Well… little did I realize that along with the discipline of training/dieting, the social sacrifices and determined focus, I’d have to deal with the universe testing my “will” to succeed and throw several roadblocks my way.

It was the morning of Oct 26^th, three days before my competition and I woke up unable to walk. My left foot was severely swollen at the big toe and I was in so much pain that I could barely move my foot let alone, fit it in my running shoes.

I stumbled along and forced myself to the gym for my final back workout of the week before the big day and finished my workout and then headed to the airport to pick up my “friend” (and now fiancé). When he saw me limping and examined my foot, he drove me straight to the emergency room, where they prescribed me with heavy pain relievers to get me to through the week.

The following day, I had my final walking/posing lesson with my instructor in Ajax, so I took the pain meds, threw on my shoes and held back tears for the hour that I had the 5” heels on for our lesson. Feeling nauseous from the meds and drowsy, my “friend” and I headed back to Toronto for what would become the most nerve-racking 24 hours of my big day.

Friday, Oct 28^th, we head on the road to Kitchener, where my competition is being held on the following Saturday morning. After a grueling leg workout, where I was practically falling asleep at the machines from my meds, I headed to my athletes meeting. We arrive to the meeting and I realize I don’t have my shoes with me, so we head back to the hotel to look for my shoes and cannot find my shoes anywhere.

My “friend” graciously offers to drive BACK to Toronto to find them at my place so I can get some rest. Now, for those of you that are not aware, these shoes are not just any shoes off the shelf at Aldo, these are specific competition shoes bought at specialty stores. Ok, back to the story… so my “friend” heads to Toronto while I head to bed at 11pm to get a few hours sleep. And this is where the fun starts…

At 2 am, he calls me frantic saying “I’ve searched through every corner of your condo and your shoes are no where to be found, I’ve even looked in your spice drawers and oven!” I’m talking him through and CERTAIN they are in the hallway, but alas, they were not. He heads to Kitchener and gets back around 4am. With a tiny ounce of hope left, I set the alarm for 6am, the time the gym opens in Ajax, to see if I had by any chance left the shoes there.

At 6am, on the dot, we call the gym… and alas, the shoes are there!!! So my “friend” again, graciously heads to Ajax from Kitchener to pick up the shoes while I start getting dressed. There we go, we have the shoes, I’m back on track to getting on stage. Or so I thought.

6:45 am he calls me and says… “Your tire exploded on the hwy, and I am in Milton”

My heart sank and I sat down on the bed and thought, “God, I’m either guessing you don’t want me standing on stage today, or you want to see how much I really want this…. Please let it be the latter…”. So without thinking any further, I call my girl friend who lives in Milton and get her to start coordinating with my “friend” on the side of the road and then start calling my family who live in Markham. Of course, on this day, not one single family member answers their cell’s nor the home phone. By some luck, I got a hold of my cousin and had her wake my brother up. He sleepily asks what’s wrong and I frantically started telling him to head to Ajax to pick up my shoes and then drive to Kitchener… “oh and btw – make sure you are here by 10am!!!” He responds with similar panic that there is no way he’s make it… I didn’t even think twice when I responded “I have worked 10 months to get on stage, you will make sure you make it!!”

In the mean time, my “friend” heads to my hotel room, feeling defeated from the chaos, and we head to the venue of my competition, praying with every ounce of faith my family makes it.

Well… 9:59 am! My heart racing… my mother and brother roll into the parking lot with my shoes!

I didn’t even think twice of the pain in my swollen foot, and put the shoes on and headed on stage.

Later that night… trembling with shock and tears held back, I took home my very first winning trophy for the fitness competition.

The greatest lesson I learned that day was that I could have quit from the obstacles and “signs” that came my way, but often these obstacles are signs of your will to see things through.

Breakfast – Sweet potato protein pancake with a drizzle of agave nectar.
Recipe:
3/4 pound sweet potatoes
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg and cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp coconut oil to coat pan
Directions

Place sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan of boiling water, and cook until tender but firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, and immediately immerse in cold water to loosen skins. Drain, remove skins, chop, and mash.
In a medium bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Mix mashed sweet potatoes, eggs, vanilla extract in a separate medium bowl. Blend sweet potato mixture into the flour mixture to form a batter.
Preheat a lightly greased griddle over medium-high heat. Drop batter mixture onto the prepared griddle by heaping tablespoonfuls, and cook until golden brown, turning once with a spatula when the surface begins to bubble.