Annie O'Shea end of a long cycle

My training schedule is on a four week cycle. Three hard weeks followed by a fourth down week. Then I change my program and start something new.
Tomorrow will be the end of my third hard week and I am excited for a down week next week. Its a catch 22 though I will say, I am improving in all my lifts, so I want to keep increasing and not take a lighter week. But I know in the long run it is needed so I don't tire myself out before the season even starts.
I ended up working a lot this week, wasn't supposed to but I picked up some extra shifts because its hard to turn down making good money. Even with all the extra work I couldn't believe how strong and fast I felt. Which is a good thing.
I went to the track today by myself to do my sprint workout before I started my lift. I had one of my best sprint workouts in a while. Just 60m but I stayed in drive phase and I felt good. I got some sun this week which was a huge deal. Now I have to get ready for work, probably going to be a long weekend. Just looking forward to an easier week next week!Annie

Rebecca Sorensen " A day in the life"

I often get the question- What is your training and life like while living at an OTC?I think that the general public gets the idea that we train all day long and they just can’t seem to wrap around that idea and that’s why they ask. Well, the answer is yes we do train most of the day, but not in the way people are thinking. My day, for instance, starts when I wake up approx. 7am. Sometimes, I am awakened by USADA for a drug test at or before 7am. So far, I have been tested 3 times since I took residence here in May at the Colorado Springs OTC. All in all I have been tested less than 10 times in my 6 years of sliding. I like to be awake for training at nine so I have a special blended breakfast in my room and watch the Today Show and check emails. I drink a mixture of raw milk, frozen fruit, yogurt, oat bran, protein powder, cinnamon, acai, chia seeds, flax, soaked almonds and a occasional liquid shot of B12. I also take some vits/ minerals/oils if need be- both morning and night. Training in general, consists of running and lifting.Running workouts include a 25 min warmup, several drills and stretches, several reps of the running workout, misc stairs, sled pulls/pushes, broad jumps, bounds, starts and hills sprints. Once the run is complete for the morning session, I usually go to sports med to partake in some recovery treatments. After that- it’s lunch time! And after that, I usually rest for about an hour before we meet for our next session. Again, a warm up with drills usually lasting about 20 minutes and then it is time to lift. Every workout is different, but we will lift legs first and end with some upper body and abs. Lift sessions last for 2 hours. Again time for rehab. Maybe a painful massage, or compression pants or cold tub (52 degrees for 15 minutes) or all three. Now it’s almost 5pm. I have dinner early, and get back to my room to do evening work. This may include work for my small business, looking for sponsors, catching up with family and friends, laundry, working on equipment, reviewing track notes and video for the upcoming season and/or a number of other things I have signed up for or have been asked to do. I also try to fit in Olympic University classes, sports psy, meditation classes and research of my own. I always try to be in bed by 9 and asleep my 10. Everyday. So that’s it. I wouldn’t trade it. I love every part of it. I am very grateful for it. ~remember: A leader...removes barriers, acts as a resource and should cheer-lead often.

Nicole De Yong mountain marathon

Staying Tuned

It is difficult to consider summer the “off-season” for skiing when the majority of my training hours are logged during this time! This summer I am making an effort to do two races/time trials a month to stay in-tune with racing. I believe racing is a good way to remind your body how to push itself and what it feels like to push yourself.

Today I ran a 10 mile race called the Back Country Run. It is a tough race with almost 2000 feet of elevation gain. It is the type of grade that is difficult to run, but too slow to walk. While I ran a majority of it, there were a few steep places where it was faster for me to “ski walk.” Ski walking is a brisk hiking pace.

Even though the race did not go as well as I hoped, it was a good workout. There is no better way to get a solid workout, than racing! Many times, it is the racing that makes you faster! After a tough week of training, my legs felt heavy and slow on the uphill. I did not have my usual “light feet” feel. While it’s easy to get down on myself about having a poor race, I am reminding myself that it is July and I want to be fast come November, when the racing season begins.

All in all, racing is a good way to keep my body tuned. I am hoping to do a couple races in August to keep up with my monthly racing.

Annie O'Shea Colorado Springs training camp

Check out this great post about the recent US Bobsled/Skeleton training camp in Colorado Springs.

Annie O'Shea

After Colorado I realized that this summer has already gone by very quickly. Just look at the calender its July 12th today, the track in Lake Placid opens on October 5th. My workouts have been going great but there are so many aspects to this coming season that I haven’t started on yet.
Between workouts, working and doing rehab and recovery I run out of time in the day. When I do have a few extra minutes I just want to sit and stare at the t.v. or look out the window. I am trying to work on my time management skills so I can do the extra things to prepare myself for the upcoming season. For example I need to start doing mind runs, it is a great way to prepare yourself so you feel like you haven’t been off your sled for 5 or so months.
I know this coming season is going to be difficult but I am looking forward to it. I’m excited to experience my first Olympic season, and as long as I keep my head on my shoulders and do my best, I will be satisfied with everything.
I will admit every now and then I think about “the Olympics” (in quotes only because it haunts me sometimes) and how nervous I already am sometimes, but I guess its inevitable, how could you not be nervous. I am talking with a sports psychologist every now and then on certain ways to learn to turn these thoughts into positive ones. I realized that a lot of people have thoughts like this, and the way to become a better athlete is to learn how to deal with these thoughts.
I don’t want to rush the summer any faster than its already going, but I am very excited to go home in August. I plan on going home for only about 5 days or so really because I don’t want to miss too much of work. But I am excited to see my family and go to the beach.
These are just some random thoughts that I’ve had and I wanted to share them with everybody.

Rebecca Sorensen

I was just thinking about the phase “the other side of the tracks” and it made me think about our neighbors to the west. It happens to be the children’s miracle hospital. On our side of the “tracks” we have athletic dreams and the opportunity for the ultimate pursuit of them. On their side, they also have dreams, but the dreams and the pursuit of them is quite different. Their road is not paved in or to gold, their rooms are not paid for, their dreams are not every four years. They are children. They didn’t choose this life. They didn’t ask to be sick. They live grown-up lives and deal with grown-up issues. Their goals are to feel better, be better, live. We visited the hospital last year and I often think of the children and how they have been doing. I often consider how different my life would be if I lived on the other side of the tracks...becca

Jennifer Rodriguez training cycle

July 9, 2009

Well, after having to train by myself for 5 weeks in Miami, I'd have to say its been real nice to be back with my team again! My team is awesome and like my second family. I missed them!!!Right now I'm at the end of 2 hard weeks of training with 2 days left to go in our cycle. It's been tough! On Saturday I get to ride from Salt Lake City up to Deer Valley. Its my last workout of the cycle, its going to be real hard but I'm actually really looking forward to it.Next week we finally get the chance to get back on long track ice! It s very exciting for all of us. We've been doing some short track skating and inlines, but its not the same. My feet are all cut up because my inline boots are not nearly as good as my long track skates, so another reason to be excited to get back on the long track ice. Next week is a rest week for us, so we'll just get to play around on the ice for a little and mess around with our skates before we head out to Vancouver for a 2 week camp on the 19th.Anyway, that's it for now. Until next week!

jen