Today definitely did not end as I had hoped. I was supposed to land in Norfolk at 5:50, which would have given me some time to get over to Brute Strength Gym and spend a little time with the implements but due to a storm and an overfilled jet, I didn't land until around 8:10 and Brute closed at 9:00.
I was able to get there by 8:45 but, of course, this was not enough time to get anything done other than a walk-through. I took a few mental notes while I glanced around and I do need to get there tomorrow and touch some of the toys. 1. I noticed that their axle doesn't rotate at all - they did it right - which is a little different than I'm used to so I should go get a feel for it. 2. The 145 pound shackle for the anchor chain drag is a fucking monster, I need to go figure out how to pick it up for the drag. 3. The pick heights for the Frame, Truck Tires and Car Dead are different than I’m used to so I also need to go feel them out, a little.
These aren’t stark contrasts but hey, these slight differences can mean placing on the podium vs off the podium.
I will say, it was enjoyable to travel without having to worry about making weight. For shows past, by this point I’ve sodium loaded, then water loaded then started to try to sweat it out. I was able to have an iced coffee before I flew out and a meal over the extended layover in Denver, it was nice. Tonight I’m about to go find something to eat and tomorrow morning I can eat again, had the weight class shift not happened, I’d be waking up, wrapping myself in a garbage bag under a few layers of sweats and walking on the treadmill or sitting in a sauna until I saw the magical 232, hoping carry-over would bring me under 231.5 by the time I got on the scale. Then I’d start re-loading and re-feeding until I didn’t feel like me ears needed to pop, take a nap and hopefully feel normal again by early evening. Luckily, I don’t have to weigh in so, I don’t have to worry about any of that.
Competing as a Heavy (or “Middleweight” in this case) comes with a different set of Training, Tactics and Pcedures. I can’t recall what I did the days before my other NAS Open Heavy Shows (So-Cal Strength Challenge OCT 2010 & Red Bluff JUL 2012) but I do remember feeling at ease and unstressed, which put me in a good frame of time to turn it on when competition day came.
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~SAVAGE~
