apolo anton ohno

i just finished apolo's book. i have been dyeing  to write this post. it took a little longer then i was hoping because of course, right when i was in the middle of reading it we started reading another book in english. but no worries - this post is here.
i first got to know apolo from the famous show dancing with the stars, which he was partnered with my favorite julianne hough, and won, then i watched him at the olympics 2010, and now i am addicted. seriously.
i get goose bumps thinking about how good the book is. it was the best book i have ever read!
apolo is so inspiring!! at the age of 14 all he wanted to do was hang out with his friends, go to parties, and just have fun. he didn't care about his talent in speed skating. he didn't care that people from utah were calling him and asking him to come train with the professionals. his dad forced him to go and after two tries he finally got on the plane with apolo and off they were to utah. a little while later his dad dropped apolo off at a cottage and told him to stay here until he decided what he wanted to do with his life: skate or not?? after a weekend of contemplating all of the pros and cons -  it was final, he was going to skate. he was going to go to work!

now i am not going to tell you the whole book and every detail, even though i probably could. i encourage you to get the book. if you are into sports or not it doesn't matter. apolo can inspire anyone. he mentioned that at the beginning of the book - if you are in academics, sports, or business and i added a 15 year old girl deciding what to do with her life - it applies to everyone. pick it up at target, you won't be disappointed.
but going back to the book. after apolo decided that this was what he was going to do with his life - he became committed and dedicated. he had a vision and he knew what he had to do to win.



it is pretty amazing that i was thinking about my motto for my life: live with no regrets, and applying that to my life daily, and then christmas morning came and i got a book about one of my favorite athletes living with zero regrets, so he says throughout the book.

i am going to share my favorite part of the book. about a year before the 2010 olympics in vancouver apolo hired a man named john schaeffer who moved in with him and trained with apolo every single day. everyday he was going to go to team training in the morning, and then a workout with jon, then back to rink for another session with the team, and then another work out with jon. apolo was put on a very specific scedule. this is what john told him about what his day was going to entail: "you are going to wake up between five thiry and six. then you will eat breakfast. you're going to have one egg, scrambled; half an apple with a little bit of honey; and an oatmeal mix i'm going to make that has coconut oil for fats, applesauce for medium-index cards, and some other stuff. i am going to make batches of this stuff and put it in the refrigerator; you're going to take a couple of spoonfuls of the mix. from seven to eleven you are at the rink. at nine thirty you will need to take out the snack i am going to pack you and eat it. the snack is most days going to be a hard boiled egg wrapped in romaine lettuce with a dab of chili sauce. that will give you a little sodium and a little sugar; the lettuce will give you a little bit of enzyme. at eleven thirty you will have the same egg snack. when you get home you will have two or three tablespoons of the mix. then we're going to do ninety minutes of work out her. that will take us to two thirty in the afternoon. you'll eat a couple more spoonfuls of the mix. get yourself back to the rink and along the way eat another egg snack. on the way take your vitamins and minerals. jump onto the ice and skate from three until five. at five eat another egg snack. then depending on the week, we are going to do weights or a a jump workout or run. you're going to do a lot of running on the treadmill. you'll eat dinner. your mostly going to eat salmon. not very much. the piece of salmon is going to be as big as if you quartered a lemon and put three peels together. i'll probably stir-fry a green vegetable of some sort, most likely in vegetable oil, maybe a little bit of butter if i think i need to pick up your fat. now computer and cell phones are off. at least two times per week between seven to eight you should be doing the sauna and have massage therapy to focus on the erector muscles in the back. after that one final egg snack and then go to sleep. we get up and do it all over again. timing is everything. if i want you to do a particular exercise at a particular time of the day, we have a five minute window; that’s when i want you in there. oh any maybe once a week, saturday or sunday night, we're going to have a big bowl of brown rice, pasta with some chicken, carrots, onions, celery, peppers and kale. it'll be great, you'll see."
apolo was leg pressing 20 pounds shy of a ton. that is 1,980 pounds. one thousand. nine hundred. eighty pounds. take a minute and read that sentence over again - i had to a few times. just the other day i was working out and leg pressing 90 pounds. it hit me right then and there how much he was actually leg pressing. that is a 1,890 difference. he was logging 850-900 miles on the treadmill.
jon typed up notes on mental preparation and hung it everywhere in the house. this is what the page said:

The power of positive thought and attitude
Thought = if you truly believe, it will happen!
Attitude = Positive attitude will allow you to
     Perform maximally both
     Physically and mentally


The power of negative thought and attitude
Negative thought = will destroy all dreams
Negative attitude = will restrict performance,
      Both physically and mentally


Mental conditioning is a key as your physical for success
You will block all negative thought!
You will replace all negative at once with positive thought and attitude
You will visualize success every night through the games
You will believe you can destroy any other skater in the world
Regardless of what you think of their skill!
Regardless of ice conditions!
Regardless of the feel of your skates!

Whether you believe something or not, you are right!

You are the best in the world. Do not let your mind destroy that reality.

It is what it is!

Mental will do one of two things: help you overcome of defeat you 

and this:

To accomplish your goal, you have to be willing to sacrifice beyond what others are willing to sacrifice; you have to be willing to train at levels others are not willing to train at; you have to be willing to accept accomplishing goals that others have never reached.


I just have to say WOW, and wow again. that is unbelievable, outrageous, and crazy. but his day to day living inspires me to be an athlete. he inspires me to be the best i can be. to live with zero regrets. to think beyond what i can do - but what i can and want to accomplish. apolo never doubted jon - no matter how hungry he was laying on his bed every night, or how tired he was - he knew he signed up for every single draining day, and he knew what he had to do for the olympics. he was loosing weight but keeping all of his muscle. every day of working out, eating just enough, and mentally preparing himself all paid off - he has won eight olympic medals in three olympic games, and who knows if he will be in russia in 2014. i hope so, so i can watch him perform with this book in mind.

i think is is amazing just how dedicated and committed apolo was. he has a love and passion for speed skating. he is so wise in everything he does and says. apolo is going to go far in life. i am going to go far in life because of him. i keep him in mind during my workouts, and i will keep him in mind during my soccer season. i want to be just like apolo.

i encourage you to pick up the book! you won't be disappointed, and won't be able to put it down. i can not wait to read it all over again!



(i read this moment in my book, after he won the final race in the olympics he held up number eight for the number of olympic medals he won.)

my blog posts just keep on getting longer and longer. this will probably take 3 days to read!!!! sorry!!!
~amy