This was a crazy weekend for Yessie and I and our crew at Union Fitness. We had
Yessie, Heather, Jabez, Lindsey, Rachel, Frank, Bryan, Bill all competed on Saturday. [Casey competed also but at a USPA meet in WV.] Joe and John, my training partners, and Alan and Steve, my favorite old couple, all came out to help (and we needed it).
Yessie was sick all week- as in no voice, sleep as much as she can, and pray for a miracle sick. She woke up Friday feeling 'OK' enough to compete so we quickly game planned and semi-failed to execute. See her write up for details, but here's my summary:
I'm proud as hell of her for getting her game face on and going out and doing her best. She just missed a squat PR, I called too heavy of a bench on her third (given how she was feeling), and she ended up pulling a deadlift PR!! Pretty incredible considering she wasn't even going to compete 48 hours out.
Heather, our most lovable friend and training partner hit a huge total PR and smoked an easy 400+ deadlift. We were all so happy for her because she trains her ass off and wears her emotions on her sleeve. It was well deserved. Casey also hit her first 400lb deadlift in competition but we didn't see it until it was on IG. Great job to both of them.
I handled Yessie, Rachel, and Lindsey. Rachel and Linds work at UF for me. They're two of the most reliable people and genuine people I've been around and I let it be known how much they mean to me. Lindsey, despite also being sick, hit a 60lb+ PR. Her training went so well that she opened with all PRs and ended with an 830lb total (if I remember correctly). And Rachel did her first meet! Despite some tears after bench didn't go how she "planned," she came back and hit an easy 270lb deadlift.
My trusted friends and training partners took care of Frank, Bill and Bryan. None of these meatheads had ever done a meet either. Because we had so many lifters in the meet, I talked them through what to expect, set their attempts for them, and wrote out their warm up progressions. They did well under our veterans' guidance. I was most impressed by Frank's composure, Bill's explosiveness, and Bryan's attitude. They all surprised themselves with a couple numbers, disappointed themselves with a couple misses, and realized what I meant when I kept telling them "it's different on the platform." I'm proud of them for setting some goals and laying it on the line. Sometimes as veterans we forget what those first couple meets are like for lifters, let alone the very first meet. It can be so much fun, completely nerve wracking, and addicting. I'm just happy I was the guy they chose to support them through their first meet.
Jabez...my man had a tough meet. He had a hard time with his squat, which is his bread and butter. He's helped me so much with my squat that it was hard to watch him struggle with his. He smoked 830-840 on his opener and missed 914 twice. The bar was rolling on him and was struggling to get back into his hips- probably over compensating for the bar rolling. BUT he hit a bench PR, finally. I was impressed with his attitude afterwards. He's a passionate guy and some days he loses sight of how strong he really is and expects a bit too much of himself. I think his next step is some single ply work to prepare his body for some bigger raw numbers. Either way, I love having him and his wife Jodi around. They're just damn good people.
It was a great commitment from our members and training partners at Union Fitness. I'm proud of them all, and for different reasons. We have a great community and it showed this weekend. One judge and one spotter, in their own words, 'your crew is really good, you should be proud of them.' And I am.
