My May 16 NANBF Comp
As usual for me, the day started off on the wrong foot. My husband dropped me off at the wrong part of the high school…and I was already running a tad late for my mandatory polygraph test that all competitors have to do. On my way down the street walking, I realized I left my cooler in the truck! So I RAN back to catch him before he left to take my kids to breakfast. Luckily, I caught him. So I found the correct building and went in. I looked around for the testing room and could not find it. Come to find out, the testing is done at a hotel a mile away..oh geez. I tried to find a ride to the hotel and was lucky enough to find a kind person to drive me. On the way to his car, I saw my hubby still in the truck parked! He was on his Blackberry working…so I ran back to the truck and he drove me to this hotel. I was late for this test…and stressed already. After the test, we headed back to the school for the competitor meeting and check in. Just like the last comp I went to…there was not much time to get ready after the meeting. I can’t stress enough to anyone thinking of trying their first comp to be 100% ready before the meeting..just in case. I was not ready of course. But I did have the honor of being with my trainer Layne and his wife Isabel backstage. Isabel was also competing and looked fabulous! Layne took care of both of us, and we did very well in pre judging. Unfortunately, there were only 4 people in the class. The day went well and I placed second. The best part of the day was being with Layne and Isabel. I felt great and I knew I kept my word to Layne …in working as hard as I could for the team and come in at my best. When I got home..I started looking at the pictures of the ladies my class standing next to each other. We were all of very different builds. I guess the judges were looking for a softer look…the girl who won first looked great too. The only thing I missed out of this comp was walking away with added motivation from the person who beat me. At my first comp…I placed second to Carissa Fleming-Myers ( who is now an WNBF pro and from Team Norton)…you have to see her to understand why I went home and said to myself…WOW! she is just truly an inspiration! She has a great upper/ lower body balance with excellent muscle quality and the right quantity. She has what I want!! Not to mention her fantastic stage presence and t- walk to impress everyone. I went home from that comp with a smile. Say hi to Carissa ..http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/kiss_rythmn/
Anyways, I went home from this comp confused….I am not a poor sport by any means but nothing in the judging made sense to me. Oh well…but it did affect me, I was kinda depressed a few days because I worked my arse off and felt unmotivated by the girl that beat me. Hope this makes sense.
All in all…a fantastic day…I am going to try again this May 30. I need to stay busy and focused right now. Alot going on in life, not a good time for me to hang out and mope and eat crap. Not because I didn’t get first place…it is me trying to deal with life’s uncontrollable curve balls that have nothing to do with competitions . I just got one fired at my head and it hurts!! Onward and upward!
May 24, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Knowing you there was alot of damage done to the curve ball too. I understand what you mean, but put your shark fin on and get hungy hon. Love ya! Best Rob
May 24, 2009 at 4:55 pm
Hey Amy! Great blog & very well-written! I tell you one thing I’ve learned in all of this…these things are soooo subjective & the only thing we can do is go into it knowing we gave 100%-which you obviously did! I want to compete this year just so I can rip up the bod again-still trying to decide if I can put the ego aside to earn more muscle-LOL! Great job my friend!!
May 24, 2009 at 5:03 pm
Wow…glad everything worked out for ya. Those kind of stressful events happen to me all the time. Gettin to the wrong place, tryin to get to the right place on time, and ALWAYS runnin late. Congrats and good luck on the next one!
May 24, 2009 at 5:06 pm
I’ve never competed before, but I do have plans to compete in the future. The one thing I have learned already is these competitions are so very subjective, even when they say they are looking for "one thing" it could mean something completely different. And I think your body is totally rockin’, and I know exactly what you are meaning when you say the winner didn’t inspire you. You did your best, that’s all you can do. Take it with a grain of salt and press on. You will do awesome on the 30th!!
May 24, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Thanks for the support everyone! I am struggling with "letting go" of my children that are now adults. I want to make decisions for them still, but cannot. I also refuse to let myself fall back into the depression nightmare I was in a few years ago. So I may just keep lining up comps one after another to keep my mind healthy
May 24, 2009 at 8:45 pm
No matter the result you obviously put in a lot of work. Congrats!
May 24, 2009 at 8:56 pm
Holy crap Amy! Who was judging?!? Hellen freaking Keller? Haven’t made it on stage yet but I totally understand the WTF?!?! feelings after judging from my figure skating days. The worst is when you can’t tell where they think you should improve. Frustrates and annoys the hell out of me. You however, are awesome and are an awesome inspiration!
May 24, 2009 at 9:17 pm
haha Hockey that’s funny..Hellen Keller..lol..
Amy after that stress snowball you had going in the beginning there it’s a wonder you had the nerves left to compete at all! sheesh..well you got my respect for all the hard work you do consistently to get ready for these competitions!
May 24, 2009 at 9:58 pm
I also want to point out that I am only looking at the pictures and not taking everything into consideration. My posing could have been off, my appearance not to par, t- walk problems..,,all of this comes into play for the decision. But I had the whole placement guessing wrong anyways, way wrong. I had someone else picked out in my mind for first place…..based on what I THOUGHT the judges would be looking for. I really want more experience with competing so I can deal with any outcomes without coming down on myself. What I do know is that the general feedback was that I looked a bit too much like a bodybuilder.
May 25, 2009 at 4:28 am
I told you when I saw the pictures you looked more fit and athletic than the winner. The problem with your sport rather than running is that the final outcome is subjective. I am racing all the other competitors and the clock. You have to embrace the fact that you look and feel so much better than you did 3 years ago, and that you gave it your all. Keep moving forwards and enjoy your journey.
May 31, 2009 at 2:26 pm
that is why i stopped competing. i am motivated if i am beat by someone in better shape, but when you can’t see why the lineup was placed in a particular order… it is discouraging. the last competition i was in, the girl who got first had a bikini that had much of the front cut out. interesting to say the least, but it was clearly a sex competition and that is not what i signed up for. another i was in they said that figure girls were supposed to be shapely but not cut… it seems some times we are to be cut and other times not… sometimes i think it’s also game of politics… it is discouraging. i hope you are not discouraged though because, as i just saw glancing up at vt dad’s comment… i already told you i was suprised looking at the pics… and it was not how i would have placed those! no disrespect to her, but it is what it is and you looked tighter.