Flight Risk
It's another Friday night in my world. Today's workout was brutal. Very rare are the occasions when I feel like I'm going to blow chunks during a workout, but tonight was one such occasion. I've really been pushing myself this week in both sprinting and lifting, as the combine is only a month away and this is one of my last big training weeks for awhile. I must admit that my legs are toast. This week I've had bungee runs, high incline runs, plyos and lots and lots of squats. It's amazing how heavy your legs can feel after just 12 seconds. My stubborn side often rears it's head and demands my legs move faster because "I do not need a spotter. I can do this by myself!", but as much as my mind wants to believe it's true, I'm so glad Scott or Alex are there to keep me on the treadmill. In my mind, this gesture is much like the old black and white movies where the there is a damsel in distress and the man swoops in to save her; except in my athletic world, it's not nearly so romantic. My face is all red, I'm dripping sweat on him, he's using all his strength to hold me on a treadmill I'd much rather hop off of, and I'm pretty sure he's terrified I'll fly off at least 15% of the time (although he would never say such a thing). When I finally finish my time of torture, I hop off (with much less grace than the woman in such a movie would possess), collapse onto a dirty gym floor in a puddle of sweat and huff and puff a weak, "Thanks for helping me finish." To which he typically responds, "No problem. Nice work today." Saves me from treadmill burns and flying limbs with an encouraging compliment to boot, such a gentlemen (well, at least sometimes...).
As I mentioned, the combine we all must take every year is only a month away. I'll be traveling to Calgary near the end of July for testing and the annual US Push Championships. This is the start of team selection for this coming season (Olympic season, if you don't know about the 2014 Winter Olympics yet). The last 2 weeks in February will bring about that magical interval of time which occurs every 2ish years when I am in heaven watching athletes compete at the highest level. Ahhh...such rapture. And now I get to observe some of these athletes in person, be a part of the process and learn more about what goes into making an Olympic team. I'm already smiling just thinking about it. I've heard stories about how much more stressful and horrible it can be because there is so much more at stake, but I'm still young and naive. I still see the sunshine and possibilities.
Typically we have push champs on a push track (a bobsled on wheels). If you're new to my blog, check out my post from last October Fall Foliage Tour. This year, we're using the ice house in Calgary. It's a refrigerated, ice start ramp built indoors to simulate the real thing. I've used it twice, and having this extra ice time is invaluable. We get a total of about 6 seconds of pushing per run, maybe 3 runs per day, perhaps 15 runs a week. That's a total of 1.5 minutes of pushing per week, and that's if you get all the runs or if you aren't too injured or exhausted to push hard. Not much time, so we'll take all the practice we can get. I'll keep you up to date on all the happenings.
After our week in Calgary, I'll come back to Dallas till we have ice in October. Two more months to train and prepare for the upcoming season. Lots of details to work out and definitely lots more training to do. That's my life in a nutshell, as I've said many times before. Sleep, eat, work, eat, work, eat, workout, eat, sleep and catch up on sleep and life during the weekends. Wouldn't change a thing. Hope you feel that way about your life. Find something you're passionate about, and pursue it with all you've got. And don't be afraid to dream big!
As I mentioned, the combine we all must take every year is only a month away. I'll be traveling to Calgary near the end of July for testing and the annual US Push Championships. This is the start of team selection for this coming season (Olympic season, if you don't know about the 2014 Winter Olympics yet). The last 2 weeks in February will bring about that magical interval of time which occurs every 2ish years when I am in heaven watching athletes compete at the highest level. Ahhh...such rapture. And now I get to observe some of these athletes in person, be a part of the process and learn more about what goes into making an Olympic team. I'm already smiling just thinking about it. I've heard stories about how much more stressful and horrible it can be because there is so much more at stake, but I'm still young and naive. I still see the sunshine and possibilities.
Typically we have push champs on a push track (a bobsled on wheels). If you're new to my blog, check out my post from last October Fall Foliage Tour. This year, we're using the ice house in Calgary. It's a refrigerated, ice start ramp built indoors to simulate the real thing. I've used it twice, and having this extra ice time is invaluable. We get a total of about 6 seconds of pushing per run, maybe 3 runs per day, perhaps 15 runs a week. That's a total of 1.5 minutes of pushing per week, and that's if you get all the runs or if you aren't too injured or exhausted to push hard. Not much time, so we'll take all the practice we can get. I'll keep you up to date on all the happenings.
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| America's Cup Girls - November 2012 |