To preface this write up, our group of friends/family/training partners this past weekend all had excellent performances for one reason or another. Since opening Union Fitness, we've created a strong and supportive collective of like-minded and caring individuals, and for that, I'm most proud.

Yessie woke up at 4:30am to get ready. My plan was 5am, until she screamed at me from the bathroom "WTF??" So I'm out of bed at this point and straight into the bathroom- apparently in my stupor before bed I knocked her contact lens case off the sink. Most would think, what's the big deal? Well, Yessie doesn't screw the lids on her case. Seeing that she is blind, pun intended, and didn't have a backup pair, we were in a bad spot. She threw some contact solution in the case along with a few choice words for me and jumped in the shower. Low and behold, after she got out, everything was fine. Amen.

So we hopped in the car for the uneventful two hour drive to Cleveland- I made it in almost 1.5 hours FYI. We weighed in, met our training partners, and grabbed a quick breakfast at a reliable Bob Evans.

Squats went well for Yessie- an easy 3 for 3 finishing with 358. My first and second attempts felt good. I've been having issues with the bar rolling on me, so I'll need to make some adjustments in training. Third attempt-804- a big number for me considering 4-5 months ago I was 180lbs. I had taken this in training with some reverse bands, as I normally do for meet prep, and it went fine. So I approached the bar, hit the salts, unracked it, hit the hole, and maybe forgot I was squatting 800lbs. I lost all tightness and the bar pushed me forward. I grinded it up, regrettably, and paid for it. My right rear delt is hurting, my right SI joint is hurting, and my left knee felt like a midget was stabbing me in my knee cap. I had some tendonitis going on and that squat was the last straw for it. I need to get to some rehab- ex wife, flossing, and TKE's to keep it healthy. BUT I FUCKING DID IT. And I'll do it again.

Bench- Yessie smoked 187. Her bench is looking awesome. I opened with an easy 550 and called it after a slow 600. I didn't spend enough time in my shirt leading up to the meet and I was getting zero leg drive because of my knee.

Deads- Yessie pulled an easy 358, like she should have. Her technique has improved tremendously along with her confidence. She hit an easy 900# total, finally, with plenty in the tank. I hesitantly warmed up- I was struggling to get into position with my knee. I managed to hit my opener and decided to call it there. So I went 6/6- 3 squats, 2 benches, and 1 deadlift- with  a 2100lb total.

Aside from all of that, my training partners had great meets. Joe hit a 30# PR total with a legitimate bad day. He left north of 60# on the platform with a grip issue on deads and just a funky miss on his squats. John hit a 1670# total after a couple rough breaks with injuries over the past year. Jodie hit a huge 1100lb total. Her and Yessie are good for each other, I'll leave it at that. Tarra came back to the platform and had a great bench only performance. And Beth, who works at UF for me, competed in her first meet finishing with 727# total!

Take aways:

1. I'm grateful for my friends, including Steve, Alan, and Heather, who came out to film and support us.

2. I'm thankful to have my health back. I'm just looking to make the most of it.

3. Yessie and I had so much fun together.  It means the world to me to have her in my corner.

Moving forward, here's my plan:

December OSI single ply (again)

May 2018 US Open

August 2018 Boss of Bosses

It's been way too long (Feb 2015) since I was able to compete against the big boys in a raw meet. It's time to get back to some big raw totals and taking some shots at world records.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HbU3HVRPys]