Going into this trip I had been visualising for weeks squatting 350. How I would unrack it, walk it out, how it would feel on my back. I probably thought about this over a hundred times in my head. I wanted it bad. I had begun to give up a little on my deadlift and thought focusing more on my squat and bench would be the best I could do. Steve told me to deadlift at the compound too, and told me to go for 360. I wanted this bad, but I knew after travelling and squatting heavy that might not happen. After my last meet I knew a 250 bench was in the cards, but after driving 12 hours and training on Saturday I wasn't sure how things would go.

Squats

When I get to the compound Saturday, I do my normal squat warm up. I really wanted to share a mono with Brandon, and even did a few warm up sets, but they were using a Mastadon bar, which I neither train or compete with and makes my midget hands feels like they are going to dislocate from my body. I notice Jen and Dani squatting at a similar midget height to me and decide to join them. They had the exact rack height I needed, perfect. Everything felt perfect until I took 275, and it felt heavier than it should have. We found out we were using a 55lb bar, so all of my warm ups were 10lbs heavier than I thought. Oh well, back to business!
The compound was the hottest I'd ever seen it and I was spotting and loading for our entire group. I was sweating like a crazy woman!
I had to step out and try to calm down before taking my heavier sets.
325 - Felt good, moved well.
340 - my back was a little too sweaty and I felt one side of the bar slip a little at the bottom so I came up a little crooked
350 - Felt easier than 340!

I debated for a while whether or not I should be greedy and go for 360. I decided I needed to step up and challenge myself mentally with some pulls.

Deadlifts

My body was feeling surprisingly great since I didn't grind at all during squats. I started pulling around the same time as Yessica, and thankfully we took roughly the same jumps every time. All my warm ups felt great until 315 when the bar wouldn't drag up my legs because of how sweaty and sticky I was after taking my knee sleeves off. I got Mickey to cover my legs in baby powder and take my next jump. 330 moved fast. Mickey told me about a trick she has where she powders her forearms to get extra slide. I had never once thought of that before, so I powdered the shit out of my forearms and off I went!

350 - moved well - This was a small PR for me and something I had been wanting for a long time. I'm a little bit pissed at myself for not recognising that at the time, but I was more focused on going up.
360 - again moved really well. I decided to go up since I was starting to get confident at this point
370 - my back broke a little off the floor, but I was not letting go of that sucker! The pull moved well, but I wish I had held the lockout a little longer.

My deadlift has come really far in the last 6 months. I'm finally feeling more confident and pulling the numbers that I'm capable of. Mentally, I really needed this.

Bench

I was so sore and tired after Saturday's training that I wasn't sure how it would go! There's only one bench I can actually lift the bar out of in the entire compound, and there was already a group on it with a bench bar. Fudge. Seth, A really strong dude I know from Calgary, told me that he could give me a lift off on another bench and hold the bar over me until I could gain tension and settle the weight. We gave it a shot, and it ended up working out. Poor guy's shoulders must have gotten a good pump!
The bar was moving fast, everything felt really good. I decided to try for 240 and 250.

240 - moved well
250 - I was instructed to change my breathing on this set, and I did, but when I went to press the bar off my chest, there was just not enough tension through my belly/chest
245 - Went back to my normal breathing and it felt like it should!

Dave caught that my wrists weren't wrapped properly - a basic thing that got overlooked- he showed me how I should wrap them properly so my wrists don't cave and I wont waste as much energy. I asked him if he thought I should take a 5 or 10 lb jump, and he said to just try again for 250

250 - YES! Bar moved well, hips stayed on the bench, I was a happy lady!

After bench I did some evil tricep workout that Mario showed me and some banded shrugs.