Well, I've been putting this off for a few days. When you watch the videos, you'll know why. That's not to say that it wasn't a good meet, because it was. It just wasn't good for me.

I'll start by saying that Jesse and the SPF did a great job with this meet. It was one of the best run I've ever seen. Judging was very tight and consistent, which made for a very tough, but very good, meet. The weight classes were full of talent, and there were some big lifts—some of which were made as last chance efforts to stay in the meet. This really created some excitement.

As for me, well, I had the worst meet of my life. What made it so much worse than my other two bombs is that I felt so good. Last time I bombed I was sicker than a dog, and the time before that I just wasn't ready for tight judging. This time, I was ready for anything...or so I thought. My body weight was good, my diet was good, my hydration was great, my supplements were on point, etc. It was all in-line and I was healthy. I thought I was going to pop off some big lifts. Of course, that's not to say that I didn't have my issues throughout the training cycle, but that's a given. I don't think I've ever had one that was perfect, but this was the best I had felt going into a meet in a couple of years.

The morning of the meet, I woke up feeling full and less nervous than usual. I was still a bundle of nerves but none of my usual puking and feeling like death. I headed down for breakfast and ate like I normally would: oatmeal, fruit, milk, and a muffin. Light energy food. After that, I headed into the meet and started warming up. So far so good...

After my normal body weight squatting and general warm-up stuff, I got to taking some weight. Here's how that went:

Squat warm-ups:

60x8
150x5
260x3

I could tell that something wasn't right here. I just didn't feel tight enough. So I ate a banana, drank some Gatorade, and threw on my briefs and belt.

Add Premium elitefts™ P2 Power Belt and 44 Metal Jack Pro Briefs:
460x1
550x1

I still wasn't right. I was really loose feeling and reaching depth much easier than I should have been. It felt like I was raw still. However, I figured it would get better when I got my suit on.

Add 54 Metal Jack Pro Squat Suit, straps down:
640x1

Straps up
730x1

This is where I really started to worry. I cut this one and it still didn't feel that light. I told myself it would be better when I snugged my straps and wrapped my knees.

Add knee wraps:
820x1

I barely came back up with this one. My legs felt like they were dead. I told Dirk to go lower my opener to 840 pounds. My thought was that tighter straps and knee wraps would give me that extra 20 pounds, so I cleared my head and took a seat to the side of the platform. I then sipped on an energy drink and ate another banana, hoping my legs would come back to me.

Here's what happened:

Opener: 840 pounds—Miss

 

I couldn't believe this was happening. I had my straps tighter than usual and still nothing. I told myself that it would be okay, and that I'd really crank everything for the next attempt. At this point it was like I was in a dream. I had squatted 930 pounds fairly easy and to good depth just a few weeks earlier, but now I could barely budge 840 pounds.

Second attempt: 840 pounds—Miss

 

I knew I was done at this point. I was going to pass on my third, as I was just dead. I even cut that squat a bit and still had nothing. My legs felt like jello. The third was nothing more than a formality at this point. Yet, we cranked my straps, Mike wrapped my knees super tight, and I was off.

Third Attempt: 840 pounds—Miss

 

That was that. I tried telling myself that it was something other than me, but as soon as I got my gear off, I knew the culprit was yours truly. My legs felt like jello, I was tired, weak, etc. I felt like I had literally taken a couple of muscle relaxers.

I stayed and watched the rest of the meet, cheering on the guys that stayed in and did well. Jimmie Pacifico, Dave Hoff, Jason Davis, Daniel Tinajero, and a few others had a very strong meet. While I wasn't feeling too great about myself, it was awesome to see these guys fight hard and make it through with some huge lifts.

I want to thank some people for all the help they gave me with this cycle. Thank you Dave Tate, Steve Colescott, and the rest of the Elitefts™ team. They provided me with great gear, support, and a team that I am forever gratefull for. Thanks to my family for their encouragement and financial help with the meet. I really appreciate the fact that they help me keep my dream going. Thanks to my training partners—Josh McMillan, Gavin McMackin, Blaine Price, Greg McMillan, Dirk DeBoer, Clint Ewald, Chris Cole, Mike Szudarek, Garett Curtis, and everyone else that comes to lift and help out. Gavin and Josh stayed late a few times to make sure I got in everything I needed to. Dirk and Greg came down to handle me and keep me sane on meet day. I can't tell any of you guys how much I appreciate it. I'm just sorry I let you all down when it counted. Lastly, but certainly not least, my beautiful girlfriend. She puts up with all my pre-meet crap, keeps me eating good, and helps me out with just about every aspect of life. She is probably the best person I have ever met, and I love her to death. Thank you, Toots.

So, this makes two meets back-to-back that didn't go my way. I'm going to take some time to evaluate things and come up with a good game plan to come back better than ever. I'll keep you all posted on what I come up with after I consult with Carroll, my training partners, and some of the other team Elitefts™ guys and gals. This is for sure, though, I will be back to prove that this was a fluke and that I'm far better than the last two meets have shown. If this requires me to take a step back and rebuild, then so be it. I'm prepared to do whatever it takes.