Max Muscle Naturals Contes Re-Cap
I just finished my 2nd show and had a fantastic experience! Peak week is always the most exciting and complicated part of the process so let’s start this re-cap on Thursday night when I worked out with my brother for my last weight session before the show. He decided that I needed to carb up on Friday too because I was still a little flat. Eat more carbs? That was fine with me! Friday was my day of rest. I had been pounding water since Wednesday and Friday I still felt like I was going to float away. I was peeing every hour but I know it’s all necessary for the water depletion. Friday afternoon I met up with my brother for lunch at his office and he told me to add in some honey to my meals to help fill out my muscles. So I went home and continued to rest and pose and get everything ready for Saturday.
My brother came over Friday night to apply my tan. I was using Jan Tana, which is what I had used on my last show, but there was a problem this time. The tan wasn’t blending in and was leaving big splotches and streaks and scaly marks all over my skin. We couldn’t figure out what the problem was, so he said to just let it dry and I would wake up and smooth it out in the AM. He also said that I needed some more carbs before bed so I was instructed to eat 2/3c oats with 2tbsp honey and whey protein…I was ecstatic! I love being told to eat more!
I woke up on Saturday morning at 5:30am to meet my make up artist at 6am at my place. She did my make up and we were running a few minutes behind ( I had to get out the door by 7:25 to make it to the venue by 8am check in) so I was a little stressed. I checked out my tan in the mirror while I was getting ready to throw on my clothes and my heart stopped and my mood tanked… my tan was streaked, mottled and utterly horrible. NONE of my lines were visible and I looked awful. I started to panic. I mean, 3 months of cutting and now none of my hard work was visible. Karma (my make up artist) kept telling me to relax that it wasn’t anything that couldn’t be fixed, but I was already doomed in my mind. I rushed out of the house and jammed over to the venue.
I arrived at 8:10 but I wasn’t too worried that I was late because the last time I did a show they didn’t even start the briefing until 8:30am. Of course, this was the time they started on time. As soon as I walked in they called all figure competitors to the stage for the briefing. As I was standing there I felt someone tap my back. I turned around and how did I see, but my friend from FB.net, IMA!
I was like, ohmigosh, I can’t believe we’re in the same show! I had seen her pics from the San Diego show the previous weekend but I didn’t know she was competing at Max Muscle Naturals! We found out that we were in the same class for Unlimited and we stood in line behind each other at check in so we’d get to stand next to each other on stage.
After the briefing I got my height measured ( I grew 1/2″ because I’m now 5′8″) and got my NPC card. Then I registered, received my number (#43) and signed up to get pictures taken of me on stage from muscular development.
I had been texting my brother during this time telling him that my tan was a mess. We came to the conclusion that the tanner I bought must have been old and that the distributor must have just shipped me a bum bottle. He asked if they offered spray tanning at the venue and I said that they did so he suggested I ask them if they could help or if I should go to a local hotel and wash it all off and start fresh. I asked Ima to watch my bag and I hurried to the Jan Tana spray booth to ask for their help. I showed them my tan and started freaking out to them about how I was so upset that all my work was invisible under this tanning nightmare and they were so helpful in calming me down and explaining that they had seen worse and that they could fix me. Kevin (the guy doing the airbrushing) told me to come back 1hr before I was supposed to go on and they’d fix it, but then when he saw that I was still really freaking he said that he could do it for me right then so that I would be able to relax and that everything would be ok. So he carefully rubbed out the streaks with moisturizer and then went over my tan with the airbrush smoothing things out. I was so relieved. I asked how much I owed him and he said nothing!! So of course, I got my money and came back and tipped him. Him and the woman helping him out also touched me up and oiled me up before I went on for pre-judging and finals too.
So after my tan was all fixed I went out to get my stuff and call my bro and tell him everything was all good. I still didn’t know exactly what time I would go on, but I texted and facebooked to everyone the time I estimated that our division would start. Then I went backstage to try to zen out for a bit. It was only 9:15am and we were way down the order of events for the day, and yet there were girls already putting their suits on and pumping up. I was a bit perplexed by this, but I just sat in my sweats (commando style, christina!) with my iphone listening to music. All the girls were so sweet and friendly and it was many of their first shows. So they kept asking me questions, which is fine, but I needed to focus on what I needed to do and I kept feeling distracted. But I made a lot of new friends and all the girls were great!
Then the backstage organizers started calling for Master Figure to get ready. What????!! You mean we were already through novice men AND unlimited men and it was only 11:30? Unlimited is right after Master Figure! I started panicking and texted like crazy to let everyone know that I might be going on earlier than I had originally thought.
I hurried into my suit and then rushed over to the tanning area to get touched up and oiled, then I rushed back to the holding area to get my bling and start pumping up. Of course, after all that, my class didn’t go on until almost 1pm which is what I had originally estimated. Oh well! What’s a little panic first thing in the morning, right?
For the pre-judging, they told us that we weren’t supposed to do model turns. They just wanted us to do a front pose, back pose and exit to the side of the stage. WTF? Some girls didn’t listen and did model turns anyway, but I didn’t want to be “that” girl that didn’t listen to the instructions so I did what we were told to do. Oh, and instead of doing the “figure bow with arm in the air” that everyone else does, I gave the pistol finger and a wink. LOL! It’s “my thing”. At least it made me stand out from the rest, but I’m sure my red and purple hair helped with that too. ?
I smiled at the judges and took my place to the side of the stage when I felt something dripping down my arm. Oh yes, that was sweat and as it rolled down the inside of my arm it was leaving a trail of tanner. Great! So I had to discreetly try to wipe it off…which I think I did rather well!
After everyone came out (there were 11 of us in D class) the judges did the first call outs and #43 was called! That’s me! I made the first call outs! So they rearranged us a few times, we did all of our ¼ turns and I just kept smiling and flexing and doing what I came to do which was show off the best package. The girls next to me kept opening up their arms so wide (and brushing me) trying to look big, and I just did what I’ve been practicing and what Christina helped me to do: squeeze my lats, squeeze down on my triceps to make my delts pop. There’s no need to open up my arms like a bat. I just kept my cool and kept my hands relaxed and squeezed my lats and smiled.
Some of the girls also moved their arms back and to the side in the side poses even though we were told at the briefing to keep our arms at the side. So when I met up with my brother later he was like, you were the only one who didn’t do the arm twist and it made you look smaller than the others. I told him that I was only doing what the judges had told us to do, and I didn’t know the others were all bringing their arms back instead of keeping them at their sides. Whatevers.
When we got off stage we were told to come back at 6:30pm for the finals. I went back to the holding area to get my things and my friends that had come to support me came to the side door to say congrats! It was great having everyone there and to have such a great support system. I was so happy and excited and appreciative to have so many friends from all aspects of my life come out to share in my big day. I feel so blessed! We all took some pics and my brother said that he was pretty sure that I placed in the top 5 but that he wasn’t sure where the judges were going with the placements because they could either go hard or soft. He said I was the hardest one in the top 5 group so it would be hard to tell what they would decide. I was just happy to have made the first call out and to have the chance to take a Top 5 spot. How exciting!
We had a 5 hour break, so my bro and I went to eat at this rib place in Culver City. He said I could have some beef, so I had 1/4lb of trip tip (oh it was damn good!) and grilled veggies. Then for dessert my bro let me have a few bites of chocolate cake. It was great! Afterwards we went to Starbucks so I could take a nap and then we headed back to the venue. Since Figure finals were last I had a chance to go out into the audience and chat with my sister, brother and several friends that had come out to support me. It was great seeing everyone being able to share in the excitement with them!
Finally it was time to go back onstage for finals. All of us had been taking pics backstage and talking about our diets and our training programs. It’s such a unique environment and a unique camaraderie builds when you realize that these other ladies have been through the same grueling prep as you. We helped each other bikini bite our suits to our butts and oil up before we lined up for Class D finals.
During the finals presentation I was so excited to be on stage again that I forgot to wave to the judges during my model turns, but oh well! I was having fun! Once everyone presented themselves we walked off stage where I was stopped and told I was in the top 5! I got to go on stage again!
They marched all 5 of us back out on stage and then they announced the placings. I was called out as #5 and I was so excited! I smiled, waved and took my spot on the #5 next to my trophy. They called out the rest of the winners and we all posed for our pictures. Then I picked up my trophy and went backstage to get my things and hurry out to see my friends and family. I was so happy! I was beaming! 5th Place! I was ecstatic that I reached my goal of placing in the top 5!
Once backstage I took pictures packed up my stuff and met up with my friends and fam who had come backstage to congratulate me. I was flying so high!
I made reservations at Libertine for my victory meal (fried peanut butter and banana sandwich) so my sis and I headed to my place so I could wash the tan off and get ready. Then we headed over to Libertine where our table was waiting for us.
Here’s a little backstory on Libertine. I went there with my bro a few weeks ago and looked up their menu online and was drooling when I read that they had a deep fried peanut butter and jelly sandwich on their dessert menu. So I decided that this was going to be my victory meal. But when I called to make reservations here a week or so ago, they said that they no longer had that on their menu. I explained that this was the whole reason I was coming, so Susie said she’d talk to the chef to see if he could make it and go get the ingredients. She called back and said they would do it! So they specially made the PB&Banana ( I asked for banana instead of jelly) dessert just for me and my special day. It was DELICIOUS! With a side of Nutella for dipping. Wowzers! And it was great to share the experience with my big sister and brother.
This was a great experience. The whole day, although long, was so exciting and rewarding. It’s a little sad to think that a year’s worth of training and 3 months of cutting all comes down to a few minutes on stage, but it’s so worth it. My brother is already talking about when I’m doing my next show! He thinks I should keep training hard and go for Excalibur in December. I’m down to do it if my work schedule isn’t too crazy, but it always is at that time of year. We’ll see. I’m quite happy with 5th place for now!
My only regret is that I didn’t get a chance to talk to the judges afterwards to ask them for some feedback. And it dawned on me after it was all over that one of the judges that I thought looked familiar was actually Gina Aliotti! I wish I would have realized that earlier so I could have taken a picture with her and gotten her feedback. Darn!
Thank you everyone for your support and your love. I love you all and I sincerely appreciate all that you have done to help me through my 2nd contest prep.
I also did a photoshoot the next day (Sunday) and here is a shot of my make up artist extraordinairre, Karma Ritchie and my fantastic photographer Hristo Shindov. We had a great day and got some great shots that I can’t wait to post!
March 30, 2009 at 7:05 pm
You looked great! Congradulation, i knew you would have a good placing. - Later
April 30, 2009 at 6:15 pm
Congrats Missy! YOU ROCK!