When I last left you guys, I had just entered Laurel High School, sans trainer, to get checked in and receive my number for competition day. They had left some of the competitor numbers home the day before when I actually checked in, mine being one of them, so I waited with baited breath to be handed my badge of honor.
Show day is an odd event. It's several days in one, and yet it goes by in the blink of an eye. As Kevin likes to say, "It's a lot of waiting around for nothing." Lucky for me, I already had the "get the toes wet" experience, so I was better equipped to handle the day in its entirety and in its fragmented state.
This go-round, bikini novice (and bikini open) were pretty late in the show--I think out of about 17 or 18 classes of competitors, novice didn't go on until 13th. And open was even later. But even so, the events went by fairly quickly, or so it seemed. Before I knew it, Kevin was backstage spraying me down with a pound of Pam. Don't worry, we weighed myself before and after so I know it was exactly a pound... Almost too much so, that when Kevin went back to his seat and checked out some backstage pictures, he immediately ran back to me to blot some of that shit shine off. Hair = ruined. Although apparently that's something only noticeable to girls.
Nonetheless, I found myself chatting with some of the other bikini competitors as we awaited our fate before strutting out in less than 20 square inches of total fabric and lucite hooker heels. I say this shamelessly, but I now know what it physically feels like to be a stripper--when you step off stage, your entire body hurts! Arching your back, pushing out the booty, engaging your quads and abs, shoulders back yet relaxed. SHIT, son! So much to remember, and yet, with weekly posing practice, I had it to where it came naturally. Note to self: if I ever get let go, I can always be an uncoordinated whore...er, stripper. Okay, okay, they're people too.
Anyway, it was such a different atmosphere this time around versus my first bikini experience back at the end of June. I don't know if that was my doing or just due to the difference in shows/venues/etc., but I have a feeling it was because I was more knowledgable about what to expect. It was a calm and collected chaos, if that makes any sense. I.e., no stress about the small things, no "I just want an effing trophy" mentality, and no "Holy crap, what did I sign up for and did these other girls even train??"
Honestly, I have to say that I was highly impressed with the physiques I was up against, and I'm not just saying this because I have become pretty good (remote) friends with some of these gals. The thing about bikini competitions--and really any bodybuilding competition--is that you have no idea what the outcome is going to be. You know how much time and effort you put in before stepping on stage. You know all the sacrifices you made to get where you are, 5 inches taller than you should be. But you don't know how you compare to your competition. I say that not just because the judging is so subjective and can differ from judge to judge, competition to competition, and organization to organization. I'm sure plenty of my competitor friends out there would agree with me--you could get feedback one day saying you need more mass, bigger shoulders, etc., and the next time you step on stage, they say you are too big, tone down the shoulders, etc. There's no wrong, but there's no right either. And thus there is certainly no perfect.
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| Jennifer, Tiffany, & Yours Truly (Clearly I need to stop arching my back...) |
After a morning of waiting, we all walked out on stage in numerical order, lined up like dominos so we could be compared, critiqued, and compared some more. It was an eternity of moving around, hitting front poses, back poses, walking to the back of the stage, turning around, switching places, walking to the front of the stage, walking to the back of the stage in a smaller group, popping the booty, walking to the front of the stage in a smaller group, hitting a front pose, and walking off. And that was only the half of it.
I mentioned before that you really don't know where you stand when you get to these things, but let me make my point. If you're like me, you're constantly trying to compare yourself to other physiques. By the week of the competition, changes are occurring so rapidly that you don't even recognize the changes yourself and you certainly don't understand how to compare yourself to anyone else. Except in a quantitative sense (ex., duration of workouts, macronutrient consumption). Backstage is no different. And when you get on stage, the last thing you are thinking about is how you compare to other girls. That's what the judges are for. I can just imagine cocking my head around like a hyper puppy trying to see what the other gals are doing... Yeah, that's attractive.
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| Tough group! |
I have to admit, part of the reason that I have taken to long to post this is because I am content with how I did at this competition. In a sense, it doesn't even matter the ins and outs of the day, because they had no bearing on how I placed. It didn't matter that after prejudging, I went back to the hotel to try to blot the excess Pam out of my hair.
It didn't matter that that did not work and I had to carefully wash my hair in the sink and avoid streaking my fab tan. It definitely didn't matter that the chocolate pudding I ate made me feel like I was the devil bringing a little bit of hell to heaven.
All that mattered was that: A. the hard part was over, B. prejudging was over, and C. I had done everything I could to ensure that I brought the best physical version of myself to the stage (so far...).
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| Happy camping. |
The evening show was great though--I finally got to enjoy watching some of the other competitors do their thang, and by the time I went on stage, two of my greatest friends had shown up to cheer me on and watch the result of my 4-month-long absenteeism. Luckily for all of us, it paid off as I collected my 4th place bikini novice trophy!!!!
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| Words can't express my love for these two! Madelyn, myself, Celia. |
It just goes to show, I have the greatest friends ever! No need to say more. I think they were more excited than I was. And true fact: this is not only my Facebook cover photo and my desktop background, but it is also the cellphone background of Celia's. Not just because she's my wing-girl in recent days...
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| Thanks to Kevin for dealing with my crazy. |
And my favorite trophy photo of all time:
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| That baby shines even without my pearly whites. |
So there you have it--a finished recap (brought to you by a couple of drinks--yes, alcohol and I are testing the waters again)! And because I know you want to see more awesome photos want to share a few more awesome, proud photos:
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| Tiffany won overall AND received her pro card! |
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| No T, all A. |
A very special thanks to all my continual supporters, including but not limited to: Kevin, Celia, Madelyn, my momma, Melissa, Katie, Felisha, Sissy K, Lacey, Lisa W., Tenecia, Ashley, Stacy, Sara & Jason. To those who I forgot to mention--that was on purpose... Kidding!
Until next time--Spring 2014!
