coachcinziaMy guest performance at this year’s Vancouver USA / Tanji Johnson Fitness Figure and Bikini Championships has special meaning to me. Right after earning professional status last fall at NPC Fitness Nationals / Team Universe, my dear coach and friend Tanji asked me to guest perform at her show, and I can’t explain how I felt…so honored and filled with excitement. After that conversation with Tanji I knew I had just been given a great opportunity to bring it back home!
I see this guest performance as the connecting point of my spiral journey! It was at the Vancouver USA / Tanji Johnson Championships in 2008 that I competed in fitness for my first time outside of Alaska and my very second time altogether. There I met so many people, and today I am so proud and honored to call them my family and friends. That amazing weekend I became part of our wonderful Northwest Body Building family! I fell in love with it and, thanks to many of their encouraging words, I continued competing in fitness in pursuit of my pro card. Here I am now, 3 years later, guest performing on the same stage where it all began with the same excitement, and amongst the family I love!
My first guest performance as an IFBB Pro was everything I hoped it would be and much more! I focused on my performance and trained to deliver an entertaining routine. I had built the routine not worrying about the difficulty of the skills but with emphasis on the element of capturing the audience’s attention and expressing myself. Of course the only way for me to do that was through an Italian theme!
As soon as I landed in Portland on Friday, we headed straight to the venue in Vancouver to attend the rehearsal. Tanji’s rehearsals are the best! Every year a team of pros steps on stage to demonstrate how the show will unfold in all of the details, and this year I was one of them! Tanji even made some cute pink t-shirts with really big writing on the back that says, “IFBB PRO” for all of us. I thought it was kind of funny…written in big print just in case anyone missed it! LOL I have to admit, I LOVE IT, and I am very proud of it! I am thinking about having all my shirts screen printed like that! Just kidding – sort of!
The rehearsal was a lot of fun and very useful, especially for first-time competitors! It means so much to have such a detailed rehearsal; it takes away much of the stress that builds up from the many unknowns and you get to meet everyone before hand! All the ladies there had the chance to get on stage and walk through a mock prejudging and evening show. It was a treat to be there helping them! Throughout the weekend I reunited with good friends and I met new ones but, most of all, I was able to share the thrill of many first time competitors and witness rising champions like the young junior fitness competitors. I know I will be able to say I watched them compete when they were only little girls in a few years, yes I was there!
After my performance I was honored with a special award from Tanji, and needless to say it was such an emotional moment! Excited for the show in itself and everyone competing in it, I truly didn’t expect the award and I was very surprised! Both my husband and my boy where called up on stage, and it was an amazing feeling to share this moment of joy with them as they were there for me every step of the way! A few tears ran down my cheeks, but they were only tears of joy!
