Revitalized!

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Has anyone had the chance to see Generation Iron?? When the film opened September 21, it wasn't being shown in Tucson. Tom & I were pissed! I even took to Twitter to complain about the fact that my crappy ass city wasn't showing the film (side note - Phil Heath retweeted one my tweets - eekk!!!). After pouting about the possibility of having to drive to Phoenix to see the movie, it was posted on Twitter that additional cities would be showing the film. No joke, I jumped up and down when I saw that Tucson was on the list!

It's a documentary on bodybuilding...the posed picture was necessary :)

We weren't able to see the movie when it opened here because of work schedules and other stuff so, we decided we would have a late date night on  the Wednesday night after it opened and see the last showing. We loved it!! It was amazing to get a "behind-the-scenes" look at the lives of some of the world's greatest bodybuilders. It was also fun for us to watch the Olympia coverage in the film because Tom & I were at the show & expo! Side note: I thought Phil Heath was delicious before I saw the film and after seeing it, I'm pretty sure that I might want to have his babies. *I apologize to his wife for lusting after her husband :)

I have been enjoying my time away from the stage and have been using this time, not only to rest, but re-evaluate my goals. I had made some tentative plans about what shows I would do next year and what I would do during the next few months to be ready for those shows. But the truth is, I've also thought about hangin' up my heels. Not because I no longer love the sport or have the desire to compete but because I have been thinking "Can I really be a force to be reckoned with? Can I be competitive at the national level?". To me, if the answer to those questions is no, then it's time to walk away from competing.

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In my AZ Open recap post, I mentioned a trainer that I have seen backstage at shows who I have briefly chatted with. After the show, I found his gym BYB Fitness on Facebook and sent him a message thanking him for always being so kind to me and mentioning that I would love to work out with him if we could make it work with our schedules. After several exchanges, Randy and I were able to set up a date & time for me to head to Phoenix and work out with him. Last Thursday, I made the drive north and proceeded to get my ass handed to me!

Before walking into BYB!

I'm pretty sure you guys know that I take my workshops very seriously. Very rarely do I walk out of the gym knowing that I didn't give 100%. I knew that Randy was going to put me through a hard workout but I had no idea that it was going to be such a physical and mental battle for me. There were moments of klutziness (I couldn't clear some of the jumps he had set up during my squat jumps), moments of gasping for air (I can still hear Randy yelling "Don't you dare do that, T" when I would lean over and suck wind), declarations of "I can't" (I got reprimanded for saying that!), and even tears! The workout ended and I laid in the doorway, trying not throw up. I was a broken woman.

Meet Randy!

Randy and I sat down to talk after the workout and it was an awesome conversation. He said some things to me that I needed to hear, asked me questions that are still making me think, and essentially added fuel to my fire that I realized was slowing dying. One thing he said to me that has been running through my head is that I shouldn't consider hanging up my heels until I've stepped on stage in GREAT shape (because up to this point, I've only been in GOOD shape) and see where I place. I can't walk away if I haven't really been on point and given it everything I have.

I have lots of decisions to make in the next few weeks but what I can tell you is there are some changes that will be taking place. Changes that I'm excited and nervous about. Changes that I think may shake this whole thing up. I promise to share with you soon and hope you'll join me on the next part of this journey!