May 22, 2000
May 22 2000

Time certainly goes by fast. It's barely 100 days to the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. All the hard work, the concentration, dreams and wishes will be laid bare in a mere 100 days. Who wins and losses is already decided by God, but as mere actors, we will toil for the next three months, hoping that it is one of us. On my part, I want to believe it is me because I believe I am
the chosen one. Everyone else should partake in the ceremony that is training and hoping.

Four of my teammates left for the final Olympic qualifying tournament in Cali-Columbia over the weekend. Last week consisted of short and intense practices. The guys were all pumped, I wish them luck. I hope they all secure Olympic spots, I want the same environment that has existed in the training room to continue all the way to the Olympics. I want to have as many same-minded people to be practicing in the "dungeon".

I have started with a new trainer and a new massage therapist. I already like my trainer (Wayne Wilson) because he has been showing me the proper way to do cleans and the Romanian dead lifts. After years of doing these exercises, I just figured that I had been doing everything wrong. The back spasms that I experienced in the past after every hard lifting session are gone. My new masseur was also very fun to be around. After the first 1.5 hour session, I knew liked the guy. I see a lot of improvement happening in my performance over the next couple of months. I expect to be a lot stronger and injury free in the next couple of months. Can you imagine what that means for my opponents at the Olympics?

Keep Sweating. I am already drenched in sweat!