This blog was supposed to be posted last month but we'll just blame mercurys retrograde for the delay.

In December, I competed in the OSI meet for the second time last year. Because things didn't go as planned for my original meet I picked out, which was Nationals in Georgia, I decided to compete along side some first time lifters from Union.

But wait, more unexpected things. Three weeks prior to the meet, I got the flu. Bad. And by the time game day came around, I still had no voice and energy. I committed and the thoughts that were going through my head were, "if an Olympian trained for years to showcase their talent in one shot, I highly doubt they would back down from a little cold." Whatever helps, right? It helped me peel away the distractions and focus on what was important. It was to give it what I got with the energy I had left and support the people who make Union what it is. It's become a family oriented environment and we all have become really good friends. I ended up 7 for 9 with 30 lbs less than my best meet. Hey, again, that's pretty impressive considering I wasn't in the best condition. And I honestly didn't think I was going to get my third attempt deadlift. But here we are.

Recently, I was on John Gaglione's podcast, Powerlifting for the People, and he asked about my competition approach. And as much as we train and dedicate ourselves to find what works for us through trial and error, your mental approach about lifting should be the same.  I competed in the OSI meet around October and had my best meet yet. 9 for 9 with a 900+ lb total. Something I've been working towards for years. My approach was, no added pressure. To just have fun, be smart and walk away learning something. I definitely learned something.

Fire while the irons hot.

Although I stuck with a plan, my head was in preparation for the next meet. Not the current meet I was in. Regardless of it being my best meet, I had way more in the tank. Cue in overthinking and the what ifs.

2018 goals is to get more organized and dedicated with what my goals are. Those are to commit to a federation and really take it to the next level with no distractions and no "let's just do it to do it" decisions. Goggins and I will be working together again come February, evaluate this past year and build on it.

I've made some huge strides. I'm anxious to take it a step further. Like I said, BOLD is this year's word.

Meet overview

It's great to have a group, a support to be there with you when you compete. I am very fortunate to have the help I have. One of them being Casey. I consider him a mentor and a coach. This meet our communication was completely off as far as handling goes. Considering how I was feeling, I still wanted to finish this meet strong and with confidence. Most times I don't like to know what my next attempts will be but I give him a general idea of how I feel and how the lift felt. I said, "go conservative." He thought, let's really push it. Here's the breakdown:

330.6 Squat attempt - my attempts were 303.1, 330.6, 363.7 going 2 for 3. I wasn't upset about this attempt. 363 looked strong but I was gassed out and couldn't come out from the hole. It turned to all lower back and I wasn't forcing my knees out hard enough.

176.3 Bench attempt - 159.8, 176.3, 192.9 going 2 for 3. On a good day I would have attempt that 192. Bench is my least confident lift and I've been working hard to build and rebuild a solid foundation after a few technical tweaks. However, my second attempt felt heavy even though it looked easy and that was Casey's cue to make that big jump for the third attempt. At this point I'm really gassed out and got stapled right off my chest. Again, I couldn't maintain that tightness and 'wedge' under the bar. I got pretty angry because it was a number I wouldn't have picked. And, again, that's my responsibility.

352.7 Deadlift attempt - 319.6, 352.7, 363.7 going 3 for 3. My third attempt was a grinder. Some of my training partners looked at me and said "I don't think I've ever seen you pull like that." That's when I knew I really left everything I had on the platform. Technique is important but sometimes you just have to lift some heavy weights. You can see as I start to pull my knees cave in and I'm using all lower back, and the video shown is my second attempt.

Ending with a 870.6 total, around 30lbs less than my best. Prior to my best meet, my total was 830 and 850. That gave me perspective. I'm still inching my way up. I'm continuously trying to improve. In all aspects.

Whether I do above or below expectations, I still walk away learning something.