This Eva has brawn, brains and beauty

By JODY ZARKOS
Express Staff Writer

True story.

The day before Eva Hague’s first bodybuilding competition her "posing suit" which she ordered from an out-of-town company had yet to arrive in the mail.

She asked her husband Jim if it was delivered and he said no, just a stack of bills. Thumbing through the envelopes, she came across her two-piece posing suit—so tiny it fit in an business envelope.

It’s a tiny uniform for a big commitment.

What is the attraction of a sport in which participants push themselves through punishing training regimens, eating a diet so spartan a monk would complain, slathering themselves with a skin-darkening cosmetics to compete and topping it all off with Pam—yes, Pam—the non-stick cooking spray?

"It’s a weird sport," Hague concedes. "Kind of freaky."

For the 37-year-old mother of three from Ketchum, the lure of bodybuilding isn’t freaky or unusual at all. It is setting a goal and seeing if she can achieve it.

"Last year I wanted to see what I could get my body to do. This year it was more of a competitive challenge," Hague said.

The challenge Hague issued to herself began three years ago when she went to watch the Northwestern Natural Bodybuilding Championships in Boise (NNBC). The natural in the title means competitors agree to not use steroids to "enhance" their physiques and are tested before the contest.

"I thought it was cool. I wanted to do it," she said.

Hague sought out a trainer, competitive bodybuilder Karin Kimura of Boise. Eva introduced herself to Kimura after seeing her judge the 1997 NNBC. The two concocted a training schedule soon after they met in preparation for the 1998 NNBC. Hague was Kimura’s first client.

While in training for this year’s competition, Hague worked out two hours a day.

She spent one hour lifting weights and the other hour developing her cardiovascular system by running, biking or taking an aerobics class. She says her body fat is normally between 11 to 15 percent, but she got it down to three percent for the contest.

"That’s abnormally skinny," she said. "My daughter would tell me I was too skinny and it wasn’t good for me. I would explain that it was strictly for the contest, that you have to be lean, and the weight would be back on in a week when it was over."

Her hungry and growing boys thought the worst part of her training was the diet.

Eva ate large amounts of proteins and vegetables, but no sugar, dairy, refined foods or fruit.

"The diet was specifically for training. I don’t think it would be healthy to maintain it," Hague said. "The whole key is to increase or maintain muscle mass. My trainer believes in doing things slowly so I was on a diet for a long time, three and a half months."

"I semi-trained with two single girls and they would say ‘Oh, I can’t even go to the grocery store I get too tempted,’ and I would say, ‘Honey, I have to go buy my kids doughnuts.’ You really have to have a single-mindedness to stay focused," Hague related.

The big day arrives

The 1999 Northwest Natural Bodybuilding Championships in Boise on June 12 was Hague’s second appearance in the event.

She finished as runner-up in the Lightweight division (112¼ pounds-and-under) and she placed fifth in the Masters category (35-and-over).

"I was happy with my finish," she said. "I put myself exactly where the judges put me. It was a competitive field, a lot more difficult than last year. I was so impressed with the quality of girls. They were phenomenal."

The field featured 25 women from the different parts of the West. Hague was beaten in her weight class by Debra Rumsey of Ontario, Ore.

Last year in her first-ever NNBC competition Hague finished second in masters and third in her weight class.

The petite brunette describes the day of competition as lengthy and demanding.

She said, "It’s a long process with all-day judging. You go to the pre-judging in the morning and you do the mandatory poses. There are probably nine. It’s very strenuous as far as athletic ability. The judges sit and look at you and they really know right then where you are going to place.

"There’s also a relaxed round where you’re not supposed to flex. The novices totally relax and stop flexing, but not the experienced bodybuilders. They’re standing at attention. Totally rigid. There’s a lot of heckling and cheering. People will yell at you to squeeze your calf. It’s crazy.

"Then you go home or to the hotel and take a break and come back for the evening. It’s really relaxed. A lot of people will have eaten by then. It’s all fun. There are a lot of people who are genetically blessed that could pull it off, but I think you have to be something of an extrovert."

Yvette Hubbard, the energetic Wood River High School cheerleading coach, helped Hague choreograph her two routines—this year performed to "grunge music."

Reaching fitness goals

Hague and her husband Jim moved to Ketchum from Seattle 10 years ago.

The couple met at Seattle Children’s Hospital where she was an operating room nurse. He was an anesthesiologist.

Jim was hired as the first anesthesiologist at Sun Valley’s Moritz Community Hospital, prompting their move from the Emerald City.

Eva continued to work as a nurse until the birth of their first child, Natalie, now 9. They had two more children, Jimmy, 7, and Davis, 6.

Hague’s first foray into organized fitness came when she was 27 and pregnant with Natalie. Eva started attending an aerobics class for expectant mothers at the Sun Valley Athletic Club in Ketchum.

"Like many women, I’ve tried to lift weights at various times in my life. Before I had my kids and started working out no one mistook me for an athlete. I just looked normal," Hague said. When Hague became more serious about attaining her fitness goals, the perception of some people shifted. Responses she received ranged from completely supportive to outright hostility.

"It seemed the negative responses to what I was doing came from people who didn’t know a lot about the sport. Some people were outright hostile," she recalled.

"But I enjoyed all of the interactions I had. It helped me to get to know people better. I know a woman who set a goal of running a marathon and she experienced the same thing."

Despite the enjoyment and personal satisfaction she has gotten from bodybuilding Hague does not expect to compete anymore.

"A lot of it is the response of my children. The boys get so sick of my diet. But I think it showed them how to set a goal and see it through. I also like my body more. I feel like I’ve gotten to know my body better," she said.

After her latest, and perhaps last, competition Hague and Jim went to Las Vegas for five days of relaxation.

She said, "We would be at the pool and people would say to me, ‘you must work out’."