2015 Olympia Qualification, Invitation, and Declination

One week post 2015 Mr. Olympia and the Fitness Olympia and on the eve of the Arnold Classic Europe,  I write post to you my friends, family, clients and fans.

Yes, it is true. I have qualified and had been officially invited to the 2015 Fitness Olympia.

I had to actually SEE the final listing and receive the invite/contract before, even believing that this was true.

This has been my fitness dream since deciding to switch over to the IFBB after having my son Zachary back in 2006.

In 2012, I was (this close…) to qualifying for 2012 Olympia however I was one placing short of making the final top five that are invited to the big dance. You can read more about that HERE.

How the Olympia qualification works

In the past the top 3 placings, of any IFBB Pro show, would qualify for the Olympia.

Then in 2012, they changed it to just the winner, and a ‘points’ system in order to qualify for the Olympia in the same competitive year.  Points were awarded to those athletes placing in the top 5 (aside from the winner), and the top 5 athletes who had accumulated the most points by the time the Olympia rolled around would be invited to attend.

Either way if you win a show, or get there by points, it is work to get there – to qualify for the Olympia – to compete among the best, and every year, even most who have won shows have to re-qualify.

I was invited to compete at the prestigious Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic in Madrid Spain which is this upcoming weekend.

It would have been possible for me to train for these two shows even though I traveled much of my summer.

You see, I did a massive trip of South Africa for three weeks and Paris for a couple during the month of July.  It was also my high school reunion and continued to travel on the road for another two weeks with my son and just having a good time being a mom.   It would have been feasible for me to train and eat properly upon my return from South Africa, which was the end of July, that would have given me all of August and September to prepare for both shows.

I knew there might be a chance that I could qualify this year for the Olympia, so I kept my eye on the last series of shows for the year.

In the end it worked out this time.

So this post is not really a question of whether not I could be ready, as I have trained for shows in as little as 35 days.  It is whether or not my body was able to be pushed like that.  And at this time it was NOT capable.

You see I am currently sitting at 12 weeks of basically a 40 week prep.  Last year at this time, I was sitting at the exact same position, (minus the Olympia qualification), unfortunately things did not work out.

After I received the invitation by email (I only had 3 days to confirm my attendance) I called Robin Chang, and the Olympia organizers, to let them know that I would not be competing due to my other news.    I was hoping I could defer, but this is not an option.  So here I am with 2 pieces of fabulous news, both of which I want but I know that I have to make just one choice.  The other one will have to wait.

In the past, I often said no to opportunities because I put other things in my life first – my previous teaching job, my family, and other obligations that I would put ahead of my own aspirations.  I felt that doing the right thing was more important than putting my needs before others.

I am hopeful that all these things will work themselves out that I will end up with a beautiful healthy child and still will be able to achieve my goal of going to the Olympia hopefully in another two years.

But I’m not willing to discount how I’m feeling in this moment.  I am emotional (could be hormones), saddened (again, hormones), missing my fellow fitness ladies (not hormonal, as I really do enjoy being around these super fit individuals), and feel like I am missing/missed out on such a prestigious event.

For those who don’t know their history or even what the possibilities are when they start their competition journey – going to the Olympia is the top calibre of all the athletes who compete in any physique organization.  It is not an easy feat to get there, and most take a longer path, toiling away for years, before qualifying.

I know what I need to do now is change my perspective.

I realize that my body will not be my own for the next year and a half. It scares the crap out of me. For someone who is so in tune with their body and having control over how it reacts to life, to food, to stress, to training, and then all of a sudden not be able to control any of it it’s a very scary thing.   I have been here before, and I know that I can do this again.  (and maybe again…)