RKC Weekend Part 1: Getting There

I thought maybe I would blog or at least write some ideas down while I was away. Since that didn’t even come close to happening, I’m gonna do my best to recap my weekend here, but let’s start with the best part.

I’m certified! I am an RKC. It feels so good.

I probably should have saved that for the end, but for those of you that follow me on Twitter or are friends with me on Facebook you have already known the outcome for a few days anyway!

Let’s start from the beginning. I have known for awhile that I wanted to attend the RKC, but finally committed to it last summer after having my baby . I think having this as a goal post-baby was awesome for a few reasons.

1. It took my focus away from losing the weight I gained during pregnancy. Instead, I focused on training hard and getting as strong as possible. Losing weight became a nice little side effect.

2. I had no choice but to make time for training which was good for me mentally and physically. I still had a goal that was mine…all mine…and had nothing to do with my son. I believe it’s important for moms to have individual goals and to do things they enjoy outside of being a mom.

Training leading up the RKC was fun for me for the most part. I know that might sound crazy to some, but I loved the workouts I was doing and loved seeing major progress month-to-month in my strength and technique (and if I’m being honest, my post-baby body). I was practicing mainly with the 16K kettlebell because I was not sure what I would weigh on game-day. I felt strong and prepared, but I have to admit that towards the end, especially the last few weeks, I was tired. Really tired. We officially opened our gym on April 1 and there was a ton of work leading up to that. I was (and still am) working full time as a marketing manager. Connor went through a few nap strikes. You know, normal life stuff for a business owner and working mom, but tiring.

Last Tuesday came around and I was sick. Wednesday came and I was even more sick, blowing my nose non-stop. I chugged tons of Emergen-C and hoped for the best. Thursday I woke up feeling a tiny bit better, but had a tweaked neck from sleeping weird. I had no issues until 3 days before the certification and then my body decided to crash. How’s that for proof that stress does crazy sh*# to your body?

I slapped a smile on my face, dropped CJ off at daycare and sat in crazy traffic getting to Logan (so thankful I don’t commute to Boston every day!). Everything was good at the airport and on my flight. Physically I started feeling better and better as the day went on and watching a movie on the flight kept me completely distracted. As soon as I got to St. Paul, my nerves kicked in. I was texting with my friend Liz (from my HKC) and thankfully she landed right after I did. We met up, rented our mom-mobile and hit up Whole Foods for some snacks on the way to the hotel.

Here’s what we saw in the hotel lobby!

After checking in we grabbed a quick dinner where I basically munched on some lettuce, worried about the weigh-in the next morning. We went to the meet and greet which felt a little like going back to college and trying to make all new friends. I met my team leader, Cortez Hull, and he was awesome. I also met a few other people from my team and my friend Candice from Twitter. I felt a bit less nervous heading into the first day since I already knew some people.

My head popped right off the pillow on Friday morning ready to go. We got to the facility a little early on Friday and a few people knew of my blog or knew me from Twitter/Facebook so that was nice…familiar faces are good. We weighed in (I was way under the 123.5 cutoff at 117.6) and after knowing I’d be able to test with the 12K kettlebell I felt a huge relief. I knew the testing portion would be fairly easy for me (strength wise at least), but knew the rest of the weekend was still gonna kick my booty.

We got with our teams and I met my partner, Kristina. I was excited because she was super nice, strong and was also really prepared for the weekend. (As a bonus, she was a fellow momma). 🙂 We did our flexed arm hang and were ready to get swinging!

Stay tuned for RKC Weekend Part 2 – The Certification. 🙂