APF IL state meet.

It has been since October 2007 since my last full meet. Since then (Sept 2009) I packed up my equipment out in Buffalo brought it to Indiana and put it in storage. So it was time to get back to competing. I wanted to make getting back in as easy as possible so I decided to weigh whatever my body wanted on meet day and just lift. Not even thinking about personal records just get good solid lifts on the board and go for a total. I felt that all in all I could possibly total 2000 if I put everything together. My strength was very close and if I did everything right meet day this could happen. Well Not everything went as planned but there were some glimmers of hope among the chalk and dust.

So Saturday I weighed in at 111.7 kg (246)

Sunday after driving 45 minutes to the meet site I warmed up for the squat and all went well and I felt pretty good. I have been working on my squat for for the last 3 months. I took a few steps backward knowing that it will help me to move forward faster in the future. I have a strong back and week hamstring and I squat that way. I lean forward rather than being upright and sitting into my hamstrings. This is still a work in progress and I know it is better than before I just need to display it.

So I opened at 717 in the squat knowing that on a bad day this is doable. Well On my first attempt it was not doable. I missed half way up. My form was good but no pop out of the hole. I was so afraid of missing on depth that I did not tighten my straps on my suit and so I missed. Now in a powerlifting meet missing your first squat is not a good sign....especially when you miss like that.

So 2nd attempt I take it again but with my straps cranked. It is good. I am in the meet so the pressure is off a bit. But it was much harder than it should have been as I went back to old habits an leaned forward rather than staying upright. But I am in the meet.

3rd attempt I go to 766. This is a bit off of the 800 I needed to get my 2k but I will build for my total. I sit it down there and my wife calls me up. It is good two to one. The squat was borderline but the judges called it good so why would I argue.

Time for a break and then on to normally my worst lift of the three. The bench has been my arch enemy since I started powerlifting. I have never put up a huge bench and not even close to cracking the top 100 in my weight class. By comparison I have hit 20th in the deadlift when I weighed 220.

So I open extremely light but heavy enough to touch easily. 445 came down easy and came up even easier. Again I am in the meet. My wife was shocked to see it come up so easy so we called for 473. Again nice and easy. It was a little out of the groove but still a much need improvement on past meets. So we called 501 and planned to hit what I wanted. Just like the first two it was easy and a pr bench in a full meet.

Now on to the deadlift, my ace in the hole. I am built to pull but have disappointed in the past dropping 700 more than a few times due to grip. Again a light opener at 617. It got way out in front but light enough to pull back in with no problem. If all went well I was going to take 685 for either a pr total of 1985 or 700 for a 2k total. Well the 2k was out the window so I will try for a pr total. To set that up I took 672. My setup was bad and loaded up my right side for some reason. I still pulled it and got 3 white lights. So what do I do at this point try to build upon my total that was sitting at 1939 or go for the pr total. Well I came for a pr total and I tried for it. I called 713 for my 3rd attempt. That was a eight pound deadlift pr and would give me a small meet total pr.

So on my 3rd attempt I made a mistake. I let my handlers talk me into using nose tork and I had not used any all day. Well it lit up my right nostril and right eye. It was hard to see out of that right eye even after I attempted to pull the deadlift. It was a mistake but I am not sure I would have even pulled the deadlift. I was set up poorly and the weight set to the right side.

Overall I was pleased with the meet but I left a few pounds on the platform. I am going to take a shot at redeeming myself in about 10 weeks. I have a few things I am going to try over the next 5 weeks then decide if I am gong to enter APF SR. nationals of skip it. I do have to give a huge thanks to my wife and Nick Detman for helping out a stranger.

Here is the video of my good bad and ugly lifts.