Half Marathon + Powerlifting Meet Write-Up

mcooperiii

New member
Background

I’ve been competing in powerlifting for over 17 years; I started lifting when I was 13. With the pandemic and gyms being temporarily shut down, I took up running a year and a half ago to stay active. It began when a local Facebook beer group had a handful of members posting their Strava runs and the beer they would drink after. I reached out asking if I could join them. Honestly, I hated running and needed the accountability to get me to stick with it. I had done a half marathon when I was in my early 20’s, but that was the extent of my running experience.

I had no idea how much I could fall in love with endurance running. So when the gyms reopened, I began working towards my goal of becoming a dual-athlete.

My end goal was to compete in a powerlifting meet and complete a half marathon, in under 2 hours, a week later.

Training

I train for powerlifting under Trevor Jaffe 4-5x/week. He takes no consideration of my running as I don’t report it/the runs I do, to him. I run 2-3x/week anywhere from 3 to 6 miles. The shorter runs I try to push my average pace. The longer runs I do shorter intervals of 80% effort and pulling it back to about 65-70% effort. Once in a while I just zone out for the longer runs and do what feels comfortable. Every other week I run a horrific hill trail. I’d run 3-4 of the hills, but always the 0.3 mile 20% grade hill. In Strava, it literally has the nickname “Heart Attack Hill”.

Trevor peaked me for the USPA Drug Tested October 9th meet in Vancouver Washington. My goal was to break the 56kg bench record. I would then take an easy run or two, and go run 13.1 miles with either a friend from the beer running club, or alone.

Results
  • Powerlifting Meet -
I water cut to make the 56kg class. I successfully cut down from 131.2lbs/59.5kg on Monday, to 55.9kg on Friday morning. I didn’t feel all that physically bad or weak.

Squats - 3/3
Squat 1: 95kg
Squat 2: 100kg
Squat 3: 105kg

Bench - 2/3
Bench 1: 85kg (tie state record)
Bench 2: 90kg (new state record)
Bench 3: 92.5kg (miss)

Deadlift - 3/3
Deadlift 1: 132.5kg
Deadlift 2: 140kg
Deadlift 3: 145kg
  • Half Marathon -
13.14 miles
Time: 1:54:30
Fastest mile: mile 10 @ 8:26 min/mi
Slowest mile: mile 2 @ 9:00 min/mi

Mild aches in joints by mile 9.
Sharp pain in left knee by mile 12.

Lifting videos and screenshots of my Strava data:
Lessons/Final Thoughts

I have mixed feelings about this week. I had been “processing” a heartbreak. The guy I was seeing completely pulled back hours after my meet and into the next morning. It completely overshadowed my victory at the powerlifting meet. And by “processing”, I mean I spent the Sunday through Thursday after the meet, in bed crying, drinking beer, eating leftover pizza, and binge watching The Mindy Project. So the epitome of self care /s. I finally took my first shower Thursday morning since the powerlifting meet, cleaned my home and hosted a bottle share Friday, and then spent most Saturday hungover and depressed. By Saturday night I had recovered and made a decision: I was going to run Sunday morning and try to go for 10 miles at whatever speed I wanted. So I fueled up that night and went to bed early.

I’m still not over the sad and lonely feelings. But I’m proud for keeping my promise to give it my best effort, and then achieving the things I set out to do.
 
@mcooperiii Wowowowow! I know this post was from a while ago, but I read through this ENTIRE thing and found it so inspirational. I too have been powerlifting for years (since ~2013, competing casually since 2018). I just got back into running (used to be into distance running before PL) and have been training for a half marathon that’s scheduled to be 6 weeks before a PL meet I’m also training for. I didn’t think it would even be possible to have a sub-2 hour half marathon goal while also having a strong PL performance! You are too cool.

P.S. I used to live in Seattle for a few years too! Planning on moving back one day :)
 
@sawsar Thank you for the kind words! I was having a supremely shitty day and this helped turn it around.

Yes it is possible! 6 weeks apart should be plenty of time to recover from the half marathon and peak for your meet. I’d love to hear how it goes for you if you don’t mind writing up about it?
 
@mcooperiii Amazing victories! Thank you so much for sharing. Your deadlifts in particular looked effortless.

Are you planning on either another meet or half in the near future or just going to train as is for a bit?
 
@mcooperiii You are bada$$ awesome. An inspiration to me.

I’m just sorry that you couldn’t enjoy your achievements because of your breakup:(

I’ve been there and I want you to know that you will get through it, to a much better place. You’re resilient and strong.
((Hugs))
 
@mcooperiii That guy is clearly missing out. You're one bada** athlete and a determined individual.

You absolutely crushed both of your goals, amazing job.

Hopefully you rest up and let that knee get back to normal!
 
@mcooperiii This was such a great read for Monday morning - or any morning to be fair! You are such an inspiration and sending over virtual hugs, been going through something similar with the guy I am (was?) seeing. I also followed you on insta, no need to follow back (I am a runner), but just a heads up so you don't think I'm some sort of creep.
 
@bubblegum2021 Haha you’re good! Sorry you’re going through the same thing. I really don’t understand what is up with the cis men in their 30’s. Nor do I have any idea how to date successfully and it’s driving me nuts.
 
@mcooperiii Those are some next level goals right there! Fuck that guy for taking away your wins.

I completely tanked my running endurance earlier this year trying to get my deadlift up, and am *finally* back to running consistently while lifting. Jealous of your beer run club, how do I join?
 
@mcooperiii You're an inspiring, resilient human being and I'm sure you'll look back at this time with fondness and pride. You showed up for yourself and I hope I can do the same :) Thanks for sharing
 
@mcooperiii You're awesome! I just started powerlifitng but I love running (I realized lifting doesn't give me the serotonin that running does lol) and I want to eventually do a half marathon so I've been trying to figure out how I can do it while also doing PL, work, and full time school lol. Maybe now that it's getting cooler I can start! And I'm also in a run club that drinks beer (or coffee) after! So much better than running alone in my neighborhood
 
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