Today's the Day!

Good morning all. I’m trying to focus on other things right now but I’ve got nervous anxiety about my competition. Even though it is just for fun I’m not a big “be in the spotlight” person so that’s why I’ve been so hesitant to do a competition like this.

Right now I’m focusing on this verse, albeit a bit out of its context it shows how I’ll be taking on each event separately:

1 Corinthians 9:24: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.”

I’m going to give it my all, each event will be a competition PR and I’ll work to better myself in the next competition.

Here’s my checklist…hopefully I’m not forgetting anything:

-extra sets of clothes & a couple towels. It’s raining so I’m hoping my jean shorts will give me the edge over those who’ve not done keg loads and are wearing synthetic shorts.

-2 pb&j’s cut into quarters, 1 post work out shake, and 5 little single serve banana baby food pouches.(1/4 pb&j and 1 pouch between events should be fine, then I’ll finish w/ another pouch and my post workout shake after the last event)

-belt, straps, and wrist wraps…my new knee sleeves I ordered 3 weeks ago never came so I’ll be putting in a complaint to the BBB with the company if I don’t hear from them within the next few days.

-chalk

-1 gal jug of water w/ 4 servings of an electrolyte mix.

-1 preworkout for about 30 min before and another milder one for halfway through.

-sandals to wear after the comp is over for the drive home

-I need to run to the office on the way there to get my earbuds for between events.

Hopefully I’m not missing anything. I’ll post results when I get back.

Get some rehabs (Monsters), and the peanut butter directly after an event is probably a very good idea since the contest will likely go on for more than 6 hours. I usually stick candy down my snout in between events aswell…but that’s just me.

Otherwise, kill it. But remember to have fun.

Back home and ready to sleep forever. It lasted from 11 until about 4. I exceeded all of my goals today. My goals were to give 100% and not get injured. I ended in 9th out of 10th place and had the best time of my lifting life. A quick recap:

-All novices got grouped together and all open got grouped together because there wasn’t enough to split the classes. There was one master who also used the novice weight and killed it.

-Log Press(wessel’s rule, starting @ 160 for novice and 20 lb jumps), 3 attempts for max). I got 200 before in training and so anything above that was going to be a PR. I missed 210 press(got the clean) 2 weeks ago. I started @ 180 and hit that, nailed 200 and then 220, I nailed the clean, and then nailed the press. My friends that went to watch told me I had at least 230 and possible 240 in me so huge 20 lb PR for me on that event.

-Car DL(max reps 1 min). I have always trained this w/o straps because I thought we wouldn’t be able to use them unless its raining per the director. It rained today so straps were allowed. I got set w/ the straps and ripped up as hard as I could and straps slipped and ended on my behind. wrapped again, straps slipped again. by this time i was 30 seconds into it so I threw the straps off, chalked up my hands and hit 3 reps and was working on a 4th(had about 20 sec of actual lifting at this point). I would’ve been good for 7 or 8 probably if I started w/o straps. It was buick’s midsize(about the weight of a v8 grand prix) so right in line w/ another similar car that is also heaviest car I’ve tried and the frame set the most difficult that I’ve ever been able to rep before. Although I was dissapointed in the issue w/ the straps, it was a PR for me given the weight of the car and setting.

-200 lb keg over 50" bar(as many reps in 1 min): I got 5…6th slipped at 50 sec and I was done at that point. I was tied for last with this event I think but I am 100% positive it was due to work capacity. My friend told me I was one of the only ones to get each rep clean over the bar without it touching so it was a rep PR and a techinque PR for me. I’ll take it.

-Yoke carry(480 lbs for 100 ft or as far as you could in a minute). I was the only one to not finish the full 100 ft but I made it a good 15-20 ft as I’ve ever made it before so it was a PR. I was very happy with that. Once I strengthen my right leg so I don’t have a 3rd acl tear constantly in the back of my mind I think I’ll do much better.

-200 lbKeg carry(max distance for 1 min, unlimited drops). I’ve done this several times in the week leading up to it so I knew how sucky it is to pick it back up so I just focused on holding it the full minute. I made 100 ft easily and was on the virge of dropping it so I leaned back a little more and just took it 1 step at a time for the last 30 or so feet. Also a PR. I think I doubled my previous PR as well…

So PR’ed every event. Couldn’t ask for a better day.

Also, an aside: Anybody who’s considering starting the training, go for it. You couldn’t ask for a more encouraging community of people regardless of your weight class or skill level. Everybody there was awesome. Very little in the way of egos getting in the way of sportsmanship and you get a sense that everybody is after the same goal and wants everybody to succeed at that goal: becoming stronger.

I’ll be helping w/ the event next month as it is 2 wks out from the due date of our son. My next comp will probably either be the local highland games in March or Battle of the Buckeye State next year in Ohio. By then the baby will be old enough to go see my wife’s family and make the 20 hr drive so we’ll make a week of it.

EDIT
I didn’t eat after each event like I thought. After my 2nd event I had a pb&j instead of just goiung for quarters and knocked down a baby food. After the 3rd event it was baby food and then another preworkout. After 4th was a baby food and after the last event I chugged my post workout and a baby food and then about 30 mins later ate my 2nd pb&j and last baby food. I also chugged about 1 gallon of electrolyte drink. Thank goodness for the rain or it would’ve been miserable.

Glad you had a good time. Stay consistent and disciplined and you’ll never stop having fun in this sport.