From Colorado to Texas
It’s been a hectic week. I was finished a Q & A with the campers at Lake Owen around 9pm on Sunday night then they drove me 3 hours, just short of Minneapolis. I caught a quick few hours of sleep and the on to the airport at 5 a.m. I landed in Denver and went straight to a gym in Boulder, Colo., called CATS Gymnastics. They had a huge coffee waiting for me. I LOVE them!!
It was a long day but we had so much fun. I coached a lot of balance beam and finished the day with a private two-hour floor and Balance Beam clinic for 10 very special young athletes. They were so wonderful to work with. After that I went to my room and crashed until the next morning.
Tuesday was another good day in the gym. There were autographs and a Q & A for the coaches and kids. After that they took me rock climbing! I have only tried rock climbing once before, and it was terribly high so this was pretty exciting. I went for the biggest rock first, of course. (Actually I just went for the one with the biggest guy holding the line.) There is a lot of trust involved with rock climbing, but then there?s a lot of trust involved with gymnastics so I guess I was prepared. There were certainly times in the gym where I would miss a skill and my coach would jump in and grab me out of the air before I hit the ground.
I admit I came off the rock a few times but I was determined to make it to the top before heading down. About half way up my leg was doing a little Elvis impersonation (shaking like a leaf) and my shoulders are still sore but I can at least say I made it to the top!!
Today, I am in Houston, Texas. I am opening my first summer gymnastics camp with Olympic medalist and two-time U.S. men’s Olympic gymnastics coach Peter Kormann. It was really exciting driving in and seeing the Texas Sports Ranch sign. It’s a great area to have a camp. There are 80 acres of land with a huge gymnastics gym with all new equipment, soccer fields, lacrosse, swimming pool, ropes course, climbing wall, horse back riding, basketball hoops, fishing, canoes?….well basically if you can think of it we?ve got it! I can?t wait to get started working with the kids. I?ll be here 2-3 days of every week for the next 8 weeks (more than I will be at home for sure). For now, I am headed to bed. I’m going to need the rest.
Talk to you soon.