Those that can do. Those that can't coach

lessons learned this past weekend

1-it pays to be a local guy, the rules do not apply to them.

2-strongman really does build character.

3-practice with the implements before hand. learning on the fly will cost you a trophy.

All in all a great experience. Myself, Sean and Matt did very well for our first competition. Matt even managed 2ND place. Here is how thing went down.

The first event was the log clean and press. Matt and i tied for first place and Sean cleaned and pressed the 200lbs log. Narrowly missing 210lbs, not bad considering he was the lightest competitor but 25lbs.

The second event was the fat bar dead lift. As many reps as you can in 90 seconds. The first man out got 18 reps. I set a goal that i would get at least the same or more. I did 18 reps before time ran out, I was announced as 16 reps? no reason was given, this became a tone fore the day. Matt was up and delivered 19 reps. He was announced as 17 reps? Again we weren't local boys. The 18 rep winner was however(side note he was a great guy, not his fault, that's how the judges are sometimes.)

Time for the yoke walk. I would like to tell you this went great but i completely blew it. We were not prepared for how much it moved, wobbled and twisted. I placed dead last in this event! My misfortune was Matt's and Sean's gain. I learned how to control the yoke with ten seconds left, not enough time for me to do much but I made sure they didn't suffer the same fate.

Fourth event the farmers walk. Time to redeem our selves. Matt missed first by 1 half second, I finished Fourth by 2 seconds and Sean tore a callus of his hand the size of a quarter...OUCH!

Final event the tire flip, our best event since it's the only implement we actually had to train with. the course was 100 feet. We were told if we make it all the way down to turn and flip it back. Most flips in 60 seconds wins. Matt and I finished 1 and 2 in this but couldn't figure out how we went the exact same distance(all the way down 1 flip back) and were given 2 different scores. Like I said it was the tone of the day for many competitors.

If your wondering about this blogs title that is how i spent most of the day. Rather than sulk about my poor yoke performance I did everything in my power to help my boys Matt and Sean.

I couldn't be prouder of them.