Powerlifting makes a stronger marriage

Selma couple bring home a championship apiece from Florida tournament

In 2003, powerlifting produced a marriage for Tracy and Jamie Langdon of Selma.

Now, the sport has spawned two world champions.

The Langdons return home today after placing first in their respective weight and age classes over the weekend at the Amateur Athletic Union World Powerlifting Championship near Orlando, Fla. It was the first world tournament in which both competed.

Apparently, having each other as a coach has given them an edge.

"Most guys don't bring their wives to the gym because it's 'their' time," said Tracy Langdon, 42. But when his wife decided about six years ago to try the sport, he said, he was "tickled."

"When she started training hard, my first thought was I had created a monster," he said.

The couple typically lift weights together about two hours a day four days a week at a gym in Smithfield. Wearing matching barbell pendant necklaces, they alternate between lifting and watching each other. They psych up each other with a steady stream of encouragement: "C'mon." "Ea-sy weight." Between the cheering and deep breathing, they sound like parents taking Lamaze classes.

At a 2003 state meet, Tracy asked Jamie to marry him.

"You might be a powerlifter if you've ever been proposed to at a powerlifting meet," he had an announcer read from a scribbled note.

An unsuspecting Jamie was headed to the front of the room. Catching on, she swiveled around and saw Tracy -- right behind her -- holding a ring. That day, the competitors went on to break state records while placing first in their weight and age groups.

Despite the risk of injuries, especially in the "raw" form of powerlifting -- the Langdons wear only wrestler singlets and supportive waist belts -- they are hooked. Powerlifting, they say, has empowered them at work and at home.

Jamie, who runs her own company, CJ Spotless Cleaning, said she has to make fewer trips to and from her truck. She's strong enough to lug a vacuum, broom and mop in one hand, a bucket and box of cleaning supplies in the other.

"She can carry a 20-foot ladder around like a man," her husband boasted.

Tracy, a Johnston County animal control officer, said powerlifting has helped him deal with stray dogs, cats and the occasional alligator. He can easily lift heavy animals, and at home, he doesn't break a sweat cleaning the cages of his 13 pet snakes, including boas, rattlesnakes and pythons, some weighing 100 pounds.

Training also has strengthened their marriage. They leave minor spats outside the gym. And powerlifting makes it easier for Jamie to accept her husband's voracious appetite. Tracy, who is 6 feet 4 and 300 pounds, consumes 6,000 to 7,000 calories a day.

"I'd love to weigh more," he said at a recent practice.

"I don't know if I could feed another one of you," his wife shot back, cracking a smile.

The couple spent a few days after the AAU meet resting and sightseeing before returning home. But they're already looking ahead to their next meet together.