1st one down

SO....first comp is officially done and dusted now. I am not overly happy with how it went, I missed the mark on my conditioning. I am trying to work out how it went wrong as I was very happy with how I was looking on Saturday night. Unfortunately I woke up (if you can call it that) Sunday morning looking flat and watery. NOT what I wanted. It didn't get any better either - if anything probably got worse. I had a very bad "sleep" on Saturday night, and in fact I use the word "sleep" very loosely as I probably got a total of one hour in if you add all the broken bits up together. I have since heard this can make you hold fluid? Anyway no matter what it was, I wasn't in form on Sunday and I knew while up on stage for prejudging that I was not in the running for a place. My initial reaction when I got off stage was to be a bit upset - but at the end of the day I knew I wasn't at my best, and if I can't learn from the not-so-good times then I am in the wrong sport. So onwards and upwards, I need to focus hard on the next comp, in 2 weeks. I need to hit the cardio hard and harden up more. So I got up this morning and hit the stairs for a 45min killer session. Home for brekkie (and to post this of course) and back to the gym to throw a few weights around and follow it up with some more cardio. Then I plan on doing a HIIT session after work tonight. This is it baby - FOCUS TIME!!

I have posted some piccies from around the traps, and my cool "i have a new massive back" shot hehe....

First pic...me and my fabulous friends Cathy and Timmy:

Shot 2 - me and the other Vicki (one of the most fun women I have ever met!!):

Probably the only stage photo I don't feel like a heiffer in hehe:

And finally my new back...hehe...

Til next time, train hard and be good!

Vic x

Slack ass

Man have I been a bit of a slack ass lately in blog land. Seems like I never have a chance to sit down for more than 5 mins at a time and do it, between comp prep (training like a trooper), dieting, cooking, working and traipsing around the place watching shows (call it research / inspiration / obsession / whatever!!)

So I headed down to Melbourne for the long weekend. I literally finished work 9pm Thursday night and my good mate Cathy 'Buddha' M'Gee met me at work at closing time. We went to my place, I threw together a suitcase (literally - I packed an entire suitcase and wore about 3 things from it the whole time I was away), got about hmm, 3? hours of shut eye, then got picked up by my mum at 2.30am for the roadtrip to Melbourne. What a trip it was. With me water loading and both me and Cath comp dieting - let's just say we stopped pretty much every hour on the hour for a food and wee break!! Must have been a sight at 6am at Maccas with the two of us pulling out our Tupperware container, oats, measuring cup, protein powder, Glutamine and asking for a cup of boiling water to cook the above with hehe...

We made it safe and sound and dropped Cath off to where she was staying, before heading off to my brother's place. Was nice to get out of the car and stretch (and use a non-rest area bathroom!!) Didn't do much on Friday night apart from DVD's with mum, my brother and sister-in-law, and dinner of course. I was doing another trial run for comp week so got to have a nice big glass of red with dinner - OMG I felt DRUNK halfway through!! Was a great drop too, which made it even better.

Saturday morning got up nice and early and headed out for brekkie with mum and Joe (Rachel had to work, poor thing - some fire training crap she had to go in for)... I had decided to give fat loading a trial so got to have a BIG BREKKIE...mmm bacon, eggs, sausage, grilled tomato, all mopped up with a hash brown...can't tell you how good it was!! Back to Joe's and did about 40mins of upper body resistance to see what kind of pump I got from the fats...didn't work as well as the carbs do for me. Oh well, it was a tasty way to find out!!

Got picked up by Cath and another friend Mick to go to the comp and due to me having worked at the NSW comp, INBA were nice enough to give me VIP reserved seating at the show. WOOT!!! It was an amazing show, such a high standard across the board (it is a nationals though!) and was sooo awesome to meet some of the ladies from blogland/Lindy's Forum (eg Lia and Rae), plus some of those infamous Facebook personalities. I helped Cath with her tanning and pumping up (threw in a little karaoke backstage, thought they needed some entertainment) but aside from that got to watch the entire thing from start to finish. And it has PUMPED me baby!!

Anyway the show went pretty late and afterwards me, Cath, Mick, my friend Luke and two of his mates headed out for a bite to eat - the boys had been talking about a place on Lygon St that does 1kg steaks (exactly what you want to eat after 3months of dieting!!) so we headed there. The boys got their steaks, Cath got a well-deserved parma, and I ate my grilled chicken and salad!! hehe can tell who didn't compete on the day! Afterwards we found a little gelato shop (or maybe not so little? had about 100 flavours!) and Cath got her dessert. I didn't make it back to Joe's til after 2am...and that's only cos I didn't realise it was daylight savings!!

Anyway I won't bore you with the rest of the Melbourne details (not boring for me but I am sure you have read enough already). I am back now and in full swing of Peak Week...I can't believe it is 3 days til I am on stage. I have water loaded and am now dropping it...down to 1.5L today from 6L yesterday. I am sooo thirsty and could eat a horse...my eating intervals just don't seem to come around quick enough!! Oh well not long...carb loading starts tomorrow and I CAN'T BLOODY WAIT!!

Anyway better jet...am at work ;) so better actually do some of that!

Til next time, train hard and be good xx

INBA NSW / Aussies

So - post comp report from the INBA NSW Titles.
It was a bloody huge day, and loads of running around involved. I turned up at 10am to help set up and drew a short straw somewhere, as I got the share-job of taping plastic to all the walls and floors backstage - SUCKY job!! hehe Aah well someone had to do it, may as well have been me. The show was due to start at 1pm and competitors started arriving at about 12ish, along with some spectators. Which would have been fine, HAD THE RSL STAFF SET UP THE REQUESTED AMOUNT OF TABLES!! Noone had noticed prior to then, though, given how busy everyone was, and because they had also neglected to put the table number signs on the tables - so we didn't realise there weren't enough tables til it was too late. Man, what a shamozzle. I tried to remain calm, despite being yelled at by unhappy spectators about their lack of table...just kept taking a few deep breaths and trying to set some more up as quickly as possible. Got there eventually but given it was a sold out show (plus people who didnt get seats and had to stand) it was a bit frustrating. Then there were a few competitors who either turned up late, or didn't realise they actually had to come get their name ticked off at the registration desk to say they had arrived (and hand their routine music in)...
There were soooo many competitors - about 90...I think by comparison the same show last year pulled about 30 competitors...hmmm could it be the looming Olympia?? lol... It was great though - in the Sydney titles in May, there was one female physique competitor - this time round there was NINE!! which was awesome to see!! The standard of competitors across all of the divisions was awesome - lots of hard work had obviously been put in by all in the lead up. Unfortunately due to the new one-show format (it's always been 2 shows in the past in NSW/Sydney comps) and the high number of competitors, the times for the running order of the show had been underestimated and it ran WAY behind schedule. But it's all a learning curve, and all in all it was a great show. Congratulations to EVERYONE who got up on that stage, everyone in the show, no exceptions, was in prime condition.
Unfortunately given that my job was to make sure the competitors got on stage and also cue the music people for all routines/posedown music etc I was stuck backstage the entire day and only got to see the show from the side of the stage (was a great view point though but didn't make for good pics) so I only managed to get a few backstage shots, not actual competition shots. And also unfortunately for some reason I can't locate my bloody USB cable to upload them!! BUT - I am off to Melbourne this weekend (WOO HOO) where I plan to take more shots, and my brother who lives there has the same camera as me so will use his cable and make sure I get some piccies of both the NSW and Aussie titles on here!!
SO I better jet, got lots of cleaning to do as my cousin is house and puppy sitting for me...
Til next time, train hard and be good,
Vic x

PS - 9 days til my stage day!! WOOO HOOOO BRING IT ON BABY!!

ITCHY FEET!!

MAN are my feet itchy...in a good way. Today is the INBA NSW comp and I am heading there this morning to be BACKSTAGE BIATCH (official title, I asked Rab the organiser if I could actually have a t-shirt made up and he told me he was onto it already!!) To be honest I am DYING to get up on that stage today...I did a trial depletion week this week, as mentioned in my previous posts and as of last night I was actually contemplating packing the bikini and dream tan and maybe giving it a crack today...I am hanging to get up there again!!!

This week has been a mixed bag of feelings...the biggest one being bloody exhaustion. I can't believe I forgot how tired depletion week makes me. I was bloody glad once Thursday's training was over as I knew I had the next 3 days off the weights and my body felt like it needed the rest. Friday was my day off and I took myself into work and sat in the detox box for 20mins before getting too bored and going home. Was nice to just chill though! I then went and got a spray tan in the afternoon and God it makes a difference - instant leanness!! Got them to do the darkets possible - to be honest I think that's what has put me in this "I wanna get up on stage NOW" mood. Bloody tan!!

Anyway I can't blog without mentioning Friday night. HOW GOOD ARE THOSE EELS GOING!! ON FIRE!! We had a bbq at my friends' place for the game and one of the guys is a MASSIVE doggies supporter, and me being a MASSIVE eels supporter gave it to him all night. There was a lot of friendly banter, ending with a bit of friendly decorating of the die-hard doggies fan's windscreen with shaving cream!! Lots of childish fun!!

OK better jet on that note, have some more carbing up to do (I love this trial run, I get all the added benefits, eg oats for dinner Friday night, glass of wine last night - went down a dream!! - chocolate today...the only thing that sux is that i am bloody thirsty as a MOFO!!)

Will post some piccies of today later on :)

Til next time train hard and be good...

Vic x

Dust storms and chocolate pizzas

For those who live in Sydney, after today I am sure the above picture is reminiscent of what you woke up to this morning. I reluctantly dragged my sorry, tired ass out of bed at 5.20 this morning after not very much sleep, as I had a 6.15am Spin class to teach. I like to sleep at night with the blinds open a little so that in the morning the light comes through and I am more likely to get myself out of bed to do my pre-breakfast cardio. Bleary eyed I immediately took myself to the bathroom (am water loading ATM so the second I move at any given time of the day, let alone wake up, I am pretty much busting to go...more on that later) and then made my way back to the bedroom to get dressed into my workout gear. That's when I realised an eerie orange glow coming from the other side of my window. My first thought was that my neighbour's house was on fire so I immediately went to the window to investigate...only to find that the entire sky was almost a fluorescent shade of orange. WEIRD. Still half asleep I finished doing what I needed to do and jumped in my car to get to work. That's when it hit me - had I died overnight and this was some strange initiation into the afterlife? Had the world ended while I was asleep? It was very creepy - the only time I remember ever seeing the sky look so spooky was Christmas day 2001 when the massive bushfires had set the sky into various shades of pink and orange. Then I got this strange feeling that the gym was going to be like a ghost town this morning and that no one would front for Spin class.

So I rock up to the gym and was half wrong, half right. The wrong bit refers to me either dying or the world having ended. Was not on the money with either of those. BUT I was spot on with the other stuff. Gym was near empty, and no one for Spin. Hmmph. Oh well did my own stuff instead. Jumped on the cross trainer and did 30min of hardcore intervals, 30sec sprint : 30 second recovery. Job done. Sweating like a pig (do pigs even sweat? not sure how many people have actually tested that theory? If any of you guys have, feel free to let me know via comments). Followed the cross trainer up with 15min intervals on the treadmill. STUFFED, I went home. Very sleepy due to lack of carbs. More on this later. Had brekkie then needed a power nap (woo hoo, got a whole 15mins in) before heading off to the gym to train legs. Good session, about an hours worth...and only followed up with 15min on the bike. I was seriously too weak to do any more than that.

SO about the water loading and carb depletion.

I am doing a trial comp week prep this week. As in pretending that I am doing the INBA NSW this Sunday (I'm not). So last week I cut carbs right down to just my oats in the morning and other than that, veggies. This week there are no oats. Just veggies. Which in my books don't count as carbs. They're not real carbs. And they certainly don't give me energy, or even keep me in a state where I can even pretend I feel human. I don't feel human - not even close. Fuck knows how I have managed to train at all this week, let alone work, drive, or leave the house. I can barely remember where I freakin live this week!! lol

I can't believe I forgot how shitty one feels during depletion week. Hmmm I remember now!! And remember that I have on 3 occasions fallen asleep whilst training in past comp seasons, in between sets, in the middle of the gym. When I have told that story to others, I always think that it really isnt that bad. Oh yes it fucking is!! I was talking to my mate, Strong Bitch, tonight - and she gave me a great analogy - that depletion week is like the stories on childbirth - that once it's over you forget the pain!! lol I think that's spot on!! hehe

So anyway I am carb depleting and today hit the worst of it, day 3 of no carbs, and leg day. Leg day is NOT a good day for me on no carbs. Given I wussed out on the cardio post-training (well cut it short at 15 mins) I promised myself I would stay back after work and do a bit more to make up for it. Well after work came (9pm tonight) and you know what? NO FUCKING WAY was I staying back to do cardio. I don't even LIKE cardio. I do, however, LIKE sleep!! So sleep wins :)

And while I do that tonight, this is what I will be dreaming about...

For those who haven't had the pleasure...this my friends is a delish chocolate pizza from one of my favourite fine dining venues...the house of MAX BRENNER... 4 and a half weeks baby!!!

Boring life...

Wow, I have been rather slack on the blogging front lately. Combination of things I guess, namely that comp prep is taking up much of my free time at the moment, and that I haven't really felt inspired to be blogging.
I am going full throttle with training at the moment, doing around 2 - 2.5 hours cardio a day, plus my regular 45-60mins of weights. I still have a bit of leaning out to do so am trying to hit it hard. I am also doing a trial depletion week this week coming up, so the week just gone my carbs have been very minimal and will be cut again come Monday. Will be doing the full water & salt load/depletion and carb depletion/carb load...not because I want to give it a trial run but because it will make me come in harder for my comp in 3 weeks time.
Headspace has been pretty good with a minor headfuck on Thursday morning, when I was asked by a friend if I would be ready for comp. He explained away that he wasn't asking me cos he doubted I could do it but rather cos I have changed comp dates previously...but in the carb depleted, dieting mindset I am in all I could think was that he was questioning if it were possible for me to be ready in that timeframe. Anyway whatever - it has just made me more determined that I will be ready in time. BRING IT, I say!
So training has been going well, life in general is just plodding along...I am def in depletion stage as I am bloody sleepy all the time. I really can't be bothered to do anything that I don't have to do and would rather sit on the couch than do much else!!
Boring post as not much else to tell you about...apart from to say HOW BOUT THOSE EELS LAST NIGHT!!!
Before I leave you all (for those who are still awake) I just want to send out all my love to the lovelies competing this weekend...GO ROCK IT!!
Til next time, train hard and be good.
Vic x

In a good place...at last!!

Gosh, it feels like I haven't blogged in forever! Hasn't been too much going on to blog about but at the same time I haven't really had time to post. I have been busy training my ass off (literally) and this morning I have woken up, feeling as though I actually now look a bit like a figure competitor!! Lol bout fricken time - this year I feel like I have been in the wars with prep, with my body fighting me ALL the way. There is no doubt about it, I have had to work harder than ever before. If you told me this time last year that on the majority of days I would be doing 3 cardio sessions a day, I would have told you to get off the acid, and that I would NEVER do that much cardio - given I really, really don't enjoy it. I am such a weights girl!! BUT I have been doing it, and for the most part - I have stayed sane!! lol

Friday I went and checked out a few gyms in the area. I am looking like switching training gyms to a place that I don't work - it's so hard working and training at the same place. When I train, I am generally in a little world of my own. No idea what's going on around me - nor do I care. I like to get in there, train, and get out. Eye on the prize. Unfortunately when you train and work at the same place, people like to come and ask you questions in the middle of training. Eg "I don't get sore from my Thursday training anymore, can you please give me some new exercises?" (as in right there and then)...or "Excuse me, but the leg extension machine is broken. Can you help me fix it?" Ummm....I'm training right now....see that person over there in the gym uniform? Maybe go ask them for help, ya know, since they are actually working right now!!! Anyway sorry - had to vent. The moral of the story is that when I go to train, I don't want to spend lots of time fluffing around. I want to train, and leave. End of story. SO gym hunting on Friday was awesome, I have found 2 potential new homes. I will prob wait til after comps though to switch as I don't really want to switch before then as it will just interrupt training I think.

My weekend was ok, a quiet one though - but was glad for it. Friday night was so insignificant I can't even remember what I did. I finished work then did some cardio - but can't remember what after that? I think I might have just stayed home?? Lol that's shocking - it was only a few days ago!! Worked all day Saturday, which bummed me out given it was like 30 degrees in Sydney. And it was cold inside due to the air con. I had a jacket on all day which SUCKED! Saturday night I went to my friends' Karen and Brian's place to help Karen with preparing for a seafood party she was having yesterday afternoon for her birthday. I ended up cooking dinner for the 3 of us while Karen was making stuff for the party, and nearly burnt their house down in the process (not sure if I have ever mentioned on here me and my attraction to fire. Not that I am attracted to fire - it appears to be attracted to me. That's another blog post though). After dinner Brian got a fire call (he is a volunteer firie for the Rural FB) so me and Kaz hung out for a bit before I went home and crashed.
Sunday went off to World to train legs with one of the girls from my posing class. She is competing this Wed night in the ADF INBA competition - it's her first comp, I am sooo excited for her. Anyway we were both quite wrecked but smashed out our legs session and then did some cardio before posing class. Went to Karen's birthday thing in the late afternoon and had a great time (she even catered for my diet so I wouldn't have to BYO Tupperware container!! lol)

It's funny - during posing class one of the girls, who is competing in 2 weeks for the first time, mentioned she had gone to a hens' night on Saturday but left early as she feels awkward when going out now, like she has nothing to talk about. I look back at my first comp prep and recall being EXACTLY the same. I always felt weird going out, could barely converse with anyone as I had nothing to talk about, and always just wanted to go home early. I am so glad that has changed. I am back to my social self, love being out, and have no issues with holding conversations. I am very weary of overdoing the comp talk so only talk about it if people ask questions and seem genuinely interested (not just being polite) and have no issue with being the only non-drinker (or eater lol). I am soooo glad this part changed as I don't think I could have coped 3 years running feeling like a bloody hermit!!

Anyway I better stop ranting and get off my ass and go train delts. WOOT! Love shoulders day!!

So til next time, train hard and be good!

Vic xx