Dawn Maurer was ready for a new challenge.

The 38-year-old physical education teacher and swim coach at Juanita High School had done triathlons. She’d done adventure races. She was ready for something new.

She settled on an Ironman Bodybuilding Figure competition.

“I thought this was a new, different challenge,” Maurer said. “And although I’ve done lots of different stuff, this was definitely the toughest.”

Maurer’s competition was held Oct. 3 at the Snoqualmie Casino, but the preparation actually began slightly after the end of the last school year.

Maurer had to alter every aspect of her life. Workouts were modified, but the biggest adjustment came with her diet: a protein-heavy, carb-limiting diet.

“I eliminated pretty much all sugars from my diet,” Maurer said. “There was no bread, rice, pastas or salt and I had to schedule meals every 2-3 hours. Anytime I walked out the door, I needed to bring my food with me.”

Workouts became cardio and weight-training intensive – seven days a week for six weeks – a bit of a difficult lifestyle to keep up while you’re coaching a high school swim team.

“Once I started back up teaching and coaching, it became a lot more challenging to do,” Maurer said.

What really made the training unique was that one of Maurer’s students, Anton Mandeville, was also slated to compete in the same event. Mandeville, 16, had previously competed in a bodybuilding competition, the NPC Vancouver USA Natural Bodybuilding Championships, where he placed fourth out of five.

“As the year progressed last year, we talked about weight training and doing this,” Maurer said. “He works out super hard for a young kid and he knows what he’s doing at the gym. Once the school year started, we checked in on each other from time to time.”

After months of preparation, the day finally came – and went – quickly.

“It was mostly just showing three or four views of your body so [the judges] can see your musculature,” Maurer said. “It was a lot of work for a very little amount of time on stage.”

Maurer finished fourth in her division, while Mandeville placed first in his.

“It is one of the biggest improvements I have ever made in my life,” Mandeville said.

After the competition, Maurer, like many other bodybuilders, indulged herself to some of the foods she couldn’t touch during her training – from McDonalds, to pizza and sushi.

“It was pretty brutal Saturday night – we ate to the point of being sick,” she said. “It was funny, but the first thing I wanted when I was done with the competition was an apple because I hadn’t had it for so long.”

While Mandeville intends to continue pursuing bodybuilding, Maurer plans to pursue other activities – specifically, training for a half-ironman triathlon.

“I like competing, I like doing the endurance stuff, and being on that stage was really hard for me,” she said. “But I think I’ll go into endurance athletics. I really missed running.”