Jersey PL Meet

[cooltom]

I'm sort of double posting, but hopefully it will be forgiven. This is a bit more expansive than the write-up in my training log.

I drove to New Jersey for a long and fun weekend. My wife and I rented a car on Saturday afternoon and drove to Egg Harbor Township/Atlantic City for the meet. My knee hurt like hell during the drive and the traffic was pissing me off. I think we sat at a toll booth for about 45 minutes at one point and my knee was aching so bad that I just wanted to get out, walk past the toll and have my wife meet me on the other side. But that wait was nothing: on our return we waited for two and half hours to enter the Lincoln Tunnel (about two miles) and spent an additional two hours in traffic leaving EHT. It took about five hours to go 150 miles or so.

We made it to our hotel around 6pm, and since it was adjacent to the gym we went over for the evening weigh-ins so I could have an extra hour to sleep in in the morning. I weighed in at 190. I've gained some weight this year and there was no way I could have dealt with dieting over this last month, between graduation and my job I would have really lost my mind.

The gym that housed the meet was awesome: plenty of power racks, deadlift platforms, racks for Oly lifting with platforms and bumper plates, a grip of tractor tires, an indoor sprint track. Heaven.

After weigh-ins we went down to the casinos/boardwalk and wandered around before heading back to the room. There was a jacuzzi in the bathroom so I sat in there for a while then went to bed.

We got up at 7am to get ready, and arrived at the gym at 9am for rules. Squatting started at 9:45am. I warmed up to 315, and the squat went like this:

1: 360= good lift
2: 400= good lift
3: 415= Fail

I was really happy to come away with the 400. That was my modest meet goal and though I got 415 in training I felt like 415 was a bit of long shot on this day.

Next was bench press and I did not think the pause would be so damn difficult for me, but I understand now that I get a lot of momentum off my turnaround to get me past my sticking point, which is in the mid-range portion of the lift (where I failed). But, still I was pissed that I only came away with 275 on my bench press. 275 went up somewhat slow, but I wasn't concerned since it takes me a while to get loose. However, I was just not strong enough to get it:

1: 275= good lift
2: 300= Fail
3: 300= Fail

We got a bit of a break because after bench press was the 'bench press for repetition contest' and the powercurl. That gave us about 45 minutes until the deadlift. I ate some food and sat around. I was really tired at this point.

I think it was around 1:30pm when they announced the deadlifts were going to begin and that everyone should start warming up. I warmed up to 405. My deadlifts went like this:

1: 450= good lift
2: 485= good lift
3: 500= Fail

I was too exhausted to make a real run at 500 as the 485 took a lot out of me. I fought for that lift and was very pleased to get it. The competition ended at around 3pm. When I finished I took a seat and felt exhausted and elated at the same time.

Regardless of some of the fails, I had a very good day. Many of the lifters were very helpful and some guided me through the meet as this was my first. The WNPF is very well organized and I can't wait to get out to another event like this. I am so glad I did this, that I had this opportunity to meet some people and be around a lot of good lifters. I learned a lot from watching everyone else compete and picking some people's minds.

I was also very surprised when I heard that I won the 198 lb pound class with my 1160 total. My wife took pictures and video and I put them in to this mini-movie. Hopefully I don't get sued for copyright infringement with the music.

Also, if you pay close attention to the last still, you'll see my true identity revealed.

YouTube - first meet.wmv

YouTube - first meet.wmv

[onetiredkris]

hell yeah tom, way to go in and take care of business. big congrats to your hard work and rewards!!

[jslep]

that's frickin awesome!! congratulations!!!!!!!!

[BendtheBar]

Nice job man. Those are some huge numbers. You mention that you were surprised to take first. Funny you say that. I just had a discussion recently with some guys and tried to convince them to compete. They were stronger then they had thought, and had watched so many Youtube videos of 1000 pound squats that they had no idea what a raw natural could compete with.

Anyway, congrats again!

[Kevsworld]

Congrats!!

Good lifts--how many people can say they took first place with their first try? Makes me want to try competing.

[BRaWNy]

Well done, congrats !!

[JesseA]

Wow! Congrats on the meet! Very impressive numbers. Makes me want to start training for another meet.

[rippednmichigan]

Good job bro!! Nice numbers

[cooltom]

Originally Posted by onetiredkris

hell yeah tom, way to go in and take care of business. big congrats to your hard work and rewards!!

Originally Posted by jslep

that's frickin awesome!! congratulations!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by BendtheBar

Nice job man. Those are some huge numbers. You mention that you were surprised to take first. Funny you say that. I just had a discussion recently with some guys and tried to convince them to compete. They were stronger then they had thought, and had watched so many Youtube videos of 1000 pound squats that they had no idea what a raw natural could compete with.

Anyway, congrats again!

Originally Posted by Kevsworld

Congrats!!

Good lifts--how many people can say they took first place with their first try? Makes me want to try competing.

Originally Posted by BRaWNy

Well done, congrats !!

Originally Posted by JesseA

Wow! Congrats on the meet! Very impressive numbers. Makes me want to start training for another meet.

Originally Posted by rippednmichigan

Good job bro!! Nice numbers

Thanks so much everyone. I feel great after doing this meet and I am forcing myself to take a few days off. I really can't wait to get back to training. Next time though, I'm getting a MAB shirt to wear under my singlet

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by cooltom

Thanks so much everyone. I feel great after doing this meet and I am forcing myself to take a few days off. I really can't wait to get back to training. Next time though, I'm getting a MAB shirt to wear under my singlet

Let me know next tome so we can sponsor you!