Race day through the eyes of Kateřina Vomáčková | GP Sweden

My racing debut at the Swedish GP: A return to the podium and a surprise!

Hello everyone! Welcome to a new video from the first races of this season, part of my Wellness Diaries series. This year we chose the Grand Prix Sweden in picturesque Södertälje as our opening stop. This city and competition have grown on me, even though I've only participated in the past as a chaperone. I was even more excited when I stood on the podium as a competitor for the first time this year!

GP Sweden is a real heartbreaker for me. Honestly, I have never experienced such a sophisticated and perfectly organised event. Behind everything are the renowned American brands Better Bodies and GASP, which I'm sure you're familiar with. I also had the privilege of speaking with the owner of these brands and was absolutely blown away by his vision. The goal is to give the racers as much added value as possible, because after all the hard work they deserve it. And that's exactly what this competition offers - an unforgettable experience for racers and spectators alike. If you are thinking about participating in the NPC Federation, or are already competing and planning your starts, I highly recommend this competition!

Strategy and return after the break

I competed in a pro-qualifying event myself on May 11. The day before, on May 10, there was a regional competition and some competitors decided to do both competitions in a row to gain as much experience as possible. I too had thought about this tactic and many people recommended it. However, my boyfriend, who is also my coach, and I agreed to focus primarily on Sunday's pro-qualifying competition to give me more peace of mind and focus. You can find out exactly how everything went in my new vlog!

After taking a year off from competing, when my coach and I focused on gaining and improving muscle mass, it was quite a long time for me to feel completely comfortable on the podium. I felt a slight pressure and nervousness, which you always kind of create on yourself whether you want to or not. And while it may seem like nothing like that needs to happen during preparation, when you've been racing for a long time, the opposite is true. Even an experienced racer can be caught off guard by unexpected situations.

Watch the full video here:

Learning from every experience

Every competition is a valuable experience and you learn from mistakes. If everything was perfect the first time we competed, we would have nowhere to go. And that, for me, is something I enjoy most about this - the challenges and obstacles that come up along the way and you have no choice but to face them and learn from them.

I hope you enjoy my show day vlog from Sweden and soak up the unique racing atmosphere. You can look forward to two more vlogs from other competitions - from Poland and Spain, where something happened that I totally didn't expect!

I would be very happy for any feedback and constructive criticism. Thank you for watching!