2013 September - The Holdfast Gauntlet - anwnate

[anwnate]

ANWNate Holdfast Gauntlet Trip Report. LONG!!!

Any errors are attributed directly to my faulty memory. I apologize if I left something out…I had a total blast and hope I at least give a decent overview of it.

So…September 4th rolled around and Jedd asked me if I was going to go to the Holdfast Gauntlet. I hadn't expected to still be in town as I had assumed I'd already be moved (out of Brooklyn) (or in the process of moving). That night, I spoke with my wife and it was decided that she, my daughter and I would take the trip to Wyalusing and make a weekend out of it. I am a very lucky man to have such a supportive wife. It was at this point that I decided to take a closer look at the events. This was also the time to completely stop shaving. There wasn't much time, but I figured some beard power was better than none.

Grippers. Earlier this year, I managed a 153 at the NY Grip Throwdown. Although I haven't really been working grippers of late (they haven't tested well for me)… I recently deepset closed my MM2 #162 Replica. I was hopeful of getting a close with a 20mm block somewhere in between those two numbers.

2HP. I've got a pretty ghetto set up with a pair of 45's with a PVC pipe through them…but I got to admit I just about never use it. I've been some one hand work with a really slick set of 35's, so I was hoping for a decent amount of carryover. I managed 167lbs at the NY Grip Throwdown with almost no work put into it. It looks like once again I'm going to do the event ill-prepared.

12lb Sledgehammer Coinlift (18"). I had no idea how I'd do with this, so I immediately went downstairs and attached some mag weights to my 10lb hammer. I managed 12" from the head. This did not bode well heh.

Medley. I love medleys...but I hate long ones. To me, the perfect medley is no longer than 2 minutes. 4 minutes is cardio brutal on me (dilated cardiomyopathy). I had no idea how long the medley would be prior to getting to the event. Medleys really work towards my strength (Pinch), so my main line of attack is going to be watching others who go before me. I learned three things from my first medley. 1. Don't go first if it can be avoided. (Watching others gives you valuable information…especially on items you've never done before.) 2. Plan out your attack. (Get Levers or other things that may challenge you out of the way early on). 3. Ask questions. (If you are not sure…ask the coordinator or someone with more experience than you.)

FatGrips TrapBar Hold. Falling bar from 450 with 50lb drops. I had no clue about this one. I had never done this before, so I contacted Wojo who was kind enough to host a griptogether and allow me to try the event out. It was a good day, meeting John Manna and Wojo getting his first Blob50 lift (…days after he got his slick York up too). I managed to get the double 55 IDL on vid and also avoided throwing my back out that day (which I've done there before, heh). I got 350 on the FatTrap for a solid UpDown, which was likely under 2 seconds. I knew there was no point in attempting 400. Since Wojo had two trap bars, he was kind enough to let me borrow one of them.

Preparation for the event?

I checked out the entries…and since Jedd got all shredded, it looked like Mike Rinderle and I were going to be the only two in 120k. While I'm not yet real competition for a peak Rindo…I decided I would approach this contest like I actually could win my weight class. I did some quick calculations and realized my only realistic shot at taking a single event from him would be the medley. Don't get me wrong, I planned on this being a PR festival, but even a non-gripping Rindo is still pretty beastly. And while I suppose it's not supposed to matter, I didn't want to get totally skunked in the events. It might be a bit much to ask to win an event (weight class or overall) in my third ever contest…but our ego's have a mind of their own.

In general in training, I pretty much work towards one MAIN goal…with a few secondary goals on the side. My current main goal is the Gold Nail Cert (which I'm miles from. No really…miles away). Day to day, after a few exercises geared to that, I did some work on the FatTrap, the coinlift and the 20mm set TSG…depending on what tested well.

As it happened, grippers seldom tested well, but with all my thickbar and blob work, I thought I'd get some carryover effects. I was basically just hoping my plate pinch work would help me with the 2HP. After the Holdfast contest, my secondary focus goal is going to be the #3 cert. I hope to get that sucker by the end of the year. I don't even have a realistic time table on the Gold yet.

Friday 9/27, Maureen and I picked up our daughter from her school and hit the road. We had to run an errand in Jersey and unfortunately (but predictably) the traffic sucked pretty bad until we were fairly deep into PA. About 2 hours from the hotel, we stopped off at 5 Guys for fuel. Yummers. It was there I realized I had forgotten my Inzer Belt. No probs…texted my friend and fellow gripster/bender Tom Scibelli…"sure you can use mine also." Thanks man! Tom brought his girlfriend and 3 kids. What a great group.

I had ended up booking at the Fairfield at Towanda. At WSH12 I booked somewhere else and ended up with a bed that messed with my back. This hotel was just built, so I figured a good bed was a shoo-in. I also booked a King and a roll cot (for daughter) rather than 2 doubles so it would be the same as home. This is something Brent Barbe alluded to (with food I think) in the Grip Well…no surprises on comp. day. I basically tailored everything to that advice…including my wake up/coffee schedule. BTW the bed was perfect.

The Fairfield is a nice hotel…nothing is overdone, but everything is brand new and the staff is super friendly and helpful. It turned out the roll cot made things tight in our room, so they upgraded us for free to a suite…sweet! Contacted Jedd and prepped for 9.a.m. arrival in Dieseltown.

Saturday 9/28

6:45…I'm in the lobby/dining area sipping my coffee, considering the decent breakfast (free) options available when I strike up a conversation with a hotel staffer named Linda. Turns out she used to work with Jedd at the Meat Plant (back when he had long hair). I think she called him "double H" …I'm guessing in reference to a slightly smaller version of "triple H". She spoke highly of him and asked to send her regards. This seems to be an ongoing theme with those who interact with Jedd. You sir, are a good man. Props.

8:30ish Talked to Tom on the phone regarding Jedd's location (super easy to drive right by the first time…I know I did).

8:45a.m, we walk to the car and the cool mountain air give me a slight concern over my attire (shorts). I can't express how much I like it up there. Granted it's completely isolated…but it is beautiful, the air is awesome and it's the complete opposite of Brooklyn.

9:00ish I arrive at the Diesel Compound…met Jedd's Dad, Tom and Jedd. I weighed in at 251lbs (I'm 6'4" hands 8.5"). This is a new weight for me. Since training biofeedback (3-4months) I've packed on tremendous strength and power while only gaining 6 pounds or so. I don't really know how much weight my heart can handle, but I don't think I'll ever change weight classes.

Here is where things get fuzzy. I met a ton of gripsters, but have no idea in what order I did…so I'll just throw out random thoughts here and there. For the first time in my life…I met a Lucas (Wicks)…then shortly thereafter, I met a second one (Raymond). I was pretty happy to finally meet Frank DeLuca. We've been corresponding about the Red Nail for a while now. If you'll pardon the pun…he's tough as nails. I expect to see him on the Roster well before the end of the year. Apparently we had females competing…Colt Anstine's wife C.J. and Christopher Andrade's girlfriend Amber. Of course this immediately makes them super cool in my book. BTW...my 3 week beard was completely intimidated by Colt's epic beard.To make matters worse…Rick Walker beard showed up…followed by Rick Walker a couple of minutes later.

Just before starting, everyone was there except Eric Roussin. We were ready to give him a pass on that since he was coming in from Ottawa…but someone pointed out that Karl Skjelvik made it on time…and he came from Norway. Grins and chuckles around. Eric got there soon enough and I was surprised at how big he was (since I'd only seen him on vids). His arms are like braided steel. Here's a pic of Eric shaking my hand. I expect some crazy grip feats coming from him in the next few years (not that 429lbs DOAx at 105k isn't crazy enough).

Grippers. We were allowed to warm up on the grippers. Jedd had like a bazillion grippers laid out…it looked like a buffet.

Unfortunately for me, I noticed there was a 10lb gap between 151 and 161. I did a couple of 20mm practice swipes with both of them…and thankfully I think I got a non official close at 161. It was then I was sure I was coming in at 161. In retrospect, it was probably a good thing I had that gap. I would rather try and fail 4 times with the 161 attempting to set a contest PR, then do something I can do any moment in the day.

Now would be a good time to mention the atmosphere. I don't know whether it was the stars aligning, or Jedd's "The Grip Authority" group, but man…it an encouraging crowd. All day long, people cheered for each other…even misses felt like PR's.

Attempt 1. I hit 161 on my first try and it actually felt pretty good. Unfortunately it tore open my pinky (long history of injury here), and started bleeding. I consulted with Jedd and he said a bandaid was acceptable…so bloodflow was stanched.

Attempt 2. I was going to shoot for 162 but Jedd encouraged me to try the QuadBand 163 because of the better knurling. I had already set my contest PR so I said to myself "what the hell, why not?". I don't think I got a good set…but missed by a small amount. I was pretty sure I was strong enough so I'd stay with the gripper.

Attempt 3. Pretty much the same thing. I might have even gotten it closer. It think it was Tom who mentioned to me that I wasn't "pulsing it". Additionally very similarly someone mentioned I should push my arm forward. These are of course, good tactics. I do think I employed them on my third attempt at 163…I'll have to watch the tape to see.

Attempt 4. Regardless…the gripper closed this time…and there was much rejoicing. heh. I was happy with the PR. (Rindo watch…I know he hit 168-9, but not sure about 171…didn’t really expect to compete here since the guy's closed 3.5's)

2HP. It became apparent early on that I'm even more unprepared for the event than I even suspected. First off…the implement. I had no idea what width to pinch at. I attempted a few warmups at 48mm but as soon as I tried on at 54 I realized that wider was much easier for my hands. I should definitely look into trying 64 at the next opportunity. I talked with Eric throughout the event…I even talked about the possibility I could hit 200lb. lol in retrospect.

I did a number of warmups…enough so I wondered if I did too many. I came in at 173, hit it reasonably easily…but my dreams of breaking 200 were completely shattered right there. Jedd made a friendly suggestion about the way I was holding the apparatus, but when I went to apply it, found out I had nothing left. I should mention this could easily be a back issue. Those shorts I was wearing came back to haunt me. I was stuck between too hot or too cold and my back had started to lock up on me. At best though, I wouldn't have hit anything above 178. I was definitely ill prepared. After I cert the #3, I will put the event on my secondary rotation to get some experience. If we are still in town, I'll see if the Gym de la Chez is still open. (Rindo watch...he made 178…maybe 184 too)

Sledgehammer Coinlift. During those 3 weeks of training, I had managed to move back from the hammer head 3" to the mighty 15" back. Heh. I took a quick couple of warmups and realized that the apparatus is a bit different (handle shape). Because of my recon, I came in at 17" narrowly avoided an elbow foul. My other three attempts were not even close. This was a great event. Everyone was involved and there were a ton of "collective sighs" and shouts at misses. Good fun. Jedd managed a number of crazy misses at sick distance from the sledge head. (Rindo watch… 18" for sure…things going pretty much as I expected. I've no hope outpulling Mike on the trapbar so the medley is my only shot for and event win and eternal glory lol)

Medley. Turned out to be a 2 minute event. Perfect. Several causes for concern though. There is a phone book rip. Granted it's a small book, but it'll be a first for me. I struggle to remember the technique, but when I ask Jedd about it, he just says, "you won't have any trouble with it, just pull your hands in opposite directions." I choose to believe him. There is also a grip machine. I've never touched one…so I intend on paying close attention to others on it. There is a sledge wind up with a weight that looks awkward as hell and a battle axe lever. Everything else seemed relatively easy since I think I've got a pretty good pinch developed for different width blocks and plates etc.

Mike offers to go first. This gives him more rest before the next event, but also declines any info he might derive from others runs. He ends up getting tripped up by the Wrist Developer. Holy crap monkeys. Now, I'm pretty concerned about this development. Mike's probably the 3rd best shoe bender in the world, not to mention being strong as a bear. I'm gonna have to hope this was some kind of technique issue. He missed one other thing, but I've no idea what it was. Watching the other runs, I decide on a course of action, getting the sledge wrap up, the mace lever and the phonebook out of the way first. And….go!

I stumbled a little with the sledge wrap, not paying attention to tape line. The lever that looked fierce was not difficult. The phone book didn't rip immediately so I re-gripped and it went easy. The WD went down without issue. After that it was smooth sailing until the bowling pin/hub chain lift. I tossed the entire thing over just grabbing the hub, then pulled back the bowling pin to throw it back over with that thing. I'm not sure we covered that eventuality. Jedd said it was fine just go on so I did. The grip machine stumped me at first. I had no idea what to do with the darn thing. Finally Jedd told me to step on it to pin it to the floor and I got it up. I had no feel whatsoever for the machine.

In fact, I couldn't tell if it was even closed and I said that out loud. Most who went before me slammed it, so I was not expecting any problems. I picked up the blockbuster pinch block with chains and was about to literally throw it across the room, but at the last second noticed Jaycee behind the line and thought better of it. It went so quick I felt like I left stuff out. While none of these things would be on the Nationals Medley, it was still great practice on how to formulate a plan and follow through.

Random observation…I've no idea when it happened…but at some point we see Robby Sparango walking around with a beefed up weightbelt. I guess it was a bit big on him so he filled himself out with some phonebooks wrapped in a sweatshirt. Nice! As it turned out, Mike wasn't holding the Wrist Developer by the ends…thereby forgoing any leverage he could have used. He made an adjusted attempt afterwards and easily mashed the metal together. Then he tossed it in disgust. It was pretty funny.

FatTrap Hold. Due to a facebook conversation, I had told Mike I'd eat my shirt if anyone held 300 or more with fatgrips for 3 minutes. I had based this on my 3 weeks of practicing lifting 300. With the fatgrips on the bar, the grip starts giving out and quickly turns it into a pinch…and no one's pinching 300 for long. I had no real allusions that I'd manage 400lbs, but I wanted to give it a go to see how close I'd get. Pullllll!

I floated it righty and got my left side maybe 2 inches off the floor. Ok…that was fun…now back down to 350 for my real attempt. Rindo made the 400. It was ugly as hell but he got the 2 seconds. This only made Karl's and Eric's successful attempts seem even more impressive. Eric made the 450 and holy heck did he make it look easy. Tom ended up going first on the 350…which made it much easier for me. I had a time to beat, and I'm not sure the mechanics behind it, but having a goal always provides more power. I think I held it for like 5-6 seconds…gonna have to check the video tape.

During tally time.

Right after the event finished…I wanted to try the Monstrosoblob that Brent got last year. I couldn't find it, so I attempted 6 dimes instead. Got a couple of floaters but no dice. I tried blobzilla next and while I couldn't break ground…I could semi hold it while already up in the air. Someone told me the Monstroso was under the gripper table so I yanked it out and managed a couple of floats. Eventually I ended up with tears on both thumbs and pinkies for my time. At this point I realized I was more than a little tired.

Jedd did a nice presentation with photos etc. Taking second to Jedd was Eric, followed by Mike. I managed 4th and scored a nice rated #3 at 150#. This is going to be helpful with my #3 CCS Cert run. I have 3 other 3's but none are rated…so I'll definitely be able to compare and decide when to pull the trigger. I basically PR'd on every event…so I was pretty happy. If I could have done anything differently, it would have been to bring some sweatpants and do some 2HP work prior to the contest.

After the awards presentation, we hung about for various times, grabbed some food and chatted it up. I got to take a pic with nearly everyone (now on facebook). It was great to see how friendly and motivated the Grip Authority guys were…I think everyone had a multiple PR day.

I met some really cool people who seem to love grip just as much as I do. Karl was the elder statesman…but a freakin' powerful one. We got to chatting at the end of the comp. He was unsure he's got what it takes to DO a Red and I am darn sure he does. It was great having mini conversations with Frank, Robby, Colt/C.J., Chris/Amber, Eric, Karl, Lucas's, Mike, Rick and Jedd throughout the contest and then after. Enough good things can't be said about Rick Walker and Jedd's wife and parents for helping out. Actually everyone seemed to take turns helping set things up or running a camera now and then. It was a very well run contest. I publically stated that I was going to Cert. the #3 before the end of the year and encouraged Jedd to do the same. He was only willing to say it was a priority and he would try. Later we had a discussion about how we both thought that bigger hands were actually a hindrance at some point. Since I've got 8.5" and he has nearly 17" hands we both felt we had valuable opinions on the subject. I could have stayed for hours talking shop, but the wifey seemed pretty exhausted so we headed back to the hotel.

Just before running out, I couldn't resist attempting the Glob (apparently that too was under the gripper table). It went up pretty easily and I was able to get a good hold. The only difficult thing is avoiding putting a finger in the numbers. Since my hands are 8.5" x 10" span, I'm not overly proud of this feat, but at the same time…no way I could have lifted it last year…plus Jedd has mentioned that several large handed individuals were unable to pull it. At some point, I made up my mind to just be happy about it.

THE END...or rather...the beginning!