i made the right decision

a lot of times we play the 'shoulda, coulda, woulda' game and all we really end up doing is making ourselves crazy with the 'what ifs'. i always recommend that friends make a decision, stick with it and not look back. sometimes i even manage to take my own advice.

well my friends, the official stage shots came in the mail today. and since i've been home i have been pouring over them quite intently. i am proud of myself, i did what i set out to do... i was vastly improved from last years condition. i can also see that i made the right decision to sit out the canadian naturals this year. although i still believe i would have done well... it's obvious to me that my physique is not yet of the calibre of the women who won the respective weight classes. don't get me wrong i would not have embarrased myself being on stage with them, but i believe next year i will be more competitive. and after all is that not the true goal of our sport?

in many way's i am glad that the pictures came when they did. i believe that after we diet, as many weeks as we do, we tend to get a slightly distorted view of our conditioning. often i think we credit ourselves with being in better shape than we were. i can honestly say that i thought i looked better than the pictures clearly indicate. is that a bad thing? no, not really... quite the contrary, i can see what i need to improve on for next year.

i have been thinking that the target for 2008 is 8-9% bodyfat. i am not sure how hard it will be to get down there, but based on what i see when i look at this years pictures, i could have still been a bit leaner. my quads could be a bit more defined. unfortunately there were no shots taken of my hamstrings an area that i focused on for 2007.

i hope this post does not come across as sullen, depressed or defeated. what it is, is inspired. i am the kind of athlete who doesn't blow smoke up her own azz and i don't expect any of you to either. i am a work in progress. i am not yet done... but if there is one thing i learned in 2007, it is... that i can do anything i set my mind to.