Greetings from Mexico!
As you may know, this year Team Cook is back in Mexico. Jacob Hernandez, Alex Ruiz, David Torrence, and Trenier Moser have now joined the group! They are some of the best in their respective events and not only are they great athletes, but also exceptional individuals. Shannon and I are both extremely happy to have them be part of our group. I know I can count on them to push me on and off the track. With clear and defined goals, the group is willing to work hard for what it wants in life.
We are currently in San Luis Potosí, Mexico performing an altitude training stint. It has been a great experience. San Luis Potosi is located in the heart of Mexico at an altitude of about
6000 ft. (2000m). The Training Center at La Loma located in the capital of San Luis Potosi gets much international attention, people visit and train from all over the world.
I recently made friends with some great athletes from Brazil, Holland and Mexico. My Brazilian friends are amongst the best swimmers from Brazil. I even had a chance to use my broken Portuguese. They were very surprised that I could actually converse with them and I enjoyed the chance to practice.
Our new Dutch friends... Michel, Niels, Christoph and their Coach, Guido, came to train at La Loma. It is amazing how many international athletes and people you can meet here.
The Dutch Coach Guido and our coaches came together, and there is a good chance that we will be stationed in Holland this summer for the European Track circuit. I don’t know if its luck or fate, but the place is 20 min from the beach and in a great location right outside of Amsterdam. I am excited to see where that takes us!
Nike Team Cook has been at the capital of San Luis Potosí for about four weeks now. Training so far has been ten times better than last year. Last year, I showed up to training camp (boot camp) a couple pounds out of shape. Let’s just say I payed for it. Not this year. I made sure I was ready for the intense training that awaited me.. haha.. call it smart of call it prepared I was ready!
Training usually starts at 9 am and lasts until about 12 or 1pm. We then take a break and return at 4pm and train for another hour to hour and a half. It is definitely a full time job demanding no less than 40 hours a week.
What a better way to compliment all the hard work than with an awesome weekend of Adventure. This Easter weekend we had a chance to get out of our routine and splurge on some fun. On Friday we went to San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, one of Mexico's most beautiful and historical cities. We started off the evening with a great dinner at Pueblo Viejo. This place was amazing and the food was fantastic. We had a brief chance to sit on the Terrace and enjoy a great view. When the food came out we were all greeted with awe and amazement. It was some of the best and most traditional Mexican food I’ve had. It should not have been a great surprise knowing we were in central Mexico.
We enjoyed our evening, and enjoyed the beautiful city square where people come and gathered by the ton. The next day, we had to prepare to head to Mojoneras, Guanajuato. (The actual place of my roots and decent). But first we had a couple hours ahead of us. So we enjoyed some quality coffee… not starbucks. For those of you that are surprised don’t worry I am changing my ways.. as a starbucks addict.. haha i had to try something new. So my friend Javi, Jacob and Shannon convinced me to try this new place called Donas Cafe. It was great coffee. If you ever get a chance check it out.
After coffee, we proceeded to our main mission and off we went to buy piñatas, and candy!!! Shannon and I made this a tradition last year when we came for training. We had had a great time last year and brought many smiles to many kids. It was something we could not forget and we decided to continue this every time we are back in Mexico.
We bought a tiger and a bear and enough candy to last a year.. haha
After that was done. We all got in the car and drove to Mojoneras a small town/village outside of Dolores Hidalgo where we were greeted by my family. I hadn’t seen my grandparents and some of my aunts since Christmas. I had almost forgotten how well they take care of me when I come back. My aunt had a feast for kings that awaited us. We chowed down, and got ready for bed. It had been a long day and we knew that another day awaited us.
The next day, we anxiously awaited the run. We started the run up a winding dirt road that lead to this highland flat area where we did a 4 mile loop. The footing was great and it seemed as though the road went on forever. It was definitely the best run of the year especially because of the fresh air and the mountains in the background.
When we finally got done with the run, the piñata time began. We arrived at my grandparents’ house and all the kids awaited us very anxiously. They were ready to get a hit at the piñatas. Like always we had some difficulties getting the rope up on the tree. But with my masterful throw and some team work we were finally able to get the rope in the tree and get a piñata tied and ready to go.
We let all the younger and then older kids get a shot at the piñatas. Before we knew it all the piñatas were broken and many a candy had flew and had distributed amongst many a kid.
After the piñatas my family had another feast fit for a king ready for us which consisted of mole de pollo, tostadas and agua fresca. Team Nike Cook loaded upon some great food before we headed back to San Luis Potosí. On the drive back, the only thing we could think about is how we were ready to do this again next year. It is always nice to enjoy good food, good times and a good road trip with amazing friends.