Sitting in the athletes meeting with my good friend and client Dave Stevens on Friday evening, we had a brief conversation about how my view of placing has changed over the years. You see, I’ve had a lot more disappointment than I’ve had glory. This has taught me a lot and led me to where I am today.
It’s me against me! Right? Well no not really. I want to win! And anyone that’s being honest with themselves is thinking the same thing. Of course I always want to improve and be better than my last time, but I’m really after that 1st place trophy.

This was the biggest show Dave had entered at this point in his career and the nerves were strong. I won’t lie, I had them too. I get nervous before every show, no matter the size. A lot of time, effort and money is spent on one single event, so naturally you are nervous about the outcome.

I’m not gonna bullshit and say its me against me, because that’s usually a lie. We all want to WIN! We want that selfish glory. We want to know that on that day we were the best!

This show in particular was a little different because it signified my return to form. I finally got into really good stage condition after having a less than stellar 2 year period of disappointment. So in a way this was me against me and I won!!

The past two years were not horrible necessarily, but I was not happy with where my physique went and how I ended up on stage. I just couldn’t quite get to that crisp hard condition that I had reached in my previous years.

This is a good lesson learned here…though I thought I already knew it. I always say, because it’s very true, every prep is different. No two preps will ever be the same, but they can be similar. I was missing a push the last 2 years. I wasn’t being pushed as hard as I needed to. And it wasn’t because I wasn’t willing, it was just the circumstances. My coach was used to my body responding a certain way and it just didn’t…at least not as well as before. What this all meant and translates into is the hardest prep I’ve ever endured. Did I hate it? Not at all. I seemed to thrive on the lowest amount of food I’ve ever consumed during prep and most amount of cardio I’ve ever done during prep. My body was stubborn!!! I’m no genetic freak by any means, I have to work my ass off for what I’ve got. But I refuse to NOT make it happen this time.

I wasn’t 100% at the Cal and we knew I wouldn’t be going in…We didn’t want to risk a big rebound after the show so we didn’t do any water manipulation or change schedules much, it was just a stop along the way to Jr Nationals. I ended up winning my class and honestly should have had the overall IMHO, but that’s out of my hands. I’m happy with what I accomplished and how the entire weekend went!

We’re coming up on the so-called “peak week” for Jr Nationals and I’m going to be significantly better than I was at the Cal. For the first time in a few years I’m excited about how I’m looking. Great for confidence! More updates to come…