all of these circumstances.
He finishes the weekend successfully, being able to pull off some numbers that didn’t quite seem possible in the start of the week. It’s only a short month and change before I see him lifting again at the Arnold’s training hall, where he was set to coach a few more athletes through competition.
2020 had taken away competitions and gatherings, but it didn’t take away the preparations - the grit and work to get back to competition. I know this because I will be seeing Chris and his crew again in just over a week where I first met them a year ago.
And while many things have changed since that competition, this - this desire to train and become better against the odds - has remained the same.
