No illness. No injuries. No cameras. No one calling me out.
Since I wasn't able to make it to the Raw Unity Meet, I just wanted to lift and make it through a meet. I wanted to have fun in one like I used to, and show that I was interested in competing in the next Raw Unity Meet without Eric making special exceptions for me. I had to finish what I started, one way or another. I also wanted the challenge of trying to increase both my raw and equipped strength at the same time. My wife, Trinity, also wanted to compete in a meet, and like me, she prefers equipped lifting. So, we chose the Beau Moore Raw Classic. The proceeds went to help the "Friends of the Park" kids' program for the Jackson Springs Rec Center - a good cause. Actually, a lot of the kids from the program lifted in the meet, which was pretty cool. I even signed a couple of autographs. Bill Beekely, Spero Tshontikidis and Beau Moore ran a great meet.
I made weight without any problem dropping to 159, which was lower than I intended. Trinity was overly concerned about making weight and even had to do a few rounds in and out of a hot bathtub to lose the last couple of pounds. She's a trouper. I asked her multiple times "You actually want to do this, right? I'm not making you?" Every time she responded that she wanted to. She ended up weighing in light at 128.
When I originally expressed my interest in this meet, it was to find out what equipment they'd be using. However, I was then informed by Eric that he and Tony Conyers would be lifting. I thought this would be good for motivation, but it also kind of threw off my plan to just have fun making it through a meet. Either way, it's always good to have competition.
Here's how my day went:
Squat Warm-ups:
145 x 3
225 x 3
315 x 1
405 x 1
Opener: 450 - easy
Second Attempt: 510 - good for a PR
Third Attempt: 540 - came out of the hole and stalled. I think I would have been good for 525 or 530.
Bench Warm-ups:
95 x 5
135 x 3
185 x 3
225 x 1
275 x 1
Opener: 325 - easy
Second Attempt: 340 - good for a PR
Third Attempt: 350 - came about two-third of the way up and stalled.
Deadlift Warm-ups:
135 x 3
225 x 3
315 x 1
405 x 1
475 x 1
Opener: 555 PR - easy
Second Attempt: 575 PR - easy
Third Attempt: 600 - had it to the top and was holding for what felt like forever. My mind usually goes blank when I lift, but I actually started looking at the judge thinking "What's taking so long?" Eventually I lost my grip. I was told that it wasn't locked out, but it was definitely close.
My ultimate raw goal for all of my third attempts was 540 - 350 - 610, for a 1500 total. When I realized that was out of the picture, I would've been happy with the 600 raw pull and a 1450 total. Either way I can't complain too much about 4 PRs without focusing entirely on raw training. I had a great battle with Eric Talmant who went 495 - 290 - and pulled the biggest raw deadlift of all-time at 165 with 650 for a 1435 total and 4 PRs as well. Since I weighed in less, I beat him by coefficient for best lifter and got a cool "Giant Sword," as Brett called it. Tony Conyers came to guest lift and was just as impressive as always. On a day where he was just screwing around, he went 500 - 375 - 630, for a 1505 total. He's amazing and is a one-of-a-kind. He didn't warm up for the deadlift at all. He just jogged in place and pulled 585 to "feel where he was at." Just amazing.
My wife, Trinity, had a great day and had what seemed to be a lot of fun. She went 150 - 105 - 225 for 480 in the sub-masters 132 lb class and actually broke 4 existing sub-master records. Congratulations Honey!
I really have to thank Brett Brown for coming along to help us out. Other than my Special Olympian client, CJ, and his mom, Sande, he was the only one from OBB who made it to Tampa to cheer us on.
All in all it was a good day and I was happy to make it through a meet for the first time in a while.
The best part of raw lifting...
not having to take your suit off to go to the bathroom.
