Smith Rock Summit Loop

Yesterday after training, my very fit friend Joanne led me up and then back down a mountain at Smith Rock State Park.  I'm pretty sure she said it was a 7  mile loop, at I'm going to say at least 4 of those miles were steeply up hill.  It was beautiful.

We ended up higher than Misery Ridge, and I really like this last shot of Joanne approaching Monkey Face, which is a famous climbing rock around here.

I had to stop and rest several times (including on the climb to the parking lot which was like at a freaking 90 degree angle), so I'm calling it 2 hours 30 minutes of hard cardio - which, after I ate 1400 calories yesterday, still resulted in a deficit of  about 1400 calories, woo hoo!  And this is not counting the 45 minutes of training earlier in the morning, so I'm pretty stoked.

Then of course, I had to get reacquainted with my old friend, Epsom Salts.  Love you, Ms. Salts.

I'm a little worried about today's training session....

NPC Cascadian Classic

I had a truly eye-opening experience at my first muscle show this weekend, in Bend.    I'll never stop being surprised by humanity, and in many ways that's a good thing.

Surprise number one - the line of competitors on registration afternoon (the same afternoon for non-competitors to pick up their tickets) was crazy long.  I mean, Bend is a small town and the show was at a high school.  We're not talking the MGM Grand Arena, folks.  Nonetheless, it was a gray and rainy day, and there were lots of people there.

Most of those people were in the very lightest clothing, including silk pajamas.  As I stood in line, the lady in front of me was talking to the lady behind me about carb ratios, etc., and how cold it was, and how long they were going to have to wait in line.  I interjected that I was only there to pick up tickets, which prompted Lady #1 to say, "Girl, you'll be here forever!  We have to be weighed and measured in there, so you just get in there and get your tickets.  I hold your place in line in case!"  So I did (pushing past some rather large people), and went back to her, tickets in hand, to give her a big high five and wish her luck.  If I had been wearing a jacket, I'd have given it to her.

So prejudging was Saturday morning.  This is where all the competitors take the stage, and where apparently the judges pretty much make up their minds as to who the winner is going to be.  There is some winnowing, though, so there's more than just awards handed out in the evening.

Here is the Masters Women's Physique category, the one I hope to enter next year:

That's my gym-mate on the left.  She didn't used to be blonde.

The woman in the center was awesome.

I watched the Men's Novice competition also, mainly because the Women's Masters Fitness category was after that - these guys are over 50:

Then came the Women's Masters Fitness category, which is supposed to be slightly less muscled than Physique, but there were some repeat performers, including my gym mate:

By the way - see that slightly balding man in the audience above?  That's Trainer Tom.

So here's another surprise from the prejudging:  The people in the audience, at least those around me, just talked and talked, and chatted on their phones, and generally paid little to no attention to anyone up there unless it was the one person they came to see.  I found this appalling.  Also, the coaches and/or trainers (I assumed - I suppose it could have been just some jerks) were shouting up to the contestants, things like "Spread those wings!" during the lat spreads, and other such "encouragements."  Weird.

Since there were no women bodybuilders entered (although the 66 year old lady I posted a photo of last blog was in the audience), and I'm not interested in the bikini category, I left.  

When I returned for the evening finals, there were even more surprises in store.  That place was PACKED to the rafters!  This was a high school auditorium - picture a large movie theater with a stage.  I figure it seated about five hundred, and they were selling standing room only tickets as well.  Every seat was full, and there were people standing along the side walls two and three deep.  I snagged a good seat and began to watch the people coming in.  Women were wearing dresses!   Men in nice shirts and some even ties!  Trainer Tom and his wife looked like they were going out to a nice dinner!

The lady next to me had never been to a muscle show before either, and she and I were just amazed.  Right along with the nicely dressed there were people in workout clothes, like they were just coming from the gym, but freshly showered - go figure.  The people with muscles were showing them (sun's out, guns out) so some men and women were rather skimpily dressed (I didn't dare take pictures of these folks).    People brought babies.  The competitors from categories not on stage (i.e., the bikini competitors) were walking around in flip flops and kimonos.  It was amazing.

Before the finals started, there was a fitness competitor visiting some people near me, and she and I started chatting.  This was her first show, and when she stared with longing at a beverage one guy had (another surprise - signs all over the auditorium saying "PLEASE NO FOOD OR DRINK" and people were eating and drinking to beat the band. They were SELLING food in the foyer.).  I asked her if she needed a drink of water, and she told me that her trainer wouldn't let her have anything to drink, NOT EVEN WATER, until after the show.  The only thing she had eaten that day was rice cakes with honey with nothing to drink.  Whoa - can you imagine eating a rice cake with nothing to wash that dry crap down?

So the finals start, and there's an emcee for Pete's sake!  A lady singing the national anthem!  This was a real sporting event, by gosh - surprise, surprise!  There was considerably less chatter in the audience for the finals, a pleasant surprise.

I didn't take a lot of pics at the final, because as you can see from the photos at the prejudging, the lighting on that stage was crap for pictures.  Suffice it to say, since there were only three entries for Masters Women's Physique, my gym mate got a trophy.  For some reason the winner of the Fitness category got a trophy and a sword.  I don't know what that's about.

There was also a guest "poser" (that's what they're called - hilarious!) at the finals - an IBCC professional in the Physique category and she was flat out amazing.  I didn't take any photos of her, but here's one from her website:

Overall, I was really inspired.  So much so that I've quit Nutrisystem (the carbs were messing me up and I wasn't reacting well to all the processed stuff - and the sugar!), and am going back to focusing on my protein, carbs and sometimes fat.   Those bodies were no joke - those people worked hard for them.  Harder than I have been doing.  Sure, I've got some great muscle but it's still hard to see.

I've got some hard work in front of me.

Sweet Baby Jesus, and I Need Some New Friends

Dead lifts yesterday, 100 at I don't know how much weight but Tom the Trainer put some plates on the 40 pound bar.  By the fourth round I was repeating the name of this blog post in my mind like a mantra.

We alternated those with step ups on a step that was not three inches, as I believed last blog, but SIX inches high.  

Next up were push ups on a lower bar, then pull ups thusly (you've seen this photo before)

except I had to tap my rear on the ground before hauling myself back up, and I can't remember what the third thing in this superset was.  Must be brain fog -  point me to the volcano.

A lot of crunches, tricep dips and then bicep curls with twelve pounders while stepping up on the step.

Did you know that when someone forces you to completely lower your arms at the bottom of a bicep curl, that it is that much harder then to curl the weights back up?  I know this now.

So - the show I will be entering next year is coming up.

I'm going not only to cheer on my gym-mate (who, incidentally, has become incredibly cranky lately - all that cardio and lack of carbs, no doubt), but to have a look at any competitors in my age range.  It looks as though they have a masters category (45 and up) which is a relief, unless everyone next year is 45 and one day.

This Oregon lady is 66 and still competing:

Which brings me to something that's been bothering me.  I was at a gathering recently, and someone asked me how my training was going.  I responded that it was going very well.  I was then asked what it entailed, and I responded that I did 45 minutes, three days a week with the trainer and one hour of cardio every day.  Well, a lot of these people looked at me as if I had grown a second head.  There then ensued a somewhat animated discussion with a male wherein, after some assertions by him,  I informed him that we don't have to lose muscle tone as we age - yes, our skin gets crepey and our hair thins out but there is no age-related reason to lose muscle tone if we keep working it.  The wave of negativity I experienced after I made this statement was almost like a blow; he might as well have just called me a liar out loud (except I think he knows I can take him).

It has stuck with me, despite my efforts to shrug it off, and it is dove-tailing with my general unhappiness about living in the only red part of a blue state.  It's as if I've lost my tribe and am wandering around alone and isolated, and now even more so because I choose to get and stay fit and strong where all around me most people are weak and unwell.  Even the ladies who walk regularly in my neighborhood wouldn't dream of adding more miles to their morning trek, despite walking the same route and distance every day for longer than the five years I've lived here.

So I've made up my mind to start seeking out other physically fit people, and making some new friends, maybe some with similar interests.  Maybe I'll meet some like-minded people at the bodybuilding show, or online, or at the gym.  There's one lady in my neighborhood who expressed an interest in running with me, so at least I have one other person around who's willing to push herself.

I don't understand it, but I guess I don't need to.  I just need to push forward alone and be satisfied with that.  So I will.

...and I'm STILL at it.

I don't even know how much I was bench pressing today, but I did it 50 times - way past failure, ha!  The intervals for that were PUSH UPS on the bar (I pointed out that the bench presses were already working my chest, to which Tom the Trainer replied, "Yes, indeed.") and step back lunges.

Then fifty lat pulldowns of 80 pounds each, and five rounds of one minute step ups on a 3" high step to allegedly keep my heart rate up in between the lat pulldowns.  And let me tell you, I get a look if I'm not stepping fast enough.

THEN 120 effing reverse crunches with 100 kicks on each leg.  After five reps, when Tom said "Five more rounds to go!" I actually swore.  And then I did it.

Add to this the hot flashes I have been experiencing for the past month and I'M ON FIRE!  I should be burning calories at an AMAZING rate!

Now, I've been working on my nutrition (remember, you can't outrun your fork) and I think I've finally got the ratios close.  I've started Nutrisystem to get the fat off faster but I still make sure to get the protein/carb/fat ratios Tom has laid down.  We talked briefly about my nutrition a few weeks ago, before I left "town" for a week.  I haven't been losing because I haven't been focused.  Tom said he wanted to see me losing at least 1.5 pounds a week.  I said I know I haven't been as diligent as I can be.  Tom said three little words that have stuck with me ever since.

"We have goals."

I think of this now every time I'm tempted to rebel against myself.  I have goals. And I'm going to achieve them.