Well, the meet has come and gone, I am not closing my week of mayhem entailing no nutritional guidelines and ZERO training. Thats right, after EVERY meet I do not even step foot in the gym, not even to catch a pump. I am learning more than ever that powerlifting is about how well you recover. I have a lot on my plate right now that will unfold in the next couple of weeks with Julia Ladewski and that is where my focus will be. I do still plan on training but it will be GPP, allowing me to swap days or even skip days without hurting myself. Not only that, I have not done a GPP phase in over a year so that is going to be a rude awakening. Now, to the meet re-cap.
Week of meet
This meet prep was different than others in the sense of who I have around me. I only needed one person at this meet for me and that was Julia. My previous meet I had my coach there and still could not get out of my head, this meet my mindset was different, I did not have a ton of pressure over my head because I was not taking myself so seriously which I have been the last several years. My anxiety was low until after weigh-ins when I started having minor malfunctions. Dropping the last 3 lbs was done in a fancy jacuzzi that was is the AirBnB, not my favorite but, the scale I had was off (low) by one pound so upon the official weigh in I was dead on 181.
I had an IV port pre inserted Thursday morning before our 8 hr drive with no issues, the catheter attachment was not screwed on entirely, so the second we hooked up the dip line it started leaking all down my arm. We could not trouble shoot the issue and instead of wasting more rehydration time I bailed and ripped the IV out (not to happy about it). My re-hydration was done with Intra phormance and these fancy pretzels that were loaded with sodium. I did not urinated for close to 12 hrs after weigh ins because my salt intake was so high. I ended up feeling great in about 1 hr after weigh in and did not stop eating till about 9pm that evening.
SQUATS:
Everything about these during warm ups felt off. my adductor was being a bitch and I felt slow. I made the mistake of not taking my last warmup with wraps just to prove a point to myself (which is dumb as hell especially AT a meet). My opener moved well but it felt like trash and looking at depth I was RIGHT there with no room for error so i made my jump as planned up 40lbs to 640. I have hit this weight at least 3 times during my peak and was confident with it, until I unpacked it. I must have had the bar too high on back and when I got out of the hole I just started falling forward. I cannot tell you the last time I missed a squat due to falling forward, it has been a LOOOONNNGGGG time. Not that falling forward was an issue, just get it on the next one. Unfortunately, that didn't happen, I was not "spotted" and ended up being folded in half and the bar racked down my back and clipped my head on the way to the spotter chains. My back tightened up REAL quick, it took me until the beginning of the next flight to give my ego the middle finger and pass on my third attempt. I was not about to hurt myself for a number, not to mention I was not in the most trusting mood after what happened. This set the ton for the meet as I knew the total I was shooting for was barely obtainable now.
BENCH
These went surprisingly well, it usually is my most hated lift, probably why it usually is my worst. This is the second time I have ever gone 3 for 3 on bench in my 6 years of competing. I made every attempt call spot on as there was NOTHING left in the tank after my 375, arms were shaking like I was dancing. Was very pleased with how I felt on these, was worried for a second that my back may tighten up but the position actually felt good.
DEADLIFT
This has become my favorite lift since Record Breakers at the end of last year. I do not go 3 for 3 very often on them for a different variable that haunts me during meet time. Today was son different, warming up I felt ON, weight was moving really well and i felt good. I don't know if the bars in warm-up area were different then on platform or I just sweated like crazy through the chalk. First attempt went smooth and then struggled on second as the bar started slipping out!! I had not clue why and could not come up with a reason so I approached my third attempt the same way. The proved to be a mistake as the bar slipped out of my hand before I even got the weight to break the floor. Although it was heavy I could feel I would have gotten it IF the bar would have not slipped, I have noted grip issues in a very long time, will be addressing that next cycle.
All in all this weekend was to have a vacation with Julia and competing was just a part of our vacation, as it is a part of both our lives. We both love being around one another and supporting each other while the other does their thing on the platform (or stage since she is a dual athlete). We had a blast, ate great food, saw old friends and amazing scenery.