The Arnold Experience

First let me thank you all for being so great!! I have really been blessed by the support that has poured in from all of you.

I am very pleased and excited with my 2nd place!! But mostly with the changes that I made since last June. I wish I had a good comparison picture to show you the changes that I have made from June 2009 til March 2010...but I don't.

It was a wonderful time. I was not nervous, I was so happy to be with my PR sisters: Amy Jo and Hillary. It is very important to have a support system and even easier to step onstage when you have friends there competing with you. Both the girls did great for their first time competing. Yes they are gorgeous and equally beautiful inside and without makeup!!



The last minute prep from when I landed til I competition time was exhausting in so many ways.
Firstly - my body prepares completely differently then many others. So, I needed to eat and keep eating to help fill out my muscles. That in itself is a very challenging thing to me. I am a snacker by nature, but I needed to eat mini meals and drink lotsa water.
At one point I had about 5 tablespoons of honey! I thought I was going to fly back to the bee hive.
The spray that goes on is very cold. And the room you are in needs to be cold to faster dry your spray tan. Btw, this stuff is industrialized!! Not the tan you get going into a booth at a tanning salon. It took 5 layers. I am such a whitey! I do not tan in beds. We did two coats the night before then washed in the morning and sprayed another three on. It might have been six total, as I had a quick touch up spraying just before we left for the Veterans Memorial where we were competing.
So once your sprayed...ya pretty much stand. Or I do cause I have a weird body that takes forever to dry. I think it has to do with the fact that I am shivering the whole time!!

We went out to get my makeup done. I am so thankful that my team mate Jessie Palmer - an IFBB Pro Fitness Competitor went with me. She is such a ball of fun and laughs! As we got into the elevator after my makeup was complete...I was holding my sweat pants away from my body because I was too sticky and worried about my tan. I looked into the elevator and notice a lone gentleman in an IFBB Suit Jacket. It was the president of the IFBB himself!! Dr. Rafael Santonja!! I dropped my pants...ha, ha...well from my hand and then shook his. How classy is that? He wished me good luck. I felt it! Below is a cute video of the tale...cause, really things like this only happen to me.
Keep in mind my make up done for bright stage lights!! As you can tell from the pictures above it does look decent onstage and in photos.

Taxi cab confessions w/ Lori Pavesi

So we get back stage and check in and check out the competition....there were a ton of girls. Everyone looked great. The best thing to do is worry about yourself, your team and relax!!
I met some great people. I never did "notice" the woman I was worried about in my class. She ended up placing sixth!! So it just goes to show ya - worring does not pay off. But focusing on your changes, and what you bring to the table (or stage) does.

Here is a backstage shot from the BodyBuilding.Com photographer.

Here is a picture of the top five. I placed second, I am in the green suit on the Lf of the middle competitor. The girl in the middle placed first and won the overall for the Figure Masters. So, that is pretty tough competition - I did very well!! I do want to share that it really does take a lot of hard sweat and effort and family cohesiveness to pull it all together. I was exhausted by the time it was my turn to step onstage and present my package. At one point backstage just prior to that moment, I turned to the people around me and said "I don't know if I can do this anymore. I am worn out, tired.
But, that was me talking...not God, who does have a plan for each and everyone of us.
As I said a quick prayer for focus, calmness, and for His light to shine through me....he showed me that He is not done using me yet. He revived me with energy and enthusiasm that I did not have, and as a result, I placed second! He is plan is much greater than mine! So, I will patiently wait, train hard, eat well and work towards Chicago and Jr. Nationals in June.
How crazy is that? I was ready to give up, stop, be done. Now, that is crazy. That is when you know there is someone else watching over you and guiding you to victory.

After the show it was time to sit back and enjoy the rest of the weekend. I made some great connections and met some super people.

The Expo Hall is really big. It was jammed so tight with people. I get a little claustrophobic, so I stuck near this really big guy....he didn't know, but he was grooving through the crowd pretty well. I asked another tall fellow to just shoot a picture for me of the masses. This is only a small section of the expo. So, it does not represent the size and number of booths or people very well. But it does show how busy and packed the place was. Just picture each row packed with people like this. I was maybe a third the way down a row when he took this shot:



I like to get into a little trouble...okay - no, I was always the goody-goody and still am, but could not resist the fact that these bicycle cops were taking a break!!


Friday was a busy day!! I had a "carbaceous" (my own vocabulary) morning.
I met Kim Lyons and her hubby Gunter Schlierkamp at breakfast. She was so kind and sweet. She actually knows my brother and have joined in a business venture together, so that is how I went up to her - to introduce myself as "David Sandlers' little sister". We actually talked for about 45 minutes. She is pregnant with their first child. She told me that meeting me was an inspiration for her to get back in shape after having her child.

I feel badly because we talked and hit it off, that her hubby interrupted us to introduce himself.
They are both very sweet and down to earth people!


I also had my photoshoot with the gents from OAMG, Tony and Will. They were really great and fun to hang out with. By the end of the shoot we were like family!!
I will say it was darn cold. We shot in the basement of a coffee shop.
Let me repeat...the unheated basement of a coffee shop in Cold Columbus, Ohio!!
I was shivering between takes and had to shake off my goosebumps. We still had a good time and really - it coulda been worse, cold beach water is harder to deal with than a cold cellar.
Here are two behind the scene shots:


When I get finished pictures from them, I will put them up for y'all to see.

After my photoshoot it was back to the Arnold to attend my brother's Strength Summit.
My brother David Sandler owns Strength Pro and does many really neat scientific physical experiments on a few different TV shows like Fight Science, Manswers, and did the cool tests on Jessie James's show Jessie James Is A Dead Man. He trains specific teams as well as individuals and specializes in getting the most out of athletes through improving their movements.


Then I had an interview with
BodyBuilding.Com.
Click the link above, and check it out.

My daddy n I went down to the expo early before it opened with vendor passes from my brothers Strength Pro Team. That is the best time to shop without crowds and only vendors.
He hooked me up to be stylin in the gym for a long time!! Thank you daddy. I love my fun new outfits. And, really - those are the clothes that I wear everyday. Maybe you wear suits, but I wear sneakers and workout clothes.

There was so much more. I made some terrific contacts and hopefully you will be seeing more of me in some magazines in the future. Along with possible job opportunities that I pray and will ask you to pray for them to work out for me!
This journey is not over yet. I have good topics to share with you. I cannot wait!