It has been so long. Almost two years and if being honest with myself, more than two years since I last really competed. The record breaker shows don’t really count for me as I’m not competing against anyone in the present. Going against numbers on a wall. Not a flesh and blood person. Never intended to take this long of a break. I was coming off a good high in fall of 2019 and was signed up for two more contests. Then I had a pain relapse in my back two weeks out from competition. I tried to push through it but ended up in too much pain the night before at a charity event and I broke down in tears. Tried to get back but ended up withdrawing from the rest of the competitions that year, and even some for beginning of 2020. Injury cycle of questioning why I’m doing this sport, why did it happen, please make the pain stop. As with most things, time was needed and spent that winter rebuilding and aiming to just doing a fun show in June of 2020. Then COVID. World gone crazy. World changed. Held it together for about half that year. Everything cancelled, working from home, gym’s closed, not able to see people. I started training outside and in my garage. Then a break-up that still messes with me even over a year later and that was some dark times for me. Times I hope I don’t repeat. Only real constants were work, family and training. Family is family but there wasn’t really a satisfaction with work or training. But work has kind of always been that for me. Just a means to fund the things I do and give structure to the day. Training lacked a focus and I was getting discouraged. Winter 2020 also not great. Another pain relapse and then a knee injury out of nowhere. I just reached a breaking point when I was having to psyche myself up to do a yoke walk that was 50% of my best. I wasn’t enjoying this. I felt beat up and weak. I stopped training for a few weeks and tried to do my own training and that just failed spectacularly. I was trying to find a new strength training coach. I was leery about doing this. Narrowed down choices and reached out to two of them. One never responded but the other did.
I’ve known of Andrew Clayton since he was a teenager posting his videos of lifting using stuff made out of pipes on Marunde Muscle forum. I did that too (though moved away from pipe equipment early on haha). I’d only met him in person once in 2012 at SC Nationals in Tunica, Mississippi. We talked briefly about training and events. He seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. Apparently my old training videos that I put on Youtube helped him figure stuff out when he was starting out in strongman. We’ve been at this about the same amount of time but he’s done what I’ve been wanting to do which is go pro and compete internationally. I’d seen some things he had been posting with training and some competitors that struggled at certain events getting advice and progressing. I was worried I’d be rejected as a client because that is just how I view myself. A lot of potential never actualized and about a decade too late. I had someone recently tell me that I should considered taking test to live up to my full potential with my frame and leverages. Lifetime drug free athlete here but I don’t care if people use and compete against me. In either case, I just wanted to get back to feeling not so fragile. I wasn’t expecting any miracles with training. Like, this entire year would be to rebuild and see if I even wanted to compete in strongman anymore after the drain I’d been feeling. 5 weeks in and I felt like I should compete again. Hitting some PRs (lifetime and post-2016 injury) and feeling good most of the time. Feeling better mentally and physically for what feels like a long time. Which now leads to this competition.
Anxious the two weeks leading up to this. Maybe just thinking about how this was when I got injured for the last one I was prepping for back in 2019 and all the turmoil after that point. I know there good that happened too but I tend to focus on the negative space and that is something I must continue to work on. Or maybe I’m just rusty and don’t remember how this goes. This was going to be a bit different from usual prep as in the past, it was really light and deload the week out and week of literally nothing besides going for a walk and soft tissue work. This time around, doing some kind of workout up until show time. Keep things fresh. Trusted things so far. However, that isn’t the only change. For all but one of the 37 contests I’ve done in my “career” (heh) of strongman, I’ve had someone with me. Family or training partner. There have been contests where I’ve driven by myself that were close by but my family would show up later in the day when things actually started. Only once have I gone solo. This one is also going to be that. So had to make sure I was packed up and ready to go. No mistakes, nothing left behind. Already had a string of bad luck leading up to this the week of (computer died, dropped weight on my foot, power went out earlier in the week, allergies acting up) so hopefully that has gotten out of my system.
Stress effects pain symptoms with my disc bulges and I just couldn’t stop being tense the night before and I had to get up early to drive out. So I ended up talking ibuprofen and a muscle relaxer and that seemed to do the trick though I ended up with some odd dreams. I got up at 5:50 and had breakfast and put stuff in the car (it has been too hot at night to put stuff like drinks and tacky in there overnight) and was on the road around 6:30AM. Very uneventful drive and got there at about 8:04AM. I weighed in and came in at 283.3lbs but I think it was off by 4lbs. Not that it matters for HW really. Just had to be under 300lbs for the subclass. I scoped out a place to unload my stuff and have some shade and drank a weight gain shake as once I start going, I can’t really keep any food down until it is done. It was really hot and I was just sweating like crazy. Also thinking about my back. Initially there were 5 in the weight class with under 265 and under 300 combined. Then one of the under 300 competitors switched to novice. So made it so that only 1st instead of top 2 would get nationals invites. Some confusion at the rules meeting but things got sorted out. I wanted things to get over with anxiety. But I know after the first event it goes away. Usually. I just did the warm-ups I had for general stuff and waited and baked in the heat.
The first event was last man standing sandbag toss. 15’ target. Now this was initially how it was to be from the onset but when I had asked for clarification (I wanted to make sure I was prepping for it right) I was told it was three attempts. Then it was at contest back to every attempt but you can jump in at any time. Number of attempts mattered in event of a tie as well. I did just two warm-up tosses. One with the 30lbs and another with the 40lbs. I should be good for 50lbs and I wanted to try for 55lbs. I had no clue how I’d be doing on this after the car ride and just being concerned about my back. Irrational worry that I was going to throw my back out and then be 90 miles from home. I heard some people joking when I was warming up that I was already almost there just standing up. I have worked on sandbag toss like crazy this cycle. I was struggling to get 40lbs over this height in 2019 and now that is a warm-up. Been watching toss videos and getting things to finally click. Decided to open at 45lbs. I got set and calmly tossed it over. My back didn’t go. Nothing happened. I technically could’ve stopped here as I got this weight over on my first attempt and 2nd place had gotten it on fourth attempt but I wanted to keep going and see how I stacked up with the SHW. Also in my panic and inability to understand my new phone, I deleted the video so I kind of needed to get the next toss so I had something haha. By this point, two of my co-workers that I had invited showed up. Had to make 50lbs now haha. It went but not as convincingly as I’d have liked for me. 55lbs next. The promoter asked the three remaining guys if we were going to go over that. I just shrugged as I don’t know. 55lbs would be a PR for me. Took my time and up and on top of the target and then over. 5lbs PR there. I cursed a little after that as I was not expecting this. So now up to 60lbs. I knew that was going to be a big ask for me. I gave it two tries in the 30 seconds I had and I was close. I wasn’t expecting to be that close with 60lbs. Both of the other guys (SHW) got 60lbs over and then one of them got 65lbs. So starting things off with a win.
The next event for the day was deadlift. Max lift with three attempts. Suits and straps allowed and using a deadlift bar. This was the event I knew I was going to drop points on. Even when I’m feeling good. And I’d say that most of this training cycle, deadlift with a suit has felt good. Low block pulls and suited pulls and raw pulls with pauses. RDLS and such too. Lots of upper back work. In training, I stick with a regular bar and I don’t have the straps at max tightness. I get a decent amount out of a deadlift bar vs regular bar and I can get my hamstrings use to the loads over the training cycle. Also easier to keep suit not max tightness training alone in the garage. In training, I had worked up to 635lbs which was a 20lbs PR for my training suited max deadlift. Last time I did 615lbs, I did 655lbs at the contest. So I wasn’t too sure what to think as far as max deadlift this time around. Initially, it sounded like it was going to be 55lbs calibrated plates with 25’s added in between those jumps (so 50-60 jumps). Then at contest it was regular plates so back to the usual (40-50lbs jumps). Lower back tense and still not sure. I did a few warm-ups raw before putting on the suit and doing 2 singles. Hot and just unreasonably moist. I was worried that maybe I should’ve brought my figure-8 straps. I mention this as during this training prep, I switched back to figure-6 straps as I seem to have a better muscle-mind connection with the upper back muscles and a bit more control of the bar. I figured that I’d open at 585lbs and see how I feel. I wasn’t really focusing on the numbers game for deadlift. 585lbs didn’t feel great so I just took the next jump. I made my straps about an inch tighter and had someone help me get my shoulder in the one side. 635lbs also felt not great. If I was paying attention, I’d have realized that doing the next jump wasn’t going to affect my placing. But I wanted to give 675lbs a shot. Now most I’ve done on a deadlift bar in competition with a suit is 655lbs. I did do 670lbs on a tire setup that was about standard height as tires were deflated but I’m not sure that weight was accurate. Not exactly calibrated tires. I had another competitor help me get my suit as tight as I could. I wasn’t expecting anything and it felt like it wasn’t going to budge but I kept pulling as I know that sometimes flexi-bars can be a “long pull” and it kept going up. That was heavy. Let out a shout after I was done. This was a third place since I took more attempts to get 675lbs. SHW winner got 815lbs.
Up next was viking press. Listed as 350lbs but definitely wasn’t that in hand. Rules were no double dipping and once you set it down, you were done. I’ve done viking press twice in competition (was to do it three times but I had pain relapse and dropped out the day before) with not great success with training transferring over to competition. Then again, I’m usually not that great a presser on non-odd objects. Pressing has been an event where I can feel terrible or great. It is one of the few events that my contest best on some variations is lower than my training best. I researched the hell out of the implement that was going to be used for the contest and figured about what it would be in hand and tried to match that setup in training. Did different styles of pressing with my makeshift viking press as well as with axle push presses. Paused push presses, negatives, rebound vs non-rebound reps, holding lockouts and doing strict press with bands. Just to train for any possible issue. I managed to improve my viking press on my home setup by 44lbs so I felt ready. Until my back started to act like crap the week of. Going for a heavy double back in October 2019 had been what caused that pain relapse. I’ve also not performed well on this when my back is bothering me. Not able to use the power and hip drive as efficiently. Did warm-ups with 250lbs and felt ok. I got to go last here so I had the opportunity to see what was needed. I had also been watching everyone before me in the other weight classes to see how the apparatus handled. The hinge could move side to side while the pendulum with the weights could move back and forth. My style of viking press of really leaning into it when I press would seem to agitate the pendulum. I had figured that I could win this event in my group. Reps to beat was six. Things were good until the fifth rep when the rocking became too much and almost lifted the back end of the setup. Luckily I trained for this and held it at lockout for it to settle and did two easy reps to get seven and stopped there. I probably could’ve done like 4 more at most but that would’ve had me as 3rd against the SHW guys as top two were 14 and 18 reps haha. Still, a win is a win.
The fourth event was a medley. Fire hydrant of 170lbs for 40’, duck walk of 360lbs (it was definitely more as that was just the weight added to implement so probably 375ish) for 40’ and then a sled drag (unknown weight but 180lbs tossed in) for 40’. Run back 40’ for the first two and then the sled was there to be pulled back. In training, I didn’t fret too much on this one as drag events are always tough to predict as they can range from so easy you fall backwards to keep up to it being wielded to the ground. The knee issue that popped up in training with my left knee giving out resulted in not really getting as much of a chance to work the pieces together. I had been trying to figure things out for the fire hydrant initially but once I found out it was only going to be 180lbs at most, I stopped. With training my thinking was that I needed to be quick on the fire hydrant and get it high so I could use my stride and make up for lost time on the sled drag as I tend to be slow on duck walk. Sled drag training had been for long distances and tried to have it be on high friction surfaces. Another part with the medley was that initially it was the objects were to be loaded into the sled. Not sure if the change to them being set upright was due to the total weight in the sled being too much to move or if rim of sled too high for most to clear for the duck walk. The event was in the parking lot and considering this was PA, it was uneven. From observation, it appeared it was not equal both ways and the event ran with it alternating direction. To me, it seemed the drag was tougher one way and ideally the course should be reset so everyone is doing the same. I was last to go again and the time to be was 41 something, second was 57 something and third being distance given. Barring some disaster, I was finishing and I felt I could win even though I was slower on duck walk. And disaster struck almost immediately on the fire hydrant. So during warm-ups and familiarization, I had seen other people handling the fire hydrant. My attempt during then with it facing how everyone else was ended up with me getting it low and scratching up my right wrist to drawing blood. I tried it a different way and it seemed to be easier and catch it just right. My error was not taking into consideration that my relaxed state in warm-ups wasn’t going to be what my agitated state was when the timer started as I overpulled and the wrist missed catching it and it rotated almost out of my left hand. I caught it but I was holding it with a pinch grip on the bolt. Thank you above average grip strength as I managed to hold on to it and struggle to the 40’ mark as I knew if I dropped it, I wasn’t getting first. Had to overshoot the end line to use enough of my forward momentum to flip the fire hydrant upright. Put myself in a hole here with the duck walk. Started off decent enough but as I fatigued, my stride lessened to keep from getting off balance. About the only thing I could do to save time was at the end to essentially power stair hump the duck walk forward across the line (timed it just right) and then make it toward the sled. This was where I had to make up time. Very slight uphill at the very end and I rowed it. Heard 40 something and I had just got first by skin of the teeth. The top 3 in the SHW division crushed that time by 10 seconds. Going into final event with a 3pt lead (though scoresheet said 4pt).
The final event was atlas stones. My best event. Usually. My baby. The event that I was so confident in that I felt that no one here would beat me at it. I feel that I should be humble, confidence to me feels like arrogance and it gets complicated. I don’t mean it as disrespect as I treat everyone here as competitor that deserves my all. The only way I wasn’t getting first at this point was if I got last place on stones and second place one it. Event was 375lbs stone over bar for reps in 60 seconds. I’m not 100% certain as listed as 50” but I heard the helpers talking about it being 52” and I was too tired from the soul sapping heat to bother and check beforehand. It didn’t matter as I was going to do it. I trained higher than this for most of the cycle anyways. Hot and no shade (though it did sprinkle rain slightly for like a minute lol) so had to time things right with getting ready. Make sure I didn’t sweat through the tape, make sure I kept tacky at a good temperature and not too hot. The day was getting to me though as I got upper abdominal cramp on the right side and cramp in left calf muscle trying to get my lucky stone shoes on. My father has commented that as the competition goes on, I seem to get better whereas others seem to falter. I corrected him in that it’s not that I get better, I just don’t drop off. Been doing this since 2008 and been training outside in the elements since March 2020 at this point. Some training sessions have been in this heat and been almost 6hrs. I got to watch the other competitors go. It was a little hard to gauge things as two of the guys this stone would be a PR I think whereas the other one has definitely done this for reps. So after two guys went with it being no lift (unable to lap it) I could tell this was going to be a tough stone and tacky was not helping at all. Like it was greased. Third competitor no lift and it was now me. With the points, I didn’t have to do a lift to win. But that’s not me. I was going to do it. I got set and went for it. I held tight but I could feel it slipping and sliding. Well trying to. Couldn’t quite do my quick lap and go on it as I had to do a slight regrip but got it just high enough to do the minimum effort to get it over. One and done. I had put my stamp on it. Two of the SHWs managed one rep but that was a max effort for them and I definitely had a lot more in the tank if needed. Commiserated over an open trashcan with other competitors as talked about how that stone sucked and cleaned up the tacky mess.
I knew I had won before stones had finished but the single lift had doubled my lead. 1st out of 4 in the weight class and I feel if HW and SHW had been combined, I’d have gotten 3rd out of 9. Just so worn and tired and in desperate need of more fluids. I was happy now but I know the feeling is fleeting. Already thinking about what needs to be improved. A lot of rust was shaken off for sure but I feel that my anxiety and just trying to keep from collapsing in the heat kept me from being more outgoing and hanging out with the other competitors. I did catch myself essentially stepping away after the HW group was done to check on my co-workers and then retreating to shade. I did end up qualifying for SC Nats but I already had decided I wasn’t doing that this year. I’m hoping my back will calm down on me over the next few days and I can resume the breakneck pace I have for this year as I have at least two more competitions scheduled for 2021 with the next one being end of August.
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