Meet Write Up Number 2
10.6.13
Today I went down and competed in the RPS Fall Classic/XPC Semi’s in Columbus. It was great to get home and it was great competing with guys from my gym.
Weight: I weighed myself the morning of weigh ins and was 208. I decided I wasn’t going to make the cut in a couple hours so I weighed in fully clothed at 212. I’ve been walking around at 215 which is down from the 225 I was during the spring. I was lean the morning of and I felt alright. I competed in the 220 raw classic division.
Squat: Opened with 425 and I hit it easy, but I didn’t wait for the squat command so it was a no lift. I went to 450 for a second attempt to make sure that I was good for the meet. I hit that easy as well. My third lift was a 485 squat. I took the squat high bar placement and leaned forward thus missing the lift. I was talking with some of my training partners after the meet and asked what their thoughts were going into the squat. My mind during this lift was don’t miss and questioning if I could do it. It’s weight that I’ve smoked in training and I can hit on any given day and I’m missing it. This same thought process happened in the last meet as well. I forget to think about my cues and setting up for success. I was a lot more comfortable today than I was last meet. I think it was partially due to this being my second meet and partially due to being with guys I’ve been training with.
Bench: Opened with 320 and smoked it. Took 355 for my second attempt hit it fairly easy, 25lb meet PR. Wasn’t as fast as I would have liked but it was smooth. Missed the third at 370. I wasn’t in my groove at all. It was similar to the squat. When I stopped focusing on my cues and locking in my groove I missed the lifts.
Dead: This lift is turning into my best meet lift. I opened with 515 and it felt like an empty bar. Took 570 for a meet PR and smoked it. Took 600 for my third attempt and hit it just as fast as my 2nd attempt, 32.5lb meet PR. The difference between this lift and the others is I know that if I just get pissed at the bar and attack it, the weights going up. I felt like I could have thrown another 40lbs on the bar and smoked it.
Total 1405 meet PR of 52.5lbs.
Thoughts on the day:
Event: RPS/XPC put on a phenomenal meet. The environment was great. The number of lifters was perfect. The meet was smooth. There was never any confusion on when anybody had to lift. The lighting and stage were great. Dan Dague was nice when I talked to him and I have no complaints with him or Gene. The judging was consistent the entire day. They red lighted shit lifts which was nice to see. This was a completely different experience from my 100% Raw/ADAU experience. It was great seeing huge lifts throughout the day and I felt like the lifters were all positive. I enjoyed the raw and geared lifters lifting in the same meet. It was cool seeing both. I think ADAU put on a smooth meet as well, they are just completely different experiences.
Team: This was the best part of the day for me. I got to do the meet with the guy who got me interested in powerlifting, LJ Hackett. He did his first raw meet and got the lightweight lifter of the meet award. He’s a great friend and is a great training partner every time I’m home. 5 other guys from my gym competed today and as a team it was a great day. John Lyras hit 2000 raw at 242, and Chris Hepler hit 2000 raw at 308. That’s a phenomenal accomplishment and it was great to be a part of that. Mike Bartos got back on the platform for the first time after doing strongman for a couple of years and hit a raw 705 pull at 242. Dan Kyser, the number 1 198 in the world, did what he needed to qualify for the XPC finals in March. He hit a 1600+ total after training for four weeks after 3 months off. He’s set to hit over 2000 raw at 220 in March. Overall, great day for team PSD.
Personal: For the entire training cycle I was not sure how this meet was going to go. After picking the date it was up and down in the weight room. My weaknesses are obviously in my upper back, glutes, hammies, and abs. The thing that bothered me the past couple weeks was training for a date. The best thing long term would be to address my weaknesses and then worry about getting stronger. When I train for a meet I feel like I ignore the glaring issues that I have. I’m glad I got back on the platform and did my second meet. I’m glad I had a meet PR. I hit one of my long term goals of a 600lb deadlift. I enjoyed the environment much more this meet than the last one. I know I left a lot on the platform again. My squat is embarrassing and needs to get better. I’m not sure how much I love competing in the sport of powerlifting. I love working on being as strong as possible. I think it’s the most legitimate way to judge where you’re at in the main lifts. It’s just different than the sports I’m used to. I’m used to competing directly against someone whether on the field or on the mat. Up to 3 days before the meet I was in the boxing gym. The thing is I know that my body is capable of a 600 squat, a 400 plus bench and a 700 deadlift. I would love to throw those all together in a meet in my lifetime and I think that’s a new long term goal. I got back into Jiu Jitsu a couple weekends ago and I would love to keep competing in that as well. I also know I need to focus on being the best student I can be. I need to be consistent with my reading and I need to keep using athletics as the outlet in my life. I love sport, I love competition, and I love seeing people push themselves to new levels. I’m going to take it easy this week and probably just do some sled drags and go to the boxing gym. In two weeks I’m going to be back in Columbus and it’s going to get random training at least for the next month. I need to refind my passion for the iron and I’ll probably go back to base building and might increase the number of curls I do.
God bless, vigilance
Dan Fosselman