I was in the afternoon flight so I didn't have to get up at an ungodly hour to weigh in. Instead, I was able to enjoy breakfast and some needed downtime before heading to Tacoma. After navigating traffic because of an accident on the freeway, going the wrong way from the off-ramp and then not being able to find where the gym was at the high school we finally made it in. It was a nice gym and there were actually bleachers instead of just chairs on the floor. The warm-up room was lacking however as the school's weight room equipment is older than I am. I weighed in at 88.4 kg so I had room to spare for the 90 kg class. For this meet I was smart about prep and packed a bunch of food, more than I actually needed. So I immediately sat down and started chowing down as I had an hour or so before I needed to start warming up.
Things were, of course, chaotic in the warm up room with everyone trying to work in on limited equipment. Luckily, most everyone at these competitions is super nice and friendly. I worked up to 275 on squat and then it was show time.
Squat
First Attempt: 147.5 kg (325 lbs) - Good Lift
Second Attempt: 160 kg (353 lbs) - Good Lift
Third Attempt: 165 kg (364 lbs) - No Lift
I got stuck right out of the bottom on the third attempt. After watching the video, there's no reason I should have missed this lift. 160 kg was fast and 165 should have been as well.
Bench Press
First Attempt: 82.5 kg (182 lbs) - Good Lift
Second Attempt: 87.5 kg (193 lbs) - Good Lift
Third Attempt: 90 kg (198 lbs) - No Lift
I had one red light on my first attempt because the judge said my butt came up. While I felt like this was probably true, I'm not sure why the other side judge didn't call it as well. On the second attempt, I concentrated on keeping my butt down, unfortunately this also led to me losing a lot of leg drive and it was a struggle finishing the lift. The third attempt was to go for broke and the second attempt just took it out of me so I got stuck at about 3" off of my chest.
Deadlift
First Attempt: 182.5 kg (402 lbs) - Good Lift
Second Attempt: 192.5 kg (424 lbs) - Good Lift
Third Attempt: 200 kg (440 lbs) - No Lift
This was a similar situation to the squat. On the last attempt, I had the bar about mid-thigh, but just couldn't lock it out. This is another one that should have been in the bag.
Overall:
6/9 Attempts
Total = 440 kg (970 lbs)
That's a 78 lb improvement from July and all lifts went up across the board. My squat and bench opening attempts were both higher than my 3rd attempt at the meet in July. I'm still disappointed with the missed lifts though, but I did win a medal!
The biggest thing I learned from my performance this time is that I need to deal with mental blocks. Whether this is just sticking with the weight and grinding as much as I can or finding new ways to clear my head. This is the most important thing I need to accomplish going forward.
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In other exciting news, I was accepted onto the PlantBuilt 2014 team! I will be a part of their first powerlifting team headed by none other than Patrik Baboumian. I'm so stoked to be a part of such a great cause and can't wait to show what vegan strength means! You can learn more about the team here at the link!
