January Thaw

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

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

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

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

Test Week

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

Chula Vista Boys and Girls Club

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

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

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

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!