Meet Report - WNPF Nationals, Philadelphia, July 8, 2012

It's been a while.  I did my first powerlifting meet in six years a few days ago, and posted this report

http://kbforum.dragondoor.com/showthread.php?t=153121

which I've copied in below.  More to follow soon.

I went to the WNPF National Meet on Sunday, July 8. It's part of a "tournament" which means other meets being held in other locations and the same or near dates all count, so I don't know if I won my age/weight/division, but here's what I do know so far:

1. The meet was very well run by helpful, cheerful people who knew what they were doing. It went along quite smoothly and I thought the judging was fair and consistent.

2. There is great benefit to showing up - it turns out that no one had ever set the National records in the WNPF in my age/weight/division of M55-59, 148 lbs., raw. So every lift I made was a new national WNPF record - whee!

3. I weighted in at 148 even, and my lifts were about what I expected, and certainly nothing to write home about but, since I've only been back at PL training for 3 months, I'm not going to complain, either. I went, in pounds, 205, 175, 315 for SQ, BP, and DL, and went 8 for 9 - I tried 190 in the BP and didn't get it. I had to fight for my third squat but I did, and every lift I made got 3 white lights. I've bench pressed very little in my life and still don't know how to fight it out with a heavy bench press, but I'll get there.

I also didn't train my DL at all, and 315 is fine for me and I probably had a bit more in me. No belt or any other supportive gear for me, of course, and I even did my first two deadlifts with an overhand grip before switching to over/under for my third.

After having recently attended at Marty Gallagher workshop with Kirk Karwoski, I've decided to work on my barbell front squat for a while - it's a lift I feel will benefit my overall strength a great deal, and once my FSQ gets to a certain point, I know it will not only benefit my regular SQ but my DL as well.

One point that comes up time and again is people asking me how I feel about getting records with such low numbers and against no competition - my answer is the same as it's always been: I trained, I showed up, and I competed on someone else's clock. If you want to stay at your high school weight into your late 50's, come to a PL meet, and lift more weight than I can, I will be the first one to applaud you but, until then, I'm delighted with my trophy from the meet and what I hope, after another week, will be national championships in my age/weight/division.

NB: It is interesting to go through life with abs and a grip that are stronger than my legs, arms and shoulders. Interesting and, in my own humble opinion, very, very good. I don't get hurt when I lift because I can't squat, bench, or pull as much as I can hold in my hands and support with my abs. While it may not be the profile of an all-out competitor, I'm very happy with it.

If you haven't competed at weight lifting in some form, I encourage you to do so. You'll find everyone from kids to grandparents, every body type imaginable, and everyone else knows what you've been through to get there and treats you with the honor and respect you deserve for putting in the training and showing up at the meet.

Onward and upward, Comrades.