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.
You can catch up by reading her previous journal entries!
Holley’s Athlete Journal 5:
The past week was a great overall week – training felt good, family time was short but sweet, and a lifters BBQ topped it all off on Saturday.
The previous Thursday I went to Springboro Elementary in Dayton to speak to a class of third graders about being an Olympian. It’s so surreal to be doing something like that. On one hand, I feel as though I was in their shoes not too long ago and I’m really just a normal immature kid. Then on the other hand, I realize making the Olympics didn’t happen over night. It took work – lots of work!
After joking around, I thought about all of the hiccups I had along the way and what I had to do to get over them. I needed to stress how important it is to have the value of perseverance, because without it I would have quit my after my first awkward day at weightlifting. Another value at their age that I needed to tap into was discipline. Even though I can get a little crazy at times, discipline in the right areas was such a key component to making it this far. I had to completely give myself over to the coaches to mold me, even when I felt like my body was crumbling. Discipline in diet and partying is still a constant battle. I like being young and carefree, which I need to keep in check until post Olympics. Lastly, I think it’s important to stress confidence. I know that kids start having self-esteem issues and it’s the hardest thing to be successful if you’re constantly beating yourself up over little issues. One of your biggest cheerleaders has to be yourself because if you don’t believe in you it’ll be very hard for anyone else to! It was wonderful to have that opportunity to speak with those children.
After having a wonderful time chatting up the elementary kids, I picked up my twelve year old sister to bring her back to Columbus. It’s always nice to have one-on-one time with her. She looks like a mini-me, but has such a personality all her own. It’s important for me to let her know she doesn’t have to follow in my footsteps for me to be proud of her – she’s way more studious than I ever was at that age! On Friday we went to Dave and Busters where my mom met up with us. A Mangold family gathering would not be complete without some kind of competition! Not to worry though, I won every game! We had such a fun night!
Saturday, a group of lifters and I had a BBQ. Like I’ve said in past blogs, kicking back with a positive group of athletes is the best way to unwind from the week, especially when there’s awesome all American food involved! We had a great time as usual.
Monday, our gym was closed for the holiday so we went to a gym called Rogue Fitness. A fun change of pace but even more fun to meet 2010 CrossFit champion, Graham Holmberg! He’s a beast and a true inspiration.
This upcoming week will have a lot of time spent training and a lot of work at City Barbecue. There are a ton of events for us in the summer season and it will be a challenge working as much as possible while still being training oriented. Our big event will be at the Arts Festival this weekend where my teammates and I will be serving beer at the beer tent. Come out and enjoy the festival if you’re in Columbus!
Next blog I’ll post the past week’s workout for anyone that’s interested. I don’t want to share the workout every week in order to keep some privacy in training prep!
