2018 February - South Jersey's Four-for-February - Carl Donati Jr.

[Buccos1]

First off, despite my many errors, miscalculations, and sub-par performance, I had a great time and am glad I made the trip.  It was awesome to get the opportunity to be a part of another South Jersey event.

The ride in was uneventful.  I stayed about 20 minutes away, north.  Got in around 8:00 and immediately found the best supermarket I have ever set foot in.  A Wegmans in Cherry Hill.  It had everything and was unbelievable.  Like the best stuff from all of the stores I go to around my home, in one place.  Anyway, I started grabbing a bunch of sushi and rolls and saw some squid and octopus, and hesitated for a moment, not wanting to play roulette with my diet, and risk some stomach issues for the next morning.  But, I ended up getting it anyway, and had some awesome sushi, squid and octopus at the hotel.  Cherry Hill is a pretty cool place, from my limited time there.  A ton of cool places to go.  As it turned out, the food was great and no issues the next morning.  The bed at the hotel was junky though, and I didn't end up getting much sleep.  

When I got to Nate's I was immediately greeted by Anthony and Anton, which was really cool to see these guys again.  The last time I was at Nate's everything was set-up in the garage.  Now, his gym is in the basement, so on it was down the steps.  When I got to the bottom, it was like my old basement gym, just a lot better, and cleaner!  Nate has a ton of grip stuff, including a set-up similar to Chris', which focuses on some of the history.  Awesome layout. 

I saw a bunch of guys that I knew from before (Chris and Ace, Chez, Nate, Adam, Frank, Wojo, Anthony and Anton) and met a few more people for the first time, including John M and Aaron C.  I watched a lot of Aaron's bends a decade ago, when I was just getting started out, so it was great to finally get a chance to meet him.  (His ratings site also guided me a lot through the early years.)   And it was really great to see John perform in person, very impressive!  And some more people for the first time (Tim, Vinny, ... bad with names, but a few others who had a great showing).  And Juliet's performance was pretty amazing.  She was killing everything she touched.

Leading up to the contest, my training was pretty bad.  After the baby was born, my training time was significantly cut, so that I am having to pick-and-choose what I do in a very limited amount of time, while still keeping the "Big 3" as the foundation of my program.  I tried a few variances with grippers and the other tested events, but didn't have much success.  Going in, my numbers across the board seemed down by about 10%.  This is probably a combination of diminished volume, age, and tiredness.  So I wasn't expecting any miracles, and was happy to just get a chance to compete.  I didn't even keep track of my numbers this time, which I think was a first.  (I am going on memory, which might be a little sketchy.)

Grippers - 20mm Block

#2.5 (121) - good
GHP6 (126) - miss
GHP6 (126) - miss
GHP6 (126) - miss

The 121 close felt a little more difficult then it should have.  I thought the first 126 attempt was good, but ended up just missing it.  Same thing with the second, which was probably 1-2 mm.  I ended up hitting it for about 5 seconds, which really took a lot out of me it turns out.  Really disappointed, as I was consistently getting 126 in training, and got 128 and 131 at my last comp the previous year.  I

Ironmind Hub

53lbs. - good
60lbs. - good
66lbs. - miss
66lbs. - miss

This was a tough one!  My Hub numbers have been down the past few years, but I really messed this one up.  The comp hub was awesome.  Probably the best feeling one I ever attempted.  I opened ridiculously low, just overthinking it too much.  A total waste of an attempt.  60 flew up and I was mad I took it as a second attempt, and immediately began thinking 70+.  As an afterthought, I called for 66 and got it up, but it ended up slipping at the top, mashing my thumb pretty good in the process.  Because of this, I made a repeat attempt at 66 and just didn't set up good or have a good attempt, and it turned out a total miss.  I should have gone: 57, 63, then taken a shot at 70 or 72, which might have gone on this day, under the conditions.

Ironmind Pinchblock

50 - good
57 - good
62 - miss
62 - miss

(These numbers are approximate.)  The Pinchblock has been hit-or-miss with me the past few years.  At one point, I was consistently hitting in the mid-60s, but of-late, 55-60 has felt like a ton.  Once again, the comp device felt awesome.  This totally messed with my head, as weights that felt heavy in training, felt pretty easy here.  I need to work on factoring these types of things in my comp-day decision making.  

Ironmind Little Bighorn

I have never had a good experience with the  LBH.  I think my all-time PR is 125 on this thing, but more realistically, 120 would be a good day on it for me.  Don't like it at all.  I don't even know what I got here.  Off hand, I think I got 105 and 117, and missed 122 twice.  


Bending

I ended up taking 2nd to Delmar.  I am always up for anything bending-related and it turned out to be fun getting to compete against other people in a bending event.  We had to have a last minute rule modification, due to a lack of Grade 5s, which meant that everyone was only bending 60ds.  This messed up my strategy, as I had worked in some Grade 5s in planning.  But as it turned out, it would have probably hurt me, as the 60ds were on the easier side, and the Grade 5s wouldn't have been worth the effort.  Still a great time bending!

Thanks to Nate and his family for hosting the event ... very gracious hosts!  And all of the sponsors were great.  Adam's hammers were pretty sick too.  As far as prize selections, they were gone very fast.  I think the highlight (or one of the tops) was the food, provided by Richard Sorin.  Awesome subs and loaded with meat.  It was a truly humbling experience to see some of the numbers that were put up today, and will definitely give me some needed motivation to push some of the events harder.
 

 

 

 

[Anton.Torrella]

It was a great time Carl, I'm glad you made it - you're also a brave man eating Jersey supermarket sushi the day before a comp! Haha

[Buccos1]

4 hours ago, Anton.Torrella said:

It was a great time Carl, I'm glad you made it - you're also a brave man eating Jersey supermarket sushi the day before a comp! Haha

LOL.  It was really, really good stuff!  The octopus was a little iffy though.  Probably should've passed on that one.

[riccardomagni]

Good work!

[anwnate]

Ha!  I love Wegmans.  There are a few cool things I'll tell you about it next time you "drop by."  lol

He's not exaggerating about the drive...it is generally uneventful...mind numbing even.

I wish I had checked my stock better for the G5's and apologize that I never followed up on that detail.

That is something I can easily fix...and will.

It was great to see you again...and I really appreciate you making the drive.

Congrats again on the little one.  One more powerlifter/gripster in the making.   

[Juliet]

It was nice meeting you Carl.  Competing with all of you was a blast.  Look forward to seeing you at the next comp. Thank you for the props as well.

[Chez]

Good seeing you again Carl. 

[Buccos1]

On February 28, 2018 at 2:50 PM, Chez said:

Good seeing you again Carl. 

You too man!  Very strong performance overall.  Your gripper strength is unreal.