08/29/2009 - New Jersey's Strongest Man

I was way too tired yesterday to write or upload anything so here it is.

Left fairly early Friday to get to the hotel and didn't hit too much traffic going through Philie. Cutting water weight sucks so we listened to a bunch of comedy CD's to pass the time in the car. We get to the hotel to find it occupied by a fly and a roach but we didn't mind sharing the room since we'd only be there to sleep that night. Spent a bit of time driving around to get acquainted with the local stores and what not. The early weigh-ins had been moved from the venue to Chickie $ Pete's which is essentially a seafood themed TGIF or Applebee's. The guy for the strongman weigh-ins wasn't there and some buddy that was with the crew running the event said he'd vouch for us. I weighed in at 228.3lbs. Drove back to the hotel and ate and drank a lot and fell asleep.

The next day I was feeling out of it and I had felt a little like this the day before but not as bad. Had coffee and water and went to the venue. Spent a bit of time standing around confused with the other strongman competitors since we couldn't go in yet for some reason. A couple of us were worried about having to weigh-in again but luckily nobody had to. Got inside and proceeded to get ready for the day. First event up was a max log clean and press.

The opening weight was 240lbs which should be an easy weight for me. I had just recently done 245 for 3 and 270 for a single. My plan was to go 240, 260 then 280 for a pr. Not today apparently. This log was giving quite a few people fits. I only managed to get my opener of 240lbs and had to close misses with 260lbs. A few competitors missed 240 so I didn't place last but I was already in a deep hole. I measured the log after the event was over and found that it was 13" diameter as opposed to my 12" log I train with at home. Still no excuse. Three way tie for eleventh out of sixteen.

Next was a sandbag carry for max distance in 75 seconds. The weight had been lowered from 280lbs to 250lbs. It was quite easy to pick up during warm-ups. Of course when the time came, I screwed up and grabbed it way to high. It was a light weight but it was too far down on my body, pressing into my stomach and fatiguing my arms and back. Since I'm not very good at multitasking, the whole time I was debating stopping or crapping my pants. Luckily, my legs jumped in with the suggestion of "stage dive" and my brain said go for it. I managed 190' put me in ninth out of sixteen.

Next was the dreaded press medley of two axles, two logs, a dumbbell and a keg. 90 seconds to press as many of the implements as you can in any order. Of course, once you tried the implement, you had to stay and finish it before moving on. This caused a bit of trouble for some competitors with some zeroing the event because of this. My strategy was to avoid the keg because one; I had never tried pressing it and two; you were not allowed to use a staggered grip. I had tried it during warm-ups and was having a hell of a time with the measly 160lbs keg. With some practice I could do it but not with a couple minutes time. So the plan was to do the two axles first (220lbs and 240lbs) then shuffle over to the dumbbell (it was the one from the York show so a guaranteed lift for me) then try the logs (240lbs and 250lbs). The time starts and I over pull the first axle, totally missing the clean. Get it easy the second attempt and move on to the 240lbs. No mistakes on this one and head to the dumbbell for a cake press. The head to the 240lbs log and totally miss. I refocus and just grind it out to get it. No way the 250lbs log is going so my dad yells for me to try the keg. I pretty much walk over to the keg and I don't even have time to get it into position. I got four implements in 68.68 seconds which was another ninth out of sixteen for me.

Up next was the farmer's walk. The weight was 260lbs for 85' with 14" pick height for the handles. I was confident I would complete this event. I had possibly my best pick ever with this kind of weight. However, I wasn't going very fast. I guess I was worried about tipping over. Anyways, I completed the course in 15.81 seconds, probably the slowest time of the competitors the completed the course. Still a 28' PR for me. tenth out of sixteen.

Finally it was time for the Stones. The event was three stones loaded over a 46” bar with a 60 seconds time limit. Each stone had to be loaded twice before getting to the next stone. Now before it had been go through the series as many times as you can with a 75 seconds time limit. A 250, 270, 300 series is just too light for me and since I was already far behind I did it without tacky to have a little fun and a challenge. I missed the first attempt on the 250 stone when it spun on the top of the yoke. I then hit me head lifting it the second time. Lifting without tacky is quite tough. I did all six lifts in 51.28 seconds for sixth out of sixteen.

I ended up tied for eleventh place in the 231lbs class. All in all a disappointing day for me. My brain felt dull all day and I just felt out of it until I got three and a half tasty Outback Steakhouse 12 oz. Specials in my belly. It was great seeing friends from previous contests again. I have a ton of work to do. This is my last light weight contest. Next year's Battle in the Barn should be a good one to start with.