I knew I needed some one on one training with Steve. Online coaching with him has been great and really effective for me, but we needed to prep for Nationals, especially since I may end up having to handle myself. It ended up being cheaper to meet in Ohio than to fly to ATL where Goggins is based out of. It also was Yessica's first week in Columbus, so the timing ended up working perfect!
A bunch of teammates who live close were also able to come down for the weekend, it was a great crew and I was so happy to be able to see them on top of training with Steve.
The drive down from Ottawa to London, OH was a long 13 hours including breaks and having to turn around because Mark forgot his jacket at home. We planned ahead for the tight hips and back from the ride and drove a day early so we could spend all day Friday recovering and prepping for lifting on Saturday. We had a small group for dinner on Friday at one of the only restaurants in London (We only ate Mexican food all weekend).
We planned to train at the compound at around 10, so we woke up early enough to get some Bob Evans, and headed over with some steak and eggs in our bellies.
Overall the day went very well on Saturday. We discussed meet strategies and I discovered that less caffeine is actually better for me! I was insanely surprised when I hit a 10lb squat PR without taking my usual caffeine cocktail. I think this was a big help carrying over to the bench. I wasn't nearly as burnt out as usual, again taking no caffeine and hitting a very, very slow 10lb paused bench PR. Making our way into deadlifts, just about the entire crew had left as we had been going for a long time. I pulled an easy 308, but missed 340 twice. In realization, I probably should had taken my caffeine cocktail before deadlifts. I was feeling tired. On the plus side, we figured out what was messing up my deadlift. The video for my mock meet should be up soon and you will see what I'm talking about.
We went back to the hotel, cleaned up a little, and headed out to dinner and drinks to celebrate Yessica's move. We naturally ate tacos, because, you know...
I'm so excited for Yessi, I think she'll do great in Ohio and I can't wait to hear what she'll do next. She has a lot of potential.
A great crew! I was so happy to catch up with everyone!
It was a long, and sore trip home. Always bittersweet to leave.