On Your Mark, Get Set ...

 So I'm as healed as I'm going to get before the Gary Gordon Memorial powerlifting meet next month.  Another few weeks would be ideal, but I should be able to peak with minimal interference from this year's injuries.  I will be going to this meet as a guest lifter with Don.  He is another one of the few competitive powerlifters that live in Ocala, FL.  

I had almost forgotten what it was like to train for something.  The discipline necessary to do what must be done each day without fail is draining.  Many of my family members are asking why I would put myself through all of this.  Am I not retired from competitive lifting?

My reply is that I needed a meet to help me sharpen my focus.  I need to remember all of the difficulties involved and the elation of experiencing success from careful strategy.  

Don and I had been talking about first meets and one dominant thought kept popping up.

Most people never actually go to their first competition.  They train and train in an effort to reach some imagined point where they will go in and decimate the competition.  There seems to be a sort of defense mechanism that protects the ego and it won't let you do anything that will negatively impact your perception of yourself.  I've watch bodybuilders that look pro but never enter a show out of fear of being beaten.  I've seen gym rats training forever and become more delusional by the day without ever hitting a meet.  We have all seen the "contender" who comes in and hits the heavy bag non-stop for an hour.  He throws punches and kicks in the air throughout his workout, but he's never stepped into the ring in his life.  These poor souls are ruled by the fear that they won't be as good as they think they are if they step up to the plate.

Everyone knows that anyone can set records in the gym.  It is another thing to set records in front of the judges and crowd.  Most cannot tolerate the latter and live in the shadow of it.  

I will never forget my first meet.  It was an A.A.P.F. (drug tested) meet in Ormond Beach, FL.

I was 165 lbs and I thought I was pretty darn strong.  As I watched the folks being called up to lift I was horrified to learn that I was a weakling.  My mind raced and I struggled to figure out how I would prevent the humiliation of hitting numbers that old women were kicking around for fun.

The lifter just before me was Ron "the lion heart" Palmer.  Talk about luck ... my first meet puts me in the same weight class as an elite lifter about to qualify for the pros and I didn't even know who he was.  On top of everything the meet was geared.  This means everyone had super suits and shirts that allowed them to lift much more weight than usually possible.  I didn't understand this right away so I thought I was seriously weak.  I remember I kept thinking, "how could I have been so delusional about my strength?"  

I made it through my lifts and a few folks commented on how good my form looked.  I watched Ken Snell deadlift four times his body weight and I watched some super heavy weight bench over 800lbs.  Well he sort of benched it.  He never actually touched his chest.  That was a part of geared lifting I would understand later.  

In the end, Ron "the lion heart" Palmer gave me some good advice and I learned more from than one meet that all the gym lifting I'd done the previous four years.  When I think back to that day and the impact it had on my training, I know I wouldn't have changed a thing.  You see, sometimes you get what you need and not what you want.  Sometimes we all need to stop waiting and just get it done.  If it doesn't kill us ... you know the rest. 

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