10 Mar Byrd: Part 1 of Arnold Weekend

The 2016 Arnold has come and gone, but this years outcome was a little better than previous years for me. For those of you who have never been to the Arnold, or traveled for a big meet, you have to understand that this is a much different experience. Everything in preparation is different, and everyone goes about it a different way.

Brian, Ria, and myself all had the earliest flight we could get out on Wednesday 3-2. We wanted to do it this way so that the final parts of the weight cut take place in Columbus rather than here or on the plane. Honestly the hardest part of the flight was getting all our bags together and in the right places. We had to make sure there was plenty of merchandise to have at the booth so we all carried an extra bag so that we were prepared.

When we left Jacksonville, it was beautiful and warm….land in Columbus and its snowing…GREAT! Lucky that getting the rental car and bags was not too big of a deal in Columbus, because like anyone during meet week I was already stressed. Once I got my rental loaded up I headed over to the hotel to get some rest. The hotel that most of the team stayed in was really nice! It was a suite style with a full kitchen. This made things much more comfortable as I spend most of my time at the hotel avoiding people haha!

Thursday: Most of the team came in today, and I had to make a few trip to the airport. My handlers came in at about 1pm and Nicole made it in about 3. Lucky everyone made it safe, with their bags, and on time! We had one more handler coming in at a later flight, Paul Key. I was too lazy and tired to go back and get him so I sent Jason to take care of it. This was the first meet Jason has really had to handle at a meet, and of course it has to be the Arnold! I will go into more detail later, but he did an amazing job, and really did keep a lot of stress off of me. I only managed to yell at him one time, that might be a record!

Now this is where the meet could have gotten really bad! Somewhere along the way on Thursday I picked up a stomach bug. I was peeing out my butt and throwing up! It was not a good combo at all! Top that out with I had started the weight cut I dropped 6lbs in less than 5 hours! To fight it off I was forcing myself to eat and drink, even though it might have just added to the misery. I was up at 12, 2, and then from 4 all the way until weigh ins. It was not a good feeling. I ended up having a fever, so I cut off the heat, and slept on top of the covers.

Part two I will pick up from weighins until the end of the meet!

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Jonathan Byrd

Jonathan Byrd is a competitive powerlifter, with over 16 years of training experience. Byrd has been ranked nationally for the past 6 years under multiple categories. His total has ranked as high as second nationally in the 275 class. He currently has a best total of 2500lbs. Best individual lifts include a 1040lb squat, a 750lb bench press, and 735lb deadlift. His 1040lb squat ranks him 26th all-time squats at the 308 class. Jonathan currently trains out of Team Samson Gym in Jacksonville, FL. Before powerlifting Jonathan was a college athlete at Methodist University as both an all-conference football player and track athlete. Following graduation he played four years of arena football in various leagues.

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