by Mike Gill

I walk to my place on the starting line as the announcer calls my name. I'm tired at this point; four events down and one to go. I need to snap myself into the moment and get my adrenaline going. I turn to the crowd and yell at them, "Come on! Who wants to see some stones?!" They erupt back at me with cheers and applause. I smile a little crazy smile at them as I take a deep breath. The starter yells, "My time keeper is ready." I need to be flawless on this event, I think to myself. "My competitor is ready!" he says. I shake my hands to relax them. "On your mark: GO!"

* * *

Twenty four hours earlier I was pulling into the hotel parking lot in Pittsburgh. It was one year ago I entered my first strongman contest. This exact contest. The Kumite Strongman Classic at the Pittsburgh Sports & Fitness Festival. I placed second in a small field last year, but was not too happy with my performance. I learned a lot from that day, though, and I felt confident during the weeks leading up to this; my second shot at Pittsburgh's Strongest Man and my first contest in quite some time. I was scheduled to compete earlier in the year, but American Airlines felt it prudent to cancel my flights the day before the contest and not even attempt to get me to my destination on the right day. Needless to say, my nerves were a little tense.

After a nice steak dinner, I returned to the hotel to take a long hot shower and try to unwind before getting some sleep. When my nerves get going, I have to pee a lot, and that can make me cramp up during competition. To combat that, I spent the previous three days eating more carbohydrates than I usually do and employing a technique called sodium loading in an effort to stay hydrated. By ingesting large amounts of carbohydrates and salt, your body begins to hold water. Things like V8 juice and a nice big steak have a lot of sodium in them. When you combine that with mashed potatoes, you can gain two or three pounds of water a day for about three days. I got the idea from Nick Best, an American pro, who used the technique for the world championships this year.

I was asleep by 9:30pm and did relatively well staying that way. If I woke to pee, I would drink as much V8 as I could when I returned to bed. I woke up at 6:30am the next morning feeling refreshed and relaxed. I met fellow competitor, and one of my training partners, Josh Cybart for breakfast. Josh is a DIII football player at Brockport and drives 90 minutes each way on Saturdays to train with me and Pro Lightweight Glen Kaifus.

We checked in for the contest at 11am and then met up with Glen, who had decided to compete as a light heavyweight (Josh's class); a division that was looking very competitive. As a lightweight professional, Glen can compete as an amateur strongman in the heavyweight categories. While he competes professionally at under-231, his "walking around" weight is about 240, so he showed up in the amateur light heavyweight division just like it was a regular training day. Unless Glen got injured, Josh would have to settle for second.

I milled around the competitors' area and talked to a few of the guys I recognized from last year. The contest had really grown in size. Last year Pittsburgh's Strongest Man drew sixteen competitors. This year there were thirty-six.

We were looking at a long day.

I knew hardly anyone in the super heavyweight class--my class. There were a few big guys there; most notably defending Masters National Champ John Petropoulos and John Dennis, who looked to be about 6'8" 320lbs. I had no idea what to expect from anyone, so I put on my game face and decided that if I wanted to win, I would need to have a very good day. We did a blind draw for starting position and as luck would have it, I drew #2. John drew #1, so at least I could gauge how he might do (and what I MUST do) from the start.

Normally in strongman, you are rewarded, or penalized, for your performance in an event by being given a starting position for your next event that is inversely proportional to your placement in the one you just completed. If you win an event, you are the last to compete on the next one, and you can better gauge how many reps you have to do or how fast you have to go in order to keep or extend your lead. Such was not the case for this contest.

I would be going second all day.

The first event was a 240lb log press for reps. You have sixty seconds to perform the movement as many times as you can. John was having some bicep troubles and told me he hoped to just get a few reps. I believe he did five. I took my turn and immediately noticed the log was at least six feet long. A typical log would be four foot, so this thing was going to be awkward. I did eight the previous week in training so that's what I set as my goal.

I got nine.

I walked over to my bag, where my parents and wife were sitting. My mother smiled at me and said, "Good job. Do you think anyone will beat you?" I rescanned my competitors and pointed to two shorter, stockier guys. They were going last and second-to-last and had short presser's arms. "Yeah, those two." I was right. The first did one more rep than me, and the last did one more than him. I was in third place.

The next event was a 250lb 3x carry-and-load over 50 feet (1 stone, 2 kegs). I felt good about this event, as I was the leanest Super Heavy and have good speed. I ran well with all the implements and sprinted back to each one easily.

I completed the carry-and-load medley in 36 seconds. That was good for the event win by nearly ten seconds. I moved into first as the pressers struggled with the speed aspect of the event.

From the speed event, we moved onto the two-inch axle deadlift for reps. While the Atlas stones are widely considered the icing on the cake of every strongman event, the deadlift is its bread-and-butter. If you cannot deadlift, you cannot win in strongman. From the start, it did not appear that this deadlift event was going to test anyone's worthiness.

The axle had over inflated tires on it that made the whole thing bounce like crazy. You were allowed to use this to your advantage, as you did not have to wait for an up signal upon your return to the floor. The promoter called all the heavies over before we started, to discuss the event. The lightweights, who went before us, used 350lbs and it was way too light. Guys were hitting over 30 reps. No one, especially heavies, wants to do 30 reps of anything in a contest, so we convinced the promoter to up the weight from the promised 400lbs to 500lbs. This turned out to be too much for a few of the guys. It was that tough.

I pulled the 500 easy for three reps and then fell out of the groove. I got three more with some good effort and let the sixth rep drop. It literally bounced back up in to my hands for a free rep. I repeated this process...

...until I hit twelve reps.

I had no idea how many to do, but I figured this would keep me at least top three. John Dennis had the advantage of going later, and he did one more rep than me. I kept first place, but this moved him into second.

At this point, I made sure to rehydrate and get some calories in my body. I ate some Skittles. Wow, those things suck. I went back to my oatmeal cookies and got ready for the medley.

The medley was an 850lb tire flip for 50 feet and a 450lb sled drag back. I got off to a good start flipping the tire end over end. The sucker must have been warped though because one side was cupped, making it easy to get a grip while the other was flush with the floor. Unfortunately, I slipped and fell on the sled drag out of the gate, and it cost me some time.

I wound up in second for this event as well. After four events, I was still in first overall by three points, and there was a two-way tie for second with only one point separating them from the competitor in third. Sadly, Big John P.'s biceps quit on him at this point and he withdrew. [Get better soon John.]

Thus, it all came down to the last--and my best--event: Stones. It was a light series of stones (200lbs, 225lbs, 250lbs, 275lbs, 310lbs respectively), but the platforms were high. The first was just shy of six feet, and the second and third were not much shorter. I went over the point tally in my head. John Dennis could catch me if he won and I finished in third. As I put tacky on my arms, hands, and chest, I told my dad that I would win if I could load all five stones in twenty five seconds. He looked at me and said, "Well, then just go out there and do it." I gave him a nod, and walked to the competition area.

My time came quickly and as the contest organizers set up the stones I would be loading, I followed along behind them putting each one in the exact center of the mat and about eight inches from the platforms. Flawless performance, I thought. I got the crowd fired up (Kevin Nee style) and readied myself.

The starter yelled "Go!" and I ran the few feet to the first stone. You couldn't see the top of the platform so once I brought it up I steadied it to make certain it was staying put. If it fell, I would have to reload it. I moved quickly to the next platform and got the second stone on. Each stone went faster than the last. The last stone, the 310lb, I treated like the rest. I didn't even bother to lap it. I just gripped it, ripped it off the ground, and threw it up on the platform. I knew I had a great time. The time keeper ran over to the announcer and showed him the clock. I raised up my arms in triumph."WOW!" he yelled.

"24.5 seconds! That's going to be tough to beat!" I was ecstatic.

All I could do now was wait. Everyone took their turn and most did well, but I was still in first. John Dennis, my only real threat at that point, had a great run himself at 24.9 seconds, but it wasn't enough. I had won, and no one could change it.

I cooled down, cleaned up, and put my sponsor's shirt back on. Perry's Ice Cream just picked me up last week, and they have been really good to me. It was a great feeling (for me and for my sponsor) to win a contest that was bigger and better than the year before. I know I'm on the right track and now. I am qualified for Nationals. Winning was just as great a feeling as I thought it would be. I can't wait for my next contest.

* * *

Note: Glen took first in the Light Heavies but Josh failed to place. He was great the entire day but had a hard time with the deadlift. I told you...the deadlift is the bread-and-butter.

Posted by Mike Gill at 11:27 AM

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