I have needed to start keeping a training log again. I got out of the habit and now I can’t look back at what had been going on in my training over the last few months…
I just competed at the Treasure Coast Classic in Pt. St. Lucie on August 24th. I had planned on making the meet an indicator of where I was at heading into Relentless. The training cycle started very well and I felt strong up until about week 5. That week I doubled a meet squat PR of 815 lbs. After week 5 all of my lifts except the deadlift felt heavy and very slow. I was hoping that it was the beginning of overtraining and as I got closer and the training backed off a bit I would get a good bounce and peak well at the meet.
Mindy, her training partner Kathleen, my training partner Matt, and myself were all doing the meet. We all got there Saturday morning for early weigh-ins. We all made weight easily. We went and ate and except for feeling really tired which I had chalked up to an early morning car ride things felt pretty good. We went to the hotel and took a little nap and then went back at 4PM to set up our monolift in the warm-up room. Supper was at Sonny’s BBQ and we all got our fill. On the way up the flight of stairs to our room I thought to myself that my legs really felt fatigued. But I didn’t dwell on it too much.
We were awake and headed to the Civic Center by 7:30AM Sunday morning. Mindy and Kathleen were competing in the AM meet and Matt and I in the PM. I had never done this before and learned that I will never do it again… The meet started at around 10 and was moving along well. Mindy and Kathleen were having a good day. Mindy was taking it easy on squats and hit 352 on her second then passed to save a little for her bench. Bench went just as planned for Mindy who hit a very easy 248. April Mathis and I both wanted to take more on her third but she wouldn’t let us… The deadlift was really fun to watch. Mindy had wanted to go over 400 and she killed 429 on her third attempt and totaled somewhere around 1030, meet was in kilos and I don’t have all the decimals… She had wanted to total over 1000 before getting into some gear and she did that easily. I’m excited to see how this training cycle will go for her in multiply leading into Relentless. Then it will be back to raw for RUM VIII!
The PM session started around6:30PM and I am ready for bed already… I really wanted to just back out and not do the meet at all. But, I had trained for it and thought I would see how I could do under these conditions. I started warming up for squats and they didn’t feel horrible I was just sluggish and slow. I had planned on opening with 750 but dropped it to 716 so I could easily make it. I had also decided that I would take an opener, go for a PR on my second attempt then pass on the thirds. I hit 716 just like I should have. Took 815 on my second and let my back get loose, ass shot up and I lost it falling forward. I just wasn’t into it mentally or physically. I opened with 600 on my bench and it was OK, a little slow at lockout and it shouldn’t have been. Took 628 on my third, an 18 lbs PR and grinded it out. Passed on my third. The deadlift has been beating my ass for a long time and this training cycle it had been close to perfect. I opened with 628 and it went smooth. I did the math and even with a screwed up squat if I pulled 716 I could PR my total and I had planned to take 700 on my second… So, of course I took 716 and missed it at my knees just like always. I have got to figure out what I’m missing that is causing me to miss my dead right above the knees. As sore as my glutes are I’m thinking they could be the culprit.
So that’s my meet in a nut shell. Nothing impressive happened at all but I do see some weaknesses that I need to address. I’m going straight into training for Relentless which is 10 weeks away. I’m excited to begin a new training program with Jayson McNett helping me along the way. It’s going to be a big change from what I’ve been doing and I’m going to have to adjust to the workload but I need it.
I want to say thank you to some people. Patrick Hayden with Warhammer Gym Gear, warhammergymgear.com for supplying with awesome apparel, Peter Dorobis with Beast Sports Nutrition for all the supplements to keep me going even while I’m deadlifting in a meet at 1AM!!!, and Al McDonough of CaptainJacked who is an awesome person and always there supporting his team (family) of lifters. THANKS GUYS! And I also want to thank my Weigh Pile Team, without all of you we couldn’t get it done. Mindy, thank you especially for putting up with my crap and knowing how to handle me, I Love You!
