NPC

Go Figure

31 May 2014Fitness0 comments

I don’t get nervous when it’s time to step on stage. I get excited because I know that I did every thing I could to prepare for that moment.

Steve and my sister Mel were a different story.  Mel always came prepared with a small container of what became known as “nervous mints.”

 

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The two of them would sit next to each other during my competition and munch on mints the whole time. They didn’t savor the taste or suck on them like you’re supposed to, but they’d eat them one after another.

I gave Mel the title of my manger and stylist. She would always help me in my show prep. She used to have to paint my whole body with Pro Tan and a paintbrush.  Thank goodness that didn’t last for very long and I figured out a spray tan strategy. Through each competition I got better by  improving my physique, posing, and the glamour side of things.

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Each competitor has his/her own routine. Some are wild backstage, cracking jokes, listening to music, while others keep to themselves and get “in the zone.” I’m the more reserved type. I will talk with other competitors but I stay focused the whole way through. There’s no letting up until the day is completely done.

I’ve always liked motivational quotes, movies, poems etc. I’d write out sayings and hang them up in my room to inspire me and to remind of why I’m doing what I’m doing. One of the sayings I hung in my room before my first competition was this one:

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This quote always reminded me that my journey is going to be a challenging one. Our greatest victories don’t occur when we choose an easy path, but rather when our journey is full of challenges, obstacles and when the road is less traveled. We don’t become stronger by living an easy life, but we need resistance to build our strength.

If you asked any athlete, team or individual who has ever won anything, they don’t do what they do for the trophy—some piece of hardware to be taken home that eventually accumulates dust and becomes an artifact.  Instead, they do what they do because of what the hardware symbolizes.

The countless hours of practice, training, sacrifice, frustration, internal battles, and all the effort that is poured into one single event…getting up in times when you feel knocked down and have nothing left to give.

Competing in any fashion is always a choice. You’ll never hear me complain about my training or diet, because I recognize that what I’m doing is a choice. Besides, who wants to listen to someone complain anyway?

 

I felt amazing that day. I just had this feeling that I was going to win. I was confident, but not overly confident because you never truly know until your name is called.

 

It was then I heard my name.

 

I secured first place in my height class and later was awarded the 2010 North Star Overall Figure Champion.

DSC00149    ashley

 

For that day, I was the best. I was the big fish in the small pond.

I qualified for NPC (National Physique Committee) Nationals in Atlanta, which would be just two short weeks after the North Star.

 

It was time to get to work.

 

Know Your Source

28 May 2014Uncategorized0 comments

After my parents met Steve for the first time, we continued to spend more time together both as a couple and with my family. The day in which we’d tell them about baby JT was a long ways off. We’re talking months.

 

Steve had the idea to take my dad to a Twins game, and then tell him about baby JT. That idea didn’t go as planned, because they ended up talking about other things, one of them being me competing in figure. If you don’t know what that is, you can read more about it here.

My dad never liked the idea of me competing because he didn’t agree with me being in a swimsuit, on a stage in front of hundreds of people, being judged like I was at a cattle auction. I know his perspective is out of his love for me and wanting to protect me as his daughter, so I will never fault him for that.

There are several views on the sport of figure and the world of bodybuilding. Every one competes their own reasons, and if you’re part of the culture, there more depth to your understanding and your norm is different than those outside of that culture because you’ve experienced it.

Some people compete because they love the challenge of contest prep—the rigorous hours of training, a disciplined diet and the gratification victory. This victory doesn’t always come in the form of a title or taking home hardware, because for some, the growth that occurs in the journey is the greatest form of victory.

Some people have the goal of stepping on that stage after major weight loss and celebrating the achievement of their goal. Some people do enjoy the attention and the glamour of being on stage and having the body that many people spend their life wishing for. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I enjoy that part too.

I love competing because every thing about the sport stretches me mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Training pushes me to dig deep in each of these areas and the growth that I experience is priceless. I like pushing myself beyond what I originally thought was possible, because it is then I truly discover what I’m capable of.

What I’m capable of goes well beyond myself. My strength is not my own, but it comes from Christ.  My family’s verse is Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”

 

I am who I am and I have achieved what I have achieved because of Christ.

 

No matter how mentally tough I think I am, how strong I think I am physically,  how dialed in my physique is, or how  “in-check” my emotions are, the most important aspect is the spiritual side of my training—my faith.

 

As I sit here and write this post, I was prompted to write this:

 

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The Holy Spirit prompts me when I write and at other random times. I get a burst of inspiration and then I run to find a pen or my phone so I can record the words I’m given. This is what came to me today.

Nothing we achieve matters if we don’t recognize where that success comes from. I don’t win because of anything I’ve done. I win because God has given me the body, ability, discipline, faith, heart, confidence, and endless means to succeed.  All that I have and all that I am is because He is my source. My eternal victory is secure because of what He has done for me. Victory in Christ is the only victory that truly matters.

Growing in my faith is the best part of figure. I get pushed to the limit when I train and no matter how tough I think I am, there’s always a point where my strength is not enough, and in all actuality, it never will be.

I draw closer to Jesus because I’m literally depending on Him to deliver. He will always provide, and He promises that.  What He provides may not always look the way I thought it would, but ultimately He knows what’s best.

 

 

My next figure competition would be the North Star on Saturday October 2, 2010. This would be my first competition in which Steve trained me from beginning to end. For my other competitions he started helping me in the final weeks of  contest prep.

My goal in competing in the North Start was to win the show, but really what I wanted was to qualify for the national competition that would be held on October 16, 2010 in Atlanta. In order to qualify to compete on the national stage I had to place in the top three of my height class.

 

This was the moment I was waiting for…