Olympic Training Center Pictures

Hello.  My new friend Brodie sent some pictures of the USOTC today and I thought I would share them with you all.  There are pictures of the athlete center which is behind the big USA Olympic sign and up the steps.  Behind the windows is where the cafeteria is.  The picture of the mountain with flags on each side of the walkway is Pike's Peak.  There is an altitude research center up there where Dr. Andy Subudhi puts athletes and general folks through torturous research experiments.  Some of his work has helped clarify the body's response to a hypoxic environment.  The picture of the building without the USA Olympic symbol is the athlete center.  If you proceeded up the steps behind the USA structure you would be facing that building.  So, you are basically behind the USA structure in this picture.  Notice in the picture with the USA symbol there is a podium for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place.  I think this is the area where they give athletes photo credits for their Olympic performances.  Awesome stuff!  Enjoy the pictures.

US Olympic Training Center

What an experience!  Walking through the USOTC campus was an overwhelming experience.  The complex was built to inspire athletes, coaches and spectators of sport.  All divisions of sport had their own facility that specializes in training the world's best.  To know that I was walking on the footsteps of decades worth of the worlds best Olympic athletes brought me to tears.  Quotes from athletes peppered the complex on plaques and stenciled letters which sent shivers down my spine.  At one time in my life I wanted to be the best and find myself living at the OTC.  Being around the top-level coaches and athletes reminded me that I can still get there.  

The weekend went quick.  And at an altitude of 6,000 + feet above sea level, all of my physiological systems were being tweaked.  Nose bleeds, sleep abnormalities, digestion issues (I wont go there) and dehydration all left me feeling quite poor all weekend.  But, I wasn't going to let my personal ailments hinder my experience.  I believe the term is, altitude sickness.  It was weird because I don't remember ever getting altitude sickness when I lived in Flagstaff Arizona which is at an altitude of 7,000-8,000 feet above sea level.  I am out of shape which could be the reason.  

Friday and Saturday were busy classroom days.  We studied sport physiology, nutrition, cycling tactics and strategies, and training plan design.  Much of what we covered I have known for a while now, but there were little things that I picked up which were very useful in gaining a better understanding of the entire paradigm of bike racing.  

I am going to shift gears and talk about the facility a little.  The USOTC is quite large.  To put it into perspective, if you walk from one end of campus to the other it takes about 15 minutes.  It is roughly 3-4 football fields long by 2-3 football fields wide.  Our dorms were located in the back of the complex.  We were housed with visiting national level volleyball players who were trying out for the Olympic squad this weekend.  As you head from the dorms to the front of campus, you will enter the Athlete Center.  This is where the cafeteria is and other administration is.  When you walk in there is a front desk receptionist and on the other wall is a large round emblem of the USOTC with two American flags surrounding it.  To get to the cafeteria you walk down a flight of stairs and swipe your card to gain access.  If you don't an alarm goes off and everyone looks at you (yes this happened to me).  

The meals that are planned for the staff and athletes are nutritionally balanced.  All meals have one thing in common, nutritional density.  Above each dish (buffet style) is the nutritional facts so athletes can quantify their consumption.  There was also quite a bit of desserts, coffees and juices.  It was awesome having access to these things.  When you enter the eating area there is a recovery center that had bananas, oranges and a pre-mixed recovery shake for those interested.  I tried it and boy was it delicious.  Everything I ate was perfectly balanced and was meant to give our US athletes an edge over the competition.  

Heading out the back of the Athlete Center was amazing.  There was residential housing on each side of the complex and as you headed back toward the front of campus sort of inside the walls of the center there was sculptures all of various sports (wrestling, gymnastics, cycling, skiing etc.).  Heading into the last building (or the first one you see when you enter the campus) you would find the gift shop and memorabilia of past victories of our country.  Some of the Olympic torches were displayed in glass cases and there was amazing paintings of all sports competing in the Olympics.  It was more of a galleria than a gift shop.  Out the back of the building there were steps that went to the top of the gift shop where a torch is displayed when the Olympics are underway.  What an amazing visit!

I left feeling inspired to venture into sport performance.  The Olympic Games are one of the only peaceful things that brings our World together.  To be a part of something like this would give me great satisfaction and fulfillment.  With that, I am going to pursue this dream and somehow find a way to get involved with preparing our US athletes for the gold!  

I have to go to school now and I will be updating with more information as time proceeds. 

US Olympic Training Center, Colorado Springs, CO

I know this has nothing to do with chiropractic school, but I felt compelled to blog the experience this weekend at the USOTC in Colorado Springs, CO.  

My flight takes off at 4 pm today and I arrive in Colorado Springs at 9 pm tonight.  One layover in Salt Lake City and a short hop to Colorado.  This will be my first (hopefully not last) visit to the USOTC.  Our days will be full of learning new updated ways to train cyclists.  I am going to look into hooking up with the medical team (if there is one) to observe some Olympic athletes receive chiropractic care (if such business goes on at the OTC).  

All in all, I am very pumped for this experience and I can't wait to update my blog next time.  Oh, on a side note, I got an 82% on my biomechanics midterm today.  Not bad, considering how much I actually invested into studying for this test.  The final will be a much better grade because my motivation is gaining these past few days.

The future looks bright!  

The Orbit Dissection

We removed an eye from our cadaver yesterday.  The brain was removed a few weeks ago which affected me greatly.  You do not see brains hanging out of dead folk's heads that often or ever if you are normal.  That day, I left early and just about left for good.  My confidence since has grown while in lab and the dissections have turned out to be very interesting.

Yesterday, we removed an eyeball from our cadaver's head.  This involved cutting through the frontal bone (forehead) with a hacksaw.  Keeping in mind the brain is gone and head now resembles a soup bowl.  The hacksaw cut was just above the eye socket.  Just lateral to the nasal bone and just medial to the temporal bone (side of the head).  We then cut the neurovascular elements that protruded through the piece of bone that was cut free.  The bone was removed and the eye was exposed.  Prior to using the hacksaw, two of my colleagues used a hammer and chisel to break free the bone that forms the upper eye socket.  This way, when the frontal bone was cut away, the entire eyeball and it's muscles, nerves and tissues could be pulled up and out the top of the skull in a wad.

On one side of the cadaver we removed the eyeball entirely, while on the other side we left things in tact and dissected it as is exposing the nerves, veins, arteries and muscles that form the orbit.  Ashley, one the lab students, injected the eyeball that was still intact with water to re-inflate it to a spherical shape.  She liked doing this and quite honestly, I would have liked to do it too if I had jumped on the chance.  Ashley and Matt, another lab student, took the eyeball 'wad' to the bench and picked it apart exposing the muscles and nerves.  It was a bit weird having the eyelid still attached with eye lashes and skin.  

When you get into these kinds of situations there is a moment of panic.  You either find a way to rationalize the experience or you leave and contemplate quitting.  I have done both while at WSCC.  There has been times when I wonder why I keep coming back and other times when I dig in and get my hands juicy.  The mind is a powerful thing.  

This new approach to school has me pretty excited these last few days.  I see the importance of knowing the material we are learning and the correlations between the disciplines.  Our studies in histology have been quite amazing.  The detail is overwhelming.  You leave thinking, "I better go over that again tonight."  We have learned the microscopic anatomy of most of the tissues of the body.  Starting from the outside and working to the inside of the body.  We are getting into the viscera (organs) lately and have gone through the skin, muscles, bone, blood, blood vessels, the digestive system and now the viscera.  

On top of histology and head and neck anatomy, we are learning biomechanics, biopalpation, adjusting skills, biochemistry and a few classes relating clinical topics and philosophical ideologies of chiropractic.  Speaking of, I have to get fine-tuned for the biomechanics midterm tomorrow.  Think of me at 8:30 Pacific time.

All my best,

Nate

A Fresh Mind

This is the first post of my new blog, Chiropractique.  I had a lot of requests from friends and family (who I didn't know were reading my blog) to continue blogging my experience at Western States Chiropractic College.  I do not want to take a negative approach to this blog as my last one left me very angry every time I posted my thoughts.  The main topic of choice will be about my daily experiences, struggles (hopefully not many) and tidbits I learn about the amazing human body.  My old blog was sort of a bitch-fest each time I wrote in it, almost like a journal of all my frustrations with my choices.  I deleted it for that very reason because instead of sharing all the cool new stuff I have learned, I hacked away at the profession I am entering.  

I wont deny that I am being challenged on multiple levels at WSCC but that doesn't give me the right to brutalize it with my rhetoric.  The new approach will be a bit more cheerful and happy, I promise.  No more Mr. Pissy Ass.

It took a trip to the beautiful SE Oregon this weekend to regain a touch of positive energy.  I think we all need to take deserved breaks once and while and find that glimmer of hope.  You can't pour all your heart and soul into something without stepping back and remembering why you are doing it in the first place.  

I look forward to reading your comments as I share my experiences.