Well, week 15 was a struggle. It was supposed to be second attempts and things were NOT going well. AT ALL. As I mentioned last week, I knew I was starting to crash hard as nothing was feeling right and everything was heavy.
Week 14, 300 squat was rooouuugggghhhh. Deadlifts were terrible. I missed 315 and had to come back and get it, albeit ugly. Bench was ok. Little slow and by the time Friday rolled around we decided to start a deload. I felt I had just been going too long and my body was like, NOPE.
Week 16, I took 70% on squats Monday, 70% on bench Wednesday and Friday just decided to do some accessories. It felt good to get a pump and get good blood flow and my body was feeling much better by the end of the weekend.
On Tuesday, Dave texted me regarding some blog stuff. While I had his attention, I asked him a question regarding training, competition and being "seasoned"... aka OLD. His response was, as usual, exactly what I needed to hear.
"I think the answer is bigger than that. You know powerlifting and you know it well... "
He went on about me knowing myself, about seeking out help when needed, but ultimately getting training help is either proactive or reactive, not "real" active.
"TRUST YOUR GUT AND WHAT YOU KNOW. You're in a really good place..."
The tidbits in the middle were gold for me. I read the text to Christian and we talked it over. Dave's advice is never really advice at all. He never says, "Drop your percentage and do 2x2" or "Widen your stance and brace harder." His advice, nearly every single time I've reached out over the past 13 years, has always been in the form of empowerment and making me dig deeper on my own.
I'm feeling good about the last 2 weeks of the meet prep and about my future training, whatever may come.