I Showed My Gluteal Cleft On Stage!
I’ve never been as challenged mentally and physically as I was in preparing for the Atlantic City figure competition on September 12, 2009. I had to move out of my comfort zone. Let me put it this way: standing in front of a bunch of people in a little bitty bikini pushes you even more mentally than physically. But I set the bar high for myself and I’m striving to achieve the next level of bodily strength. I believe that if you want something badly enough, you can make it happen. You must believe in yourself and your ambition. As I have been told by one of most regarded mentors you must be able to improvise, adapt and overcome to realize your dream.
The competition in Atlantic City was a trial run for me, so that I could understand what a figure competition all entails. I found out that most of the competitors got interested in these competitions to help raise their self-esteem. That meant for most of these women their goals were to get out of bad situations, bad jobs, bad marriages and move forward toward a more positive purpose in life. I understood their motivation because it was very empowering to get on stage. I felt completely different after I had done it; it was like I was Braveheart running gallantly into the middle of battle, sword pulled, loins exposed, war paint on and not knowing what to expect at the next crossroads. I showed my ass to everybody! When I walked off stage, I felt that I was strong for myself: I had challenged myself; I had sacrificed; I had met the challenge to realize the dream!
The Preparation
Believe me, it was a grueling preparation, even though I wasn’t competing for a trophy. I’ve been on a very restricted food plan, which I’ll post here next week, and my workout schedule was extremely intense. I’ll also post that on my blog, too.
First, Corey Cooper Smith, my nutritionist (who I call foul names behind his back referred to me by David Barton, www.davidbartongym.com), devised a safe plan for me to dehydrate my body, to see what my muscles/body would look like with low hydration. This is not advised unless under the proper medical care. After this experience, if I ever complain about having to drink water again, please someone slap me. The concept is you over hydrate five days before competition and then start the dehydration process three days before the competition. Once I entered the final stage of drying out on Friday I could only suck on ice chips and dream of luscious H2O.
My “entourage” – Erika Green, CSCS Personal Trainer and long time physical therapist aide at Fusion and Jill Christenson, accomplished Athletic trainer at St. John’s University accompanied me to AC. After a lovely visit to downtown Newark, Jill finally figured out the GPS so we could take highways to Atlantic City, instead of back roads.
Before we left on Friday night, I had to get spray tanned at the salon. Note to self: the tanning process should start days before the competition. I stood naked in a little room while the attendant used what looked like a garden spray to turn my skin nice and orange, looking similar to an umpa lumpa from Wizard of Oz. Mind you, I could not get lost because I left a trail of orange wherever I traveled! Be sure and check in tomorrow to read more about the AC figure competition.
Carolyn, you are a warrior! (I wondered how you had time to go to a tanning salon or hang out in the High Line chairs!) Best of luck and we’ll look forward to more.