Wednesday, October 5, 2011

High on Life

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Most people take time after off a competition, they are spent, exhausted, drained, they need recovery time. I took Sunday off and told David I would wait to see what Monday brought. I had the day off (that's my recovery) and had moved my spa day to Monday, seemed to make sense.

I didn't set the alarm, I thought I would let my body and my brain tell me what was best. I had gone to bed early, not enough sleep the night before so I think I was asleep by 8:30.

At 4:40 a.m. I woke ready to tackle the day!

I felt great. I was looking forward to the day, you see, Roy came to my competition, we went out to lunch between shows and I decided then what the "new chapter" would be.

Women's Physique

I have written about it before, next year Bodybuilding is gone, to be replaced by Women's Physique. I like the look, I like the challenge. It is a more muscular look yet not nearly as big and muscular as bodybuilders, and you get to perform a routine, to music, the mandatory poses (open hand) without the silly high heels. I can rock out on stage!

It means I need to train more with Roy. We agreed over lunch, three times a week instead of two. Monday and Wednesday after work, Friday at noon. We need to work on the legs, and we will continue with shoulders, they looked great didn't they?

I told Roy I would do cardio in the morning, he wanted to know if I could run hill sprints. ha ha Well yes I could but it might be difficult at 5:00 a.m. as it would be dark, I would need to use something at the gym instead. I can look for a hill on the weekends.

This schedule will allow me to train other body parts on my own; hams, quads and shoulders with Roy and I can hit them again on my own.

I hopped out of bed and had my shake, then off to the gym just a little later than usual. I felt great and full of energy. It would be cardio, abs and stretching, my Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning routine before work for a while.

When I got to the gym I stepped on the scale. 10 pounds heavier than last Wednesday. I definitely filled my muscles and liver with glycogen! Remember, for every gram of glycogen you store, your body holds onto 2.6 grams of water, and the more conditioned and trained you are, the more you can store (seriously, this has been studied). I am a storage facility right now!

I saw Ryan, a trainer at Courtside, he was as the show and was showering me with compliments, I basked in the attention. He was right- I looked great and I had a great time, I am still high on the experience. 


I told him my new direction, he laughed and shook his head, "sounds great to me!"


I did my cardio, abs and stretching, and chatted with the morning crowd (they missed me!) 

Afterward home for a favorite comfort breakfast from my childhood, toasted sourdough cut into squares, with two soft cooked eggs mixed in, the yolk soaking into the bread, the whites firm, and salt, pepper and Worcestershire. Coffee rounded out the meal.


Later I would have my spa day and lunch.

That night I would meet Roy to hit hams. Gotta keep the glute/ham tie in tight, we shall devote Mondays to that endeavor for a while. 


So many people go through a down period afterward, they worked for months on end, dieting, training, practicing and then once the event comes and goes, what else is there? What is left to do? It's like postpartum depression. 


I had a great time at my competition and am still high on the experience. Being there made me realize that I have more to learn, more to experience and more to share, to have a new goal is even more exciting and really makes me motivated to get up and go in the morning.


It is not an end to me, but a beginning. The beginning of an exciting, challenging and, I am sure at times, frightening experience.


Follow me on my journey! 

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