EDITOR’S NOTE:
Welcome to the Athlete Journal of Olympic weightlifter Holley Mangold. Holley is part of Team USA headed to London this summer. Follow her journey here as she trains for the 2012 Olympics! Holley’s journal will be posted every Friday.
Holley’s Athlete Journal 2:
Making the Olympics has dramatically changed my normal routine, as it probably should. Before, I trained daily, watched a lot of movies with my roommates, and catered at City Barbeque for income to support my lifting. I really flew under the radar in a lot of ways. Now I need my manager to keep me up to date with my own schedule, and help me find ways to raise money since I can no longer work. (It was great to see some of my apparel ideas come to life.) Anything more than eat, sleep, train is busy to me! On a normal month, I travel to the Olympic Training Center (OTC) for intense training sessions, then back to Columbus to train and teach CrossFit courses.
Two weeks ago, I traveled to Colorado to join up with a group of fellow lifters. From there we drove to Iowa to watch my former roommate, Vonnie, compete for her spot in the Olympics in wrestling. It was a 12-hour drive from Colorado but so worth it. The competition was intense and emotional. I’m proud of Vonnie for having such a strong competition despite being injured and beat up from her training. I know that feeling of wanting to win no matter what happens to my body, but despite fighting hard, she didn’t win a spot. I would have loved to have her in London so it was heartbreaking to say the least. We drove back to Colorado for more two-a-day training.
When I am at the OTC, I train morning and night while following a strict diet plan. They have amazing coaches, trainers, and chefs there so all I have to worry about is getting my sore body out of bed and pushing through each practice as hard as possible. I completely lose touch with the world outside of the OTC when I’m there (you can ask my family, I don’t even have time or energy to call them)!
When the weekend came, we were all looking for a break! A group of weightlifting friends and I headed out camping in the woods near the OTC. It was so refreshing to be miles away from everything, just enjoying life. I’ve really made some of the greatest relationships out there. People at the OTC all bring something different to the table, but their positive, strong attitude is so motivating! It’s exhilarating to be out there. After the weekend, I had another week of training before heading back to Columbus Weightlifting.
When I came home to Columbus, my roommate/manager, Drew, had a CrossFit course set up for us to teach in Baltimore at a gym named Push 511. I love teaching the clinics because of the energy level and determination that CrossFit people have, especially the people in Baltimore. After we came home from Baltimore I needed some down time – Mario Cart always does the trick!
The past week I’ve spent just getting back into my routine. It’s hard to go from the structure of the OTC to my apartment, where I need to make my own food, work, pay bills, and do my “house mom chores.” I wouldn’t trade it for the world, though, because as much as the training center is wonderful, I need varying weeks to keep me on my toes. I also wouldn’t be able to train as hard or as long as I did if I didn’t have my downtime with my roommates; relaxing and taking one day at a time really does make a difference.
The upcoming week, I will be focused on training then heading home to Dayton to visit with my family, which is always an interesting time!
