IN THE ARENA WITH KARL

My Final Blog

2011-02-27T18:26:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time since I last posted a blog. Since moving back to Minnesota, hopefully for the final time, I have been busy and life has taken me in a different direction than I had anticipated. Last year at this time I had just moved from the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, CA to Colorado Springs, CO to pursue different opportunities. 2010 was a whirlwind of a year for me.

The past few years I have been searching for some balance in my life. Now, I am starting to find that balance. Since October I have been working as a strength coach at a private training facility in Edina, MN, a suburb of Minneapolis. The facility is called 1st Athlete. It has been marketed as a hockey training facility but is not limited to just hockey. I have worked with 6 year old kids all the way to pro level hockey players. It is a challenge, and hard work, but at the same time it doesn't feel like work, if that makes sense. Just a few weeks ago I was promoted to general manager of 1st Athlete. I did not picture myself in such a position a year ago.

With my new job my training has taking a back seat. I am still continuing to find balance with work and training and just having a normal life in general. Hopefully, everything continues to fall into place.

Also, with my new career it is now an appropriate time to retire myself from the In the Arena roster. ITA provided opportunities for me the past 3 years that would have been impossible without my involvement in the organization and ITA's interest in my goals. I feel indebted to Amory Rowe and ITA together for the much needed help they gave to me as a struggling athlete. ITA kept me afloat while I chased a dream with hyper focused enthusiasm. I feel fortunate to have been a part of and witnessed the beginning of ITA and to have met and followed the incredibly talented and driven athletes and founder of In The Arena. I want to thank many times over everyone involved with ITA for helping all the athletes including myself. ITA has groomed me to be a better public servant for today's youth. I have seen the effect a positive role model can have on young people. ITA is facilitating a positive experience for athletes involved with the organization and for kids across the US.

Thank you again Amory and everyone at In the Arena!

Driving Underwater

2010-09-26T19:51:00.000-07:00

This past Thursday, Thursday night and most of Friday, it rained...a lot. I think it rained on the entire state of Minnesota. Most of the rain came down hard in the southeastern part of the state where my parents live and hometown is. It rained so much that there was widespread flooding around the area. Every little river in the southeastern corner of the state overflowed their banks to incredible proportions and caused serious problems in a wide spread area.

One of the most devastated areas from this rain storm was a little town called Zumbro Falls, only several miles from my home. The town is made up of only several hundred people but there are many businesses and homes that make up several blocks of the downtown area. All of it was underwater flooding homes all the way up to the second story windows. It was so high that there was a random canoe found on top of a roof. The only gas station in town was completely underwater.

It is a terrible disaster for the people of Zumbro Falls and surrounding communities to deal with. Homes will be impossible to clean up and salvage with the incredible amount of mud in the flood waters.

Here are some pictures after the waters receded for a few days.

Another town near my home that was effected by the flooding was Oronoco. The flood waters were so strong that they caused a bridge to collapse from being washed away.

Some waters were so high in areas that bridges were even under water. Thankfully there were no casualties from the flooding. Hopefully the families affected by the floods will receive all the help they can get and more.

The NFL

2010-09-12T19:03:00.000-07:00

The NFL season is finally back! And I am more excited than ever to watch it. Last year ended in heartbreak for my Minnesota Vikings. It was a tough loss to deal with, but without a doubt the most exciting season for the Vikes in a long time. With the addition of Brett Favre the Vikings found new life and an increased competitive edge. I think everyone in who was a Minnesota fan believed the Purple People Eaters would make it to the Super Bowl and ultimately win it. As a native Minnesotan, I can attest to the fact that we don't like to be overly optimistic about things, which is why it went against our nature to believe so heavily in what seemed like a guaranteed thing. Lesson learned.

Well, on top of the NFC Championship loss, Minnesota fans had to deal with not knowing if #4 would come back for another season. I think everyone put it in the back of their minds; no sense in stressing for months, why not just save it for the start of training camp. I'm sure you're well aware of the drama that Minnesota fans dealt with during the first few weeks of practice this year. Not too fun, and all too familiar. Anyways, the Silver Fox came back and hopes are up again, sort of. I'll have plenty to write about the Vikings this year I'm sure.

Another thing I want to mention about the NFL happened in a game today. The Lions and Da Bears were playing and there was a play that has caused a lot of controversy. Check the play out. What was an obvious touchdown was called incomplete. It is shocking, and ridiculous. I could care less about the Detroit Lions, but they were robbed of a win today. At least Calvin Johnson will get a lot of air time as football analyst talk about the play he was the victim of for at least the next week. I still do not understand how the touchdown did not stand. The commentators during the game said there is a "process" for making a legal catch. The player must have complete control of the ball before they hit the ground, but obviously this catch was in complete control. I think there needs to be an immediate review of this rule. I'm a little concerned touchdowns will become more subjective than objective.

Summer Days

2010-08-29T17:44:00.000-07:00

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.

Enter Title Here

2010-08-01T19:40:00.000-07:00

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!

Life

2010-07-18T19:22:00.000-07:00

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.

Happy Birthday America!

2010-07-04T14:22:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July to everyone! Today is a big day for the United States of America. Without a doubt the biggest celebration of our country's history. Today marks our Declaration of Independence from Great Britain back in 1776. I did the math on those numbers (with a calculator of course) and we are officially 234 years old today as a United Nation! I can definitely say I am a proud American and grateful to live in the best country in the entire world! We all owe our freedom and great lives we live everyday to the men and women who have served, are serving and will serve this great nation.

This has been one of the biggest celebrations ever since I can remember, and one of my favorite. Getting together with family on hot summer 4th of July's and going to watch fireworks together. This year I am happy to be able to be home with my family and enjoy the day with them. I am especially looking forward to my hometown fireworks show tonight. It's not the biggest display in the nation but it's still pretty special to me. This year Rochester, MN will be sending 1 ton of fireworks into the sky. Being the country bumpkin I am this seems like a lot of fireworks and I can't wait to be there. The show is usually 45 minutes long and by the end I get my fill of loud and bright explosions. I'm just hoping the rain holds of tonight, the only possible damper on celebrations that consist of fire.

So, get the gas/charcoal grills out and put some chicken, steaks and brats on it. Sit back with a cold beverage and light some sparklers. It doesn't get much more American than that, and today is the day to celebrate being a United States citizen. Hopefully everyone enjoys their 4th of July celebration and stays safe! God Bless the USA!!!

New School Discus Record!

2010-05-23T21:51:00.000-07:00

Things are wrapping up here in Colorado Springs for me. It has been a busy last week but a good time too.

Yesterday I spent most of my day in Denver at the Colorado State High School Track and Field meet. Two of the discus throwers I coached this year made it to state in the discus. As a first time coach I couldn't have asked for more. The two girls were both sophomores which is very exciting for them and their coach for the next few years. Anyways, both girls had the best meet of their sophomore year at the state meet. They both moved up from their seeded positions of 14th and 16th in the state to taking 10th and 8th place. Both of them set new personal best throws. One by 6 feet and the other girl by nearly 13 feet! Perfect place to have a new personal record. The 8th place girl even set a new school record for Mesa Ridge High School! It was an exciting moment when the mark was read off the tape. I knew the school record would be broken by one of these two girls, but I did not expect it to happen so soon. It was very serendipitous. I am happy I was able to help out the throwers this track season at Mesa Ridge. If it hadn't been for the school's throwing coach, Jon Call, I never would have had a chance to have the opportunity to get some coaching experience. I know Jon will continue to guide the throwers to success.

I also finished working as a bouncer at Jack Quinn's Irish Pub in downtown Colorado Springs. I only worked at the bar for a short two months but my co-workers took me in and treated me like I had been working there for years with them. What an awesome group of people to work with. I will definitely miss them.

Colorado Springs showed me some great hospitality while I was here. The people I met here and worked with and got to know in a short period of time were some of the best people you can find. Everyone made life a little easier here and enjoyable. I hope I get the chance to come back and visit in the future.

Here is the new Mesa Ridge High School Discus Record!!!

Adios

2010-05-10T20:44:00.000-07:00

This week my brother and his girlfriend drove from Winona, MN a day after their graduation ceremonies at Winona State to come visit me in Colorado before I move again. That's right, I'm moving again for the second time in four months. This time I'll be going back to Minnesota for a few months, then moving to Columbia, MO, home of the Mizzou Tigers.

If you are a regular follower of my blog you might recall me talking about my girlfriend's interview at Mizzou for a GA position as a strength coach a few weeks ago. If you're fairly bright you probably already figured out she got the job! It is a very exciting opportunity for her, and according to her the strength department at Mizzou has it together. She was very impressed with everyone she met and the facilities and the way the strength coaches conduct themselves professionally and with the athletes. I didn't know Mizzou was that big time...I have never visited the school, but I have a new found respect for it.

Mia and I will be moving in less than two weeks from the spectacular scenery of Colorado Springs. It's a new adventure for both of us and presents some new challenges, but this is what we're all about. She will be going directly to Missouri, while I take a detour north to Minnesota to continue training for the USATF Championsips in Des Moines, IA which is going to be held June 23rd-27th. I don't have a training situation set up in Missouri yet, and not sure if I ever will, but hopefully the Mizzou Tigers will adopt a Golden Gopher.

So, in our last few weeks my bro and his girlfriend are visiting and keeping us busy. Yesterday was the longest day I have spent outside hiking around since my move to Colorado. My brother Sam is an aspiring photographer and going crazy taking pictures and wanting to hike around the foothills to the Rockies. I will definitely will miss looking at the mountains everyday.

What's up with Colorado weather?

2010-04-25T20:05:00.000-07:00

Lots of things have developed these past few weeks for possible changes on the horizon again. My girlfriend Mia is going to the University of Missouri this week to have an interview for a graduate assistant position within the strength and conditioning department. She is one of two top applicants out of 200 applicants for the position, so things are pretty exciting for her. I couldn't be happier for her, this is a major step in the right direction for her to pursue her career goals as a strength and conditioning coach. Plus she will be getting her graduate degree in whichever field she pursues. I don't want to jinx anything by talking about it before it happens, but I am optimistic about this possible opportunity. Hopefully she will know more by this Friday. The anticipation is just like that experienced before a birthday or Christmas, the news can't get here quick enough!

Aside from all of that, the weather in Colorado Springs continues to bewilder me. Being a Minnesotan I have experienced all kinds of weird weather at strange times of the year. But, here you never know what you're going to get. The mountains have total control over the weather and I don't think any Doppler radar or weatherman knows what's going to happen. This past week was full of gusty wind and rain/thunderstorms. It was sleeting the other night I got home from work, not acceptable for almost May weather. I am missing that good old Cali sunshine right about now. It was nice to be able to throw outside everyday...this weather is just ridiculous. I guess it's what I asked for though. So, no complaints here, just reminiscing for a second!

My high schoolers continue to have success. Everyone has had a personal best this year which is pretty exciting. I'm not just talking little PB's, I'm talking big jumps in feet, and major improvements from the first day I saw all of them throw. I am fortunate they are all hard workers and coachable athletes. They had a meet canceled yesterday because of bad weather. If the meet had been held in downtown Colorado Springs it would have been a perfect day for a meet, but just outside of the city limits you could see a huge bank of clouds, and under those clouds a snow storm was going on. So bad in fact that it closed the interstate down just north of the city. This is the kind of crazy weather I was talking about!

Big Throws

2010-04-11T20:08:00.000-07:00

I have been working with the Mesa Ridge High School track and field team for three weeks now, and they have been getting personal bests in recent meets. Yesterday two of the girls, who are both sophomores took 3rd and 2nd in the discus at their meet. I'm pretty excited about this. I'm not going to take the credit for their success though, they are both excellent athletes and have a natural knack for the event, but it is still cool to be associated with their personal improvements. A good athlete can make a coach look good!

The throws squad as a whole is making improvements everyday which is pretty awesome to watch. They are growing as throwers and starting to learn about the events they compete in. It's a great learning experience for me in terms of coaching. As an athlete I know what works for me and what doesn't when working with coaches, so this is a chance for me to test my theories of coaching and see how they work with other, younger athletes. So far, so good! The team will have another meet at the end of the week, so we'll see if they can continue to improve on new marks they have set for themselves.

As far as my training is going, I am nearing competition dates. I am still a little hesitant to enter into a meet, mostly because I'm nervous and have been working on new techniques myself with my coach. The weather has been less than optimal here in Colorado Springs, so I am unable to judge how well I will compete or how far I will throw. There are so many more variables with the weather here to deal with than back in San Diego. I think that will help me become a better thrower in the long run, but it is hard to get used to. Bottom line though, it is time to gear up for competitions!

I started working as a bouncer last week also. It is not the best time to start a new job, nor is it the best job to be doing, but I need to do it. I'm not working everyday, only three nights spread out through the week, so it's not that bad...but definitely not a career job. And no, I don't have any exciting stories to tell yet, which I am thankful for!

Anyone There?

2010-03-27T11:43:00.000-07:00

Every time I write my bi-monthly blog I wonder if anyone is really reading it. I know a few people check it out from time to time, but is anyone really interested in what I have to say?

There has to be a way to sensationalize my regular activities which are pretty average and normal to me. Some people have that innate ability to turn a low key, even boring event into something exciting, overly dramatic and life changing. Yeah, I'm exaggerating a little, but the point is I need to bring a little more razzle dazzle to my blogs. So, if you are reading this blog or future ones, just leave a little comment about something you like or dislike. You can even post subjects that you would like to create a debate about or even a little controversy. It is hard for me to come up with creative subject material on my own. Like I said earlier, what I do everyday is pretty average from my perspective. Basically I'm trying to add a little spark to my blog.

Now, on to what's happening in my world...

Today, my parents will be arriving in Colorado Springs to stay for the week. They are driving from Minnesota to enjoy a Colorado spring break. My mom is an elementary school teacher and she is on spring break right now, so she decided it would be an adventure to get away from the Minnesota grind. I'm excited to have them come visit me, they never had the chance to visit me when I was living at the training center in Chula Vista, CA because it was too far and too expensive. Now, I only live 14 hours on the dot from my folk's place back home. I'm hoping the weather is nice for them while they're here, because Colorado spring weather is crazier than it is back in the land of 10,000 lakes. Just last night Colorado Springs had a winter weather advisory. Right now, as I'm typing this and looking out my window up into the mountains I can see the mountain tops getting a nice dumping of snow. I now my parents are not going to be all that excited about seeing more snow, especially after the winter of record snowfalls they just had.

Also, I started volunteering with the Mesa Ridge Grizzlies high school track and field team. They were on spring break this past week but they still had practices and a good amount of kids showed up to train and prepare themselves for their track season. It is a different experience working with high school level throwers. I have not had much coaching experience, but I'm getting it now! It is pretty difficult to coach, so I have a lot of respect for the good coaching I have had in my time. I have found that I really need to prepare myself and what I want to coach the kids ahead of time. It's like a teacher creating lesson plans, I'm just creating coaching plans. Piece of cake once those are made...sorta.

Professional Job Hunter

2010-03-14T19:44:00.000-07:00

I have officially become a professional job hunter...for myself. The past few weeks I have been feverishly searching for a job that would allow me to train to the full extent that I need to, but at the same time making a steady income along with some much needed benefits. This is a difficult task for aspiring elite athletes like myself. I know I am not alone in this search for a decent paying job and balancing a full training schedule. Many of my fellow throwing friends are in similar situations. But, if throwing the discus paid well like many of the big time sports do, I would not be in this situation.

I am so grateful for what In the Arena has allowed me to do the past few years, but I am coming to a point in my life where I need to work a full time job. It is a stark reality and hard to accept, but without a full time job with benefits I will have a difficult time not living in a fort somewhere in the mountains. ITA has kept me afloat while I was training at the Olympic Training Center, but now that I have a monthly rent payment to make along with large amounts of food I consume I need to bring a little more cheese in. I'm not trying to write a "feel sorry for me post" just writing about what I am experiencing as a struggling athlete about to enter into the work force...somewhere.

I'm not totally in despair, actually not in despair at all. I am welcoming a new challenge in my life. It may not be optimal in terms of training, but what is optimal for training? I believe it will help me a great deal to have extra responsibility. My brother Sam laid it flat out to me that I have had it pretty easy. He's right. Living at the training center was an awesome experience, but I didn't have any responsibility to make me work hard for what I was doing. Not to say I wasn't training my butt off there, because I was...I'm trying to say I wasn't hungry enough. I had everything I needed without having to work for it, and now I do.

I've filled out numerous applications, had a couple interviews that I am still awaiting answers on, so all I can really do is wait for an opportunity to open up while I continue to pursue other potential opportunities. It's not like jobs a readily available. I am finding out quickly that you have to be very proactive and patient while hunting for jobs.

Speaking of being patient, I am still waiting to start my ITA service at the local YMCA. I have been in contact with the Volunteer coordinator and she informed me that they are still waiting on my fingerprint and background check to come back. I think it is strange that it is taking so long for my background check to come back, but I was told it can take up to three weeks. So, I sit and wait. On a side note about the YMCA, the volunteer coordinator who I have been talking with told me her position has been cut and she will no longer be working at the YMCA at the end of the month. This is incredibly sad to me, especially after visiting the YMCA. I thought they had quite the operation going that seemed to be benefiting a lot of kids. I don't think it will effect me too bad in terms of my ITA project plan but I can't be too sure. So, again I wait to hear back from them before I go forward with new plans.

Aside from all the real world drama, my discus training is coming along very well. I have acclimated to the altitude and I am starting to get my strength back. I have been throwing as much as possible when the weather is good. Today I was supposed to throw but was unable to because of a sleet/snow storm all day. It was too warm for there too be much accumulation, but too cold and wet to try and throw a discus. The good thing about Colorado Springs snow is that it doesn't stick around for long. This week there are three days forecasted to be sunny and in the 60's! Pretty excited about that. Spring is almost here, at least back in Minnesota it has arrived, well, today it did. My folks called to brag that the temperature was 64 degrees, sunny and that all the snow had melted in the yard and grass was proudly showing.

Here is some video I shot earlier this past week after one of my throwing sessions. It's a little experimental so don't judge me too much.

Gold Medals

2010-02-28T22:15:00.000-08:00

The 21st Winter Olympics are over after seventeen days, or something like that. It was pretty fun to watch, and there were a lot of new faces. For some reason I feel like faces were easier to recognize or I at least knew who the athletes were. Although now I can say I know a few of the Olympians on a personal level. It was definitely more exciting to watch someone I know compete and win medals for the USA.

Today I watched the gold medal hockey game. Wow, was that a close one! It was unbelievable how the US tied up the game in the final seconds of regular play, but crushing to lose in overtime to the Syrup Suckers. As usual there were some pretty amazing moments throughout the whole two and a half weeks of non stop Olympics.

This week I am hoping to start working at the YMCA. I got all my paper work and fingerprints done last week. It is quite the process applying to volunteer at the YMCA. Obviously that is a good thing.

The Valentines Blog

2010-02-14T21:25:00.000-08:00

This blog is not going to be about Valentines, so you can keep reading...I am just writing the blog on the big V day.

I am now situated, well mostly situated, in Colorado Springs. I have officially been here for one week. Everyday has been packed and busy as it should be. It feels weird to me living in the real world since I have been living in a training center for the past year and a half, but I am enjoying it. The one thing that is a wake up call though is spending money again on an apartment, food, and other things that sustain life. I have been trying to be as thrifty as possible, and I'm actually enjoying it. I'm hoping I am creating some good habits on getting by with only what I need. I have been frequenting thrift stores and bargain stores, I might never pay full price for something again. Maybe I'm going over board, but you can really save a lot of money if you try.

Right now I don't have a t.v. That's ok though, I shouldn't be watching that much anyways. Yeah I'm missing the Olympics, but I guess I'll just have to watch highlights on the computer. I just got the Internet yesterday which is probably one of those things that I don't really need, but when I think about it, I do. I would have no way of knowing how to get around my new city without maps, and google maps are a life saver! If I didn't have the Internet I wouldn't be able to update my blog unless I went to an Internet cafe...and I am not an Internet cafe type.

Anyways, life is good simplified I'm finding out.

To prevent myself from living in a tent I need to work. Since I am in a new town I decided to check out volunteering opportunities and continue with my In The Arena project. I contacted the local YMCA about any volunteer opportunities they may have and I was happy to find out they were looking for help. On Friday I had a hour and a half long interview/tour of the YMCA and it is quite an impressive place. I still have some paper work to go through before I can officially become a volunteer. Hopefully everything will be a go and I'll have more to update on within the In The Arena scope of things.

A Week of Change

2010-01-31T18:54:00.000-08:00

My Vikings are not playing in the Super Bowl...just wanted to get that out of the way first. What a shocking end to a stellar season for the Minnesota Vikings. I don't think any Minnesota fans expected not to make it to the Super Bowl, but I know none of us got our hopes up too much, well maybe we did, but for the most part Minnesota fans as a whole know how not to get too excited just to stay protected from not being let down. We all were let down...not by the team, but just the fact that we weren't going on to the Super Bowl! It was an amazing season...the best season I've ever seen...proud to be a Viking here, and can't wait for next season! Skol Vikings!

On a more personal note, I will be relocating my daily life and training to Colorado Springs, Co next weekend. It is a sudden move, but a much needed move. I'm excited about my new opportunities in Colorado, and such a beautiful place to be. The only downside of living in the Springs is the lack of oxygen in the air. I can't hardly run up a flight of stairs without sucking wind.

I have spent the past week and a half here in Colorado Springs scoping out the situation and finding an apartment to live in. I also came here to get in a week of training, but it turned out I wasn't able to do much training when I got sick. I thought it was altitude sickness at first, just adjusting to the different air pressure, but I kept getting sicker and finally after almost a week of not feeling better and having a temperature of 101 for 4 days I took myself to see a doctor. Turns out I have bronchitis. I've never had it in my life and I didn't realize it made you that sick. No fun at all. Now I have to make a little come back and regain my strength, and put on some body weight.

Another Vikings Blog

2010-01-17T21:00:00.000-08:00

Well, the football season is almost over. Thankfully my beloved Vikings are still going strong and live to play another game today after facing "America's Team," the Dallas Cowboys. This game was destined to be great...some predicted that the Cowboys would win but those were only predictions. The game really was built up to be a close one, but with the Vikes winning 34-3 it was far from that.

I was barely able to contain myself before the game started at 10 a.m. Pacific Time. I woke up this morning feeling like I was about to play in the game myself. I can't imagine how the real players felt. All week long I was anxiously anticipating the arrival of the Sunday morning football game. I had my brand new Vikings shirt (given to me by my girlfriend Mia) all laid out the night before to put on first thing when I woke up. I couldn't wait to put that shirt on, last time I was that excited to wear a shirt was back on the first day of school in the 5th grade. I proudly wore my shirt all morning and well into the evening. I was that guy today.

The game started out pretty tight, I thought for a moment that the Cowboys might be able to pull away with the game, but the Vikes got stronger as the game progressed. The Cowboys started making mistakes, and as they say about football, the team with the least amount of mistakes wins the game. All aspects of the Vikings arsenal was in full combat mode, and that is what it is going to take next weekend against the Saints for any hopes of getting to the Super Bowl.

On a side note, here in southern California the month of January is the rainy month, and this week according to the weather forecast each day calls for rain. It will feel just like home...in April.

Happy New Year

2010-01-03T17:33:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2010 is here in case you didn't know. The new year has started off with some subzero temperatures here in Minnesota. Last night the actual air temp was -20 degrees Fahrenheit. That is cold to anybody, I don't care who you are. I may be from Minnesota, but people don't ever get used to cold air like that...maybe if you're from Siberia or live on the moon. So, as you can imagine I have not spent much more than 3 minutes outside in the past two days. That is what happens when it get that cold, you don't go out. Most people don't go outside because their doors are frozen shut, but for those people who are able to freely leave their homes choose not too. There is nothing going on or anything that could be that important to be outside for. Many good people here in the tundra take to making crafts. Others get bored and try new hairstyles. Lots of laundry get done during these cold days too...I don't think his mom showed him how to wash shirts like that. Anyways, you get the idea.

Aside from the new year coming in colder than your kitchen freezer, things have been good. The Vikings decided to start playing like they had been for the majority of their season. They easily beat the New York Giants 44-7, not that it's saying much beating a struggling team, but it was good to see them run up the score a little and not struggle to do so like they have been recently. The Vikes now have the number two seed going into the playoffs resulting in a bye week for next Sunday. Some rest should be good to heal numerous injuries that plague teams around this time of the season.

I will be heading back to California tomorrow to get back on a regular training schedule for the approaching season. Lots to do in the next few months to prepare. I will definitely miss home, but it's just like any other job, gotta get back to it!

The Vikings and other Minnesota things

2009-12-20T21:06:00.000-08:00

The NFL has been getting pretty dramatic the past few weeks. It's actually been a very good season to watch games. But, getting towards the end of the regular season play there have been some pretty big upsets. Last night it started with the Saints vs. the Cowboys. If you know anything about football you know the Saints were undefeated up until this game. Cowboys probably played their best game all season to upset the Saints. Anyways, I was feeling pretty good about the Vikings playing the Panthers. I even told my brother that I guaranteed a win from the Vikings...my bad.

The Vikings took their 3rd loss tonight against a team they should have beat...but, it seems recently there are no shoulda's. I'm not sure what is going on with the Vikes but they looked flat as could be tonight...a very similar look as the game they played against the Cardinals. All is not lost yet, and no reason to panic, I just expect more out of the Vikings. They are the second seed going into the playoffs still, but they need to win the remainder of their games and the Eagles need to lose a game, or else the Vikes could lose the second seed. This is my understanding at least. So, we'll see what happens in the next few weeks.

On to non football related material. I am back home in Minnesota! It is nice and cold here and plenty of white snow to be enjoyed. It is a huge change from San Diego, but it is a welcome change. You probably wouldn't think you could get sick of sunshine everyday, but I guess I do. I love me a cloudy day with snow flurries or even blizzard like snowfall. Sunshine days are nice in the winter too though...I just like that weather change, I guess you like what you grew up with, and for me that is tons of snow and frost biting temperatures, that would get old too if it weren't for the three other seasons.

My flight into Minneapolis reminded me of flying into a frozen tundra or at least similar to something you would see on T.V. It just looked cold outside of the plane. The sky had that purplish look the sky gets at dusk in the winter, it was awesome. All the lights from houses and street lights had a soft glow that only snow creates when the light reflects off of it. It was a nice welcoming home...simple, but fantastic!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!

2009-11-22T21:50:00.000-08:00

Today was another great day for Minnesota Viking football! Living out here in California keeps me from watching the Vikings play on TV so I have to resort to sitting in front of my computer and watching a streaming video of the games being played. It isn't ideal, but it does the trick. So, anyways, my beloved horned, purple people eaters are 9-1 after handily defeating the Seattle Seahawks 35-9. Now I know that the Seahawks aren't a very imposing opponent, especially for the Vikes, but it was good to see Minnesota play a clean game and run the score up a little. I'm certain the score would have been greater if the Golden Boy Brett Favre played the entire game, but he did not after being pulled at the end of the 3rd quarter to keep him healthy. For the most part the defense played tough through the end of the game, slipping up a little and allowing Seattle to score. Here is the highlight reel from the game earlier today. http://www.vikings.com/media-vault/videos/Full-Highlights-Vikings-35-Seahawks-9/c1a00f6d-3682-45f6-956c-6651fece98aa

Sitting here writing this blog I am officially 2 days away from enjoying some time back home. I hadn't planned on it, but I will be flying home for Thanksgiving...thanks to a surprise sale on flights. Fares were cut in two from the original price to fly from San Diego to Minneapolis. Best thing about the flights is that they are direct. I was ready to stay here and train, but unfortunately I strained my oblique muscle throwing. I have been doing everything in my power to heal it quickly, but it's one of those deals where time is the best cure. I am hoping to be out from throwing no more than two weeks. Funny thing is I am able to lift without aggravating the injury but any violent twisting movement like throwing a discus I am unable to do without pain. I'm lucky it isn't more serious than it was. Many throwers have abdominal issues, even pulling ab muscles off the ribs. I have been fortunate enough not too have had any issues until now, but my ribs are a little tender. I tried to be smart about stopping before I hurt myself any further.

I don't feel so bad about heading back home for about a week, otherwise I would just be hanging out by myself during Thanksgiving. Some good home cooking and rest should heal me up and get me ready to continue with the great progress I have been experiencing this past month of training.

Back at it

2009-11-08T21:52:00.000-08:00

I have been in California for two weeks now, and the time has flown by. I feel like I have been so busy I haven't been able to keep up with what is going on in the news. When I was back home I had a little more down time to stay updated on current events. This is a good thing that I'm busy, but it is also blatantly obvious that my vacation time is over.

I jumped right into training with my training group as soon as I got here. The workouts have been intense. We are throwing for about two and a half hours in the morning and then in the weight room for another two and a half hours after lunch. Throwing sessions have been going well and I am very pleased with my progress and carry over from last year. At this point I feel I am ahead of where I was at this time last year. My strength training has also been good. My legs have been feeling better than last year when I was barely able to do body weight squats. I have actually been able to load up the bar with weights and do some serious leg training. Two weeks in isn't very long, but I am feeling very positive about this year.

I have talked about pec issues I have had during the past four years, and finally this week I will be having an ultra sound image done on my right pec. I am told these images are better than MRI's, so hopefully I get some good feed back and uncover any issues that may be going on inside my pec muscle. I will update any information I receive as soon as I get it.

Park City

2009-10-24T21:25:00.000-07:00

I spent the past week hanging out in ritzy Park City, UT watching bobsledders and skeleton athletes go flying down ice covered tracks down the side of mountains. I made a pit stop during my trip from Minnesota to San Diego to support my girlfriend, Mia, during her team trials for U.S. World Cup team. It was an impressive week watching everyone run and push 400+ lb. sleds down ice tracks. Hanging around my girlfriend all week gave me an inside look into everything that is involved with the sport. It is quite the production!

Everyday the athletes get to track and start at the bottom of the mile long length of ice track. They start their track walk hours before they actually start sliding to go over the curves and turns and dips. This helps them to get a good mental image of the track and visualize what they are about to drive on at over 80mph! It's pretty amazing. Once they start sliding they get to runs down the track which takes about an hour and a half total depending on the amount of athletes training.

During race day everything is a frenzy. The day before was spent sanding runners. Runners are the blades of steel that the bobsled rides on down the ice. Runners are very complicated from my perspective. To me they are just pieces of metal, to bobsledders they are incredibly important. First of all, the metal needs to be blemish free. There can be no nicks or scratches. It is the smoothest metal I have ever seen. Bobsledders spend hours sanding these steel blades to perfection. They use all kinds of different grades of sandpaper to get the steel ultra smooth. After the blades are sanded, acetone is wiped across the runners to clean them. After the runners have been finished they are basically untouchable. I was not allowed by Mia to handle the runners very much, and if I did, I had to use extreme caution. It was stressful.

The competitions just finished today. There were two days of competitions, with a total of four runs down the hill. Mia did a great job with the equipment she was given to use this year. Not all sleds are created equal which really minimizes ability to get a fair and accurate measure of any individuals skills. It is a long and frustrating problem to explain, but there is a issue that needs to addressed in that sport. I am very proud of Mia though for all the hard work and commitment she has put into her sport, she is a very inspirational woman an amazingly gifted athlete.

Here is a cool video of bobsledding. It is of a 4 man bobsled team. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofzbV9-Nyag

My week long pseudo vacation has come to an end and now it is time for me to get back to work. Tomorrow morning I will be driving 11 hours from Park City to San Diego. It is tough to leave this comfortable resort I have been staying at, but I need to keep from getting soft mentally and physically! I am very excited to start up a new season of training. The only bad thing about leaving tomorrow, which is a Sunday, is...I'm sure you can guess...yup, I will be missing the Viking and Steelers game. It's going to be a long drive...

Going back to Cali...

2009-10-11T17:46:00.000-07:00

This was a great week for our country and for our President. In case you were avoiding any news, President Obama was awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize. I was pretty excited to hear this and my initial reaction to this news was "wow, seriously?" I asked my dad what Obama got the award for and he said "promoting peace." I didn't even have to give it a second thought. Even before the presidential nomination, Obama was conceptualizing and verbalizing peaceful ideas for the country under his leadership. I was extremely happy and proud at the same time that our President would be chosen for this honor. I said to my dad "This is going to look good for the U.S. Maybe this will shut some critics mouths and they'll give the President some respect." Oh man was I wrong on that thought.

As I went through the rest of the day I heard more people than not saying how ridiculous it was
that Obama got the Nobel Peace Prize. Far right Conservatives in the media tore down the honor of the award and even went on to say the award has been tarnished. I couldn't believe my ears! Even on Facebook I had friends posting negative views on the event, whom I'm sure were spouting commentary they heard from various media outlets. How could anyone not be happy for what the award represented for the country? I was purely looking at the positive side of things, I still can't see how anyone could take such an honor and turn it into something negative. It really makes me question the patriotism of people.

I was really disappointed that I didn't see more positive backing and acceptance of this award for our President and more importantly what our country is trying to represent and promote, peace. I did find a very insightful and well done video segment posted by one of my friend's on their Facebook homepage. I wish this video was played all over for people to see what should be seen, the positive nature of the honor for our President and our country after years of disapproval by much of the world. It is a major step in the right direction for our country and the international community. Here is the 11 minute video segment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMJuEOaF84o

Anyways, enough about political stuff, this was my last week here at home and it has gone pretty fast. Two months of hanging out with family and friends and now it is time for me to get back to work. I'm a little bit bummed out but at the same time I'm excited for the start of a new training year. The time I spent at home was much needed and enjoyed. I was able to help out my parents a great deal with landscaping around the house and other little chores, mostly to earn my keep! I was able to hang out with my brother Sam almost every weekend at his college of Winona State. That was important to me to be able to spend that time with him.

This weekend I had the chance to go to the University of Minnesota Homecoming football game against Purdue in the new TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. It was the coolest college football experience I've ever had! I wanted to go to a game so bad while I was home and I accomplished that goal. I can now go back to San Diego happy!

I will be leaving for San Diego this Friday but will be breaking my trip up with a week long stay in Park City, Utah where my girlfriend, Mia, will be training and competing for a spot on the World Championship team.

Chicago 2016

2009-09-27T20:11:00.000-07:00

The announcement for the host city of the 2016 Olympic Games will soon be selected. The selected city will be named on October 2 from the IOC Session in Copenhagen. Madrid, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro and most importantly Chicago are all making bids to hold the Olympic Games. It appears that there is no clear cut favorite to host the games. In my opinion from what I have read, I believe it is close between Rio and Chicago. It appears that Tokyo does not have much public support behind their bid and with Europe already hosting the the 2012 games, Madrid would be an unlikely candidate as well. So, that leaves Rio and Chicago.

It is also my understanding that President Obama will be making an appearance in Copenhagen to support the 2016 bid for the United States. Originally, Michelle Obama had the lone job of representing the city of Chicago and the President. But, after finding out that the President of Brazil's President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and the King of Spain were going to be in attendance at the IOC Sessions President Obama thought it would be an important appearance to make. I agree that his presence would indeed help the cause greatly for bringing the Olympics to Chicago. With the combined duo of the Obama's representing the U.S. and their hometown of Chicago it would be difficult to not be awarded the host city honors.

Naturally I would love to have the Olympics held in the U.S. I believe any hot blooded American would want it here. Also, Chicago happens to be five hours away from my hometown. This would be great, and God willing I am still competing in track and field and even fortunate enough to make an Olympic team, it would be a dream come true for myself.

Be sure to pay attention to the news on Friday. It is a big deal to host an Olympic Games for any country. It will be a great benefit to any city that is awarded the duties of hosting such an event. I feel there is a good chance that Chicago will get the privilege. We'll all have to wait until this Friday to find out. Here are some links to check out the announcement live. http://www.olympic.org/uk/index_uk.asp
http://www.universalsports.com/

The Gophers and Vikings

2009-09-13T21:41:00.000-07:00

Well, I have returned to blogging...I am going to officially state that I am the worlds worst blogger. Not proud of that, but I am going to try and change that. The thing that sucks about not keeping up with your blogs is that there are a lot of things to talk about that pass, and it's difficult to go back and talk about it because it may be irrelevant...but, I'm going to do that anyways. I have a lot of things to talk about. So, I'm going to start with this one right here....

This was a great weekend for Minnesota football. I am lucky enough to be in Minnesota right now too to enjoy the football excitement. The weekend started off yesterday when my alma mater, the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers, had it's first game in the brand new TCF Bank Stadium. It is going to be difficult for me to describe my feelings surrounding this game because there were a lot of emotions...all positive of course! It was hard to believe that the Golden Gophers actually had their own on campus stadium to play in after a 30 year absence of on campus games. Every home game was played in the Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis. But, this weekend was the start of something new! From now on the Gopher football team will be playing before their fans on their own turf...literally! It is an overwhelmingly exciting feeling, and I know I share this overabundant joy with all Gopher fans.

Too break in the new 300 million dollar stadium with the biggest locker room in the country both pro and college, third largest high definition big screen in the country of all the colleges and a capacity to hold 50,000 screaming maroon and gold fans, the Gophers started a long tradition with a win over Air Force. Winning their first home game in the the brand new stadium was as sweet as it gets. Sadly, I was not able to get a ticket to the game because they were all sold out which hasn't happened too often in the past at the metrodome. I was able to watch the game with my dad and sister on a small t.v. but I didn't know the difference. I honestly felt the energy from the stadium come through that little television screen into the living room. It was the most fun I have ever had watching a football game on t.v!

Today, on NFL Sunday, I got to watch the Vikings take out the Cleveland Browns. I drove down to watch the game with my brother and his room mates down at Winona State on their 60" screen. This game was exciting to watch as well. In case you haven't heard, which I highly doubt is possible, Brett Favre is the new quarterback for the Vikings! Yeah, it's pretty sweet to say that. I can't remember the last time I was so amped up to watch the Purple People Eaters play football. There has definitely been a huge shift in attitude towards our football team here in Minnesota. Great things are expected this year, but most importantly it is fun to watch the Vikes play again! Today, was a good start to the season with a win over the Browns, which was a little shaky in the beginning, but proved to be the explosive and dynamic team everyone around these parts has been expecting...man, I can't wait for next weekend already, I've never felt this way before.

To share some of my excitement here is a link of the play of the game, and I can guarantee it is going to be in the top 10 plays of the week on ESPN if not the number one spot! It is a video of the number one running back in the NFL Adrian Peterson make a spectacular touchdown run. http://ballhype.com/video/adrian-peterson-touchdown-run-v-cleveland-browns/

2009-05-25T13:05:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was quite the experience for me. I traveled to Tucson, AZ to compete in the Tucson Elite meet. This meet was a strictly throwers meet for men and women. Discus, shot put, javelin and hammer were all held at the meet. It was a great event and was held in the evening to avoid the heat of the day. Personally I did alright at the meet. I took 3rd in the meet with a throw of 59.71m. Not my best throw ever but good for the conditions of the meet. 1st through 3rd were separated by 30 cm. It was fun though throwing in the meet, music was played to help add to the atmosphere; we don't usually get to have good music at our meets.

After the meet I got a late night dinner at In n Out, which I normally love, but probably not so much after this weekend. Around 1:30 in the morning I came down with a nasty case of food poisoning. It was my first time experiencing any sickness of that kind, it was brutal. I was awake the entire night, and caught a few hours of on again off again sleep around 8 in the morning before getting ready to fly back to San Diego. That was a miserable feeling and experience. I am still recovering today from the sickness. Not fun...

Hopefully I make a full recovery quickly and don't lose too much weight and get back into training full swing. I'm about 4 weeks out from US Nationals at the end of June. I still have a lot to work on in that time.

FRUSTRATED

2009-05-10T23:03:00.000-07:00

Tonight I am blogging late with good reason. I just flew into San Jose, CA and drove to Salinas, CA which is about an hour away from San Jose. There is a meet here in Salinas on Tuesday. This weekend and past week have been jam packed with meets. My training partner Adam Kuehl and myself just competed in Eugene, OR last night at the Eugene Twilight meet. We used it as a warm up meet for the US Championships which are going to be held in Eugene at the end of June. It was an alright meet for myself. I have been a little disappointed lately with my performances in my meets. I have expected a lot out of myself since my season opener where I opened up with an all time personal best throw. So far I haven't come very close to that mark. It is frustrating for me, and I am trying to figure out what my deal is! I have been having some "technical difficulties" with my technique. Ever since my season opener I feel I have been trying too hard to throw far instead of letting things just happen. I am hoping that I figure out my issues soon with the Championships right around the corner. Tuesday is another day and opportunity for me. Maybe I just need to blog more regularly to throw farther?

A New PR

2009-04-12T23:23:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I changed my plans of opening up my season at the Mt. Sac Relays and decided to take a drive to Mesa, AZ and compete. It was a last minute decision, and I am thankful to the throws coach at Mesa Community College, Colin Post, for allowing my late entry in the meet. I decided Thursday morning that I was going to drive 6 hours to Mesa, AZ after talking to my room mate and training partner Adam Kuehl. Adam went home for Easter weekend and decided that he would compete at the meet as well. He informed me that the weather was going to be prime for a discus meet, so naturally I could not resist the temptation of competing with good conditions. My girlfriend Mia and I drove out late Thursday, actually she drove the whole way, but we got into Mesa around midnight.

The next day I was very anxious to compete. I have been training for nearly 6 months straight, but have not had any competitions. It felt good to get those pre competition jitters back. Once I got to the track and felt at ease and ready to compete. The winds were blowing strong as a headwind which can be good but not optimal such as a right cross wind blowing across the discus sector.

The competition started and I was the last thrower in the flight. I got in the ring and wound up and went to throw, but I tried to hard and top the discus causing it to fall far short of where I wanted it to fly. My second throw was better around 59.30m which would have been my best season opening throw ever. I then got in for my 3rd throw and connected with it and sent it flying 62.77m which is a new personal best for me. The meter distance converts to 205' 11 1/2". This is also the Olympic B standard which I need to attain 4 more times during the season to ensure my place here at the Olympic Training Center.

It was a very exciting weekend for me and well worth the trip to AZ. I also got the chance to see some of my old team mates from the University of Minnesota. I definitely made me miss home.

Just Another Day

2009-03-29T21:33:00.000-07:00

I don't have much exciting to write about in my blog this week. But, that is not to say I'm not excited about things. Training has going going very well these past few weeks. I feel I'm starting to make progress towards throwing farther in the discus. I hate to talk about doing well though because I guess I'm a little superstitious about jinxing myself when I talk about myself. So, I'll keep the self talk to a minimum. Throwing the discus has been going particularly well lately. I'm very excited for the season to start up soon and put myself to the test. I'm hoping all the hours and sweat will pay off this year. My first meet will be at the Mt. Sac Relays in Walnut, CA. I have never thrown there, but I've been hearing mixed reviews from people who have competed there. Apparently the discus ring is three feet below the surface of the surrounding grass. Many people will avoid throwing there at all costs. It sounds like it is more of a mental annoyance than anything. I'll find out on April 18th though, and so will you!

This past weekend a majority of the athletes at the training center gathered for a BBQ at Mission Beach in San Diego. There was a small group of foreign athletes who are training here as well that joined us. I can only count on one hand how many times I've been to the beach since I moved out here back in October. I guess I've just been too busy or too tired to go and play at the beach. So, it was a real treat to be able to go this weekend and grill some hot links and chicken on the grill! It may be one of the few times I get to go again for awhile.

Busy

2009-03-15T23:32:00.000-07:00

I have been getting lazy with posting blogs recently, a problem that will no longer be an issue from this post on. I shouldn't say lazy, just doing a poor job of managing my time...too much to do here in California! Anyways, a lot has been going on in my little world. A few weeks back I drove up to Newport Beach, CA with my room mate and training partner Adam Kuehl to work at a throwing clinic put on by Tony Ciarelli. What an amazing guy this man is. He has been putting on the camp since 1991. This was my second year helping out at the camp and let me tell you it is a joy to be at. Tony has the ability to gather many of the top throwers in the country from now and the past, and get them to come help out with the camp and get together afterwards and socialize. It is an amazing experience for me as a relatively young thrower to hang out and talk with some of my idols in the throwing world.

Also, my girlfriend moved out here within the past two weeks to Chula Vista to train during her bobsled off season. It has been wonderful having her here to hang out with. It has recharged me to be able to see her daily instead of talking on the phone everyday. I feel it has brought a little more balance to my life as well. We both are definitely trying to be resourceful in finding fun and cheap things to do here in spendy California.

I also got the chance to meet Sarah Groff, a fellow ITA teammate. It is nice to be able to put a face and personality with a name. She is one of the few ITA members that I could say I know...I wish I had the chance to meet everyone. I first met her in the training room here at the OTC and I was caught a little off guard since I had not been expecting the encounter, but she is a very positive and outgoing person. She was eager to take a look at the Boys and Girls Club here in Chula Vista. Luis Canett, the director of the B&G club was excited to meet her and to have the help of more volunteers at his club since there has been an influx of a number of new kids joining recently.

the day after

2009-02-15T15:48:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had an excellent Valentines Day/Singles Awareness Day yesterday. I was unable to spend the day with my girlfriend because she is back in Lake Placid, NY preparing for the FIBT Bobsled and Skeleton World Championships. She will not actually be competing this year due to an injury she suffered back in December, but she will be doing what she can to help represent the U.S as the Lake Placid Olympic training center plays host for the championships. She will be a forerunner during the championships to help make sure timing devices are working properly and precisely.

I was lucky enough to spend the past two weeks with her when she got the opportunity to come to San Diego and train at the Olympic training center here with me! She and another fellow bobsledder spent two weeks of "dry land" training here in California. It was a nice chance for them to get away from the cold and snow back in Lake Placid. It was nice for us to reconnect after being apart for a few months as well. I was excited for her to see some of the training I have been doing since I moved out to California to train. It was great to see her but unfortunately she had to leave two days before Valentines Day...so I was left dateless...I guess she was too! She'll be back in a few weeks though, and this time for a longer stay...so don't feel too bad for me.

My discus training has continued to progress well. I'm still learning and figuring out new things about my technique. It can be very frustrating at times to work on something new, which is what I'm currently trying to do, but it usually pays off in the end...or so I tell myself! My knees have been giving me a bit of trouble lately though. More specifically the tendons around the knee area have been bothersome to the point that they are affecting my training. So, I am in the process of figuring out the problem and finding a way to alleviate the pain and resume my normal training protocol. It is a frustrating and difficult problem that I would like to resolve quickly. I am open to any advice someone may have reading this, and would greatly appreciate it!

January Thaw

2009-01-18T22:28:00.000-08:00

Life continues to be amazing here in San Diego in the middle of January. The weather has been more beautiful here than most people in much of the U.S. get to experience in the middle of winter. Not to brag, but it's awesome. Back home in Minnesota, they have been dealing with below zero temps and I'm out here going to the beach and surfing on my days off from training. I'm definitely living it up. Training is progressing well. I've had two solid weeks of training and going into the third week of heavy training before a much needed recovery week. My body is definitely feeling the pain of training right now. My coach gave me and my training group the day off on Saturday to rest and recover just to prepare for the final week of the cycle.
So, on the rest/recovery day we went to Coronado Beach and enjoyed some 4' + waves and attempted to do some body surfing. The water was shockingly cold, comparable to an ice tub. I would say it was 60 degrees in the water. We all lasted about a half hour in the water without wet suits. The waves were some of the biggest I have experienced so far. Being from Minnesota I am a little inexperienced in the wave department. So I did my best to catch some of the waves, didn't do the best but I had a good time trying. I'm thinking about buying a wetsuit for the next time I go to the beach just to last a little longer in the water. The beach was fun and a highlight of the weekend.
This week I stopped into the B & G Club hopping the kids hadn't forgotten who I was since I hadn't been in about a month. I was surprised they still remembered me. They let me know they weren't happy with me though when we played a little game of dodge ball/gang up on Karl. The episode lasted about 20 minutes and my Wednesday recovery day turned into a mini cardio workout. It was a good time, except for when I caught dodge balls with my face. The kids were ruthless and held nothing back, I was surprised at the power some of them threw the balls with. I think a few of the kids felt bad for me and decided to turn on their peers and help me. I am planning my revenge for this week.

I'll Be Home for Christmas

2008-12-21T16:51:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-08T00:26:00.000-08:00

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.

Chula Vista Boys and Girls Club

2008-11-23T17:52:00.000-08:00

I have finally started volunteering my time at the Boys and Girls Club out here in Chula Vista, CA. I started this past week, which was a recovery week for me, so I was able to put a few good hours in at my new location. It was nice to return to working with kids. I had a little time off from working at the Boys and Girls Clubs after my move from Minnesota to California this past October. It definitely took some time to adjust to my training schedule and find room in between training to volunteer at the B&GC.
I made a few trips to the B&GC location I am volunteering at before I started officially this week to meet with the on site-director. I also got a chance to meet some of the kids. The actual club is a very nice facility. The kids are very fortunate to have such a nice place to spend time after school. There are about six pool tables in the game room. There is a large gymnasium too. A large skate park is also a part of the club. This is a very impressive skate park, I only wish I new how to skateboard! The club is very well organized and run very well. The kids seem very happy when they are there.
After spending the week getting to know the kids and the other employees I am very excited to spend the year volunteering my time here. I already ran some kids through some mini-workouts. Some of the kids that attend the club are overweight and some have a problem with type II diabetes. The director of the club asked me to put some of the kids through a workout program. I am excited to be able to help the kids with this. It is especially helpful to me that there is a facility that can accommodate such a program.
On a side note, training is continuing to go extremely well! I am loving the training center and the training partners I have. I couldn't be happier with my present situation. I hope it continues to go as well as it is. We just completed a recovery week, so much of my time was spent resting. We had only one a day practices instead of two a days. This was a much needed rest week. This week will be spent training hard, just as the week before the recovery week, even though this is Thanksgiving week and many people are home. I will be staying out here in California during Thanksgiving break. Hopefully I'll be able to find a good turkey dinner. I will definitely miss my family.
I hope you all enjoy Thanksgiving and give thanks or are thankful for everything you have. Happy Thanksgiving!

A Refreshing Change

2008-11-09T16:24:00.000-08:00

With this blog entry I would like to talk a little about the recent presidential election. Personally I am incredibly excited and optimistic about the future of our country. For our country to elect Barack Obama says a lot about the people who are living here and the direction that we want to go in. I'm not trying to reiterate information I have heard. Rather I want to express my excitement and thoughts.
This past year I have become more interested and payed more attention to politics than ever before. Maybe because I am getting older, maybe because I saw an opportunity for our country to take a different approach to being a world leader. The whole process has been historic from the start. We have all witnessed history being made, and the events will be talked about many years from now discussing the impact of what has happened.
I have been a Barack Obama supporter from the beginning. A few years back my dad told me about Obama and said he would make a great leader. I guess he called it!
Right now, Barack Obama, is the best thing that could have happened to our country. It is totally refreshing to have a new president with new ideas. I have enjoyed looking at the world news this past week and seeing how other countries have responded to our newly elected president. Foreign countries are excited about the change. At the present moment there aren't many negative words or thoughts I imagine being directed towards us. People all over the globe are intrigued and curious in a good way about the direction the United States is going to take. I feel the world is optimistic for the future just as we are here. People have gone so far as calling Barack Obama the world's leader. It is my belief that he has the potential to have a huge effect on the world. He has a way of bringing people together. His speeches are amazing without doubt. His acceptance speech on Tuesday night gave me chills and made me incredibly proud to be American. His ability to speak is a tremendous gift. I am not one to be highly influenced by speeches, but I love listening to Obama's speeches. A leader should be able to communicate effectively, there is great power in words.
Barack Obama is going to be a great president and great for the United States of America I believe. I see him mending some broken relations with other countries and gaining the respect of the world back. It will be interesting to see how things improve over time. No matter who the president was going to be they were going to have to deal with a lot and rebuild some of what was lost. We are a great nation, always have, always will be. It is time for us to be even greater now. We are progressing in a positive, forward direction as a whole. Hopefully we can bring our country even closer together, set aside differences and be one nation under God. We are off to a fresh beginning!

Park City

2008-10-26T17:26:00.000-07:00

I had the chance this weekend to go to Park City, UT and watch the US Bobsled team train before their national team trials. My girlfriend, who is a pilot was my reason for the visit. I've been learning about bobsled for the past year but had never had the chance to witness it in real life. It was awesome to watch! Despite the cold weather I enjoyed my experience. There is a lot involved with bobsledding from preparing the sleds, warming up in the cold (which is crazy to me), visualizing the runs down the track, and then throwing the sleds back on a truck to return to the top of the hill and do it over. It's exciting to watch from the top of the hill where the athletes get their push from the top of the hill. There is timing involved with the push and the athletes make it look easier than it is. I know because I tried jumping into a sled by myself while it was stationary. I was so clumsy loading into the sled and had a heck of a time trying to squeeze in. The driver and pusher are able to load into the sled in about five and a half seconds, amazing when you're running on ice and pushing a 450 lb. sled. I watched the bobsleds go down the track from various locations on the track which runs nearly a mile long down hill. It's exciting from where ever you are on the track because you hear the sled coming before you see it. It's a loud rumble and is intense to see when it comes whizzing by you at 80 mph. Fortunately the track here in Park City is a smooth one and fairly easy to drive, or so the drivers tell me. I was hoping to get a chance to take my first ride down in a sled but did not get the chance...maybe next time!
It was fun to have a weekend off and get out of the training center for a few days. I head back to San Diego tomorrow to resume training. I'm excited to get back and train, we begin throwing as well, which I've been waiting the last 3 weeks to do! Time to get serious!

Chula Vista

2008-10-10T14:46:00.000-07:00

Well I am here in Chula Vista, CA all settled into the dorms at the Olympic Training Center! I made the long journey from Minnesota in three days. I made the drive by myself, which was a little boring....actually, a lot boring! Way too much time spent thinking and driving, but, I made it!
I am very happy to be here though. The other athletes are great. There is definitely a good energy here. It feels different than the last time I was here. It is a good different. We've already started into our general prep training, which is basically getting into shape to start training full time. I can not wait until we start throwing. From just the few days of training my body is already sore....especially my abs! I'll definitely become a better athlete and be in better shape. Everything is set up here to make athletes succeed, it's amazing! I definitely miss Minnesota, but I don't feel I would be able get the same kind of training atmosphere there as there is here.
I am missing working at the Boys and Girls club back in Minneapolis, MN. To continue with my community service project I stopped up at the Boys and Girls Club here in Chula Vista. I went up to introduce myself to the director and everything seems cool there. It will be good for me to have something to do outside of training. I Believe I would go a little crazy if all I did was train. It is important to have balance in life. I believe that In the Arena helps create that balance. I am very grateful for what In the Arena has done for me this past year. I would not have been able to survive and try to continue training without the help. In return I feel I have been able to be a positive role model for a number of kids that I have interacted with at the Boys and Girls Clubs that I have worked at. It has been a good learning experience for me as well. I feel I have become a much more effective servant for In the Arena through the experiences I have had.
I am looking forward to this next year. I feel I have been given a second chance to continue training, and I can't believe how awesome the opportunity is!

Good News

2008-09-19T12:09:00.000-07:00

I have some great news to report in my bi-monthly update of my blog. I just found out recently that I was accepted into the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista California once again! I was very relieved to get this news, as I have been anticipating the opportunity for the past few months. I feel very fortunate to be able to return there once again and train. I can tell you now that it will make life much easier for me not having to worry about paying monthly rent on an apartment and spending a large amount of money on groceries monthly as well. I will be sad to leave Minnesota once again, but my excitement over the opportunity to be trained by excellent coaches and train with top athletes in the country outweighs the sadness.

With my move coming up it also means that my In The Arena service will come to an end here in Minneapolis. Today will be my last day at the Boys and Girls Club of Southside Village. It will be hard to say goodbye to the kids and teenagers there. I've only been there for a few months but I have enjoyed going there on a daily basis. I been putting in long hours at the club hanging out with the kids and getting to know them better. I will miss reading with the kids, shooting pool, playing board games or even just running around outside. I intend to stay in touch with the club. The people who work full time at the club have been great to work with and excellent mentors in the profession of working with youth. It isn't always easy to be a volunteer, but it is a rewarding experience.

This next week I will spend packing up my apartment and getting things situated for my long road trip to Southern California. I will get some good quality time in with my girlfriend before she leaves for Lake Placid, New York to start her bobsled season. It will be difficult to be on opposite sides of the country no doubt. A few weeks ago I had the chance to travel up to Calgary, Ontario and check out a bobsled training camp. It was a pretty sweet trip and cool experience to see how bobsledders train. I came away with a greater appreciation for what they do and a better idea of what my girl friend does. I will hopefully get a chance this season to watch her compete at the World Cup Championships in Lake Placid.

I plan to continue my community service in Chula Vista, California once I am situated at the training center and have my training routine set. I have really enjoyed working at the Boys and Girls Club so I would like to continue my volunteer service at another club location in Chula Vista.

What to do now

2008-08-29T13:05:00.000-07:00

There is a void that needs to be filled since the completion of the Olympics. For the entire two weeks of the games I found myself being glued to the TV set nightly just to check out some of the action. The first week was spent watching Michael Phelps go for a record breaking eight gold medals. Pretty amazing feat. I don't know what the actual number of races were that he competed in with preliminary heats and finals but it was a lot. To have enough energy to compete at a high level daily for a week straight is incredible! I was awed by this feat and demonstration endurance and recovery abilities. I'm not much of a swimming fan, but I was during the games.

I have to say my favorite moments during the Beijing Olympics were the swimming 4x100m relay when the USA beat out the cocky French team and when Phelps won by a hundredth of a second in the 100m butterfly. Both these races were so close and intense. The fact that the United States was represented so well and was clutch in bringing home gold made a lot of people proud. This proud feeling was most evident during the 4x100m relay. After the French made an arrogant comment about coming to the Olympics to smash the USA and then being beaten and forced to eat their words, I couldn't have been happier. I was actually yelling, jumping around and high fiving my girlfriend when the French were edged out. A priceless moment.

Phelps's individual 100m butterfly was amazing in the fact that it was so close. Everyone from Michael's mother to his coach thought he took second, but miraculously he came through and won. This is an example of hard work and a little luck coming together to make a great, memorable moment. It was almost like a movie the way the race turned out. Simply incredible!

Opening Ceremonies!!!

2008-08-08T15:30:00.000-07:00

The Games have begun! I can't believe four years have passed already, it is time to start watching the worlds greatest athletes go head to head again. It's a bummer for me to have to watch it from home, but it's a kick in the pants to get it rolling for 2012! Anyways, I'm excited, regardless of not being one of those world's greatest, to watch the games and cheer on some friends such as Mike Hazel. Gotta give it up for this guy, he is an inspiration. He works harder than anyone I know and he is driven to be the best at what he does. I wish him the best of luck as he shows off his talents to the world! Another friend I know competing in the triple jump is Shani Johnson. She graduated from the University of Minnesota a few years before I did. She is another amazing athlete. She is going to represent Minnesota and the USA well, I have no doubt. I will be turning my TV on in less than an hour to watch the opening ceremonies and see what kind of a show Beijing has in store to start things off. I'm hoping that the throwing events get some love and have at least a few throws shown on TV.

Aside from the Olympic excitement, I have been putting in some serious time at the Boys and Girls Club here in Minneapolis. Today, the kids had a special opportunity to listen to Magic Johnson give a talk. He gave a clear and positive message to the kids. He told them that they are in charge of they're futures and success. He talked about the importance of dreaming big and believing in yourself. It was a good message for anyone...I especially enjoyed it. It's good to be reminded of simple yet effective things.

After the Magic Johnson program, myself and five other employees at the Boys and Girls Club took 50 kids to the Nickelodeon Theme Park in the Mall of America. That was quite a task. My group was made up of 7 girls ranging in ages 8-11. It was difficult to keep them together the whole time, but I guess I was successful when none of my kids turned up missing at the end of the day. It was a fun day with the kids. I however was not able to go on many of the rides due to my size. I still enjoyed watching the kids have fun.

Well I have to prepare some food and get ready for NBC to start their broadcast of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games!

Post-Olympic Trials

2008-07-16T16:54:00.000-07:00

Well, my track and field season is officially over. A lot went on for me this season. Frustration was prominent in the beginning of the season for me. Meets were not going well, and I had a fear that I was not going to even qualify for the Olympic Trials. But I remedied that when I traveled out to the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, CA. After going two years without an improvement in my discus throw I was able to straighten some things out and line things up for my best throw ever of 61.36m (201' 3"). This was enough to ensure my qualification for the Trials and eased my frustrations. After returning home from the OTC a week and a half outside of my competition date at the Trials I was training and suffered a slight strain of my right pec muscle, something that has been happening much to frequently the past two years. I rested it for three days unable to throw and lift for fear I would further damage it and be totally useless. This brought frustration back to me. I knew I needed to lift and continue refining my technique up to the big meet, but I had no choice but to lay off and let it heal so I could compete.
When I arrived in Eugene I felt great! I was excited to be there and overall my body felt probably the best it had all year. I definitely had making the Olympic Trials finals in my mindset. I truly believed I would be within the top 8 after my fifth place finish last year at the US Championships. It is truly difficult to not be inspired and motivated to do your best when competing at such an event. One of the first steps to success is believing in yourself, and I sure did and still do, but the results of the qualifying round did not represent that well.
The night of my competition was exciting. I definitely had a good amount of adrenaline flowing through me when I stepped out on to the field with first flight of throwers in front of a full Hayward Field stadium. I went through my warm up throws and felt great. My pec was pain free, a big thanks to my adrenaline! I felt fluid and calm amidst the tense atmosphere. I honestly felt I was going to have another lifetime best throw with all this energy. The competition finally began and I was the second thrower. I got in the ring and gave that 2k discus everything I had...but I put a bad flight on it and it fell far short of my seasons best throw. This didn't effect my mind set because I knew I had 2 more throws to get it right. My second throw came and I landed it around 190'. I knew this wasn't going to be enough to get me to the finals. I made sure on my last throw that I was going to put everything I had within me to get a better throw. When I hit my final throw I thought I had connected and sent that discus near 200' as I watched it fly high and with a perfect spin! I continued to watch it but my heart sank when I saw the discus start falling from the sky and hitting at a similar distance as my previous throw. My final throw did not better my second throw, and at that, my appearance at the Olympic Trials was over. Back to the stadium seats to watch other people have their day.
I'll tell you it really hurt to walk inside the stadium on the day of the discus finals and watch my friends and fellow competitors warming up before going inside the stadium to perform for 21,000 excited track and field fans. I wanted to be out there so bad! It was a feeling that I don't want to forget. I definitely don't want to experience that feeling again, but sometimes I feel it is good to endure pain like that so that it drives you and makes you hungry. "The sweet ain't so sweet without the bitter!"
Now that my season is over I am already gearing up for next year. I am putting my focus into doing some big things next year. In doing so I am putting on weight as I type this so that I can throw the shot put again competitively starting this winter. I really missed throwing it this year, but I thought it would be in my best interest to focus on the discus with a lot of guys throwing the shot put well. It will just be another challenge to take on!

Back at the OTC

2008-06-13T10:36:00.000-07:00

I'm writing this post in from the comfort of my dorm room at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, CA. It's great to be back out here! I've only been gone about eight months since I moved back to Minneapolis. I've definitely enjoyed seeing familiar faces and catching up with friends I haven't seen in awhile. It's also been great getting back to some consistent weather and throwing in warm, dry weather. I've gotten the chance to work with Bud Rasmussen, the coach I was working with last year, it's nice to get a professional eye. I came back out to the training center to compete in two meets this weekend and one next weekend. I'm going to take advantage of my current situation as much as possible while I'm here. One thing I've been taking advantage of is the endless supply of amazing food. I find myself eating until I'm uncomfortably full, but this is good since I'm trying to put on some extra weight. I'm hoping that I can get back out here next year to train. It's impossible to not be motivated out here with a group of great athletes training daily. I'll hopefully have more to post after my competitions this weekend. I am expecting good things, practice has been going well. Currently I am 24th on the list for the Olympic Trials, so I need to better my personal best throw to ensure my spot at the Trials.

Trying to compete

2008-05-28T13:11:00.000-07:00

This post is a little last minute. Things have been a little hectic, or maybe I just feel like that because of my lack of organization. Just got back last week from a 2 week trip where I competed in two meets in California and three meets in Maui, Hawaii. I'm disappointed to not be able to report any awesome results that I was expecting. My body felt good but I was not able improve upon my personal best marks in the discus. I hate making excuses but the first meet in California was cold, mid 50's. I was outside for about four hours before I competed and I just wasn't able to get warmed up before I threw. You would think a kid from Minnesota wouldn't be bothered by the cold weather! The next meet was much warmer but I threw far worse. I was having difficulties with sector fouls and a small foot foul. I wasn't feeling too bad after these meets because I knew was going to be able to use the incredible wind in Maui. I couldn't have been more mistaken. The first day in Maui was great, wind conditions were perfect for huge throws. The following day was different. The winds that we were expecting were trade winds blowing in at a perfect angle ac cross the discus field. The wind that was blowing on competition day was called and known as the "kona" winds. These winds blew from the opposite direction of the trade winds. It was very unexpected and frustrating for everyone. The poor wind conditions took about three meters off of every one's throws. We had one more chance for better winds two days after this first meet. The wind for the next competition was not as bad as the first day, but it was still not conducive to BIG throws, which is why everyone broke the bank to fly to Hawaii to compete. This is a lesson that you can not chase the wind. Sometimes you just get lucky. I did enjoy myself in Hawaii though and had a chance to go snorkeling for the first time in my life.

Since I've gotten back from my trip I have been trying to figure out what meets I will compete in with a short amount of time left to achieve an A standard mark or to be seeded even higher at the Trials. There are a few meets being held out in California at the Training Center in Chula Vista. I'm looking forward to getting back out there and catching up with some friends I haven't seen since last year. I'm looking forward to being able to redeem myself a little as well.

Still Waiting

2008-04-25T12:45:00.000-07:00

I'm writing this post today as I sit inside my apartment waiting for a break in the rain on this cold (42 degrees), wet, end of April day. This weather is getting ridiculous. The forecast is calling for rain mixed with snow this weekend! We had mid 70 weather earlier this week, but it appears those days are gone, at least for the next week.

All that aside things are alright. I got a solid week of throwing in outside, at a little bit of a disadvantage to most of my competitors in the south and west who get to throw outside throughout the year. I feel ready to compete though. This has been the latest I've ever gone without competing, and it is difficult to stay patient. I actually had a competition/practice on Wednesday at Hamline University here in Minneapolis. I originally was not going to compete but as I went out to practice that day I thought it would have been silly to pass up the opportunity to throw in good weather. I had planned on throwing at the Drake Relays this weekend but I entered myself to late and apparently the meet was based on first come first serve. So, I used the meet on Wednesday to make up for a missed opportunity. I have one more meet next week in Iowa before heading west to compete and chase some marks.

April Fool's

2008-04-04T08:33:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!

Today is a beautiful day in Minnesota. The sun is shinning, birds are chirping and the is a predicted high near 60 degrees! I really hope that the warm weather will stay around.

This Tuesday, April Fool's day, I woke up and stepped outside into a winter wonderland. It was a cruel joke. There was four inches of snow on the ground, and all I could do was shake my head and brush the snow off of my car. The snow didn't last long though. I'm hoping that the last little spots of snow will melt off today.

In other news I have been dealing with a painful left knee that has limited my training. For the past couple of months I have had difficulty squatting and doing plyometics. These are important components to my training program. It has been hard mentally to train as hard as I need to. The pain has been very severe. I went to the Mayo Clinic in my hometown of Rochester, MN to see knee specialist there. I had x-ray's and an MRI to find out what was causing the pain in my knee. The doctors reported to me that I am suffering from tendinopathy in my rectus femoris tendon. This tendon attaches to the patella. I was given a few options for helping alleviate my pain. The first option was an extensive surgery that could possibly end my career as a track and field athlete. Another option is a relatively new surgery procedure that is a possibility for me to have post-season which would involve injecting my blood plasma into the damaged tendon in hopes of producing new and healthy growth. The final option is a training program developed in Scandinavia which involves eccentric single-leg exercises. I have been doing these exercises religiously that were designed to help athletes suffering from patellar tendinitis. I have noticed a little bit of an improvement with the knee pain. My hopes are high that these simple exercise will help me get back to normal with my training program.

Finally, I have set up my travel plans for a series of meets beginning May 7th. I will traveling to California to compete in two meets then I will travel to Maui to compete in another meet series. I'm excited to compete and improve my personal best marks in the discus. More to come on that later...

Close Call

2008-03-12T09:13:00.000-07:00

I'm a little late with this post. Just arrived back in Minnesota from a longer than expected training trip to Florida. I had planned on only being in Florida for a week but it turned into two unexpectedly. My first week of training was great in Florida, it was my first time visiting. It was a nice change of climate for me coming from bitterly cold Minnesota. I soaked in as much sunshine as I could and threw the discus outdoors to my heart's content.

On the last day in the sunshine state I was involved in a roll over crash in which the vehicle I was a passenger in rolled 5 times. The car was traveling on the interstate going at least 75 mph when a trailer a few cars ahead blew a tire causing the person behind them to swerve into our lane causing the vehicle I was in to avoid hitting them and as a result losing control and flipping. I'm grateful to report there were no serious injuries, and I was left amazingly unscathed, not a scratch or sore neck. Fortunately I did not miss any training time and was able to stay awhile longer and train before I went back to Minnesota. It was unfortunate about the accident though which could have been much worse.

Now I'm back in Minneapolis and looking forward to getting back to the Boys and Girls Club and being patient to get outside and throw while the snow melts!

Ready For Spring

2008-02-14T10:13:00.001-08:00

Hello! Winter is getting long and cold here in Minneapolis! The past two weekends have had air temperatures of negative digits well into the teens and negative wind chills nearing -40! It is crazy! It definitely makes training a little more difficult when you don't want to go outside or your car won't even start. But we do what we can here in Minnesota when the weather get ridiculous.

All that aside, I am ready to take a trip to Florida and see some sunshine and maybe get a tan. I definitely need to get away from the cold and throw discus a little outside. It gets a little monotonous throwing into a net daily and being inside all the time, but spring is around the corner. March usually brings a nice thaw here.

My volunteer position at the Boys and Girls Club is still a good time. I am looking forward to being outside with the kids and doing some track and field stuff with them that I am unable to do in a gym full of kids. I can tell the kids are getting anxious to be able to play outside as well. I am still hoping to get the boys group started at the club. Myself and a fellow employee of the club are trying to get it started. It will take some organization of all the boys at the club and some planning, but it will be a good time for the kids and myself.

Good Progress

2008-01-21T19:57:00.000-08:00

Hello again! It's been a few weeks since I last wrote. Things are continuing to progress in a good direction for me with my training in preparation for the beginning of the outdoor track and field season. I have decided to focus my energies into throwing the discus this season. Originally I was going to try and throw shot put, but with deep thought I came to the conclusion that my best chance for making an Olympic team would come from throwing the discus. I am excited and feel good about my decision. This past Friday I had a chance to test my progress with a small indoor discus competition. I had a couple good throws that impressed me considering where my training is at right now. I'm ready to get going with the track and field season and more than ready to be outside and traveling to compete at meets.

Things are continuing to go well at the Boys and Girls Club here in Minneapolis. I had a few weeks off while I was back home for Christmas break. Since I've been back one employee and myself have discussed the idea of putting together a group for just the boys at the club. We have talked about the possibility of talking about fitness and nutrition. I will also take advantage of this opportunity to teach the kids more about track and field and hopefully take them to some meets. We hope to put this group together in about two weeks. It should be fun!

Getting Started

2007-12-27T22:35:00.000-08:00

Hello to all! This is my first blog and I'd like to take the time and bring things up to date. A lot has gone on this past year for me. I started the 2007 year with a big move out to San Diego, California to train at the Olympic Training Center. It was a great training experience and a life changing experience. I met a lot of awesome people out there and actually was first introduced to In The Arena through my room mate at the time, Gabe Jennings. I trained out in California through August and came back home for my off season. Things were going great until I found out I was no longer a resident at the Olympic Training Center. What I thought was a sure bet was not, and I had to scramble to figure out how I was going to make things work for me during this upcoming Olympic year.

I made the decision that I would move back to Minnesota and get myself an apartment in Minneapolis and train. I was disappointed that I was no longer able to stay in California but at the same time I was excited to be back in Minneapolis where I was comfortable. I spent most of the fall months searching for an apartment and trying to hold a steady workout schedule as well I could. I was definitely not ideal. It was a highly stressful time for me. I had no money, and no place to live in Minneapolis. I commuted frequently from my home near Rochester, MN and sometimes would spend the night on friend's couches just so I could train on the University of Minnesota campus and search for places to live. It was a desperate time. I was saved though when I was accepted to be a part of In The Arena.

Becoming a part of In The Arena made my difficult times a little easier to cope with, I'm incredibly thankful for the help. I began my community project at the Boys and Girls Club in south Minneapolis. I began just after the Thanksgiving weekend. I go in nightly from 5 until 8 when the club closes. It works out perfectly with my schedule, allowing me to train during the day and spend a few hours in the evening hanging out with some pretty neat kids. It's a nice break away from training for me to go and volunteer at the club. I look forward to going each day. There is never a dull moment working there. The kids have so much personality and I have found them to be very accepting. I'm definitely looking forward to spending the year working with them.

I'll be sure to blog regularly to keep those of you interested informed about what is going on in my life from training to working at the Boys and Girls Club through out this Olympic year as I work towards earning myself a spot on the 2008 Olympic Track and Field Team.