Crankin' Up the Intensity...

                            Back: Tsuyoshe, Kuck, Brian, Nick, Roger, Pim, Bruce Front:  Jeffrey, Kosuke, Nancy Jr., Nancy Sr. (coach)

Coach Nancy Sr. being the BOSS :)

 It's been too long, I know, since the last blog post on our training and life. For sure I could have squeezed in time for a quick blog post, but to be honest, after:

coming back from Germany & London, settling back home in Wheaton for just over a week before getting up and moving up to Milwaukee, let alone focusing on giving 100% into every workout and leaving room to fully recover the body with driving to get ART (active release therapy) and massages, beginning ice workouts again when the Pettit opened up their ice, trying to be the best sister and rearrange my workouts around Johnny's (my quarterback star football brother) Friday night games, and more...there has been little room to just breath. 

But I hate excuses, so it is going to be my challenge as the season continues to get harder and more intense, that I post more regularly and give you all fun insights on our journey to Sochi 2014!

Here is a recap since London (which, by the way, look out tomorrow for a post on our experience there, as many of you have been asking how it was being at London 2012 AND not competing):

• traveled home and adjusted to workouts back here as I started up my lifting again back at CoreFitness in Chicago and my speed/agility workouts at TCBoost (not to mention meeting some Chicago Bears players while training there) Check out my video from training there here and TCBoost's website here
• Brian, Jeffrey and Pim enjoyed some 'vacation' time (though they still worked out) at Brian's Michigan lake-house all the while giving Pim the ultimate American experience...it was his first time in the US!
• welcomed 2 new skaters to our awesome training group for the months of August and September: Tsuyoshe & Kosuke from Japan
• made the move up to Milwaukee and began ice training late August when the Pettit National Ice Center officially opened it's ice for the 2012-13 season
• At one point, we had 10 skaters in our training group during the first week the Pettit was open including: Roger Schneider (our Swiss speedskating friend), Nick Goplan (a Canadian speedskater who's based in Calgary), Pim (a Dutch skater who holds a Junior World Record), Brian, Jeffrey, myself, Tsuyoshe, Kosuke, Kuck and Bruce Conner (who is one of the best Masters skaters in the World, holding 3 Masters World Records & 2 World Masters Sprint Titles). 
• we cried (not really, but are really sad...still) when Pim left us at the end of August after being with us for 6 weeks. But Jonathan Kuck and Liam Ortega came back to the Pettit to train after being in Salt Lake City and have been working in with our group here and there, making up for the void :)
• now as racing season is nearing...the level of training on the ice has intensified completely and the amount of work we are all doing is absolutely crazy. BUT, we've all been handling it super well, NO INJURIES (thank the Lord!) and even Brian is trying to learn some Japanese in the process, haha. Having the two Japanese guys in our group has been a great benefit to our group and it's been fun getting to share some American life along the way.

  
  
  

  Having fun after a hard practice skating 
  backwards and reverse!







Chris Williams, Chris Spencer & Roberto Garza 
from the Bears

training is a killer :)

Life of an athlete in training for the Olympics is definitely a full-time job, but we all love it. Training comes with plenty of sacrifices, but every single one we embrace knowing it teaches us important lessons and drives us to overcome our weaknesses. This subject always brings me back to what the Bible accounts of the Apostle Paul. Paul at times endured the unthinkable throughout his journeys as he preached the Gospel. Read II Corinthians 11:23-26 to be amazed! Again, to those who have encouraged and supported us along the way, we can't thank you enough; we can only hope that as you follow this blog of ours, you are inspired and see the fruitfulness of our faith in Jesus Christ.

An example of our lives: wake-up, eat, driving, skating, eating,
recovery, napping, second workout, recovery, eating, sleeping...REPEAT