Are you ready for a recap?!!? I know....I know...you're saying to yourself "it's about damn time!" (yes, Mom I'm talking to you..except I know you didn't curse...lol!)
The start of peak week went rather smoothly. I am the Queen of Lists so I had started lists of what I needed to pack, what needed to go in my show bag, what needed to go in Genie's gift bag, what The Princess needed for her stay at Nana's house, and a schedule of tasks. All of the the lists help me when I have cloudy diet brain and can't remember what needs to be done! Before I knew it, it was Wednesday and time to drop The Princess off at my mom's. Our flight left at 7:00 am on Thursday so we my mom decided that it would be best for her to spend the night Wednesday night. Despite all of the lists, I still felt extremely disorganized! I kept remembering things that needed to be done like running the dishwasher, setting out the garbage cans, and cleaning the bathroom (yes, I'm one of those weird people who cleans their house before they go on vacation because I don't want to come back to a dirty house!). I finally finished packing and climbed into bed around 3:00 am. Before I knew it, it was 5:15 am and the alarm was beeping.
Tom's mom drove us to the airport and we quickly checked our bags. Can I just say how much I love Southwest Airlines for allowing you to check in 24 hours before your flight and not charging you to check luggage?!? I was nervous about going through security with my cooler/backpack but I had gotten some really great advice from different competitors about what type of bag to use and how to pack my food.
Waiting to board the plane
We made it through security with no issues and parked ourselves at the gate. It was time to eat so I pulled out my first meal of chicken & asparagus while it seemed like everyone else enjoyed coffee, bagels, and breakfast burritos. Tom wasn't feeling so well but he was a champ. He took the large ziploc bags I had brought with me and had one of the airport bars fill them with ice so I could get my meals frozen. (this was one of the great travel tips I received from Kari over at Figure Girl World!)
Tom & I had talked about where we wanted to sit on the plane and since I knew I might have to make multiple trips to the bathroom, we chose the second to the last row on the plane. We both made ourselves comfortable and went to sleep. I felt a little funny having to get up every 3 minutes (ok, that's an exaggeration) to use the restroom but a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do. I often joke that I know that it's peak week by the fact that I will use a public restroom without giving it a second thought. Any other time, I will hold it and hold it if I have to! I'm pretty sure the flight crew thought there was something wrong with me given the number of times I was in that teeny tiny bathroom :)
Almost there! And tell me the look on the guy's face next to Tommy isn't hilarious!
As I took this picture I said (out loud!) "Chicago....I am in you!" :)
The flight took just over three hours and before I knew it, we had picked up our luggage and were walking to pick up location for the shuttle we booked. I was so shocked at all of the green things I saw...trees with green leaves....grass....we don't have any of that kind of stuff in the desert :) Tom commented on how flat it was - we're used to looking out of the window and seeing mountains all around us.
The drive to our hotel (Springhill Suites O'Hare) took less time than Google Maps had calculated so we arrived at the hotel before the check in time. Luckily the staff were really accommodating and they let us check in early with no hassle.
This hotel was top notch! The staff were so nice and answered all of our ridiculous tourist questions. There was a free breakfast each morning that was incredible - I'm not talking about nasty orange juice and mini bagels, folks! Anyway, we got settled into the room and then the waiting game began. When the heck was Genie gonna get here?!?!
Yes, I actually wore this in public as I waited for Genie to arrive :)
She was texting me updates about her progress (or lack thereof!) and I anxiously waited! Three years this woman has been taking care of me, coaching me, supporting me, you name it and I was finally going to meet her in person. Tom kept teasing me because I was glued to my phone and fidgeting as I kept an eye out for a white Prius. Then I heard Tom say, "Is that her?". I looked up and guess what?!?! Genie was here!!!! In front of the hotel!!! She was H-E-R-E!!!! I think I might have squealed and yelled out loud "She's here!". Tom told me to calm down but it was too late - I was already on my feet and running out the front doors to meet here. I walked right up to her and hugged the life out of her.....and then tears started....yes....I cried...don't believe me...watch....
There was no way you could wipe those smiles off our faces!
Tom was included in the hugging - he didn't cry ;) but it was so awesome for the three of us to be in the same space. Genie parked her car, we grabbed her stuff, and headed up to our room. I was a little worried that it would be awkward between us. We've only communicated via telephone calls, text messages, and instant messaging so face to face would be new for us. Guess what? From the second we laid eyes on each other we were talking, laughing, teasing one another, and laughing some more!
The note The Princess wrote for Genie and the black & yellow blanket my mom made for her
Love her!!!
Before heading into check-ins!
My arm candy & I ;)
Once Genie got settled in, we started to get ready for athlete check-ins which were being held at the host hotel/show venue. My friend Jenny (who is also from AZ) was also competing and since she was staying at the host hotel, said she would meet up with us. Check-ins went quickly and I tried not to focus too much on the other competitors that I saw (in the past I've talked about how I have a tendency to psych myself out once I see other competitors).
Jenny! I met her at my first show and my "The Tan Rule" post was inspired by her!
Yep...competitors...and dorks :)
It was nice having friends that have competed at the national level because they were able to "guide" me through each step of the process. Once we checked in and had a chance to chat with Jenny, we headed back to the hotel to eat and rest.
I'm going to stop here because I still have a TON of things to share with you and I don't want to make your eyes bleed! :)
I'll leave you with a few more pictures from Thursday in Chicago!
I'm back from Chicago and slowly getting back to my "real life"! It's hard shifting gears after goofing off & having no responsibilities for several days but that's what happens when you're a grownup :)
Chicago was AMAZING! What a great city. I honestly can't wait to go back! But you don't care about the city right now, you want show results :)
In the end, I placed 16th out of 22 (or 25...I can't remember the exact number) girls. I am honestly happy with this placing. I had never stepped on a national stage before or competed in such a large show.
I held my own. I didn't get lost in the crowd. I didn't come in last. #winning
I have so much to share with you guys about the show...about meeting Genie for the first time (I cried. I'm serious. There's video proof that I will share!)...about my competition plans....but I have to get back to work.
Head over to Genie's Journey to read Genie's the first part of her show recap! Before you do, enjoy some pictures :)
Black & Yellow's Excellent Adventure!
Gotta get the girls in place ;)
There's my Genie Beanie!
Before stepping on stage for prejudging. Ignore the weird look on my face!
Black and Yellow's Excellent Adventure is officially in effect!!!
This happened! I met my Genie Beanie (aka Yellow) face to face for the first time today and it was, in a word, A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!
We conquered athlete check-in at the show venue and are now relaxing at the hotel. I'm pretty certain there will be lots of chatting, giggling, and little sleep. In other words, we're (yes, I'm speaking for both of us!) are having the time of our lives ;)
As I shared with y'all in my "What's Beautiful? I'll Show You!!" post, I am participating in the Under Armour What's Beautifulcampaign! I have begun looking at the list of challenges and since Sunday, I have completed 3! Can a girl get a "woot woot" up in here?!? :)
One of the challenges I'm working on is the "Give It Up" challenge. The challenge is simple - post a photo of something youʼre willing to sacrifice in order to meet your goal.
At first I wasn't sure what I could post...I mean....I'm in prep (Black and Yellow's Excellent Adventure sound familiar to anyone??) so I've pretty much given up everything...lol! I've given up carbs, sweets, booze, even coffee so what else is there to give?!?!
Then it hit me.
I have slowly been giving something up over the course of the last 12 weeks. It wasn't a food item, or a beverage, or the love of my life green olives. No....it was something else....something B-I-G!
There's still time to join the challengeso if you've been debating about whether you should join in the fun or not, stop thinking and just do it! Christine over at Oatmeal in My Bowl put together a great post entitled "@UAWomen #WhatsBeautiful Navigation Site Tutorial" to help you create a profile and navigate the site!
Welcome to another week of Black and Yellow's Excellent Adventure! We are now 7 weeks away from taking Chicago by storm! Can you believe it?!?!? 7 WEEKS!!!!
My "Oh hell naw" face
At my 8 week check in, The Boss made some changes to my diet and cardio schedule. While no competitor loves to add more cardio to the rotation, the amount of cardio I have been doing is relatively minimal so I didn't freak out about having to do more. What I did freak out about was the removal of green olives from my daily food selection! Now, my current diet doesn't really make me do my happy wiggle but there were pieces of my meals that helped me keep my diet sanity (see my Out of Whack Tastebuds post). Green olives were one of those pieces. I anticipated that I would have to say goodbye to them at some point but I thought it wasn't going to happen for another 2, possibly three weeks. With that said, The Boss did send a follow-up email saying I could have ONE serving of green olives and I almost wept like a baby ;)
One of the things I find myself over-thinking is posing. I feel relatively confident in most of my poses but my relaxed or "model" poses cause me to have a bit of heartburn. I am currently leaning toward a bent leg pose (see the 7 weeks pic above) but I have done the straight leg pose (see the 9 weeks pose above) in past shows. Hopefully, I'll pick one soon and practice it until it feels perfect!
My stress levels have decreased over the past couple of weeks and I have been sleeping a lot better. These are things I know affect me physically so I am happy to have them "under control" :) I, by no means, feel ready to step on stage but I feel like I'm moving in slow motion towards the finish line. I would rather be moving in slow motion than not at all!
Before I go, I would like to wish a "Happy Peak Week" to Melissa, Kari, and any other ladies who will be stepping on stage next weekend! Wishing you ladies the best of luck!
Y'all, something is going on with my tastebuds! I know it's probably because of prep but things that I would have enjoyed eating in the past taste like poo now!
Tilapia. Can't do it. Can't cook it. Can't eat it. Can't even look at it in the grocery store. While it was never one of my favorite lean protein sources, I could tolerate it but that is no longer the case!!
Blue Diamond Wasabi & Soy Sauce almonds used to rock my world. Tom would buy a large bag of them and I would inhale the entire bag before the end of the day. Picture me sitting on the couch licking the wasabi & soy sauce dust off my fingers while exclaiming "this is bomb ass diiiiggggggiiiiitttttyyyyy!!!". It's not a pretty sight, I know, but it happened many times! I tried to eat some of these almonds last weekend and guess what? I was not a fan of the taste! Say what!??! Yep, I ate 3 of them and decided I was not feelin' it. What the frack, tastebuds???
Since my tastebuds have been doing their own thing lately, I've had to get creative with my meals. I know that one of the big reasons I "cheat" on my diet is because of boredom. When I become bored with the selection, flavors, seasonings, etc that's when I start adding extra green olives to my salads or nibble on tortillas! :)
The Boss recommended that I take Metamucil to help me stay regular and after my first time drinking it, I knew I was going to have to find another way to consume my daily serving that did not consist of adding the powder to water. With this in mind, my "Power Slushie" was born!!!
I know it doesn't look like much in the above picture but it makes me do my happy wiggle. This slushie helps me satisfy my sweet tooth, keeps me regular, helps support my muscle recovery, and also helps me maintain my muscle mass. Now you see why I call it my "power slushie"?!?!
I place 1 scoop of GAT's Muscle Martini, 1 scoop of Dymatize's glutamine (micronized), 1 tablespoon of sugar free fiber therapy (or Metamucil if you buy the "full price" option...lol), ice, and 1/2 cup of water into my Vitamix. I then blend while eyeballing the consistency which is usually 30-45 seconds and that's it!
So, this is one of the prep-approved drink options that is making my world that much more bearable. But talk to me about it in a month and we'll see if I still feel the same way ;)
It seems like yesterday I looked at the show countdown and it read 18 weeks. The countdown was in double digits and that made me feel like I had enough, maybe even more than enough, time to get ready.
That is no longer the case!!
A shift has taken place --> the countdown is in single digits!! We are now sitting at 9...count them...9 weeks out from Junior Nationals!!
Starting the weekend off at Urgent Care --> dislike!
This past week was full of anxiety, stress, minuscule amounts of sleep, and lots of questioning. We had to take The Princess to Urgent Care last Saturday as a result of a fall she had the day before at school. While my daughter has limited mobility, I knew something was off when the things she could normally do independently were making her cry and scream out in pain. Tom and I both had to miss work this week to be home with her but I'm happy to report that our kiddo is slowly getting back to normal.
In additional to taking time off from work, I had to take time off from the gym. It was not a priority at the beginning of the week for me to get to the gym to lift. I expressed my concerns about missing workouts to The Boss and she reassured me that I have more than enough muscle so missing a few workouts wouldn't set me back :) While I did miss a few lifting sessions, I was still able to knock out my cardio sessions during the early morning hours --> perks of having a treadmill in our garage!
Happy Happy Happy!!!
When I was able to return to the gym on Wednesday, I received some incredibly fantastic news! I learned that my home gym Desert Sports & Fitness was going to be sponsoring me! EEEEEKKKK!!!!! I have been a member of this gym for over 7 years and y'all have heard me call it my "home office", "home away from home", and "happy place".
I feel incredibly honored that Frank (the gym's owner), Matt (Vice President), Joella (Trainer Extraordinaire!), and the other folks at my gym believe in me and support me in this journey to my first national show. It's been a few days since I heard the news but I am still in shock, so humbled, so honored, and so thankful! Team DSF por vida :)
Nine weeks out and this is where I'm sittin'! I feel good about the progress that I've made so far but there is still more work to be done. It's my first time hitting the national stage - I need to make sure they remember my name!!
I just love that line from "The Fighter" by Gym Class Heroes, don't you?? I'm telling myself that when I feel like I want to just take a moment to whine about something, I have to press on! That applies to prep, my marriage, work, Mom Duty, you name it!
If you have been reading my blog for awhile, you know that I'm obsessed with shoulders. I want them. I need them. I have to have them.
The Boss was really great in creating a couple of shoulder workouts for me to help me build & round out my baby boulders. One workout was designated as the "heavy" day and the second was designated as a "burn out" workout. I did the first heavy workout and at the end of it thought "Hmm...that was EASY..I don't think I did it right"...trust me when I say that about 2 hours after finishing the workout I was not saying the same thing! I believe the text I sent to The Boss said something along the lines of "If you hate me, just say it. You don't have to try & kill me". Her response was "LOL!"...yep...she is a mean, evil woman :)
One day last week, I had to modify my shoulder workout because of the equipment that was available and the amount of time I had to get my workout done. I am a creature of habit so I had to get over my initial irritation that people were using MY stuff ;) The workout turned out to be a really really kickass one and I'm definitely going to do it again. If you're interested in what it consisted of, here's the 411:
Lateral Raises
20/20 x 8 (2), 25/25 x 8 (2), 30/30 x 6 (2)
Incline Press (using dumbbells)
25/25 x 10 (2), 30/30 x 8 (2), 35/35 x 5 (2)
Superset consisting of:
Shoulder Press
45 x 10 (4)
Bent-over Lateral Raises
15/15 x 15 (2), 20/20 x 12 (2)
Superset consisting of:
Behind the neck Press (using barbell)
45 x 8 (4)
Upright row (using barbell)
45 x 8 (4)
10 weeks until Chicago. You guys, it's startin' to get real!
So, I'm experimenting with doing videos with my phone. I didn't know I could record videos with my phone until a couple of weeks ago - I'm so behind with certain technology things!
I apologize for looking like a hot mess, the bags under my eyes, and the shaking of the camera when I laugh at my ridiculous jokes. Hey, it's the first one...cut me a little slack ;)
I mention Genie's blog in the video - make sure you head over to "Genie's Journey" and tease her about her fancy lip gloss in her video :)
As you prepare for the week ahead, keep this quote in mind!!
I'm alive! No, the Earth did not swallow me whole! Life just got in the way of blogging, what else can I say? To make up for being absent, I thought I would do a video check in and quick update on what's been going on!
Black and Yellow's Excellent Adventure is in full effect up in herrrrrr!!! :) I officially have one week of prep under my belt! One week down, 15 more to go - lol!
The fortune I received while eating "the last supper" before prep started :)
I am happy to report that week one went very well. I am happy that the start of this prep has been calm, smooth, and positive. I had to know that good things were in store when the fortune I received the day before I started prep said so! I am taking that as a sign that this journey to the stage will be a great one!
Eating one of my meals in the breakroom
The plan right now is to start things off slow and steady. During the off-season, I was doing 3 cardio sessions a week so that has now been bumped up to 4. My meals are completely different than they were a couple of weeks ago, of course! No more jalapeno muenster bagels or red velvet ice cream! I'm back to eating healthier meals 5-6 times a day. Check-in with The Boss went well yesterday. I was surprised to see a nice drop when I stepped on the scale but didn't do cartwheels over my pictures...I rarely do...lol!
Keepin' a smile on my face!
I had been anticipating starting prep for quite some time so it was fairly easy for me to "flip the switch" and get back into prep mode. For me this means going to bed earlier, making more lists, and adhering to a set schedule as close to as 100% of the time as I can.
I really really want to be competitive at this show and I'm telling myself I can! I'm going to focus on the positives and try not to let the negatives & self-doubt creep in. I know that it will but I'm going to do everything in my power to keep it to a minimum!!
Sun is shining and it's time for progress pics!
One week down and as Jay-Z says, "I'm on to the next one"! :)
