Dirt devils

Photographer Steve Gonzalez  and I spend 48 hours at the Olympic Training Center in March.   It was 48 hours of winging it.   Then we found ourselves “hiking it” in the 48th hour.   Really.

Look closely.  That’s Steve hauling a camera and tripod up the 30 foot start ramp on the BMX course.  It doesn’t sound like much until you’re halfway up and your gear shifts.  Or, so I heard from Steve later.  I was on the ground shooting still pics in case Jack lost his crown and the 50 grand camera came tumbling after.

Shooting the BMX course was like saving the best for last.  Although, we were less than spring fresh in our 48th hour of storytelling.

The practice track at Chula Vista is an exact replica of the Beijing track  on which athletes will race in August.  The USOC spent half a million dollars constructing an Olympic copycat. 

The US is expected to dominate BMX.  We’d better.  We invented the sport. 

There is a lot riding on BMX’s popularity.  The International Olympic Committee hopes that BMX will do for the Summer Games what snowboarding did for the Winter Games.   We’re talking about upping the cool factor.

And they don’t get much more cool, in my opinion, than Arielle Martin.

 The 22 year old BMX athlete is one of the top female racers in the world.  But, her heart is half a world away. 

 Arielle’s husband, Mike Verhaaren, is stationed in Afghanistan. 

Every Olympics has its “faces.”  They’re athletes who overcome some huge challenges to get to the start line.  Arielle is shaping up to be a “face.”  NBC sent a crew to Afghanistan to interview her husband.  Google her name and she pops up in newspaper articles across the globe.

Two women will represent the US in BMX in Beijing.  Odds are that Arielle will be one of those competitors women.   The better odds are that the only face Arielle shows any of us at the top of the Beijing start ramp is her game face.

Resuming the relay

The Olympic Torch relay resumed today in China after three days of national mourning for the victims of last week’s earthquake.

New numbers are out.  They are staggering.

Imagine every single person living in Rocklin and every single person living in Granite Bay.  Now, imagine they are all gone.  That’s how many people are confirmed to have died in the China earthquake.  (approximately 80 thousand lives.)

Now, imagine all the people of Folsom and Stockton.  We’re talking about 300 thousand people.

That’s how many people are missing.

The disaster zone is about 900 miles away from Beijing.  Many of you have either asked or emailed me wondering if the Olympics will still go on.  The answer is yes. 

I think the earthquake could have happened 9 miles from Beijing and the games still would have gone on.   

Did the US cancel the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics after the 9/11 attacks?  No.

They went on and became a symbol of hope for many after a few months of feeling so shaken and sad by the terrorists’ actions.

I suppose that’s why the torch relay resumed today as well.  It’s definitely toned down.   The plan is to bring the relay near the earthquake zone later in the summer.  Perhaps, people in the Sichuan Province will be ready for it by then.

In their purest form,  the Olympic rings represent the union of the five continents and the meeting of athletes from all over the world.

In reality,  they’ve come to mean fiercely protected television rights and seriously expensive sponsorship opportunities.

But, perhaps the original spirit and intention of the Games will shine through this summer as countries unite and the earthquake victims rebuild their lives.  Check out the Red Cross website to learn more about how you can help.

Weighty Questions Part 2

(this is a continuation of the previous Q&A blog with Steve Bamel, Olympic strength & conditioning coach.)

6. Which Olympian has inspired you most and why?

I’ve never been a huge professional sports fan but for some reason from a young age I have always loved international competition, and the Olympics especially.

There are so many Olympians who have inspired me from such a young age,whether it was watching them live or seeing the clips and hearing thestories later on.

The short list, 1980 Hockey team, of course, Dan Gable, John Smith, Bonnie Blair, Mia Hamm, the Brands Brothers, Dan Jansen, and I can’t forget my fellow Long Islander Sarah Hughes.

7. What’s the coolest thing about your job?

The coolest thing about my job is that I get to wear shorts and a t-shirt to work everyday, I never sit behind a desk (except to answer email.) And, oh yeah,  I help people to achieve their dreams and inspire Americans.

8. We’re less than 80 days away from the games…what’s the mood like in the gym these days? Are athletes getting more stressed?

The mood for training never changes, whether we are 3 years out, 9 months out or 90 days out. It’s always a hard working environment, mixed in with a little light hearted fun to take the edge off.

With the amount of training and competitions that these athletes have, we never want them to dread coming to the gym so we make an atmosphere where the athletes look forward to coming in because they know that they are going to make progress as well as enjoy the experience, at least somewhat, haha.

9. It seems like the advice on weight training changes each year. Oneyear it’s: do low weight/ high reps. The next year it’s: do high weight/ low reps. Why does it seem like the advice is always changing?(can you tell this is purely a personal question from me?!)

People spend way too much time paying attention to the miniscule details out there and way too little time paying attention to what’s really important.

Instead of eating a balanced diet rich in nutritious foods, they pay attention only to how much omega 3’s are in this and that. Or, instead of putting together a routine that will train their entire body, they perform the infomercial exercise of the month that “works the whole body at once.”

Grass-roots training is what works and what will always work. Compound exercises that work more than one body part at a time (ie:squats, deadlifts, lunges, push ups, chin ups) and a balanced, healthy diet are things that will work forever.

10. After spending all your work time around fit people, do you everhave an urge to grab a burger, park yourself on the couch and not leave untilyou’ve packed on 10 pounds…just because you can and your clients can’t?

Heck yeah I have the urge to pig out and sit and watch tv for hours, and you know what? I do it.

My competitive playing career is over and done with.

I, like these athletes, spent a lot of years sacrificing those things to be at the top of my game.

So now I’m not afraid to polish off an entire pizza in one sitting. However, the guilt of doing that usually sticks with me for a while and for the next few weeks I eat as clean as I can. I guess old habits are hard to break.

 

 

 

 

 

Weighty Questions Part 1

 Steve Bamel is the strength and conditioning coach at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista. 

Nearly every athlete who goes through the center spends some time with Steve.  He develops weight training routines to improve athletes’ chances at Olympic success. 

He’s around crazy fit people at all times. 

Personally, I might tire of such “perfection.”

But, Steve is in awe of the opportunity to work with such dedicated athletes.  He was one of the friendliest people we met on our visit to the Olympic Training Center.  He took some time to answer a few extra questions for Deirdre’s Diary.

1. What’s the hardest thing about spending your entire day with the fittest people on the planet? Do you feel pressure to work out all thetime?

I hate to say this but, there’s nothing hard about spending day after day working with the most motivated people you’ll ever meet in your life.

I speak to my colleagues who work in both the college and professional environment all the time and it’s always a challenge for them to motivate their athletes. I have never had this problem at the Olympic Training Center.

 These athletes are super goal orientated and want that podium more than anything. If you get the chance to be around that for even 1 day in your life, it’s going to make an impression. I get to be around it everyday. It just pushes me to work hard and be better at my job.

As far as the pressure to workout, I’ve always enjoyed training hard and pushing myself so there’s no pressure for me to stay in shape, it’s always been a part of my life that I love and I continue to do it.

2. Who works harder, women or men? (I know, I”m totally setting you upon that one!)

Ouch, you are setting me up with this one.

You always see high school and college athletes with the saying “One Speed” on their shirts. They are referring to working as hard as possible all the time.

Now, I’ve been both a high school and college strength and coach and in most instances those athletes aren’t working at that “one speed” all the time.

Here, in this environment, that saying is 100% true. Man, Woman, and child, everyone here at the training center gets after it.

3. What lessons can we weekend warriors take from the Olympic strength programs you develop for the athletes?

The most common mistake weekend warriors make is that they do the same thing all the time and then don’t give themselves the time to recover from those workouts.

Add variety to your workouts, work hard, and recover harder.

Overload and recovery. That’s what it’s all about.

4. What’s the biggest misconception about weight training?

The hardest part about being in the exercise industry is that people pick up a fitness magazine and think that if they just look at weights they are going to look like the girls and guys in those magazines.

So instead of training hard they go light and walk the mall or pick up some purple 2lb weights.

As a general rule, stay away from any kind of colored dumbbell. Stick with the iron and get after it. There are not too many people on the planet who have to worry about getting that big.

The important things are to find some kind of exercise that you love to do, train hard, enjoy it and you’ll get the results you want.

5. If you could compete in any Olympic sport, what would it be and why?

I played college soccer and lacrosse so I’d love to play soccer on that level.

 I’d also love to see lacrosse as a part of the Olympics. It’s a great sport that doesn’t get a lot of publicity and if it were a part ofthe Olympics, I think it would get the kind of coverage that would help the sport to grow both here and overseas.

 

 

 

 

 

An update on Team Emily

Three out of the eight women competing for a spot on the Women’s Olympic Kayak Team were named Emily.  We figured that meant there was a good chance that an Emily would end up on the team. 

We figured wrong. 

I just got an email from Diana Wright at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista.  Here’s what she had to say:

“Unfortunately none of the girls won their necessary races to earn a spot at the Olympics or the upcoming World Cup races.”

Bummer.

In case you missed it, here is our Olympic Zone story on Team Emily.

 

 

 

24 hours and counting

It’s a good thing there are only 24 hours in a day.

I don’t know that Emily Mickle would survive 25. Tomorrow, she’ll find out if she’ll represent her country as an Olympic kayaker in Beijing. 

The naming of the team will happen in Montreal.  Even our Olympic proclamations are being outsourced. 

Emily took a break from chewing her fingernails to talk about what these final 24 hours are like.

You’re really close to finding out if you’re going to Beijing.  What’s the hardest part of waiting?

The hardest part of waiting is all the built up energy you gain from tapering.  You just have to work on harnessing it all for the moment of the race when you can let it all out.

Are you doing anything special to get the team announcement off your mind?

Spending time with friends/teammates is a great way to relax.  Our team is like a family. I enjoy just spending time with them and laughing is the best way to stay calm before racing.

What has been the coolest perk of being a serious contender for the Olympic team?

I think a major perk is just the idea that you could be a part of something really big.  Going to the Olympics is something I have always dreamed about doing and being this close is just an incredible feeling.

Since we shot your story, the name Emily has topped the list of most popular names.  This probably means an explosion of Emilys (wow, that sounds weird) is on the way.  Is this a good thing?

How could it not be a good thing?  I love all the Emilys I know.  Since there are so many Emilys running around, I think it forces us to be unique.  We might all be named Emily.  But, we all have our interesting attributes that set us apart.

If you’re named to the kayak team, how will you celebrate?

That is hard to say.  I know the big celebration will be in Beijing.  This is only one more step towards actually going to the Games.  We would have to keep up our trainig and stay focused so we could perform in Beijing.

Finish this sentence:  I kayak because…it’s fun!

Is there an Emily in the house?

I met the “Emilys” as they’ve been dubbed on a recent trip to the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista.  They were a giggly foursome lifting weights in the gym.  I was a not so giggly reporter frantically trying to pull together a story about Olympic weight training.    

Steve, the guy who runs the gym, introduced me to them. 

Emily Wright. Emily Mickle, Emily Vinson and Lauren Austin.

I was so tired that day he could have added in Emily Dickinson and it still would have taken me a few minutes to process the plethora of Emilys.

It’s not unusual to meet two people at once with a common name.  My brother is named Michael and he’s lived a lifetime of being “Michael F.”

But to have three people out of four standing in front of you with the same moniker is madness.  I had to diagram their names to keep them straight.

And that, is how our Olympic Zone story “Team Emily” was born.

Watch for it this Friday at 5pm and see how they’ve found inspiration in a box of chalk. 

You Tube’d in love

One of my favorite questions to ask a couple is: How did you get engaged? It’s a question that inevitably makes a person smile before answering. And often, the most dull people have the wildest stories of what let them to the I Do’s.

Stacy Dragila is neither sedate nor dull. So, it figures, she’s got a great story of how she got engaged. And, because it’s 2008, it’s now on You Tube.

Picture this.

Stacy arrives back in Idaho after a trip. She walks into her house and her friends are there and tell her to watch a dvd. Then, her boyfriend and fellow Olympic hopeful Ian Waltz pops up in a place with special meaning to the couple. The rest…well, you know.