Wow, somebody pinch me….what an amazing weekend! I am still coming down from the incredible high I was on this past weekend in Columbus, Ohio during my 2011 Fitness Hall of Fame Induction. It all began last Thursday night, flying to the event, with many thoughts going through my mind. Upon arriving in Ohio, I was feeling incredibly anxious and excited at the same time. I spent most of Thursday night unpacking and going through my three minute acceptance speech over and over. On Friday, my family and some close friends flew in to celebrate this honorable occasion with me and we all headed to the inductee Meet and Greet that night. As soon as I walked in the door I was warmly greeted by the co-founder and executive director of the Fitness Hall of Fame organization, John Figarelli. I introduced him to my family and then began to mingle with the other inductees and their families and friends. There was a long wall of all kinds of posters, magazine clippings and memorabilia of the inductees accolades (including my own) and the many accomplishments achieved over the (minimum of 25) years of dedicated service towards educating/demonstrating the lifestyle of health and fitness. Some of them retired and others, like me nowhere near ready to retire yet. Introductions, laughter and bonding were enjoyed by all the families, friends and inductees. By night’s end we were a team and ready to officially unite the next day (Saturday) at noon for our official induction ceremony.
I woke up Saturday feeling a little nervous. I looked over at my kids sleeping peacefully in the bed next to me and instantly relaxed. It’s amazing how the sight of a sleeping child just warms your heart and calms your spirit. I lied there in bed another 15 minutes going over my speech before getting up to take on the big day ahead.
On the cab ride over to the ceremony my belly butterflies started to appear again. I saw the big sign for the Arnold Festival standing proudly over the heads of the massive amounts of people scuttling along beneath it. Upon entering the building, the high energy of the crowds, along with the big event displays gave me goose bumps. The huge bodybuilding expo had over 700 vendors with more muscle than I have ever seen under one roof. It was a mob scene of colorful fitness enthusiasts, arm wrestling events and card board “insert your face” cut outs for all those who wanted to know what’s it’s like to look like high ranking professional bodybuilders. There was also gymnastics, cheerleading, and dance competitions, fencing events, powerlifting championships, mixed martial arts eventss, Cross Fit demonstrations, etc. The talk and feel of the day was fitness. My family had never seen anything like this before and my dad was especially getting charged up and into it.
At noon we entered the banquet where our induction was going to be held. It was loaded with VIP guests, the press, and friends and families of inductees. I met up with our other 2011 inductees, Lee Haney (8 time Mr. Olympia) , Lenda Murray (8 time Ms. Olympia) and Bill Kazmaier (World’s Strongest Man), who weren’t able to be at the meet and greet due to their event obligations the night before. We all had some nice conversation throughout the dinner, mingled around and took lots of pictures before the ceremony began.
“Can I have your attention please”, says the voice on the loudspeaker. “We will begin the ceremony in five minutes”. Suddenly my heart started to pound and I ran over to grab my index card to review my speech (as if I didn’t already do this 1000 times the week before, lol). The crowd started to split up and find their places and the room slowly quieted down as the opening announcements began. I was so nervous and I didn’t know when I was going to be called up. My family was so cute and supportive helping me through this. We all had a three minute maximum speech to deliver and my dear friend and Cathlete Sue Weir said “Cathe, I have waited so long to tell you this and I’m finally able to”. I looked at her and waited to see what she was going to say. She said “you can do anything for three minutes”. I just cracked up at that and it really
helped deflate some of the nervous tension that was building up in my body. After about the second inductee speech, there was excitement and chatter forming rapidly in the back corner of the room near the entrance door. Suddenly a herd of security came in with Arnold….yes, ARNOLD…. walking in the middle of their circle. Oh My Gosh….I just froze while the press swarmed over to get a shot. My heart was pounding and my hands began to shake. I fumbled around for my iphone to grab a picture knowing all too well that that was most likely going to be a blurry shot with my unsteady hands. I snapped away numerous pictures hoping at least one of them would come out good and as Arnold walked by me I said “Wie gehts?” (German for “how are you?”). He answered back in German , “Sehr Gut” (very good). He continued to walk up to the front of the room through the chaos of applauding and cheers. He sat down and watched some inductee speeches and even gave one of his own. Suddenly, I hear my introduction being announced on the stage and I immediately snap to it and collect myself. My name is called and I step up to the podium and begin my speech. It was very nerve wracking looking into all of those press cameras with a swarm of camera men crouched down on their knees snapping away. But front and center were my two little boys smiling away all proud to see their mom on the stage. The sight of their little faces just melted me and I felt a sense of calm start to settle within me. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous at all to give my speech but I can honestly say I felt much better knowing my family and friends were all with me to support me as I received my award. I ended my speech with many thank yous as I have so much to be thankful for. You can bet that all of you were included in my speech, because without you, I would not have been standing up there to receive an award for helping to make a positive impact in your lives as well as the lives of others around the world. Thank you for allowing me to inspire you, to guide you and to continue to help you make a healthy difference in your life!
