January 09, 2010 - Clash of the Titans II Strongman Battle

Let me start off and say I do not like these Sports Extravaganza Expos (This contest and New Jersey's Strongest Man) since we always get hassled by the owners of the establishment. I also don't like walking around for the restroom to then be bombarded with sales pitches. Like wadding through an interactive pop-up ad. Anyway, on to the contest write-up.

Prepping for this show was odd. Never did I feel excited thinking about it. My mind was thinking about Battle at the Barn, Viking Fest and Battle on the Bayou. With some prodding, I committed to this show the week before. The morning of I was kind of nervous, I actually only ate half of my usual breakfast, going with only pancakes and skipping the yogurt. I was worried I wasn't going to be able to keep it down. It was an uneventful drive and I signed in and everything. Weighted in at 256lbs. First event was axle clean and press.

Originally the event was 265lbs but the weight was bumped up to 276lbs. I was having the toughest time waking up. I managed to get a little psyched and was raring to go when people in charge of the expo came over to complain about the floor (the person ahead of me had dropped a lift on an uncovered part of the floor). So had to wait a little bit for them to cool down and for more mats to be added to the lifting area. By this time I had chilled a little. I sucked big time. I struggled with every continental and only got one lift locked out. I kind of gave up in disgust after my failed second attempt and started to walk away. However, since there was still a lot of time left, I tried again and missed another jerk. A lot of people tied for second so really I didn't get put terrible far into a hole. Tied for ninth out of thirteen.

The next event was the chain yoke with 675lbs. Well it was supposed to be but it was probably closer to 585lbs (didn't find that out until I got home). The tough part was that for the 80' course, no drops were allowed. This is one of the few events I'm pretty good at. I've done this weight before and then some and if I hadn't done chain yoke on Andy Deck's long, crooked one, I would have had supreme confidence. But that would be when I'm feeling good mentally at least. Really at this point I was feeling awful and tired. I was seriously considering calling it a day and just watching. Right before I headed down to get set my dad grabbed me and sternly said, and I'm paraphrasing here, "get it together and stop being a pussy" and slapped my back hard. That got me amped. It was an easy pick and the yoke didn't feel too bad. I was focused. I got close to what I thought was the end line and paused before putting it down. It turns out that the end was actually the mat and not the yellow line I had stopped at. I was credited with 77'3". I was kind of pissed about it since I could have finished the course. It didn't matter though since only one person finished the course and they did it in a faster time than me. Second out of thirteen.

Up next was a medley. 300lbs farmer's in to a 700lbs anchor chain drag and finally a 280lbs keg carry all for 50'. The main part of this I was worried about was the chain drag since I'm typically not that good at drags (I have been now since I went heavy) and I've never done it with a chain. The farmer's had a high pick (19") which was very good for me. Easy pick and I flew with them. Transitioned to the chain next and once I got it in my hands and started moving, I had no doubts about finishing. I rushed the keg and went with a low carry instead of a high one since I figured I'd save time. My privates wish I had reconsidered my options. Fifth out of thirteen.

Next was the Conan's Wheel. I thought I would do better than my last contest effort where I passed out. I mean I had done some training a about two weeks ago and did decent with a good amount of weight. My main worry was that it was a really low pick and not adjustable. After a really tough pick, I knew I wouldn't get very far. And then I passed out, getting only 10'. I need to figure out what I'm doing wrong with this event on contest days. Surprisingly not the worst this time, almost everyone had issues with it. Eighth out of thirteen on this one.

Finally it was time for the atlas stone medley. The stones were 310lbs, 340lbs and 380lbs. They had to be loaded over a 50" yoke. The first stone had to be loaded three times, the second one twice and the final one for one time. Since I wasn't planning on doing this show and the next one with stones wasn't until mid March, I hadn't ordered any new tacky so I was stuck with my Elite Tacky. Once again it was hard, even had to use a pocket knife to open the lid. There wasn't microwave so I wasn't sure what to do. Luckily Christina Lafex told me to use a cup of hot water to soak the container in to loosen it up. It was a lot softer but a bit hard for my tastes, just like at the PA's Strongest Man, but I figured it would be good enough. I didn't have enough to put on the back of my hand like I usually do. The 310lbs stone was easy for all three reps and at this point I don't think anyone had loaded the 340lbs stone. The first rep was a little tough on the load (the pick is always easy now) so I made sure I cleared the bar by a good margin on the second rep. I beleive that is the best extension I've ever done with a stone. The last stone was even dirtier than the last one. It ate my tacky on my first attempt with it. Luckily I was able to re-tacky and tired again but I missed lapping it. I took a breath, got real low and lapped the stone again. I focused and tried to put as much hip thrust and extension as I could but it wasn't nearly high enough. No one got the 380lbs stone although Andy Deck was so freaking close. I was the fastest with the first five (I was the only one to have enough time to try the 380 three times). First place on the final event.

I ended up in fifth place in the 231lbs and over class (the 265lbers and unlimited classes were combined). Considering I was competing against some people outweighing me by 50lbs, that's pretty damn good. This is better than what I did at PA's Strongest Man. I have improved a lot on my farmer's and drag events. I still need to get better at overhead lifts. I need enough of a surplus in strength that I can still do well when it's the first event and I'm not as warmed up as I usually can get training at the gym. As far as the Conan's Wheel, I know I need to work on it. I could only get in one training session using it in the weeks since my last contest. However, I've also figured out what I need to do differently when it comes to training it. Rarely do competitors (unless they go first aka light weights) get a chance to warm up on the apparatus. So in training, I'll try to do it after at least two events and go right to the contest weight. I'll drop it down for laps after that. I was very nervous (and tired for the first two events) this contest and I need to work on combating that by getting in my group event training. I hope to get in at least two sessions in before my next contest at the end of the month: Battle at the Barn.