Got a bunch of thanks to give for this meet.
Where the hell do I start. I almost didn’t make it to the meet. My truck’s water pump went out on me and can’t get it fixed until Monday or Tuesday. Pretty much par for the course this past year. So, I called up Mike as I remember he was going to be driving pretty close by where I live and luckily caught him before he passed me by. THANK YOU!!!
So, got to Dubuque, weighed in , and watched the Bench only flights going on that night. Not really even sure what I weighed in at. I know I the last time I weighed myself it was around 206-207. Weighed in with boots and jacket on so who knows where that put me. Found out that night I forgot a bunch of stuff and got some ammonia caps from cupcakekid. THANK YOU!!
The meet was just like every other meet that Bill Carpenter puts on. Perfect venue, extremely organized, great judging thats strict but fair, great spotters, and incredible lifters that show up time after time. THANK YOU!!
Watching the Lilbridge family was great with Sr. getting a best raw lifter award. ZenZen team won the team award with a great showing and a very strong group. Best lifter award for full power went very deservingly to Jeremy Frey. WOW!! Watching him hit that grand on the squat was amazing, giving 800+ a strong ride on the bench, and pull with perfect form as always on the deadlift getting just over 800 on that.
I did accomplished my main goals for this meet. Number one was that I had a lot of fun. Number two was get back on the platform. Number three was get the fire back after a really shitty year. Number four try out a meet in gear. Number five to not bomb out. I didn’t hit my most recently added goal, last week, of hitting a 1400 total. Though I certainly could have as I certainly left a lot on the platform but woulda shoulda coulda doesn’t mean crap.
On the squats I was really nervous as I’ve been working on just getting down to depth. It turns out I had absolutely NO issues with that. I opened with something around 480, nailed it easy. Second attempt I went to around 502-507 I can’t remember which but wasn’t a problem at all either. Felt light. So, for my third attempt I said screw it and went with around 524. Peace of f’n cake!! Felt heavy as soon as I unracked it, never had that much on my back before, but I ignored that feeling and just sunk it down and shot back up. I have no idea how much I could have actually went for but I certainly could have went for a lot more. Titan Super Centurion with APT hybrid convict/stranglulators all the way!!!
Bench I screwed up pretty bad. I got some help here from mike again to get the shirt set in and Tony helped lift off for me. THANK YOU!! I opened with around 364 and got stuck half way up. I was totally not thinking. I brought it down pretty slow and on the way up I totally didn’t flare my elbows out what so ever and I was just going up in a straight line. Second attempt I nailed it easy. At that point I was really happy I was still in the meet. Third attempt I went for around 392-396, again can’t remember which, and screwed the pooch on that one too. Leg slipped out, got flattened, and lost some air. Got stuck on the bottom. Spotters were right there ready for it though and grabbed it. THANK YOU!!
DL was the worse of the day. I got the least amount of training in my gear then I did in the deadlift and it certainly showed. I didn’t think I’d have the issue that I ended up having. I opened with around 480 and once the bar got to my knees I stalled. I don’t just mean that I got the the knees and put it back down. No, I go to the knees and staid there. Weight was certainly not to heavy and I didn’t know what to do. I just staid there. The bar got out in front of me to much, the suit was pushing me forward, and I just couldn’t figure out how to transition into getting my hips in. I have no idea how long I was in that position but one person joked about getting a stop watch out to time it. I finally said screw it and put it back down. I really didn’t want to bomb out at this point in the game so I just took the suit off and put on my singlet. Smoked it easy.
In the first flight Mike was going for his long time goal of a 500+ deadlift and got it really easy. Congratulations to Mike on that!!! We had a little race going to 500 and he was the better man that is for sure. My third attempt I wanted to finish the day with the gear on so I put the suit back on to try it again. I also wanted to hit 500+ but then I also had a chance to hitting 1400 with around a 514 pull. Well it jumps from 510 to 518 so I went for 518. Same thing happened again and I got stuck being pulled forward and the bar pulled to far forward but this time I just sat it back down right away and said my day is done.
I had a blast and glad I did it just like I did. Certainly was a good learning experience and gives a huge perspective and respect to those lifting equipped. Can’t knock it till you try it. I look forward to this meet again next year.
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