Rebecca: Welcome back to the Stone Table podcast. I'm your host, Rebecca Innes. Today we're heading into the Basque stone lifting world through the history of a woman who has quietly become one of the most fascinating figures in the strength sport. Patricia Martin Playa. I'm sure I haven't pronounced that.
Pat MP: Hi there.
Rebecca: Thank you.
Pat MP: Good enough, good enough.
Rebecca: Patricia isn't just a stone lifter. She's a reconstructive and burn surgeon working in Northern Spain. Someone who spends her professional life rebuilding bodies with precision, patience and control. And then she steps outside of that into one of the oldest and hardest strength traditions on earth. She comes from Galatia, but built her stone lifting story in the Basque country, a place where lifting stones isn't novelty, fitness or social media spectacle. It's history, it's identity, it's culture, reputation. Basque stone lifting or otherwise known as Patricia.
Pat MP: I think I'm going to
Rebecca: thank you, was born from quarry workers, farmers, and laborers proving strength through impossible objects. It's not polished barbells. It's not calibrated plates. It's stones that are awkward in shape with brutal edges and stories attached to them. And into that world walked Patricia. As I said, she's a surgeon, but also an athlete balancing that intellect and raw physicality in a culture that has traditionally been dominated by men. And she has done some amazing things in this sport, has been the world's, Spain's strongest woman as well as gained top honors in, this sport. What makes your story still compelling though, isn't only what she lifts. It's what she represents. Patricia represents a new chapter in this heritage strength sport, one where tradition will remain intact, but is a doorway to open things wider for women. So today we're using her story as a gateway into something bigger, the principles of basque stone lifting, the etiquette, the unwritten rules, the culture, and why these traditions matter more now than ever. Because stones aren't just stones. They carry memory. They carry identity. and they carry her story of recovery and hope. So let's get into it, Patricia. How are you doing today? Excellent.
Pat MP: Let's go. I'm good. Thanks so much.
Rebecca: So as I start with every guest, what are we drinking today? Yes, we.
Pat MP: I'm drinking tea. Black tea.
Rebecca: I'm I'm also drinking coffee. It is not a whiskey day for me. Or a gin day. It's seven in the morning here. So it's a bit too early to start that.
Pat MP: It is.
Rebecca: But no, thank you. Thank
Pat MP: You
Rebecca: you so much for joining us today.
Pat MP: Thanks for having me.
Rebecca: this has been in the works for a while and I've been scouring the worldwide web to know who Patricia is. And there's a lot of information out there about you. You don't have a lot on social media, save for what your husband posts,
Pat MP: Yes.
Rebecca: but can you tell folks why? Well, maybe not why I have you here because I know why I have you here. You're a phenomenal athlete and your personal story is interesting. But can you just tell us a bit about your background?
Pat MP: Well, I'm from, as you said, Galicia, northwest part of Spain. I studied medicine in Madrid and then I came up to the north. The north went to Bilbao to do the plastic surgery and the reconstructive surgery, part of say my background. And I started doing strength sports. Funny, because I started it when I was in Asia. I've been playing volleyball for my whole life. almost six feet tall. So again, I'm a girl.
Rebecca: Wow.
Pat MP: it was either volleyball or basketball. So I went into volleyball. And in my late 20s, my team just disappeared, one of the teams I was playing with. And I went to work to Singapore for a year and a half to do some subspecialization in my work. And there I started CrossFit. And CrossFit came back with me to Spain and then I'm husband started CrossFit, then he started Strongman, then he started stone lifting and then he just took me one day and he was like you're gonna like this that was 2021 I think and yeah I did I started in 2021 stone lifting and I'm still doing it so that's my short story
Rebecca: That's amazing. And so that's how I got to know you actually is through your husband because you're not a self promoter. that, those are the kind of guests that I really like to have on the show that quietly hide behind. hide behind what they're doing. You don't really know about them, but they're doing absolutely incredible things. So 2021, your husband introduces you to Basque stone lifting.
Pat MP: Right.
Rebecca: Tell us a bit about that experience. Where was it? Who was it with? And then we'll get into what is actually Basque stone lifting.
Pat MP: My husband knows me very well, So he knows that, and I say it in Spanish and it sounds awful, but I'm a competitive bitch. I like to compete. I enjoy it. I don't need to
Rebecca: hahahaha
Pat MP: win, but I love to compete. So he knew that,
Rebecca: Yes.
Pat MP: I mean, was not like many girls were doing it back then in 2021. We started at that time. So he... What he managed to do to convince me was he convinced a friend of mine. So Susana came with me to get to with Ogi Kine, which is our our coach. He's a retired stone lifter and he is the one that teaches us. So I started in autumn 2021. I think it was early September. And you should see the videos of my first lifts. It was awful. Awful. I saw them a few months ago and I was like, really, I have improved a lot. And since I was able to manage those stones to lift them, he convinced me to participate in my first competition, which was two months after I started lifting, which was November. It was five of us and I did third. So like, okay, I like competing and this is good. So let's continue.
Rebecca: Yeah. Wow. And okay. So what is Basque stone lifting? I mean, there are some folks in the audience that are going to know, but there could be a large portion of the audience that this is their first kind of introduction. For my awareness, I have, after I spoke to your husband, like I tried some of the... Like I used my Atlas stones for some timed events. Like I did the one minute, the two minute and the
Pat MP: it's different.
Rebecca: five minute and oh my God, I wanted to die.
Pat MP: Hahaha
Rebecca: So I know it's a strength sport, but it's also strongly endurance and cardiovascular and
Pat MP: It is.
Rebecca: that you use various shapes of stone type objects, concrete, believe, or maybe you can just tell us. No? Oh, granite. Okay.
Pat MP: No, it's a granite. I'm not sure. Yeah, it can be different. And some of them have lead on them inside. So they have the proper weight. Because it used to be like a non-regulated sport many years ago, but now it's fully regulated. You have the referees, you have the anti-doping staff. There are like certain competitions that everyone takes their own stones to their competition. For instance, the, but not every competition.
Rebecca: Okay.
Pat MP: Let's say the main ones, the Euskadi, like the big, the local, let's there are like four territories. So each of them have their own competition and then a competition for the four of them. So there for the girls, for instance, we have 75, kilograms of cylinder to lift for three minutes. Each of us has to bring their cylinder, but the cylinder has to be weighted every single time you go to a competition. same with the cube, which is 62.5 kilograms and the sphere, which is 62.5 too. So it's a highly regulated sport. It's not that you go there and you just lift and no, no, no, it has it rules. So the referees can tell you that you did a no rep, for instance, because you have to be standing. The main thing is that you have to lift certain stones, depending on the competition, for a stipulated amount of time. So the one who wins is the one who has lifted the most kilograms in total. Plus,
Rebecca: Okay.
Pat MP: they weight the lifters ourselves. I I have to be weighted every single time I go to a competition. Because if I lift the same amount of weight as other girls, the one who wins is the one who weighs the less.
Rebecca: Okay. Yes. Okay.
Pat MP: sounds fair. So as I it's like highly regulated sport with the shapes and the size of the stones. You cannot just bring a stone that is too high or too low. It has a range that you have to fit.
Rebecca: And so for each event, for each shape, do they all have to go to your shoulder? Every time.
Pat MP: every time and you have to every time they have to be on your shoulder and you have to be standing still both feet on the ground no lifting no touching anyone or anything and the stone have to has to be parallel to the ground at least parallel or break
Rebecca: And.
Pat MP: the parallel upwards
Rebecca: And you can have both hands to steady it, correct? Yes. Okay. On. Okay. To hold it. And then
Pat MP: Yes, you can touch it with both hands. Everyone touches it.
Rebecca: what I noticed, and I didn't have this luxury when I was practicing on my own, but you'll have somebody there
Pat MP: Yes.
Rebecca: and they'll help bring it kind of back down to the ground.
Pat MP: Correct. Because the thing is that you have to lift as many times as possible. As fast as you can in, let's say, three minutes, two minutes, five minutes, whatever the competition says you have to. So you usually have two people to help you. One that is holding the clock. Because usually you know how many lifts you are supposed to do in a competition. So if you go too fast, you're just going to... die while you're trying to and not finish. So there's somebody telling you when to lift and there's somebody else helping you to put the stone back into the botalecu, which is like the cushion we put the stone in,
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: and then put it back in the position so you can grab it again. But there's rules for that too. That means the lagunxale, which is the guy who is helping you, he or she cannot touch the stone. until you start the movement of just putting it into the ground again. If they touch it while you're standing still, it's a no-rep.
Rebecca: And do you bring that person with you or does the game, does the competition provide, you bring your own? Okay. Okay.
Pat MP: No, no, you bring your own. It's usually somebody from your own team. Or to me it happens one time, mean, my coach is 70 plus. So it depends on the competition. Sometimes he cannot just put the stone. So sometimes you just ask anyone there from any other team, can you please help me put the stone? And people are just so nice and they help you at any time. But it's not provided by the organizer. It's your own team.
Rebecca: And okay, so you'll so you need this person to assist you need to bring your own objects. Do you
Pat MP: Everything, yes.
Rebecca: do all three objects or like pieces for every comp or is like some comps it's just you do one like let's just say you do the cylinder and that's all.
Pat MP: There are competitions where you only do two stones. There's a competition in August
Rebecca: Okay.
Pat MP: where we lift a cylinder and a sphere. But there are competitions where you lift four stones, which is the rectangular, the cylinder, the cube, and the sphere. And there are also competitions where you lift an irregular stone, the Zebaldarra. And that stone, it's not your own stone. It's like the village stone or whatever neighborhood or person that owns that stone. And everyone lifts that same stone. So you don't have to bring anything but your vests, which you can see back there, and yourself and
Rebecca: Yes.
Pat MP: somebody to help.
Rebecca: So let's talk about the vests and the special kit that you wear.
Pat MP: Now it's not regulated because there's nobody checking what you're wearing. Only if you're lifting irregular stones like the Valdarra, the shapeless one, there you cannot wear pads on your trousers. But otherwise, they just don't check. You have to wear a vest which has reinforcements on the shoulder. In my case, I lift on my left side, so it's reinforced on the left side. And for girls, it's usually reinforced on the breast area. You guys don't have that problem. You also wear the
Rebecca: Yeah.
Pat MP: trousers. Everyone has the trousers with the pads, which are usually quite thick, on the thighs and on the pubis. Mine is over there. Mine are very, very thick because I bruise a lot very easily. And you don't wear a belt like the strongman belts that you click it. It's usually a piece of
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: fabric, but I don't know how many meters it is, maybe three, five, or I don't know. And you roll yourself in it. It's called Guerrico and it helps you like stabilize your core. And it also helps you to know where to put at least for me to put the stone at which height of your thorax or just to put it in. roll it up. For the shoes I usually lift barefoot but some people wear like regular sneakers.
Rebecca: okay.
Pat MP: or no.
Rebecca: And can you explain, like I've watched a few of these competitions. Can you explain to folks what the festival culture is like or the competition culture is like?
Pat MP: They usually bring lifters and different VASC sports competitors to the local feasts. For instance, let's say the women Euskádico Chapequeta, which is like the biggest regulated one, it's usually in the same place for like their big feasts. So it's... The competition is linked to the villages.
Rebecca: Okay.
Pat MP: Some villages do have their own competition. Like Mayavia has its own competition and you can be invaded there. But we can either go to a competition to a village or just an exhibition. It's quite common to have exhibitions throughout the year. maybe five in a weekend like morning afternoon and I don't usually do that because I mean I'm old enough and I get tired easily but
Rebecca: Yeah.
Pat MP: I know that some girls and some guys they have exhibitions in like the local small villages their feast day they go there and you have like local music and these local sports not only in Stone Lifting but how do call it like wood cutters it's quite common too
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: and they have the chingas which is like like farmer curry yeah you have the farmer curry
Rebecca: Yes.
Pat MP: too and have like curry as a big saco it's i don't know the name in english you put it on your bag and you run with it yes sandbag right that's it but
Rebecca: Yes, yeah, yeah, like a sock, a sandbag type of thing. So how did Basque stone lifting come to be? Like how, what is the history of that? Can you give folks a bit of a window into the origins?
Pat MP: Well, like many, many years ago, they only had the strength to do the quarry work. So one of the things that they had to do was carry the stones from the, I didn't check the name of this in English, cantera, where the stones are digged to wherever they were building
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: the house or, so they started carrying the stones and then they started like doing, not competitions because the competition started like in the more in the 20th century I believe it was usually bets they bet like I can lift this stone that many times or more times that you can do it so it was I have it there on my notes Arteondo it was this guy who was the one who decided to start it given shapes to the stones to lift So the rectangular, the cylinder, all of them. So before that it was like any stone or any bet. the first, apparently, that's what I've been told, the first like historically recorded bet that was done was in 1925. And it was Arteondo against Aritza. I'm actually not sure who won, but.
Rebecca: You
Pat MP: It was a hundred years ago, 101 years ago,
Rebecca: Yes.
Pat MP: that they started doing this like more regulated. And since this guy began with the shapes of the stone, then this has evolved. They have done more beds and different types of beds and then the competitions. funny, but the competitions with irregular shapes are the ones that came afterwards. There was this, there is actually, because this competition is still going on. The Albi Suriandi, which is a stone that is in a mesquita. And this one was lifted for the very first time in a competition in the 40s. So yeah, I'm not sure how much it weighs. It's a hundred plus kilograms. It's shape, it's not easy to lift. And I think they have like three minutes. And the record is only 15 times lifting this stone. So this was like a
Rebecca: my gosh.
Pat MP: legendary stone that was lifted. But since the shapes started and then the different... They make these slides on certain shapes, like the rectangular and the cylinder, so you can grab it and you can go faster. Actually, at the bottom...
Rebecca: Yes, like at the top, like at the top so you can grab it. Right. So how are they made? Like you say they're granite, like are they carved?
Pat MP: So you've bent yourself into the stonic.
Rebecca: Are they shaped? Like
Pat MP: think they're great. They are carved. It's not easy to find somebody
Rebecca: at the bot, okay. Right.
Pat MP: to do a stone for you. Like the atlas stones, they're like concrete, right? And they have this mold and they put the concrete and that's it. Here
Rebecca: Yes.
Pat MP: it's carved and it's polished, actually. If you grab one of the spheres without any product, any tacky, we have like... traditional taki here to grab the stones, would be a very slippery. Same with the other stones. We use Colophonia, I'm not sure the name in English. It's from the trees that it's like, it looks like ember, but it's you can, it's like magnesium. Yeah. Yeah, sort of.
Rebecca: yeah, so like tacky. Yes, yeah.
Pat MP: And so you can grab the stones easily. And I only know one place where they usually do these stones because you have to ask them for the exact weight because as I told you they weigh the stones every time you lift so if I have to compete with 75 kilograms my stone has to be 75.5 maximum or 74.5 minimum so it's not easy to get somebody to do the stone the shape you need the height you need with the things to to grab it at the height you need it. So Selai, is who is, he's a retired stone lifter. He works with granite and marble and stuff. So he is one of the guys who does these stones. And I think everyone asks him for that.
Rebecca: Are they expensive to get?
Pat MP: It depends on the size of the stone and the shape of the stone. But as you can imagine, they are carved, are like handmade. Let's say they use machines, but it's like very specific work. So they are not cheap. If you want a sphere, light sphere, it's going to be cheaper. But if you want a big stone with this certain things on it, usually you put your name or something too.
Rebecca: Yeah, I originally reached out to Stu from Utah about how I would get these stones. And yes, it is indeed very difficult in North America even to get them. Yeah, and because there's really nobody here.
Pat MP: Of course, here we are lucky because we have people who do the Arihazote, who are are lifters, that they still do this and they know what we need, which is very important.
Rebecca: So you've given us a bit of an introduction to the events, to what Basque stone lifting is and the origins. But you come from CrossFit, it's 2021, you go into Basque stone lifting. What humbled you the fastest about this sport?
Pat MP: people. I yes,
Rebecca: Mm.
Pat MP: it's, as I said, I started competing a month and a half or two months after I started lifting. And the feeling there with the rest of the competitors and the people in the cheering you out, I liked it a lot. I liked it a lot. And then after this first competition, they started calling me for exhibitions. And it's quite funny to see how people enjoy what you're doing. So it's contagious. Let's see. You're doing something that you like and you're seeing that the person in front of you is enjoying it. And it's quite cool. Plus, since most of the girls, we all started in the early 20s, like 2021, 2023. So it's like a good community. We see each other in competitions in in exhibitions and stuff. And I like, yeah, it's, a, come from volleyball, as I said, it's a team, sports team. So for me, this is like individual sport, but it has a community around it, but I like it a lot. to me, okay, I like strength sports. I'm not bad at them, but in this, I like the people around the sport.
Rebecca: And so when you started, there was very few women in this.
Pat MP: Yes.
Rebecca: Talk to us a little bit about those early influences you had, the other women that were there, because you're going into a very traditional
Pat MP: Yes.
Rebecca: sport that is male dominated. How was that experience? And is there a mentor that you kind of attached to or looked up to, or did you kind of just pave the way yourself?
Pat MP: Well, before the pandemic, actually, there had only been very few competitions with very, very few girls. Before this big boom, the after pandemic boom, you could only say, let's say, four or five names of women that have ever lifted. Let's just not say compete, but only lifted. And... Some of them are my age actually. They don't lift anymore. And before I started the last competition that was held, it was in 2019, I think. And it was for Idoia Echeberria, which she has the record of the women lifting the heaviest. She's I think 163 point something kilograms, 0.4 or 0.5. So she was going to retire. and they managed to gather three girls to do the competition, was Hidoya, Carmele, which is Celay the third, think, Celay, and Julia, Julia Martinez, who is from southern part of Spain. So only three women went to that competition and it was very hard to find them. So after Hidoya retired, then... We resumed the competitions and a few girls started popping up. So Carmela was still there. She was winning everything until she retired. I think it was last year or the year before. And suddenly some girls in Gipuzkoa started popping up. And me and some other girls like Lucia Orbe. She also has a record there with a hundred kilogram sphere. So it was like 2021, 2022, we all started and now it's, I can tell you the name of 20 girls that are currently lifting. Before the pandemic, it was three, only three. And now I can
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: tell you more than 20. And girls, there was a competition last month. I was preparing for that, but couldn't participate. I was there and there were girls lifting. There was an eight-year-old girl lifting there, an 11-year-old girl and then two 14-year-old girls. So it has been a boom in this past, let's say, five years. And it's great.
Rebecca: And was it really welcoming at the start? you welcomed just, was there encouragement for women to get into the sport? Like, besides obviously your husband who was very encouraging. Yeah.
Pat MP: I'll cheer leader But I have felt like they don't want us there. Like the guys don't want the women doing that sport. I feel that that's not going to sound good, but they allow us to do less work or easier work than the guys do. Usually for... Weightlifting, there's like the
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: guy that lifts the heaviest is a percentage of, I mean, the other way around. The girl that lifts the heavier, she lifts a percentage of the guy that lifts the heavier. But here the guys usually lift stones that are way heavier than the ones that we lift. And it's not easy to find girls willing to lift heavy stones. the first
Rebecca: Mmm.
Pat MP: heavy stone competition that there was, for girls it was last month. But for guys there has been like the, let's say little stones and big stones competitions for many years. And you have people that are specialized in either one of these type of stones. But for girls we have these competitions and that's it. So we're fighting to get more, I mean... not visibility because actually they ask for girls many times in exhibitions only girls it's like no no we have this
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: guy already but we want two girls like okay but we're as many as they are or maybe more this time i'm not sure but i haven't felt yeah it's
Rebecca: That's fantastic.
Pat MP: great it's great i haven't felt like not welcomed because i'm a woman in this sport at all
Rebecca: No, that's, that's amazing. but there is etiquette, right? There is a real culture and etiquette around this sport. And for those that enter, like just as there is with traditional stone lifting, historic stone lifting, if you ignore it, people kind of know it immediately is what kind of etiquette exists around lifting stones. Let's say I wanted to get involved and I, I wanted to come to a competition. What are some of the first pieces of etiquette do people need to understand about this?
Pat MP: It's a serious sport and it's not
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: just being strong what you need. You need more than that. You need to know what you're doing, which is not just, okay, let's do... I don't know how to say it in English. Just let's show how strong you are. It's not that. If you're able
Rebecca: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: to lift that stone, we already know you're strong. You need to... to prove that you know how to do it because here people, not all around Euskadi, but in many places, they really enjoy it and they know who is a lifter and who is pretending to be a lifter. The
Rebecca: Mmm.
Pat MP: way you do things, the way you treat the epailles, the jurors, the referees,
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: they know. And they know if you're just playing around or if you really respect what you're doing. At least I feel that. And I came to a point where I can say, OK, you have just started stone lifting or you really want to do stone lifting as a sport or you're just here to show how strong you are and then you're going to leave. Some people do that. They go to one competition, they do their job, they do... They lift the stone whatever many times they can, but you can say that they did that because they wanted to show how strong they are. Not because they wanted to do arrejas oche. They don't want to be arrejas ochayes. They just want to be strong. people will know. You have to go there with respect and humility. because you will see guys that are shorter than me and thinner than me and they can smash a two meter guy with 120 kilograms. They can smash it with three minutes stone lifting. It's not just strength.
Rebecca: So is there an etiquette around how you touch the stones or how you lift the stones, how you store the stones, that kind of thing?
Pat MP: I would say not really. Certain stones, yes. Like the Alvisuri Aundi that I told you, the legendary one, it's kept in a place you cannot touch it. I mean, you have to ask for permission to touch it. It usually happens with irregular stones for the villages. It's not available for everyone and there is somebody who is the guardian for the stone. and to touch it and to go and train with it, you have to ask for permission. And sometimes it's not even permitted to train with it. But the rest of the stone, since everyone has their own stones to lift, everyone stores them as they consider. So you have to be very careful because you have to move them to lift them. I mean, it's stone, but it's delicate. And you don't want the stone to be to get chipped off because it's going to hurt you when you're lifting it.
Rebecca: Yeah. Yes.
Pat MP: Usually in the exhibitions, you're maybe in Bilbao, in Bilbao there are many people, but they don't really know about stone lifting. And you can tell. It's usually in the small villages where people really know what you're doing, but not in Bilbao. So
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: lifting in Bilbao... for the feast in summertime, it's so damn easy because no matter what you do, they're going to be amazed. And yes, it's
Rebecca: Yeah.
Pat MP: just like that. If you do that in
Rebecca: Yeah.
Pat MP: other places, they're like, seriously, you're doing this? You can do more than that. But if you're lifting in a place that they don't know, you can be more comfortable and you can show off without really showing off. So usually after
Rebecca: Yes.
Pat MP: you lift, you usually finish with a sphere. And for girls, it's either 50 kilograms or six to three kilograms. So after you finish, people usually step up and they come and they ask you, I touch it? Can I try it? Can I? And they're like, they get all stained with a tacky and they're like, my God, how can you do this? So many times it's like,
Rebecca: Okay, yeah.
Pat MP: okay, training.
Rebecca: Yeah, I legit though, I have tried, mean, the Atlas stone, I mean, I was doing my best with what the resources I had to try it. And I thought I was going to die. Like I legit thought I was going to die because the cardiovascular, like,
Pat MP: Yes.
Rebecca: and it's humbling, right? Because I think the first time I tried it, I did it with a 112 pound stone and I did it for two minutes, which is like,
Pat MP: What is this? 112, around 50 kilograms, something like that.
Rebecca: Yeah, something like that. And I,
Pat MP: Okay. And you did it how many times?
Rebecca: I, you know what, to be frank, I'm not sure. I'm going to have to go back to watch the video. but it was, yeah, it was super, super humbling
Pat MP: Thanks.
Rebecca: and I wasn't using tacky. So I don't know if I was allowed to use tacky or not, but I did not use tacky. I, and I
Pat MP: We do use it.
Rebecca: was lowering it down by myself because I didn't have anybody here. So the circumstances weren't perfect,
Pat MP: Yes.
Rebecca: but it was still really difficult. And I think that there is benefits for natural stone lifters or strong men or anyone in whatever stone discipline to kind of incorporate some of the Basque techniques.
Pat MP: Yes.
Rebecca: But before we go there, and I believe Stu says it's the Indy of stone lifting because it's just so like... your engine needs to be super, super strong
Pat MP: Yes.
Rebecca: and you have to have endurance. But you spoke about ego and I kind of wondered about that and you see it across whatever sport you're in, the presence of ego in social media. And do you think that the exposure of the Basque stone lifting through social media has actually helped or hindered the promotion of this tradition.
Pat MP: I don't have social media so I don't use it but I think
Rebecca: Yes.
Pat MP: it is helping. It's
Rebecca: Mm-hmm
Pat MP: actually helping because there are some of the lifters, most of the lifters, they do have social media so they post videos and they post pictures and the competition information so people know about it and then go and see the competition and actually some people contact our club, our, yeah, our club, our team to come and try. So it's, it used to be like, very small sport that was only played or done in certain small areas in the Basque country. But nowadays, it's known worldwide. mean, worldwide. I'm not from Basque country.
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: I compete in this sport and I'm talking to a Canadian about it. So it has helped. It has helped a lot, I think.
Rebecca: Mm-hmm. Yes. Yes. Yeah. And I know that, ever since speaking to you and your husband about this is that my feed, because I, you know, searched it, it's put up more Basque stone lifters into my feed so I can see what's going on. But let's kind of talk about your own personal experience in the space, in strength. As I said before, you are one of Spain's strongest women. You have been kind of crowned that. You have gained a number of first place finishes in these competitions that you've competed in in basque stone lifting. Can you talk to us about how how it's kind of have changed how you train and what your training approach looks like for competing. And how old are you by the way?
Pat MP: I'm turning this year. I'm the eldest competitor. I need a master division.
Rebecca: my goodness. Aldous but, but not to be not. but still one of the strongest and if not the strongest female stone lifters. So talk to...
Pat MP: There's this 20 something year old girl which is Estefía Chavesta. started like two years ago. She's damn strong. Really. Really. I mean, if I could have gone to that competition, I'd tell you with the big stones, I know I would not win that competition. I know she would have. She did. But with me or without me, she would have. She's really good at lifting heavy stones. But I think for my cardio is better than hers. So I hope at least. She's really, really strong and she has very good trainers to coaches.
Rebecca: And so what do you do to train? mean, it can't just be, do you just train with stones and just try to get faster and faster? Or like, is there strength training involved? Do you run? Do you sprint? How do you get your engine? Okay. So.
Pat MP: I hate running. I don't run. That's for cowards. My training, it's usually a little bit hectic. I just, I train when I can. Every time I can, I train, it's either crossfit or stone lifting. And until
Rebecca: Okay.
Pat MP: last year, I also trained with the ergometer, the rowing machine.
Rebecca: Yes.
Pat MP: because I competed at that too. So
Rebecca: Okay.
Pat MP: I've done these three things. So for stone lifting, think nobody does only stone lifting every single day of the week. It's usually two days in a week. And depending
Rebecca: Okay.
Pat MP: on what is the competition that you have, you orientate the training. Like if it's a three minute competition, five minute competition with this stone, that stone. you try to know, I mean, the most important thing to me is knowing where your limit is. Let's say in three minutes, I know I usually lift my personal record. It's like 29 lifts of the cylinder in three minutes. So I know that in a competition, I can try and do the 29 or go for 30, but I cannot try and do 35 for that competition. So to me, the training is just knowing how many lifts you're going to do or you're capable of doing without fainting in, of course, in each competition, because you
Rebecca: Yeah.
Pat MP: have more than one stone. So I know I can do that many with these stones, but after 15 minutes, you're going to lift a different stone. And after another 15 minutes, you're going to lift the third stone. So if you have done the first one, like you've reached your maximum, you're not going to finish the last one. So for the training, to me, it's two days. Well, it was. I've been not training stone lifting for two months due to my health issues. We can talk about it later. But
Rebecca: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Pat MP: it's two days of stone lifting and the rest of the week for me, it's CrossFit. I know some other lifters, do CrossFit or just gym work. for complimentary work, let's say, because stone lifting, it's all, to me, maybe it's not like that, but it's all in the hips. It's like lower
Rebecca: Hmm
Pat MP: limb strength and your back has to be strong to be like leaning backwards because you're not straight, you're
Rebecca: Yes.
Pat MP: just like that. So your lumbar
Rebecca: Yes.
Pat MP: muscles, have to be strong. So you don't have to be like... have strong biceps or anything. It's all like from the tits downwards.
Rebecca: Yes. And I noticed that it's do you do anything for that hip mobility to get that kind of explosiveness or does it is it just repetition for you? Right.
Pat MP: To me, it's just repetition. It's repetition. do, I mean, for CrossFit, I do anything they ask me to do. I'm just a regular user of a CrossFit box. Not a good CrossFitter, but just normal one. And for
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: the stone lifting, the coach usually tells you what you're doing wrong. So you get improving with time. Because you have to balance... and know when to, when you have to bend or straighten your knees, your hip, your back, your, when you have to change your arms, your hands, because you start with the stone, your hands in front of the stone, and then you finish like that. So there's a moment, a
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: precise moment when you have to change your hands. So you learned, I mean, I learned by doing it. So what I do is repetition. And if you change the stone, not only the weight of the stone but the height or the circumference or whatever the lifting changes to me it's not the same to lift my 75 kilogram cylinder or using somebody else's somebody else's is maybe two finger breadths shorter and that changes everything
Rebecca: And you're a surgeon and you're
Pat MP: Yes.
Rebecca: doing all of this. I'm assuming that you don't have a lot of time. So how many days a week are you in the gym?
Pat MP: Every day that I'm not on call, because I do 24-hour calls, and every day that my, for instance, if I have like morning and afternoon and evening operation theater, if I'm too tired, I just don't go train. It's a waste of time. You're not gonna use the time properly, then just rest. So maybe five days
Rebecca: Yeah.
Pat MP: a week, depending on the weeks.
Rebecca: And you've been in various competitions as we've said, but tell us one of the most memorable experiences that you have encountered during your time with Basque stone lifting. Mm-hmm. Either or, either or.
Pat MP: For myself or somebody else's? For myself. For myself, last year I won the biggest competition and I wasn't expecting it at all. I went there to do my job, to do the best I could. So I lifted the first stone one repetition less than I was expected to. Then I went for the second stone and I did as planned. Actually for the cube, usually you bring it to your thighs and then you change the position up to your breast and then put it up. Okay, I'm the only one that nowadays in a competition of three minutes, I grab the stone, I put it directly in my breasts and lift it with no intermediate step. So I did that for three minutes in a row, nonstop, 24 reps. And then I was in the last, I think I was last for the, to compete because you, in every competition they, the order, I mean who goes first, it's
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: sorted out. So you pick up a paper and it says four, so you're the fourth to lift. So I was the last. And the favorite one. Aynitse Sumetha, she's a great small stone lifter. She's damn fast. But I think they took her over her limit on the first stones. So for the last one, she didn't do her job as she was supposed to. So I was there. didn't know how many reps I had to do. I was there just... I usually, when I lift stones, I don't count the amount of reps that I'm doing. because my head would just explode and I would stop.
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: So what I do is I count from one to five, and then again, one to five, and one to five, and one to five. So I was lifting the last stone, which was the sphere. So I was counting one, two, three, four, five, and one, two, three, four, five. And I knew that I usually do like 28, 29, no more than that. So I started counting and suddenly I hear a voice not related to my two helpers. He said you need 27 to win like what the hell I just continued lifting like
Rebecca: You
Pat MP: what was that? And I was counting one two three four five one two three four five and then I say one and then whistle songs I was like fuck I did 26 Look come on. I felt I was doing it properly and it turns out that I did
Rebecca: Ha ha ha!
Pat MP: 31 so there's a video on the television that I'm just lying on my knees and saying to my helpers, my coach and my lagoon tell like, sons of a bitch, I did 31.
Rebecca: Hehehehehe
Pat MP: So that memory is like, I finished like, come on 26, I cannot do 26. So I started at the referee like, how many? And he was smiling because he was, Lujerbe, he was a lifter. This guy, he's a small guy, so nice. I love him, he's very, very nice. And this small guy, he lifted three times his own weight back in, don't know when. So he was smiling, like openly smiling, like, you did 31. It was like, That moment of like, and the next thing I remember is like, son of a bitch. didn't, it was very funny.
Rebecca: I can't even imagine doing 31 of these. it's, your conditioning is absolutely incredible. And yeah.
Pat MP: The rest of the girls did a great job too. There was not such a big difference. That's a great thing. I had to do my best and I won but not for that much.
Rebecca: And so for anyone wanting to start this, I know that it's hard because we don't have the implements here in North America, or it would be very hard to get them. But can you talk to us a little bit about how some of the techniques and things that you do, you feel could be translatable to some of the stone lifting that we do here with natural stones?
Pat MP: I think that back there you usually lift the stone like Strongman style, right? You do like deadlift and Yeah
Rebecca: There's different camps, yes. There's different camps of how to approach stone-napping. Some do levers, some just go in and find the handles and lift it up. And then we also have folks that do Atlas stone and sandbags as well.
Pat MP: here I mean the technique is it's not everything but it's almost everything so I
Rebecca: Okay.
Pat MP: think I think that you need to pay more attention on that it's not like I totally like look how how strong I am I can do this put the stone and use your body your own body to to lift it not just bring it up and then put it like strongman style
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: you need to balance it over itself and use, let's say your pubis or your thighs to use it as a, how do you say, a hinder. Yeah, like a hinge. So if you use
Rebecca: A lever. hinge. Yeah, okay.
Pat MP: that, it's going to be easier and you're going to waste less energy in each lift. Because if you use like pure force like brute force you're gonna lift the stone three times but if you're smart
Rebecca: Yep.
Pat MP: and you use your body hinges you're gonna lift it many times so you should see the videos of the people doing that there are different styles as i told you i usually do the the cube in one step but people usually do it in two steps and you have to know each stone where to put it so you can optimize your energy to do each lift because you have to try and use the minimum amount of strength on each lift to be valid. That way you can do
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: more.
Rebecca: So as you say, it's technique. It's not just about being strong, but there also has to be some type of a mindset shift that you had to have done when you went into about stone lifting. Like what mindset shift is required to do 31 reps of stone for time?
Pat MP: To me, the first thing is do not count. Because your brain is going to say as you're saying, like, oh my god, 31. But I do not count. That's why you have your
Rebecca: Right. Yeah.
Pat MP: coach with you. He knows how many you're doing. And the referee knows how many you're doing.
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: But my advice is don't count them. Please don't do. At least count small amount of them so you can get concentrated. Say the question again, the tips, the... what was it? true.
Rebecca: Like what mindset shift? is there something about, like you have to enter some type of a pain cave, I think.
Pat MP: Yes, I mean it hurts. It does hurt. When you change the stone,
Rebecca: Yeah.
Pat MP: new bruises appear in parts of your body that were non-bruised before.
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: So you have to touch the stone knowing that it's gonna hurt. And the more used you get to the stone, the less it hurts. If you stop for a while, the stone is gonna bruise you all over again. And you have to keep your mind cold and knowing that, it hurts here for me. mean, to me, it hurts here and in the pubis and usually in this part, depending on the stone. But you know that you're going to suffer and it's not
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: only physical, but also in your mind, let's say you have to have the strength of the mind strength to to think like, OK, I'm gonna do one more rep. I'm gonna do one more rep. And
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: you have to do that for three minutes in a row. Let's do one more. Let's do
Rebecca: Yes.
Pat MP: one more. Let's do one more. It's not like the weightlifters. They do one rep. That's it. Their best rep. Here
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: it's many reps with a weight that is heavy for you. So you have to be like concentrated knowing that you're gonna suffer. Suffering. But then you can celebrate.
Rebecca: Yes. And that was, you know, I'm a former CrossFitter myself and that was, you know, just getting, you know, one more, one more rep, one more rep. Like even, I've even carried that over into my lifts now. If I have to do, you know, five reps of something heavy, I'll just like one more, just, you have to do one more. You just have to do one more. Or even if for running, you know, like it's just, I know.
Pat MP: no writing. Hate it.
Rebecca: It's just, it's just, you know, ticking off that next, that next little thing. But, you know, you've talked about the various different stone shapes. What is the hardest stone for you? Is it the cylinder? The regular one. Like
Pat MP: The regular one. The regular level.
Rebecca: the one that's the irregular, the regular irregular one. Yeah. Yes. Yes.
Pat MP: irregular one, the one that each village has its own because usually the ones for the women are shorter and I'm as tall as a man. So usually I have
Rebecca: Yes.
Pat MP: to do a squat to grab the stone. So to me, it's like the most difficult one. Probably, and it depends on. I know the rectangular, it's not easy either. It's the one that you can lift the heaviest with that shape but to me
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: I have not used it that much so I'm not yet comfortable with it but the regular, the Valdarra, since every stone is different you just can't... I don't get used to it. That's it.
Rebecca: Yeah, and this, your favorite one?
Pat MP: I like the cube because it's... Because
Rebecca: I thought you'd say the sphere. Because you're so good at it.
Pat MP: to me, the weight that we lift with that stone, it's not that much. So,
Rebecca: Okay.
Pat MP: I mean, with the heavier stone, I couldn't do this one movement thing, but it's like the... It's easier. I don't know. I like it. But it has to be my cube. If I take somebody
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: else's, it's shorter or smaller or bigger or different. So I need time to get used to it. So I like the cube, yes.
Rebecca: And so for anyone wanting to travel, and that's a huge thing in our stone lifting community is traveling to lift various stones. Where would you say that every stone fan should visit if they're taking a trip to Spain?
Pat MP: to Peruari, Iletza.
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: It's a place where Iñaki Perurena, he's one of the greatest lifters, former lifter, he has a museum there. And there you have a lot of stones, have some of the legendary stones are there. He loves stone lifting and he knows a lot of stories about it and he really, really enjoys it. And he... I mean, he's just a great man. So it's Peruari in Leiza, which is in Leiza in Navarra. And for instance, this guy, I mean, he was the first one who left 300 kilograms. Yes, first one to do that.
Rebecca: I think I've actually seen that lift. It's phenomenal.
Pat MP: It's amazing. Plus he has done 1000 lifts of a 100 kilogram stone in five hours. He lives for this. You can go to certain clubs to learn, but if you want to know what stone lifting is and see what it is about the story and everything, the place is Peruari.
Rebecca: And if there's somebody or one particular lifter that, you know, we should study what historically or, you know, present day, well, maybe give us one, give us a historic one and then a present day one that.
Pat MP: Historic one I can say for instance, okay, Nyaqui Peruren is one of them but Agustín Oztolaza he
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: was a little stones lifter and He's still alive. His son was is a lifter and his granddaughters are both lifters and He was if you see videos of him. He's like technically amazing. It's a small guy and he makes it look simple So Ostalaza would be a historical
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: one. Yes.
Rebecca: and current day.
Pat MP: Hmm, currently I can say, let's say there are many. Ura, Mikke Lopetegui Ura, he's, he's winning everything. He lifts, as if it's not heavy. He's like, technically he's amazing and, he's so, humble. He's so nice. He's, he's winning everything and he's like, I just did my job. I'm like, my God. You're, you're
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: Amazing! And who else? say Udana Oztolatay. She competed in this heavy women competition, the heavy stones one, but she's 63 or 64 kilograms. Yes, she's doing that. She's doing
Rebecca: Wow. Wow.
Pat MP: that. You see her and she has lifted heavier than me. And I'm way heavier than her. That's a name.
Rebecca: Wow. And, you know, as I said, what drew me to you is that you also are very humble. Like you do not have Instagram, you are not on social media. They, you know, how I came about your story, as I said, was through your husband. And then I did a lot of internet research on, on who you are. And You know, as we were organizing this, you know, there was back and forth conversations between us. Never once, you know, did you say, Hey, like, things, things have changed, and we need to reschedule, you've actually been going through some challenge, some personal health challenges and the. And.
Pat MP: I've been diagnosed with breast cancer. Luckily it was like very early stage but I got my surgery done less than two months ago and I finished radiotherapy two weeks ago and I have not lifted yet because it still hurts I mean the
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: bump itself but I've been doing CrossFit since the third week. So I've been doing sport from the beginning. I roll, I do with the rowing machine, I do like muscle, not muscle ups, I cannot do that. I'm just a regular cross fitter. just pull ups. But I'm doing the things that my body tells me that I can do. So I'm waiting for it to allow me to do the stone lifting. Because when I do a burpee, I put myself into the ground and... It still hurts a bit. So
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: I don't want to go train and do one lift and say, it hurts. So I prefer just do a proper lifting. And I know that when I come back, it's not going to be the same because I've stopped for now it's two months. It'll probably maybe three months. I hope it's not more than that. But I cannot go back to the 100 kilogram stone or to the 88
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: kilogram stone. I have to step back. and start all over again with a 63 kilogram stone. Not the 50, I hate the 50, it's too small.
Rebecca: Yeah.
Pat MP: But I know I have to just go back and do it wisely so I can enjoy stone lifting again. This year I know I'm not winning anything, but as I said, I like to compete. Winning is not the objective. If you win, it's okay. Great. But if you don't, to me the important thing is that you have to go to the competition and do your best and enjoy what you're doing. So I don't know what my best is going to be this year. I still don't know. So when I find out, we will see what my best is now. And most important that I have to enjoy it. Enjoy stone lifting again. I miss it.
Rebecca: And it's still on the radar. it hasn't left, but this is what was incredible in our exchanges was your absolute positive growth mindset towards this setback. And not once did you mention that to me, like even while this was all going on, like I had no clue. You and I were just talking stones and organizing this and Like, can you give us a window into that? Because I can't actually relate. I cannot relate to having a diagnosis like that and not have it completely take my feet out from under me. How did you respond when you first heard and how did you find out? Like a bit of public service announcement for women.
Pat MP: Yes, please do all the screening tests that they offer. Do every single one of them. Cause that's how I found out.
Rebecca: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Pat MP: It was just a regular screening test. Like just do it. You're 40, just do it. And you forget about it until the next whatever years. And I did it. And
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: I actually did it the morning before I had a competition. And that
Rebecca: Hmm.
Pat MP: evening I had to lift an irregular stone, which I was okay with. and 100 kilogram rectangular stone, which up to that point, it's not easy and you have to give your best. So I got, they did the mammography. I don't know if the name is the same.
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: And I was there with a gynecologist, which she's a friend of mine and the radiologist. And I saw a face between them like, we need to just take a biopsy. And I was staring at them like, not today. I have a competition in six hours. Can we do it on Monday? But my mind was just, oh shit, there's something. There's something
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: there. I didn't like their face. So I went to the competition.
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: I was the first one to lift. I did it horribly. I mean, it wasn't my best day. And it was a
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: team competition. And I was telling everyone, like, I'm so sorry. I'm not having a good day. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. And one of the things that I like about this sport, these people, and they proved it there because my whole team, the other girls on the coach, they were there like, don't worry, don't worry, just have fun. No matter what happened today, just have fun. And after I lifted that 100 kg stone, as I told you, I was supposed to do like 12 lifts and I did seven, something like that. I wasn't comfortable. And the second stone was the regular one and it was one by one. So I do a lift and then the next girl does a lift and then the
Rebecca: date.
Pat MP: next and then we just go around. And by that time they managed to get my mind out of the darkness and I was enjoying it back. So then
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: on Monday they did the biopsy and that Friday they told me, this is definitely breast cancer, but a very early stage. So I started doing the rest of the tests and then everything went like very fast. So at the beginning I was like, no, you're wrong. That's not me, right? I'm
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: young, mean 40, okay. was still young. I don't smoke.
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: I do sport, I have a healthy life, it cannot be me. But then I was like, okay, you got this shit very, very early. So I got
Rebecca: you
Pat MP: a surgery that was not mutilating. I got oncoplastic surgery, plus it's on the right side and I lived on the left side, so that's a plus.
Rebecca: on the back.
Pat MP: And then the radiotherapy, and they told me that I was not getting chemotherapy. So to me it was like, okay, so from the bad part, I got the best. So I was unlucky
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: that I got this, but I am lucky that they got it so early and everything went smooth because I haven't had any complication. Now I'm taking a pill that I have to take for five years. And they say it can give you... I don't know how many effects, like when you lose your period, the heat comes to your body, I don't know, it's called sofococin. Yeah, yes, hot flashes. I'm supposed to have that. I've been too weak, but
Rebecca: Yeah, menopause, hot flashes, hot flashes. Okay.
Pat MP: I haven't had any. I haven't had any complication. Maybe my skin was sensitive after the radiotherapy.
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: Okay, like the minimum of the minimum. So I'm positive because that negativity came out of me when they told me like, okay, we got this very early. So I was like, shit, then I'm lucky because I was going to have it anyways.
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: Imagine I wait for my fifties to do this or until I turned 45
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: or whatever, the situation would be different. So please do the screening.
Rebecca: Yes, so
Pat MP: Please.
Rebecca: I am I'm due for mine because
Pat MP: You
Rebecca: I turned 50 and so I will be going because we I guess do they start early there earlier there in Spain and do they start at 40?
Pat MP: No. They started 40 if you have had anyone in your family with breast cancer, which was not my case. Actually, I got it done
Rebecca: Okay.
Pat MP: because I work at the hospital and we were having a conversation. I'm a plastic surgeon, so we do breast reconstruction. So I was talking to the gynecologist who the ones who operate the breast cancer here. And they are all around my age. So they told me, just do it. Forget it. You're not, we're
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: not gonna find anything. Just do it and you forget about it. That's why I did it. So now I'm telling everybody, just do it. No better. You turn 40, you do it.
Rebecca: Wow. Yeah, just get it done.
Pat MP: Yes.
Rebecca: Yes. So thank you so much for sharing a window into kind of your life and your mindset. And you know, you're a woman, you're over 40, you're a master's athlete technically, you
Pat MP: Yes!
Rebecca: know. you have had cancer and you're still going strong with the stone lifting when and if your body no when sorry sorry when there's no yeah there's no if there's when
Pat MP: It will allow me, the thing is when. Right, when. It's when.
Rebecca: your body will permit it to to go back but i like the fact that you are i feel like we get at like that in our 40s and 50s is that we do listen a bit more to what our body is saying
Pat MP: I don't.
Rebecca: no you don't
Pat MP: No, I have to-
Rebecca: Well, I guess you kind of have to be like that to do. Yeah.
Pat MP: I mean, if you want to do stone lifting and this type of sport, if you listen to your buddy, you're doomed. You're not doing this sport. So you just have to omit what the pain is, forget about it and just go ahead.
Rebecca: This is, this is true. Um, but with, let's talk about the future then of, know, your stone lifting as well as what Basque stone lifting could look like in 10 years.
Pat MP: Well, in 10 years, I will be cheering from the outside. don't think,
Rebecca: Yeah
Pat MP: I really don't think I will be competing. But at
Rebecca: You
Pat MP: least for women, there's gonna be many more. years ago, I think they asked a girl, if they heard a girl was stone lifting, they would stare at her like, really, why? And now they don't do that. They don't say really why. They ask, really, how much? What is your
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: personal record? Or do you know whoever that also does stone lifting? So the society mindset has changed. So I believe this is good for us in this type of sports, not only stone lifting, but strength sports in women. think this,
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: mean, with eight years, when I was eight, I did volleyball, volleyball, not yet, maybe, but I did ballet. It was like a girly thing to do. I liked it. I must say that I liked it.
Rebecca: Yes.
Pat MP: But I would not consider any strong strength support at all because I did not see it. I did not have anyone that I could say, want to do what she does. But now the girls do have it and we are many more. they will have, they can pick up who they want to resemble. I mean, I want to lift like this girl, that girl, that other girl. So I think it's going to be bigger in 10 years. the numbers we're doing now, like the number of liftings and the weights, they're going to improve it. I started this with 35, 36 years old. Imagine if I had started with 10, 11, I mean, 10, it's too young. But the technique you get it when you're a child. So imagine getting the technique very young. Then you just have to
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: give time and... get the strength necessary.
Rebecca: And if there's something, if there's one thing listeners take away from this conversation today about Basque, stone lifting, the culture, the mindset behind it, what would you say, what would you hope that they take away?
Pat MP: I hope that they see it as it is, which is both a and a tradition. And I hope that they come to visit us and see it in person. And why not give
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: it a try? But do it with respect.
Rebecca: Yes.
Pat MP: Do it with respect, because I mean,
Rebecca: Yes.
Pat MP: I'm also a foreigner here. I mean, I'm Spanish, but I'm from another region of Spain
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: with our own... culture, our own language, our own things. But here I came with respect, I believe. And they have welcomed me. Welcomed? How do you say it? I I felt welcomed by them. And you
Rebecca: Welcome to you. Yes.
Pat MP: just have to, yes, respect and be humble. As we talked before, it's not that I'm strong enough to do that, I'll do it. It's not that. A guy that looks not as strong as you, can smash you down with these stones. Because he respects this, he has prepared for that, or she has prepared for that. And it's more than just stone lifting.
Rebecca: Well, Patricia, this has been an amazing conversation. I have definitely gotten an insight into what basque stone lifting is and what it clearly is not.
Pat MP: Yeah.
Rebecca: And I just, before we go into the final piece where I asked every guest three pieces of advice, is there anything else that you want to cover that we haven't covered yet?
Pat MP: I know, I could keep talking for hours, so just don't ask me.
Rebecca: Okay. Well, this next part, I usually get scats talking for a bit of time. But on that note, then, as we close the show, three pieces of advice for those that are listening today as we walk out of this episode.
Pat MP: pieces of advice. I know you gave me the questions and this one I did not prepare at all because I was like I wanted to come spontaneous. So three pieces
Rebecca: Of course.
Pat MP: of advice. Anyone can do it. So if you're interested please try. If you have decided to try be humble you have to approach this with respect and with the mindset that you have to know that it's gonna hurt physically. Because it does, the first time.
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: So yeah, the pieces of advice would be like, it's... especially for girls. It's not that weird. We can do it. We cannot lift as much as the men do. But we can lift a lot. And we have proved it. So if you like it, just do it. No matter what your body shape is or it doesn't matter. Do it. Do it with respect and do it with, I mean, be humble while doing it. And let the ones who know how to do it give you the advice. Don't try to show
Rebecca: Mm-hmm
Pat MP: everyone how cocky you are because it doesn't work like that. listen to whoever knows about it and do whatever he or she is saying.
Rebecca: Well, that is a great way to end the episode and is transferable to any type of stone lifting that you're doing. But today wasn't just talking about lifting stones. It was about culture, memory, tradition, and overcoming personal setbacks. And Patricia reminds us throughout this episode that strength just doesn't belong to one type of person. She's, you know, over 40. She's a woman. She's a former cross, oh no, current CrossFitter. You know, she comes, she doesn't come, former volleyball.
Pat MP: volleyball player. That was a good one.
Rebecca: It, and there isn't a certain type of person that you need to be to be in stone lifting. And I hope that that's what folks take away from this. And basque stone lifting, think reminds us that know the strongest traditions are not just built on weight they're built on values like humility respect
Pat MP: Yes.
Rebecca: and you know coming back again again so thank you so much Patricia for joining us on the stone table podcast for those that are listening do not forget to like and subscribe thanks again and we'll see you next time thank
Pat MP: Thank you.
Pat MP: Hi there.
Rebecca: Thank you.
Pat MP: Good enough, good enough.
Rebecca: Patricia isn't just a stone lifter. She's a reconstructive and burn surgeon working in Northern Spain. Someone who spends her professional life rebuilding bodies with precision, patience and control. And then she steps outside of that into one of the oldest and hardest strength traditions on earth. She comes from Galatia, but built her stone lifting story in the Basque country, a place where lifting stones isn't novelty, fitness or social media spectacle. It's history, it's identity, it's culture, reputation. Basque stone lifting or otherwise known as Patricia.
Pat MP: I think I'm going to
Rebecca: thank you, was born from quarry workers, farmers, and laborers proving strength through impossible objects. It's not polished barbells. It's not calibrated plates. It's stones that are awkward in shape with brutal edges and stories attached to them. And into that world walked Patricia. As I said, she's a surgeon, but also an athlete balancing that intellect and raw physicality in a culture that has traditionally been dominated by men. And she has done some amazing things in this sport, has been the world's, Spain's strongest woman as well as gained top honors in, this sport. What makes your story still compelling though, isn't only what she lifts. It's what she represents. Patricia represents a new chapter in this heritage strength sport, one where tradition will remain intact, but is a doorway to open things wider for women. So today we're using her story as a gateway into something bigger, the principles of basque stone lifting, the etiquette, the unwritten rules, the culture, and why these traditions matter more now than ever. Because stones aren't just stones. They carry memory. They carry identity. and they carry her story of recovery and hope. So let's get into it, Patricia. How are you doing today? Excellent.
Pat MP: Let's go. I'm good. Thanks so much.
Rebecca: So as I start with every guest, what are we drinking today? Yes, we.
Pat MP: I'm drinking tea. Black tea.
Rebecca: I'm I'm also drinking coffee. It is not a whiskey day for me. Or a gin day. It's seven in the morning here. So it's a bit too early to start that.
Pat MP: It is.
Rebecca: But no, thank you. Thank
Pat MP: You
Rebecca: you so much for joining us today.
Pat MP: Thanks for having me.
Rebecca: this has been in the works for a while and I've been scouring the worldwide web to know who Patricia is. And there's a lot of information out there about you. You don't have a lot on social media, save for what your husband posts,
Pat MP: Yes.
Rebecca: but can you tell folks why? Well, maybe not why I have you here because I know why I have you here. You're a phenomenal athlete and your personal story is interesting. But can you just tell us a bit about your background?
Pat MP: Well, I'm from, as you said, Galicia, northwest part of Spain. I studied medicine in Madrid and then I came up to the north. The north went to Bilbao to do the plastic surgery and the reconstructive surgery, part of say my background. And I started doing strength sports. Funny, because I started it when I was in Asia. I've been playing volleyball for my whole life. almost six feet tall. So again, I'm a girl.
Rebecca: Wow.
Pat MP: it was either volleyball or basketball. So I went into volleyball. And in my late 20s, my team just disappeared, one of the teams I was playing with. And I went to work to Singapore for a year and a half to do some subspecialization in my work. And there I started CrossFit. And CrossFit came back with me to Spain and then I'm husband started CrossFit, then he started Strongman, then he started stone lifting and then he just took me one day and he was like you're gonna like this that was 2021 I think and yeah I did I started in 2021 stone lifting and I'm still doing it so that's my short story
Rebecca: That's amazing. And so that's how I got to know you actually is through your husband because you're not a self promoter. that, those are the kind of guests that I really like to have on the show that quietly hide behind. hide behind what they're doing. You don't really know about them, but they're doing absolutely incredible things. So 2021, your husband introduces you to Basque stone lifting.
Pat MP: Right.
Rebecca: Tell us a bit about that experience. Where was it? Who was it with? And then we'll get into what is actually Basque stone lifting.
Pat MP: My husband knows me very well, So he knows that, and I say it in Spanish and it sounds awful, but I'm a competitive bitch. I like to compete. I enjoy it. I don't need to
Rebecca: hahahaha
Pat MP: win, but I love to compete. So he knew that,
Rebecca: Yes.
Pat MP: I mean, was not like many girls were doing it back then in 2021. We started at that time. So he... What he managed to do to convince me was he convinced a friend of mine. So Susana came with me to get to with Ogi Kine, which is our our coach. He's a retired stone lifter and he is the one that teaches us. So I started in autumn 2021. I think it was early September. And you should see the videos of my first lifts. It was awful. Awful. I saw them a few months ago and I was like, really, I have improved a lot. And since I was able to manage those stones to lift them, he convinced me to participate in my first competition, which was two months after I started lifting, which was November. It was five of us and I did third. So like, okay, I like competing and this is good. So let's continue.
Rebecca: Yeah. Wow. And okay. So what is Basque stone lifting? I mean, there are some folks in the audience that are going to know, but there could be a large portion of the audience that this is their first kind of introduction. For my awareness, I have, after I spoke to your husband, like I tried some of the... Like I used my Atlas stones for some timed events. Like I did the one minute, the two minute and the
Pat MP: it's different.
Rebecca: five minute and oh my God, I wanted to die.
Pat MP: Hahaha
Rebecca: So I know it's a strength sport, but it's also strongly endurance and cardiovascular and
Pat MP: It is.
Rebecca: that you use various shapes of stone type objects, concrete, believe, or maybe you can just tell us. No? Oh, granite. Okay.
Pat MP: No, it's a granite. I'm not sure. Yeah, it can be different. And some of them have lead on them inside. So they have the proper weight. Because it used to be like a non-regulated sport many years ago, but now it's fully regulated. You have the referees, you have the anti-doping staff. There are like certain competitions that everyone takes their own stones to their competition. For instance, the, but not every competition.
Rebecca: Okay.
Pat MP: Let's say the main ones, the Euskadi, like the big, the local, let's there are like four territories. So each of them have their own competition and then a competition for the four of them. So there for the girls, for instance, we have 75, kilograms of cylinder to lift for three minutes. Each of us has to bring their cylinder, but the cylinder has to be weighted every single time you go to a competition. same with the cube, which is 62.5 kilograms and the sphere, which is 62.5 too. So it's a highly regulated sport. It's not that you go there and you just lift and no, no, no, it has it rules. So the referees can tell you that you did a no rep, for instance, because you have to be standing. The main thing is that you have to lift certain stones, depending on the competition, for a stipulated amount of time. So the one who wins is the one who has lifted the most kilograms in total. Plus,
Rebecca: Okay.
Pat MP: they weight the lifters ourselves. I I have to be weighted every single time I go to a competition. Because if I lift the same amount of weight as other girls, the one who wins is the one who weighs the less.
Rebecca: Okay. Yes. Okay.
Pat MP: sounds fair. So as I it's like highly regulated sport with the shapes and the size of the stones. You cannot just bring a stone that is too high or too low. It has a range that you have to fit.
Rebecca: And so for each event, for each shape, do they all have to go to your shoulder? Every time.
Pat MP: every time and you have to every time they have to be on your shoulder and you have to be standing still both feet on the ground no lifting no touching anyone or anything and the stone have to has to be parallel to the ground at least parallel or break
Rebecca: And.
Pat MP: the parallel upwards
Rebecca: And you can have both hands to steady it, correct? Yes. Okay. On. Okay. To hold it. And then
Pat MP: Yes, you can touch it with both hands. Everyone touches it.
Rebecca: what I noticed, and I didn't have this luxury when I was practicing on my own, but you'll have somebody there
Pat MP: Yes.
Rebecca: and they'll help bring it kind of back down to the ground.
Pat MP: Correct. Because the thing is that you have to lift as many times as possible. As fast as you can in, let's say, three minutes, two minutes, five minutes, whatever the competition says you have to. So you usually have two people to help you. One that is holding the clock. Because usually you know how many lifts you are supposed to do in a competition. So if you go too fast, you're just going to... die while you're trying to and not finish. So there's somebody telling you when to lift and there's somebody else helping you to put the stone back into the botalecu, which is like the cushion we put the stone in,
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: and then put it back in the position so you can grab it again. But there's rules for that too. That means the lagunxale, which is the guy who is helping you, he or she cannot touch the stone. until you start the movement of just putting it into the ground again. If they touch it while you're standing still, it's a no-rep.
Rebecca: And do you bring that person with you or does the game, does the competition provide, you bring your own? Okay. Okay.
Pat MP: No, no, you bring your own. It's usually somebody from your own team. Or to me it happens one time, mean, my coach is 70 plus. So it depends on the competition. Sometimes he cannot just put the stone. So sometimes you just ask anyone there from any other team, can you please help me put the stone? And people are just so nice and they help you at any time. But it's not provided by the organizer. It's your own team.
Rebecca: And okay, so you'll so you need this person to assist you need to bring your own objects. Do you
Pat MP: Everything, yes.
Rebecca: do all three objects or like pieces for every comp or is like some comps it's just you do one like let's just say you do the cylinder and that's all.
Pat MP: There are competitions where you only do two stones. There's a competition in August
Rebecca: Okay.
Pat MP: where we lift a cylinder and a sphere. But there are competitions where you lift four stones, which is the rectangular, the cylinder, the cube, and the sphere. And there are also competitions where you lift an irregular stone, the Zebaldarra. And that stone, it's not your own stone. It's like the village stone or whatever neighborhood or person that owns that stone. And everyone lifts that same stone. So you don't have to bring anything but your vests, which you can see back there, and yourself and
Rebecca: Yes.
Pat MP: somebody to help.
Rebecca: So let's talk about the vests and the special kit that you wear.
Pat MP: Now it's not regulated because there's nobody checking what you're wearing. Only if you're lifting irregular stones like the Valdarra, the shapeless one, there you cannot wear pads on your trousers. But otherwise, they just don't check. You have to wear a vest which has reinforcements on the shoulder. In my case, I lift on my left side, so it's reinforced on the left side. And for girls, it's usually reinforced on the breast area. You guys don't have that problem. You also wear the
Rebecca: Yeah.
Pat MP: trousers. Everyone has the trousers with the pads, which are usually quite thick, on the thighs and on the pubis. Mine is over there. Mine are very, very thick because I bruise a lot very easily. And you don't wear a belt like the strongman belts that you click it. It's usually a piece of
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: fabric, but I don't know how many meters it is, maybe three, five, or I don't know. And you roll yourself in it. It's called Guerrico and it helps you like stabilize your core. And it also helps you to know where to put at least for me to put the stone at which height of your thorax or just to put it in. roll it up. For the shoes I usually lift barefoot but some people wear like regular sneakers.
Rebecca: okay.
Pat MP: or no.
Rebecca: And can you explain, like I've watched a few of these competitions. Can you explain to folks what the festival culture is like or the competition culture is like?
Pat MP: They usually bring lifters and different VASC sports competitors to the local feasts. For instance, let's say the women Euskádico Chapequeta, which is like the biggest regulated one, it's usually in the same place for like their big feasts. So it's... The competition is linked to the villages.
Rebecca: Okay.
Pat MP: Some villages do have their own competition. Like Mayavia has its own competition and you can be invaded there. But we can either go to a competition to a village or just an exhibition. It's quite common to have exhibitions throughout the year. maybe five in a weekend like morning afternoon and I don't usually do that because I mean I'm old enough and I get tired easily but
Rebecca: Yeah.
Pat MP: I know that some girls and some guys they have exhibitions in like the local small villages their feast day they go there and you have like local music and these local sports not only in Stone Lifting but how do call it like wood cutters it's quite common too
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: and they have the chingas which is like like farmer curry yeah you have the farmer curry
Rebecca: Yes.
Pat MP: too and have like curry as a big saco it's i don't know the name in english you put it on your bag and you run with it yes sandbag right that's it but
Rebecca: Yes, yeah, yeah, like a sock, a sandbag type of thing. So how did Basque stone lifting come to be? Like how, what is the history of that? Can you give folks a bit of a window into the origins?
Pat MP: Well, like many, many years ago, they only had the strength to do the quarry work. So one of the things that they had to do was carry the stones from the, I didn't check the name of this in English, cantera, where the stones are digged to wherever they were building
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: the house or, so they started carrying the stones and then they started like doing, not competitions because the competition started like in the more in the 20th century I believe it was usually bets they bet like I can lift this stone that many times or more times that you can do it so it was I have it there on my notes Arteondo it was this guy who was the one who decided to start it given shapes to the stones to lift So the rectangular, the cylinder, all of them. So before that it was like any stone or any bet. the first, apparently, that's what I've been told, the first like historically recorded bet that was done was in 1925. And it was Arteondo against Aritza. I'm actually not sure who won, but.
Rebecca: You
Pat MP: It was a hundred years ago, 101 years ago,
Rebecca: Yes.
Pat MP: that they started doing this like more regulated. And since this guy began with the shapes of the stone, then this has evolved. They have done more beds and different types of beds and then the competitions. funny, but the competitions with irregular shapes are the ones that came afterwards. There was this, there is actually, because this competition is still going on. The Albi Suriandi, which is a stone that is in a mesquita. And this one was lifted for the very first time in a competition in the 40s. So yeah, I'm not sure how much it weighs. It's a hundred plus kilograms. It's shape, it's not easy to lift. And I think they have like three minutes. And the record is only 15 times lifting this stone. So this was like a
Rebecca: my gosh.
Pat MP: legendary stone that was lifted. But since the shapes started and then the different... They make these slides on certain shapes, like the rectangular and the cylinder, so you can grab it and you can go faster. Actually, at the bottom...
Rebecca: Yes, like at the top, like at the top so you can grab it. Right. So how are they made? Like you say they're granite, like are they carved?
Pat MP: So you've bent yourself into the stonic.
Rebecca: Are they shaped? Like
Pat MP: think they're great. They are carved. It's not easy to find somebody
Rebecca: at the bot, okay. Right.
Pat MP: to do a stone for you. Like the atlas stones, they're like concrete, right? And they have this mold and they put the concrete and that's it. Here
Rebecca: Yes.
Pat MP: it's carved and it's polished, actually. If you grab one of the spheres without any product, any tacky, we have like... traditional taki here to grab the stones, would be a very slippery. Same with the other stones. We use Colophonia, I'm not sure the name in English. It's from the trees that it's like, it looks like ember, but it's you can, it's like magnesium. Yeah. Yeah, sort of.
Rebecca: yeah, so like tacky. Yes, yeah.
Pat MP: And so you can grab the stones easily. And I only know one place where they usually do these stones because you have to ask them for the exact weight because as I told you they weigh the stones every time you lift so if I have to compete with 75 kilograms my stone has to be 75.5 maximum or 74.5 minimum so it's not easy to get somebody to do the stone the shape you need the height you need with the things to to grab it at the height you need it. So Selai, is who is, he's a retired stone lifter. He works with granite and marble and stuff. So he is one of the guys who does these stones. And I think everyone asks him for that.
Rebecca: Are they expensive to get?
Pat MP: It depends on the size of the stone and the shape of the stone. But as you can imagine, they are carved, are like handmade. Let's say they use machines, but it's like very specific work. So they are not cheap. If you want a sphere, light sphere, it's going to be cheaper. But if you want a big stone with this certain things on it, usually you put your name or something too.
Rebecca: Yeah, I originally reached out to Stu from Utah about how I would get these stones. And yes, it is indeed very difficult in North America even to get them. Yeah, and because there's really nobody here.
Pat MP: Of course, here we are lucky because we have people who do the Arihazote, who are are lifters, that they still do this and they know what we need, which is very important.
Rebecca: So you've given us a bit of an introduction to the events, to what Basque stone lifting is and the origins. But you come from CrossFit, it's 2021, you go into Basque stone lifting. What humbled you the fastest about this sport?
Pat MP: people. I yes,
Rebecca: Mm.
Pat MP: it's, as I said, I started competing a month and a half or two months after I started lifting. And the feeling there with the rest of the competitors and the people in the cheering you out, I liked it a lot. I liked it a lot. And then after this first competition, they started calling me for exhibitions. And it's quite funny to see how people enjoy what you're doing. So it's contagious. Let's see. You're doing something that you like and you're seeing that the person in front of you is enjoying it. And it's quite cool. Plus, since most of the girls, we all started in the early 20s, like 2021, 2023. So it's like a good community. We see each other in competitions in in exhibitions and stuff. And I like, yeah, it's, a, come from volleyball, as I said, it's a team, sports team. So for me, this is like individual sport, but it has a community around it, but I like it a lot. to me, okay, I like strength sports. I'm not bad at them, but in this, I like the people around the sport.
Rebecca: And so when you started, there was very few women in this.
Pat MP: Yes.
Rebecca: Talk to us a little bit about those early influences you had, the other women that were there, because you're going into a very traditional
Pat MP: Yes.
Rebecca: sport that is male dominated. How was that experience? And is there a mentor that you kind of attached to or looked up to, or did you kind of just pave the way yourself?
Pat MP: Well, before the pandemic, actually, there had only been very few competitions with very, very few girls. Before this big boom, the after pandemic boom, you could only say, let's say, four or five names of women that have ever lifted. Let's just not say compete, but only lifted. And... Some of them are my age actually. They don't lift anymore. And before I started the last competition that was held, it was in 2019, I think. And it was for Idoia Echeberria, which she has the record of the women lifting the heaviest. She's I think 163 point something kilograms, 0.4 or 0.5. So she was going to retire. and they managed to gather three girls to do the competition, was Hidoya, Carmele, which is Celay the third, think, Celay, and Julia, Julia Martinez, who is from southern part of Spain. So only three women went to that competition and it was very hard to find them. So after Hidoya retired, then... We resumed the competitions and a few girls started popping up. So Carmela was still there. She was winning everything until she retired. I think it was last year or the year before. And suddenly some girls in Gipuzkoa started popping up. And me and some other girls like Lucia Orbe. She also has a record there with a hundred kilogram sphere. So it was like 2021, 2022, we all started and now it's, I can tell you the name of 20 girls that are currently lifting. Before the pandemic, it was three, only three. And now I can
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: tell you more than 20. And girls, there was a competition last month. I was preparing for that, but couldn't participate. I was there and there were girls lifting. There was an eight-year-old girl lifting there, an 11-year-old girl and then two 14-year-old girls. So it has been a boom in this past, let's say, five years. And it's great.
Rebecca: And was it really welcoming at the start? you welcomed just, was there encouragement for women to get into the sport? Like, besides obviously your husband who was very encouraging. Yeah.
Pat MP: I'll cheer leader But I have felt like they don't want us there. Like the guys don't want the women doing that sport. I feel that that's not going to sound good, but they allow us to do less work or easier work than the guys do. Usually for... Weightlifting, there's like the
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: guy that lifts the heaviest is a percentage of, I mean, the other way around. The girl that lifts the heavier, she lifts a percentage of the guy that lifts the heavier. But here the guys usually lift stones that are way heavier than the ones that we lift. And it's not easy to find girls willing to lift heavy stones. the first
Rebecca: Mmm.
Pat MP: heavy stone competition that there was, for girls it was last month. But for guys there has been like the, let's say little stones and big stones competitions for many years. And you have people that are specialized in either one of these type of stones. But for girls we have these competitions and that's it. So we're fighting to get more, I mean... not visibility because actually they ask for girls many times in exhibitions only girls it's like no no we have this
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: guy already but we want two girls like okay but we're as many as they are or maybe more this time i'm not sure but i haven't felt yeah it's
Rebecca: That's fantastic.
Pat MP: great it's great i haven't felt like not welcomed because i'm a woman in this sport at all
Rebecca: No, that's, that's amazing. but there is etiquette, right? There is a real culture and etiquette around this sport. And for those that enter, like just as there is with traditional stone lifting, historic stone lifting, if you ignore it, people kind of know it immediately is what kind of etiquette exists around lifting stones. Let's say I wanted to get involved and I, I wanted to come to a competition. What are some of the first pieces of etiquette do people need to understand about this?
Pat MP: It's a serious sport and it's not
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: just being strong what you need. You need more than that. You need to know what you're doing, which is not just, okay, let's do... I don't know how to say it in English. Just let's show how strong you are. It's not that. If you're able
Rebecca: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: to lift that stone, we already know you're strong. You need to... to prove that you know how to do it because here people, not all around Euskadi, but in many places, they really enjoy it and they know who is a lifter and who is pretending to be a lifter. The
Rebecca: Mmm.
Pat MP: way you do things, the way you treat the epailles, the jurors, the referees,
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: they know. And they know if you're just playing around or if you really respect what you're doing. At least I feel that. And I came to a point where I can say, OK, you have just started stone lifting or you really want to do stone lifting as a sport or you're just here to show how strong you are and then you're going to leave. Some people do that. They go to one competition, they do their job, they do... They lift the stone whatever many times they can, but you can say that they did that because they wanted to show how strong they are. Not because they wanted to do arrejas oche. They don't want to be arrejas ochayes. They just want to be strong. people will know. You have to go there with respect and humility. because you will see guys that are shorter than me and thinner than me and they can smash a two meter guy with 120 kilograms. They can smash it with three minutes stone lifting. It's not just strength.
Rebecca: So is there an etiquette around how you touch the stones or how you lift the stones, how you store the stones, that kind of thing?
Pat MP: I would say not really. Certain stones, yes. Like the Alvisuri Aundi that I told you, the legendary one, it's kept in a place you cannot touch it. I mean, you have to ask for permission to touch it. It usually happens with irregular stones for the villages. It's not available for everyone and there is somebody who is the guardian for the stone. and to touch it and to go and train with it, you have to ask for permission. And sometimes it's not even permitted to train with it. But the rest of the stone, since everyone has their own stones to lift, everyone stores them as they consider. So you have to be very careful because you have to move them to lift them. I mean, it's stone, but it's delicate. And you don't want the stone to be to get chipped off because it's going to hurt you when you're lifting it.
Rebecca: Yeah. Yes.
Pat MP: Usually in the exhibitions, you're maybe in Bilbao, in Bilbao there are many people, but they don't really know about stone lifting. And you can tell. It's usually in the small villages where people really know what you're doing, but not in Bilbao. So
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: lifting in Bilbao... for the feast in summertime, it's so damn easy because no matter what you do, they're going to be amazed. And yes, it's
Rebecca: Yeah.
Pat MP: just like that. If you do that in
Rebecca: Yeah.
Pat MP: other places, they're like, seriously, you're doing this? You can do more than that. But if you're lifting in a place that they don't know, you can be more comfortable and you can show off without really showing off. So usually after
Rebecca: Yes.
Pat MP: you lift, you usually finish with a sphere. And for girls, it's either 50 kilograms or six to three kilograms. So after you finish, people usually step up and they come and they ask you, I touch it? Can I try it? Can I? And they're like, they get all stained with a tacky and they're like, my God, how can you do this? So many times it's like,
Rebecca: Okay, yeah.
Pat MP: okay, training.
Rebecca: Yeah, I legit though, I have tried, mean, the Atlas stone, I mean, I was doing my best with what the resources I had to try it. And I thought I was going to die. Like I legit thought I was going to die because the cardiovascular, like,
Pat MP: Yes.
Rebecca: and it's humbling, right? Because I think the first time I tried it, I did it with a 112 pound stone and I did it for two minutes, which is like,
Pat MP: What is this? 112, around 50 kilograms, something like that.
Rebecca: Yeah, something like that. And I,
Pat MP: Okay. And you did it how many times?
Rebecca: I, you know what, to be frank, I'm not sure. I'm going to have to go back to watch the video. but it was, yeah, it was super, super humbling
Pat MP: Thanks.
Rebecca: and I wasn't using tacky. So I don't know if I was allowed to use tacky or not, but I did not use tacky. I, and I
Pat MP: We do use it.
Rebecca: was lowering it down by myself because I didn't have anybody here. So the circumstances weren't perfect,
Pat MP: Yes.
Rebecca: but it was still really difficult. And I think that there is benefits for natural stone lifters or strong men or anyone in whatever stone discipline to kind of incorporate some of the Basque techniques.
Pat MP: Yes.
Rebecca: But before we go there, and I believe Stu says it's the Indy of stone lifting because it's just so like... your engine needs to be super, super strong
Pat MP: Yes.
Rebecca: and you have to have endurance. But you spoke about ego and I kind of wondered about that and you see it across whatever sport you're in, the presence of ego in social media. And do you think that the exposure of the Basque stone lifting through social media has actually helped or hindered the promotion of this tradition.
Pat MP: I don't have social media so I don't use it but I think
Rebecca: Yes.
Pat MP: it is helping. It's
Rebecca: Mm-hmm
Pat MP: actually helping because there are some of the lifters, most of the lifters, they do have social media so they post videos and they post pictures and the competition information so people know about it and then go and see the competition and actually some people contact our club, our, yeah, our club, our team to come and try. So it's, it used to be like, very small sport that was only played or done in certain small areas in the Basque country. But nowadays, it's known worldwide. mean, worldwide. I'm not from Basque country.
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: I compete in this sport and I'm talking to a Canadian about it. So it has helped. It has helped a lot, I think.
Rebecca: Mm-hmm. Yes. Yes. Yeah. And I know that, ever since speaking to you and your husband about this is that my feed, because I, you know, searched it, it's put up more Basque stone lifters into my feed so I can see what's going on. But let's kind of talk about your own personal experience in the space, in strength. As I said before, you are one of Spain's strongest women. You have been kind of crowned that. You have gained a number of first place finishes in these competitions that you've competed in in basque stone lifting. Can you talk to us about how how it's kind of have changed how you train and what your training approach looks like for competing. And how old are you by the way?
Pat MP: I'm turning this year. I'm the eldest competitor. I need a master division.
Rebecca: my goodness. Aldous but, but not to be not. but still one of the strongest and if not the strongest female stone lifters. So talk to...
Pat MP: There's this 20 something year old girl which is Estefía Chavesta. started like two years ago. She's damn strong. Really. Really. I mean, if I could have gone to that competition, I'd tell you with the big stones, I know I would not win that competition. I know she would have. She did. But with me or without me, she would have. She's really good at lifting heavy stones. But I think for my cardio is better than hers. So I hope at least. She's really, really strong and she has very good trainers to coaches.
Rebecca: And so what do you do to train? mean, it can't just be, do you just train with stones and just try to get faster and faster? Or like, is there strength training involved? Do you run? Do you sprint? How do you get your engine? Okay. So.
Pat MP: I hate running. I don't run. That's for cowards. My training, it's usually a little bit hectic. I just, I train when I can. Every time I can, I train, it's either crossfit or stone lifting. And until
Rebecca: Okay.
Pat MP: last year, I also trained with the ergometer, the rowing machine.
Rebecca: Yes.
Pat MP: because I competed at that too. So
Rebecca: Okay.
Pat MP: I've done these three things. So for stone lifting, think nobody does only stone lifting every single day of the week. It's usually two days in a week. And depending
Rebecca: Okay.
Pat MP: on what is the competition that you have, you orientate the training. Like if it's a three minute competition, five minute competition with this stone, that stone. you try to know, I mean, the most important thing to me is knowing where your limit is. Let's say in three minutes, I know I usually lift my personal record. It's like 29 lifts of the cylinder in three minutes. So I know that in a competition, I can try and do the 29 or go for 30, but I cannot try and do 35 for that competition. So to me, the training is just knowing how many lifts you're going to do or you're capable of doing without fainting in, of course, in each competition, because you
Rebecca: Yeah.
Pat MP: have more than one stone. So I know I can do that many with these stones, but after 15 minutes, you're going to lift a different stone. And after another 15 minutes, you're going to lift the third stone. So if you have done the first one, like you've reached your maximum, you're not going to finish the last one. So for the training, to me, it's two days. Well, it was. I've been not training stone lifting for two months due to my health issues. We can talk about it later. But
Rebecca: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Pat MP: it's two days of stone lifting and the rest of the week for me, it's CrossFit. I know some other lifters, do CrossFit or just gym work. for complimentary work, let's say, because stone lifting, it's all, to me, maybe it's not like that, but it's all in the hips. It's like lower
Rebecca: Hmm
Pat MP: limb strength and your back has to be strong to be like leaning backwards because you're not straight, you're
Rebecca: Yes.
Pat MP: just like that. So your lumbar
Rebecca: Yes.
Pat MP: muscles, have to be strong. So you don't have to be like... have strong biceps or anything. It's all like from the tits downwards.
Rebecca: Yes. And I noticed that it's do you do anything for that hip mobility to get that kind of explosiveness or does it is it just repetition for you? Right.
Pat MP: To me, it's just repetition. It's repetition. do, I mean, for CrossFit, I do anything they ask me to do. I'm just a regular user of a CrossFit box. Not a good CrossFitter, but just normal one. And for
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: the stone lifting, the coach usually tells you what you're doing wrong. So you get improving with time. Because you have to balance... and know when to, when you have to bend or straighten your knees, your hip, your back, your, when you have to change your arms, your hands, because you start with the stone, your hands in front of the stone, and then you finish like that. So there's a moment, a
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: precise moment when you have to change your hands. So you learned, I mean, I learned by doing it. So what I do is repetition. And if you change the stone, not only the weight of the stone but the height or the circumference or whatever the lifting changes to me it's not the same to lift my 75 kilogram cylinder or using somebody else's somebody else's is maybe two finger breadths shorter and that changes everything
Rebecca: And you're a surgeon and you're
Pat MP: Yes.
Rebecca: doing all of this. I'm assuming that you don't have a lot of time. So how many days a week are you in the gym?
Pat MP: Every day that I'm not on call, because I do 24-hour calls, and every day that my, for instance, if I have like morning and afternoon and evening operation theater, if I'm too tired, I just don't go train. It's a waste of time. You're not gonna use the time properly, then just rest. So maybe five days
Rebecca: Yeah.
Pat MP: a week, depending on the weeks.
Rebecca: And you've been in various competitions as we've said, but tell us one of the most memorable experiences that you have encountered during your time with Basque stone lifting. Mm-hmm. Either or, either or.
Pat MP: For myself or somebody else's? For myself. For myself, last year I won the biggest competition and I wasn't expecting it at all. I went there to do my job, to do the best I could. So I lifted the first stone one repetition less than I was expected to. Then I went for the second stone and I did as planned. Actually for the cube, usually you bring it to your thighs and then you change the position up to your breast and then put it up. Okay, I'm the only one that nowadays in a competition of three minutes, I grab the stone, I put it directly in my breasts and lift it with no intermediate step. So I did that for three minutes in a row, nonstop, 24 reps. And then I was in the last, I think I was last for the, to compete because you, in every competition they, the order, I mean who goes first, it's
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: sorted out. So you pick up a paper and it says four, so you're the fourth to lift. So I was the last. And the favorite one. Aynitse Sumetha, she's a great small stone lifter. She's damn fast. But I think they took her over her limit on the first stones. So for the last one, she didn't do her job as she was supposed to. So I was there. didn't know how many reps I had to do. I was there just... I usually, when I lift stones, I don't count the amount of reps that I'm doing. because my head would just explode and I would stop.
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: So what I do is I count from one to five, and then again, one to five, and one to five, and one to five. So I was lifting the last stone, which was the sphere. So I was counting one, two, three, four, five, and one, two, three, four, five. And I knew that I usually do like 28, 29, no more than that. So I started counting and suddenly I hear a voice not related to my two helpers. He said you need 27 to win like what the hell I just continued lifting like
Rebecca: You
Pat MP: what was that? And I was counting one two three four five one two three four five and then I say one and then whistle songs I was like fuck I did 26 Look come on. I felt I was doing it properly and it turns out that I did
Rebecca: Ha ha ha!
Pat MP: 31 so there's a video on the television that I'm just lying on my knees and saying to my helpers, my coach and my lagoon tell like, sons of a bitch, I did 31.
Rebecca: Hehehehehe
Pat MP: So that memory is like, I finished like, come on 26, I cannot do 26. So I started at the referee like, how many? And he was smiling because he was, Lujerbe, he was a lifter. This guy, he's a small guy, so nice. I love him, he's very, very nice. And this small guy, he lifted three times his own weight back in, don't know when. So he was smiling, like openly smiling, like, you did 31. It was like, That moment of like, and the next thing I remember is like, son of a bitch. didn't, it was very funny.
Rebecca: I can't even imagine doing 31 of these. it's, your conditioning is absolutely incredible. And yeah.
Pat MP: The rest of the girls did a great job too. There was not such a big difference. That's a great thing. I had to do my best and I won but not for that much.
Rebecca: And so for anyone wanting to start this, I know that it's hard because we don't have the implements here in North America, or it would be very hard to get them. But can you talk to us a little bit about how some of the techniques and things that you do, you feel could be translatable to some of the stone lifting that we do here with natural stones?
Pat MP: I think that back there you usually lift the stone like Strongman style, right? You do like deadlift and Yeah
Rebecca: There's different camps, yes. There's different camps of how to approach stone-napping. Some do levers, some just go in and find the handles and lift it up. And then we also have folks that do Atlas stone and sandbags as well.
Pat MP: here I mean the technique is it's not everything but it's almost everything so I
Rebecca: Okay.
Pat MP: think I think that you need to pay more attention on that it's not like I totally like look how how strong I am I can do this put the stone and use your body your own body to to lift it not just bring it up and then put it like strongman style
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: you need to balance it over itself and use, let's say your pubis or your thighs to use it as a, how do you say, a hinder. Yeah, like a hinge. So if you use
Rebecca: A lever. hinge. Yeah, okay.
Pat MP: that, it's going to be easier and you're going to waste less energy in each lift. Because if you use like pure force like brute force you're gonna lift the stone three times but if you're smart
Rebecca: Yep.
Pat MP: and you use your body hinges you're gonna lift it many times so you should see the videos of the people doing that there are different styles as i told you i usually do the the cube in one step but people usually do it in two steps and you have to know each stone where to put it so you can optimize your energy to do each lift because you have to try and use the minimum amount of strength on each lift to be valid. That way you can do
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: more.
Rebecca: So as you say, it's technique. It's not just about being strong, but there also has to be some type of a mindset shift that you had to have done when you went into about stone lifting. Like what mindset shift is required to do 31 reps of stone for time?
Pat MP: To me, the first thing is do not count. Because your brain is going to say as you're saying, like, oh my god, 31. But I do not count. That's why you have your
Rebecca: Right. Yeah.
Pat MP: coach with you. He knows how many you're doing. And the referee knows how many you're doing.
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: But my advice is don't count them. Please don't do. At least count small amount of them so you can get concentrated. Say the question again, the tips, the... what was it? true.
Rebecca: Like what mindset shift? is there something about, like you have to enter some type of a pain cave, I think.
Pat MP: Yes, I mean it hurts. It does hurt. When you change the stone,
Rebecca: Yeah.
Pat MP: new bruises appear in parts of your body that were non-bruised before.
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: So you have to touch the stone knowing that it's gonna hurt. And the more used you get to the stone, the less it hurts. If you stop for a while, the stone is gonna bruise you all over again. And you have to keep your mind cold and knowing that, it hurts here for me. mean, to me, it hurts here and in the pubis and usually in this part, depending on the stone. But you know that you're going to suffer and it's not
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: only physical, but also in your mind, let's say you have to have the strength of the mind strength to to think like, OK, I'm gonna do one more rep. I'm gonna do one more rep. And
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: you have to do that for three minutes in a row. Let's do one more. Let's do
Rebecca: Yes.
Pat MP: one more. Let's do one more. It's not like the weightlifters. They do one rep. That's it. Their best rep. Here
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: it's many reps with a weight that is heavy for you. So you have to be like concentrated knowing that you're gonna suffer. Suffering. But then you can celebrate.
Rebecca: Yes. And that was, you know, I'm a former CrossFitter myself and that was, you know, just getting, you know, one more, one more rep, one more rep. Like even, I've even carried that over into my lifts now. If I have to do, you know, five reps of something heavy, I'll just like one more, just, you have to do one more. You just have to do one more. Or even if for running, you know, like it's just, I know.
Pat MP: no writing. Hate it.
Rebecca: It's just, it's just, you know, ticking off that next, that next little thing. But, you know, you've talked about the various different stone shapes. What is the hardest stone for you? Is it the cylinder? The regular one. Like
Pat MP: The regular one. The regular level.
Rebecca: the one that's the irregular, the regular irregular one. Yeah. Yes. Yes.
Pat MP: irregular one, the one that each village has its own because usually the ones for the women are shorter and I'm as tall as a man. So usually I have
Rebecca: Yes.
Pat MP: to do a squat to grab the stone. So to me, it's like the most difficult one. Probably, and it depends on. I know the rectangular, it's not easy either. It's the one that you can lift the heaviest with that shape but to me
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: I have not used it that much so I'm not yet comfortable with it but the regular, the Valdarra, since every stone is different you just can't... I don't get used to it. That's it.
Rebecca: Yeah, and this, your favorite one?
Pat MP: I like the cube because it's... Because
Rebecca: I thought you'd say the sphere. Because you're so good at it.
Pat MP: to me, the weight that we lift with that stone, it's not that much. So,
Rebecca: Okay.
Pat MP: I mean, with the heavier stone, I couldn't do this one movement thing, but it's like the... It's easier. I don't know. I like it. But it has to be my cube. If I take somebody
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: else's, it's shorter or smaller or bigger or different. So I need time to get used to it. So I like the cube, yes.
Rebecca: And so for anyone wanting to travel, and that's a huge thing in our stone lifting community is traveling to lift various stones. Where would you say that every stone fan should visit if they're taking a trip to Spain?
Pat MP: to Peruari, Iletza.
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: It's a place where Iñaki Perurena, he's one of the greatest lifters, former lifter, he has a museum there. And there you have a lot of stones, have some of the legendary stones are there. He loves stone lifting and he knows a lot of stories about it and he really, really enjoys it. And he... I mean, he's just a great man. So it's Peruari in Leiza, which is in Leiza in Navarra. And for instance, this guy, I mean, he was the first one who left 300 kilograms. Yes, first one to do that.
Rebecca: I think I've actually seen that lift. It's phenomenal.
Pat MP: It's amazing. Plus he has done 1000 lifts of a 100 kilogram stone in five hours. He lives for this. You can go to certain clubs to learn, but if you want to know what stone lifting is and see what it is about the story and everything, the place is Peruari.
Rebecca: And if there's somebody or one particular lifter that, you know, we should study what historically or, you know, present day, well, maybe give us one, give us a historic one and then a present day one that.
Pat MP: Historic one I can say for instance, okay, Nyaqui Peruren is one of them but Agustín Oztolaza he
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: was a little stones lifter and He's still alive. His son was is a lifter and his granddaughters are both lifters and He was if you see videos of him. He's like technically amazing. It's a small guy and he makes it look simple So Ostalaza would be a historical
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: one. Yes.
Rebecca: and current day.
Pat MP: Hmm, currently I can say, let's say there are many. Ura, Mikke Lopetegui Ura, he's, he's winning everything. He lifts, as if it's not heavy. He's like, technically he's amazing and, he's so, humble. He's so nice. He's, he's winning everything and he's like, I just did my job. I'm like, my God. You're, you're
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: Amazing! And who else? say Udana Oztolatay. She competed in this heavy women competition, the heavy stones one, but she's 63 or 64 kilograms. Yes, she's doing that. She's doing
Rebecca: Wow. Wow.
Pat MP: that. You see her and she has lifted heavier than me. And I'm way heavier than her. That's a name.
Rebecca: Wow. And, you know, as I said, what drew me to you is that you also are very humble. Like you do not have Instagram, you are not on social media. They, you know, how I came about your story, as I said, was through your husband. And then I did a lot of internet research on, on who you are. And You know, as we were organizing this, you know, there was back and forth conversations between us. Never once, you know, did you say, Hey, like, things, things have changed, and we need to reschedule, you've actually been going through some challenge, some personal health challenges and the. And.
Pat MP: I've been diagnosed with breast cancer. Luckily it was like very early stage but I got my surgery done less than two months ago and I finished radiotherapy two weeks ago and I have not lifted yet because it still hurts I mean the
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: bump itself but I've been doing CrossFit since the third week. So I've been doing sport from the beginning. I roll, I do with the rowing machine, I do like muscle, not muscle ups, I cannot do that. I'm just a regular cross fitter. just pull ups. But I'm doing the things that my body tells me that I can do. So I'm waiting for it to allow me to do the stone lifting. Because when I do a burpee, I put myself into the ground and... It still hurts a bit. So
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: I don't want to go train and do one lift and say, it hurts. So I prefer just do a proper lifting. And I know that when I come back, it's not going to be the same because I've stopped for now it's two months. It'll probably maybe three months. I hope it's not more than that. But I cannot go back to the 100 kilogram stone or to the 88
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: kilogram stone. I have to step back. and start all over again with a 63 kilogram stone. Not the 50, I hate the 50, it's too small.
Rebecca: Yeah.
Pat MP: But I know I have to just go back and do it wisely so I can enjoy stone lifting again. This year I know I'm not winning anything, but as I said, I like to compete. Winning is not the objective. If you win, it's okay. Great. But if you don't, to me the important thing is that you have to go to the competition and do your best and enjoy what you're doing. So I don't know what my best is going to be this year. I still don't know. So when I find out, we will see what my best is now. And most important that I have to enjoy it. Enjoy stone lifting again. I miss it.
Rebecca: And it's still on the radar. it hasn't left, but this is what was incredible in our exchanges was your absolute positive growth mindset towards this setback. And not once did you mention that to me, like even while this was all going on, like I had no clue. You and I were just talking stones and organizing this and Like, can you give us a window into that? Because I can't actually relate. I cannot relate to having a diagnosis like that and not have it completely take my feet out from under me. How did you respond when you first heard and how did you find out? Like a bit of public service announcement for women.
Pat MP: Yes, please do all the screening tests that they offer. Do every single one of them. Cause that's how I found out.
Rebecca: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Pat MP: It was just a regular screening test. Like just do it. You're 40, just do it. And you forget about it until the next whatever years. And I did it. And
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: I actually did it the morning before I had a competition. And that
Rebecca: Hmm.
Pat MP: evening I had to lift an irregular stone, which I was okay with. and 100 kilogram rectangular stone, which up to that point, it's not easy and you have to give your best. So I got, they did the mammography. I don't know if the name is the same.
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: And I was there with a gynecologist, which she's a friend of mine and the radiologist. And I saw a face between them like, we need to just take a biopsy. And I was staring at them like, not today. I have a competition in six hours. Can we do it on Monday? But my mind was just, oh shit, there's something. There's something
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: there. I didn't like their face. So I went to the competition.
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: I was the first one to lift. I did it horribly. I mean, it wasn't my best day. And it was a
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: team competition. And I was telling everyone, like, I'm so sorry. I'm not having a good day. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. And one of the things that I like about this sport, these people, and they proved it there because my whole team, the other girls on the coach, they were there like, don't worry, don't worry, just have fun. No matter what happened today, just have fun. And after I lifted that 100 kg stone, as I told you, I was supposed to do like 12 lifts and I did seven, something like that. I wasn't comfortable. And the second stone was the regular one and it was one by one. So I do a lift and then the next girl does a lift and then the
Rebecca: date.
Pat MP: next and then we just go around. And by that time they managed to get my mind out of the darkness and I was enjoying it back. So then
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: on Monday they did the biopsy and that Friday they told me, this is definitely breast cancer, but a very early stage. So I started doing the rest of the tests and then everything went like very fast. So at the beginning I was like, no, you're wrong. That's not me, right? I'm
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: young, mean 40, okay. was still young. I don't smoke.
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: I do sport, I have a healthy life, it cannot be me. But then I was like, okay, you got this shit very, very early. So I got
Rebecca: you
Pat MP: a surgery that was not mutilating. I got oncoplastic surgery, plus it's on the right side and I lived on the left side, so that's a plus.
Rebecca: on the back.
Pat MP: And then the radiotherapy, and they told me that I was not getting chemotherapy. So to me it was like, okay, so from the bad part, I got the best. So I was unlucky
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: that I got this, but I am lucky that they got it so early and everything went smooth because I haven't had any complication. Now I'm taking a pill that I have to take for five years. And they say it can give you... I don't know how many effects, like when you lose your period, the heat comes to your body, I don't know, it's called sofococin. Yeah, yes, hot flashes. I'm supposed to have that. I've been too weak, but
Rebecca: Yeah, menopause, hot flashes, hot flashes. Okay.
Pat MP: I haven't had any. I haven't had any complication. Maybe my skin was sensitive after the radiotherapy.
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: Okay, like the minimum of the minimum. So I'm positive because that negativity came out of me when they told me like, okay, we got this very early. So I was like, shit, then I'm lucky because I was going to have it anyways.
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: Imagine I wait for my fifties to do this or until I turned 45
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: or whatever, the situation would be different. So please do the screening.
Rebecca: Yes, so
Pat MP: Please.
Rebecca: I am I'm due for mine because
Pat MP: You
Rebecca: I turned 50 and so I will be going because we I guess do they start early there earlier there in Spain and do they start at 40?
Pat MP: No. They started 40 if you have had anyone in your family with breast cancer, which was not my case. Actually, I got it done
Rebecca: Okay.
Pat MP: because I work at the hospital and we were having a conversation. I'm a plastic surgeon, so we do breast reconstruction. So I was talking to the gynecologist who the ones who operate the breast cancer here. And they are all around my age. So they told me, just do it. Forget it. You're not, we're
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: not gonna find anything. Just do it and you forget about it. That's why I did it. So now I'm telling everybody, just do it. No better. You turn 40, you do it.
Rebecca: Wow. Yeah, just get it done.
Pat MP: Yes.
Rebecca: Yes. So thank you so much for sharing a window into kind of your life and your mindset. And you know, you're a woman, you're over 40, you're a master's athlete technically, you
Pat MP: Yes!
Rebecca: know. you have had cancer and you're still going strong with the stone lifting when and if your body no when sorry sorry when there's no yeah there's no if there's when
Pat MP: It will allow me, the thing is when. Right, when. It's when.
Rebecca: your body will permit it to to go back but i like the fact that you are i feel like we get at like that in our 40s and 50s is that we do listen a bit more to what our body is saying
Pat MP: I don't.
Rebecca: no you don't
Pat MP: No, I have to-
Rebecca: Well, I guess you kind of have to be like that to do. Yeah.
Pat MP: I mean, if you want to do stone lifting and this type of sport, if you listen to your buddy, you're doomed. You're not doing this sport. So you just have to omit what the pain is, forget about it and just go ahead.
Rebecca: This is, this is true. Um, but with, let's talk about the future then of, know, your stone lifting as well as what Basque stone lifting could look like in 10 years.
Pat MP: Well, in 10 years, I will be cheering from the outside. don't think,
Rebecca: Yeah
Pat MP: I really don't think I will be competing. But at
Rebecca: You
Pat MP: least for women, there's gonna be many more. years ago, I think they asked a girl, if they heard a girl was stone lifting, they would stare at her like, really, why? And now they don't do that. They don't say really why. They ask, really, how much? What is your
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: personal record? Or do you know whoever that also does stone lifting? So the society mindset has changed. So I believe this is good for us in this type of sports, not only stone lifting, but strength sports in women. think this,
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: mean, with eight years, when I was eight, I did volleyball, volleyball, not yet, maybe, but I did ballet. It was like a girly thing to do. I liked it. I must say that I liked it.
Rebecca: Yes.
Pat MP: But I would not consider any strong strength support at all because I did not see it. I did not have anyone that I could say, want to do what she does. But now the girls do have it and we are many more. they will have, they can pick up who they want to resemble. I mean, I want to lift like this girl, that girl, that other girl. So I think it's going to be bigger in 10 years. the numbers we're doing now, like the number of liftings and the weights, they're going to improve it. I started this with 35, 36 years old. Imagine if I had started with 10, 11, I mean, 10, it's too young. But the technique you get it when you're a child. So imagine getting the technique very young. Then you just have to
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: give time and... get the strength necessary.
Rebecca: And if there's something, if there's one thing listeners take away from this conversation today about Basque, stone lifting, the culture, the mindset behind it, what would you say, what would you hope that they take away?
Pat MP: I hope that they see it as it is, which is both a and a tradition. And I hope that they come to visit us and see it in person. And why not give
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: it a try? But do it with respect.
Rebecca: Yes.
Pat MP: Do it with respect, because I mean,
Rebecca: Yes.
Pat MP: I'm also a foreigner here. I mean, I'm Spanish, but I'm from another region of Spain
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: with our own... culture, our own language, our own things. But here I came with respect, I believe. And they have welcomed me. Welcomed? How do you say it? I I felt welcomed by them. And you
Rebecca: Welcome to you. Yes.
Pat MP: just have to, yes, respect and be humble. As we talked before, it's not that I'm strong enough to do that, I'll do it. It's not that. A guy that looks not as strong as you, can smash you down with these stones. Because he respects this, he has prepared for that, or she has prepared for that. And it's more than just stone lifting.
Rebecca: Well, Patricia, this has been an amazing conversation. I have definitely gotten an insight into what basque stone lifting is and what it clearly is not.
Pat MP: Yeah.
Rebecca: And I just, before we go into the final piece where I asked every guest three pieces of advice, is there anything else that you want to cover that we haven't covered yet?
Pat MP: I know, I could keep talking for hours, so just don't ask me.
Rebecca: Okay. Well, this next part, I usually get scats talking for a bit of time. But on that note, then, as we close the show, three pieces of advice for those that are listening today as we walk out of this episode.
Pat MP: pieces of advice. I know you gave me the questions and this one I did not prepare at all because I was like I wanted to come spontaneous. So three pieces
Rebecca: Of course.
Pat MP: of advice. Anyone can do it. So if you're interested please try. If you have decided to try be humble you have to approach this with respect and with the mindset that you have to know that it's gonna hurt physically. Because it does, the first time.
Rebecca: Mm-hmm.
Pat MP: So yeah, the pieces of advice would be like, it's... especially for girls. It's not that weird. We can do it. We cannot lift as much as the men do. But we can lift a lot. And we have proved it. So if you like it, just do it. No matter what your body shape is or it doesn't matter. Do it. Do it with respect and do it with, I mean, be humble while doing it. And let the ones who know how to do it give you the advice. Don't try to show
Rebecca: Mm-hmm
Pat MP: everyone how cocky you are because it doesn't work like that. listen to whoever knows about it and do whatever he or she is saying.
Rebecca: Well, that is a great way to end the episode and is transferable to any type of stone lifting that you're doing. But today wasn't just talking about lifting stones. It was about culture, memory, tradition, and overcoming personal setbacks. And Patricia reminds us throughout this episode that strength just doesn't belong to one type of person. She's, you know, over 40. She's a woman. She's a former cross, oh no, current CrossFitter. You know, she comes, she doesn't come, former volleyball.
Pat MP: volleyball player. That was a good one.
Rebecca: It, and there isn't a certain type of person that you need to be to be in stone lifting. And I hope that that's what folks take away from this. And basque stone lifting, think reminds us that know the strongest traditions are not just built on weight they're built on values like humility respect
Pat MP: Yes.
Rebecca: and you know coming back again again so thank you so much Patricia for joining us on the stone table podcast for those that are listening do not forget to like and subscribe thanks again and we'll see you next time thank
Pat MP: Thank you.
