Stanford Open! (photo courtesy of Diana Lattimore)

Still can’t believe that we were one of the originals families that started this meet (as a junior gymnast I trained on the boys team at Stanford).  The meet has got to be going on for about 20 years by now and it’s become one of the biggest boys competition on the west coast.

Big thanks to all of my friends that came out to support me.  It was fun being able to perform in front of all you guys!  Well, I’m off to Winter Cup tomorrow (in Vegas).  Wish me luck!

Group pic with some of my friends (photo courtesy of Josh Mesones)

I’ve gotta say that the highlight of the camp (at least for me) was being able to train with my long-time friend/old teammate and 2008 US National Champion, David Sender!  Dave recently announced his plans of coming back and although he isn’t currently on the US National Team, he was invited to come and train with us.  Training with him brought me back to old times when we used to train together at Stanford.  Good times indeed!

Anyway, I’m back home and gearing up for Winter Cup.  I’ll be competing this weekend at the Stanford Open as a preparation for Winter Cup.  If anybody is around that night (Saturday at 7pm), please come on by!  Ping me for more details.  Thanks!

Gym @ OTC - This is where our national team camps and various national clinics take place.

The back gym.

Another shot of the back gym.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Over the weekend, I went out to judge another local junior meet.  As always it was awesome to see how much the boys have improved since the previous season.  Really shows how hard they’ve worked over the summer!  Although I won’t be able to judge as much this season because it’ll be a busy year, I’m looking forward to seeing them at a few more meets.

Judging Horse!

As for my own training, things have been progressing well.  I’ve been focusing on putting in the numbers and going through the grind in order to peak at the Winter Cup Challenge in a couple of weeks.  I also leave for another National Team Camp in Colorado next week.  Things are slowly coming along.  Not perfect yet but check out my ring routine from a couple of weeks ago!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Thanks for checking in!

I wanted to say a how grateful I am for all of the support I’ve received in 2011.  It was a year of many ups and downs but I’m lucky that I had so many great people around me.  Next year is an important year with the Olympics but I’m planning on taking it day by day.  Here’s to a very healthy and happy 2012 to everyone!  Thanks for the continued support!

Season Opener!

One of the coolest surprises of the meet was that one of the kids had a “Sho” patch on his gym bag.  Thanks for the support little man!!!

Merry Xmas everyone!

I went back home and took a couple of days to recharge.  Definitely needed this.  Got lots of good food in me so I should be good to go.  Super happy that NBA is back on too!

Great food the last couple of days. It's just what I needed

A lot has happened over the past few weeks but I’ve been slightly busier than usual and have had little time to report!  Training and work has kept me busy and the fact that this is a short month due to the holidays had made things a bit more hectic.  Not to mention, I’ve also been feeling a bit under the weather so I’ve been trying to put in some extra sleep/recovery time whenever possible.

Aside from this minor cold I’ve been trying to get over, things have been going pretty well.  I recently came back from another National Team Camp in Colorado Springs.  It was another super productive camp and it was great seeing the rest of the national team members.  We had some strong training sessions and as a group/individual, we made plans for the upcoming year which is obviously the most important year in this quadrennium.  While some of the guys were working new skills to add into their routines, others were starting back up with routines again to prepare for meets that are coming up in January.

All was good at camp except for the fact that it was freezing temperature.  The high it got up to during our whole time there was only 8 degrees, and for a California guy like me, that’s no good.  I really can’t believe I lived there for two years.  I don’t know how I dealt with the cold and the dry and crackly skin.  I went through an entire bottle of lotion and 2 chapsticks, and I was only there for 4 days!

Walking to the gym. Lots of slush, snow, and ice.

For those of you that’ve never visited the Olympic Training Center, I snapped a few shots of the dorm room where we stay when we go there to train.  Generally we stay in a room with another roommate or two and have only a double bed, but this time we got lucky and got our own rooms with a queen-size bed!  It’s also constantly temp controlled and there’s wi-fi which is a necessity in this day in age.  Check out the pics below!

A TV with cable and DVD player

Ample closet space

Super comfy queen size bed

and a sink all in your own room!

Over the past few years, the rooms have definitely gone through significant changes.  When I was a young kid coming to the Jr National Team Camps, we literally only had a bed in our rooms.  It’s definitely a bit different today!