SixZebra’s Workouts

Well, I managed to pull off a miracle this past week with my contest prep for the Mid Atlantic show.  I went from, "don’t send in your application" to taking 2nd place in my class.  Hey I’ll take it!  And to think I almost pulled out of the show.  My conditioning, although not the best it’s ever been, improved very quickly throughout peakweek.  I wish I had taken before and after pictures because the difference between Monday and Friday night was nothing less than a freaking miracle.

Anyway, about the workout of the week.  So we are driving back from Wheeling, WV and are on south 71.  My husband and I both notice how windy it got.  I thought he was just getting tired behind the wheel.  No, hurricane force winds were beating on us all the way to Cincy.  And then things got worse.  After getting home and getting unpacked,  I heard a loud crack in the backyard which borders on woods.  Outside, I was met with the most incredibly strong winds I’d ever experienced along with our backyard furniture, large can of garbage and tree limbs, all scattered around. 

The wind just kept getting stronger and stronger.  Our neighbors were also outside checking out what turned out to be, a once-in-a-lifetime event for Cincinnati.  We were in the middle of what was Hurricane Ike.  Every few minutes or so we could hear, or see, huge old growth trees surrendering to the 74 mph winds, crashing to the ground.  We lost track of the number of trees that came crashing down.  Watching the trees bending in the winds, along with the noise, it was both incredible and almost terrifying at the same time.

As the highway is in our backyard, numerous times, traffic would come to a standstill.  Moments later, it was obvious that the drivers were out removing trees from the roadway.  A trip down that same highway a day later proved that.

So about that workout.  Thankfully, we only suffered some minor damage to the roof, which the husband  got repaired the next day.  But our neighbors lost two very huge pine trees.  Into our yard.  So we spent most of yesterday cutting up trees and dragging limbs.  But we were very lucky.  Taking a drive through the hood not only showed many very old trees uprooted, but roof and siding damage.  I believe we had 4 deaths attributed to this storm.  90% of the area was without power.  Even today, probably 600,000 are still without power; many will have to wait days.  We were fortunate in that our power was back on in 24 hours.  Nothing like cooking egg whites, fish and broccoli and oatmeal on an old army stove outside. 

After all that, I cannot even imagine what it must be like to go through the full force of Hurricane Ike.   I’ve never seen anything like this and I hope I don’t ever see it again.   

Woke up to rain.  In my yard’s case, that’s a good thing.  In my case, bad.  Bad cause I have to go get spray tanned a couple more times before I head out to Wheeling, WV for my second to last show of the year.  Despite having digestion problems, which seemed to all stem from a steak I had about 6 weeks ago, contest prep went Ok.  I won’t be as conditioned as the other shows I’ve done but it will have to do.  I’m about a week behind in my prep.  But I’m still happy with my conditioning considering. 

 My trainer advised me that post-show I get one cheat meal post show- then it’s right back into fish and veggies for one more week.  I’m typically anxious a day out but also excited.  These two shows, the Mid-Atlantic and the Ohio State will be my last shows for a year.  I’ve been competing several times a year for 5 years now.  My body and my marriage says it’s time to take a break and live the good life for awhile. 

I’ve lost contact with many friends over the past year due to my attitude towards contest dieting.  I do not like to socialize during that time so I can focus on the task at hand.  This has taken a toll on everything.  My husband deserves to get me back and I could not agree more. 

Lesson learned - don’t let contests be number one in your life.  Family is first.  It’s easy to get consumed by the world of competition.  Remember to look at the big picture. 

Happy weekend - I have to go and eat some carbs now.