Whether training horses or training for a fitness competition, Clare Morrow knows that patience and perseverance are the keys to success.
NEVER TOO LATE
I’m a horse trainer and judge by profession. I grew up on a horse farm in England, and when we immigrated to Texas I continued to ride and compete. Now, as a professional athlete, I love to help other women realize that it’s never too late to get fit and healthy. I started lifting weights at age 42, and I’m now 46. These have been the best and healthiest four years of my life.
OVERCOMING TRAGEDY
We are all one phone call away from tragedy. At age 41, I got the call that changed my life. My mom had stage four cancer, and it was very aggressive. She urged me to get checked out, and it turned out that I have a one in four chance of getting cancer as well. Yikes. I decided that I wasn’t going to wait around for it or encourage it with bad eating habits. So I started going to the gym, cleaned up my diet, and lost 35 pounds. I then trained to compete in the NPC Bikini Division, which led to me getting my IFBB pro card at age 45. I never would have thought this was possible, but sometimes things can seem impossible until they happen.
CONSISTENCY IS KEY
I love the sport of bodybuilding. It interests me to see how much a body is able to transform. I love a good challenge, and competing is so much fun! I’ve never been afraid of the stage, and at least in this sport, I don’t have to worry about a 1,000-pound animal trying to buck me off! I think that fitness helps us evolve, especially as we learn more about how our bodies work. Like most women, I was at first concerned about eating too much, but I quickly learned how necessary good food is in order to gain lean muscle and get stronger. My training became more efficient and consistent as the results of my hard work started to appear.
LEARNING TO FAIL
Sometimes after a loss on stage, I have to go back to the drawing board and think about how to improve for next time. It’s great to win, but it’s the losses that help me grow the most. Failures are like instructions on how to improve me. My husband is incredibly supportive during tough times. He’s my gym partner, we meal prep together, and we support each other 100 percent. It helps so much that we live this lifestyle together. He has helped me stay on the course more times than I can count.
THE MEANING OF SUCCESS
When I want to relax and take care of myself, I watch a movie with my hubby, go to dinner, or groom one of the horses in the barn. Rewarding myself after a show usually involves a nice steak dinner with my husband and lots of chocolate for dessert. To me, success isn’t always about money. It’s about being able to live out my dreams and help others live out theirs. When a lady calls me in happy tears because she lost another pound that week, that’s the good stuff. I always say to them that every journey starts with one step, then two, then three… It’s just a matter of time, patience, and consistency. We all start somewhere, and that leg press doesn’t care who you are—so don’t give up! If I can do this, you can too...
