Cara's Corner by Cara Marel

Blog #3
BuRnt OuT!! What now??

Hey guys!

Several weeks have passed since I last wrote a blog…like many of you, I often found myself offering the common “I’m just so busy!” as a viable excuse. For the most part, I actually enjoy being “so busy” and having to meticulously budget my time to squeeze everything in. I get a sense of satisfaction from being “so busy” and “having so much” to do and being “in demand” so to speak ;-) Anyway, as much as I enjoy being a busy bee…sometimes, I just want a break. Here’s the thing: I have been training & competing NON STOP since I started a year and a half ago. I absolutely love the sport, lifestyle, connections, experiences, health and so on…that I have gained throughout my competitive journey. However, I found myself on a ‘see saw’…one side saying “keep going, do another show, train 3 hours a day!!!”…and the other side saying, “I don’t want to do anything! I just want to be “normal” for a little while.” I argued with myself, because I felt guilty for even letting these thoughts creep in to my mind, as if it were some sort of crime to do so. So I let some more time pass, and I did another show (Coastal USA, Atlanta GA). That last week leading up to the show was going to make or break me, literally. I was already hours from home, training 8 hours a day for a new job, all while prepping and training hours a day for the up-coming show. I seriously wanted to JUST QUIT. I was exhausted. Mentally and physically, drained…and the thought of “I’m just not going to do this show” crept in to my mind. After some contemplation, I said: “Cara, you are NOT a quitter. You made a decision and committed do doing this show. This is what YOU wanted. Things get hard, and NOW you want to back out? HOLD THE PHONE…YOU WILL do this show.”…And that I did! I put my big girl pants on, finished what seemed to be the longest week of my life, did the show, and had a BLAST. The gain was greater than the pain!!!  The moral of the story is this: in life, whatever it may be…a competition, a commitment to a friend, etc., you owe it to YOURSELF (and others) to follow through with your commitment. If and when you do this, you will find so much satisfaction in knowing you were true to your word, and that whatever the struggle was that you were going through, was all worth it in the end. Once you’ve completed what you set out to do…then take that break that you deserve!! And that, I did! I took a week off from hard training and a strict diet, and allowed myself to truly miss and long for what I love so much…training, working hard, and sweating like a maniac. I needed to be true to my own word, and then take a break to appreciate the effort I’d been putting forth for so long. I earned this…and so have you.:-)

I hope this hits home for some of you, just a little personal story…hope you enjoyed! Have a great and productive week everyone!


Cara Marel
NPC Bikini Athlete, Team Bombshell
Fitness Columnist