Monday, September 16, 2013

Opening Act

I returned yesterday evening from the USPA Capital of Texas Open with the intention of writing my blog and reviewing the event.  But with so much adrenaline still flying through my system just talking about it, I decided to wait another day to reflect on everything that happened.  Plus, by 9:30 my body and mind called it quits and I crashed hard.

I would like to say first that Robert Gallegos, with the assistance of Austin Simply Fit, put on a well run and amazing event!  Lifters from around Texas started filing in around 8am, including six from our very own Olympic Gym.  You may associate O.G. with "original gangster"...but here it IS Olympic Gym.  All six of the O.G. athletes, trained by the one and only Jill Mills, placed in their weight class and came home with medals, including the men's best overall lifter, Rich Bufalini.

I know for me personally, it was some of the best competition lifting I have ever done.  Chalk it up to actually taking days off, having my Barn Crew cheering me on, Gary finding the only place that sells Big Red Zero, or the inspirational lifting clinic that Jill put on as a guest lifter...it is one day I will not soon forget.  It's days like this that make busting your ass in the gym worth every damn minute!

I spent a lot of my day as the opening act for my coach's larger than life lifts. And it was freakin' AWESOME!  How many people can say they have shared a platform with the person that inspires them the most?  Well, I have now!  She staked claim to a 1250 total with a 440 squat, 281 bench...barely missing her third lift of 303, and a 529 deadlift.  The good thing was...at least I didn't have to go after those lifts!  And you had to feel some sympathy for the guys loading the bar, they had to strip all that weight every time so that we could start the rotation over.  I would venture to guess they might be a little sore today.   

As for me, I came pretty damn close to hitting all my goals for the meet...and each of my lifts was a PR for me in the 165lb weight class.  My squat, which I had started from scratch with less than a year ago, is just two pounds shy of the 200 mark.  Although the 200lb bench still eludes me, I did hit a 187...up six pounds from my last couple of meets.  And finally, I hit and exceeded my big goal of a 350 deadlift, ending with a 352, a twenty pound meet PR.  My deadlift came courtesy of: 1. lots of strongman training, 2. my judge at California's Strongest Woman, Donnie Rhodes, who mentioned to me after the event that he thought my 365lb deadlift was more me than the suit (I'm guessing because I use so much back rather than leg), and 3. Jill's husband, Milo, who was standing next to me when I went to put in my final lift.  I was going to play it safe, but he gave me much higher numbers to pick from.  And with one pull, no hitches, it all came together.  It was just like hitting a game winning buzzer beater from half court...without the post game dog pile, thank goodness.

A big, huge congratulations to all of my Barn Crew and coach on some freakin' great lifting!  And even bigger thank you for making this day one of a kind! 



      


 

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