[Meet Report] 2016 IPA VICTORY OR VALHALLA POWERLIFTING CHAMPIONSHIPS - 450kgs @ 73.3 kgs - 34 yo male - first (and probably last) meet

#Background

Ex-soccer player until I graduated university and I ran competitively as an amateur up until about a year and a half ago. I started having health problems that stopped me from running as much as i want. So I wanted to keep my cardio but do something else to help overall fitness that would still give me a goal. I still do bike or run (but mostly bike) 6 times a week. After going to the gym for a few months, I got a taste for powerlifting. I had never deadlifted or squatted (at parallel) before about a year ago. So here I am.

 
#Programming
I started with ICF (go on, flame away) for a few months. Then I went to Candito's 6 week after I couldn't progress linearly. It completely ruined my back because of a combination of probably not bracing myself correctly on back and leg (squat and deadlift) day. I quickly realized that deadlift by volume was not for me, but squatting and benching with good volume made me respond really well. I did Sheiko 37/30 (removing uniquely the deadlift and its variations) while doing Coan-Philippi deadlift program which gave me a 4 day a week training program that I liked. I did two cycles of this run leading up to this.

  #Leading up to the meet (peak and nutrition)
To peak, I attempted my maxes about 7-10 days out. I ended up doing 355 on squat, 235 on bench, 425 on deadlift. I gave myself a goal of 1000lbs. My walking weight was 170 so whatever I was going to weigh (hopefully in the 75kg/165lbs group), I was going to weigh. During my max sessions, I posted this. My life has been (and still is) falling apart. I weighed myself last weekend and I was 174lbs at my heaviest. Then the stress (life, not really the meet..although, the meet stressed me out because my partner in crime and biggest supporter was no longer going to be there) of everything came crashing on my body. I became extremely nauseous and by tuesday, I had a very severe Crohn's attack. I was hopsitalized for a few days and didn't eat solids until Friday...and even at that, I could barely stomach anything. I weighed in at 73.3kgs, losing about 13 lbs in the week. The meet was five hours away..and I was already in the area so I decided to screw it and just go.

  #Meet day
Squat 1 - 145kgs/320lbs. I had nailed this for a triple without a problem two weeks out. I felt and looked like shit. I felt nauseous and dizzy going on the platform. Plus there was an odd delay that the announcer didn't want me to attempt until the person "in the hole" (after the person on deck) was on the stage. I had the wraps on too long...I felt awful. The bar felt uncomfortable and my first time using a monolift. I felt like I was going to pass out at the bottom of the lift. I felt forward and the spotters and straps had to catch the bar. A complete disaster and I felt ruined. FAIL
Squat 2 - 145kgs/320lbs I took ten minutes to collect myself. Drank plenty of liquids. Did some self reflecting and refuse to give up. I go on deck...and the guy in front of me bails on the squat and it falls on the platform. There's another 5-10 minute delay so I had to quickly unwrap my knees. When the bar was re-placed on the monolift, I was called to go. I wrapped EXTREMELY quickly and as you can see, one of my wraps fell off during my lift. Still go the lift. GOOD
Squat 3 - 157.5kgs/347lbs I felt much better after completing my supposed opener. I didn't want to try for a PR as that would have been too much of a jump. I stayed in between what was my original second attempt (340) and my third attempt (355). So I put down 347 and it went up without a problem. I probably had 10lbs in me. GOOD
Bench 1 - 95kgs/209lbs By far my weakest lift. And I have no chest and long arms. Very humiliating bench. I hit a very shaky 235 for my max. I put a decent opener that I wanted to feel comfortable with. It went up way easier than I expected....but I racked about a second too early. 2 reds, 1 white. FAIL
Bench 2 - 102.5kgs/226lbs After feeling how comfortable the first bench went, I went for my "reach" second attempt (which was originally 100kgs/220lbs). This one flew up without a problem. GOOD
Bench 3 - 107.5kgs/237lbs This was going to be a 2lbs PR. It went really well and I probably could have gone for another 5 lbs but since my confidence is shaky on the bench to begin with, I went with my "reach" third attempt. I regret not going higher on my third squat and bench...but it is what it is. GOOD
Deadlift 1 - 175kgs/386lbs Usually my favourite lift. The warmups felt okay, but the day was weighing heavily on me. I have a sciatic nerve problem because of running..and it was starting to act up a little. The little to no solid foods in the week was wearing me down. The attempt went up relatively well. GOOD
Deadlift 2 - 190kgs/418lbs But now I had a huge problem. I really felt worn down, I couldn't brace properly (as you can tell by my lifts). Since I left some weight on the platform for my squat and bench, I would need 190kgs to hit my 1000lbs goal. So instead of going 175/185 (which I probably would have hit)then 195..that would only give me one chance to go over 1000lbs. Pride got in the way. So I wanted to jump to 190kgs so that if I fail, I would have a second chance to get it. Sure enough, I failed. FAIL
Deadlift 3 - 190kgs/418lbs So I attempted again and the exact same thing happened. Stopped around the same place. I didn't brace properly and give enough leg drive for a sumo deadlift. The bar swayed too far in front of me. FAIL

  #Summary
So I went 5/9. I don't know what to make of it with the mess that's been my life and training and health. The first squat should have been made..I was probably too much in my head. The first bench should have been made if I listened to commands properly. And I should have kept my 185/195 deadlifts for 2 and 3 so that I might have gotten at least two deadlifts but it still wouldn't have given me my goal. It is what it is. The meet itself was very supportive, very nice people. I'm glad I went but I also realized that I have too much of an internal competitive spirit in me (against myself, not others), and that I'm not built or made for powerlifting. I will probably go up one weight class but I still want to be in good cardio health so I'll keep training powerlifting but I'm not sure if I can commit myself and feel good enough to go. Also, if I survive my life, I'm not sure if I'm okay for the emotional investment and have another disaster like this happen.

TL;DR 5/9. A fair amount of the failures are of my own making. Had a lot on my plate, physically and otherwise. Really liked the atmosphere and the meet itself. I'm just not as intense into powerlifting and in an incredible fragile state which may limit my future, powerlifting and otherwise.

Thanks for reading this novel if you've made it through.