The Daily Grind

Since the last update (which I just noticed was saved as a draft and not published...sorry about that) I mentioned that the Olympic Training Center was jam packed with foreign athletes from all over the world. It is now the middle of April and almost everyone here is in the midst of our own personal "hell month". This is typically the last month of the year to get high volume high intensity training before the summer season starts to kick in (which is typically mid May). If this post sounds as beat up as my body feels, then I send my apologies in advance ;)
So far so good on my end, my body is holding up "fairly well" and my technical training has yet to dip below the unacceptable mark. I'm anticipating holding this phase for another 2 weeks before a rest week and then straight in to my power conversion phase which will include the following meets before the USA Olympic Trials:
May 18 - Rio De Janerio Grand Prix II
May 21 - Fortaleza Grand Prix II
May 25 - Belem Grand Prix I
June 3 - Tallinn Grand Prix II
June 10 - Moscow Open
June 15 - Memorial Zmaneski Russian Cup
In community project news. I have tentatively struck up a new project that has slipped through the cracks, I was anticipating working with troubled youth from the South Bay Family Crisis Center, however I was notified that I had to basically get a congressional appointment (not really) to get back in with these kids...seriously there must have been 5 tests including HIV and hepatitis tests as well as reference letters and applications and endless forms that needed to be filled out, all just to hang out with some kids that need a bit of direction. Needless to say this wasnt the time of year that I had that much free time available just to get through the screening process. Therefore I am still hanging out with my kids that visit the training center (who are absolute studs!!). I had the most awesome group of kindergarten kids yesterday. The look on their faces in priceless and every now and then you get the feeling that these projects actually do work and it makes it all worth wile...to be continued! Check out these rock stars below!!
Mike++