Reflection part 2...

The drive to Vegas was easy peasy compared to LA (18 hours!). We arrived to a big spacious house were we would be spending the next 5 days preparing for USA's. We slept, drank gallons and gallons and gallons of water between all the competitors, trained and posed, and stained the toilets orange from Jan Tana! It was great to be close to fellow competitors and when show time approached, I had wicked nerves. I placed a lot of pressure on myself and expected a lot out of myself at this show and I did not finish as I had hoped. That is alright though. After many tears, times of question and disappointment and a solid break from the gym, I have collected my thoughts and I am ready to push forward to the next one. You see, this competition does not define me nor does any competition. Yes, I am a girl who will get up at 3am for cardio, eat cold salmon or tilapia (gag), and jam pack my days with food prep, training, and school work in order to achieve my dreams but win or lose, I am still me at the end of the day. I am still the girl who wishes for the world. I am still the girl who loves a snorty, stinky bulldog and would do ANYTHING for my family. I will be there for my friends when they may or may not need me and I will fight for what I love. Competitions aside, I am still J.

Ciao for now

Reflection Time Part 1

Jon Lindsay Himself at LA Championships!

It's been a long time coming and probably the most interesting experience I've encountered on this crazy journey. I was training for the mother load of shows and we were heading to do a wham-bam-2 in a row set of shows. We drove 18 hours to LA for the LA championships. We experienced training at the "Mecca of bodybuilding" aka Golds gym Venice, we experienced a shortage of sweet potatoes (apparently CA only has Yams), we had 6 of us in one house with 3 of us dieting and it was challenging yet very rewarding. We got pulled over twice in CA, competed in my first ever CA show and finally broke up with Tilapia! The show was on a Saturday and figure was out first for prejudging. I received first call out along side another gal and that was it. I was off the stage in a few minutes. The rest of the day was spent cheering for my team mates and waiting, waiting, waiting! The figure division was first in prejudging but last in the evening show. SOO after a long wait, got back on stage and.... WON THE OVERALL :) It was amazing and I felt great about the package I brought to the stage. I have a beautiful sword (as big as me) and memories with great people. That night I chowed down on two rice cakes with almond butter, hit the sack and headed for round 1 of cardio the next morning. You see we still had one more show to go! USA's...

Ciao for now,

J


Overall Win at LA Championships

Road Trippin'

The past week was a busy one spent traveling all over the I-5 corridor. My mom and I went to Portland to watch my cousin, Sarah Gwen (yes check out her new CD on i-tunes), open and perform live. It was a blast and made for a sweet little get away. The drive down did not take as long as I thought but when we got there and the inevitable double cardio loomed over my head, I knew it was time to get it done in order to relax. Popped in my head phones and went down to the hotel gym, which consisted of a two treadmills, a bike, and a weird hydraulic stair-stepper thing. I have never seen anything like it but it intrigued me so I decided to try it. It was like stair climbing on a trampoline, shooting me up with each step. Now this may seem neat but in all reality when you are facing a wall full of mirrors and there is a huge glass window behind you that separates you from the hot tub. Soo anyone in the hot tub gets a prime view of your backside. So,while doing my 30 minutes, the maintenance man had to check the chemicals a few times. If you know me, my back side is not a small feature. So with each step, there was alot of booty bouncing and well... you get the idea! The next day, I was laying on the hotel bed and asked Siri to find the closest gyms. Siri, come to find out can be very helpful, but she can also be a huge pain in the ass. I found myself fighting with her on a couple different occasions. She can be a real smart ass sometimes.

The drive home was not as bad as I would have thought either. We only got stuck in a little bit of Portland traffic but still made it home in decent time. The following couple days have been filled with training, posing, and spending time with my CZ family. We are winding down and this weekend marks the 4- and 5-week out mark from the big shows... Nerves have officially set in.

Ciao for now,     J

Can't Sleep...

Last night I could not sleep. I couldn't fall asleep, couldn't stay asleep, and once the clock hit 4 am, I was up. No sense in fighting to stay asleep when I can get up and start tackling this Monday morning. Now, I hate Mondays, well at school I do. This past quarter,  my Monday started at 5 am with cardio followed by a 6 am lift, then on to classes until 7:20pm then topped off with another cardio. I would go home, eat, shower, and repeat the next day. Such a busy quarter but that also made it go by reasonably fast!

Today however, I don't have class nor do I have to worry about homework. I'm excited to be home and to see all my friends and family. I have some serious catch up to do with all of you and I now am able to do it, full-heartedly (ps spell check tells me this is not a word)! Morning cardio can wait (not too long for I cant eat until I do it) lol but I had to fire up my computer and get to blogging. I couldn't wait! Haha it reminds me of when I first started this blog, I would sit and write the first 30 minutes before my day would start and if I didn't, it threw my whole day off. I just heard from a good friend that was reminiscing with me and the journey of the past year. Ahh the good ol days. Well guess what.. Shes back! I have hit the ground, not running as of yet because of these nerves, but soon... Soon I will be back to running circles around y'all and you will probably just shake your head at me but that's OK. It feels good to be back!

Ciao for now,     J

Emerald Cup

Here is some photos from Emerald Cup. I have never been as disappointed with myself as I was at this show. I beat myself before even stepping on the stage. I doubted what I was doing and how I looked before I even made it to prejudging. But that is alright, ya wanna know why? Well even if ya don't, I'm gonna tell you! ;)

I learned one of the most important lessons yet on this journey. I learned that no matter what, if you fight yourself and doubt yourself, you have already lost. Looking back and looking at the pictures, I made some improvements from the last show and I did not look as bad as I thought I did. Had I come with the spunk and personality I normally do to the stage, I think I would have felt a lot better but I will be the first one to admit that I looked like a complete dork on that stage. I did not pose like I normally do, I did not smile like I normally do and most of all, I did not shine like I normally do. Case in point, always always hold your head high no matter how hard it is. You will never look back and regret doing so!

J

I'm Back!

What a whirlwind of events from my last entry on February 21st! I am finally home from completing my first year in graduate school. I never thought I would see the day but man does time sure fly. I have had many ups and downs, but heck, who hasn't? Isn't that why we are supposed to buckle up and enjoy the beautiful, crazy ride we call life? Where do I start....

I prepped for this years Emerald Cup and it was not a good prep to say the least. I was having issues with my hip flexors and that tiny, painful muscle called the Piriformis. Man if you have ever experienced a tight or hurt piriformis, you know what I am talking about when I say that sucker can be debilitating! Long story short, I had something, somewhere go wrong and have been battling nerve issues for the past 14 weeks. When I say battling, I mean I have fought one heck of a fight against my emotions and everything else to find a fix. It sucks.. I cant wear my jeans nor can I wear my Lululemon pants because it causes my legs to flare up like a fire when you dump gasoline on it. It is fierce and I have seen normal doctors, a neurologist, a CT scan and an MRI later and still fighting the pain. Some days are better than others and I am doing better now compared to a few weeks ago but it has been on hell of a fight.

On the flip side, I have been working on data collection for my thesis, which puts me ahead of the game going into my next (and final) year of grad school. I have two collection events behind me and have a couple more to do but overall I am feeling great that some of the hard work is completed. With that said, I am firing up my computer and starting my blog again to keep track of my thoughts as well as continue tracking my journey in the gym!

Ciao for now,     J

Tuesday mornings with J

Good morning and happy Tuesday! Sitting here eating my egg whites and reflecting on the past couple months and it hit me pretty hard that time is flying by and if I'm not careful, pretty soon I'm gonna be forty wondering what happened! ;) Juggling school, training, and life is a full plate for sure and most days it's a task I can handle but others (like this past weekend) I sure wish I was at a different spot in life. I was home for the 3 day weekend and needless to say I miss home! I miss how things used to be when I could meet with Batman, Robin, and BC and laugh while I lifted or share the trials and tribulations of my day. I miss coffee runs with my sister on Sunday mornings in our sweats and I miss the comfort my mom and dad provide me when I am doubting myself. Yes, I still have their full support but it's hard when I'm in Ellensburg trying to get everything accomplished and they are back home. I have 2 1/2 weeks left in this quarter then its spring break!!! I can't wait to come home! Well that and that means I am done teaching kickboxing for the quarter! (thank goodness) picture this... me in front of 40 students with a headset on attempting to punch and kick and create combos for cardio kickboxing. I am terrible at it and will be the first to admit it! I feel bad for my students! Lol On the flip side... I'm killing it in school this quarter.. Straight A's baby!! I'm hoping to finish strong in order to reset and take a breath.. Which I am also terrible at haha

Ciao for now, J