This past weekend, I tagged along to be a backstage helper for the NPAA BC Championships in North Vancouver.  My partner Solomon Macys competed in his first physique competition.  He had coached two competitors previously and decided it was his turn on stage.  We caught the Friday 1230 Ferry to Vancouver since there was a mandatory competitors meeting at 4pm.  With time to spare, we did some grocery shopping for diner prior to his meeting.  We explored a few markets on Lonsdale and stretched out after sitting all afternoon.

The mandatory meeting went over posing for the competitors, rules and regulations and they also had their suits checked and numbers were handed out.  After the meeting, we went to find our hotel at the Holiday Inn in North Vancouver to check in and set up.  Since Solomon was getting a spray tan, he needed to shave prior to getting sprayed.  So he did some touch ups, mainly making sure his beard was nice and tidy.  

Meanwhile, I put spare sheets on Solomon’s bed since I didn’t want him staining all the hotel sheets!

Solomon’s spray tan was scheduled for 6:10pm.  But there was a little mix up, originally he was told his tanner would be located at the host hotel, this is how we chose where we would stay.  Turns out she changed locations so when Solomon went to go find Room 210 no one answered.  To top it off, he couldn’t remember what our room number was so he roamed the halls trying to figure out where he was for about 20 minutes.  Poor guy!

 

Luckily, we got it sorted out, rescheduled Solomon’s appointment and headed to the Travellodge.  I didn’t take any pictures of the tanning process, but more or less he stands in a tent to keep it nice and tidy and she sprays him with a self tanner.  The evening coat is lighter but is suppose to darken over night.  Solomon said it was quite cold going on!  It only took about 10 minutes, then Solomon is suppose to wear loose fitting clothing to prevent rubbing.  We made a quick stop at the Superstore to pick up a few items for the next day and then went back to the hotel for dinner.

 

We actually brought a small portable stove so that we could make soup for dinner.  I thought I took a picture of our set up, but apparently it was a picture of the cooler instead!  But if you look at Solly’s practice posing photos you can slightly see the set up on the right side.  We did hot pot, which you dip your foods in the simmering soup, let it cook your veggies and meat and then take it out and eat while more food cooks.  We had dumplings and lamb with a variety of different veggies.  My favourite is the mushrooms in the soup.  We also make a few dipping sauces, which I go for the hot sauces.  I like to say it is a good hot sauce if it makes your eyes water!  

After dinner, Solly practiced his posing for his T walk while I read for the evening.  Here are few practice poses:  Can you tell he is spray tanned?

 

Saturday October 24, 2015 – COMPETITION DAY!!!!

We woke up bright and early Saturday morning at 6am.  Solly had another application of spray tan to be applied.  During the night, his previous coat had definitely darkened and he still had to get a second coat.  While he was gone, I went for a short run to get moving, I knew it would be a day of a lot of sitting.  That doesn’t happen for me often so I wanted to make sure I got some movement in.

Solly was on at 11am, so we drove close to the theatre and stopped for coffee and a muffin.  We don’t typically have muffins for breakfast, but Solly wanted the carbs to fill out.  After relaxing at the coffee shop, we headed to the theatre. Backstage all the competitors, touch up their tans, practice posing and “pump up” by doing push ups and other body weight exercises.  Many of the competitors, including Solomon had elastic bands to use for their exercises.  Then the final moment, the competitors get to go on stage and pose.  

Each competitor starts with their T-walk, where they get to show off their best poses.

Then the guys had to pose in a line, so that the judges could compare the guys.  They are judged on their poses as well as their overall physique.  Awards were given out about an hour later.  Solomon placed 3rd, he was very pleased with his placing.  Great job for a first competition!

Then his post competition meal was dim sum!  We headed to Park Royal, where I may have done some shopping, but we definitely found some good dim sum.  Then we headed home, since we had team training the next day.

 

Sunday, Nanaimo Kettlebell Club we trained a bit later to give up recovery from Solly’s competition the day before.  So training started around 10am.  We focused on the snatch and pacing.  Each workout just get us a step closer to Dublin, Worlds! In my next post, I will talk about test set for Dublin and Kettlebell Workshop with Brittney van Schravendijk.