Thursday, April 10, 2014

Decisions During Chemistry Class


I couldn't pay attention at all. I propped my bag on the desk so the professor couldn't see me sitting there on my phone.  I had far more important things to do. I thought the thermodynamics lecture was the perfect time to look up the NGA show calendar and find a date range that is going to be appropriate for me. I narrowed it down to TWO shows.  I will let you know which of the two I decide to compete in as soon as possible. I am JUMPING OUT OF MY BONES with excitement. 

I've also decided that I am going to hire a prep coach this season.  While I am BEYOND PROUD of myself for all of the research and hardwork that I did completely on my own, I am in the "business" of improving who I was last year on stage.  A coach is going to allow me to focus my energy into a whole system, whereas when I prepped alone, I had to dedicate time to researching and testing several different faucets of my training. I have someone in mind. I will announce that information when I finalize the contract, etc. 

THIS IS SO MAJOR FOR ME. 

I'm going to try to look into what I can do about wearing a KNOCKOUT suit. I really want to represent my *Mum* and her fight with cancer.  I've got a couple of design ideas in my head, and all of them involve a bright pink suit.  I hope to find someone that can help me create my vision.  

ONE LAST "DECISION" MADE TONIGHT:  I put the word decision in parentheses because I'm being decisive in an indecisive manner.  In several posts, I've talked about whether or not I wanted to compete in the same classification. I am going to let my coach decide for me. If my coach decides that physique/bodybuilding is where I need to be, then I'll be making further decisions on hiring a choreographer.  In the physique and female bodybuilding class, competitors have to put together a ~60 second posing routine to music.  

That ABSOLUTELY scares me.  But, I thought I might be able to find a student willing to help and add to their portfolio.  I don't know. It's just a thought. 

Wish me luck in trying to get some sleep tonight! 

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Clumsy Mumsy

***UPDATE ON TRAINING BELOW***

But, first!  Tonight's lab was awful. So awful that I had to include it in my blog. We had a Gas Law lab where we measured partial pressures of H2(g) and titration. 



Our stopcock (YES, that is a real word) fell into our concentrated solution. The instructor was able to jerry rig our burette to fix it and not contaminate our results. As we were titrating the solution again, it completely fell apart and NaOH went everywhere all over my hands, book, lab notebook, etc. The professor was kind of mad at us, but what happened is he didn't put the tip back on properly. He didn't even want us to redo the experiment, so he told us just to copy someone else's work. I don't know how many times something has gone wrong with our experiments. Our "Possible Sources of Error" description in our reports is always long and should probably be called "Definite Sources of Error" with my name listed first. *sigh*


WHAT WAS I THINKING?: I miscalculated my prep time by almost a month!  By starting too early, you risk losing all of your gains that you've made leading up to the show.  Everyone has a unique "formula" for how your body reacts to prep. While there are general norms most bodybuilders follow, it is important to find a game plan that will maximize your vascularity, without compromising mass. You've got to understand how your body can be manipulated by your macros and water intake to produce dense muscles with a vascular overtone. 

MY NEXT THOUGHT:  I'm almost wondering if I want to do a different show than Mr. and Mrs. Steel Valley Classic. It would give me an excuse to travel to somewhere new. I really need to have a show date in mind before I start prepping. It's too hard to know when to cycle carbs, increase cardio, protein intake, etc. So, I really need to figure this out first and foremost. 

AFTERTHOUGHTS:  I think it might be best to look for a show later in the year than August to accommodate a prep that would start when I finish this semester. My time is completely limited when I'm in school and I start softball this Sunday. 

IN SUMMARY, I need to find more time to setup my gameplan and get all the right pieces in place. I want to be in the best position possible to train and impress myself with the work I put in. I need to remove the distractions that I can and push through the ones that I can't.