My mother who was an athlete raised me in a single
parent home. Naturally, I developed a competitive
spirit from a young age. My mother was an
international competitive swimmer for England and
played field hockey competing in the Commonwealth
and Pan Am Games as examples.
KAREN DAND
Also, my late father was an endurance athlete participating
in marathons and triathlons. I feel that being surrounded by
active individuals has definitely made me more appreciative
of being active.
During
my high school years
we moved around a lot. I was very active in sports
including basketball and volleyball. I received awards
such as Athlete of the Year and Most Improved Athlete to
mention a few. I frequently found that that I had to
prove myself moving from school to school to qualify for
teams because I was the "new girl" at the beginning of
each season. Of course if you were not a great player
you would not make the cut.
After graduating my life
took a turn for the worse. To my disappointment, I found
myself in a physically and mentally abusive relationship.
The relationship took everything from me that made me
who I was as an individual. It took me four years to
leave him, but I finally did. After breaking away, I
decided that I needed to focus on myself, and with the
help of family and friends I regained my individuality
back.
Shortly after this, I found myself in another very
unhealthy relationship.
This one took another two years to break free from. I
then decided to move to the Sunshine Coast to stay with
my mom. Here I found peace and sanctuary. This was the
place I needed to be to regain myself again.
I decided to get a
membership at a local fitness center. It was a very
rural town so there was not much equipment and the
aerobic classes were very small. I decided to follow a
dream of being an aerobic instructor. So, I completed
all my courses and six months later I was teaching
classes. The classes were packed and it was great for
repairing my self-esteem. I then met my next boyfriend.
It was great in the beginning like it always is, but it
soon deteriorated. We ended packing up after a couple of
years together to move to Vancouver to pursue our
careers.
Looking back, I now realize that we were just trying to
escape the problems
that we brought with us. He had a very serious drinking
and drug problem and I guess we were both trying to
avoid it. Living in Vancouver gave me new insight into
further developing my career. I applied at a fitness
center to teach classes. A couple of days later I
received a returned telephone call and I auditioned. I
was so scared going from teaching 10 people to 40, but I
got the job. Next thing I knew, I had 10 classes a week
at 5 different locations. At this time I decided to take
the first step to becoming a personal trainer by taking
a weight-training course.
It was easy for me. I got a
full time job as a weight trainer at the same gym and I
loved it.
Here I met some very influential people that were
involved in the bodybuilding and fitness industry. One
day I was approached by a coworker regarding an up
coming bodybuilding show that she thought I could make
the top five in. This excited me (just the competition
alone). I decided to go for it. So, she provided me with
the connections to get started and I followed through. I
had a meal plan, workout schedule and posing practice
designed. I started to train very hard. I was still
teaching 6 - 7 classes per week and weight training
approximately 12 hours per week. This commitment was
trying on my relationship.
Home life with my partner
became increasingly abusive as he became more jealous. I
decided that I could no longer help him packed up my
things and left. After couch surfing at a friends for a
couple of weeks, I eventually found my own place. It was
wonderful to have my own place free from obnoxious
alcohol induced yelling. Unfortunately, during this time
I had to give up my workouts. I ended taking off a
couple of weeks to regain myself once again. Then
without looking, I met the man of my dreams. We could
communicate without having to say a word. We knew from
the moment that we touched we would be together forever.
This man gave me the support, guidance, love, trust,
respect, honor, and loyalty I had been looking for my
entire life. Through him I have met some great people
and the one that stands out in my mind the most is T'ai
Erasmus.
I remember the day I met him for lunch.
He was not what I expected. I found him so full of life
and excitement. I was drawn t his energy. We started
talking and he shared details of his career with me and
I was so interested in hearing it all. I then told him
about my training for the upcoming bodybuilding
competition. He was very surprised, look at me and said,
"you should compete in fitness". I laughed at him and
said "yeah, right, I am way to big to compete in
fitness". He filled me with excitement that afternoon.
T'ai helped me realize I could fulfill a dream, and that
was to be a fitness competitor. Next thin I knew I was
out buying shoes and getting a choreographer to help me
with my routine.
T'ai and I decided that a meal plan was definitely in
order if I was to everything right. He told me that if I
stuck to the meal plan and listened to everything he
said that I would be the competitor I dreamed of and
that the results would "rock my world"! Well he was
right. I started seeing results quickly as my physique
was transforming nicely. At this time I was meeting with
my choreographer twice weekly, training six times per
week and teaching five classes a week. Three weeks
before my competition I got pneumonia. I was devastated.
I remember seeing the doctor and being advised not to
work or exercise for one to two weeks. I cried in the
car the whole way home. It was my dream to compete. I
had worked so hard to up until this point, with many ups
and downs along the way.
I then realized what a huge support system
I had from my family, friends and most of all, my
partner who was unbelievable! He said to me one night "just
give it a couple of weeks and see how you feel". I
thought for sure that I would not be competing and
became very negative. I had friends referring me to
various practitioners and giving me all types of natural
medicines to speed my recovery. T'ai kept saying over
and over to me "you are going to compete, don't even
worry about it, just focus on healing right now". A week
went by and I started training again, slowly easing my
way back into it. It was a week before the competition
and I was training hard.
T'ai kept me
on track every step of the way.
I was calling two to three times per day asking him all
sorts of questions. He never lost faith once and
continually supported me in every way he knew how. Five
days out from the competition my diet changed
drastically and so did the training. It was unlike
anything I have experienced before and it was awesome!
To look the mirror every morning and see such huge
differences in my physique was amazing. There was no
turning back now! The last few days were crucial and
T'ai made this very clear to me. I followed his every
word.
Finally, the day was here
and I was so excited. I was second up on stage. I
remember going out on stage and giving it everything I
had and more. It went by so fast that I didn't even
remember it. I ran off stage laughing and crying at the
same time out of sheer accomplishment. I had finally
followed through with something that had started as only
a dream. It went by so fast! The posing round came next
and I was up second again. I walked out on stage; again
I gave it my all. I remember holding my poses and my
legs shaking so badly I could hardly stand. The
experience was more than I could possibly say. To top it
off, I placed 2nd. I was ecstatic.
If I you are thinking about competing,
I would say DO IT! Just keep going. When you feel down,
your body doesn't seem to be changing and your routine
isn't perfect, never give up! Find that beautiful place
in your mind where you go to collect your thoughts and
stay there for a while. Ask yourself again "why am I
doing this"? Visualize! Visualize! See yourself the way
you want to look and feel when you go on-stage.
Visualize the huge smile on your face as you move
through your routine, because as T'ai said, "enjoy every
moment. It only happens once in your lifetime".
Enjoy the months, weeks and days before the competition
because it is a journey you will remember for the rest
of you life. Last, but not least, you need someone to
give you direction. It is difficult to do this whole
process on your own. After the weeks of carbohydrate
depleting and training so intensely, I could not have
done it without T'ai. He gave me the knowledge and
skills to do my part. The rest I left up to him,
and yes it did "ROCK MY WORLD."
If I were asked what were my most positive experiences,
my first reply would be the amazing support group of
loved ones. This was so invaluable! I found that the
support made my desire to succeed even greater. Second,
I learned that winning is not about placing first, but
about being the best that you can be
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