2005 IPA Nationals

The crew consisted of Matt, Joe, and Devon headed for Pennsylvania to crack some skulls. The trip over there didn't seem too long until we hit Penn. When we crossed the boarder into the state it was like a 4 1/2 hour nightmare. The only thing was was cool was the bridges, tunnels, and Devon occasionally waking up to make sure we were not taking him to the slave sales.

As soon as we arrived at the meet, we all had a great time. The venue was superb, as it was held at the York Barbell Hall of Fame. All the greats of weightlifting, powerlifting etc were posted, along with lots of memorabilia and some of the first dumbbells and feats of strength known or recorded. It had by far the best warm up area ever, with good music playing all day long. It was also funny to see 1003 Gene in person at the Inzer booth, that hair and sunglasses need to go brother unless your joining the carnival.

The meet started with the big boys on Sunday. First up was the squats. The opener was set at 840 which was a smoke show (after almost falling over with it out of the lift). Then 910 was called for a PR. This 70lb jump would have buried others, but was faster than the 840. Then came time to play with the big dogs. The decision was to go for something reasonable, or freaky. Well if your going to blow shit up and have a Westside shirt on with big Lou watching, freaky was the choice. 950 was next. The 950 was heavy, intimidating, and flat out insane, but I somehow managed to rip that one through the roof as well. It was deep and strong with more in the tank. 1000 here I come.

Next was the bench. My opener was 575. As I took the weight down to the chest, my shirt exploded to my stomach, but still drove it up. The spotters were so freaked out that they grabbed it before the rack command was given, and I had to do it again at the end of the flight with a weaker shirt on. I was a little rattled but was not hanging anything up just yet. I came back and killed 575, then 610 for a PR. The next call was 625 and it was a 5 sec grinder, but still got it. And for all the USAPL busters, it was still a single ply Titan.

As the deadlift warm-ups started, I knew that the 950 squat had really taxed my back. I could barely get down to the bar, and had a hard time pulling 585 in the warm-up area. The opener had to be lowered to 600 to ensure a bomb out was not in the cards. On the first attempt, I was in a lot of pain, and couldn't find my groove. The 2nd attempt it went up fairly easy after changing my position a little. Then on the Third I had to go for a PR of 710, but everything was locked up and it was not in the cards.

My total ended up the same as last year 2175, but as soon as my back gets conditioned, its on. A 2300 total was definitely there.

I thank everyone who helped me both past and present. Now its time to move, and it will be hard leaving my students. I hope to be helping some national champions at Collegiates this year.