Wow...what a weekend! Or should I say, what a past 7+ months! I must say, this has been quite a journey. I learned a great deal about myself, and just how much "your body hates you" LOL. I appreciate everyone who followed along in my quest to get a pro card. It meant a lot, especially signing on today and seeing all the support and congrats posts from everyone. I didn't know so many of you were lurking in my thread *tear* LOL...seriously though, I do appreciate it!
As for the contest...here are my thoughts:
Peak week went great for me. I really feel like I have found an approach that just flat out works for me in dialing me in. With the numbers that I had laid out all week, I had even went a little higher than I was supposed to on the carbs (one day hitting 420g/day and the following hitting 370g/day - each 50g higher than was scheduled), but I seriously felt that at the level of leanness I was, they were necessary to start the filling out process...and it worked. The entire plan just really came together nicely, and at the time of the competition, I was the most vascular I have ever seen myself (even moreso than the vascularity pictures I posted a little while back). I honestly couldn't even believe it was me in the mirror in the pump up room! I've just never seen myself look like that. I'm anxious to see the pictures from it all...which I got a ton of. My family was there and bought all kinds of photo/DVD packages of the entire show, so as soon as I have those and can make some video clips, I will post them.
The show was ran extremely well. The promoter of the show, Ray Binkowski, did one hell of a job with running the entire contest. He was thrown a few curve balls at the last minute, and still managed to run the show in a smooth, professional manner. His second effort really shined, and made me even more impressed with the OCB/IFPA organization. He is a top notch guy, who went out of his way to make the show run the way it did. He deserves a big thank you.
I've got my plans laid out for the next year on things I want to improve/accomplish before stepping back on the stage as a pro. I'm taking all of 2008 off from competing to concentrate on bringing up some of my weaker areas. Now that I've seen myself without hardly any bodyfat left, I know exactly what it is I need to do to better my physique so that I can contend on the pro stage against guys like Doug Miller, Carl Mathews, etc. So all of 2008 will be dedicated to "bulking" only this time, a much more controlled bulk LOL. This next week is a "deload" week, where I will be doing some very light cardio and some 50% intensity lifts. The following week will begin Week 1 in my new plan, which I will start a new journal for to track progress. I can't wait to get back to the heavy weights again and set some new PRs!
So that's about it. I've done nothing but try to cram down some of the foods I've been craving for the last 24hours before I start to control my diet again. I've been pretty sore all day, and jsut taking turns between eating and napping lol. Reality starts back up tomorrow!
Again, thanks for following along and all the supportive comments along the way. Believe it or not, sometimes I did need to reach through the forums for a little support when things were getting rough. Pictures will be posted as soon as I get them...beleive me, I am just as anxious to see them
Sporto
