Well…there I am. So I recently did an interview with the magazine Functional Sports Nutrition (FSN). It was published in this month’s issue…and I’m on the front cover looking…bliiiigh #covergirl #not 😉 But sure look! Have a read there if you can and if you want to subscribe to the mag, it’s genuinely really interesting and informative, dealing with all topics on nutrition for athletes (and everyone else)! The subscription is not expensive (£20/year for 6 issues or £35/two years for 12 issues). Managed to get an aul plug in there for my sponsors Optimum Nutrition and The Punnet Health Store too.
Thanks to my lovely UK based friend, Naomi Mills for flagging this with me…as I wouldn’t have seen it otherwise.
Thanks to FSN for including me in their magazine, ’tis a pleasure, and big thanks to weightlifting photographer extraordinaire Ramsey Kechacha from Under The Bar for the cover photo for this piece – legend.
xxx In Squats We Trust xxx
Interview with Functional Sports Nutrition Magazine
Without going all cringe and intense on it…this lift has to be the highlight of my weightlifting career to date.
The goal to be the first woman in Ireland to officially clean and jerk 100kg has been top of my list for a few years now. The last couple of months have been a race between myself and a few others in the country for the title…most notably, between myself and my training partner and one of my besties, Aoife MacNeill. We both knew we were capable but just didn’t know who would hit it first on the platform, nothing like some healthy competition (She’s also incredibly sound and a big ride as you can see –>)
100kg fail, Euros 2016
I missed 100kg at the European Champs in Norway in April and then at the International Grand Prix in Tenerife in June I cleaned 100kg but missed the jerk. So that was mildly irritating :/ …but I knew it’d come soon and no better place to do it than at the Irish Championships. #nopressure
The Weightlifting Ireland National Championships took place last Saturday 9th July. I snatched 63kg, missed 66kg and then hit 66kg with which I was sort of happyish…kind of…not really…but sure look, the snatch is still my nemesis (head wreck), but I got that over with and focused on the clean and jerk. I opened with 93kg, then got 97kg which was a new personal best (PB) and new National Record…but my goal was the hundy…and it felt easy! So I finished with a 166kg total (a best total to date) and Irish Champion in the 69kg weight category, with a bonus of the Irish Record in the Clean and Jerk. Check out the video above if you’re interested, and as per usual, I apologise for wearing a onesie, but it’s obligatory and also, apologies for my demon face, but it comes out when I’m in “the zone”. (Also, for those who work in pounds; 100kg is 15 stone and 10 pounds or 220 pounds altogether).
I want to thank everyone who was there on the day – the support in the room was unbelievable and it really helped me, especially on my final lift. The support and congrats since then has been overwhelming and I appreciate every word and message from you all, it genuinely does not go unnoticed. The encouragement inspires me to strive for bigger and better things. Huge thanks to my fellow competitors, my Prodigy Barbell club members and coach, Sami Dowling, they knew how important this lift was to me. Massive love to all of my family and friends (#blessed), my fellow coaches from CrossFit 353 and our members, all of my clients, and so much gratitude goes to my physical therapist, Paul Opperman (my godfather/sensei/buddha), of Dublin Sports Clinic and to my sound sponsors Optimum Nutrition, Sara Da Silva and The Punnet Health Store who help me with my sporting career which is important as we receive no funding (and on that note, if anyone wants to sponsor Weightlifting Ireland please contact me immediately and I’ll get you in touch with the board. We need help. There is a serious lack of money in the “smaller” sports in Ireland).
To finish my emotional ramble, the satisfaction and relief when you hit a major goal in life is like no other feeling in the world. We are all capable of greatness and I’d encourage everyone to set themselves individual goals and chase them, however trivial they may seem. I hope that now I’ve hit the 100 milestone, it’ll open the gates for many girls to follow and will pave the way for even more females to partake in weightlifting and progress up through the ranks and increase the competition and awareness of our sport for the better.
The Prodigy Crew …post competition banter #ladsladslads
Cringey Pre-Interview Pic at TV3 Studios, Ireland AM
So I was on TV3’s morning show, Ireland AM, last Tuesday morning (29th March) and had the craic with Sinead and Shane. If you missed out on it, and really want to see the fantastic footage, check it out on Ireland AM TV3 Player here for the interview and here for the non cringey weightlifting demonstration (Note: you have to download TV3 Player to your device if you are watching it on your phone)
It was a fab experience, apart from the part just before I was interviewed during the news and weather, when I was silently sitting and panicking that I didn’t take my bottle of water over to the couch with me…I was so afraid I’d dry up and be like this… #cottonmouth
However, all was grand, big thanks to TV3’s Ireland AM crew for having me on and hopefully it has helped increase awareness on Olympic Weightlifting, girls that lift and what I do in general!
DEEEELIGHTED to have qualified & been selected to represent Ireland at the 2016 European Weightlifting Championships in Forde, Norway this April! Finally able to announce it and unleash the good feels🍀💚#demfeels
Last year was my first year at Euros and it was a major goal of mine to qualify again in 2016✅
The relief and excitement is unreal. A full team of 7 guys and 7 girls are going, all of whom are legends and enjoy the craic, like myself. Including TWO of my club mates (Aoife MacNeill and Adam Swan) and my coach, Sami Dowling, who has been selected to go as one of the coaches on the panel.
