Making My Mind Up!

I was going to find a photo of Buck's Fizz, but I decided that I don't want to inflict that upon any of you that read this blog, so I'm going Blankety Blank instead.

I made a decision tonight, that is I'm not going to compete in the INBA titles in Brisbane on the 17th May.

I hate admitting it, but a lot of the reason is financial - we've just made our first drawdown for the house and we're thinking of sending the girls to Ipswich Grammar next year. When I added up the cost of joining the INBA, the entry fee, the tan etc, I just felt that what I would gain from the experience would not be as worth as much to me as that money will be going somewhere else.

A lot of people often pull out of a comp because of insecurity about how they are looking - in my case, this couldn't be further from the truth. I look amazing, I am fit, I am toned and I cannot wait to have my photos done with Dallas on the Monday following the comp! Everytime I pass my reflection in the mirror (after checking out my biceps of course) ,I marvel and smile at how good I look and feel (especially after sleeping in this morning).

Over dinner tonight, I reflected on if my decision would change what I ate tonight. No, things went on just as normal.

I can't wait to see everyone at the show and I cannot wait to show everyone my photos.

Handy Hints for Figure Competitors

The whole comp prep thing has given me a few learnings I will share with you,

Here goes:
* Expect people to ask you if you eat a lot of tuna. I don't know why tuna, especially the canned stuff is associated with fitness loving types and bodybuilders. Except for my Paleo Tuna Patties, I have yet to crack open a can for the sake of it.

*Expect people to ask you why you're not massive when you say you are competing in a Bodybuilding competition, especially as a natural athlete (yes, this week I'm an athlete again, thanks Kek!)

*Expect your leanness to be scrutinized by all the other gym members. This week I've taken to wearing my CAnterbury compression garments from head to toe. I'm hoping to be mistaken for Libby Lenton instead

*Expect that your own perception of your body will change - all of a sudden you'll take a liking for flaring your lats in public bathrooms and secretly flexing your biceps in the lift. You'll be checking yourself out every 5 minutes, looking for changes. This is exhausting, so my take is to get on with it.

*Expect to question yourself about how much work and discipline you're putting in for fifteen minutes on stage in a skimpy bikini. This one runs through my head a bit. But I am keeping on keeping on.

*Expect a few bumps post comp, but have a plan - me - moving on to other things in my training and still very committed to eating well for the long term.

Training Update:
Yesterday: 50 minute run @ 11.2km/hr felt good, back/triceps
Today: Chest/biceps + easy pace elliptical 35 minutes. I have hard hard workload tomorrow so the cardio was kept to a minimal level.

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).

Everybody's Free (to feel good)

Today I was reminded of how the mind can influence the body - if you think positively, I think you move better!

I would be telling a complete and utter lie if I didn't say that getting into competition shape is occupying a lot of my thoughts right now - in fact I've never been this close to a competition and been so heavy before! I have to add the disclaimer that although I think I look like a skinny minny right now, the concept of being too fat right now is hysterical. I think Katie P lovingly refers to it as Stage 3 of a comp prep. Meanwhile I continue to paddle around in the illusion that I've added more muscle - one thing I do know is that I've added silicone since last time - hope that counts for something!

In fact this prep has been the weirdest one ever - I haven't had the luxury to give this one as much focus as the last three - in fact, the comp sometimes has had to go on the bottom of the priority list whilst I have tried to get other things done. I'm not even training like a competitor - taught RPM and Bodystep today (which was awesome) and my weights consisted of core work with a client and a few sets of push ups. I've been off the upper body work due to the cranky shoulder and every time I decide to hit my legs, I get asked to teach a class. There has been little, if any extra cardio apart from teaching classes. The end product sure is going to be interesting.....

So training wise was a big cardio load today - I had energy to burn today, felt fantastic. I'm still eating in the Paleo style but had a big chunk of cheese last night in my omelette - just felt I needed "more". I don't seem to react at all to dairy products.

Visited the physio today and am hoping to get some sort of training in tomorrow...

Trundling

"Trundling" is the only word to describe where I'm at right now. I equate it to being at the 16-17km mark in a Half Marathon race..you're in No Man's Land - even though you've run 16km, you've still got another 5km to go - and when you've got tired legs, that can seem like a long way off.

I've done a fair chunk of the work, now it is time to see it through to the end. Focus, girl, focus! I'm faced with a few obstacles - one is my left shoulder, which is really cranky, accompanied for good measure by my fifth rib - I must have impressed Louise today when she was working on me by saying "what are you doing to my fifth rib?" - she counted and sure enough she was at the junction of 5th rib to one of my thoracic vertebrae (I'm not smart or lucky enough to remember which one - probably T5?). Therefore any training or posing practise..limited for a few days.

Time to keep on keeping on :)

Se a vida e (That's the Way Life Is)

"Come outside and feel the morning sun,
Se a vida e` I love you,
Life is much more simple when you're young.
Come on essa vida e`
That's the way life is, that's the way life is...
Although we see the world through different eyes
We share the same idea of Paradise
So don't search in the stars for signs of love
Look around your life you'll find enough"
(Tennant/Lowe, Pet Shop Boys 1996)

Looks like I'm on an official Pet Shop Boys bender this weekend. They're quirky and I love their off beat lyrics. I like this little reminder to keep things simple and to focus on what is most important!

Today's been a bit of a topsy turvy one - I got on the scales and didn't have to do a Shelley - no "wrong way dickhead", weight was exactly the same. However my tummy was pretty grouchy about the onslaught of the wheat and has been letting me know about it for the last 12 hours or so. I was quite surprised that there was no spike, maybe tomorrow, hee hee. I prepped all my gear and CDs to take to RPM only to get to the gym and find my CD cases were empty - I'd organized the cases but not the CDs! Luckily I was able to adlib with another release that was lying at the bottom of my bag - though it was only seven tracks instead of nine, so I had to repeat two - I jokingly called them "mental toughness" tracks.

Then I went and trained my back and shoulders which went well, shoulders a bit grumpy (to match my belly) and went to shower - shock horror, had forgotten to pack my undies yet again - it was off to Lorna Jane to buy a new pair of undies - fittingly I got a pair that say "never say never!" on the front which gave me a bit of a giggle.

Finally it was off to the supermarket to buy things for breakfast tomorrow (my sister turns 30 and we're having a brunch) and lamb for a Massaman Sweet Potato and Lamb Curry which is going to sister in law's tomorrow night. Got the curry stuff sorted but forgot the orange juice!

Now the curry is made and festering I've had a chance to sit down and catch up on blogs. It is funny how your taste in blogs changes over time, with your goals and own growth. I remember when I started blogging in 2006, there was a 'core group' of us Aussie Figure Competitors - it's been fun to actually meet all of these people and add new bloggers to the list along the way - I highly recommend blogging as it's a great way of making new friends and meeting likeminded people. I would love to keep expanding my reading list so if anyone wants to share, please leave a comment!