A lift like no other

They say life begins at 40. Ya, right. I have always thought that what they meant was life begins to end.Wrong.

I turned 40 this year and for the first time in my life, I qualified for the Philippine Powerlifting Team that competed in the Asian Benchpress Open in New Delhi, India.

I grew up in a very athletic family. Three of my brothers were football players who at one time in their lives wore the Philippine colors to represent the country in tournaments abroad. I have another brother who was a weight lifter and one point was also on the Philippine team. It made me both happy and proud when they came home with medals and made the country proud because of their achievements.

Yet, as I was growing up, sport for me meant spending the summer playing football with the kids in the neighborhood. In school it only meant being a member of the intramural team. I liked to play. I did not like to compete.

About 12 years ago, I turned vegetarian and 10 years ago I got into fitness and opted to make being a vegetarian and a fitness buff a lifestyle for me.

But getting into powerlifting is another story. So, what is powerlifting? Well, it is actually a very simple sport: all you have to do is carry heavy weights. (And no, the sport is not the same as weightlifting.) Powerlifting has three events: benchpress, squat and deadlift. I started powerlifting only about three years ago. I did not really make a conscious decision to become a powerlifter – it sort of just happened.

Rene Dio, a bemedalled powerlifter and body builder and the man responsible for getting me into the sport, would encourage me to try the sport out whenever he saw me at the gym.

I joined my first competition in 1999. I can still remember how nervous I was. "Just do the best you can," said Rene to me. At the end of the competition, I broke a few records in the novice category.

But to say that I was hooked on the sport would not entirely be true.

I have competed several times locally through the years. I have been trained by Paolo Villarroel and Nikki Orosa, but it was Rene who constantly badgered me to join each upcoming competition. Rene had a goal for me–to become part of the Philippine Team.

The team left for New Delhi, India on Aug. 15. There were four of us – Richie Rosales (head of our delega-tion), Jason Gomez, Jodelyn Darvin and myself.

In my years of competing as a powerlifter I have always competed as an individual. Adjusting to being part of a team did not come easy.

"When you go to India you have to remember that you are competing as a team. It is important that you respect the decisions made by Richie," said Nick Cabalza, president of the Philippine Powerlifting Team in a meeting we had before we left.

No problem.

Richie wanted us to work on a buddy system. "Make sure that you rest enough," he said while we were waiting for our flight to be announced. "Don’t tempt Kathy with food," he told Jodelyn.

Since Jodelyn competed in the 90K class she was busy stuffing herself silly so that she maintain her weight. I was competing in the 56 to 60K category, which meant that I had to watch what I was eating. I ate five small meals a day, Jodelyn ate five big ones. When we were in India I went to run on the treadmill after eating, while Jodelyn would sleep after meals.

We arrived in New Delhi on Thursday evening, two days before the competition. The hotel we stayed at had a small gym – which was good because I was able to calm my nervousness by running on the treadmill.

On Friday we got our competition schedules.

I would compete on Saturday and my three other teammates would compete on Sunday. "I have decided to move my weight up so that I can go for gold," Richie said to us on Friday night. "But to do this, Jason, who is sure to get the silver in his category will just do a ceremonial lift, and then he will have to assist me."

We agreed.

In a powerlifting competition, the weigh-in is held about two hours before the competition. I weighed 58.7K. Perfect, I could breathe.

There was no way I would get the gold because my competitor from Kazakhstan was much too strong. She was able to lift 95 K. I settled for the silver with a 60K lift. I did try to better my 67.5K record by going for 70K but that was not to be.

On Sunday, I got up early to assist Jason and Richie who were competing at 1 p.m. We let Jodelyn sleep in since she would compete later in the afternoon.

I enjoyed helping my teammates out. I carried Richie’s bag and all the water he had to drink so he could make it to the higher weight class. I sat and watched over Richie and Jason’s stuff while they competed.

At the end of Sunday, the Philippine medal tally was 1 gold and 3 silver.

Not bad.

We had Monday free and since we were all high from our victories, we wanted to have some fun.

We had lunch at the residence of Philippine Ambassador to India Jose del Rosario. "I have prepared a Filipino meal for you," said Ambassador Del Rosario, as he welcomed us into his home. The Ambassador looked at our medals and was happy that we were happy.

He then took some time to tell us about New Delhi, and now we could take in the surroundings and check out the city after the tension of the competition.

He gave us some "tips." "If you want to buy medicine it is very cheap here. Silver, textile and even jewelry are good here and if you know where to get them they are cheap, too." We learned from the ambassador that many athletes who had been to India were guests in his home in New Delhi.

"You must take a tour of Old Delhi too. This was you can see how different it is from New Delhi," the ambassador said to me since it was my first time in the Indian capital, although my teammates had been there before for other competitions.

He graciously offered his van, which would take us sightseeing. "Come back when you are done. I will have champorado waiting for you," he said.

In that drive around town, we saw the city’s old and rich traditions, old forts, Mughal structures, pre-colonial palaces. We drove by Parliament and its wide avenues as well.

In some parts, as we drove toward Old Delhi, we also saw communities where poor people lived, and the surroundings less than clean. The traffic was also bad, and drivers seemed to love using their horns, but perhaps it was because some streets are small and old.

After the tour, Jason and Richie went shopping.

We returned to the embassy for the delicious champorado that was waiting for us. By this time Jodelyn, who opted to take a nap rather than come with us, was awake and famished.

I learned a lot about being part of a team on this trip.

I now know what it means to give up personal goals for the good of the team. I know that if we do what we are told to, no matter how small or insignificant it might seem to us, it will be good for everyone in the team. But best of all, I know that our victory in India was sweeter because we helped each other.

I am 40, older than most of my competitors who are in their early 20s or 30s. But, hey age is what we make of it and so too is life.