I'll Be Home for Christmas

Ho, ho, ho! I am ready for some SNOW! I have been anxiously awaiting my trip back home to Minnesota to see a winter wonderland. I don't feel like Christmas is less than a week away because I haven't seen any of the white stuff. It's just not Christmas to me if there isn't any snow. I can listen to all the Christmas music I want and look at all the houses with their lights up, but if there isn't a solid layer of white crystals on the ground, I'm just not in the mood! I'm not complaining about the warm places I've been training and visiting...I love them...wouldn't want to train anywhere else. I can recall Christmas's back in Minnesota that were snowless, and it just didn't feel the same without it. This year there is plenty of snow waiting for me back home. The past few days Minnesota has been hit hard by snow storms. I know kids back home are loving it! Aside from the snow, I'm looking forward to just relaxing and being home with my family. It's been three months since I have seen them.

My only challenge now while I'm back home will be finding a place to train. Training has continued to go well at the training center. My days are completely occupied by training sessions leaving little time for anything else though. I wish I had a little more time in the day. By the time I am done training on most days the Boys and Girls club I volunteer at is closed, this poses a big problem getting there on a regular basis.

Not much has happened to report since my last blog, so this will be another short entry. I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I hope you all enjoy time with your family and friends!

Test Week

This past week was a test week here for myself and fellow training partners at the training center. We tested a wide range of measurable components of our training. Strength was mostly measured during this testing cycle. The first day we measured the strength of our standing throws in the discus with a 3k shot throw. We did a normal stand throw as we would with a discus, but instead of holding a discus we held an iron ball and threw it. We then tested in the vertical jump and the Olympic snatch lift. Everyone tested well and made big improvements on their verticals from the initial marks we all had coming in at the beginning of the training year. I had a huge improvement in my snatch lift. It was a personal best for me. I was able to snatch 127.5 kilos which is about equivalent to 281 pounds. I definitely surprised myself which is always exciting.
We will begin a new training cycle this week which I believe will focus more on speed development. Strength will still be a main focus but speed training components will be installed such as sprinting. It is always refreshing to begin a new training cycle. The body gets thrown into a state of confusion and is asked to respond differently than it did in the previous training cycle. This helps push through plateaus that may occur. It is also a good way to help keep the mind fresh and stave of becoming bored with repetitive training regimes. I will update on the progress of my training during this next cycle.