Warm Winter Opportunities

I have been BLESSED with 2 recent opportunities:

1.  I am spending some time in Clermont, FL (away from work) getting a jump start on the 2012 season.  For those of you who don't know me, I am a Pediatric Occupational Therapist.  I work at Dayton Children's Medical Center, providing guidance to families with children (ages 0-21) who have fine motor, visual motor, self-help, sensory processing, behavior, strength, and mobility concerns/delays.  It is rewarding and challenging every day!  

I love my job, but I have to balance work and training which can be tough.  Morning workouts are arranged to conserve energy for the 6-8 hrs working with the kids.  Often, evening workouts don't start until 7pm, making for an 8:30 or 9pm dinner.  Recovery time is quite limited since I have to budget my time in order to fit everything in. 

This time in Clermont will allow me to put full effort into each training session.  The facilities here are fabulous.  I will spend nearly all of my time outside, which usually doesn't happen for me until about April in Ohio.  I can't tell you how long it's been since I've swam in an outdoor 50m pool.  ahhhh! 

Clermont is a "hub" for many elite triathletes, and I will hopefully spend a good chunk of my time getting pushed to improve.  (trust me...there is some serious talent here!)

2.  Equally as exciting, and by far more rewarding, is the opportunity I've been given to assist with the Wounded Warrior Project.  In my last post I talked briefly about this and provided a link to their website, explaining how the program got started and their mission.  I will be working under direction of head coach Sheila Taormina (the ONLY woman to compete in 3 different disciplines in different Olympiads - 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008; swimming, triathlon, and modern pentathlon). 

We will be coaching a wide range of marines - those new to the sport, and some with a swimming background.  The common factor for these Marines: they all are injured service members.  The extent of their injuries will vary, but all have the common goal to return to or begin a well-adjusted, healthy lifestyle despite their injury.  Marines from all over the country (and other countries) will gather at Camp Pendleton to participate in a number of sports including swimming, archery, cycling, floor volleyball, track and field, and shooting.  This will serve as the "trials" to select the elite Marines in each event to represent the USMC in the Warrior Games later in the year.  Hoo-yah - bring it on! 

"No Mr. President, none that I can think of."

Check out this video clip from last year's swim clinic to get an idea of what I'm talking about:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnK5aQ7TzO4&feature=g-upl&context=G24a6860AUAAAAAAAbAA

Stay tuned for some amazing updates!
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