21 Mar The Arnold 2016 – Part Four – The Final Piece
By: Brian Carroll
As I said going into this meet, and in the other parts of this write-up, that this weekend would be a difficult one for a few reasons but I just needed to do what I could. The bottom line is sometimes I need to be selfish, but to me this was not the weekend for me to do this. I don’t care what anyone says (those that know me well know this is true) I wanted my team to succeed this weekend at all costs. After the 3rd flight went, it was time to start getting ready to pull. DD was busy wandering around the back of the warm-up room killing his warm-ups but both unavailable and unaware of what was going on. More on this later.
Byrd and I made eyes (lel) and knew it was time to get some reps in on the deadlift. Here is what my deads looked like:
405×1
505×1
620×1
[wa-wps]DONE. All felt pretty dang good for being around 8:30 or 9ish at night. Not great, but good. Chris DellaFave looked like he could have eaten 700 it was so fast in the back and I heard his GF yell 900 “today baby!” I really didn’t doubt he would pull big.
As I was making my way to the platform and knew that if Minuth pulled his opener I was done and fighting for second place and needed to pick smart attempts.
Opener – 725. Good and fast, but I didn’t set my grip too good and it started to shake loose a little bit.
Second – 765. By this time first place was out of reach and here was the scenario. Zane was calling for 800, and I didn’t feel like I had that for sure, so I blurted out I need to go somewhere inbetween 725 and 800, 765. The girls were all playing with numbers with Chris D’s second dead and come to find out if Chris pulled his second and I pulled mine, he edges me by a touch and then I’d need a third. I CALLED the number before the girls had a chance to plug in numbers, I planned on needing to pull a high 7 to edge out chris.. Well, If I pulled 770, I would edge him less a third. Fack – I didn’t call the correct number. So I decided to pass and asked everyone what they thought, then I had an idea.
I figured Chris would go for a very very very big pull on the third as 1) he has a tendency to do this as I’ve coached him many times, 2) he looked super damn strong and 3) he pulled 810 like a warm-up on this second. I knew there was no reason to pull 765 if I just needed a 770 for second (if he missed his third). I also knew that Chris needed a BIG pull to catch Matt (they actually ended up needing 920ish – no idea what math they were doing).
So what did I do? I went out and pulled a hammy without wasting too much energy. I never went to acting school, but I did my best and went down. The medics came, gave me ice and the whole 9, and then I made sure to put in 770 for my third. Prior, I explained to Zane what the plan was, and what I thought was going to happen and made sure that Ria knew that I was not hurt. My hopes were that I would be disregarded for the rest of the day (Brian’s done, he missed off the floor and went down) and I could sneak in my third as long as Chris went too big.
Byrd did a hell of selling how big they should go to someone in their group as they came over to the screen to see where everything was sitting (me in third with pain on my face and ice on my hammy). Byrd went full on preacher ‘THERE IS NO REASON, NONE WHATSOEVER THAT CHRIS SHOULDN’T GO 850-860, this will be for a top total of ALL-TIME, don’t be dumb go get it’”. The guy agreed and went and put in 850. So far, it was going exactly the way I had hoped.
Soon it was time for me to pull. I quickly looked at my numbers and at this time Byrd had already pulled 735 for 2500 and I was sitting at 2495 and would go 2540 after this pull. NO way in blue hell was I going to miss this pull to ensure outtotalling byrd and slipping by chris (as long as he missed).
So I hopped up and got the ice off me and got ready to pull, I think more than a few people were confused. So I went out and pulled it pretty easy as I should and then sat down to see what happened. I saw 830 loaded, not Chris. Saw 850 loaded, no Chris. Then, I saw 880 loaded and it was for Chris. Wow, could this be true? How could this have worked so well? I got up to see this for myself. I told his handlers and everyone else, if he pulls this I will be the FIRST to give him props. I watched from the side and was very anxious – Chris was fired up and locked and loaded.. yanked it off the floor to about the top of the shin and then it stalled. I was relieved but a bit confused as to why 880. Oh well, I had got by with a pretty lack-luster day and stole second place. This was my 5th XPC and I’ve never finished lower than second overall – this was some silver lining for a crappy day! I was happy for those who lifted and that the weekend went off without a hitch.
Congrats and Thank You’s
Congrats to Matt Minuth for his well deserved victory this year. Nothing but props for you man – I had a great time. 1 to 1 – when is the last match-up? Great guy and not a bad lifter to lose to. I know that when two lifters are close in ability, the one who executes will be the victor and ‘any given day’ a lifter can lose or win. That’s why the actually have the fucking meet.
Congrats to Chris D on his awesome PR showing . Super impressive and it was a really fun day. You hit a huge bench PR and total! You earned it man – I’m glad you did the meet. You came HARD and took the load of battling against Matt and I like a champ. Props man.
I can’t go into the whole teams lifting for the weekend (I’ll miss some stuff), although DD was out of it and still nailed a 715 PR deadlift! You can read all of their logs in the training log section on the site. That being said, I still owe a HUGE thank you to the WHOLE team for their support this weekend and help running the booth! You all we went above and beyond. THANK YOU! It did not go unnoticed. I have the best team and support that I could ask for and we are only getting started.
Lisa and Todd – Huge thanks for the support and help all day. Lisa, you handled your business like a Vet and I’m proud of you. Really proud. I know the feeling of the first bomb. Mine was 2005 in Detroit. I was not well afterward and not sure I could have been such a help as you were.
I got to see my longtime client Beth Thomas have the day of her life with as perfect of a day as possible, pretty much. She hit her 500 squat clean and perfect, a nice and round 300 bench and 400 deadlift, just missing a 420. 1200 total at a light 132 (128.6). The first meet I coached her for she PR’d with just over an 1100 total, 1110 ish in 2013, the meet prior she was at 1074 at a light 132 – this was the meet she hired me. Fast forward to her final meet in 2016, 1200 from 1074. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen someone 100% locked in, dedicated and focused for a meet before. She killed training with so many obstacles in her way, came into the meet like a terminator, anchored in and wrecked it like it was just another training day. Super proud!
Saying this is NOT a credit to me, but to her work ethic, ability and tenacity to overcome injury and many things going on that would have made other people quit long ago. For example, a serious back injury and doing CrossFit through the first two years of my coaching. I learned a lot and experimented a lot with her programming, diet, supplementation and her feedback and response to it overall. I want to thank Beth for her trust and her commitment to my program, even though she drove me crazy sometimes with her hardheadedness (being hardheaded means you can think for yourself and wont quit even though it has some drawbacks). Beth is going to pursue strongwoman, probably CrossFit (I’m guessing, don’t want to ask) and other endeavors over the next while so I want to wish her the best in everything that she does. All the best from Me and PRS!
Byrd finally got that 2500 total. This was another total that I was fully invested in and both emotionally and physically. I wanted to see this bad and knew it was just a matter of time. Byrd has been through a lot over the last year. The Arnold in 2015 was a very tough time for my good friend – he had a lot going on and some of it was self-inflincted. He knows this – but we regrouped and with a couple hiccups in 2015 with the August and October meet, it started to click. Byrd killed the entire training cycle, had an intensity and focus that just screamed he would not be denied this time. I was there for every lift of the cycle, coached him for every lift I could and was fortunate enough to have been able to see his 735 smoked deadlift for his 2500. I was super happy for him and so glad I could be there to see it happen.
When Byrd moved to Jax, he wasn’t in good shape. His best total was 2375 ish at 308. He had a terrible pec tear in 2012 that should have ended his career (they told him he was DONE). He was a fat piece of shit 320lb that couldn’t do a fucking pull-up or even row 185 with strict form. I still often refer to him as a lazy fat piece of shit still, btw. We went to work quickly and saw dramatic improvements right away to his deadlift as it shot over 700 pretty quick. Not long after, Byrd had a breakthough with a 2450 total in 2014 which was an all-time squat, bench and deadlift PR. I think this made him a little bit complacent in some ways and didn’t help him going into the Arnold 2015. He corrected most all of this going into 2016 and it showed 100%. Byrd, take my advice and take some down time so we can run at 2600. It’s there. Now, I need your help for the next few months!!
I’m super proud of both of these lifters and I believe they know this. This is what 10/20/Life is all about.
Special Thanks to Adam Driggers of Team Samson. Your support, loyalty and everything you have given me over the last 13 years has been imeasureable. Thank you!
Thank you Adam Crosby of Atlantic Chiropractic for the help the last year! You are the man and have been a great friend since we were kids.
Thanks to Inzer Advance Designs for the best gear on the market, by far. Huge thank you for letting me represent your company and supply my team with the best gear on the market. I’m extremely confident both Byrd and Beth didn’t see their totals this quickly without being supplied with the best gear on the market.
Paul Key – Thank you for all the bench help, Conrad and J for busting your hump all weekend! It does NOT go overlooked – especially you little brother.
I also owe a huge thanks again to my wife, Ria, for being there for me and always helping in any way she can. I will never be able to put into words how much you have helped me and my goals just by you being the workhorse and the most awesome wife ever. I love you, I’m sorry for snapping at you and being a full time idiot at times. Thank you!
Thank you Al from CaptainJacked.com for the help with videos and your crew. Thank you Justin for the videos!
Thank you for everyone who came up to me and introducted themselves and such and were yelling and cheering for my team!
Whats next? I’m going to leave this as my last meet of my lifting time. I have had enough for now and will be walking away from the sport.
Just kidding – I have the US Open in 5 weeks and will continue to push until I get what is mine. I don’t care what it takes. It will happen.
Brian Carroll
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