The beginning of an Olympic campaign requires a lot of dedication and legwork, and we thought we'd share a little insight into the process with you!
In the next few paragraphs we've shared a few quick facts about starting a new Olympic campaign. We wonder if its the same in other sports, and would love to hear from other Olympic athletes who can relate.
In the Beginning: Two important general themes need to be tackled. Number one: raise funds and organize logistics to train/compete. Number two: Train (the right things at the right time) and compete with the right teams or coaches around us. Some skills are easier to build more quickly than others, so choosing what to focus on is really important when you have a limited number of days to accomplish your goals. Our timeline has been roughly 950 days long (from day 1)
Your Resources: At the beginning of a campaign there are a lot of things you don't have the luxury of doing. Usually this is related to funds and performance. Limited funds = discretion and selectivity. Performance (takes lots of days of leg work) = outside support, confidence, determines equipment focal points, and creates mile markers of progress that you can use to develop more performance goals. Example: taking a brand new program abroad for a month with a full time coach is sometimes a wasted expense - it might not actually offer the kind of return in performance you expect for the cost. On the other hand, there will be opportunities in training/coaching not to be missed... because the return on investment (in performance) is high! The budget is sacred, and what we choose to do in the coming months makes a big impact on how we feel and perform as a team. We feel confident and excited about how our experience has guided the planning process so far, but there is more to do! No pressure right??
Monthly Breakdown: As of today we have been a team for just over two months! In January we sailed 19 days, did 10 days of boat work, and coached 2 days. In February we sailed 10 days, did 12 days of boat and fundraising work, and coached 6 days. This month there is much more sailing and work in store to get the show on the road in Europe in May.
Daily Schedule: A normal day with one session in the afternoon looks something like this for us:
6:30AM - Alarm goes off
7:00 - Coffee/breakfast
7:30 - Head to the gym
8:00-10:00 - Gym
10:15-11:30 - Review video and plan for the day, return emails, work on logistics, lunch.
11:30-12:30 - Rigging
12:30 - Time to go flying!
3:30/4 - Hit the dock, derig and dress.
4:30 - Boat work if any. Usually there is something to be done... it wouldn't be a sailboat if this wasn't true.
5:30 - Head to debrief
5:30-6:30 - Debrief (usually looks a lot like this, as David explains theories on the foils)
7:15 - Dinner
8:30-10:00 - Home and the main personal time we get each day. Usually a good time to use the foam roller :)
10:00 - Bed time!
We've been hitting the water and gym pretty hard here in Miami. Each day is a mission, and we are learning so much. Excited for the wake up call tomorrow - we have an early flight to catch... also known as a morning session on the Nacra 17!
