This was my second year in a row competing in the 21 Deadlift Salute at The Arnold Classic, and for the second year in a row I was able to come away with a win in the lightweight division (220lbs and under). I definitely would not have been able to do it with out the all of my training partners at The Strength Lab and at Elitefts. I can't thank all of my family and friends enough for coming out to watch, you have no idea how much that means to me! Thanks to JP Carrol for motivating me to out deadlift and for only pulling 780 at the XPC meet. I especially have to thank my wife, Jaclyn, for putting up with me, and never once complaining about the time I spend training. If you know my you can imagine how hard it would be to put up with me all day, everyday.
On to the competition: it was a great group of lifters, I knew a handful of the other lifters and was looking forward to hitting the platform with them. Last year I pulled 777 to win it. My goal this year was 800+. I had a pretty crappy training cycle and missed some lifts I had no business missing, so my confidence in pulling 800 wasn't there.
1st attempt: 738. Good lift. Felt and moved like an opener should
2nd Attempt: 781. Good lift. Felt heavy. As I locked it out I knew that 804 would be a struggle.
3rd Attempt: 804. No good. Not even close. Got it off the ground and that was about it.
It is always awesome to lift in front of a crowd like that and to come away with a win is even better. There were some great lifters in the meet and it is definitely an amazing experience to share the platform with them.