after the arnie... the ohio wrap up

it was the best of times... it was the worst of times.

as you know i am dieting. thus i had to put a lot more thought into this trip than the miami one. for example i had to pack food, enough food that would take me from my house to the hotel room in columbus. i calculated that i would require 3 meals (9:30, 12:00, & 2:30), since my flight to columbus would arrive at 1:45 and army's would arrive at 3pm i should be able to get my 5:00 meal in perhaps a tad late but not by much. or at least that was my plan.

the flight out of toronto to pittsburgh was uneventful and on time. i was sitting at the departure gate in pittsburgh waiting on my connection to columbus when they announced my flights cancellation. i was put on the next available flight to columbus departing at 5:30 pm!!! i was also given a $5 voucher for a meal.

well the rental car was reserved under my credit card as was the hotel room. i also was the only one of us travelling with the directions to our hotel. i called army and told her what had happened. i gave her the rental car confirmation number and luckily she was able to pick up the car. she spent the afternoon with her coach... a man i like to call happy jack. little did i know this was going to be a constant throughout the weekend.

well the first challenge proved to be figuring out what to eat at the airport at 5:00 pm that would keep me on track and also not screw with the water drop that i had done to prepare for my photoshoot. the shoot!! dayumm that was supposed to be either thursday night when i got in or early friday a.m.

when i got into columbus it was 7 pm the flight out of pittsburgh was still delayed as they had to change the tire on the plane. part of me would have liked to have seen how they jack up a plane... and exactly where do you keep the spare? we got to the hotel to find out that they released all the double occupancy rooms. since we had a valid confirmation they gave us two single rooms for the price of a shared double. from there we went to the grocery store and bought our staples for the weekend. then since we still had happy jack with us, we had to take him back to his hotel room and then return to our own. it was 10 pm when we got back to the rooms and army headed straight to her room and to her bed. again what would prove to be a constant throughout the weekend.

i was up until sometime after midnight cooking enough food and portioning out what i needed to take me through the weekend. i also connected with the photographer. he offered me a 9:30 am shoot but army needed to take happy jack to the expo for 9 am. i have heard over the years that it's imperative that an athlete not go to a shoot alone. since army was going to be squiring happy jack around we needed a plan c. for the photoshoot.

plan c was iffy at best. the photographer is a diabetic and has been having a difficult time of it. he was not sure what time he could get to the expo and he was not sure how long he would feel well enough to stay there. when he was on his way over to the expo he was to call me and we would meet up and do the shoot somewhere on the expo grounds. now originally this shoot was supposed to take place somewhere a bit more scenic than between the booths at the expo and i had purchased an outfit with which to wear during the shoot. nothing crazy... he wanted me to wear something like 'i would wear in the gym'. knowing that he couldn't possibly mean what i wear to the gym i went out and got something lycra based. long story short... he never made it to the expo.

army and i left the expo early, we went to world's gym to train. we needed to get our 'swole on' before going to the women's final. we were able to buy a weekend pass and we took advantage of that... we then proceeded to train. army sure was different this time. in miami she kept wanting to do more and more exercises, however in ohio she couldn't seem to get out of the gym fast enough. i was barely able to fit in all that i needed to do (chest, abs and cardio).

traffic was a bit chaotic and we were a little late getting to the venue. army stopped to talk to IFBB pro vicki nixon, who frequents a couple of the boards we are on. the show started and we missed the first two fitness routines... one of which was jen henderschott. you NEVER want to miss jen henderschott perform and i definately should not have missed this one. turns out she was retiring from competition and this was her final performance.

so after the show we head back to the hotel. i'm amped and ready to go. army however is not... so she burrows into her room and calls it a night. hmmfffk

saturday morning i took the car and went to the gym by myself. i had tickets to the men's final but army wasn't interested in the men. she had planned to train at the gym saturday evening with happy jack. i had one of the best workouts all weekend at the gym. maybe it was because i was by myself and i could train without the impatient, unfocused sidekick. or maybe it was because i met a couple of the fbb's who were training there. i met a really nice woman from wisconsin. there was this huge fbb and she looked really familiar to me. as we passed a couple times she smiled and said hi. eventually my curiousity got the better of me, i waited till she was between exercises and i approached her. turns out she was the same fbb who met and befriended my ex-training partner when she was at world's last year. christina and i had a nice chat and i've talked to her, via the internet, quite a few times since then.

met army back at the hotel, i quickly got cleaned up and then we headed over to the expo. it was a little disappointing army didn't want to get too far away from happy jack and the truth is... he just wasn't that big of a draw to me. i would rather have spent more time exploring the booths and seeing what could be seen. sure it was crowded as fawk but that is kind of part of the fun of the arnold. i got a hold of the photographer and army and i went over to where he was set up in a nearby atrium. it was a pretty quick shoot and i have yet to see any of the pics from it. afterwards army got something to eat and then we headed back to the expo. as we got closer to the booth we ran into happy jack who was going for a walk. army dumped me like a hot potato and toddled after him. i went back to the booth, grabbed my belongings and went outside to flag a cab back to the hotel.

$25 bucks later i was back at my hotel. i had asked the cabbie as i didn't know the city like he did, when would be a good time to call a cab to get me to the finals on time. he told me that 6:30 would be plenty of time. i got cleaned up... fawk that i was dressed to the nines. i started calling the cab company at 6:25 and i could not get an answer. i went out to the front desk to see if i could get some other numbers to try. i got through at 6:35 and the dispatcher told me that he could have a cab at my hotel by 6:55... five minutes before the start of the show!! he then berated me for not calling from 6 pm. well i figured i'd be in my seat sometime between 7:15-7:30... it would be bad but not horrific. however i was still waiting in the lobby at 7:10! the dispatcher claimed that his cab had come, had waited outside and eventually 3 people came out and took off. as i was sitting in the lobby in a chair facing the front door... with a clear view of the driveway i knew this to be bullsh!t. he told me he could have another cab there by 7:30. that would have me in my seat by 8:00 and i would have missed all of the final routines... the best part! i cancelled the cab and went back to my room clutching my $75 ticket.

i started calling army to let her know i didnt get to the show and i was waiting at the hotel room. the plan was to go to the after party after i got back from the night show. there was no answer on her phone. maybe she was still training with happy jack? i called every 15 mins or so until 10 pm when she finally answered. she was outside the hotel. apparently she had left her cell in the rental car and after training with happy jack they went out for dinner. army announced that both she and happy jack were tired and not going to the after party. fawk!! further she went on to say that she was not interested in going to the gym sunday a.m before flying out. fawk x 2!!!

i went back to my room, changed and started cooking the food i needed to eat sunday. the longer i spent in my room the more annoyed i got and the more i fumed. i decided two things. 1. i was definately going to the gym to train... i was NOT wasting any more money. 2. i was NEVER going to another competition with army. i like her, don't get me wrong. i know most of what happened was not her fault but i didn't want to spend all that money to go to ohio to spend it home alone. i can do that cheap here!!!

sunday morning i told her i was going to the gym. she said she would go too as natty from the boards was coming down and wanted to train with us. we got to the gym and there was a photoshoot going on with IFBB pro's dexter jackson and gustavo badell. you could still train they just had the middle area of the gym somewhat cordoned off. we decided to train shoulders as thats what i needed to do. army wanted to make a big production out of planning what we were going to do. i told her that first i needed to warm up and i proceeded to do so. next thing i know the two of them are on the other side of the gym in a squat rack. fine, i had work to do and i was still in a funky mood. it wasn't 30 mins later when the two of them were back at my side. they were done!!! i still had arms to train. and then happy jack started callin... he was in a mood and wanted army to pick him up and take him to the airport. so without benefit of a shower or anything we were off to pick up happy jack.

the flight back to toronto went smoothly since i didnt leave ohio until almost 3pm i was afforded lots of time to think about the weekend. the hotel was $50/night, it had a kitchenette, a 24 hour grocery within walking distance and was 15 mins via highway from the venue. the rental car was $60 for the weekend. and finally ive been to the arnold 3 years running. i know a lot of people off of the boards and seem to make friends when i am there. do i actually need to go with anyone??? i think not!!!

"isn't it ironic... don'tcha think?'

this past weekend was my annual trip to ohio for the arnold classic. and while i had high hopes for it to be the adventure of all adventures i was sorely disappointed. unlike previous trips there were no 'fights, arguments, mis-understandings and/or hurt feelings'. but unfortunatley there wasn't the high level of fun and frivolity that i was counting on either. i was a bit disappointed about that but what i heard this morning help put sh!t all in perspective for me.

i heard that dayumm sentence again. i didn't want to hear it the first time and i definately didn't want to hear it the second time. after so many years of a clean bill of health i guess i thought my friend was out of the woods. today i heard... not so much.

i find it oddly ironic that i spent this past weekend with people who have happily ingested and inserted the very chemical that my friend has to take. however my friend is not happy about it... in fact my friend abhors this drug but knows that it's necessary to help in this fight. those same people load there bodies as well with anti estrogen's to help fight the side effects of the drug. as well, in the case of most if not all of the females they take it to supress their bodies natural secondary female characteristics. in the quest for bigger growth and leaner bodies. my friend is taking the anti estrogens as well... but actually for the reason that the drug was intended... to help the body in this fight.

now those drugs don't easily go into the body. in fact our bodies are machines that seem to perform best... in most cases when left to it's own devices. we have bodybuilders both professional and amateur getting sick and dropping dead from years of abuse. in fact i know of a bodybuilder who hasn't been in the game that long... but due to health issue present before the drug use and subsequent abuse could verily well drop dead long before reaching their goal.

friends trying to stay healthy, friends who don't care if they die. it's truly ironic. i understand the concept of doing whatever it takes to live your dreams. but if your life is not precious to you, what of the people you leave behind? the other part thats kind of hard to grasp... is what about people like my friend who KNOW how precious life really is?

i still love bodybuilding. i still understand why the drugs are in the sport. i still admire many of the bodies that are not natural. i am glad that we have the medical knowledge to use these drugs to help people, like my friend, get healthy again. i am relieved that the condition was caught early. i am continually amazed by the fortitude and strength that my friend has. you can't help but admire someone who never takes that 'why me' approach but rather just says 'ok, how do we fix this'.

without a doubt... the biggest, strongest person i know... is not a bodybuilder!!