10 Feb Dan Dalenberg|RUM8 Meet Report
Raw Unity Meet 8 was an awesome experience. I am very happy with my results and looking forward to some break time. I’ll go over the whole weekend in this post.
The Cut
I started out at about 252-253 in the mornings. This was by far the easiest cut I have ever done. I cut out carbs during the day and water loaded for about 10 days. That was all it took. Weighed in at 109.6 kilos to easily make the 110/242 class. I actually think flying probably helped me do this. I get motion sick and always sweat my butt off while landing. So for the last 20 minutes of my flight I was sweating hard and feeling sick.
Saturday I went to work putting it back on. Came back fast and I felt good. Lot of fun hanging out with everyone Saturday.
The Lifting
Sunday was off to good start. Byrd and I got a late breakfast and made our way to the venue around 11. I wasn’t lifting till 3 but was feeling a little antsy and wanted to get settled in.
Squat
Warm ups felt really good. Weight was moving fast and the fact that I was incredibly bloated really made the bar sit nice on my back. Worked up to about 630 in the back and found a spot near the platform. Byrd was wrapping with a couple of the other Team Samson guys helping out.
Opener- 325kg/716 pounds. EASY and fast.
2nd- 345kg/760 pounds. I got one red on my opener so I took this down a little faster and a tiny bit deeper. Smashed this attempt.
3rd- I knew to go over 2K again, I need an 800 squat. Played it safe and went 365kg/804 pounds. Killed it. Felt great on my back. I can’t wait to put together a good offseason and squat in another meet. So much confidence in this lift these days.
Bench
I’m not a big fan of the ER racks we were benching on, but hey you have to adapt. My arms however felt great.
Opener- 207.5/457. Good lift, smooth. Back cramped a little.
2nd- 217.5/479. Much better. Brought my heels in a little and that fixed the back cramp.
3rd- 225/496. Good. Had to grind this a little but it moved fine. Really happy with this. I haven’t hit a third bench in a full meet for awhile. Good to get back to that.
Deads
My back was pretty smoked. I actually couldn’t get my deadlift socks on. Thank god for Ria Carroll. That woman is a saint and took one for the team. My feet had to be absolutely disgusting but she stepped up and put those bad boys on for me. Thanks bro.
Opener- 287.5/633. This wasn’t as easy as I would’ve liked it to be. I was tired and ready to be done. I knew I only had one pull left in me…
2nd- 320/705.5. Wow. Awful positioning. Came off the floor OK but really got slow above the knees. I knew if I missed it I was done so I held on to that bastard and kept tugging. Finally got a down call. Good lift.
Brian was standing there waiting for me to call my third. I didn’t even have to think about it, I told him I was done, nothing left. Call it. He just laughed and agreed.
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=340169406186638
Total and Placing
I totaled 910 kg (2006 pounds). I ended up taking 3rd in the 242s. I’m very happy with this. The top 4 or 5 guys all totaled 2000 or more. Incredible caliber of lifting. Very happy to post another 2000 total. Especially after a rough finish to my training cycle and at such a high level meet. Pretty proud of that.
Overall thoughts on the meet
We had a great venue, good warm up room and an excellent platform/spotting crew. The meet was ran pretty smooth and was a lot of fun. There were a couple of hiccups but overall it was a great meet and I will definitely be back next year.
Some thank you’s
First and foremost- To Chelsea- Thank you for tolerating all of this, putting up with me and supporting me in this silly hobby. I love you.
Jon Byrd- The support means the world to me. Thanks for wrapping and keeping me on task.
Brian- Once again you go out of your way for me and ask for nothing in return. I owe you. Thank you for coming, on to the next one.
Jason and Felipe- I know I kind of abused you guys. Thanks for putting up with it and still helping me out. All of the Samson guys made me feel like one of their own at the meet. Made my day much easier.
Kevin Smith- Great lifting with you again. Looking forward to next year. It really means a lot to me to have you in my corner. Bigger things for both of us to come.
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Daniel Dalenberg
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