amysuds’s BodyBlog

Before I recap this past Saturday, I would like to thank my trainer Layne Norton for all his support. I also want to thank my sponsor, Scivation for helping me get to where I want to be! Last, but certainly not least, I sincerely appreciate all the kind words and support from my friends here. You helped me feel confident! Thankyou all for everything.

I entered the NPC Grand Prix Natural in Rockford IL in the master’s figure class. I wanted to try this comp and experience it. So I did all my prep work for food the day before to be sure I had everything. Friday night, my hubby put on my first coat of tanning product. When I got up Saturday morning, I fixed my hair and makeup and headed out for Rockford. On our way to the show…my hubby said, "we need to find a gas station." I thought he wanted a cup of coffee. The drive to Rockford was back roads, nothing but farms, no other cars around. A few minutes later, he said,"we need to get gas." At this point, I am looking around and laughing because we were outta luck. I sat quietly and hoped we would find one! Then he said" we need to find one in the next 3 miles!".  LOL!!  Luckily, we found one…not a minute too soon. That is how my day started.

We arrived at the school and went inside to find TONS of people everywhere. I was amazed at the turnout. The competitor meeting was scheduled at 9:30, and it was located downstairs where I could not bring hubby with me. I then realized I had to come up with a plan to get my second coat of tanning on at some point. I figured the meeting would last an hour or so. I decided to go back upstairs after the meeting and go outside with my hubby to do the tanning. The meeting was a check in for everyone. They called each class up one at a time and you had to be in your show suit. The first groups were body builders that had to be weighed and height measured. That took a long time…there were tons of them. I watched and waited for my group. I finally went up and checked in. The time was after 11:00 I believe at this point, the pre judging started at 12:30. The promoter did a great job of keeping things rolling, but the turnout was one of the largest ever at around 135 people. Then the instructions were given for the show…day and evening parts. They also had a seasoned figure competitor who was helping out that day, demonstrate the proper posing for the judging. I was really paying attention…I wanted to make sure I got it right. When the meeting was ending..it was about 12:15…and the promoter finished the meeting by announcing the 5 competitors who were picked randomly for a polygraph test. We all were told this would happen as part of the rules in the entry form. This test was for steriod use, growth hormone..etc…which are not allowed with this comp. This test was mandatory. I am staring at the clock now…I had very little time left to get ready, tan and pump up. I started to panic. I knew I would not have enough time to find my hubby and go outside. Well…out of 135 people, AMYSUDS gets picked as one of the 5 people for the test. I was kinda honored, I must have looked really muscular!! The other 4 chosen ones scurried down the hall to get the testing done right away…so I followed them and waited in line. I had one of these tests at my last comp…the natural org. test all competitors, so I knew what to expect. I was sweating bullets knowing that the show was about to start…I was NOT ready     Then I heard the announcer call out the novice men’s body building group to the stage. I tried to listen to the groups called…I wasn’t 100% sure where my group was in the line up off the top of my head. I decided to leave the line and do it later. I found someone in charge in the pump up room and he told me to go get ready. What a disaster.. I had to put on the tanning stuff by myself, front and back with no mirror. There were a few mirrors, but other people were using them. I did the best I could. I then grabbed my lipstick and swirled some on with no mirror once again. I was in a big panic I tell ya. I did a quick pump up and then they called my group for the stage. I hadn’t even touched up my hair or makeup from the morning! LOL!!  I had no idea if I had lipstick on my teeth. The problem was, I had no one to help me downstairs, it just was that way, nothing I could do about it.

I did my best on stage…quarter turns and we had to hold the poses for a long time. I was shaking in my quads. There were 12 ladies in my group. I smiled and had fun. After the pre judging was over, I did my polygraph and left the show for the afternoon break. We went to a hotel and I put my feet up. We now had time to get me ready for the night show

The night show was exciting..I did my t- walk and was all fired up to do well. I nailed my poses I had chosen, and I picked some very different from the other competitors. My group was full of beautiful toned ladies. Each one of us had very different builds, I didn’t know how I would fair in the judging. After the open classes did their t-walks, the announcer called out the top 5 for masters class. I made it…yay! Once on stage, they awarded the 5 places and I was fortunate enough to place first. I was in shock. I also won the overall and received bags of goodies and an embroidered jacket with my trophies. It was a fantastic ending to a day that tested my abilities to work under pressure. I learned some valuable lessons this day. I am proud of myself for pulling it off…the rest of my team and trainer were at the NGA comp in south IL. It was an honor to hear Team Norton’s name broadcast to the audience as I received my awards…it brought a tear to my eye. Layne has been and is a remarkable, intelligent coach. I am truly lucky to have found him here on bb.com. I showed the NPC how we roll!! No gimmicks, no BS…just hard work with Team Norton.

That’s my story…I really enjoyed the day and the promoter put on a fantastic show!!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 at 5:13 pm and is filed under Other. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.