Several weeks ago I purchased an oddball sized kettlebell, a 14kg.  I have really been kind of a sucker for these in-between sizes.  I bought a  couple of 6kg bells for the studio,  a couple 10kgs, and now the 14kg.  It has been nice to have them to train with, when the jump between standard bell sizes was too much.

Last time through Enter the Kettlebell, I used a 12kg kettlebell.  Around the time I finished the program, I pressed the 16kg on a couple of occasions.  Then, I shifted my focus and began to lose a bit of weight.  I really haven’t tried to press the 16kg again lately, but instead have worked more with the 12kg and 14kg for presses.  I considered starting Enter the Kettlebell again with the 14kg but a couple of weeks ago, but struggled horribly to get through a 3 x 3 Clean and Press ladder. I ended up doing push presses or assisted presses for many of the reps.

Since then I have worked with the 12kg strictly, but haven’t spent too much time with it, only focusing about one day per week on pressing.  Today I decided to try a 3 x 3 Clean and Press ladder with the 14kg.  I really expected to have to shift to the 12kg part way through but totally surprised myself.  The entire 3 x 3 ladder went well, and I know I could even have done more.  I’m very happy to be getting somewhere with the 14kg kettlebell.  I used it for my easy snatch practice on Monday also, doing 112 snatches at 10L/10R/rest for 9:00.

My muscles don’t seem to know I have cancer.  That’s cool with me!  I really don’t feel like I have it at all.  And when I’m happily pressing my 14kg, cancer is pretty much out of my mind. That’s priceless. 

Meaning of “SARAH”

“Lady” or “princess” in Hebrew. This was the name of the wife of Abraham in the Old Testament. She became the mother of Isaac at the age of 90. Her name was originally Sarai but God changed it (see Genesis 17:15). In England, Sarah came into use after the Protestant Reformation.

From www.behindthename.com

pea –noun.

1.	the round, edible seed of a widely cultivated plant, Pisum sativum, of the legume family.

2.	the plant itself.

3.	the green, somewhat inflated pod of this plant.

4.	any of various related or similar plants or their seed, as the chickpea.

5.	something resembling a pea, esp. in being small and round.

From www.dictionary.com

Definition number 5, above, is the one that applies here.

This princess has a pea.

It’s a play on words: I have a tumor.

I found out Friday, February 12, 2010 that I have breast cancer.  It is small, pea-sized, and although it’s considered “invasive”, it most likely HAS NOT spread to any other areas.  I am having an MRI tomorrow to confirm that. I do know that the cancer is the type that is slow growing and also very responsive to drug therapy.  There is much good news within this story!

The reality is that for certain I will have to have surgery.  The extent of it will be dependent on the MRI results as well as some other testing, and my preference.  Less involved surgery would also require radiation.  Chemotherapy is a maybe no matter which surgery I decide upon, and the chemo decision will have to be made after the lymph nodes are studied (after surgery).

This stinks, no doubt.  I’ve worked hard to get in the shape I am in.  (I’d call it near-readiness for RKC, using the 12kg bell for snatches.) I will be out of the kettlebell game for a little bit.  But I am ready for this fight and I will be a cancer survivor! God did not bring me through this craziness, allow me to find my passion and build a business around it and begin to make a difference in others’ lives, for me to then prepare to die.  This cancer is just another chapter in my far-from-over story.  Watch and see.

Training will continue until surgery (which is at least a month away) and then will resume as soon as possible afterwards.  (You KNOW that’s true!)  So www.strongsarah.com will still continue to be updated with training news.  However, for updates on my health, tests, decisions, thoughts and probably WAY more than you ever wanted to know, I’m starting another blog: www.strongersarah.com. You’ll be able to get as little or as much detailed information as you want.  I chose the name because that’s what I’m going to be:  STRONGER, for having overcome another physical trial.  Please join me at www.strongersarah.com when you can.  And don’t worry about me!  I am STRONGSARAH!  

I’ve had quite a dilemma for the past several months.  I have been preparing for the Russian Kettlebell Challenge Instructor certification for almost a year and making good progress.  At a body weight of approximately 135 pounds, I would be required to use the 16kg kettlebell for the snatch test.  (To use the 12kg bell, a woman’s weight must be 123.5 lbs or below at weigh-in.)  It became obvious that snatching the 16kg was going to be a problem for me.  But not for typical reasons.

My accident in 2006 left a few permanent limitations with my hand and arm.  One of them is some numbness in my right index finger and thumb.  When I began training to snatch the 16kg kettlebell I ran into major difficulty.  The handle of the 16kg is significantly larger in diameter than the 12kg.  I could not seem to grip the 16kg well due to the numbness. After a few single-hand swings with the 16, my grip would fail. And it wasn’t improving with time.

So I made the decision to change what I could change, and that was my weight.  Although I had a fairly significant amount of weight to lose (I figured 15 pounds, so that I’d have some lee-way at weigh-in) and I was already below 20% body fat, I felt like it was the best way to get to RKC in the least amount of time.  So I began to refine my eating.

All the while, I kept working on my grip, just in case.  I trained as if I expected to be able to use the 16kg. I didn’t know for sure if I really could reach my goal weight and maintain the strength and endurance necessary for RKC, so preparing for the possibility of being able to use the 16kg felt like a safety net.

In a few months I had seen the weight loss I was after. I reached my goal.  In the meantime, I noticed the grip strength in my right hand had begun improving slightly.  I bought a 14kg bell to try to snatch and that went well.  For a few weeks I wondered: what would happen if I tried to snatch the 16kg? I had visions of major property damage and/or injury in mind!!  But then I began to think it was possible to someday snatch the 16kg bell.  And someday began to feel close.

February 7, 2010 I decided to go for it.  Without thinking too much, I grabbed the 16kg kettlebell with my right hand and snatched it.  I was in disbelief when I realized the bell was safely locked out over my head.  Then I repeated it.  And I did the same on the other side.  Surprisingly, it was actually easier on the right side!  At that point I knew that all that stood in my way from using that bell at RKC was time and practice.  If I could snatch it once, I knew I could train to fulfill the certification requirements.

Strangely, snatching the 16kg successfully somehow made me feel ready to go to RKC using the 12kg for the test.  One hundred snatches with the 12kg  in 5:00, though definitely not easy, was definitely doable and I had done it on several self-tests.  My weight was within the range of where it needed to be to use the 12kg.  The success I had with the 16kg gave me hope for long term continued improvement with all my kettlebell skills despite any lingering hand issues. No longer an issue of which bell I MUST use, it became a question of which bell I would PREFER to use.  What a great feeling!