Well I am back after a few weeks hiatus...I needed to take a break from the boards and the negativity because I was upset enough as it was with my performance that weekend. Here is how it went down....
We got the the meet, checked in and started warming up for squats...I was really nervous and puked a few times which is typical for me in events like this. If you have never squatted in a meet it is something else, you are facing all these people, trying to focus on the commands and what you have worked on and it is a bit stressful, at least this first time for me it was. The other tough thing is the timing and making sure you don't have your wraps on for too long or are too rushed.
Well going into the first squat I felt ok, I got under the bar (380 I believe) walked it back. Now if you have been following I have been having trouble with depth, I am not sitting back far enough, my knees shoot forward and getting to depth has been a challenge. This was going through my head as I set up. I get the weight down, past parallel BUT in doing so I lost all momentum and got out of my groove so to say. Those last 2-3 inches I pushed down, stopped at the bottom and when I tried to come back up with it I just stopped. They had to help me rack it, I wasn't quite sure what happened, I just felt like I couldn't push the weight. It was until later when I thought through the squat that I realized I just didn't have any momentum going into it and lost it. Lance wasn't sure what happened either and we decided to stay with this weight, unfortunately I think we should have gone up because I just don't think that was enough to get me low enough and stay in the groove of the suit.
Second attempt Lance said don't focus on your depth just power through it. 3 red lights, too high but very powerful which is what he needed to see.
Third attempt we jumped to 402. Now regardless of me bombing this meet or getting the one white light on this attempt it doesn't really matter. My form is bad and I need to fix that. It was maybe a good thing I bombed because I need to get that in order so I don't f up my knees. Back to this squat. The guy before me takes FOREVER so I am in my wraps for probably a minute and a half which was no fun. I get under the weight, walk it back and sink down...I feel like it is deep enough, I drive up and struggle just a bit under the weight before pushing it through and locking out. Judge calls rack it...Lance thinks I have the lift. One white light...a side judge and then 2 reds. Unfortunately I have no idea why the head judge red-lighted me, I didn't know at the time that I had to ask him right then, I didn't know that was allowed. When I finally caught him after benching he had couldn't remember the lift or why.
Obviously I never want there to be a question on my depth so that is what we are working on. I also was only in that suit for 3 workouts, I rushed my first meet I am sure but now I have a place to start from and I went through the experience. After squat I was devastated....I guess a part of me felt I hadn't prepared enough going into it but I have such high expectations for myself I thought I would be able to pull it off. We have 7 weeks until my next meet on May 30th and I will conquer this suit and the squat.
After squat I regrouped and finished the meet. My bench attempts were 175, 192 and 206 (i think)....the first two attempts I had my shirt on just didn't pull it down at all. This is what we had practiced in the gym. The weight was easy. My third attempt we pulled the shirt down a little....I think just a bit too much because I couldn't get the weight to my chest, I was about 1/2 inch high trying to touch when I let it drop down out of the groove and screwed the lift up. I know I will be able to bench over 200 in the next meet.
On to deadlifts. At this meet I conventional deadlifted, we started at 345, then 374 and finished with 392. The meet was on Saturday and on Thursday that week I was cutting some frozen turkey meet and ended up slicing my thumb good. We has superglued and bandaged it and really with the other lifts hadn't been much of an issue. My first two deads were good, 374 got a little far from my body so not super strong but 3 whites. My last attempt on my pull (which the first 3/4 was better and stronger then the previous one) I felt good and then my grip started to slip. Maybe it was my thumb or maybe just fatigue from the day but I couldn't lock it out and it fell. I don't think I will have any problems with 400 at my next meet.
All in all the experience was good, extremely disappointing but it gave me a starting point and introduced me to the world of powerlifting which I love.