hurdlegirl’s BodyBlog

One more stage appearance for the summer. I’m competing back home in Toronto. I’m looking forward to it because I have several family members coming to watch, some I haven’t seen in years. I’m also looking forward to taking an extended break from the diet. I only plan to go a little crazy for a day or two, I really just wanna be able to eat yogurt, cheese, pasta, and fruit again. (although the cheese may be on a pizza, and the fruit might be in the form of a pie).

I feel pretty good going into this show. I dont really feel any pressure. The one thing I’ve learned is that all I can do is prepare the best I can. The judges will do whatever they want. I want to win but I also want to have fun, and I didnt at my last show. So I’m hoping to end this competitive season on a good note.

I was in a commerical for a local casino this week. Just a background part which in all likelihood will get cut out, but it was fun and hopefully it leads for other opportunities. Training has been going well. The 6-mile runs feel relatively easier, but I’ve been running at 8am before it gets too hot. I purposely backed off the weights leading into this final show, hoping to achieve a slightly different look. I choose some Beyonce music for my individual walk at the nightshow. I’m looking forward to letting my personality show a bit during that walk (assuming i make top 5 in my class). Anyhow, thats all for now.

This was by far my worst on-stage experience. I didnt fall or anything, I just felt INCREDIBLY uncomfortable on stage. I’m not sure what it was. I was fine on the drive to Rochester that morning, and even while I was getting ready for the pre-judging I felt pretty good. However, once I got on stage I felt like someone had just given me bad news or something. I felt completely deflated and emotionally flat. Even while I was on stage I kept telling myself to lighten up & enjoy the attention etc. I’m sure my smile looked completely fake. I placed 4th in the F class. The tallest class of the day. It was a good competition so I’m disappointed in myself. I learned a lot this weekend about myself and I won’t let this happen again.

I’ve got my final show of the season coming up in 3 weeks. I’m looking forward to getting in 2 full weeks of good training before I got into my final week reduction week. I ate happily on saturday night and sunday, but I’m actually happy to be back on a training diet. My training focus for the next 3 weeks is cardio, sprints, abs & glutes.

Showtime (again) tomorrow. I’m glad I decided to compete again this weekend. This will be my final tune-up before the IDFA show on June 30th. Having the show tomorrow motivated me to adhere to the diet. I have to admit, that has been the hardest part for me (big surprise). With the great weather, I love getting up early and going for a run, and sometimes the evenings are so nice that it’s a pleasure to do another short run or workout in the evenings. I’m stuck inside most of the day at work, so any excuse to be outside is a blessing, even if I have to workout.

I’m looking forward to getting back into a regular strength training routine. With 2 shows back to back, its been about 9 or 10 days since my last hard lift. I miss that feeling.

I’ll be alone again at this show. My coach is away on buisness and with it being last minute decision to compete, I didnt bother to ask any family/friends to come watch. I’ll hopefully get some stage pics this weekend.

Well, I wish I could say I had a great weekend, but I didnt. I thought I looked pretty good in the evening show, but as we know its the morning prejudging that really counts, and I just wasnt’ looking my best. It was a combination of blotchy tanning oil and water retention. My coach and a few friends have convinced me to compete again this weekend in Rochester, so thats what I plan to do. I’ll be taking a different approach to this show in an effort to avoid last weekend’s disappointment. I ended up placing 3rd in the Figure tall class, but there were only 4 girls. I also had to wear both a 1 and 2 piece suit for this show. 1-piece suits don’t do ANYTHING for my body type, not to mention the fact that up until midnight on friday I did not have a 1 piece outfit (long, long stupid story). Anyhow we shall see how this weekend unfolds.

Training this week is very cut back. Normal cardio, but minimal lifting (my coach says none, but i’m doing my usual glute stuff). I also dont have any pictures of the weekend. My coach once again had camera issues, this time deleting the photos before unloading them to his computer. Anyhow, instead of making me feel better this blog is getting me upset…

Tomorrow’s the day. I feel good and I’m excited to step on stage again. I’m in the process of choking down as much water as I can before my cut-off at 4pm today.  I’m wearing a different bikini tomorrow for the show, so hopefully it does me justice (or i do it justice). I did my own beading on this one, so my fingers are crossed. At least I don’t have to travel this weekend because the show is right here in town. The weather has been phenominal this week, 80+ degrees and sunny. Unfortunately I’m stuck inside at work from 11-6 each day. I did get some sun yesterday morning, and I plan to get some more today after work, especially on my back. I think the only thing I have left to do is to decide what I want to EAT after the show, lol.

I some how managed to have to fun & interesting things happen this week. I’m the "Abs of the Month" feature at http://www.sixpacknow.com/veronica.html

I’m also in a contest at http://www.muscleupgear.com/contestants.html so please vote for me