This past  Saturday was the 7 week point before my competition.  7 weeks seems like a blink of an eye, yet I keep reminding myself it is still  just under 2 months away.

At this  point, I am working on my posing routine.  I have  had  the music chosen and edited  done to the 2 minutes that I  need and I cut it the way I like  it.  I have been  listening to it repeatedly in chunks.  Sometimes I listen just to get the beat and feel  of the piece down and into a rhythm, other times I  will listen with certain poses in  mind or spots I ant to hit certain poses.  It’s coming along.

I am also practicing the mandatory poses.  There is a certain poise and  control that comes with practicing these poses.  I always keep the phrase in mind  – You don’t want the first time you are asked to do something to  be the first time you do it. I don’t want to hit these poses for the first time as I am standing on stage during pre-judging.  Plus on contest  day you never know how long you will be out there or how many times you will  be asked to hit these  poses  and so stamina can be a huge issue during that time.  I want to be prepared.

As for  training  – it is  as  focused and intense as ever.  The workouts are all out and they have taken on a whole new level of focus.  Cardio is automatic at this point.  It is not a matter of want, I have a schedule set and without fail I stick to that schedule day in and day out and week  to week.  There is nothing more satisfying than to look back at  the end  of the  week and realize I met every workout, cardio session, and meal just as I had planned it out at the beginning of the week.

I do still have my moments where I question everything  – am I progressing enough?  Will I  keep progressing?  How do I  know that this isn’t as good  as i get?  Typically, Pete will listen to me rant and then with a few insightful words get me to relax and gain a better perspective over this process.  The past few days I have spent just going through my nutrition plan  and re-calculating  my carbs, proteins, fats,  and calories  just to be sure they are where I  want them to be – even though I already laid this out weeks ago.  But it gives me great peace of mind to see things  on paper again and now I am right where  I should  be, where I planned to be,  and I just have to be patient and stay the course.

So that is the  plan.  I will piece together my posing routine, keep up with  the cardio, nutrition, training, and mentally sharpen and narrow my focus to be mentally and physically prepared for the next  7 weeks and the work that must be done.