Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Arnold Sports Festival - Part 1

Sorry for the long delay in posting!  For the past week, Internet Explorer 8 would not load my Blogger dashboard page, so I finally decided to try a different browser, and...voila!  I'm back.


This weekend, the hubby and I had the opportunity to attend the Arnold SportsFestival in Columbus, OH.  This is the largest multi-sport event in the US.  Forty-five different sports – body building, fitness, dance, cheer leading, fencing, boxing, martial arts, and more – hold competitions, and 700 product and equipment vendors show off their stuff at a huge expo.  What a fascinating event! 

One of the hubby’s clients was a vendor and sponsor at the show, and they gave us 3rd row tickets for the women’s Ms. International, Fitness International, and Figure International Finals competition on Friday night.   (Thanks, Twinlab!)  The women body builders were impressive.  The figure competitors were gorgeous.  But my favorite part was the fitness competition.  These women have it all.  They are strong, flexible, and beautiful.  Each competitor performed a routine designed to show off their strength, flexibility, acrobatics, and overall badassness.  The music was exciting, the costumes were sometimes hilarious, and the flips, pushups, and feats of balance were amazing to watch.

We spent the entire day Saturday walking around the expo.  It was so packed that we were shoulder to shoulder pretty much constantly.  Most of the product samples were for body building supplements that I have little interest in, but we did get some good stuff like protein bars, energy shots, and t-shirts.  It was fascinating to learn about some of the sports nutrition and equipment products that are coming out into the market.

The expo also gave us the chance to meet some of the competitors from the show the night before and to indulge in a little star gazing.  We saw a number of athletes and actors such as Arnold (of course), Lou Ferrigno (maybe best known for playing the Incredible Hulk on the old 80’s TV show), Mario Lopez, and famous models like Christina Halkiopoulos.  I got a few autographs and had my picture taken with a series of booth babes.

Over the next week or so, I’ll work on posting many of my pictures.  I’ll do my best to identify everyone shown, though I know I’ll miss a few.  And while I have some pictures that will no doubt please the lovers of the female form, I have some treats for the opposite persuasion as well.  So, come back to check them out!

Skye Taylor for Champion Nutrition
"Melissa, Stay dedicated & determined! <3 Skye"

Last week:

Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Run 2 miles, 5x1:00 AI’s on the trails in Ken-O-Sha Park, 2 miles – untimed

Thursday, March 1, 2012
Run 4 miles, 4 strides – Total time for 4 mile run 36:29, Avg mile 9:07

Sunday, March 4, 2012
Long run 8.35 miles – Total time 1:18:19, Avg mile 9:22

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