What a fantastic meet! Well, the making weight part was less fun but I made it. I think the extensive travel must have caused me to retain a ton of water, which my body did not want to drop. I cut water out at 4pm Tuesday and at 8am Wed I was 63.8 - eek! At 9-9:30am Rhaea and I went to the sauna across the street (I was down to 63.6 at this point). Sauna and whirlpool for about 45 min and when we got back to the hotel I was 63.1... with 10 min to go. I spit out the last 100grams and made it, exactly 63.0.
Overall, I am very happy... although I only walked away with PBs in squat and total, there's a bigger picture here for me that makes me very very thrilled.
Squats went off as planned... 135kg was an easy opener... 147.5kg was probably even better (I am always a tad cautious on the opener, so once I sink that I speed up for my second and third). 150kg was my third and it was nice... I slowed down a bit but it wasn't a grinder by any means!
Bench was a frustration... 70kg was easy, 75kg still easy... I really wanted 82.5kg even though my coaches were toying with just 80kg. They agreed I had 82.5 in me though after watching 75... I lost it on the right side about 5-6inches off my chest. My arm tipped back which pulled me out of the groove and that was it. BUMMER!! That lift would have put me 7.5kg behind the leader. Alas, I was now 15kg behind her. Keep in mind, I did not have a clue about the board and the numbers at the time. My coaches were watching.
Going into deadlift I knew my first and seconds were solid. This is my lift and my brother (one of my coaches) has yet to call a deadlift number I have not pulled (I have been called twice on technical issues, but I pulled them to lockout). 147.5 and 157.5 were pretty easy lifts. Well, I was told to "go sit down". I had been told that my coaches were more worried about taking a shot at gold than worrying about PBs or an elite total. I was told to just pull what was put on the bar. The girl in the lead did not pull her third deadlift, which meant, if I could pull a rabbit out of my hat it could be there... coaches knew it was a long shot, but like I was told, "you don't come to nationals to not take a run at gold". I was told later, if the girl in first had pulled her last deadlift I would have been given 170kg as my third. That would have given me my first elite total... I knew I had 170 in me ;) But, because the National record is 177.5kg, my coaches could put in for 178 (0.5 increment allowed on record attempts), which would have given me a 403kg total (the girl in first had 402.5).
While I would like to say "ya, it was awesome, I came from behind and deadlifted 20kg over my previous PB to win", I can't ;) I didn't even move the bar... not a smidge... not sure I even could have rolled it on the carpet. BUT, I did give it a freaking honest try... and for 2 days after my back knew I had tried - LOL!
So... I walk away with a second (in a class of 3 lifters), a 7.5kg PB in squat and a 5kg PB in total... a 410 Wilks (up from 400, my previous best Wilks). The best part though, which is the bigger picture... I was close... I mean, close enough to give it a try with that last deadlift. I easily had another 2.5kg in my squat (my brother thought maybe even 5kg) and I just lost that last bench from the groove - technical issue really. The girl who beat me is a great lifter and I thought she was going to be so far ahead of me by deadlifts it wouldn't matter... but she wasn't. I held my own... and THAT is a much better "big picture" than any PB...
Needless to say... the fire has been stoked...
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