maintenance, maintenance

Hi,
So far this week I have been accosted by three different people about tanning beds and skin care. It is common knowledge that using a tanning bed is not the safest thing to do. But, this is what is necessary when you are training for a bodybuilding competition. After the show on November 6th I will have a six month break before the next show, so I do not plan on going to the tanning salon for much longer. My skin regimen is also pretty pathetic. The routine for me is washing my face in the morning and putting Vaseline all over it. A good friend of mine told me the importance of taking good care of your skin. From now on the new regigmen is use moisturizer in the morning and before bed.
Training is coming along good. I have been training more independently now. I use to train with Shannon about six days a week and now we only meet one or two times. Shannon trains clients at Lemoore, In shape in Hanford and sells real estate, she is also training for a show in November. She has mastered the art of juggling a bunch of different things, I don't know how she does. It's good to be training on my own, eventually I will be training clients myself. Unfortunately Dave has been the Guinea pig. We worked on quads yesterday. We did sets of walking lunges, squats, leg extensions, calf raises and then Dave went for a run. When he got home he started feeling a pull in his lower back and it has been hurting ever since. I am feeling horrible about that. When I mentioned this to Shannon she said "what did you do to him" Honestly, I don't think he was pushed too hard. Injuries just happen. Hopefully he will still want to work out with me.

Slow Roasting

Good evening,
It was a great day for football, Packers won and the Bengals won, wooohooo!!!!! Packers are 2-0, hopefully they can keep this winning streak going.
I can't believe it has been over a month since my last competition and my next one is less than a month away. This next one will be a little less stressful on myself and my trainer Shannon. This time around I am utilizing a powerful tanning bed. 12 minute sessions every other day are darkening me up pretty good as you can see from the picture, the face is a little red but, as a whole it is working out. It is like I am slow roasting myself, that is exactly what laying in the tanning bed feels like. And I will also be utilizing the spray tan service they have on site of the competition and that is it. Shannon will night be applying four coats of the body paint on me. As I have mentioned before that all competitors need to be tanning for competitions. The tan is a very tricky process and body painting is especially hard because you don't know if your skin will absorb the crap or not, a lot of times it streaks and you have to keep reapplying, it could take up to four hours to do this. So, I decided screw that I will just get the spray tan. Shannon and I both think that it is risky relying on the spray tan service. If I turn out looking horrible then I will know not to use it next time. Food wise I am enjoying the last couple of weeks of eating a variety of healthy food and cheating one day a week. October first is when I will have to go back to the diet of chicken and green vegetables. Workouts are going great, I really appreciate Shannon meeting with me several times a week to not only work out but, also practice posing and the walking. She is awesome.

California's hidden treasure

Good evening,
Just a little over a month left until the next competition. Not so nervous about this one coming up, probably because I know what to expect. Last weekend Shannon and I went to San Diego to watch our friend Kristen compete in her first figure competition. That girl looked amazing. She inspired me to push it even harder in the gym. It was my first time in San Diego. It turns out that California isn't entirely the arm pit of the west coast that I thought it was. While we were in San Diego we spent the day in La Jolla. That was the most beautiful place in California that I have ever seen, the beach was amazing, the weather was warm and overcast. It seems like in Lemoore there are never those comfortable overcast days, it was nice to experience a day like that. While we were there one of the thoughts running through my mind was "Why didn't those detailers give Dave orders to Camp Pendleton or Balboa hospital, why did they have to send him to this s**thole". But, if we were not here then I would never have met Sonya, Shannon, Kristen, Rebecca and Jess.
My next competition I plan on having more fun and just enjoying the moment. It will be my first competition with the International Natural Bodybuilding Association. Kristen did her competition through them and I had a really good feeling about it when I watched her, it was a great event in a wonderful city.

Run Dave Run!

Hi everyone,
It was an eventful holiday weekend. Dave did the Disneyland half marathon. He came in at 1:46, that is an awesome time. He was gone for three nights, the house is pretty boring when he is gone. The half marathon is not something I wanted to go watch. It might be selfish and immature, but it is too hard for me to go to running events. Running is something that I loved to do and I cannot do it right now. Hopefully one day I can start running again, but going to events and not being able to participate is too hard for me. Dave understood why I didn't want to go. Other runners that have experienced this probably feel the same way.
Luckily there are other cardio, endurance activities that are really fun. Spinning is an awesome workout. Anyone who lives on base should go to Gisela's class at 1000 on Monday's and Wednesday's, she is awesome. She pushes everyone in the class really hard. When we were finished I thought my heart was going to burst out of my chest, it was intense. Swimming is great too, but it doesn't build the muscles I need to build, so I am only allowed to swim once a week. My workouts in the gym are getting more challenging. Shannon has really been pushing me to lift heavier and I think I have been doing a good job. Ever since the last show I have been working harder in the gym. Those buff girls at my last show may have been doing it longer than me, but they are also probably working a lot harder than I did in the gym. This weekend Shannon and I are going to watch another figure competition in San Diego. Watching the show will give me more motivation to push even harder in the gym.