Summer Days

Summer is coming to an end again, crazy. This year is going by incredibly fast. It’s weird how the older you get, the faster time goes. Even though summer is coming to an end, there is still a lot to do before the leaves fall and the cold Canadian air comes blowing in. I still have to go to The Great Minnesota Get Together (the Minnesota State Fair.) It is said to the largest state fair in the country in terms of daily attendance. It’s definitely big and worth checking out, plus it’s only a mile from my apartment. Hopefully next weekend I'll get to check it out.

Also, since it’s wedding season, people are jamming weddings in all over the place. My good friend and room mate from college, Adam Schnaible, is getting married in a few weeks. I have best man duties for this wedding, so I am in the midst of planning a bachelor party. I've never done this before, but I'm looking forward to making it a good one for him.

I have also been busy helping set up a brand new athletic training facility in one of the nearby suburbs. It’s pretty exciting and is going to be top notch once it’s completed. I’ll have more about that later.

I haven’t had any time to get to a local YMCA or Boys and Girls Club to pursue a volunteering position. Between training, family reunions, building weight rooms, and wedding stuff I haven’t had too many free minutes to do anything else.

Speaking of training, I get asked a lot if I’m still training. Since I took the year of from competitions I guess I kind of fell off the radar. This could be a good thing...maybe? My training has been going well though. I am missing competing though. I have been keeping track of my former training partners from the training center in Chula Vista, Ca. A few of them are in Europe right now competing and closing out their seasons. It makes me wish I was there.

Whelp, that's all for now.

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Well, I'm pretty much moved in to my new apartment...still settling, but everything important that I need is now in the apartment, minus a t.v. Feels great to know that I'll be here for awhile and not have to wonder where I'm going to be next. I should say it feels great but weird at the same time. I'm so used to moving the past few years from place to place and never really being settled, that I don't know how to feel or act now. Anyways, I'll get used to it, because feels like I never left Minneapolis, which is strange yet comforting at the same time.

I started training on the University of Minnesota campus again this past week. It felt familiar and good to walk into the weight rooms and see my old buddies lifting and making fun each other and me...like I said, it's like I never left. I've been able to get outside on the track and throw a little too. Nothing too crazy yet, I have a long training year ahead of me, so I'm trying to pace myself. I have really missed training here and seeing all the familiar, Minnesota friendly faces.

So, now that I'm reestablishing in Minneapolis/St. Paul (I actually live in St. Paul now) it is time for me to get out and visit some possible locations to volunteer in the name of In The Arena. I don't think any of the Boys and Girls Clubs I volunteered at a few years ago are still running, possibly one, but now that I'm in a different city I most likely will be pursuing a different location and maybe even a different organization. I had great success this past spring in Colorado Springs volunteering with the Mesa Ridge High School track team, and it showed me different ways to be a more effective volunteer for In The Arena. Either way, I will be volunteering somewhere where I am needed.

I made a short video back around mid June that I've been meaning to share, but obviously never got around to doing it. Back in June I spent a morning with my mom's 2nd grade class at Jefferson Elementary. I put on a little mini track and field day for the class. The events were standing long jump, 2kg two handed medicine ball toss, and a 30 meter sprint. I chose those three events because it was every discipline within track and field, only simplified, plus it made it much easier for me to organize! Anyways, the kids had a great time and I may be holding a track and field day for the entire 2nd grade at Jefferson next year.

So here is my little montage video. Enjoy!