hurdlegirl’s BodyBlog

Well after a mental break from the dieting associated with competition training & prep, I’ll be returning to my regime of egg whites, tuna, chicken, turkey, potatoes, salads, oatmeal, etc. on Monday. The toll of worrying about every single thing that went into my mouth was really bringing me down emotionally. Even though I work in a very health, performance & body conscious environment, my 3 assistants are male and although they eat well, no one in there right mind eats like a figure competitor who’s in training. My birthday dinner on sunday will be the end of high carbs for about the next 9 weeks. Anyhow, enough about food.

With the weather improving I was able to do several runs outside this past week. I found a new route in my neighborhood that I love and that takes exactly 60min so I’m very happy about that. I’m also feeling stronger in my leg workouts but I’m certain its due to my added carb intake. I’m 6 weeks out from my next show so I’m confident that the sprints I’ve added to my training will start to show by then. As for my strength training, I havent really added anything different, however I do plan to add a few more dynamic & complex exercises to my routines and make them slightly more aerobic.

Still waiting for my photoshoot cds. OH…unless something unexpected happens, I’ll FINALLY get my car back on monday, more than 3 months after my accident and more than $3000 later. Speaking of which, no financial sponsors or endorsements…yet. Being broke sure makes eating less easier

I placed 3rd in the Figure Tall class this weekend in Rochester. I had a good experience overall and learned a lot about my body and the sport in general. I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with a lot of experienced people this weekend. I’m still quite a newbie to everything to its fun to learn while I compete. I recieved quite a bit of feedback and positive criticism this weekend so I’m using all this info to prepare for my next show. Speaking of which, I’ve decided not to compete in May. If I’m truely going to downsize & lean out my lower half then I’ll need train thru the month of May. So, as of now, my next show will be the Ironman Classic on June 2nd in Syracuse, followed by the IDFA on June 30th in Toronto. I live in Syracuse and grew up near Toronto so I’m pretty excited about both shows.

I’m enjoying a mental break from the training but I returned to my cardio routine today. I’m going to use this week to develop my "Leg Lean-out" plan. I already know what I’m gonna add/change, I just need to put all my ideas down on paper….something I’m not always great about when it comes to my own training. Hopefully this storm we had is the last of the winter cold & snow for this season. I can’t wait to get outside for some long runs and sprints on the outdoor track.

I enjoyed my post competition meals, but I’ve going back to a semi-clean diet. I won’t get strict about my diet until after my 30th birthday on the 29th of April.

2 days to go. I’m excited. I dont know that I did all I could diet wise, but its all a learning experience, plus with my car/financial situation, I think I did pretty well. I’m not supposed to workout today, so I’ve got all kinds of extra energy & I’m fidgiting at my desk. I found it much easier this time around to take in my required water. It still feels like a lot and I feel very bloated but I trust my diet coach & my body. Since this show is only an hour away I wont have to stay at a hotel friday night. This is good and bad. Bad because I have access to food etc in my house, but good because I’ll save money and I’ll be comfortable & more relaxed. My trainer will be with me backstage this time too so that helps with some of the nervousness.

The dvd of the Can/Am show arrived yesterday in the mail so I got a chance to watch myself last night. Not bad, not great, but definatley a good opportunity to critique myself and learn from it. I definately need to smile more on stage. My happiness in the awards presentation certainly didnt come across on camera and I feel bad about that, but like I said, I learned something about stage presence.

Tomorrow night is the fun stuff of nails, hair, and tanning. Someday I hope to be able to afford to pay someone to do all that for me. I dont mind doing it myself, but I like to be pampered every now & then

I’m undecided about doing a show in May. I probobly will but I’ll decided after this weekend. I’m really getting exited about doing the IDFA show in Toronto on June 30th. I grew up about 30min outside of Toronto so it will be a great homecoming for me and a chance for me to go Pro. Not to mention all the friends & family that would be able to come. I’ve already got a ton of ideas on how I’m gonna set up my training for that show.

A week from now I will going through all the maddness again of JanTan, Bikini Bite, and all the other fun stuff associated with "game day". I love it though. Its amazing how much change your body goes through in the last 24hrs before a show. I feel good, but I’m not looking forward to the high water, low sodium diet for the week, not to mention all the bathroom breatks :/

Training went well this week. I hit my legs pretty hard yesterday and I’ll hit them again tomorrow, my final leg day before the show. Today is shoulders and of course cardio. I’ve been pretty steady about doing 75min each day. I should have taken advantage of the sunshine & dry (but cold) conditions this morning and gone outside for a run, but now I’m stuck inside so I’ll do my usual combination of treadmill, bike, elliptical machines. For shoulders I think I’ll go with my usual lightweight rehab exercises of forward & lateral raises, and then I’ll move on to DB overhead press, upright now, straight arm pushdowns, and shrugs.

After this next show I’ll have about a 3-4week break before my next show, so I’m gonna change my program up a bit. I love Olympic lifts and I havent done much of them this past year because of my shoulder injury, but I think I’ve got my rotator cuff strong enough again to work them back into my program. Power & hang cleans are some of my favorite exercises.

Goals for the week….1)stick to the diet …2)finish beading my backup suit because I havent decided if I’m gonna go with the red one this week again or switch things up…3)keep smiling inspite of my car situation  

Well, if you read my previous blog, you probobly sensed that I was a bit "upset". Well, I just did my evening cardio session and I must say I do feel much better. The car situation still sucks, but there are worse things in life than being broke and car-less. I have my health and thats what’s important. I’m fortunate that its my car in the shop and not me after my accident in January. Anyhow, thats enough babbling for one day. I guess the lesson here today is there is power in prayer and enpowerment in exercise…those are what got me through the day.

So I’m even more angry now than I was 30min ago when I first wrote this blog. When I tried to post it, it got lost. So here I go again. I am completely frustrated, angry, sad, broke, and the list goes on. I was in a single-vehicle car accident that has left me without a car for 2months now. The bodyshop I took it to has SCREWED me, big time. They added an additional $700 to the price of fixing my car. No, insurance isnt covering it, and yes I did take it to my dealership. I’m already overextended will all the extra money I’ve put out preparing for these figure shows (and I dont regret that one bit). I love competing and I love training for a reason other than my well-being. I’m trying to use all these negative emotions as fuel to finish my evening cardio session. Everything happens for a reason and a lesson can be learned from every situation. I dont know what else to say…I need to go cry, regroup, and figure out how to get through another few weeks without a vehicle.

As for my next competition…I’m looking forward to it. It will be a much needed distraction. Thank goodness its next week though because I’ll need at least that much time to get all this negative energy out of my system.

Well, the show was a success. I made my goal of placing in the top 5 and it was a positive experience overall. It’s amazing all the changes your body goes thru in the final 2 days before the show.

I placed 2nd in the Figure tall. My glutes still need some work so I wasn’t disappointed at all about not winning. I’m actually glad I didnt win because I dont think I deserved to and it gives me motivation to work harder because the girl who beat me will also be at the Rochester show on April 14th.

So today, I’m back in training. It felt good to workout again after 4 days off. My celebration meal(s) included chicken pasta, moutain dew, a shake, cheese doodles and pizza. But, I have to admit that I really didnt have and still dont have much of any appetite. I wasnt even excited about my homemade peanut butter brownies, so i put them in the freezer and got back to my training diet. Maybe after Rochester I’ll be more excited to indulge. I’m very motivated to train hard and make some improvements in my physique for the next couple shows.