xx, Kathleen

The 2016 Asian Powerlifting Championships was held in Udaipur, India last June 7-12, 2016.

4 flights in 24 hours

Hainanese Chicken in Malaysia

Joke time chicken sandwich at Cochin airport. Because it was full of vegetables.. and a few pulled strips of chicken that you can't even taste D:

Last leg to Udaipur

Hellloo0o0o0o0o0o UDR, India!!!!

First misfortune: The service forgot to fetch us in the airport. How is that :((((((((

We stayed in Ananta Resorts and Spa in Udaipur, India.

Lobby

The room

Then we ordered food for dinner on our first night because we didn't know we had free buffet dinner as well! It was great tho. Mutton <3

Lamb chops

The following morning we had buffet breakfast as well (and everyday after that)

Coach Bets and my brother Archie were still on the way to India when this photo was taken :p

(L-R) Nicole, Rowella, Spencer, Me, Letecia, Regie, Tita Anne, and Preetiz taking the selfie.

With Tsung Ting Hsieh and Yang Sen of Chinese Taipei

(left) With Kuki Chang and Shao Chu of Chinese Taipei // and some Indian performers (right)

Night time outside the competition venue

Preetiz, Nicole, and I went around the mall to look for groceries.
The nearest mall was around 30 minutes away from Ananta so it was quite of a trip going to civilization hahahha

We ate at this really good Indian restaurant

And we really ordered another round of the same orders because it was that good!!

Right before going to the stage for our first lifts

My best lifts:

Squat at 147.5kg

I wasn't able to get my 3rd attempt of 165kg (vid above) d/t depth but I felt like my 3rd attempt was deeper than my first. Arghhhh.

Bench Press at 80kg

Deadlift at 145kg

Coach Bets' best lifts:

Squat at 167.5kg

Bench at 112.5kg

Deadlift at 182.5kg

And Spence getting his focus on for his turn during his day

and his best lifts:

Squat at 255kg

Bench Press at 170kg

Deadlift at 250kg

During the awarding, everyone was standing straight and in attention. Well we also stood straight, inattentive. Hahhaahhahahahaahajk

And it's time to raise the PH flag! All smiles for me and Coach Bets... not the people around us apparently D:

Yassss

I got 4 golds (Squat, Bench, Deadlift, Total) in the -63kg Junior Category

The guy on the left is Farshid Soltani, the president of the Asian Powerlifting Federation

Coach Bets got 1 Gold (Bench) and 3 Silvers (Squat, Deadlift, Total) in the -63kg Open Category

It's only her 2nd year in the open category! :O

Spence got 4 golds as well (Squat, Bench, Deadlift, Total) in the -93kg Junior Category

This year is his final year as a junior- time to unleash another beast into the open category! :p

It's quite late to express my gratitude to the people who helped me reach this point, but I will.

I really thank my brother for always coming with us everywhere during our competitions. He isn't a competing powerlifter, but he is our coach who wraps us, helps us wear our suits and shirts, loads our bars during our warm ups, carries everything for us, psyches us up, and gives his 100% support. Ahia, you are definitely a big part of our success. Thank you for always clearing out your schedule for me as much as you can, just to help. Thank you for being there whenever I breakdown or rant, and eventually bringing me to the spa when you think I need it. Thank you for being my workout buddy, though rarely. I really really treasure those days. Thank you for bringing me to Cebu right after India. I had the best post-competition celebration aka was surrounded by lechon. Will never forget our intense migraine after our pigout with almost a kilo of lechon belly. PS, we have yet to reclaim our 5k. LOL. Thank you, ahia :)

I want to thank my sister too for being the silent supporter. She wasn't able to come with us to India because of work, but I know if she could, she would. Thank you, ach for always backing me up when people go against my sport because "I'm a girl." For always telling me I'm not fat when I feel like a whale just to help me be in peace. Thank you for your random surprises like the pre-competition letter of encouragement and the new gym bag that you sent me via Archie in India. I felt your presence during the comp even though you were back home, chie. Thank you :*

And to my family who also silently supports me despite being so vocal about wanting me to stop lifting. Thank you for still allowing me to do things I love. For allowing me not to pass up this opportunity. I promise to always try to be safe and keep away from injuries. I hope I made you proud :)

I also thank my coach who has been there since day 0. Thank you for patiently coaching me despite the conflicts in our schedules. Thank you for watching over my training as well as my nutrition all throughout, and for being the best training buddy even when apart! Thank you also for helping me prepare myself not only physically, but mentally as well- for toughening me up when faced with stress from school, training, and the lack of sleep. I think that was the worst thing I had to tackle this cycle- my mental state. All the blood, sweat, tears, and abnormal cortisol levels was definitely worth it. And again, I'm really excited for what's to come next for us! :)

You wanna be the best? Then you have to #TrainWithTheBets!!!

Also, a big thank you to tito Eddie, the president of the Powerlifting Association of the Philippines for taking time to fix all of our flights, accomodation, and whatnot. Thank you for always saying yes to all of our requests to change airplane seats with you and Nicole hahaha. Thank you, too, for carefully watching out for us during our lifts, for reminding us whenever it's almost our turn, and for being our runner. Really really grateful for your help! :)

2016 PHILIPPINE POWERLIFTING TEAM

(L-R: Sir Mon Debuque, Preetiz Angulo, Nicole Go, Letecia Mangcao, Rowella Abrea, Anita Koykka, Betina Bordeos, Archie Chiang, Me, Spencer Co, Regie Ramirez, Tito Eddie Torres)

#girlswhopowerlift

I also want to thank the whole PH Powerlifting Team for being a big part in psyching me up by supporting me during my lifts. I'm glad that everyone did pretty well during this comp!!!

Well last but definitely not the least- Spencer. There were times when I'd have to train apart from coach- and training alone makes me really really lazy. But there's this guy who always encouraged me to train harder and to complete all my sets *properly.* Thank you, Spencer, for the times that you adjusted your schedule just to be able to accompany me during those days. Thank you for bringing me out of my no-salt diet to enjoy more food- you're the only one who got me to not log anything in MFP nor count a single macro for more than 2 days. PR-ing at 3 months and counting LOL. Those final days of cutting stress for the meet was definitely worth it. Being fet is worth it!! Hahahaha. Thanks for making this India trip unforgettable despite all the misfortunes that happened. I'm really glad I met you for the first time in HK during the 2015 Asians. And 7 more first times after that. According to you. LOLJK. :p Glad to bring home 5 golds after the Asians niqqas! :)

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BANQUET