Life

This blog marks about the half way point of summer. It's been a hot one and a busy one here in Minnesota. I first got home around the 1st of June after moving my girlfriend, Mia to Missouri. I was able to spend a few weeks hanging out with my folks, before they had to leave on short notice for Colorado, the state I had just moved from, to be with my dying uncle. My uncle had been sick for awhile but he was always hanging in there. He had developed what was essentially a staph infection in his lungs, which was very uncomfortable and scary at times for him and everyone around him. My dad got the call from my aunt telling him his brother was not doing very well and that he was fading quickly. Without hesitation my parents drove 1000 miles to Colorado and were fortunately able to spend a few days with Uncle Sparky before he passed away in his home. It was a difficult time for my family, and Spark will be missed.

Before all this happened I was trying to prepare myself to compete at the USA Track and Field Championships, which I ultimately did not end up competing in. It was weird to not compete since I have competed at the championships every year since 2003. I honestly wasn't prepared enough physically and mentally to compete, which is ok with me now. I was moving around too much all spring to really focus my energy into my training. I think it will help refresh me for next year. I really do love competing, but this was just an off year for me with so much things going on personally.

Another huge, juicy piece of news is that I will be staying put in Minnesota for awhile. If you regularly indulge yourself in my fascinating blogs, which I have recently been irregular with, you would recall I have been bouncing around all over the country. That has finally been remedied. My girlfriend was offered a job, just last week, as a strength coach at the University of Minnesota, my alma mater. You have no idea how excited I am about this. I have always wanted to find a way to come back to Minnesota and stay. Miraculously my dreams came true. I'm not just excited about being able to stay in my home state and train at the University of Minnesota, I'm equally excited about the fact that Mia has been given the opportunity to do what she has a real passion for and that is being a strength coach. I'm pretty happy though, because I'm now back in my element!

I have been enjoying my year off from competing, but I am still training. I have been using my off time this summer to get my body back in shape. Not that I ever really got out of shape, it's more of just taking care of nagging injuries that have built up and never have been taken care of. I'm actually taking the time now, since I have some extra time, to rebuild my conditioning base. It feels great to jog a little...slowly, which I haven't done a whole lot since high school football and basketball. I am definitely less impressive cardiovascularly than I used to be, but that is why I chose to be a thrower.