This past Tuesday, I had the opportunity to compete in CPU Nationals in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. This was an IPF meet, and I competed in the 63 KG open category (my first meet as open). I knew going into this meet that the competition would be a lot tougher than what I had seen before, but my coach Steve Goggins and I had our eyes on a big total that gave me a strong chance for a National Championship.
Going into this meet, I felt stronger than ever before. My technique was dialled in, and my deadlift finally didn't suck any more. Even though I was dieting down I kept hitting PRs in the gym.
We flew out to St. John's 3 days before the meet to get settled in, check out the venue, and step on the competition scale. I showed up at 9:30 for the 10:30 weigh in, because I was too excited to sit and wait in that apartment! Weigh ins ran late, so I was probably the most 'hangry' I have ever been in my entire life! The big struggle with IPF meets are that the weigh ins are two hours before the competition. I was just praying they would call my name soon so I could get something into me so I'm not dehydrated for the meet!
45 mins later, I weigh in at 62.5, get a litre of Pedialyte, and all the food I could stomach into me, and get warmed up.
Squat
Warm ups for squats felt great, I could feel it was going to be a good day. I took my time and had finished my last warm up squat as the first flight was taking their third squat attempts.
First attempt: 125 kg/ 275 lbs
Felt easy, rack was a little too high, so we had it lowered for the second attempt.
Second Attempt: 132.5 kg/ 291.5 lbs (16.5lb meet PR without wraps)
Felt just as easy as 275. My mind went blank on this one and I felt completely at peace. This is the kind of moment that reminds me why I have so much passion for the sport.
Third Attempt: 142.5kg/ 313.5 lbs (miss)
We had originally planned for 303 or 309 as my third attempt, but the was things were going, Steve told me to take the jump to 313.5. Unfortunately, there was just not enough strength out of the hole.
Bench
I put that last squat behind me, and was ready for a big bench, it is my favourite lift after all! Warm ups went well despite having some major issues with the pound to kilo conversion and figuring out how much weight was actually on the bar (Blues, plus yellows, plus whites, minus collars.... arg!). I knew that my performance on bench could give me a good safety net going into deadlifts since I was up against some big pullers.
First Attempt :80kg/ 176 lbs
Easy peasy, I have a very controlled bench, which made for a quick press command. Even though I told the spotter exactly how I wanted it handed off, he let go with the bar barely clearing my nose, I ended up moving the bar towards my chest on my own, which doesn't feel the greatest with that much weight in your hands.
Second Attempt: 85.5kg/ 188.1 lbs (National Record)
The previous national record was 85kg, and there was no way I was leaving without that record, so I played it safe and took 85.5. In retrospect, I could have taken a much heavier weight for my second since it went up so easy.
Third Attempt: 90kg/ 198 lbs (National Record and 8lb meet PR)
What is this a joke? Fake plates on the bar? Too easy.
Deadlift
I went into deadlifts holding the first place position, but I knew I was up against some big pullers. We stuck to our plan, and my first two attempts went up easy, but after the second attempt I was sitting in second place. We put in a safe third attempt that would put me in the first place spot. Lots of jockeying happened at this point, I think there was about 8 attempt changes, which meant that I had to change it to a bit more of a risky number to secure my spot.
after my third, I was sitting in first place, but again girls were changing their attempts to beat me. All I could do at this point was stand and watch. Only one of the girls were able to get their lift, beating me by 0.5 kg / 1.1 lbs.
First Attempt: 130kg/ 275 lbs
Second Attempt: 142.5kg/ 313.5 lbs
Third Attempt: 152.5kg/ 335.5 lbs (27.5 lb meet PR)
I let the bar get away from me a little on this last one, but I still feel like I had more in the tank.
Overall I am very happy with my performance in this competition, proving to be my best yet in my short powerlifting career of 8 months. I think this was a good test of what I am capable of, and now I know that I have a lot more in me. Now it's time to continue my journey on this crazy quest to for greatness.
A big thank you to my coach, Steve Goggins, the entire Elite FTS team, my family, and my partner Mark. Thank you for your support, and for above all else, believing in me.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtYkMl8UqBM]
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