"Kick Start"

For those who don't know me very well, I am not one to talk about myself. My coach and I have been working together since April, and he recommended that through this prep I should try blogging to keep myself as sane as possible. I have always been into playing sports, my one love though is softball. I have been playing since I was 8 years old. I had played all the way up until my freshman year in college when I had injured my arm and needed reconstructive surgery on my shoulder. This required me to take a year off of any lifting, moving, ANYTHING. August of last year I started training  for my first bikini show which took place at the Chandler Center for the Arts Nov. 6th. I had been to one show before my own and decided I might as well give it a shot since I could no longer play softball. I can't even begin to tell you how nervous I was to walk out on that stage in the smallest bikini I had ever been in, in my entire life, with heels I could hardly walk in, while my knees were shaking so bad. I ended up taking 5th place and thought to myself walking off that stage...I'm hooked.

I then continued to train for my March show. With many ups and downs along the road, I managed to channel all that into my workouts and make (in my opinion) my best appearance in my March show. I came a long way from when I first started, trained harder, and knew more about what to expect and what I was doing to get that first place I was dying to have. I ended up coming in at 120lbs, taking 7th place. For me, I was crushed, but it pushed me to think that I would like to have a bit more competition.

After deciding to cross over to figure, I found my coach Dusty Hanshaw. He has helped me a tramendous amount in getting my body to where it is now and where it will be in October. During this prep I have amazed myself with how much my body can really take and learned how to push myself past my limit. This has been a whole new experience for me, and trust me the changes I have made haven't been easy for me. I have now gained 30lbs since my March show, I hardly fit into any of my clothes, and I constantly have some sort of melt down about how "big" I am to my coach. At the end of the day I can't tell you how proud of myself I am, and how much I appreciate my coach and all those who have supported me through all of this. I have a lot to do before October and I hope you are all gonna hop on for the ride!