Longhorn Open 2018
Between 2017 and 2018, a lot of my training friends graduated, but I was determined to make new friends and round up a group to compete in the Longhorn Open once again. I ended up convincing some other friends (like Tyler and me last year, not that I needed to be convinced though XD) and we blasted off for Austin.
We ended up staying in this really cool hostel in Austin, called HI Austin. It was my first time staying in a hostel and was really fun. We ended up staying two nights as we were all exhausted and sick, which didn’t help in the meet itself.
Funny story: someone at the hostel saw the pedialite I was carrying and asked ‘yall going to a good time?’ and I said yeah! I was really surprised, wondering how he knew we were going to a powerlifting meet. Back then, as far as I knew, pedialite was only used for athletics and such. My friends quickly informed me of its other use: hangover cure. Oof, that guy thought we were going out for a hard night of drinking.
In accordance with the sacred Rice Powerlifting tradition, we
went to In-N-Out again. I got three Double-Doubles and learned that I hate onions. I also made sure to steer clear of the milkshakes (See: Longhorn Open 2017)
Waiting for frands. Note the Pokemon socks
Snax and caffeine
Since one of our members was new, we split up in the morning after checking in. I carried our stuff to the gym as the others drove around, trying to find a singlet in the 1-2 hours before the meet began. We really cut it close there.
We watched the womens’ divisions compete, and then it was time for us to go.
I have a sneaking suspicion that whoever ran the meet this year wasn’t as experienced as 2017’s person, since the schedules were all messed up and the windows for lifters to warm up before their flights were all tiny. Like ~20 minutes tiny. In addition, there weren’t enough platforms for everyone to warm up in on time, so my friends and I actually ran off to UT’s recreation center and used their weight room instead.
Why isn’t Rice’s weight room this nice?! I was jealous
I will say, that out of our little group, myself and some others were really sick. For myself, it almost felt like I was missing the top 15% of my power. I was sneezing and coughing throughout the whole meet into the spare T-shirts they gave us. Ended up pushing through with copious amounts of caffeine and smelling salts. Plus, I borrowed a friend’s belt to use for this meet. I did Longhorn 2017 without one, but they really do help a lot with stabilization and how much weight you can lift.
Our flight rolled around. Squats came first. I’m realizing now, as I’m looking for footage, that we weren’t as organized about recording our lifts this year, so I actually don’t have my squat footage But here is some of my friend Logan. He messed up by completely ignoring the lifting commands/cues and just went when he was ready. Beginner’s mistake, but we made fun of him after. As for myself, I opened at 355, redeemed last year’s failed 3rd attempt by smashing 365, and set a nice little PR for myself at 375 lb.
Killing 285
Missing 303
Next came bench. I got a little too ambitious, especially considering how little I’ve trained chest this year (was focusing on legs instead). Opened at 125 kg (275 lb), hit my 2nd at 130 kg (286), but then for my 3rd, I got greedy and made huge jump to 137.5 (303 lb) and missed it. oof. I’ve hit 310 before in training, but guess I was unlucky.
By the time deadlift came around, fatigue and the sickness were really killing me, so I went ultra-conservative, with the same attempts as last year, except I actually hit the 3rd attempt of 463 this time, so technically an 8-pound PR?? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
This year, they had TV’s up with everyone’s lift progress, so there was no more guesswork in projecting your standings. I was in first by a comfortable margin, and ended up winning my division for the second time!
Also, I had told Logan that if he placed in this meet, I would dab for him (since I am usually adamant about not dabbing). He didn’t place, but I was so proud of him I did it anyway :)
We went back to the hostel and watched some Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Part 5 Golden Wind and slept like rocks.
This year, we decided to take an extra day to explore Austin. We had some bomb barbecue and smoothies at this place, went to In-N-Out AGAIN, and watched all the teenagers zipping around on Bird scooters.
A cool Delorean we found
Overall, a super-fun meet! Set some PR’s, made new friends, and showed the sickness who’s boss. Can’t wait to come kill it again next year. Here’s to 3 for 3!