Qualifying for 2015 USAPL Raw Nationals

On January 25, 2015, I competed at the USAPL Northeast Iron Beast II meet.  With the new weight classes going into effect on January 1, 2015, I had a decision to make.  I would either compete in the 264lb. weight class, or compete at 264lb.+ weight class.  Fortunately for me, I made weight on Sunday morning, weighing 256lbs.

I trained for eight weeks.  My only expectation was to qualify for the 2015 USAPL Raw Nationals in October, 2015.  If I hit the 264lb.+ total, I would have my choice of competing at either weight for Raw Nationals.  I barely hit the 264lb. total, the exact total to be exact.

I opened with a meager 205kg. squat.  I have always had the fear of missing my opening squat attempt and then having to play catch up in the meet.  That was not the case here.  I just wanted to hit the qualifying total.  I got three white lights.  I took 215kg. for my second attempt.  It was heavier than it looks on the video.  Again, three white lights.  I went for 230kg. on my third attempt.  I did not have any problems with this weight in training, and thought it would be a good third attempt that would set me up for a good total.  Un-racking the weight was fairly easy.  I stalled on the lift about 2/3 of the way up.  Not a bad start to the meet 2/3 on squats.

I warmed up longer than usual on the bench.  I was one of the first lifters in my flight.  Again, I just wanted to make sure I would have a decent number to ensure I was going to qualify for Nationals.  I took 115kg./125kg./132.5kg. on three successive attempts.  3/3 on the bench and a pretty good start to the meet.

Deadlift went better than expected.  My plan was to not take a very heavy attempt here, but just enough to qualify.  After the squat and bench, I did have to do a little bit of work on the deadlift to make sure I would be ok.  On three successive attempts of 185kg./200kg./210kg., I hit my qualifying total of 557.5kg or 1229lbs.  50lbs. less than the first WNPF meet I competed in August, 2013.  My WILKS total is the lowest I have ever had at 322.402. 

Overall, I finished 2nd in my weight class of 264lbs.  It was a long three hour drive home on a Sunday night.  When I was a more competitive lifter in my younger days (about eight years ago) I would hit 1229lbs. in training on just my Squat and Deadlift days.