Like I’ve mention already I was always athletically inclined so fitness came easy and fun for me. It was never a chore. Working at a gym and just plain being around people eager to workout got me inspired to want to try out a fitness competition at 18.So I asked a photographer who I worked with about entering the Ms. Ujena contest which was a fitness and modeling competition. He said, “Coco just remember if you try this competition don’t get frustrated but it usually takes a girl 3 to 4 years to get into the groove so don’t except to win”. Those were his encouraging words to me…Not real encouraging but I didn’t want to win, I just wanted to do it for the experience, I mean if I lose or whatever happens during that time at least I have a good story to tell, it’s a good chapter in my book so I was a little irritated that he told me that but I shut that conversation down and I tried out for the competition. It was being held in Puerto Vallarta Mexico and there was so many girls, so many pretty girls, so many athletic girls, I was like OMG there was no way I would be able to stand out in this crowd. As far as preparation for the event goes I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary. Normally when you try out for a fitness competition you’re in the gym for hours on end maybe even there twice a day, you’re taking in all different kinds of supplements, and you’re drinking your protein shakes. The list goes on but at that time since I didn’t have much money, I just went along with my normal workout routine and NOT one supplement. I walked in completely all-natural. It was a weeklong competition and one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my LIFE! They tested me to the limit. They test your athletic ability with practically every sport possible. But god, I was going push until I collapsed. I remember I was in a running marathon and I felt like I was going drop to my knees in pain I couldn’t breathe anymore the air was too thin in Mexico to top that off but something pushed me though the finish line. Well, it all paid off because I won the damn thing!!All I could think about was the photographer telling me don’t expect to win, so I couldn’t wait to get on the phone & tell him. To this day, I’ve always said to myself, I’ll never do a fitness competition again because it was so extreme and I almost died doing it but I do have thoughts about trying again at my age now which is 36. Today, I feel I’m in much better shape than I was at 18. I guess we’ll see…..
