July 4th is a great holiday. Every year my family loads up the car and we head to Bridgeport, CA for a week of camping, visiting family and performing odd feats of strength and endurance.
Most of the time these physical challenges are endurance focused – night runs, long rides, hikes. Sometimes they are more strength focused – kettlebell workouts, rings, TRX… and yes all these things are with me camping 
This year I still did the Bridgeport 5 miler. In fact, it was the first year I placed first in my age group! It was a good feeling especially since I shaved time off of last year’s run.
The new sport this year, as you might have guessed now, was arm wrestling.
- Photo by Sabrina Ryan
Could have been a mistake…
First off, I did not go to Bridgeport this year thinking I was going to try arm wrestling. It was actually a last minute decision based on the well intended confidence placed on me by family members.
I heard confidence boosting things like: “You do kettlebells, you are stronger than you think”, or “Pound for pound, you are the strongest person I know”, “Hey what’s the worst that could happen? You’re only up there for a little while, GO FOR IT!”
I bit. I walked up, weighed in, and signed up for the middleweight division.
Suddenly my gut was on fire with nerves. Butterflies, like finding out I was going to do CrossFit Fran, hit me hard. WHAT THE HELL HAVE I SIGNED UP FOR???
1:30pm I was to show up and be ready to wrestle. I had an hour to wait and plot my escape.
Tick tock…
Tick tock…
Before I knew it, the time had come.
My name was called, then my competitor (who I still don’t know his name).
I took a quick scan of the table. I grabbed the wrong post.
“Please grab the other post with your left hand”, the official asked.
“No wrapping of the legs around the table, please turn your hats around. I will adjust your hands and will tell you when to go”
I hear more people yelling my name. Oh my god… “You’re gonna DIE!!” I hear one of my nieces yell out.
The official said “GO!” or wrestle, or something that indicated a start. All I remember is trying to flex my arm and push in one direction while it was actually going in the opposite.
It was over in a split second.
The crowd uttered a big “OHHHHhh….”. I smiled as I saw my hand in a place I was not expecting, and before I could look back to the guy, he was out of there. Gone. Like he was embarrassed for beating me so quickly and without challenge! Rematch!!
2 weeks later and I am still thinking about it, and actually I am doing some research. What’s a hook grip? How should I approach a match? What does it mean to be always rising? Who is Devon Larratt? Why did my arm hurt for a week?
All these things have been floating around in my head, and it’s entirely possible that I’ve found myself hooked on a sport that I had no intention of even trying.
Watch out when you try new things, losing should be the least of your worries, you might learn something about yourself. It probably won’t go as planned, but that’s O.K. Do it anyway. Then do it again.
Ready….
Wrestle!
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