Some PICS

The 4 girls that were lucky to experience PARIS!!! this is at our last diner in Paris with Carol, Terri, Professor Sawyer and his wife!!

This is me at the Musee D'Orsay!!! I love it sooo much!!!

Yup CHICKEN IT IS!!!! I seriously think I ate chicken every day in Paris!!!

Noheli and I at the Louvre Pyramid!! AMAZING!!!

4 girls in a 9 story mall!!!! wow!!!!

Day 2 Olympic Training Center

OK so here is the next installment of the Colorado trip. Our first stop on the trip was the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. The site we visited is one of three Olympic Centers across the country and they specialize in swimming, rifle, judo, wrestling, weightlifting, and a few other sports.

We ended up with four tour guides on the trip and the first guide took us on a tour of the facilities. He explained to us what went into planning the facilities and how to create an environment that your clients/athletes would be productive in. We were told that Michael Phelps was in the building but that he would not see any groups so we could not get a picture or anything with him.

The next step we made was in the athletic training facility. We first met with the director of the department and he explained the model that the AT's follow at the Olympic Training Center. In a "nut shell" their model is that that everyone involved in an athlete's development should be on the same page and know what each other aspect is doing. For example the Mr. Phelps will have a strength coach, a doctor, nutritionist, massage therapist, and a swimming doctor. Now if the physical therapist is working a problem in his back all the other involved in his training will know what is going on and will be contributing to getting him back to 100% as fast as possible. This was a good model to have and it was good to hear about the treatment that the athletes were receiving and to see the teamwork it takes to make an elite athlete "tick".

The next person we met with was the head AT and he showed us around their facility. The highlight of this mini tour was when they took us to a brand new complex that was built called the Recovery Center. In this building there were massage tables, recovery nutrition, cold/hot whirpool, aroma therapy, and any other method of healing that you could think of was available to the athletes. Any athlete would die for these services and this center will be crucial in the training and progression of the Olympic athletes.

The last tour we took at the OTC was the strength and conditioning center. Here we met with three of the strength coaches and talked to them about the facilities and there methods of training the athletes. Basically the coaches want to make the athletes better athletes. They all train primarily the same systems and one athlete does not have an advantage over the other. We also talked about supplementation and learned that at the OTC the athletes are strictly tested so they have to be extremely cautious with what they take. Overall the athletes respond well to the coaches and the coaches work hard to make sure that the athletes are in the best shape possible at all times.

Overall the experience at the Olympic Training Center was great. We learned a lot about the people behind the scenes and how hard they work. The one thing we took away from the OTC was that egos need to be checked at the door because everyone involved, coaches, ATs, and athletes are in this together and that is the only way they will succeed. Well that is all for now, stay tuned for more from Colorado

France and Germany

Since Luxembourg isn't exactly the biggest country on the map (unless your map excludes every country on the planet save for maybe Malta, Monaco, Andorra, Liechtenstein and a few tiny island nations) there is subsequently not a whole lot of geographical area to be explored. While this is not to say that we have seen every square inch of the country, you can only pack so many exciting adventures into one tiny nation. Because of this, yesterday we stepped (or, more correctly, rode a train) across international borders into France, and today into Germany.

In France, we visited a town called Metz. This was located in the once German region of Lorraine, and is a remarkably historical city. I believe, if my memory isn't completely incorrect, this is the region from where part of my family (the Selles) are descended --Grandma, if you're reading this, correct me if I'm wrong. The town itself was gorgeous, and the Gothic architecture was remarkable, especially in one particular cathedral with what I have been told sports the most extensive collection of stained glass in all of Europe. We also saw a museum dedicated to a host of ruins from the area and a contemporary art section to blow your mind, including one of the coolest sculptures I have ever come across (pictures will be posted as soon as my technological incompetence stops impeding my ability to get pictures onto this computer). Later in the night, Keith and I took a trip down to a small English pub in a valley called the Grund to watch the Champions League final, FC Barcelona vs. Manchester United, which was an awesome game with an exciting crowd, just an overall good time.

Today, we did the same thing, only to a town called Trier in Germany. This was perhaps one of my favorite things so far, as it just so happened to be the birthplace of my --and everyone else's-- hero, Karl Marx. We had the wonderful opportunity to visit his house, and the entire thing was awesome, I learned so much I had never previously known. It was a really great exhibit, although there were some interesting flaws in some of the information provided that were clearly intentional --i.e. the contemporary applications exhibit failed to mention that Salvador Allende's 1973 overthrow by fascist right-wing paramilitary soldiers led by Augosto Pinochet had been U.S.-backed. I also had another fun time at a small restaurant we went to while we were there; the waitress was from Spain, and so only spoke Spanish and German. As I can only speak Spanish and English, it has been frustratingly difficult at times to communicate with many of the locals. It provided me the first real opportunity of the whole trip to communicate with someone in a foreign language. Robyn had done the exact same thing at a small restaurant in Metz the day before (only her performance was far more commendable, even trying to pronounce those French syllables is way more of a challenge than I am willing to tackle), and got a pretty friendly response from the waitress we had.

Only one more day left in Luxembourg, and then it will be on to Brussells (or Bruxelles as they spell it here, which is infinitely cooler) for us. Keep checking back! Pictures soon... for real this time.

Day 1 in Colorado

So we have been in Colorado for three days and I was looking at all the pictures so I decided to do a blog on each of the places we visited. So this first day is the airport. We got to the airport at 9 to catch our flight that left at 11:18. We then flew out to Colorado and got in around 12:30. They are in mountain time and are an hour behind. So here are some pictures. Here is us at the airport:

So the guy in the middle of the picture on the right is Will. He had never flown before so this was his first plane ride. So you know the guy on the left is John and on the right is Mike. In the picture on the left going from left to right is Katie, Megan, Heather, and me. On this plane this is the seating arrangements:

OK so when we got to Colorado we could feel a difference in the air. Denver is called the mile high city due to their high elevation above sea level. because they are higher there is less oxygen and for us coming from the Midwest it took some getting use to. As we were waiting for the our transport the guys noticed that if you could take successive deep breaths you could really feel the effects of the air. As we drove through Denver to Colorado Springs where our hotel was we were amazed at the view of the mountains. Will pointed out that it looked like they were not real and were more like a picture. Even with the clouds hanging low we were still amazed at the beauty of the mountains. I will get some pictures up from my phone of the mountains but words can't really capture the view. One of our chaperons said that she liked their skyline a lot better than Chicago's and the group agreed. Well this is all I have from Day 1. The next blogs to be posted will contain pictures and information from the Olympic Training Center, Cave if the Winds, Carmichael Training Systems, and the Garden of the Gods. But until then stay tuned for more of this trip.

Less than a week to go...

It's unfortunate that there's less than a week to go here, time has flown by fast. We have been spending so much time doing so many things, that its hard to really just kick back and relax, and I haven't had much time to post on this blog --and, admittedly, when I have, I have had trouble remembering. In the past three days, we have done some pretty exciting things. A few days ago, we went to an American military service for Memorial day, presided over by the American ambassador to Luxembourg and a few other officials at the American war cemetary where General Patton himself is buried. That entire day had been quite interesting; before we went to that cemetary, we went to a German one so that we might experience firsthand the contrast between the two, and it was remarkable. The crosses in the German cemetary were not religious in nature, but were Nazi crosses, and needless to say there were of course no Jewish headstones. They also featured 3, 4, and sometimes even 5 names per headstone, each of which was made of weathered (but natural) stone. The only large monuments on the whole premises were a large stone entryway, and a ten or fifteen foot cross at the end of the cemetary signifying the location of a mass grave. The entire thing was niceley shaded, and almost ominously serene.

Meanwhile, at the American cemetary, nearly every stone surface was made of white polished marble, and there were a number of huge monuments dedicated to the soldiers buried there, including an outrageously tall marble tower engraved with words describing it as a "humble tribute" to the American casualties of WWII. There were also two giant murals, one describing the direction of offensives in the West, and another describing solely the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes. The landscaping was unbelievably well kept, and the entire walkway surrounding the marble tower was lined by a tall green hedge, with not a single branch uneven. There was also only one soldier per headstone, and to each unknown soldier was written a small epitaph describing the nature of who was buried there, something along the lines of "here lies a fallen soldier known but to god" or something (the german graves had been "ein deutsch soldat" or "zwe deutsch soldaten." Later, we came back to the house to have a small party with many of the people who had attended the memorial service, and were given a chance to meet the Ambassador herself, who had been a hold-over political appointee from the Bush administration. After meeting her, I can say that I am thankful she is on her way out, and that we as a nation are no longer being represented by someone such as her.

The following day, we went on an all-day cruise down a river to a winery, which was a lot of fun. The cruise itself wound its way down the river marking the Luxembourg-Germany border, and we were able to just sit and relax and talk while enjoying the absolutely beautiful (and apparently extremely unusual) sunny, 85 degree weather. The winery itself was interesting, very dark, and very cold, and the tour guides spoke only Dutch and French, so we had to piece together what was being said as we went along, but it was still a nice experience.

Yesterday was perhaps the coolest day yet, we went to a castle in a small town called Vianden. It was seated up in the mountains, which was strange to me because prior to coming here, I had no idea there even were mountains. Through each of the rooms, there was a small model documenting the progression of the castle as it was expanded upon throughout the years. It would be difficult for me to adequately express the regality of the building in words, and I'm a little crunched for time at the moment, so later tonight or early tomorrow morning I will upload as many good pictures of the castle as I can, keep checking back frequently; I just need to go through the hundreds that I took and find only a few I can post on here.

I'll post again by tomorrow morning at the latest with all the pictures.

Velocity Trip

So I know I said I would post about a week ago, but I had outdoor nationals for track and field and getting my stuff packed for this trip left me with little time to post. So the trip for Velocity was a fun. Since I was leaving for nationals the next day I did not particpate in the workout. But the rest of our class did. I also work at Velocity part time so I knew all of the drills and practices that they went through. Here is a phot of the group before they started the workout.

We started out with a dynamic warm-up which was a little longer than usual. When athletes come to train at Velocity they train in one of three areas. Multi-Directional is practicing moving in different directions and being able to cut and pivot and other related movements. Acceleration is when the students work on building up from 0 to 100 % as fast possible. Maximum Velocity is the ability to maintain 100 % fro as long as possible. Each dynamic warm-up is tailored to it's individual discipline. Since we were there just for a sample we included parts of all three disciplines into the dynamic warm-up.

We then did specific drills that pertained to each discipline and this is a picture of the group doing an acceleration drill. After we did drills in each discipline we went into the weight room where the classes at Velocity focus on the Olympic movements (snatch, clean, jerk, etc). Our class went through a tutorial on how to do a hang clean and each person in the group demonstrated the movement. The next picture is one of the students performing the exercise.

We then ended the workout by stretching and the performance coach answered any questions that we had that could be used to for our conditioning programs. Overall the experience was a great one and the group seemed to benefit greatly from the session. We are leaving for Colorado today so I will have another post shortly about our first two days in Colorado. Until then talk to you later!

I AM HOME!!!!

I am home!!! We got hear yesterday but I was soooooo exhausted that I had to energy to even turn on the computer!!lol... oh and the hour change is horrible... I seriously went to bed at like 6 pm and then woke up at midnight... Its about 7 am and I feel like it should be 2 pm. It was a smooth flight and I have to say that it was a lot more comfortable then the one going to Paris. The eight hours were not that bad...

Well anyways before I tell you guys about our last night in the magical city of Paris, let me say that I had miss my family so much and I'm so glad i get to see them!!!

Ok well we couldn't have end our wonderful trip in a better way. After going to the Louvre which is by the way incredible. I mean seriously knowing that you are in there looking at the real paintings gives you a little goosebumps. Seeing the Mona Lisa is kind of surreal. I was also excited that I recognized some of the painting from the once we study in my Art class. But anyways after the Louvre Professor Sawyer invited us over to his house to meet his wife before our "last" dinner. Mrs. Sawyer needless to say is a wonderful lady.

Our last dinner was great. We ate a a little but expensive restaurant. We sat outside in a high balcony that overlooked the surroundings. The weather was great so we could enjoyed every minute of it especially the delicious food and dessert!!!! I like usual had chicken but everything looked delicious. What really got me were the desserts.... mine had rose petals on it!!! yup that's right rose petals!! crazy right?? They looked gorgeous and tasted even better!! I have to upload some of those pictures... I promise I will do that tonight!!!