Brute Strength Classic
So here it is, finally. The event I have been training for since October, when I first decided to do a PL Meet in order to keep me motivated and gauge my progress. This post may be a long one!
I took Friday off work and my g/f (Polsen!) cooked me a delicious breakfast of eggs & veggies. We hit the road for Norfolk at around 1300 and grabbed some delicious Chipotle on the way. I tried to keep my meals on the smaller side since I was edging pretty close to the 275 limit over the past few days and really wanted to compete in the 275 weight class (not that it would really matter if I was 308). We got down there and checked into our (free) hotel room. One of the perks of travelling as much for work as I do is the complimentary hotel stays that I earn and use for personal fun stuff!
We headed over to Brute Strength Gym for weigh-in around 1730. I met the event coordinator (and Southern Powerlifting Federation President) Jesse Rodgers. He was a real nice guy and was obviously from the south, so I can relate to that. I weighed in at 274.5. Good thing I didn’t eat that last cheeseburger I had wanted! hahe. Met some friends for an all you can eat buffet at Captain Georges and went back to the hotel and called it an early night around 2230.
Next day we got up and grabbed some Hardees breakfast before heading to the gym. Man I wish they would stick a Hardees around DC somewhere! I love that place. I met some of the lifters and we chatted for a bit and then got ready to do our thing.
I opened with 405 on squat and nailed it easily. Second attempt was 450 and I nailed it, but got a red light from the front judge because I didn’t wait for the squat command. Honestly, I was so focused on the lift that I didn’t even see anyone else in the room. I guess you learn that with experience. I was pissed I missed the lift, but I was feeling good and decided to go for 500 on my third attempt, which would be a huge PR. I sunk it with pounds to spare and was on the board with 500 (and a +75# PR!).
Moved on to bench and I felt kind of weak warming up. Not sure if it was the max effort squatting before or what, but I was a little concerned. I opened with 315 and got redlighted by the back judge because I forgot to wait for the rack command. This was very frustrating, but should be expected I guess since I didn’t lift with any real commands (just cadence in my head). Second attempt was 335 and I hit it. I attempted 355 on my third lift and was fairly confident I had it, but I lost my tightness in the descent and didn’t feel good coming back up. I grinded for a minute, and thought I was about to get it, but alas I dropped it and had to settle with a 335 bench.
Warmups for Deadlift felt really good. I had decided on a 395 opener (pathetic I know), but this was the night before and I had no idea how I would be feeling by that point in the day. I absolutely destroyed the 395. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do for my second attempt. The only other guy in my weight class was already done competing, and I think I only needed 415 or so to beat him, but I wanted to make a higher jump and decided on 425 for my second attempt. It went up very easily as well. For my third attempt, I decided on 465 (which would give me an even 1300 total for the meet). It flew off the floor and I really regretted not trying for something much higher. But I was happy with the 465 and +10# PR.
So meet total was 1300 and I won 1st place in the 275 weight class. I was definitely happy with how my first meet went and am really looking forward to competing again. I met a lot of cool, friendly people and saw some pretty impressive numbers.
This 16 year old chick named Anna McCloskey from Pennsylvania went 560-285-465 for a 1310 geared total. She barely missed a 600 squat for the world record. She is going to be something awesome in a few years!
My new friend Lindsey Craft put up a raw 570 total in the 114 lb Juniors division, and set a couple of world records on the way, including a 260 lb deadlift that took over a minute. But she was able go grind through and finally pull it up. It was awesome to watch.
My buddy Patrick totaled 1310 for the meet in the 220 lb weight class, including a 510 squat and 535 pull (needa work on that bench Patrick! haha). He took first place in that class.
Some 198 lb guy barely missed a 701 pull. It was very impressive, and with just a bit more he would have had it.
Definitely some other strong, impressive people there as well. I can’t say enough good things about the SPF and Brute Strength Gym for this excellent meet.
Here is the video montage of all my lifts. Thanks for everybody that was out there supporting me. I’ll see ya’ll at the next one!
