Circular Thinking

I remember having a chat with Jo Rogers ages ago about how when someone competes, usually something major is happening - for her I remember "something always died" and the first time I competed the house got flooded and we had to move into a hotel with very limited facilities the week prior - think my emotions were on a knife edge then and thinking about it is a good reminder of how important it is to stay level and keep a good perspective about everything.

At the beginning of the week I was having a circular argument with myself as to whether you could call bodybuilding a sport - after all it's not a test of power, strength, speed or endurance (though on this point I could beg to differ!) - you're simply judged on 'how you look' and unfortunately it doesn't seem to be uniform across all federations or even within the same federation which makes it all rather confusing. Part of my brain tells me that I shouldn't consider it a sport - but then I think of the hard training we put in and think that I would be doing bodybuilders and figure gals a huge disservice by suggesting that in doing this activity that they're not athletes. I think of the likes of some of the girls around me who have really dedicated them who have really dedicated themselves to whacking on the muscle and decide that how could they not be athletes given the intensity and focus of their training? So as you can see, prepping for a show has the ability to mess with your mind!

Kek wrote a great post about "Fit to Travel" and I have to say I agree with her. I started off by taking some pre prepped meals but eventually I ended up eating out with every meal - my strategy was to keep carbs low if fats were high (ie had salmon and vegetables a lot!) and vice versa. I walked everywhere and arrived home lighter than before I left. I had the choice whilst away of "stress out about your eating and send cortisol levels through the roof " or "take a chill pill, be moderate and level". Option B works better for this little black duck.

Today's training - got some chest and biceps in (yeah!) and a good hard run where I dug out a nice little niche just under anaerobic threshold and went for it for 20 minutes. Have added a 30 minute relaxed walk to most days as well which is helping to keep my mind clear (apart from when I'm engaging in planned gas release at airports and circular athletic arguments).