I had been debating with myself whether I’d compete in the Nationals this year. I was getting close to competition weight but Greece really affected that. Wednesday I was 72.5Kg. Now, I’m in no way advocating that people do what I did to make weight, I’ve gotten used to cutting over a number of years and tournaments so I know what my body can handle. So I made the decision (after a bit of debating and some tough love from Jim!) I made the commitment to make -68 kilos. My aims for the Nationals were really just to make weight and compete, not to place or medal, and certainly not to challenge Roddy – the undisputed champion at that weight!
Wednesday I ate relatively little, two or three pieces of fruit, a wrap, an egg and some pork for dinner. A Crossfit WoD and training. Thursday, I was 71.0Kg. Nice, down 1.5Kg. If I kept this up, I’d make weight easier. But Thursday was the start of the severely restricted eating to drop weight. I ran into work (about 11.5Kg) and did a modified WoD. I was really feeling sick on Thursday, just cranky and nauseous all day. I feel asleep at 7 in the evening and woke at 8.30 only to go back to bed at 10.30.
Friday I was only 69.8Kg on my scales, and 70.2Kg on the competition scales. Damn! I was really hoping to be lighter. Drastic measures were to be used. Dehydration to the extreme. I didn’t drink at all that day. For lunch, I spent 30 minutes in the sauna. Not a great experience! But the weird thing was I didn’t feel like I was losing weight or that I was suffering. In fact, I felt great! Granted I was about as useful as a small brick. It took me so long to walk anywhere, and my legs ached when I climbed the stairs or had to face a hill. Worrying (as I tend to do when making weight) I bought plastic bin bags, the great weight loss tool, and through in on while I sat in the cinema – the gits in Cineworld installed a Ben & Jerry’s stand just to tease me. Putting out the mats on Friday night I lost buckets and tasted nothing but salt in my mouth.
But Friday night I checked my weight – 67.9Kg! Wahoo! I’d made weight.
Saturday – the competition. Up until this point my aim was just to compete, not do too bad and hope the weight loss didn’t effect me too much (I’d just had a cold before I went to Greece). I in no way expected to medal or place. But, when I looked at my pool, I began to think, “Yeah, I should qualify from this group.”
My first match was against Ryan Smyth. This match didn’t get recorded, or if it did, I lost in transferring it over. I shot and he pulled guard and I felt I could pass. I know I passed and looked for a chicken lock, my goto move. It eventually finished with me triangling him. I remember thinking he was stubborn, because the triangle was on like Donkey Kong, so why was he being stubborn. When I got up afterwards, I was surprised at how breathless I felt (I had pretty much forgotten to breathe all the way through my match!) and how much my arms felt pumped and used. Ahh that old familiar feeling.
My second match was against Halaigh. I figured I could beat him. Somehow, even though my legs felt sore, I wanted to shoot in all my matches. So I shot and again he puled guard. I managed to catch him in a quick near side arm ba. I never really felt pressured in this match, and this time I remembered to breathe!
Match here. Youtube link here.
Finally, the Roddy matchup. Now, Owen Roddy is just plain better than me. He trains harder, and up until quite recently, would have had the attributes (speed, flexibility, agility, co-ordination, balance) to stay ahead of me. Right now, apart from the degree to which dehydration and a lack of serious rolling over the last while, I’d have the power and strength to hold him.
Since I didn’t expect to win, and the pressure was on Roddy, I threw caution to the wind. I tried a flying… whatever! Triangle or armbar, whichever caught. None did, so I switched to a kneebar attempt. Then a toehold. Somewhere around the kneebar/toehold I began to think I could actually beat Roddy. I shot again and he tried a guillotine. Some scrambling ensued and the caught me with a wristlock. It hurt! Well done Roddy.
Video Here. Youtube link here.
Amazingly, I’d enough points to progress to the semi finals. I was due to face Nick Brooks, a purple belt panamerican champion from England. Fortune smiled on me and he had to retire. From a sporting point of view it would have been great to see him and Roddy duke it out in the final. Maybe next time. I was to compete against Joe Ruddock from Next Generation. I knew I could beat Joe. He’s extremely tight defence but I reckon I could beat him in the takedown. As the match started I shot and he pulled guard. I dominated for most of it but made a mistake which allowed Joe the reversal. I knew he wouldn’t catch me so I waited it out for the take down. Certainly not the ideal thing to do, but a decent strategy to give me another crack at Roddy. I won the takedown with a high school double leg Stokes had shown me a few weeks earlier at our cross training with Fianna Gym.
Video here. Youtube link here.
The Crowd were to see another Riley-Roddy match up! I thought I’d try a flying mare but Roddy was too smart for me. Now, I was told later Saturday night that I pulled guard and I vehemently denied it but the video evidence seems to show it! Roddy quickly looked for an armbar and I remember thinking “No, it can’t be over this soon!”. Luckily we’d covered the arm bar defence on Wednesday 
Right after I escaped I had an armbar opportunity myself but figured I wouldn’t get it so I let it go. When Roddy turtled up I just had to suplex. Why? Because they look cool. I began to seriously gas after that. My left calf cramped up right after that and I was in agony.
When Roddy took knee ride I was just suffering. He was so heavy on me (Roddy of all people) and I found it really hard to breathe. It was only half way. Could I hold on and get a takedown again? A cheap way to win but there’d be bragging rights! But Roddy was too slick for me and caught a well deserved armbar win.
Video here. Youtube link here.
The Absoluto match against Tim Murphy: I just had no power. I took top for a while and felt I could dominate Tim if fresh, but I was running on fumes. I made a few poor mistakes which gave Tim top. Again I did the cheap thing and waited it out.
For once, someone shot on me. I countered easily and got double unders and got my hips in, even taking Tim’s back. I rolled him down but he got to his feat. For some bizarre reason, I decided to jump up and take his back. Instead, I just jumped clean over Tim and he landed on top!
Oh well, always next time!