Atlantic City Pro

(45 sec cat suit – Gone!)
Hi Everyone-

It has been a really long journey this year. Many highs. And many moments that make you ask yourself, ‘why do I do this again?’. Well, being in Atlantic City and having my Pro debut moment was definitely worth all the ups, and downs and then some.

I was prepping all week for school to make sure my students were taken care of for the classes that I was going to be absent. I am really hoping things went well, and I did bribe them with candy so I hope that worked 😉

They had posted the final list of competitors at www.ifbbpro.com , and well I was not on the list. All week I was anticipating my name to be on ‘the list’ of competitors competing at the Atlantic City Pro, and well, I hate to admit this but when I did see my name on the list by Wed night (the night before I was to leave), I was a bit worried. Did they not accept my application? What was going on? I emailed them just to make sure, (and a few other friends to see if this was normal), and they all reassured me things would be fine and I would be able to compete. I can be a bit of a worrier, if all my ducks are not in a row. I was leaving Thursday around noon, so sleeping Wed night was a bit tough. I did call the IFBB on Thursday am, to verbally confirm my attendance, and they again, reassured me that everything would be ok, and I would be on ‘the list’ by today. And after teaching a class, I checked back and by noon – I was on ‘the list’!
Huge moment for me. To be listed among these girls is such an inspiration and honor.

So I went home, got my gear together and I was off.

But before I was even on the highway to the airport – I got stopped. I got myself a speeding ticket. Damn. I will be checking for the speed signs on the way home, for sure. I thought it was a certain limit, and well the cop told me otherwise. I am mentioning this, as I was determined to not let it bother me, and affect my focus. These ‘little issues’ can sometimes bring us down, and well, I have been working toward not letting the ‘little issues’ get to me so that I can focus on what is most important. And this ticket, although annoying, is not a huge issue.

My flight at the airport, was delayed, but that was fine, as I did have work to do.

I arrived quite late in Philadelphia, and then took a shuttle to Atlantic city and the host hotel. It was a long trip, and I was glad to get to my hotel. Atlantic city does remind me of Las Vegas, but my driver, told me not to ‘insult’ Vegas by doing that. 😉

Friday I was up early to tan with JanTana. Then off to the athlete meeting at noon to get my number, and hand in the music. I was the last girl to sign in, as well, I was not on ‘the list’ they had at the table. However I reassured them that I was ok to compete, and received my number (#13), and handed in my 2 rounds of music.

On my way to the hotel I did hear the news. Yes, I am one of 2 (Sofia Johnson is the other), to be the last pro debut fitness gals to do the 45 second routine, and one piece. (All those going to the Olympia are not pro debut girls). The IFBB Pro has decided to do away with the 45 second mandatory round, and the one piece round. Anyone want to buy a full body cat suit? See more information on HardBody.com.

(Renee, and I)

I met some new girls at the meeting, talked a bit, and then was back upstairs to get some more tanning. My friend Renee came down from New York to visit, and hang with me for the weekend. She was a huge help, again, a friend bringing me groceries, and just helping with other things for the show. I don’t usually travel with anyone, but having her here, really helped me this weekend. There is nothing around the hotel to buy groceries, etc, and well it is quite expensive here in Atlantic city.

Friends, good friends, like Renee, I have made through competing in fitness. I do feel really blessed to have them around me.

The afternoon was filled with getting ready for the night show pre-judging which started at 5pm. The one piece was first. Tracey MacDonald who so lovingly lent me her one piece, was a beautiful CeeJay suit. I was tanned, oiled and ready to go. It was so great to be up there with those girls. There were 3 call outs, myself in the 3rd call out with the other newbies. Sometimes I find myself on stage watching the other girls rather than focusing on what I am doing. It was very exciting and very hot on the stage. Man, the lights were hot. I was sweating quite a bit under that one piece. The round went quite quickly.

The two piece round was next. I started to turn a bit green. It has been a long season for me, so my skin is probably sick of the tanning, and scrubbing. So I tried to fix it and with the help of Marnie Holley (fellow Canadian and fitness pro) help to fix my color. It really only turned green where my suit was as I was sweating so much. We went on stage, similar call-outs to the one piece, 3 rounds of call outs, and we were done. It went so fast. After, friends told me my color was off, and well if I look at pictures – yes, I could have been darker.

Up next: 45 second mandatory round. I loved this round. Luckily, Skinzwear.com was able to get my costume to me in two business days – and that meant shipped to Canada. Amazing what you can get done when you have to. My friend even video taped the routine for me. I was pumped to do that round, and think I ‘hit it’. Too bad there won’t be any more.

(myself and Tracey Greenwood)

That was that, for pre-judging. I grabbed my stuff, and went off to a restaurant to have a bite to eat. Showered, and went to bed. I was pretty tired by the end of the night, and really just craved sleep.

(fellow Canadian – Marney Holley)

On Saturday I really did not do too much. Fix my tan. Do my hair and makeup over again.
Get some sleep and try to relax a bit before the night show.

The night show started at 6pm. I arrived early, around 5 to start warming up the routine. I was told that for the physique confirmation rounds in the evening fitness would only be doing the one piece, and figure doing the two piece. The routine round quite quickly and I did do my routine well. I was happy with my performance. I do have it on video but it is in pieces. It was the same routine as nationals but I felt I had more pep.

The awards were announced later in the night. I placed 9th out of 10 girls. There was supposed to be 13 girls, but one switched to figure (you can switch between fitness & figure once you obtain your pro status), and 2 other girls dropped out. I understand how this works, so I am perfectly fine with the outcome. No worries, no issues, no complaints.

You can see pictures and results at:
MuscularDevelopment.com
RxMuscle.com
FlexOnline.com- (scroll to the bottom)

Full results will be posted on IFBBPro League site. Then I will know how I ranked in each round.

(Aleisha Hart, IFBB Figure Pro, and I)

Reflection….I think it is was a great showing considering I just turned pro two weeks ago, and that this is my 5th show of the year. I have many improvements to make.
The one piece round went great, and I thought I looked good. The suit was not small enough in the butt.
The two piece my color was not great – I started turning green. I am realizing now what I need to do when I do shows back to back like this. How I need to prevent the ‘greeness’ for coming. Also my two piece did not look ‘great’ on me. I think I made the wrong suit choice. Again the butt was not small enough. Who knew how small the suits the pros were wearing are ‘that’ small. It does not look like that on stage, but in person, they look quite small. Note taken.
I am also not as muscular as the other girls. I am a small frame so it is going to take a while to get up to that level, but I am up for the challenge. It is wonderful to see changes in your body. I will try to find out how to contact the judges, and ask for some feedback on improvement. Saturday night I do think I looked much better, especially with my tan.

Routines – I cannot complain. I did my routine perfectly, and hit all my moves. I liked what I presented, and proud of myself to actually jumping right in. It can be scary the first time you do something so new. But for me this was not scary. It felt as though this is where I should be. I felt completely at ease with being around the girls, and was not nervous. The Arnold this year I was really nervous. This pro show – not nervous, just excited that I got to show my stuff with these accomplished girls. They were all friendly, and welcoming.

(Tina Durkin, and I)

Immediately after the announcements of the awards, I headed straight to the buffet at the Borgata. I ate way to much, and headed straight to bed as I had a long day of travel on Sunday back to Canada. Who knew you could feel drunk on food.

What is next for me? Well, in another two weeks I will be off to the Olympia with Bodybuilding.com. How exciting! I have never been to the Olympia and am so glad that my principal has allowed me to take a few days off to travel and be among these very inspiration people again. Come and stop by, talk a minute and receive lots of samples!

Monday it is back to teaching, back to my diet(at least for 10 more days), and get back in the gym to train heavy again. Gosh, I love training heavy.