December 29, 2004
Rock hard homework
Central High School secretary pumps up for bodybuilding competition
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Getting a smear of frosting on your hand during a holiday party is usually no big deal. But when Pat Bowen, a secretary at Traverse City Central High School, accidentally dipped her thumb in some frosting while getting something for a colleague, the room went silent.
She simply wiped it off on a napkin and people breathed again.
"They weren't sure if I was going to lick it off, everyone else would have," Bowen said. "Everything revolves around food and it can make it difficult no matter where you go."
But staff and students at the school mostly know about her year-long training commitment to sculpt a winning body for an upcoming bodybuilding contest.
They are almost used to her restrictive diet and high-octane training regimen, all part of her commitment to transform a milestone birthday - the dreaded 5-0 - into a triumph.
Bowen's 56-week training program will culminate on April 2 when she struts on stage at the Leelanau Sands Showroom for a 90-second routine of flexing and posing - showcasing a year's hard work.
"My goal is to get from 29 percent body fat to eight percent body fat," said Bowen, adding that the bulked-up muscles on her already large frame will then shine.
She will be competing in the 25th Annual Grand Traverse Classic, with her routine judged in the both Masters category for women over 35 and the general category.
By throwing her hat in the ring, figuratively speaking, Bowen's life took on a new look. Already athletic and a weightlifter, she ramped it up to a new level last April: weekday 5 a.m. workouts coupled a very restricted high-protein, low-carb and virtually no-fat diet. The weekends are usually rest times for her body, though she earmarked some ab work for Christmas Day.
"I spent the summer building muscle," Bowen noted.
Then there's the requirement to forgo all caffeine and drink a gallon of water a day. She is also meticulous about weighing her food and follows her diet to the letter six days a week. From egg whites for breakfast to skinless chicken and veggies for dinner, day after week after month, Bowen is disciplined.
To surf over the danger zone of before-bedtime or in-front-of-the-television snacking, she knits, crochets and does needlepoint to keep her hands busy.
Bowen does have one outlet during all this training:
"Sundays are my one free day, I look forward to it," Bowen said of her important 'treat' day. "Vern's going to take that away from me soon."
Vern Gauthier, co-owner of Fit For You, has been Bowen's coach throughout this endeavor. An experienced competitive bodybuilder, he knows what it takes to win - or at least make a great showing.
"This is becoming more popular among older women than with younger women," noted Gauthier of competitive body building. "It is much harder for women to build muscle because they don't have the muscle bulk; the process still works the same, it's just a little more difficult."
With Gauthier's guidance, Bowen is already working on her 90-second routine: honing her presentation and style.
"I'm not a dancer sort of person so I have to develop the attitude," she said. "Posing is very tiring, you have to practice it every day."
Bowen has been greatly helped in her quest by three workout partners who are there every weekday morning with her. While she and another woman in her 20s are the only ones aiming to the competition, the other two have been very supportive.
"It would be real easy on some mornings to say, 'Oh, I don't want to go in,' but I know they'll be there," said Bowen, who was inspired a few years - and 30 pounds ago - to begin working out seriously when she saw a rear-view picture of herself.
One of Bowen's workout partners is LaVerne Forrest of East Bay Township, who just turned 61. A runner and marathoner, Forrest competed in bodybuilding beginning in her 50s and retired from it in 2001.
"It's a whole different kind of training and a whole different way of thinking," Forrest said.