Part 18 - The Home Stretch

Ed would have finished the race sooner had he
not stopped every time he saw me on the course.

In just a few days I'll be standing on the stage with a panel of judges gazing up at me. During this final week, I'm making adjustments to my activities and diet. Certain foods and spices are being cut out in case of blotting, water retention or bowel issues. No sitting outside in the evenings in case of bug bites, no hiking in the fields in case of poison ivy and no new body cremes. I won't suddenly take up running or biking in case of injury.....and definitely no jumping out of airplanes.

Ed ran the Ottawa Marathon yesterday. I supported him in his training then tracked him down several times during the race to cheer him on. His normal diet is high carb, whereas mine is high protein. In the week leading up to his race, he loaded up on carbs and maintained sodium levels. He finds it quite interesting that most figure and bodybuilding competitors carb deplete before carb loading then dehydrate just prior to the event. Doesn't sound very healthy but it's just for that week, so we do what we need to do.

It's such a fine science to peek at the right moment. It matters not what you looked like the month before, the week before or even the day before. What counts is what the judges see in front of them on that stage at that moment. Timing is crucial. Every bit of what I do and consume this week will count.

As for training, the hard work is now done and my body composition is where it should be. There's no need to expend energy doing cardio and the workouts are light and easy. There will be plenty of exercise to be had by practicing my poses. My last visit to the gym will be on Wednesday. This is also the time to get all the cosmetic preparations in place...hair, nails, make-up, tan, that sort of stuff.

Chin-ups are part of my regular back routine.

Bicep Curls

The Ontario Championships is a much higher calibre competition than the Ottawa Championships. Everyone entering this event has qualified by placing in a regional event within the last two years, or they're back to re-qualify for the nationals. With almost 300 entrants to date (including physique, fitness, figure, bikini and bodybuilding), the judging is sure to be brutal. Anyone who doesn't stand out in the line-up risks elimination from the top standings in the flick of a pen. In the case where there are large line-ups, the judges will likely pick their top candidates after one round of mandatory poses then concentrate on that group. It's more important for them to get the top placings correct than to worry about those not in the running. There's no real difference between placing 7th or 8th...the point is that you didn't make the top 5. That's it folks, go back to the drawing board and see you next year or at another qualifying event.

Christian, my biggest supporter
at Nautilus Plus. Thanks Chris!

Sorry to be so blunt but that's simply the way it is at the higher levels. So if you place 12th and you think you should have been 9th, don't take it personal and don't accuse the judges of not doing their job well. As long as the top 5 are correct, that's all that matters. It's different at the regional events because the promoters and the associations want each and every competitor to enjoy their experience and encourage them to continue.

I better remember my own advice later if I should be one of the non-placers. No worries, I've been there before, I can handle whatever is dealt to me. Until then, I have no vision other than holding an award above my head at center stage. I feel really and I've done my homework.

Last I heard, there were 13 Figure Grandmaster ladies entered and only 4 Open Short. Those numbers will increase as the late entries come in this week. It can also change at the official registration on Friday when we get height measured and carded. It's not the number of competitors that matters, it's the quality of those competitors that counts. Even though there are more Grandmasters, I have a gut feeling that it's the Open Short division which will be tougher. I'm not going to worry about who will be there. You could get a regional winner who blew everyone away standing beside a 3rd placer who qualified only because there were 3 in the division, yet it's the latter who winds up winning the provincials. It's not about how they looked then, it's about what they put in front of the judges on June 2nd.

4 more sleeps..........