I’M BACK!!! I know I’ve fallen off the face of the blogging world for a couple months but things have been hectic in my personal life. I feel like a broken record but I do really want to get on a regular blogging schedule. I guess I need to learn how to manage my time better!

So, a lot has happened since my last post. Unfortunately, the Candy and Chrome pole competition that I was signed up for got cancelled 3 days before and was rescheduled to September 12th. I will be in California that weekend as the maid of honor for my cousin’s wedding, so I had to drop out of the competition. Luckily, I was able sign up to perform at my studio’s annual pep rally show on June 27th.

Photo credit: Lakin Jones

If I could only use one word to describe this experience, it would be: “exhilarating!” I had forgotten how much I missed the feeling of performing in front of people and everything else that comes with it; the pre-performance jitters, the adrenaline rush when your name is called, feeding off the energy of the crowd, and the feeling of pure elation right when you finish, knowing that you had as close to a perfect performance as possible. It really brought me back to my days of competitive cheerleading and why I loved it so much.

One thing that surprised me was that I wasn’t as “nervous” as I thought I would be. I think the feeling of excitement I had overpowered my nerves and I felt very confident throughout the entire performance. I didn’t even have any sweating issues at all (well none that I noticed anyways), which is what I was most anxious about in the first place. I think a lot of this has to do with how much training I put in for this routine. I worked on it for almost 3 months so by the time I performed the muscle memory I built up was able to compensate for any additional sweating from nerves. I did however prep my hands and feet thoroughly during the 2 weeks leading up to my performance due to my hyperhidrosis.

For other polers that also suffer from extreme sweating issues, here is the breakdown of what I did to ensure that my hands and feet were dry during my performance:

1. Iontophoresis treatment 2-3x week for 2 weeks leading up to the performance. If you want to read more about my experience with iontophoresis, click here.
2. Bi-weekly nightly applications of Drysol during competition training as well as nightly applications 2 days prior and 1 day prior to the performance. I probably didn’t need to use it as much as I did, but I wanted to overcompensate for my sweating as much as possible.
3. 2-3 applications of Dirty Girl Poletice 3-4 hours before the performance.
4. Application of Tite Grip every 30 minutes for 2-3 hours leading up to the performance. I like washing my hands with warm soapy water before applying.
5. Application of Prince Grip a minute or so before the perforamnce.

Overall, I was very pleased with my performance, but most importantly, I had so much fun – I was grinning ear to ear during the whole thing! Check out the video of my routine below:

Next up for me is the 2014 Northeast Pole Art Championships in Boston this November! I will be competing in the Dramatic Level 4 category. I’m nervous because this will be my first pole competition, but excited nonetheless. I now know that I am physically and mentally capable of performing a complete pole routine, so it’s time for me to take this next step 🙂