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5th at Collegiate Nationals

Colton Leonard
July 23, 09

After my trip to Florida for the NPC Southern States, I flew directly out to Pittsburgh for the 2009 Collegiate National Championships. Last year I competed in Teen Nationals, which is paired with the Collegiate and Master Nationals, where I was successful in taking 2nd for the Teen heavy weights. Currently I am still 20 years old, so going into this competition my goal was to place top 5. After all, I was going to be competing against guys that could be up to 25 years old and 5 years in the bodybuilding world can mean a lot more muscle, amazing conditioning and more muscle maturity. I really enjoyed this show; it is always run with the upmost professionalism. This year there was over 400 competitors and still the show was perfect and organized. Everyone knew where to go and what time to be there.

After coming off of a problematic week at the Southern States, my nutritionist and I fixed the problems, and I was really ready to get onstage. I had a detailed plan and I followed it to the “T”. When I woke up Saturday morning I was looking a little soft, but after having a little sodium I tightened up quite well and just in time for pre-judging. I ate the first sugary food I have had in at least 4 months about 30 minutes afterward; that snickers bar was the best of my life, and it did what it was supposed to do. When I started pumping up I had a rush of energy, my vascularity really started coming out, and I filled out quite well.

I enjoyed hitting all of my mandatory poses and did not get too tired on stage. After prejudging, I took a look at the pictures and was pleased with what I saw. I felt the show was going to be a close call for the 5th and 6th placing, between myself and another Competitor. I took the girlfriend out to enjoy a nice meal. I only had a hamburger with no bread or cheese, but it still tasted amazing. We returned to the host hotel. I began going over my night show routine to make sure it was perfect. I also had to fix my tan, it was a little spotty after oiling up and posing.

When I returned to the stage I was told I had made it into the top 5 and I would be performing my night show routine. After a good pump/oil up and another snickers bar, we lined up then headed back to the stage. When it was my turn, I went through my routine quite well, with only a few hesitations. Next came the trophy presentations. My name was the first to be called out and I was pleased to accept the 5th place trophy.

While I am happy with my accomplishment, I am excited to see what the next few years hold for me. I am truly looking forward to winning that show in the near future. I have 4 years or so to really prepare myself for that big win!

In the next blog I will be going over what exactly I did for my contest peak week and what I would fix if I could do it again.

-Colton “The Castle” Leonard

“The Price of Excellence is Discipline; The Cost of Mediocrity is Disappointment”