Athlete Profile: Lauren Salter

Lauren Salter (Part 1)

Life offers you what you need when you need it. The question is will you know how to see it and will you accept the opportunity when it walks through your door? – Bender

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Lauren pushes her sled at the start of 2013 US Skeleton National Championships

Lauren goes by many names here in the CA, Captain of the “Salty Crew”, “L”, “Salter”, and my personal favorite “Optimist Beta” (Thanks Erin!). All of them are good, yet small indicators of who she really is.

I met Lauren through a great friend of mine, Lindsey Murray, who was Lauren’s roommate when they both slid skeleton together. Lauren was visiting Saratoga Springs, and Lindsey told her she should come check out the gym while she was in town.

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Working on snatch

Lauren came during a Saturday workout and we talked a bit of shop before I said I would love to help her train if she decided to move to Saratoga for the summer. A few months later, I got a phone call saying she was moving down, and wanted to know when she could start. I replied, “Great! I’ll see you in 6 to 8 weeks”.

She seemed perplexed.

Erin:Lauren DL:FS
Lauren (right) and Erin Little during a heavy lift day

As her trainer (I’m not sure what she actually calls me) I was going to help her get to the next step, but she was coming off of a season that essentially had lasted eleven months. Lauren needed time off. So I made her take it.

We talk a lot about what training is, and I have a simple formula. W+R=T (Work + Recovery = Training). It’s not complicated, but it takes all of those parts to make things happen. “R” is what she needed, so that is what I told her to do. During her month and a half of rest,  she apparently finished several TV series via Netflix.

Lauren Jump KB
Another day, another test.

Lauren’s first day back was with my super awesome “Team XXX” (the Tuesday night women’s group). Unfortunately, she came out of the “pan” that is the Olympic Training Center, and into the “fire” that is CA. It was a dreaded “cards” day, where each suit is a different workout, and the number on the card is the number of repetitions the athlete does.  I am pretty much sure that Lauren will never look at step-ups the same way  again. She got through day one, but the road was long and full of adversity.

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Lauren and Haley Sive (right)

We all come upon forks in our psyche at one time or another. As we go from “faking it” to “making it,” there is a place where we are unsure, insecure, and question everything. Eventually, it takes us to a place where we ask no more questions, put our head down, and accept our wants and desires in order to take the next step.

Lauren Track day
Braving the heat during an early track day

Let’s jump ahead a bit.  Lauren has now learned that “awesome” is a mindset, and it comes from somewhere that even most 13-year-olds know instinctively. Ironically, a 13-year-old client of mine reminded her of this during a goal setting session.

In order to win races, games, or matches, an athlete has to be strong and fast. If they want to be fast, they have to have to have fun. If they are having fun, then they will be awesome. As we get more experience our views change, but ultimately, it’s about having fun. If you want to win a 5k, or go to the Olympics, it all boils down to having fun, because if it’s not fun, it’s not worth doing.

20130524-213649More on Lauren at www.dashofsalter.com

Read her blog post for USBSF: The “O” Word

Athlete Profile: Shane Buchannan

 

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away… about 5 years ago to be exact. (Also I love star wars, just so you know) Shane and I started down this path to his development as an athlete, and ultimately our friendship. He was a young kid, who was already too big to be sitting on the bench, at about 6 feet tall and 14 years old. Shane just wanted to get some time playing in, instead of sitting on the bench for his travel soccer team. Being 14 years old and 6 feet tall and probably a buck twenty soaking wet at that point of time. Shane finding the ground with his feet, instead of his head bouncing off of it first due to his gangly nature was the first thing we had to sort out.

Shane, driving a long ball

It has been a long road to get to this point of time. I made a lot of mistakes back then. (Let me make sure to get something straight, I still do.) I was still a relatively young post collegiate athlete, and a wet behind the ears trainer who had only recently gotten his ACSM certification at that point of time. Shane was the first person in this line of work that would change my life. He asked me to help him get some playing time in.

Shutting down Bethlahem

 

So our journey began. We had our ups and downs, injury, travel, school, team drama, and summer vacations. Shane learned that I was relentless. I learned he was tough. Some days I played the slave driver, other days the mentor, many days the psychiatrist, and occasionally offered sage advice, generally consisting of “I did that, don’t do that it worked out poorly. Trust me on this one you don’t want to be like me.” Which then led to a personal story in which we would both laugh. Then the Burpees or sprints would begin again.

MVP Award!

We learned about pull-ups, and deadlifts, and cone drills, and footwork. Along the way we got a few good videos of bad dancing and goofball antics, and some life lessons. We have both grown from one another; I went from operating out of my pick up truck, and using space out of the good graces of a friend of mine, to the big green of the CA.

Colgate bound!

Life offers you challenges it’s whether or not you accept that that really sets the bar on how you are defined by them. Good luck at Colgate next year and am looking forward to watching 4 more years of great soccer!