Nationals 2014 write-up
My first trip to NAS Nationals was a very humbling and exciting experience. I have qualified for nationals in the past but I always knew in the back of my mind that I was not ready; I knew that I needed to be completely ready to perform and do my best before traveling there. After all of my training this past year, I knew that 2014 was the year I would go and see what I could do.
Going into the show, I knew the press medley would be difficult for me. The keg and axle were no problem even though I missed my first two presses with the axle (I think that was due to a 2 hour wait time between warm ups, and my event). The DB was not happening though. It was 180lbs for reps and the max I ever pressed was 195, but that was fresh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nf_mSQQkofA
The second event was the yoke carry. The night prior to the show, we had to get our yoke heights and give them to the judge. I made a mistake and gave the judge my wrong yoke height. I tried to inform them prior to the event beginning that my height was wrong but I was informed that I was SOL and had to compete at the height that was listed. Unfortunately, when it was my turn to compete, I had to do a partial squat prior to running with the 800lb yoke. This killed my time on this event.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43AJIvFOix8
After these two events, I was 21st out of 26 competitors, not a very good start. I started getting angry and get into my own head but did my best to shake it off and get ready for the next event. I knew it I just concentrated and got my crap together, I could still pull this off with a good final placing. For the 3rd event, we had the carry medley; 300lb keg for 60ft, 300lb farmers for 40ft, and 400lb duck walk for 20 ft. Prior to the event, they changed the farmers which worked to my advantage to 340lbs. I managed to win my heat on this event. I did not have a great time overall but won the heat and began to make up points in the standings (the farmers killed a lot of people).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZdK9PUPuzQ
The 4th event was the car deadlift. I love the car deadlift and knew that this event would help me tremendously in the standings. Almost 50% of all heavyweights zeroed the car deadlift which I knew then only a few reps would give me a ton of points and move me up. I managed to grind out 3 reps. It was about an 800-850lb deadlift. Pretty damn heavy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFBJrGHI3PA
That was it for day 1. Going into day 2, I was in 14th place overall. Not a bad spot compared to where I started, but I wanted and needed more. The 1st event of the day was the 1825lb wheelbarrow carry. I managed to complete the course in 10.94 seconds which was a strong time. Unfortunately, something happened and I dropped the weight 1ft short of the finish line which gave me a 2 second penalty, making my time 12.94 seconds.
Still was a good time, but could've been better.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-Bqws6-oEI
Going into the last event, I moved up to 12th overall. I knew at this point, I just needed to win my heat to be top 50% but now, had my eyes set to top 10 overall. I managed to win my heat on the keg carry and load which made me extremely excited. I would not find out about my final placing though until later that night.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efZESvlvvi0
That night at the awards ceremony, I discovered that I placed 11th overall in the 300lb weight class out of 26 competitors. I was extremely happy of this outcome especially due to my mistakes and poor start. Looking at the overall standings, I needed 10 more points to break the top 10 overall. So if I did not drop the wheelbarrow and did not have a poor yoke event, this could've happened. Now I know for next year to write my yoke height down so I give the right height to the judge.
Overall, this was an amazing competition and I am extremely happy with my overall outcome. I couldn't have done this without the help of my sponsors, The Protein Bakery and Play Again to help my muscles and joints recover to keep doing these insane workouts and competitions. I also couldn't have done this without (WWE wrestling into voice) THE NATHANIEL GREEN yelling at me from the sidelines pushing me. Most importantly, I need to thank my wife Olivia from putting up with me this whole weekend and always supporting and loving me, even when we get stuck in the Denver airport on the way home for over 9 hours.
Now it is onto the next show. I need to get ready for my next competition so I can qualify for Nationals 2015 in Iowa and be ready to qualify for the Arnold this time.
Going into the show, I knew the press medley would be difficult for me. The keg and axle were no problem even though I missed my first two presses with the axle (I think that was due to a 2 hour wait time between warm ups, and my event). The DB was not happening though. It was 180lbs for reps and the max I ever pressed was 195, but that was fresh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nf_mSQQkofA
The second event was the yoke carry. The night prior to the show, we had to get our yoke heights and give them to the judge. I made a mistake and gave the judge my wrong yoke height. I tried to inform them prior to the event beginning that my height was wrong but I was informed that I was SOL and had to compete at the height that was listed. Unfortunately, when it was my turn to compete, I had to do a partial squat prior to running with the 800lb yoke. This killed my time on this event.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43AJIvFOix8
After these two events, I was 21st out of 26 competitors, not a very good start. I started getting angry and get into my own head but did my best to shake it off and get ready for the next event. I knew it I just concentrated and got my crap together, I could still pull this off with a good final placing. For the 3rd event, we had the carry medley; 300lb keg for 60ft, 300lb farmers for 40ft, and 400lb duck walk for 20 ft. Prior to the event, they changed the farmers which worked to my advantage to 340lbs. I managed to win my heat on this event. I did not have a great time overall but won the heat and began to make up points in the standings (the farmers killed a lot of people).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZdK9PUPuzQ
The 4th event was the car deadlift. I love the car deadlift and knew that this event would help me tremendously in the standings. Almost 50% of all heavyweights zeroed the car deadlift which I knew then only a few reps would give me a ton of points and move me up. I managed to grind out 3 reps. It was about an 800-850lb deadlift. Pretty damn heavy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFBJrGHI3PA
That was it for day 1. Going into day 2, I was in 14th place overall. Not a bad spot compared to where I started, but I wanted and needed more. The 1st event of the day was the 1825lb wheelbarrow carry. I managed to complete the course in 10.94 seconds which was a strong time. Unfortunately, something happened and I dropped the weight 1ft short of the finish line which gave me a 2 second penalty, making my time 12.94 seconds.
Still was a good time, but could've been better.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-Bqws6-oEI
Going into the last event, I moved up to 12th overall. I knew at this point, I just needed to win my heat to be top 50% but now, had my eyes set to top 10 overall. I managed to win my heat on the keg carry and load which made me extremely excited. I would not find out about my final placing though until later that night.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efZESvlvvi0
That night at the awards ceremony, I discovered that I placed 11th overall in the 300lb weight class out of 26 competitors. I was extremely happy of this outcome especially due to my mistakes and poor start. Looking at the overall standings, I needed 10 more points to break the top 10 overall. So if I did not drop the wheelbarrow and did not have a poor yoke event, this could've happened. Now I know for next year to write my yoke height down so I give the right height to the judge.
Overall, this was an amazing competition and I am extremely happy with my overall outcome. I couldn't have done this without the help of my sponsors, The Protein Bakery and Play Again to help my muscles and joints recover to keep doing these insane workouts and competitions. I also couldn't have done this without (WWE wrestling into voice) THE NATHANIEL GREEN yelling at me from the sidelines pushing me. Most importantly, I need to thank my wife Olivia from putting up with me this whole weekend and always supporting and loving me, even when we get stuck in the Denver airport on the way home for over 9 hours.
Now it is onto the next show. I need to get ready for my next competition so I can qualify for Nationals 2015 in Iowa and be ready to qualify for the Arnold this time.
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