Idaho Champion Series Snowman Invitational

Saturday was the Idaho Champion Series Snowman Invitational. I was so grateful I decided to compete. This was by far the BEST run competition I’ve been to and the epitome of what a show should be. Previously, I decided to take time off strongman and focus on some other goals I have. Three weeks out from this competition, I decided I needed to compete. Bodybuilding.com was a sponsor, along with Cellucor. A one-year sponsorship with Cellucor was on the line for each division winner and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

There were four women in the heavy weight women's class and they were new to the sport, although there were some impressive athletic backgrounds. The highlight of my day was meeting Lisa Howard who trains with Chad Aichs and Gary Montoya down at American Iron. I can’t wait to make my way back down there and do some training. She’s like the female version of Chad, so she was a good time.

The events were changed and lightened a bit, so I was bummed. This change meant strength was out the door and conditioning and speed were going to be required. Exactly the things that I was lacking without event training. Compounding the changes in weight, was the event order. A typical competition allows the winner of each event to go last in the next event. From a strategy perspective, this is HUGE and major advantage. Since I was the last entry received, I was required to go first in all events. There was nothing left to do but roll with it.

12-inch Log Press for Reps – 1 minute
The weight was lowered from 150 to 135 pounds. I was first up and banged out 14 reps. I still had time on the clock but my conditioning was failing me and I wanted to reserve what I could. 14 reps turned out to be an easy event win. The best part of this event is The Big Guy and I were pressing at the same time. We’ve never done an event together so this was pretty cool in my book. I am hoping to uncover some video somewhere of this. The Big Guy ended up with 10 reps in the master’s division also for a first-place event win.

315 Deadlift from the Floor – 1 minute
Again, I was first up and had some goals in mind. I had a training target of 15. I changed my positioning up and took a pretty wide conventional stance and grip on the bar. This strategy worked well, there was no burn out of the hamstrings or quads and pushing my hips through on the lockout went much smoother. I reached 15 reps with 45 seconds on the clock and shut it down for the event win.

135 Farmers – 100 Feet, Turn at 50 Feet
Originally, this event was supposed to be for max distance. I could've gone a long way with those babies. With the event change, the weights were so light, that it was a foot race. The implements are pretty cool, more like toolboxes with fat handles. I was off like a champ and took my turn so wide, that I ended up veering wide into the other lane. Due to limited space, I veered back into my lane so I didn’t get in the way of the other competitor. This slowed me down tremendously and I ended up taking second on this event in the 13-second range. I was bummed, but sometimes errors happen.

150 Sandbag Carry & Load – 60 Feet, 54-inch Platform
The heavy weight women’s sandbag was light, so I was able to pop it up to my chest and run the 60 feet with it and load it to a 54-inch platform. Then run back the 60-foot distance, (jog in my case) and do it again with a second sandbag. This went off without a hitch, and I was in the 24-second range for an easy event win.

Power Stairs - 200, 230, 260
For this event I had to load each implement up a series of three stairs, 18-inches each, then run down and load the next series, and then the third. I haven’t touched power stairs in a couple years and I knew based on points, I would only need to finish the full run to secure first place. I wasn’t taking any chances of a mistake, so I took it nice and slow. It took 38 slow seconds for a second place finish on this event. Completion of the event secured me for first place placing for the competition.

The Big Guy ended up taking second in the master's class. He did good. He also had to go first in every event was that proved to be more of a disadvantage for him than me.

The best part of the competition was catching up with some of my favorite faces and meeting new ones along the way. Jay Hagadorn from Genesis Fitness was the promoter and he did an outstanding job running a high caliber, smooth competition. Every aspect of this competition was top-notch with the competitors in mind. It’s not every day in any strength sport when the division winners are awarded a one-year sponsorship to a major supplement company. Jay has set the standard.

As usual, I did not get video or pictures of my events. Before we left for the competition, I made The Big Guy take one picture so there was at least some record of the day.