The Pros and Cons of Vacation

One of the perks of working in Europe is the generous amount of vacation days employees receive. While some jobs in America may advertise a month of vacation time, the reality is that it is impossible to take that much time off of work. Most attorneys I know rarely take time off since doing so will only make it harder for them to meet the required annual number of hours they must bill. In Europe, on the other hand, you not only receive a lot of vacation time, but you are expected to use it. For example, at UBS we receive five weeks of vacation each year and are required to take at least one two-week long break.

Recently, however, I discovered the down side to all this vacation time: everyone receives it. This becomes a problem when you try to visit your favorite local restaurant and a sign on its window announces that it will be closed while the owners are on vacation for a month. With most of the local people on vacation, the city also becomes a giant noisy and disorganized construction zone starting exactly at 7:00 every weekday morning since there is no better time to repair the city’s infrastructure than when half the town is gone.

But what hit closest to home for me was showing up to the weight room a few weeks ago to see a surprise notice saying the facility would be closed for two weeks. Without any alternate plans, I had to scramble to find some place to lift weights. I tried another city gym only to find that while it was not entirely closed, it was would be on limited hours for three weeks (Monday to Friday, from 5 to 8 each night). Luckily, I found a place to lift since the main stadium remains open the entire year.

I mention all this because my training results have dropped off a little since the Swiss Championships. The extra commute to the main stadium for several weeks meant that I could only fit in half as many training sessions. My girlfriend also visited me for nearly a month and I wanted to spend more time with her and visit some new places. In addition, I began a new training program last week that has already worn me out a little. The training program is one of Dr. B’s typical transition programs featuring a laughably small amount of weight lifting, but an increase in throwing that has been tiring. In the past six days I have taken 210 throws with the 7.26- and 5-kilogram hammers, more than I have in any week in the past year. Hopefully this new program will allow me to translate my strength with the heavy hammers into results with the lighter hammers.

Overlooking Lake Como with Kate from the Castello di Vezio in Varenna, Italy.

Unfortunately my girlfriend went home yesterday, but my weight room has been open again and I will begin to compete again soon. So, my personal life is a little off track since I no longer have my companion here, but the throwing part of my life is back on track even though my first few meets might be a little under my expectations. Some day I’ll learn how to make sure everything is on track and headed in the right direction at once.

My first meet back might be as soon as this week. There is a small throws meet next Saturday, and I was already feeling a little antsy to compete last night when I went to Nottwil to watch fellow UW graduate and EAF athlete Aretha Thurmond compete against a world class field at the Spitzen Leichtathletik Luzern meeting. The meeting is run by the Swiss national javelin coach, six-time Olympian, and one of my advisers, Terry McHugh.

Dollar-for-dollar, the Luzern meeting has to be one of the best in track and field. Their budget pales in comparison to the world famous Weltklasse Zürich meeting or the Prefontaine Classic, yet they still were able to attract a stable of stars including sprinters Walter Dix and Jeremy Wariner. However, both were upstaged. Wariner withdrew at the last minute due to some tightness (he told the crowd he wanted to make sure he was healthy for London which didn’t seem to cheer up the noticeably disappointed crowd) and a personal best by Dix was not enough to beat Jamaican Nesta Carter, as both dipped under 9.9 seconds in the 100m dash. Other highlights included an impressive win by world champion Brittany Reese in the long jump (also competing was fellow blogger Brianna Glenn who I met at dinner after the meet) and a personal best victory by Morgan Uceny in the women’s 800m despite some erratic pacing. The discus featured world champion Robert Harting of Germany and the women’s Olympic silver medalist Yarelis Barrios of Cuba. Harting was passed in the fifth round by Spain’s Mario Pestano, but Barrios was able to win. Some videos of the discus competitions are posted below. The meet was relocated to a new venue this year due to construction, but should be back to it’s old venue next year and I’m hoping they will host the hammer once again as they have done in the past. This year, however, I’ll just have to wait another week to get back in the ring.

Mario Pestano 65.17m

Märt Israel 62.08m

Martin Wierig 63.92m

Aretha Thurmond 58.42m

Yarelis Barrios 64.09m

Becky Breisch 62.35m