Las Vegas

Won first place in the Las Vegas International Open.

The week before the Las Vegas International Open, my weight and my lifts were on point, way better than for the Thailand competition the previous month. So I was as ready as I would ever be. It was Wednesday and my weight was 72.kg, just one kilo to lose “I got this” I thought to myself. I had a class that evening and wondered what I should carry to eat while in class. I wasn’t hungry so I just figured I’d eat at home after class. However, during my break I was ravenous, so I decided to have a slice at Pizza Pizza. It wouldn’t hurt, I’d been eating healthy all day, a slice wouldn’t kill me…boy was I wrong. 

The next morning I step on the scale and see 73kg, I had gained a whole kilo! What have I done! I was travelling to Las Vegas that same day and I knew that I’d have water retention because of the flight! I had barely eaten anything most of the day …I WAS STARVING. When I arrived at the hotel I weighed myself again and I saw 73.5kg!  I was stressing because I only had one day before I had to compete. The next morning I see 72.8, by this time I couldn’t keep this in anymore. I told my dad that I needed to go to the sauna because I need to lose 2kg. He kept it cool but I knew he was stressing inside because losing that much weight quickly decreases strength. The day went by and I had been to the sauna twice. Surprisingly, many female lifters were there as well; I’d thought that I was going to be the only one! I got to know a girl from Miami who was to lift later that day! That was a huge shock to me. 

By the end of the day I was 71.4kg, and I knew for a fact I would be right on the money the next day. The day finally came, competition day. While warming up in the back, I was moving fast and feeling strong. I opened with a strong 94kg/206lb snatch, but missed my last two attempts. Highly annoyed and irritated I tried not to dwell over the missed attempts because I had clean and jerk to focus on. During my last snatch I felt my right elbow over extend trying to secure it in the bottom position, so coach Greg Chin massaged a join/muscle cream to ease the pain. Still feeling it, I used tiger balm that I carry with me everywhere (my mom’s favorite smell…NOT). Trying not to allow this new issue to interfere with me mentally, I told myself “I’m good, nothing’s wrong”. 

I opened with a light clean and jerk just to secure my total. Coach Greg asked what I wanted next? I said 120kg! He was pumped and so was I! Knowing this would place me in first, I went into beast mode. I put my all into that lift; I can’t have what happened in Thailand happen again here, no way! That lift still haunts me to this day. So I go for the 120kg C&J and accomplished it which put me in first place! 

Standing on two international podiums in 2 months…not bad Maya! Experiencing the challenges of weight management, long flights and time zone adjustments was a hell to get through, but I came out on top. I have never been more proud of myself! This just reminds me that no matter what challenge life throws at me, I can overcome.