CPU Nationals Recap

Bronze medal finish.  I would be really disappointed if I would have placed 3rd after anyone else but Taunia and Rhaea.  Two awesome lifters indeed.

It wasn't my best day, but it wasn't my worst either.  It will be hard to get any worse than Worlds that's for sure....

I was a little light the morning of, so I got to eat some breakfast before weighing in.  I had trouble monitoring my weight as being female, sometimes there is an unwelcome visitor which adds a few pounds of body weight over night.  I weighed 156lbs on Sunday, and 157.8lbs on Tuesday night so I had to make sure to keep myself there.
Weighed in at 156lbs even after breakfast so I had many cookies to eat before lifting, which obviously wasn't a problem.

Squat- Opened with 418lbs.  Felt slower than I wanted, but I got the "dip" down so there was no doubt on my depth.  Second attempt I went to 440lbs which was a little lighter than the plan called for, but it was how I felt at the time which is most important.
Third attempt was 463lbs, which was also less than what I had planned, but I squatted it with not much to spare so it was the right choice.  A P.R. no less.

Bench- Frigin' bench press.  My nemesis!  Got my opener of 264lbs on my 3rd attempt.  This is what put me in 3rd.  If I would have had the opportunity to bench what I had planned even on my second attempt, I would have placed better.

Deadlift-  The warm ups felt heavy, and with the experience at Worlds, I know that missing lifts slows momentum, and I decided to go very conservative on my attempts.
First attempt was 370lbs, 2nd attempt was 385lbs, and last attempt was 396lbs.  All successful with not much left in the tank on my last pull.

No footage unfortunately, the moustache was busy wrapping knees.

Bottom line, when you don't win it obviously sucks.  Having worthy opponents makes it a little easier to swallow, but knowing that I could have performed better is frustrating indeed.
I hope that I will still have the opportunity to compete at Worlds, because me and Worlds have some unfinished business.  And that's a fact.  It was great to see some great lifting battles at the comp, and also all the awesome people that make powerlifting what it is.

Just awesome :)

Rhaea and I after lifting.

She was overall best female lifter in both raw and eqiupped. 

Rhaea can also pull off getting her knees wrapped in a dress.

(Photo courtesy of the Polish Moustache)

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Training and a rant

Hi.
I will be honest, I have missed inputting my training lately.  I am training, just not documenting as well as I should.  Also, I have noticed a trend that I consume almost double the amount of gum and diet pop when getting close to competition time.  Fact.

Have gotten 3 sessions in my newer squat suit under my belt, and also 3 alterations....It is finally good to go for Nationals.  Worked up to an opener weight yesterday and it felt like it should.
It is one stiff-ass MF...Big squat coming up! 

2 board light touch
135 x4, 185 x4, 205 x4, 195 x4, 200 x4

Close grip 3 board
135 x7, 185 x7, 195 x7, 190 x7

Chins, Face pulls & pull downs.

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So, on another note, I need to vent on two subjects. 

1.  I got our water/sewer bill for our Renfrew location in the mail.  I assume that the reduction in water use is due to the water meters that were put in by the Town.
Picture below.

The bottom line:  Don't try to save money, because you will end up paying more in the end. 

P.S.  Don't live "green" it costs more!

2.  While shopping last weekend, we found that Kraft natural PB has gone from $4.59 per container, to $6.77 (!) per container.  WHAT THE HELL?!  That increase was in one week.  Please tell me how a product with 1 single ingredient (peanuts) can cost more than the counterpart brand that adds more oil, sugar and salt to the PB????  How does that work?  Usually more ingredients means more money.  Maybe there is more to the manufacturing of the PB than I know of....

Bottom line:  Don't try to eat healthy.... 

It's f***ing way more expensive!

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Training this week

Yep, I have been slacking.  Been trying to fight off a head cold, but I feel like a Katy Perry song throughout the day...Hot...cold...hot...cold.  No where near the severity of the Czech cold so I am happy about that!
Tuesday

Squats
135 x5
185 x3
225 x3
275 x1
Suit on 335 x2
Wraps on 385 x2
405 x2
395 x2

Squats went pretty well.  Working in a new suit (that I got last summer heehee......) and I still haven't gotten it adjusted quite right.  A little more tightness in the hips and it should be good to go.  My back was super grizzled from the noodle-back rack pulls I did on Sunday but still functional.

2 board (light touch)
135 x5
185 x4
205 x4
195 x4
200 x4 x 2 sets

Close grip 3 board
165 x7
185 x7
195 x7
190 x7

Chins, Face pulls and Pull downs

Sunday @ Heritage Fitness

Rack Pulls (which actually turned into Deadlifts off boxes because none of the racks set up low enough)
135 x5
225 x3
275 x2
315 x1
345 x1
355 x1
345 x1
345 x1

These were hard and I stink at them.  Big time noodle back.  Felt reallllly slow off the boxes.  You will never hear me brag about how much I can rack pull that's for sure.  But while I was doing these sets, a man went up to Paul and asked him if I was his daughter....This made my day!!
Also, if anyone has an opinion on whether there is a difference between rack pulls, and deadlifts off boxes, please share.  I think there is.  It might be a small difference, but there is one I'm sure of it.

Half board press
135 x5
185 x2
205 x1
215 x1
205 x1
210 x1

RDL's
135 x5
185 x5
225 x5
245 x5
It was at this set that a member from the gym informed me that Heritage Fitness does not allow chalk...Good thing I was almost done haha suckers!
255 x5
245 x5

These felt pretty good.  Apparently I was finishing with all back, so these might have also contributed to my grizzled state.

Finished with some random fun rowing machines, chest supported row, funny single arm cable jobber machine, etc.

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Holey Moley.

It has been a wee bit since I blogged last....my apologies if this has affected your life in any way.

A few things happened.  Down in Ohio I had the privilege of training at the Dogg house gym owned by Tim Maddy, which Gracie V referred me to.  We were lucky enough to have Phil Harrington help coach me on my lifts that day.  Then at Metro fitness it was the same usual B.S., lots of people not really doing too much.  Dexter Jackson was doing a photo shoot in a rack beside me which was kind of cool.  The Arnolds was fun.  Paul had some IT issues, which made for a really stank hotel room, but gave me an excuse to hang out in the lobby with Mikhail Koklyaev, but not talk to him because I am too shy...Basically I was going for some strength via osmosis.  Good thing I'm not single. 
I got to watch John MacDonalds deadlifts (only Canadian that I saw), and a bit of some other lifting, but not as much as I would have liked.  It ticks me off that they have the strongman and the heavier weight classes competing at the same time, and try to get back and forth between the two with thousands of people.  Not happening.

Training has been going well and I honestly don't feel like typing out all of the numbers and training that I have done since the start of March because I already had to on my RTS log....Just take my word for it.

I will give you a taste of yesterdays training:

Squat + average bands
135 x3, 155 x3, 165 x3, 175 x3, 180 x3, 175 x3

These went waaaayyy better than last time.  Like x100.

2 ct pause bench
135 x3, 165 x3, 175 x3, 180 x3 x 2 sets, 185 x3, 175 x3

Deadlift + mini
135 x3, 225 x3, 275 x3, 285 x3, 280 x3 x2 sets

Side bends, Tbar rows and some curls.
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Saturday gym meet & Tuesday Squat/DL's

Feb 28/12

Squat w suit, no wraps
135 x6
185 x3
225 x3
275 x1
Old suit on
315 x4 not quite deep enough
325 x4
335 x4
325 x4
325 x4

My old suit is hilarious.  Paul calls it my singlet...He actually said, "no wonder you used to squat like a smeagol."  Nice. 

2ct pause DL
135 x4
225 x4
245 x4
255 x4
245 x4
255 x4

These are brutal but much needed.  I can see how they will help my pull.

Snatch grip SLDL
135 x8
155 x8
185 x8
175 x8
180 x8

Weighted decline sit ups 3 x10, Chins 3 x5

Squat + DL + DL= Sarah getting out of the car like an old lady

Feb 25/12

Squat
135 x6
185 x3
225 x3
275 x2
Suit on
335 x2
385 x1 wraps on
405 x1
435 x1
445 x1
455 x1

By the last squat I could not think of anything else other than the painful state of my legs under my suit.  I am still too fat for my suit.  Ouchy.

Bench
135 x5
165 x3
195 x1
Old shirt on
245 x2 x 1.5 board
265 x1
275 x1

Deadlift
135 x5
225 x3
275 x1
Suit on
315 x1
365 x1
385 x1
400 x1- first 400lbs gym DL for me
390 x1

I was super duper grizzled from Thursday's training.  Squats went pretty well.  My last rep was the first suited squat that I have had to work for in a while.
Bench was somewhat sub-par.  Deadlifts felt awesome. 

Leaving for the Arnolds tomorrow morning.  Looking forward to training at the Dogg house powerlifting gym.  Much, much better option than the shitshow otherwise known as Metrofitness.
Also looking forward to seeing BOTH of my coaches perform this weekend.  Both of them are going to TEAR IT UP!!!

:)

Thursday Training

Rolling, bizness management, and quick dynamic warm up

Bench + 90mm
135 x5
185 x3
215 x3
220 x3
220 x3
225 x3
220 x3
220 x3

GM's
95 x5
115 x5
135 x5
145 x5
155 x5
145 x5

Push Press
65 x6
95 x6
115 x6
125 x6
135 x4
115 x6

These were tough as I have never really done much overhead pressing, let alone push pressing.  Here is a video of my 4th set.  I can improve my technique a lot for sure.




Tonight is a geared meet of the 3 lifts.  Feeling pretty tight in the low back after some acupuncture yesterday and a long awaited adjustment.  Oh, and the GM's might have contributed slightly....Ready to smash it though!

I'm slacking big time on the posts.

Training is going pretty well considering that life itself is very stressful these days.  Powering through.


Feb 21/12

squat + average bands
135 x3 x4 sets
155 x3
150 x 3

These sucked today.  I took 135 for a few sets to see if maybe they would get better.  They didn't.

2ct pause bench
135 x3
155 x3
175 x3
180 x3
185 x3
180 x3

DL + mini
135 x3
225 x3
275 x3
285 x3
280 x3

Pull Downs & Hanging leg raises 2 x10

Feb 19/12

DL + mini
135 x4
225 x4
255 x4
265 x4
275 x4
285 x4
275 x4

1.5 board press
135 x4
175 x4
185 x4
205 x4
215 x4
205 x4
210 x4

Pendlay row
95 x7
115 x7
135 x7 x 2 sets

Feb 17/12

Bench
135 x5
175 x2
195 x1
Shirt on
225 x2 one board
245 x2- really tough touch
255 x2
260 x2
250 x2
250 x2

Squat + average bands
135 x4
155 x4
165 x4
155 x4
165 x4

Incline pinky's on rings
95 x7
115 x7
125 x7
115 x7
120 x7