3 words I hate. Admittedly, I am the choleric type, quick to anger, and for that I can point to my Spanish parents 
This short question is such a mundane generic question, where winning only is good and trying is viewed as a failure.
To me trying is winning.
Even before I lift a weight in a competition, I am a winner. Everybody lifting is a winner, and only a few of those winners become true champions. The rest of you that didn’t compete are not.
By stepping up to the platform, we win over our fears and our struggles and our personal baggage before anything else. The outcome doesn’t really matter, because in the process we got stronger.
Those 3 words show that the person asking them has absolutely no clue about whatever it takes to win anything. It shows the person is not even truly interested in the subject in the first place. It is a kind of a polite brush off that allows that person to stay safe within his own little world. They can comfort themselves quietly with ” if he didn’t win, he’s not that good anyway”. Don’t let anyone bring you down.
No, I didn’t win the competition yesterday, I am far from being at such a high level. What could I expect? That suddenly after a few months training I’d blow out the other guys who have been busting their asses for years?
I knew that I wouldn’t win a single medal as soon as I saw the list of lifters. We were all lifting in the open class, meaning that young and old were on the same boat. But then again my goals were to set new records in squat and deadlift in the masters I divison, 66-74kg class (I weighed in at 68,8kg), which I was lucky enough to do. I also know they won’t stand long.
Trust me it was hard, legs turning to jelly in anticipation of the first lift, wanting to run away… You do not see that on the video, and countless other things that made up my training up to this event.
So do not ask me if I won, ask me how did it go. The difference in the asking is that one question is closed, one you can only answer yes or no to, the other question is open. Remember that if you are trying to connect with people or chat up someone from the opposite sex Open questions shape conversations, closed questions shape interrogations.
And one last thing, maybe you’ll never excel at either powerlifting or kettlebell lifting, but you can still have fun with both. Training for kettlebell DM resumes as soon as I am finished moving and painting houses. 4 months to go. No excuses.
PS: I have to thank my wife for her support over those last 6 months, Hjørring Styrkesport where I trained and got spoiled with their excellent training facilities, and Bjørn and Lise Frederiksen who helped me yesterday.
