Goood Luck!!

I just want to give a big good luck to everyone racing in Collegiate Mountain Bike Nationals this weekend at beautiful Lake Tahoe!! Wish I could be there to cheer everyone on, I know it's going to be a great race!!

I have finally finished the third week of the block and am entering a much needed recovery week. Last week was pretty tough, but it was a great week! For my weighlifting I cleaned 115 lbs from the floor for 3x5. And I didn't miss a single lift. That's the most I have ever lifted for 3x5 by far. And I shrugged 225 lbs, which is quite an accomplishment. Especially if you had seen my shrugs last block! Haha.

So I think it's about time for an update on the rest of my life other than training. I am finally feeling somewhat settled in Boone. And I have been enjoying work, though it has been a tough transition. I was able to spend the summer focusing solely on my training, so making the switch from no work to work 7 days a week hasn't been easy. But I can really say that I am enjoying every minute of it. The first 3 days of the week I coach gymnastics at New River Gymnastics. Then I work at the Banner Elk Winery the rest of the week. Working at the winery is awesome. I love getting to meet new people every day. And some really amazing people stop by. I have met a surprising number of couples from my hometown as well. So if you are in the area, go ahead and stop by! I'll give you a great wine tasting, and if you're lucky maybe you can join in on some grape stomping!

Gymnastics Isn't Fun

I never thought I would say that.... But this month of training has brought it out of me. Overall everything is progressing. Instead of doing 3x10 in the weight room we have dropped down to 3x5, but the weight has increased. And we have finally added some short run vaulting in, which has been awesome! There are some videos up on my youtube channel. These are REALLY short runs, like 2 and 4 steps (1 and 2 lefts). But the biggest and most painful change has been dropping my Friday lifting workout and adding a day in the gym. To give you and idea of how painful it is, here you go:
10x swings on P-Bars (deceptively easy start!)
10x pull ups on Rings
10x dips on Rings
1x Rope Climb (Climb as high as you can with no feet, then the rest of the way with feet)
10x Bubkas
The first week we did 2 sets of everything. The second week it was 3 sets. This Friday I am dreading having to do 4 sets.... Wish me luck!

Youtube

For anyone that is interested, I'm starting to post some videos on Youtube. This is mostly for training purposes, so it's going to be everything from the past two years... The good, the bad, and the ugly. But hopefully through it all you will be able to see the progress that I am making. My username is boog707. Here is a link to my page:

http://www.youtube.com/user/boog707

Geoff!!!

I got the opportunity to spend last weekend in Louisville, KY watching Geoff race in NBL BMX Grand Nationals. If you have never been to a BMX race, it's quite the experience. Geoff had some great races and managed to finish 4th in the main. He ended up ranked 3rd in the nation for the season. This is just the start of his BMX career, so be sure to keep an eye out for him in the future!!

http://flyerfryer.blogspot.com/

Made it!

I have officially finished my first 3 weeks of training for the year. We did a hard block of 3x10 in the weight room, with the heaviest weights I have lifted for 10's. It all felt really great. Call me crazy, but I really love the hard work! I will definitely enjoy my recovery week, but I'm really looking forward to getting back on the runway. :)

Finally

So it's been a while, I know. I am very sorry. It's been a busy month of traveling. After I got back from California, we made the decision to call it a season. The main reason was that my body was just really worn out from so much traveling and competing. And ending the season with a national championship isn't really a bad way to go out.

I was home from California for less than a week before Geoff and I headed out on a road trip to Colorado. That place really means a lot to both of us so we were really excited to have the chance to visit. While we were there we had the opportunity to train at the USOC in Colorado Springs. I had been on the campus many times as a visitor, but never as an athlete. It was amazing to train alongside Olympians. I absolutely felt like I belonged there and I can't wait to go back!

While we were there we also got to visit with some long lost friends and family. :) To everyone we saw, thanks for taking the time to visit with us! We are both so lucky to have friends and family like you! And rest assured, we will end up back with you in Colorado one day...

Once we finally made it home from all of the traveling, I took some much needed days off before heading into the SPEC lab at ETSU for some preseason testing. The results weren't as amazing as I had hoped, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It just means that I'm performing no where near my potential, I've got a lot left in me!

This week marked the beginning of my new training year. There have been a lot of changes in the works that I am really excited about. Living in Boone will make my training so much easier, and I have a lot more support behind me now. I think things are really going to start coming together. I have a couple months of hard training ahead of me. There won't be a ton of exciting results until meets start again in December and January. But I promise to keep you updated!