Summer 08 Contest Prep

OK, back on the schedule, back on the routine.  It feels good to have my meals planned, to be honest.  It’s a little overwhelming being able to eat whatever you want.  And dangerous.  I finally tried to sleep last night and felt so sick, ended up puking up my ice cream, club sandwich, and rice krispy treat.  it was NOT pretty.

this morning i’m back on the diet with a tiny bit more carbs and training is going to stay the same - 5 day split, abs on even days, posing on odd, 4 sprints per week and i’m going to try for 4 cardios.  this week will be tough because of VBS commitments every night.  will try to run while the kids are in class, but temps in the 90s may prevent that from happening.

photo shoot this saturday morning and lenda murray in 3 weeks.  then what will i do with myself!!??  i feel completely lost without a program…

this is my "a" show.  i really want to bring it on saturday.  i look better than i ever have.  fuller, stronger.  not just skinny.  i’m completely exhausted this week, it’s physically challenging to go through the motions of the day.  i need to be increasing my water intake.  i’ve been focusing on rest, skipping cardio in the 100-degree heat because i KNOW my body needs quality sleep.  which i’m not getting.

i’m hovering at 146 - 147 pounds.  with water gone i expect to go on stage around 145, same weight as yorton but MUCH bigger.  i can’t believe i got it done.  cravings are out of control, i’m texting "craving updates" to my friends.  it goes from bananas to chips ahoy cookies to sandwiches…i’m getting a litttttle crazy.

come out and see me if you are in the DC/Alexandria area!  this saturday at garfield HS in woodbridge, va.  prejudge at 1230, finals at 700.  you better have home-baked goodies for me if you come!!!

so august 16 i’ll be doing a competition and then what…here’s my tentative agenda for the next year in my training life

aug 17 - aug 24 - REST and RECOVER

aug 25 - sep 26 - homemade crossfit and endurance sports training plan

sep 28 - dec 06 - 10 week powerlifting program, potentially competing in PL on dec 6!

dec 07 - feb 14 - 10 weeks of crossfit/endurance program again

feb 15 - may 16 - 12 weeks to cut and compete in figure (1 or 2 shows)

may 17 - sep 30 - triathlon training!!!  which i’m very excited about

tri goals:

in the course of the next year i want to run several 5Ks, 10Ks, complete a metric century ride (62 miles) and maybe a full century.  i’m aiming to race in a sprint tri next august and an olympic tri by next september.  then….i dunno

I mean, 2 weeks to my first show.  Yeah.  Where the hell is my focus lately!  TMI alert - I think I may be getting my period this week.  Tired, joint pain, bloaty and soft looking even in the AM even though my weight is holding steady.  It sucks because I’ll have no idea what I’m going to look like next week, but I’d rather get it this week than next!

On a side note, the fact that I’m still getting my period is awesome.  I did this cut SO right.  Very healthy, nothing severe, even my body is behaving mostly normal.  Little bit of attitude at work, but maybe it’s cause I work with idiots?  And I’m tired.  But I’m really proud of this contest cycle.  Last year I almost gave up completely because I just couldn’t cope with LIFE while prepping, this year, I proved I could do it!  Maybe I do have what it takes to be a Figure Champion!

the next few weeks will be fairly intense.  i cut creatine out so i can get a better picture of my physique not holding all that water under the skin.  i’m planning a "test run" of contest day the week before - cutting back water, watching my food, and posing at 12:30 to simulate prejudging.  i scheduled a photo shoot for august 2nd to capture me in prime shape.  and i’m slashing carbs again in order to up fat…which i discovered works for me my last contest prep so i’m running with it.

the focus for the next three weeks will be:

PLENTY of rest - at least 7 hours each night - this will be tough

LOTS of sprints - i skipped them a lot this week so i have some catching up to do.  i think increasing rest and fats is going to help with this.

perfect diet - not worried about this one.  i ran a 5K yesterday and didn’t even feel the need to pig out on carbs as the reward i promised myself.  nothing looked good.  that 1/2 banana and 1/2 orange was HEAVEN, though.

ab training - need to do more challenging workouts.  these crunches are getting OLD

book hotels, hair appts, etc - just needs to get done, oh well

continue to lift heavy right up until probably thursday before the show.  i need to retain as much muscle as possible, ESPECIALLY on my upper body.