The Athlete Way

The Steele Stars Performing 'Go For the Gold' Somedays, you are reminded how lucky you are. You are reminded how beautiful the world is and how unique your role in it is. Today was one of those days - powerful because of its simplicity, purity, and raw passion. That special blend of forces most often found in children. That exuberant enthusiasm for life - that fearlessness to not just dream but to believe in dreams. The morning required planning. We had to be up early to record our heart-rates, pee in our cups, and pack our bag for the days activities. So after wiping away the eye-sleepies, we headed to breakfast, nourished ourselves with some grub (and the ever so needed cup of joe) then headed for a meeting with Peter, the man of mindfulness, our sports psychologist. Peter surprised us today. He didn't make us sit and be mindful, like he usually does. He told us to take off our shoes and stand on a foot wide styrofoam balance beam. I cursed myself for wearing dir...

We just had our first run at altitude today. It felt awful. I wish I could say it didn't. I wish I could say that I felt like a million bucks, like a million bucks growing in a good stock market. But I didn't. Maybe it wasn't the altitude that caused the ill-effect, maybe it was the two day respite from physical activity that logged the legs and put them in shock mode today. Or maybe, it was that I danced my face off Saturday night at a wedding. Or that I traveled cross country and back in 40 hours to get to that wedding. All of which, the dancing and traveling, was great for the soul, but not so great for recovery from a hellish week of training. This week will be different. The sights, sounds, and smells of Chula Vista replaced with those of Colorado. The team traveled to the Springs yesterday for a training camp at the Springs Olympic Training Center. The purpose of our rendez-vous is altitude acclimatization - optimizing our bodies to perform under the environmental s...

Fall has nearly descended. Take a glimpse into my wordless summer.  The places seen, the people met. The roads taken. The globe traveled. How worlds collide as I continue on the athlete way.