Almost Famous

Not really but y'all knew that already. The results came in from the Ms. Health and Fitness competition and the winner is a soloist in aerial from Cirque du Soleil. Obviously has a much larger social media presence than little ol' gatherer here. I was trying to decide if I was proud of my results from the competition or if I should have tried harder. I know in the end it was a popularity and who can get people to pay for votes competition and no amount of pushups or bench presses was going to win. I know after group rounds there were quarter, semi, and then finals so in the grand scheme I didn't get very far but putting myself out to be judged and ranked was both humiliating and liberating at the same time. It was like I was telling the the universe that I was strong enough to take the inevitable failure and proud enough show how far I had come.

A few months ago, back when I started this bloggy blog, I was considering trying to somehow make this fitness thing a career. I asked one of Hunter's friends who is a very good photographer and social media guru if she thought I could hack it as a fitness model. Figured it might be a little different than cutesy waif with perfectly symmetrical face and that if nothing else my abs might earn their keep. When she told me how much just the portfolio might run me I laughed and said nope. I could either forgo training for 6 months or get a few awkward photos that probably wouldn't land me any gigs anyway. It's not like where I live is the mecca of fitness photography as far as I know. I've looked into possibly doing bikini fitness competitions, but holy cow those little bikinis are expensive and I don't think I can get enough self tanner (or muscles big enough) to make that work either. I've been thinking about changing up my workout routine and moonlighting at a cross fit gym an maybe try to bust my ass to to make it to the cross fit games but it would require a big risk in changing where I spend what I've given to myself as a fitness allowance and picking up a second gym would definitely mean I'm on my own (we chose our gym based mostly on the natives needs and I know I personally love it for that alone but also I've made friends there).

I feel like I'm always figuring things out too late. I was in my mid-thirties when I went back to school for computer science. I really enjoyed it, I had fun learning. I think it was the learning part I liked, more than the doing. I'm not unhappy with what I do now, I make better money, and I feel like I can make an impact, I do miss coding a bit, I don't do it as much as I do analyzing data. I never in a billion years thought I would be the person who really loves being in the gym. I loose steam some days but honestly most of the time I'm having to cut out sets of things so I'm not there an excessive amount of time. When the trainer figures out a trouble area I try to remember the fancy term used to tell me what it is and I research it at home and try to find interesting exercises to help correct myself. I know I'll get exercises in training but it feels good to improve myself, by physical strength and learning something new. I'm 40 now so I hoped into this fitness obsession at an age where I certainly won't be an athlete. I don't want to be a trainer, as this is more about improving my own body. I know I should cut back on the booze and the sweets and I could get even more results. For now I'll settle for lifting more weight than I could have imagined at the start of this (best guess, if the trap bar weighs 45 this is 155 lbs)

Since I was almost famous, I won't be living the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Unless I win the lottery or I get discovered somehow working from home, I'll keep working on student success and trying to come up with my get rich (I never said quick) scheme while I do my workouts. And if anyone has a fun local gym where they can bring a buddy for the day, consider inviting your resident Gatherer, sometimes its nice for a temporary change.