The RPS Great White North Maple Leaf Invasion was nothing short of epic! My first ever RPS meet and I am happy how I performed. Although five pounds shy of my goal, I have no shame with a 25-pound Meet PR and a 995-pound total in only six lifts. Now I know that I can do better next time by training harder.
I've always seen the trophies at the RPS meets and being a Kettlebell instructor I was always keen on winning one. Now I can add this bad boy to my collection!
So our day started at 4:45 am. We knew it was going to be a long day but you really don't know the impact of how your day will go until it happens. The venue was hot, a nice venue but way too hot!
Squats
My plan was a 325-pound opener which put me in the third fight with the men. It felt great and three white lights made me happy that I was in the competition. Always good to get that first squat in.
Picking my second attempt I always like to go for a PR, so 355 pounds it was. This is only the second time I have ever had over 350 pounds on my back. I hit a 350-pound squat at the Arnold's in March.
Third attempt I wanted to go for it, I tried 370 pounds. I knew I only needed to add 30 pounds to my total so I wanted to get some early and not rely on my deadlifts for the the full 30 pounds.
370 pounds felt okay on my back but the push from the hole just wasn't there. Now I know where my weekness is and I can only train harder on that. Two for three on squats!
Bench Press
Bench is my weakest of the three lifts in my opinion, but again, we tend to be harder on ourselves. My opener was 180 pounds and I hit it. Three white lights.
Second attempt was 200 pounds. I used a foot board to prop up my feet (for short people) and I should not have. I wasn't able to get the leg drive I needed, which made me nervous that I wouldn't get my goal.
Unfortunately I don't have any bench video or pics right now!
Third I kept it at 200 pounds, and I WAS NOT going to FAIL. I took the foot board out and used my legs and hit my 200 bench. 3 white lights and on track still for my 1,000-pound total.
Deadlifts
My favourite of the three and really hoping for some gas in the tank with the heat. I picked a big opener, 400 pounds!
Second attempt should have stuck to my plan but I did not. My plan was 430 then 445 on my third. I only needed 25 pounds for my 1,000-pound total but for my second attempt I picked 440 pounds. I can list all the should-have, would-haves, but in the end the result is the same. I should have either stuck to my plan or tried 445 on my second to get my total. Looking back I kick myself now, at least then I would had had two chances at it. Oh well, next time!
I hit 440 pounds, a 20-pound PR since my 420-pound pull at the Arnold's in March. At this point I was sitting with a 995-pound total. All I needed was five more pounds, but to get that I needed to pull at least 445 pounds...
Third and final attempt I tried 450 pounds, which was my initial goal, even though I only needed 445. A mistake maybe, but none the less it was not meant to be today. I got the 450 up to just below my knees. It was heavy. I was tired.
So, six out of nine lifts and still a 995-pound total I think is a pretty good meet for me. 25-pound meet PR, four world and RPS National Records, and qualified to lift at the Arnold's next year.
It was a great experience with over 80 lifters, big Kudos to RPS for a well-run meet keeping everything flowing and getting that many lifters through in a one-day event. The judging was also amazing.
To my biggest fan and supporter Ken, thank you for coaching and handling me today, I could not have done it without you.
Lastly I want to thank elitefts, David Tate, Traci Tate, Ted, Molly, Sheena, Jordan, Josh and everyone else on the team for allowing me to be a part of such an amazing team and letting me represent Team elitefts!
I will continue to grow, continue to learn and continue to train harder to be better than I was yesterday.