The 2016 New Mexico games weightlifting meet report

On Sunday May 22nd I competed in the 2016 New Mexico games weightlifting meet. This was my 6th week training at my new weightlifting gym, High Dessert Athletic Club, and under my new coach, Joaquin Chavez. I'd made incredible gains so far under his tutlage.

I wasn't nearly as nervous as I usually was before a meet. And I got to warm up with my nutrition coach Barry Shroeder. He's really knowledgeable and a motivating person. So that was pretty wonderful for my meet.

Robel Tayloy, he goes by Chacho, showed up to compete today. He's beaten me by at least 20k at every meet I've ever competed with him at. I'd say if I had to pick one person who's my weightlifting nemisis he'd be it. Super nice guy. But a man can only get his butt beat by a person so many times before that man becomes his nemesis. And he'll be aging up to the 40-44 age group on Jan 1st 2017, so he and I will be in the same age group and weight class next year.Also, My nutrition coach and friend barry was there. Seeing him compete a few years ago was the reason I got into weightlifting. There's no chance of me beating that stud eather. Although, when I first saw Barry lift i decided one of my bucket list goals was to some day beat him. To be the best you have to beat the best right?

Coach Chavez had me attempt an 85k for my first snatch. It felt easy and landed perfectly. On my 2nd attempt I asked to go for a 95. Coach's eyes just about fell out of his head!
"That's to big of a jump. How about 91k." It wasn't a question.

91k was a good lift.  On my third attempt I asked for a 100k. Again, coach almost fainted. "what's your PR?"  he asked.
"96k coach"
"go for 97"
Third lift was good.

Since I went 3 for 3 on the snatches I was probably going to be able to take 3rd place in my heat, 2nd place in the 105+. Behind Chacho in the 105+ and behind both Barry and Chacho in my heat. Beating Chacho and Barry isn't even a question. Those two doen't just beat me when we lift against eachother. They slaughter me!

I was really excited about the clean and jerks. My weightlifting coach has helped me make huge improvements in my jerks, which was my biggest weakness in weightlifting. I attempted a 110k on my first lift and nailed it, easy. On my second attempt I asked to go for a 120k. Same thing, coach almost died of shock, once he recovered he said, "A 10k increase is to much. what's your PR?"
 "120".
"Lets go for 118k this time. I'll let you go higher next time."
Nailed the 118K! I'm 5 for 5 so far. I've only had two 6 for 6 meets in 2 1/2 years, so things were already pretty exciting.
"Let's go for broke in the third lift coach! 125k!!"
I see coach thinking.....
"Go for 122k. That'll be a PR and you'll be in first by 2k."
This time it was my turn to be confused. 1st? 1st of what? I couldn't take the time to figure it out. The clock was counting down and it was my turn up. I nailed the 122k!

Turns out I took 1st place in both the 105+ and the heat. I also set 3 40-44 AG 105k+ New Mexico weightlifting records. I beat Chacho by 2k total. Chacho will be aging up next year to the 40-44 age group 105+ weight class, so that was huge! Next year will be exciting and heck of a big challenge. I've never done well enough at a weightlifting meet to look at others and think to myself "I want to lift better than this person or that person." Chacho's a beast. Next year will be a lot of fun! And, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I out lifted Barry Schroeder too. Out lifting Barry was on my bucket list for a long time now. I honestly didn't think I could ever do it. But today i did. It was a good day.

Adocare Spark for weightlifting

This is my one thousandth blog post! I'm pretty excited about that. I've been blogging about the sports I've been competing in for over almost 10 years. Ive tried and blogged about triathlon, duathlon, running, cycling, swimming, brazilian jiu jitsu, CrossFit, powerlifting, and now weightlifting. It's been an amazing journey.

I've been using Spark by Adocare when I train or compete the last couple months. I love it. It doesn't matter how long or intense my training day is I never run out of energy or start lifting crappy because of fatigue. No matter how tired I am when I get to the gym, once I start sipping on Spark I'm feeling great and ready to train!

When I first stated taking it I was just mixing it with water. It worked really well. But I didn't get the unlimited energy until I started mixing it with gatoraid and a half scoop of whey protein. Now that I'm mixing it I literally feel like I could lift forever without any loss of performance or ability.

As much as I love Spark for training it's made the biggest difference in weightlifting meets. I used to start to crash hard after the snatch's. During the clean and jerks I'd feel so fatigued I just couldn't produce the effort to get anywhere near the results I knew I was capable of. Since taking Spark I never fatigue during the clean and jerks. EVER!

It wasn't until today I felt the downside of Spark. I forgot my mixture or Gatorade, whey protein, and Spark at home. By the time I was three quarters of the way through my workout I ran out of energy big time! I was struggling fierce. Training without it after feeling bullet proof during training for so long sucked.

I've been buying Spark off of Ebay for awhile now. I think it's time to get membership to Advocare. Buying my Spark directly through Advocare will be much cheaper.

down 8 pounds!

This is the 999th post on my blog!

My nutrition coach is the bomb. Since re-hiring him I've lost 8 pounds! My short term goal is 307.9 pounds by the NASA powerlifting Grand Nationals on July 9th. I only have 6.2 more pounds to go and 7 weeks to do it! If I can get down to the 308 pound weight class my current totals would set 11 national and state records.

After the NASA Grandnationals in July is over, my next goal will be to get to the 275.5 pound weight class by the NASA Christmas classic on December 3rd.

close to working!

I got a call from my new boss. All my paperwork has been turned in. It should only be a week or two until I start working! I can't wait to start working. The retiree lifestyle is not for me.

Coach Joaquin spent some time helping me with my cleans last night. He told me once my form catches up to my strength I'll be able to clean and jerk a 140. That's motivating! The state games is this weekend. I'm looking forward to it. I'm hoping to hit that elusive 100k snatch and 125k clean and jerk. I've been shooting for a 100k snatch for the last 29 months. A 225 total would be a dream come true.

passed the test

OOn Saturday I passed the written test I'd failed earlier that week. I also passed the state and federal firearms tests. All I have to do is one more 16 hour block of training and a test to be able to start working. After I start working I have to get in 440 hours before the medical insurance kicks in. Once the medical insurance for my family kicks in at the new job everything will be fine. But until it does we're hurting. Medical insurance through the New Mexico retiree health care is $1,872 a month, my pension is $2000 a month take home. That leaves $128 a month for us to live on. I wasn't able to pay the mortgage this month. I never should have retired from the prison.

The New Mexico games is this weekend. I'll be competing in the 105+ 40-44 ag.

retiree health care costs

Thanks to Obama Care the cost of health insurance through the NM retiree health care has sky rocketed. Now that i retired from New Mexico the state health insurance for my wife, my three kids and I is $1,782 a month. After I pay my families health care I have $128 a month left from my pension. I'm currently training for my next job. My new employer is giving training when they have the time. It's sporadic at best. I usually have a week or more inbetween times they are able to offer me training. Until I can start working again we aren't able to pay our bills. We aren't able to pay our mortgage this month.

This week my new employer is training firearms. I've been shooting guns since I was 7 years old. So consequently I'm an exellent shot. Since shooting comes so naturally to me I'm not up to date with the book aspect and terminologies of shooting and firearms. So I failed a written test today. I have another shot to pass tomorrow. If I don't pass tomorrow's test I have to wait 90 days to test again. If i dont pass i dont work. Needless to say I'm freaking the hell out.

I'll post what questions I can remember here for shits and giggles. Its all off of memory, so the questions aren't and answers aren't perfect. There were a few true or false questions. But most of it is fill in the blank.

Questions:
1) What are the 4 general safety rules of firearms handling?
2) what are color codes of awareness and it's meaning?
3) what are the 7 fundamentals of handgun marksmanship?
4) what fundamentals is required when shooting at greater distances?
5) true or false, ballistics is the study of projectiles in motion
6) list the conditions of automatic pistol failure in order
7) what's a failure drill?
8) when you draw your weapon but not ready to shoot?
9) can't recall question
10) can't recall question
11) name two reasons to double tap?
12) name three of five factors that effect projectory?
13) name the three m's of something?
14) Can't recall question
15) name the two parts of a revolver?
16) name the two parts of an automatic pistol?
17) can't recall question
18) can't recall question
19) can't recall question
20) can't recall question

Answers
1) -The Gun Is Always Loaded
-Never Point The Gun At Something You Are Not Prepared To Destroy
-Always Be Sure Of Your Target And What Is Behind It
-Keep Your Finger Off The Trigger Until Your Sights Are On The Target
2) white- no awareness 
Yellow- casual scanning, general awareness
Orange- detenction, assessment 
Red-  decision, action
3) grip
Stance 
Sight picture
Sight alignment 
Breath control 
Trigger squeeze 
Follow through 
4) sight alignment 
Trigger control
5) true
6)  failure to feed
Failure to extract
failure to eject
7) 2 center mass, one to the head
8) low ready
9) weapon retention 
10) true
11) increase vital hits
Beat body alarm
12) -humidity 
-altitude 
- wind
-drag
-temperature 
13) marksmanship 
Manipulation 
Mental conditioning 
14) false
15) barrel/frame
16) slide/frame
17) true
18) false
19) yes
20) false

8 year old weightlifting

Today my 8 year old son started weightlifting at High Dessert Athletic Club. He did well and seemed to enjoy it. Coach Juaquin Chavez was wonderful with him.

Today was my first full day with my nutrition coach Barry Schroeder. It was wonderful eating for performance again. Although last time I got burned out pretty quick, I still have to say I missed it. This time i think eating for performance and weight loss will be easier. The program is a lot more flexible and easier to fit into my life.

My weight this morning was an all time high of 322.2.

back with my nutrition coach

Today I started working with a nutrition coach, Barry Schroeder. We'd worked together before earlier this year and I'd made the best strength and speed gains I've ever made. The nutrition program he has me doing now is going to be WAY more flexible and easier to fit into my life.

My first goal is to get to the 275lb weight class by the NASA powerlifting meet in July. That will make a little less than 2 pounds of weight loss needed a week.

My other athletic goals is to hit a 450lb squat, a 450lb deadlift, a 300lb bench press, a 100k snatch, and a 125k clean and jerk. There's no doubt in my mind I'll hit those numbers now that I've got my nutrition coach back.

unresonable goal setting

My biggest trouble in Athletics is goals. I find a goal to focus on and a month later I drop that one and move on to another goal. My old triathlon coach, Pete Alfino of Mile High Multi-sport coaching was the first one to tell me, "what my problem is". He was right. He usually was. He wasn't very good at presenting things in a way that was good for me. He was more of a this is what I think f#cking deal with and quit whining kind of coach. He pissed me off and hurt my feeling a lot, but he was usually right.


My goal for a long time was to drop to the 105k (232pound) weight class for olympic style weightlifting. It's actually a very good goal, but it's to big and would take to long to get to. So I'd get frustrated or bored and give up on weight loss and just focus on weightlifting.

I'm currently 319 pounds. I need a more attainable goal. My nutrition coach Barry Schroeder helped me find a goal that'll help me keep my motivation up and give me a short term win: i love to compete in NASA powerlifting competitions. I'm currently in the super heavyweight division. To drop into the next division I'd need to get to 307.9 pounds. The next NASA powerlifting meet is July 9th. That gives me a couple months to lose 10 pounds. 1.5 pounds a week. It's doable, won't take much time, and is motivational. At my current strength I could set 11 national and 30 New Mexico state NASA powerlifting records. Now that's motivating!

So, Barry and I are back at it. Trying to get my big fat butt to lose some weight. Here it goes....

NASA New Mexico state powerlifting championships report

Last night my 2 sons and I competed in the NASA New Mexico state powerlifting championships.

My 8 year old son, Cody James,  weighed in before the meet and the scale showed 55 pounds. Cody James competed in the unequiped powerlifting. He built up to a 20k squat, an 11k bench, and a 20k deadlift.

My 6 year old weighed in at 46 pounds. He competed in the bench only division and lifted 14k.

These were the weights I lifted. I set PR'S (personal bests) on the clean, squat, deadlift, and total. I tied my lifetime meet PR on the bench.
Clean 125 PR
Curl 55
Squat 200 PR
Bench 135
Deadlift 205 PR
Powerlifting total 540k (1,188 pounds) PR
Coefficient: 1.4522

 Iron Soul, the powerlifting team my boys and I are on won the state championships!

I set 10 national records and 11 state records:

1) power press- police division: PR clean, PR total, national and state record.
2) power press- open division: PR Clean, PR total, national and state record
3) power press- pure division: PR clean, PR total, national and state record
4) power sports- pure division: PR deadlift, PR total, national and state record
5) power sports- police division: PR deadlift, PR total, national and state record
6) power sports- master 1 division: PR deadlift, PR total, national and state record
7) Unequiped push/pull- pure division: PR Deadlift, PR total, national and state record
8) Unequiped push/pull- police division: PR deadlift, PR total, national and state record
9) Unequiped powerlifting- police division: PR deadlift, PR squat, PR total, national and state record
10) Unequiped bench- police division: PR, national and state record
11) Clean- pure division: PR total and state record

post competition hunger

I'm not nearly as sore today as I usually am the day after a weightlifting meet. But I'm hungrier than lice on a wig. I'm WAY more hungry than I usually am, even post meet. My muscles are really tired, not sore, but definitely tired. Coach Joaquin saw the fatigue and told me he's not going to let me squat the rest of the week so I'm prepared for my powerlifting meet this weekend. That's a fantastic coach right there. He knows my goals and adjusts things right away.

The 2016 High Dessert Spring invite weightlifting report

Today I competed in the 2016 HDAC Spring invite. I wasn't expecting to do well because I've been learning different weightlifting form for 2 weeks at a new weightlifting gym and a new coach. I think the new form is perfect for me, but until I have more time practicing the new form I was afraid there would be a bit of a learning curve. Plus yesterday I helped a friend move his powerlifting gym to a new location so my body was sore and fatigued from moving thousands of pounds of weight and equipment.

Somehow I still pulled off a 95k snatch which is only 1k below my all time best. For the clean and jerk I lifted a 120k on my third attempt, a 4k PR. It was also a New Mexico state record. My total was a 215k, also a New Mexico state record!

my first meet after a new coach and gym

I have a weightlifting meet this weekend. I've only been at my new weightlifting gym, High Dessert Athletic Club learning new and completely different form for a couple weeks. I think learning new form will eventually benifit my weightlifting, but I'm guessing there'll be a learning curve. I suspect I'll get worse for a while before I get better. I have no idea what to expect on Saturday. Best case scenario I reach the HUGE milestone of the 100's in the snatch and the 120's in the clean and jerk. Worst case scenario I don't lift well but I get more experience competing in weightlifting. It's a win win. A bit of a nerve racking experience, but a win win none the less.

6 days after the weightlifting meet I'll be competing in my third powerlifting meet, the New Mexico NASA state powerlifting championships. If all goes as expected I'll set 11 NASA national records, 11 state NASA records, and be the New Mexico state champion. The New Mexico NASA state powerlifting championships will be held on April 30th. Which is the last day I'll be employed by the state. On May 1st I'll be a retired correctional officer. Setting national and state records, what a great way to celebrate!

my new job makes me feel I'm being immoral

I'm being trained for my new job. Its a great paying job with incredible benifits. At first I thought I'd love this job, but as I'm learning more about it I've realized I'm not very comfortable with what I'm being asked to do there. They're telling me I need to confiscate people's personal property if they enter a certain area. Even if there are loop holes in the law that allows me to do it I just don't think it's right. I feel it violates Americans rights against illegal search and seizure. They're also telling me that I can detain people, by hamdcuffing them if necessary, until law enforcement arrives to arrest them. But I know in many areas if i detain someone without the legal right to arrest them I'd be guilty of false arrest and false imprisonment. My new employers aren't telling us what the laws are or if we'd be breaking the law doing what they are asking me to do. And since I'm a contract employee, not an employee of that agency I could be arrested or even sued personally.

Tomorrow after training I'm submitting a job aplication for one of my two dream jobs, ABF. This is the third time in the last year I've applied for this job.

figuring this weightlifting stuff out!

Today was the first time I felt like I knew what I was doing in regards to weightlifting. It's such a complicated sport! Today i even received a bunch of "atta boy Cody!" &"that was great" & "exactly like that"! Felt dang good. I'm thinking I'll hit 100k, 120k, 220k soon.

re-hiring my nutrition coach

The best results I've ever had weightlifting was when I was working with a nutrition coach. Usually when a person loses weight they lose strength too. The crazy thing was I was losing 2-3 pounds every week and STILL making unbelievable speed and strength gains.

I asked my former nutrition coach Barry Schroeder if he'd be willing to work with me again after I'm done training for my new career. He agreed. The major change I'm going to ask for compared to the last time we worked together is I occasionally want to stop losing weight and get onto a diet to maintain my weight. Trying to lose 80 pounds nonstop was just to overwhelming. There was no light at the end of the tunnel. After a couple months I'd lost 19 pounds, which was great. But dieting and being hungry for another 32 weeks just wasn't going to happen. I decided  I'd rather give up than suffer through that. This time i want to diet for a month, then eat a maintenance diet for a week. That would be much easier. That would make for more frequent goals to work for with the reward of being able to eat more at the end of that successful goal. By my estimation if I lose 10 pounds a month with a week of maintaining in between that will get me to my goal of 235 pounds in 10 months.

different form, state records, and national records

My first week training High Dessert Athletic Club I thought my form was bad and needed a lot of corrections. Now I've realized it's not that my form was poor, it's that the club I was at then and the club I'm at now teach different technique of the snatch and clean and jerk. Much different.

I'm learning the new technique quickly, but I'm pretty sure there will be a learning curve for me. I'll get worse for awhile before I get better.

My next competition will be at High Dessert Athletic Club on April 24th. I'm hoping to break the three state records I set in March of 96k, 116k, 212k.

 Then on April 30th, 6 days later, I'll be competing in the NASA New Mexico state championships powerlifting meet. If I compete well I'll set or break 11 national and state records in the following divisions for the SHW 40-44 ag:
1) power press- police
2) power press- open
3) power press- pure
4) power sports- pure
5) power sports- police
6) power sports- master 1
7) Unequiped push/pull- pure
8) Unequiped push/pull- police
9) Unequiped powerlifting- police
10) Unequiped bench- police
11) equipped powerlifting- open

working two jobs

May 1st will be my last day working at the prison, then i retire. Saturday was my first day of training for my new job. I'm attending training for my new career on my days off and in between shift of the prison. Between the penitentiary and my new job I'll be working 68 hours from Monday to Friday, plus 7 1/2 hours of drive time. Busy and exciting times.

My new career I'll be security for the federal buildings. I'll be spending the majority of my day walking or standing. It hurts being on my feet that many hours a day being as heavy as I am now. I need to lose some weight.

hardcore weightlifting at High Dessert Athletic Club in Albuquerque

Today I was still sore after two days of rest and recovery. My new coach is kicking my butt! It's pretty awesome. I've never been this sore from olympic style weightlifting before. I think this is what it would be like training with the Russians national weightlifting team.

Since I've started training at High Dessert Athletic Club with Juaquin in Albuquerque I've learned one very valuable lesson. Do the form right. Seriously. Because if I don't get it right I'll be doing that one rep over and over again until I do get it right. My first heavy set of 5 reps today turned into a set of 11 reps. By the end of the set I was drenched in sweat, my legs felt like they were on fire, and my arms were shaking. Apparently it's a good way to teach because I'll never forget how to do snatcg deadlifts again. It's BURNED into my brain, my legs, and arms. Seared into my muscle memory by lactic acid, sweat, and tears!

The training at HDAC has been so intense I started taking creatine monohydrate again to speed up my recovery. Seriously,  this is flippin' unbelievable. I've never trained like this before. It's awesome. Unbelievably awesome. 

form corrections

Recently I completed my 2nd day of training at High Dessert Athletic Club  (HDAC). Juaquin broke down and corrected my form in almost every exercise I did: snatch deadlifts, snatch pulls from the knees, cleans, jerks, and even back squats which I thought was great at. Oympic style weightlifting is mostly form, so I'm motivated and excited to fix my form deficiencies. Fixing my form will benifit my weightlifting quicker than speed or strength increases. But I'm also being pushed hard at HDAC. Really hard! So I'll also be putting on a tremendous amount of speed and strength while creating great form. The combination of those three will be exciting to experience. I was worried when I moved away from Santa Fe that I'd have to give up weightlifting. But so far I'm a happy weightlifter! I do have one big regret though. The best weightlifting increases I've ever made was late 2015 through February of this year when I had hired a nutrition coach. I can't help thinking, what kind of massive increases would I be making if I was still working with him? 

a new weightlifting gym

Now that I've moved away from Santa Fe I had to find a new weightlifting gym. There's not many weightlifting gyms in the U.S. There's even fewer with decent coaching. Moving to another city is usually weightlifting suicide. But thankfully New Mexico is a weightlifting meca. There's two great weightlifting coaches in this state. Only two you might ask? That's two more than most states have. Weightlifting is a fringe sport in America. It's growing in popularity, but there's still not a ton of interest, and even fewer decent coaches. In New Mexico the two great coaches I know of are my former coach Shane Miller of Miller weightlifting in Santa Fe and my new coach Juaquin Chaves of High Dessert Athletic Club (HDAC) in Albuquerque.

I'm going to miss my old coach like heck. He's a great man and  great coach. I was worried when I told him I wasn't going to be able to train with him and that I wanted to train at another weightlifting gym. His response was so supportive.

crazy busy

The last two weeks have been the busiest two weeks of my life.
- We purchased a new home in Albuquerque New Mexico and we moved.
-We sold our mobile home on penitentiary grounds.
- i filled out the paperwork to retire on April 30th 2016 after 21 years of service!
- I applied for a job in Albuquerque and was hired. As soon as i get approved for top secret clearance I'll go through 120 hours of training. Then I'll start my my new job.

quick weight loss, packing, and moving

In a couple days of eating low carb I've dropped from 316 pounds to 309.6 pounds. I've been sick since Saturday, so I'm sure some of my weight loss has to do with being ill. But still, I'll gladly take losing 7 pounds no matter what the reason.

We're moving into our new home tomorrow. Apparently moving the weekend of good Friday and Easter is a bad time to move. All but a couple of friends have bailed out of helping us. Moving sucks. Packing and moving an entire house of five people with only three helpers sucks much worse.

low carb diet for weightlifting and weight loss

Since Valentines day I gained all the weight back I had lost using a nutrition coach. I'm back up to 313.4 pounds. My body has always responded well to low carb diets. I usually feel great while I'm on them. The only problem I've ran into is that I struggle to finish weightlifting workouts when going low carb. The last time I played around with low carb I found that if I ate rice before my workout and drank Gatorade during my workout then I'd have the energy to finish the weightlifting workouts. The carbs before and during training didn't slow my weight loss much at all.

So, today is my first day back on a low carb diet. I'll report all things low carb, weight loss, and weightlifting here as I experience them

masters weightlifting and weight classes

From October through February I was motivated to eat right and lose weight. After 4 months I gave up.

The master's weightlifting national championships list of men was released. It shows everyone's age, weight class and qualifying lift. If I lifted the totals I hit last weekend at the HDAC Spring Break Invitational I'd be in 6th place in the 105+ weight class. If I lifted in the 105k weight class I'd of been in 5th place.  I think I could lift a 220k total. If I did a 220k that would put me tied in 4th place in the 105+ and a very strong 3rd place in the 105k weight class.

I'm really regretting my decision to stop dieting. I've gained 16 pounds since then and I feel like crap.

I figured out that if I was to lift in the 105k weight class next year I'd need to lose 85 pounds. 85 pounds in 54 weeks would be about 1.58 pounds a week average. That's doable.

The 2016 HDAC Spring Break Invitational Weightlifting meet report

On March 12th 2016 I competed in the HDAC Spring Break Invitational Weightlifting meet. I decided to do this meet last minute,  so I didn't taper. Even without a taper I knew I was much stronger than I was at my last weightlifting meet thanks to having worked with a nutrition coach from Oct-Feb. But during the last 18 months or so I haven't been able to conect any of my strength or speed increases to any decent lifts at meets. As a matter of a fact, I missed qualifying for the masters national weightlifting championships 8 times in the last 27 months.

I took my youngest son to his basketball tournament before my weightlifting meet. The game ran longer than I expected so I didn't have time to grab any food. I was worried about running out of energy after my snatches from not having food.

I felt great during warm ups. That was the first time in almost 18 months that I'd felt good and had decent form warming up for a weightlifting meet.

Coach Shane Miller set my first snatch at 86k. I made it easy. 2nd lift was a 91k. Shane told me if i made that lift i could attempt anything i wanted on my third. 2nd attempt was successful. On the third attempt I couldn't decide to go 96k or 98k. Shane said if I hit a 96 today I could shoot for a 100k at the next meet. I nailed the 96k no problem. Now that i nailed the 96k snatch I only had to lift a 111k clean and jerk to qualify for the ever elusive masters national weightlifting championships!

After the three snatches I started to warm up for the clean and jerk. I was running out of energy without anything to eat. A team mate of mine offered me a bagel. Man did that taste so good! My energy returned. He and his bagel probably saved my meet!

I was successful at my 1st and 2nd clean and jerks of 108k and 111k. The 111k qualified me for the masters national weightlifting championships!!!!!

Coach gave me the green light to attempt a 116k clean and jerk. A 116k would be a meet PR and tie a lifetime PR. I was successful! This was the first 6 for 6 meet I'd had in over a year and a half. It felt great to finally leave a meet feeling like I lifted to my full potential. I ended up breaking all 3 of the masters New Mexico state records, and of course qualifying for the master national weightlifting championships!

I'm going to see if coach Miller will let me lift again here in Santa Fe on April 23rd. I'd really like to attempt a 100k snatch and a 120k clean and jerk! Then after the April 23rd weightlifting meet I'm going to compete in the April 30th NASA N

retiring from corrections

I've worked at the penitentiary of New Mexico for the last 21 years.  I'm working on retiring. The only thing left to do for me to retire is sell my home on prison property.

I know. I've posted on my blog that I'm retiring multiple times. I'm just so excited it feels surreal. The more I talk about it to my my friends and family the more believable and less scary it is. So, here it is one more time: once I sell my mobile home on prison grounds I'm retiring. Holly crap! I'm retiring!

I've been taking a lot of vacation time the last couple months. There's one thing I know for sure. I may retire from one career, but I'll never stop working. I hate being home alone all day. I love to work. It gives me a feeling of belonging. I'd rather be stuck at the prison another two decades getting piss and shit coctails thrown in my face by angry inmates than be fully retired staying at home twiddling my thumbs.

training without coaches

I pulled a muscle in my back last week. Then today I woke up with a kink in my neck and my shoulder that's so bad I can barely move. I'm relatively certain it's because I had put on a tremendous amount of strength when I was working with my former nutrition coach Barry Schroeder. Now that I'm no longer having him help me with my nutrition I've been losing strength and explosiveness and I'm more injury prone. I flippin' miss working with him! He always got the best out of me.

I'll be moving to Albuquerque next month and I'm needing to find a place I can train at for the times I'm not able to drive all the way to Santa Fe to train with my team. 

On Sunday the family and I spent the night at my inlaws in Albuquerque NM and I had to find a place to train while I was there. I was also gym shopping. I called everywhere trying to find a gym that had drop plates, a bar that spinds, and is open on Sundays. There were none. But the owner of Iron Soul Gym told me he'd be willing to meet me at his gym on his day off to make sure I got my workout in. How cool was that?

It was so much different training without a coach and by myself. I'm used to training with a bunch of athlete's who also also love olympic style weightlifting. I missed the comeradery of the Miller Gym but the Iron Soul Gym was pretty awesome. It has 24 hour access, weights and bars that can be used for olympic style weightlifting, the membership is supet cheap, and the owner was super cool. I've found where I'm training at when I'm not able to drive to Santa Fe. The Iron Soul Gym.

my next weightlifting competition

Looks like I have a couple different options for my next weightlifting meet. I could compete on March 12th at the High Dessert Athletic Club in Albuquerque or i could compete on April 23rd at The Miller Gym in Santa Fe. Since my training may be inconsistent for awhile after we close on our new home in Albuquerque and we move I'm thinking I should do the earlier weightlifting meet in March.

It's no secret I've done piss poor at all my weightlifting meets the last 18 months. I've become more and more frustrated. I've hit a 100k snatch and a 120k clean and jerk for a 220k total in practice, but my best lifts at a meet has only been a 92k & a 116k.

The 2016 USPA High Dessert regional powerlifting championships

On February 27th 2016 I competed in the USPA High Dessert regional powerlifting championships held at Duke City Strength in Albuquerque New Mexico.

I took a couple weeks off right before the meet so I was expecting to lift poorly. But, somehow I still pulled off a few lifetime PR'S and a meet PR. I think most of my accomplishments at the meet had to do with having someone there to coach me who was knowledgeable and motivational. Vernon Smith coaches out of Grow Strong which is a weightlifting, powerlifting, and strong man gym. I met him at a few olympic style weightlifting meets. Then in December 2015 he was coaching some of his athletes at a NASA powerlifting meet. I didn't have a coach there, it was my first powerlifting meet. I was completely lost, out of my realm, and overwhelmed. Vernon asked if I wanted him to coach me. He saved my meet. He offered to coach my best friend and I at the 2016 US powerlifting association High Dessert regional powerlifting championships. I knew we were in good hands with Vernon.

I entered the classic raw division because the weights I'd be lifting would break all the masters 40-44 AG 308lb classic raw state records. Even though I entered the classic raw division and I could have wrapped my knees, which is a lifting advantage, I opted out of wrapping my knees. I've never trained with my knees wrapped, and at a meet isn't a good time to try something new.

I ended up successfully lifting a meet PR 130k (286lb) bench and lifetime PR's of a 190k (418lb) squat, a 197.5k (435lb) deadlift, and a 517.5k (1,138.5lb) total. I took first place in the 40-44 AG, 308lb, classic raw division. And a Wilks of 292.182.

Turns out I had to tell the meet director before my lifts that I was attempting state records. So even though the weights I lifted were state records USPA won't count my lifts as state records.

back to training and competing

Yesterday was my first day back in the gym in a couple weeks. I have a powerlifting meet this weekend, The 2016 USPA regional powerlifting championships. The timing couldn't be worse.

 I know, I know. What's an olympic style weightlifter doing competing at a powerlifting meet? Truth is I love training weightlifting more than I've ever loved training any other sport, but I'm not that fond of weightlifting meets. Where as I LOVE powerlifting competitions, but not that fond of powerlifting training. Thankfully olympic style weightlifting training transfers very well into powerlifting meets. Plus, my best friend and I are doing this together. He and I have done a all sorts of awesome competitions together. From Triathlons, jui jitsu tournaments, marathons.... you name it, we've done it.

The good news is my lifting felt pretty good considering how much time I'd taken off. Things didn't feel that much heavier. I did fatigue quicker than usual, but all things considered I'll take that over a loss of strength any day. I'm not tapering for the powerlifting meet. The one good thing about being a super heavyweight weightlifter in my 40's is I rarely have anyone else in my age group and weight class. With rare exception all I gotta do to win my division is show up. My goals this weekend is a 140k (308lb) bench, 185k (407lbs) squat, 190k (418lbs) deadlift, 515k total (1,133lbs). Not great numbers, but not bad for only my 2nd powerlifting meet.

nightmare 2 weeks

Man have things been stressful. I'm buying a new homowe, selling the home we have, I'm retiring from my career of over 21 years, I'm job searching, attempting to put my kids in a new school in another city, my Suburban broke down for the third time in 4 weeks, and I got word my favorite aunt's cancer has returned. Her cancer is terminal. We drove to Lubbock last weekend to say goodbye. While there we stayed with my cousin and ate what they served. Yet another weekend of not doing what I'm supposed to diet wise.

The last 12 days I stopped working out and I stopped working with my nutrition coach. I regret making the decision to no longer work with my nutrition coach. He was awesome in every way. I've gotten the best results in weightlifting I've ever had working with him while simultaneously losing weight. But I'll be moving soon and I know there's no way in hell I'll be able to stay on the diet wagon during the transition period from one home to another. It doesn't  make sense to work with a nutritionist if there'll be a 1-2 week period that I know I won't follow any diet plan. Plus I felt like every weekend I was full of excuses about why I didn't follow the diet. They were legitimate, but still excuses get old and there's nothing I hate more than feeling like I'm letting someone down.

moving, retiring, and change

I really hate change. I'm like an old person in that way. That's probably my best and worst personal trait. It makes me loyal, but it also makes me a huge pain in the butt. There's a massive amount of change coming in my near future. We're buying a new home. We'll be selling a place I love and have lived happily for the last 13 years. We'll be moving to a city I don't like much, Albuquerque NM. I'll be retiring from the prison I've worked at and loved for 21 years. I'll be getting another job with potentially better pay, but still it's.... change..... I'm a wreck right now.

I've been struggling with weightlifting for a couple months. I should be lifting a lot more than I am. My speed and strength have increased a ton, but the weights I'm lifting haven't increased. The problem is my form. I've been frustrated enough that I've been contemplating switching to powerlifting. The only things that had stopped me from changing sports was that olympic weightlifting has one of the lowest injury rates of all sports, powerlifting's injury rate is pretty high; I felt I was on the verge of getting some pretty big numbers before getting in my slump; I recently lifted a 100k snatch. That's a pretty good lift for someone in their 40's. I'm like %75 certain I'll stick with weightlifting., try to work my way out of this slump.

Once i move to Albuquerque it'll be a two hour round trip drive to the Miller Gym. Add a two hour long workout, that's 4 hours, four times a week to train. The Miller Gym is worth it. Coach Shane Miller is one of the best programmers in the nation. And I love the people I lift with. I feel a tremendous amount of camaraderie with them. It's rare to find such a close knit team. I'm going to try like hell to continue to train there. I'm hoping I'll be able to adjust my schedule to fit 4 hours of training and driving everyother day after work, but with 3 kids involved in sports after school, and my wife working full time while taking 14 credit hours of college classes in the evenings, I'm not sure how I'll be able to. Change sucks.

houses, retirement, hunger, and weight loss

This weekend my wife and I placed a bid on a house. We'll find out today the sellers response. Unfortunately the house in in Albuquerque. I hate Albuquerque. But my wife loves it there,  and I want to make her happy. If the bid is accepted, the next step is to sell the trailer at the prison, then retire. I can't believe I may be leaving the prison. This place and the people working here have always been the one constantly in my life. It's been my security blanket. I'm sure it sounds ridiculous, but the prison is the one place I've always been accepted and appreciated, it was the first place I've ever felt like was home, the closest thing in my life to family was the the staff at the prison. I'm scared to death to leave.

I had told my sports nutrition coach I was really hungry last week. He told me that my body would adjust to the new calories. I didn't believe him. I've said it 100 times in the three months I've worked with him, but he was right. I'm still losing weight,  I'm still making strength gains, and my hunger has dissipated. This guys a flippin' nutrition genius. I'm so grateful to have him helping me. My only regret was not hiring him earlier.

a leap of faith

My last post stated I'm going to retire from the prison. I figured that deserved a bit more detail.

 I used to make fun of inmates who acted so big and bad, but the minute they were close to being released they'd turn into a wide eyed whiny coward. I've been eligible to retire for 8 months. And I'm afraid of leaving! Turns out I'm as institutionalized and afraid as they are. Haha! 

A couple days ago I received a call from an old friend of mine. He retired from the prison I work at last year. He's been working for a company in Albuquerque since September. He loves it. He said he could get me hired on there too. The starting pay is more than i make at the prison, and I've worked at the for prison 21 years! They have medical, and there's overtime available. Its to good of an opportunity to pass up!

Step one: buy a home, we currently live on the prison grounds.
Step two: sell our mobile home that's on the prison grounds.
Step three: get hired some where else, preferably where my buddy works. I won't leave the prison without another job. You know what they say, its easier to find a job when you have a job. I'll never actually retire. You know, sit at home, not work, watch tv all day. That's not for me. I find a lot of satisfaction from working. I'll be the kind of guy who works until the day i die.
Step four: retire from the prison. Wow. I can't believe I'm taking that leap of faith! I never thought I'd do it. There's a couple guys at the prison who started when they were young, they've both been there 35+ years now. I thought for sure that's what I was going to do too.

There's something about doing this that makes me miss my parents. I'd like nothing more than to be able to call them up and share this amazing moment in my life with them.

time to retire

I was eligible to retire from the prison back in May 215. After much deliberation I've decided it's time to retire. Since we live on prison grounds, similar to having on base military housing, the first step to retiring is to buy a home. I'm wanting to live in Santa Fe New Mexico or New Hampshire. My wife wants to live in Albuquerque New Mexico. After we buy a home I'll get another job, then retire. I'm in shock. I can't believe this is happening.

back squat personal best and chronic fatigue

Usually after a peak performance it takes awhile to rebuild fitness. So I was happy hitting a 90k/110k today in training. That's a pretty good place to start for the olympic lifts this early in a program. What surprised me was that I also lifted a lifetime person best of a 182k (400 lbs)back squat and I had plenty left in the tank. I could of gone heavier. I'm a heck of a lot better at the powerlifting lifts than I am at the olympic lifts. The olympic lifts are so much more complicated. They're more of a mental game.

I'm struggling with fatigue. My work week routine has been pretty hard. After I get off work at 6am I'll sleep for a little over 3 hours. I'll wake at 9:45am and go to the gym to train. Then I'll go back home and try to nap until my kids get home. Going back to sleep is usually next to impossible. By the end of the week I'm usually a wreck. The first day of my weekend i usually sleep for 11 1/2 hours. My 2nd day off I'll take a 2-3 hour nap. I'm not sure how much longer I can keep this up. My gym is the best gym in the world. They have the best weightlifting coaching in the world, and my weightlifting team is like family.  But the gym's hours are hard for me since I work from 6pm-6am. They close from 1pm-4pm, so I have to wake up half way through my sleep to get my training in. This schedule is taking it's toll on my body. I feel chronically fatigued. I wonder how much of my obesity problems has to do with not getting enough sleep.

calorie deficit and Discount Tires review

I hired a sports nutrition coach a few months ago to help more get better results from my training and to help me to get to the 105k weight class. Since getting help from him with my diet I've had the best gains I've ever had. Its amazing to me, I'm getting better results now at 40 years old than I did in my twenties. My only regret is I didn't hire a good nutrition coach sooner. In addition to performing better I've lost 17 pounds. Every couple weeks he's dropped my calories just a little more to see how my body handles training with the new caloric deficit. Thus far my training and performance has still been phenomenal. But this whole week I've been really hungry!

I've purchased my car tires from Discount Tires as long as I've been driving. 24 years now. I've never even thought about going anywhere else. When i need tires I go there. It's just habit. Over the years they've become more aggressive in their sales tactics. The last few years I've gone there it's like being on a used car lot. They'll do or say anything to force me to buy new tires immediately, even throwing out guilt tactics, insults, and outright lying. The last time I went there for a tire rotation they sent two salesmen one after another to try to talk me into buying. When that didn't work they sent the assistant manager. Then he sent his boss. I'm not sure if it's just the two Discount Tires here in Santa Fe that is like that or if it's everywhere, but i won't ever step foot in their store again. They've lost a life long customer.

blog hits

Last month I had one of the highest number of hits on my blog for any month. I'm surprised. I've done some pretty awesome things that I've blogged about before and they didn't generate nearly the number of hits as last month. It feels like last month I just wrote about..... struggling. Struggling with my weight, falling off the diet wagon, my natural father, my horrible taper......I've blogged about some pretty awesome things before. I'm curious why last month generated more traffic than any month in 2006. 2006 was the most amazing year of my athletic career: In 10 months a raced in 16 triathlons and a half marathon. 2 of the triathlons were half irons, one of those was the 70.3 world triathlon championships. That year I rode my bicycle unsupported from Santa Fe New Mexico to Hobbs New Mexico, 330 miles through mountains, plains, and desserts. In December of 2006 i raced in a triathlon on Saturday taking top 3, drove 6 hours, them competed in a half marathon the next morning taking top 3 in my division again. These are the things in my life I contemplate.

chaotic day

Today was a rough day. My daughter got sent home from school during the time I'm usually training, so I missed my workout. The check engine light came on in my Suburban. I only was able to get 3 hours of sleep. I was really hungry all day.

The good news is I got to the gym a couple hours before work and I got in a great workout. A workout that usually takes me 1 hour 50 minutes took only 1hour 10 minutes. I pushed HARD to get it done in time. My legs were trashed! It felt great. I still got to work on time with a couple minutes to spare. After 21 years working at the prison I've only been late 4 times. My streak continues. The other good news is I've lost 5.8 pounds in the last 7 days. Most of that was probably water weight from eating like crap while being on vacation. But still, I'm on track to getting to the 105k weight class. 16 pounds lost, 72 more to go.

weightlifting competitions vs training

I was explaining to someone how different weightlifting is from powerlifting. How many times have us weightlifters had that conversation? I told him powerlifting builds massive strength, weightlifting builds strength, but it also builds explosiveness, speed, coordination, and balance. But the biggest difference between the two sports is that I can get a difficult lift in powerlifting by force of will and motivation. In weightlifting an athlete can have all the strength, motivation, speed, and explosiveness needed to make a lift, but if he/she doesn't have perfect form they will miss the lift.

I LOVE weightlifting training. I enjoy it more than I've ever enjoyed training for any other sport in my life. But I've realized i don't have the same passion for weightlifting competitions that I do for the training. I  think the reason I don't enjoy the meets as much as the training is that it is a thinking person's sport. All the sports I've ever tried I've become successful at because of my passion, my excitement, and emotion. Getting really pumped up and emotional for football, ground fighting, running, crossfit, cycling, powerlifting, or triathlon helps in those sports. Forcing an adrenaline dump for a lift in weightlifting doesn't work unless it also comes with perfect form. How do you keep great form while the pressure is at its highest? By focus. The more intelligent you are, the easier it is to think through a lift. Truth is, I'm a really passionate and emotional person,  but I'm a bit lacking in the intelligence department. And this is without a doubt a thinking man's sport. I think that's why I've walked away from almost every one of my weightlifting tournaments frustrated.

So, after flip flopping dozens of times in the last month alone I've finally decided that even if I qualify, I'm not going to go to the Master's national weightlifting championships in Savannah Georgia. It just doesn't make sense to spend that much money on travel expenses for something I'm not that suited for. I still enjoy it enough to compete locally. But why spend that much money to travel to a meet when I can be just as disappointed and frustrated right here in my own backyard.

Am I the only one who thinks it's odd that I enjoy powerlifting competitions more than weightlifting competitions, but i enjoy training for weightlifting much MUCH more than training for powerlifting?

And all is right in the world again

Today I was back in the gym and did my first good day of training in almost 30 days. Dang it felt SO good! It immediately put me back in a great mood. Before my workout my coach Shane Miller pulled me aside and had a talk with me about my meet. He told said a lot of motivational things. But the one thing that stuck was that the form on my snatches improved drastically from my meet in October. I didn't believe him, so he showed me pictures of the meet. He was right. My form looked pretty good.

I started a new program today. I was really excited to see I'll be training 4 times a week every other week. I've been wanting to get to 4 days a week for a long time, but my body would break down every time I tried it on my own. The program is a 10 week program. It wasn't until I got home and looked at the calender that I realized the program has a perfect timed taper and peak for the Masters National Championships. I'd decided for money reasons I wasn't going to the Masters Nationals, but my wife is pushing for me to go. So we made a deal. If I can hit a 100k snatch and a 120 clean and jerk by the nationals, then I'll go. If I can't get one, the other, or both then I wont go. I can't believe I've made a decision about it. I'd been going back and forth for months. Did you notice yesterday i virtually swore I'd NEVER compete again, and now I'm contemplating flying across the country to compete That's what a great motivator my coach is, and what a supportive and encouraging wife I have.

hunger after competing

Yesterday I competed in The 2nd annual John Davis memorial weightlifting meet. Today i have been SO hungry! That usually happens to me the day after a race or weightlifting meet. I've tried all tricks to not be hungry. Drinking a lot of water, drinking coffee, going on walks. Nothing was able to stem my hunger. Thankfully i got called into work for a 12 hour shift. The post I got called into I'll only have the food i packed, there's no place to buy anything. If it wasn't for that I garentee I'd of fallen off the diet wagon.

That's not the only hunger I woke up with today. I want to get back to training so bad! My last decent workout was December 19th, then i did the longest dang taper of my life! It's been 29 days since I've done a weightlifting program. I can't wait to get a barbell in my hand! Did you notice i didn't say I'm ready to compete in a weightlifting meet again? I said i cant wait to train. Weightlifting competitions could suck my big fat hairy toe.

The 2nd annual John Davis memorial weightlifting meet report, January 16th 2016

Yesterday, January 16th 2016, I competed in The 2nd annual John Davis memorial weightlifting meet. I was needing a successful meet to qualify for the 2016 master's national weightlifting championships. I failed. Again. It's been my ultimate goal for the last 19 months to qualify. And no matter how amazing training has been, no matter how much more weight I've been lifting in practice, my meets have been dismal, and the master's national weightlifting championships have eluded me.

I hit a 100k snatch in training a few weeks ago. I BARELY lifted a 91k snatch at today's meet. Since I only lifted a 91k snatch I HAD to successfully lift a 116k clean and jerk on my last attempt. I missed it. I missed it badly. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't broken hearted. I know, there's very little worse than a sore loser, so I'm trying like hell to not make this a pity party. But crap. This sucks. I could hit a 230k total in practice, but can't hit a 207k in a meet? Seriously!?! I'm pissed about how crappy i lifted, that i missed qualifying for the national championships for the 6th time, that my peak was three weeks before my meet, that my third lifts were 91 & 116 so i had to go 6 for 6 to qualify, and also that I was the heaviest person competing there today. I was the heaviest by more than 70 pounds! That would be understandable if I was one of the strongest or most muscular lifters there, but I'm not even close.

My top lifts of the day was:
91k snatch
112k clean and jerk
203 total

On a positive note, I love weightlifting more than any other sport I've ever tried. I'd be happy training the rest of my life in weightlifting. A successful meet is just icing on the cake. But its been a long time since I've had a successful meet. A very long time.

May 2015 got sick the week of the meet
July 2015 sick again!
Oct 2015 missed a snatch I've hit in practice dozens of times
Jan 2016 missed an easy jerk

My last decent meet was 12 months ago. The good news is I get to train on Monday. Did I mention how much I love to workout when it's weightlifting?

logging and preparing food prevents sick leave use

My nutrition coach set a goal for me to hit for each of the 3 macro-nutrients each day. Right now my goals are 300 grams protein, 240 grams carbs, 115 grams fat. To hit each of these macro goals it's paramount that I log every meal for the entire day as soon as I wake up. Logging everything usually takes me 30-45 mimutes. That's not even including the preparation of those meals. One of the unexpected benefits of this is that it prevents me from using sick leave. Around noon on Thursday I wanted to call in sick that night. I wanted to hang out with the family, take an extra day off from the prison to prepare for the weekends weightlifting meet. But I'd already logged and prepared all my food to last until 6am (I work nights). If I called in sick I'd be going to sleep when my wife did, approximately 10pm. It would be way to much of a hassle and way to complicated to try to figure out what I'd ate so far, and what i'd need to change the next few meals to hit my numbers for the day. And even if I decided to attempt that, what would I do with the meals I'd already made with a specific amount of macro's in each one? Those meals wouldn't hit the days numbers because I'd be going to sleep 8 hours earlier. I knew hiring a sports nutrition coach would help me get into a lower weight class for weightlifting, help me perform better, and perhaps be sexier for my wife, but I never would of guessed that it prevents sick calls too.

fears and goals of the future

My #1 goal in life is to retire with dignity. I grew up extremely poor. The kind of poverty rarely seen in the US outside of the deep south, which is where I grew up. I was usually hungry. I'd have to eat paper in school to make the hunger pains subside. I got one pair of shoes a year from a 2nd hand store, if I out grew them I'd have to cut the toes off the end so my toes could poke out the front. To survive i taught myself to hunt and skin squirrels, frogs, snakes, ducks, and rabbits with a bb gun and a pocket knife at 7 years old. I was homeless in my teens. My greatest fear is to end up having to live the same in old age as i did when i grew up. I've stayed at the same government job my entire adult life so i could earn a pension. I was eligible to retire from that job last year. I've worked really hard the last decade to pay off all of my wife's debt. We became debt free last year. The last year has been great to my family and I. Since we became debt free I've been putting as much as we can afford into a savings account for a down payment for a home, and investing in a ROTH IRA. For the first time in my life I'm not afraid of my future. I've done what I needed to do to ensure my wife and I can retire with dignity. We did most of this thanks to knowledge I gained through a book, The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. I've been thinking about buying a bunch of copies of that book for my friends and family. I could change the future, the legacy, of the people I care about most by simply buying them a book. So, if I know you, and i care about you, be expecting the book The Total Money Makeover sometime in 2016. If I don't know you, buy the book. You won't regret it.

mental focus

I struggle staying focused. I'll set an athletic goal that's motivational. I'll be unbelievably dedicated until I get close to my event, then i loose focus and start dreaming of my next athletic endeavor. I'm doing that now. I've been trying to qualify for the Master's Weightlifting National Championships for 25 months now. I am really close to accomplishing that goal this Saturday. Instead of focusing on THIS weightlifting meet I keep dreaming of starting my next training cycle. Wondering how much better I'll do now that I'm getting a proper amount of sleep. Contemplating if hiring a nutrition coach and eating healthy will help me continue to get the big gains like it has the last couple months. I'm preoccupied with this years state games. I'm obsessed if I can get to a 500 lbs squat and a 400 pounds bench press. I'm wondering if I can surpass Dominic or Barry in the snatch, clean and jerk, or total this year. I'm not sure why I end up losing focus when I'm close to accomplishing big goals. But I do.

mental toughness and blog names

I've been contemplating changing the name of my blog. I came up with the perfect blog name: podium quest. Turns out the blog name is already taken. Should i keep the name memoirs of an olympic weightlifter? Got any ideas for me? Please share.

I felt great in the gym today. I guess a large part of my problem was mental. It was caused by not sharing my feelings on my taper and peak with my weightlifting coach. That surprised me. I've always felt I was mentally and emotionally stronger than that. The only other time in my life that my athletic performance was hurt because of something mental was back in 2007. I was training for my first Iron distance triathlon, The Silverman full distance triathlon. That year my step dad died, i had a poor triathlon coach, I was over training, my wife racked up a staggering amount of debt, and i was forced to work 90 hour work weeks. That year I suffered my only DNF of my triathlon career of 86 races. With all the things happening to me in 2007 I feel it was understandable to fall apart. But what's happened the last couple weeks was a pretty small thing to come unraveled over. I'm disappointed in myself. I'm just thankfull the solution was easy. Simply talk to my weightlifting coach about it. He was so receptive and understanding. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

communicating with coaches and money

The last few days I weighed 308. I weighed 303 this morning. My weight is like powerball numbers, you have no clue what theyre going to be.

I've been horrible in the gym the last week. It's because I peaked a few weeks ago. Most people lose some strength and speed after they peak. But I don't lose a little,  I crash and burn. I straight up fall apart! This isn't surprising at all. I've known my body does this since I first started triathlon training way back in 2004. Timing my peak is the most important thing for me and my athletics endeavors. My weightlifting coach didn't know this. You know why he didn't know? Because I didn't tell him that's why. I've wanted to tell him, but i wasn't sure how. What was mostly on my mind was not making waves. I love my gym. It's one of the few pure weightlifting gyms in the nation. And the Miller Gym is the most awesome place I've ever trained. All of the coaches are incredible. Coach Shane is one of the best program builders in the nation. The other members who train there are more than just like minded athletes who also love olympic style weightlifting. We're a team. A really close team. I haven't felt a team spirit like this since my days of playing football.  I guess deep down I was just worried I'd accidentally ruffled some feathers and be asked to leave. It was an absurd fear. Coach Shane approached me today & asked me a long list of questions, trying to diagnose what was up with me and my crap performance recently. I finally broke down and told him what was up. He seemed relieved, "oh, ok. That's an easy fix. I can adjust your program for that." Seriously?  It was that easy? Dang it!

Shane's always been very approachable. Always willing to listen and work with people. I don't know why the heck I was so anxious talking to him. Once I finally bared my soul to him everything was fixed. Bam, that easy. I feel really stupid.

I got paid on Friday. It was a check with almost no overtime. We still had enough money to pay all our bills and also enough left to save some for a down payment for a home. I know that doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but we struggled something horrible for a long time. There was one Chistmas, in 2011, we didn't have enough money to buy our kids presents. Imagine how hard it would be to tell your kids Santa Claus isn't coming this year. I've had a lot of time at home with the family recently. I'm playing catch up with all the time I missed with the family when I was working 80-90 hours a week. I've taught my kids how to ride a skate board, play the game go fish, and I've been shopping for a guitar so we can all learn to play music together.  It's amazing to me how much more appreciative I am now for the good times after we struggled so much for so long. I am so grateful to be through the rough patch and enjoying  the good times now. The last few months may have been the best 3 months of my life. 

a weigtlifting taper, weight gain, and an absentee Dad

My weightlifting meet is on Saturday. I'm really looking forward to it. Unfortunately my peak was three weeks ago. This taper was just too dang long to hold onto any significant strength. I feel like crap. That sucks big balls, but i think i still have enough in the tank to qualify for the master's national championships.

After hiring a nutrition coach I lost 18 pounds in 9 weeks. Then the family and I drove to Las Vegas to visit my half brother for a week. I came back weighing 310 pounds, gaining back half the weight I lost in 9 weeks of dieting. That sucks big balls too. But i gotta stick with it. I want to apply for a job at UPS or FEDEX, and it's doubtful they'd hire a guy as fat as me to do such a vigorous and hard job.

While visiting my half brother in Nevada I found out that my natural father and my step mom had gone on a really long road trip to visit all their kids for Christmas. They drove from Truth Or Consequences New Mexico to Denver Colorado to visit my Dad's step son for a few days, then drove from Denver to Las Vegas Nevada to spend a few days with their son there. They didn't come visit me. Hell, he didn't even call the kids or I. They live less than 3 hours away from me. I've only seen my Dad once in the last 2 years, and that was for less than a 90 minute visit. He made it absolutely clear he couldn't get out of there quick enough. I realise I was a really fucked up kid who wasn't easy to get along with. But I've worked really hard to turn myself into a loving and dedicated husband, an involved and patient father, a good hearted man who's compassionate, responsible, trustworthy, and loyal. It breaks my heart that he wont take the time to know the man who I grew up to be, because I think i turned into a good one. And what hurts worse is that my kids have to pay for it. They're growing up not knowing anyone from my side of the family. And they are the only innocent ones in this situation. They're beautiful and perfect. But he's not willing to get to know him either.

graveyard shift, weightlifting, and a supportive spouse

I've been working nights since my 1st son was born in 2007, so I've become relatively accustomed to graveyard shift. When I took my 3 week vacation, in Dec-Jan, I got used to sleeping at night. I'm having a heck of a time re-acclimating. I'm struggling to sleep during the days. I've also been struggling because I peaked a few weeks ago. This taper has been way to long. I've felt like crap in the gym. In a week I'll be competing in The 2nd annual John Davis memorial classic weightlifting meet. This is a horrible time for this to be happening. I've been training the last couple years with the goal of qualifying for the 2016 master's national championships. This is my shot. I don't want it to get screwed up.

Even though I desperately want to qualify for the masters national championships, if I qualify it's doubtful I'll travel and compete in it. I've been saving for a down payment for a house that's big enough for each of my kids to have their own bedroom. It'll cost a lot to travel to Savanna Georgia where the masters will be held. I can't do both. When my wife heard I'm wanting to put my weightlifting goals on hold until we get a home she got really upset. She wants me to go and compete. She knows how much the master's national championships means to me and how long I've been working towards that goal. She's unbelievably supportive. Getting my kids into a house, having a down payment large enough to be able to afford the monthly payments, and avoiding PMI is much more important to me. But seriously, how cool is it that my wife is willing to put those goals on hold for me? She's an amazing spouse. I'm a lucky man.

quest for a body weight snatch

A week ago I lifted a 100k snatch. My previous best was only 92k. I was so surprised, and just as happy! It wasn't until today that I realized 100k is 220 pounds, & if I was to get to a healthy body weight of say, 230 pounds (105k) I'd be very close to a body weight snatch. A body weight snatch is a really big accomplishment in olympic style weightlifting.  There's only a few people in my weightlifting specific gym who can do a body weight snatch. It's such a big deal that the owners of the gym have a steak dinner every year for anyone in the body weight snatch club. There's only one other time I've found a goal this exciting. That's when I decided I wanted to become an Ironman, finishing a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, & 26.2 mile run. I lost 120 pounds for that goal. I'm so pumped up! This was exactly the type of motivation I was needing to make taking care of myself a priority in my life.

I've put up a new page at the top of my blog to keep track of my goal of A BODY WEIGHT SNATCH!

back from vacation

I did pretty well eating while out of town. I only over ate once at an all you can eat buffet at Circus Circus. FYI, they have the best corn dogs I've ever had in my life! I probably ate 6 of them!

I didn't work out once while on vacation. I just enjoyed my wife and kids. It was the best vacation I've had in my life. Life is grand!

6 minutes after I got home work called me in. I worked 2 sixteen hour shifts in 40 hours. I didn't have any food prepared to eat so I had to eat out of the vending machines for two days. That sucked.

I weighed in on Sunday at 310. Before I left on vacation I weighed 301.

Today was my first day back into the gym. I thought I'd feel out of rhythm and feel weak, but I felt great. I'm tapering. My big competition, The 2nd annual John Davis memorial weightlifting meet is next Saturday.

dieting while out of town

My family and I are on our way to Las Vegas Nevada. We're not going there the same reason most people do, we're going to visit my half brother and my step-brother. I was afraid that while we were in Las Vegas I was going to become frustrated with dieting and give up like I almost did during Christmas break. I figured the only way I can be sure I wouldn't throw in the towel is to figure out why Christmas break was so disheartening for me. I think the reason is that i was trying to eat perfectly, eat only the food I packed and brought with me. When I didn't have the will power to say no to all the amazing food I became so frustrated I almost gave up. I've decided I won't do that while on vacation. I'm going to eat the food I want, but will try and eat in moderation. As long as I don't binge eat the next 4 days I'll consider my diet while on vacation a success. But no matter how I do,  I'll get back on my diet when I get back.

support and weightlifting

Since I hit a lifetime PR on the snatch yesterday I've been on cloud 9. I never believed I'd get to a 100k snatch at all, much less this quickly.  Especially since I didn't start weightlifting until I was 38 years old. When I was attempting to max yesterday I ran out of energy half way through. One of my training partners had a particularly long and grueling training day, yet he still gave me his Cliff bar even though he obviously was going to need it to get through his workout. Coach Erik saw me miss a few of my lighter attempts so he watched the rest my lifts and helped me with my form. All that help made me think of how much support it takes to be an olympic weightlifter. For me, in addition to the obvious, like my wife adjusting her schedule to watch my three young children anytime I'm wanting to train. There's also the half dozen coaches and athletes who help me with form and advice every single time I'm in The Miller Gym. And of course my nutrition coach who has made the adjustments I needed to make the biggest gains I've ever made in a two month period. Weightlifting is the most amazing sport I've ever competed in. But it takes more support than any sport I've ever done too. I'm blessed enough to have such an amazing support system around me. I'm a lucky man.

I've decided that if I qualify for the 2016 master's national weightlifting championships I'm going. I'll have to sell my triathlon bike, road bike, race wheels,  And wet suits to be able to afford it. But if I qualify,  I'm going!

Christmas and dieting

I did everything I needed to prepare to eat well on Christmas eve and Christmas. I made and logged all my food. I brought all my prepared food with me to my in-laws house. But once I saw all the amazing food I fell off the diet wagon somethin' horrible! This morning I was frustrated. I was close to giving upon dieting and just staying obese the rest of my life. For breakfast I ate exactly what I wasn't supposed to, cinnamon toast with butter. Eating like that is exactly what got me to 318 pounds. Then I went to the gym and set a lifetime personal best snatch of 100k! In the last 3 months I've put 12k onto my snatch. The most I'd put on in the same period before this was 5k. I realize the gains I've made is because the diet my sports nutrition coach put me on and that I almost gave up on. Talk about motivation! Once I got home I ate a healthy and moderate servings of baked sweet potato and chicken breast.

carbs on training days and vacation

I have 250 grams carbs to eat daily. On the days i workout i eat a large amount of my carbs before and during my training. This morning pre-workout I ate 2 cups rice, one cup skim milk, coffee with half and half,  totaling 121 grams carbs. Afterwards i took my oldest son out for lunch & I ate two grilled chicken sandwiches from Burger King which was 76 grams carbs. Total carbs eaten by 9 am was 197. That left 53 grams left to eat the rest of the day, less than 11 grams per meal. On a normal day i'd have things to keep my mind off food suchs s helping kids with homework, driving kids to and from practice or friends houses, work, etc.  But i'm on vacation. Apparently being on a diet during vacation is MUCH harder. All I've been thinking about all day is food. There's a key lime pie in the freezer, shepherds pie in the fridge, granola bars, and cup cakes. Oh man. Dieting while in vacation is danm hard! But i MUST stay dedicated to this diet! I'm averaging 1 pound a week of weight loss. At this rate I'll get to my dream weight of 230  pounds in 71 weeks. That's already 1 year, 4 months, & 3 weeks away. Any failure to follow my diet perfectly will make this take even longer.

The 2016 USPA Regional powerlifting championships

I thoroughly enjoyed my first powerlifting meet a few weeks ago. I enjoyed it so much I've been dreaming of doing another one as soon as possible. I was going to compete in the NASA powerlifting national championships in Feb 2016 in OKC, Oklahoma. But yesterday a fellow weightlifter, Dana Ashcraft, told me that the 2016 USPA Regional powerlifting championships will be held in Feb 2016 right here in Albuquerque New Mexico, just an hours drive from my house! Competing here in New Mexico will save me a grip of money!  Every dollar saved and put into savings for a down payment for a home is a day closer to retiring from the prison! So I went in early this morning and got the day off from work, then registered for the meet! I accidentally registered for the 275 lb division. I meant to register for the 308 lb division. I'm hoping they'll change my entry form. I'm currently weighing 301lbs. My nutrition coach is having me lose 1 pound a week, so I'll probably weigh around 292 by then. If they're not willing to change my weight class I'll need to cut 17 pounds. This might be crazy,  but if I have to cut 17 pounds I'm going to ask my favorite MMA fighter of all time, retired MMA fighter and Albuquerque resident "the dean of mean" Keith Jardine for help. He was a big light heavyweight fighter. During his career he had to cut an absurd amount of weight for his fights. Very few people would know how to cut weight better than him. He retired from fighting a few years ago 34-11 in his MMA and boxing career.