I have never gone into a meet feeling this prepared. Ever. For that reason, as well as a good many others, I was still nervous as hell.
For the last training cycle, I spent the back half being as strategic with my heavy single days, working up to an opener and trying to find just how close I can come to my ceiling without failing. I knew what percentages I could push, even on days when my body did not want to cooperate. I knew what warm-ups felt better and what did not work at all. I knew what jumps I could and should be making. But most importantly, I was consistent.
I weighed in at 124.1, which was pretty good for me considering back on April 9th, I was at 130. I weighed in Saturday morning down about 3lbs from the week before. I was not needing to cut weight at all, but it was good to weigh in like that. And after breakfast and snacks, I was only 1lb heavier at the meet.
I was nervous about my coach not being there. I still had every lift written down and knew what I wanted to do, but the timing was the one piece I was worried about. Thankfully, the guy that runs the barbell club there offered to count for me. He was so calm and did just what I needed. I was left alone in the back to warm-up and progress like I wanted. I know what I need to do and what feels good and what doesn’t. I just lifted. It was really great.
Also, my coach hit us all with a really harsh statement about lowering openers at a recent meet. It was something along the lines of “You guys bust your ass every day and work too hard to show up on competition day and be conservative.” That hit home with me and as much as I wanted the comfort of opening lower on the snatch, I trusted my training. I have hit that and more so many times. I didn’t need to lower it.
Snatch: 91x/91/93
In the back, the snatch before my opener was a little “off” balance but did not feel heavy. So I knew I could hit my opener. On the platform, I felt good and launched the bar behind me, something I have rarely done, ever. Not with that weight. I stayed at 91 to make sure I hit it and it was hard not to let it get into my head. Had I opened too heavy? Had I pushed too hard too soon? But I kept going back on my training and remembering that I had hit those numbers before. After the make at 91, I made a small jump, sticking to my plan, of going to 93. This was about 95% of my 1RM and I powered it. Thank you, meet-day adrenaline. It was also great to hear their coach tell me “that weight you are throwing around is a feather for you.” On 93, getting my hands on the bar and shift the weight a little, it felt hella heavy. Pulling it off the floor I was a little worried, but it went overhead and I got it locked out. Mentally, that was huge for me. In the past, my snatch has held me back and I had to rely on a PR CJ to even come close to my total I wanted.
On to CJs…
CJ: 137/143x/143
This was the only adjustment that I made to my plan on the entire day. I had initially planned at opening at 138 or 139 and since I did not need to open that heavy, I dropped it down to get what I needed for the 230kg total. I know, I know, it was only a couple of pounds. But the mental game is one that cannot be ignored and knowing that I did not have to go as heavy to get the total, which after all, was my whole goal here, made a difference on the day.
I really did not think about the weight on the bar. Everything was in kilos. I must be one of the few weightlifters around consistently lifting in pounds. But knowing the language of the day would be kilos, I had already converted everything from freedom units to kilograms. This worked to my advantage because I had an idea of where I was based on what was on the bar, but not exactly. So I just cruised through all of the lifts. When I hit my opener and realized I had the total, something I have chased for years and years, I sat down in the back and nearly broke down. It was such an overwhelming experience that is difficult to put into words. Yet the meet was not over and I had two more attempts. At that point, I didn’t care, so I told my buddies to “put it on the bar” and that I would lift it.
On the first attempt at 143, I had to fight the clean up more than I normally do which left me a little tired for the jerk. When I caught it in the split, I could feel every bit of the weight resting on my left knee and I buckled because of it. But it didn’t feel impossible. All the while I did not realize I was 2kg off the state record for Masters 105+. I went out, brought my shoulders back, pulled, and then battled to stick the jerk good enough to convince three judges to raise a white flag.
I finished the day 93/143/236 which was a competition PR on the CJ and total. I finished first place masters in my session, qualified for Masters Nationals, and tied for the heaviest CJ on the day. To take the last lift of a meet is simply an amazing feeling. To close it out, to know that everyone else is done because the weight on the bar is too much for them. That is probably a super rare occasion for me but one that I will cherish.
When it was all said and done, I curiously pulled up the rankings on USAW. I knew that there wasn’t another super in my state that had competed this year, or least that is what I thought. This meet bumped me up to first in the M40 105+ in my state.
Next, I looked at all of the 105+ lifters in the state, regardless of age. I slid into 4th overall.
Finally, I looked at all M40 105+ across all states. I expected to see my name hovering somewhere around 5896th place but instead, I am 9th. Blown away. Ranked top 10 out of all M40 105+ lifters.
With the day of lifting behind me, it was time for food carnage. I opted for a bacon cheeseburger, fries, and beer from BJs. Also ordered an Oreo Pizookie and did not share. Ate the entire thing with zero cares and all smiles.
