(Temporary Backup) Kansas City Metro Track and Field Meet 4-27-19

I woke up at 6:30, this morning is the day, Kansas City metro area track and field meet! I was a little worried because I’ve been watching the weather throughout the week, and hoping it wouldn’t  rain today. The tournament is still on, ya!! I wish everyone good luck and remember our oath! 

WOW what a day! It turned out to be a beautiful day! There was a little bit of wind, but it was still a beautiful day! When we got to the field, we went to see our team, Lee’s Summit, and got on our bips on. Then we went to be apart of the parade of athletes. After every team went through the parade of athletes, they announced the Kansas City winners for the outstanding of the year of 2018. And one of the Lee’s Summit families got the outstanding award!! So that was very exciting, and Allie Byrd got the outstanding athlete, so happy for her! It was a long day, but it was a fun day! It was so nice to see old friends and meet with volunteers! They were great! Everything time I saw a volunteer I made sure to say thank them for their time! Okay the wait is over, the results....drum roll please....Darion (first time doing track) he did very well. He got all GOLDS in 4x100 relay, running long jump, 100 meter run and 400 meter run. Jesse got 4th place in softball throw, 3rd place in standing long jump and 1st place in 50 meter dash. I got all GOLDS in 100 meter run, running long jump, shot put and 4x100 relay. Everyone did a GREAT job! Next stop is state which is on May 31 through June 2 in Springfield. Enjoy the pictures! 

Special Olympics Missouri old CEO to the NEW CEO

I had some questions for the old CEO and for the new CEO of Special Olympics Missouri. First up is Mark Musso. Here is the questions I asked:

1. Do you have any advice for the next CEO?

MM: Hire the best people on staff, move staff who aren't good fits off the team. Always work to make the games better each and every year. When considering various issues, always do what is best for the Athletes and do so by including Athletes in leadership positions throughout the organization.

2.  Are you planning to come back to some SOMO events:

MM: In the years to come you will certainly see me at some SOMO events, probably as a Fan in the Stands.

3. What are you planning to do with your retirement?

MM: Travel, fish, golf, attend many concerts, most of all spend time with my family- especially my grand kids.

4. When you first got this job, did you expect that you would be the CEO for SOMO as long you did?

MM: Great question, I promised the search committee I would stay 3 years. Needless to say I did so 9 times. While I had multiple offers to run other Special Olympics programs- I realized I wanted to be part of SOMO which I believe is one of the premier programs in the world.

5. What are your messages to all of the SOMO athletes, coaches, and staff?

MM: Remember SOMO is your organization- YOU can make it the best in the world if you all work together and agree to always improve on each and every event & programs. Most importantly- do what is besot for the athletes!

6. When was your first day of being the CEO for Special Olympics Missouri, and when was your last day?

MM: My first day was September 1, 1991 and my last day was March 31, 2019.  Exactly 27.5 years to the day.

And next up is new SOMO President & CEO, Susan Stegeman.

1. What does it mean to you that you are the new CEO for SOMO? And what does CEO stands for?

SS: It means a lot to me personally, because I want to do a good job for you and your fellow athletes.  I take responsibility very seriously. As CEO, I want to ensure our team has the resources, skills and training to do their jobs to the best of their abilities.  I want SOMO to continue to grow – we need to grow our family if we want to serve more athletes.  CEO stands for Chief Executive Officer

2.What are some of your goals when your job starts?

SS: Within the first 100 days, I will be on my “listen and learn” tour to determine trends, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.  I will visit with each staff person, and some volunteers to learn what we need to do to grow.  I will also be focused on learning about the inner workings of the board and how to support this important group of volunteers.  My job started on April 1, 2019

3. Is there something that Mark has said to you that is important to you?

SS: He stressed that he’s always known me to do the right thing and as long as it’s the best thing for the athletes, it’s the right thing.

4. Has Mark given you any advice? If so, what were they?

SS: Have fun.  Move into his office sooner, than later.  I did on Day #2

5.Is there anything you want to say to the athletes, the coaches and the staff?

SS: Thank you for being on the SOMO Team!

Athletes – you are our heroes; your spirit and determination make the world a better place.  Keep shining!

Coaches – thank you for your dedication and for being the best volunteers in the movement.  Keep inspiring!

Other volunteers – thank you for helping make our program and events possible!  Keep serving!

Staff – thank you for your commitment to carry the mission forward.  Remember to dream big!

Together Everyone Achieves More!

6. Are you excited? What are the most memorable moment that you have experienced in SOMO? 

SS: I am excited to learn and stretch my skills.  At the end of May I will celebrate being on staff for 29 years.  I never thought I would say that.  I’ve enjoyed the variety of my work every day.  Working with law enforcement to raise awareness and funds has taught me so much about teamwork, the human spirit, setting goals.   Being asked to carry the torch into the Opening Ceremony along with LETR Founder Ralph Biele and Athlete of the Year Lucas Blattel – was the best!  It is so cool what law enforcement does on a daily basis for our communities and then what they do for SOMO on top of that – to be given the honor of carrying the flame to light the cauldron.  It’s one of my most cherished memories!

My First Challenge I held on March 1, 2019- April 6, 2019 (Health Messenger)

I held my first step competition on March 1st through April 6th. The challenge was to see how many steps you could make for six weeks. It was a great turnout. I wasn’t expecting so many participants. I had athletes, coaches, mentors and one Special Olympics Missouri Staff did the challenge. I had fun doing the challenge, I’m excited to do more challenges in the future! I tallated all of the steps between Special Olympics Missouri, athletes, coaches and mentors. That took awhile because I wanted to make sure I got the numbers right. So, I did it like...5 times. So the results is...drum roll please...1st place goes to me..I took 709,786 steps in 6 weeks! 2nd place goes to...Jaime, she took 522,127 steps in 6 weeks! And third place goes to Pierce, he took 439,860 steps in 6 weeks! Everyone did a GREAT job! I hope everyone had a great time doing the challenge, like I did! I did have two Special Olympics Staff participants but only one gave me her step counts...and that is Kayla! Thank you Kayla for doing this challenge! The total participants: 35 (that includes 1 staff person, 26 athletes, 1 mentor and 5 coaches) *

Which areas participated?*

*Kansas Metro
*St. Louis Metro
*Southwest
*Southeast
*Central
*North

*What Would I do next time?*

 1.I would tell special Olympics Missouri participants a lot more notice about my challenge. I would also not remind the participants that I need their step count. I feel like it's their responsibility, if they need reminders, please tell me, and I sure will help you out!

2.The other thing I would do get some incentives for the 1st place, 2nd place and 3rd place winners, I think that will encourage the participants...well I hope!

*Why did I want to do this challenge*

I wanted to do this challenge, because I want to encourage all of Special Olympics Missouri athletes, but not just the athletes, I also wanted to include the coaches, mentors and the Special Olympics Missouri Staff. I thought it would be fun! I also did this challenge, because I feel like it's apart of my role as a health messenger for Special Olympics Missouri. I have a passion about Special Olympics Missouri and I want to encourage others to be healthy, I want to be helpful as much as I can. Also its a great opportunity to meet new people who in Special Olympics Missouri. 

Thank You's

I would like to say a BIG thank you to everyone who took part of this challenge, this challenge couldn't be more successful without all of you! I feel confident that we ALL can beat our step total next time! I'm planning more challenges in the future! If you have a challenge that I could do, I would love to hear about it! 

AND...

I wanted to share how many steps we ALL took together...we all took...7,771,742 steps!! 

Getting help from a personal trainer

Before picture 

Session one: 4-3-19 (Wednesday)

Today was my first day with my personal trainer. I came in earlier today at the gym and did some weight machines, but I didn’t push myself too much, because I didn’t know what we will be doing in our session later today. And I’m SURE glad I didn’t push myself. This evening I tried the rower for my first time, and I really liked it. MAN I sweated, than I would thought I would. We did some core exercises, they were hard but it felt good after! The names of the core exercises cracked me up! I have a good feeling about this journey I’m going on! 

Session Two 4-4-19 (Thursday)

The exercises I did today was called (HIIT), I did push ups, bicep curls, ice skaters, squats, lunges, sumo squats, mixed planks (I had difficulties with those) with that pattern for about 25 minutes, with a 40/20 split.  So my workout was like this “40 seconds then rested for 20 seconds.”

Session Three 4-10-19 (Wednesday) : I had my session this morning, first I got on my trainer’s scale, I wasn’t surprise about my weight, I’m excited to see the difference when I’m finished with the training. Today we did some weights, and planks, I learned a lot! Here’s a picture of my workout I did today. 

Session Four: 4-16-19 (Tuesday)

To start the session off, I did the rower machine for 5 minutes. Then we did some core and strength exercises. I really liked it! And I can tell a difference. I used some machines I haven’t used before, it was very exciting for me! 

Session Five: 4-17-19 (Wednesday)

This evening I did a HIT workout : for the warm up I did: , after that we did some kick boxing I was excited about that exercise! I did that about 10 minutes, while we did that, while I was doing the kickboxing we listened to “welcome to the jungle”. That song has a very good beat if you are exercising. Then went on the rower machine, I did that for 3 minutes, 2 minutes than another minute. Between the two set while I did the rower machine, I did some push-ups, weights moves and some ab moves, then did some stretching.

Session Six 4-18-19 (Thursday)

This morning I did the elliptical for 20 mins, for my warm up, did some exercise machines that would help with my leg muscles. I also did lunges. I also did a core exercise, I did Superman and planks.

Session Seven: 4-24-19 (Wednesday)

This evening I start with the treadmill, I walked them I sprinted on it. We did the HIT workout, I ran 2 laps on the inside track then did some core exercises then did another HIT workout again. For cool down we walked around a lap then did stretching. It was hard, but I really enjoyed it, I’m learning a lot.

Session Eight: 4-25-19 (Thursday)

For the warm up, I did the elliptical for five minutes. This morning we worked on the strength, I did the shoulder press machine, shoulder pull over/cable machine, single arm pull down cable, t-bar row, cable machine. For the core exercises I did, Russian twists, twist an machine and shimmies. For the cool down I did, walked 3 laps, stretch upper and lower body. 

*what I’ve learned*

- what machines I should use

-what nutrition I should eat 

- don’t have to exercise so long like I used too

-how to use machines

-learned how to kickbox (I really liked it)

Thank You Amanda

Thank you so much for teaching me how to use the exercise machines, guiding me what I should eat, guiding me what kind of exercises I should do,helping me, and giving me information about reading labels on foods that are in the grocery stores. I’ve really enjoyed the 8 sessions. Can’t wait until the fall! I can’t thank you enough!

After photo

Special Olympics Missouri State Indoor Games 2019 3-29-19 to 3-30-19

What a FUN weekend a endorsed!  

(Friday 3-29-19)

Mid-day, my family and I drove to St. Joseph for Special Olympics Missouri Indoor Games! Jesse, Darion and I are competing in basketball. It snowed slightly when we were driving. I listened to music, and Jesse was watching movies on his tablet. And mom and dad was talking. It didn't seem to take long to get there.  My brother and his family (who lives in Iowa) met us

at the hotel. We all stayed at Hampton INN. I think that's dad's favorite hotel. lol. After dinner we went to the civic center for the opening ceremonies. They had dancers, and they were good. I got everything ready for the next day and settled down for the night and went to bed. Some of my family went to the hot tub.  I'm glad they enjoyed themselves.

(Saturday 3-30-19)

Mom and I got up early so I could have time to eat breakfast before my first game. My brother and my nephew and niece ate breakfast with us. They wore the shirts my parents made for the National Games in July. So, I thought that was very touching! When I got to the gym, I recognized the building and saw my team. There were games going on, so I watched them. I always enjoy watching other teams, so I can learn some basketball moves! lol. Before I knew it, it was time to stretch and get ready for my first game. The first game was a hard one! I think no one was fully awake, so we didn't play our best. The other team was way more skilled then us, but we tried our best and that's what counts! I enjoyed hearing my family cheering me on! After my first game, my family went to see Jesse's game. My second game started early then I supposed too, so that was good. WE played much better in that one! We all made baskets, I made some steals, and a 3 pointer! I didn't make the second shoot but I was really happy that I made the first one!! The team who we played against had some players who has some difficulties, so we let them to make some baskets, it made me REALLY happy when they made baskets, it makes my heart so happy when I see that happen! We beat them, and we got THIRD place (Bronze) It was a fun day! After we got done with the medals and the main coach said a few words, I rode the van with my coach, to go to see my brother play, but we were a little late. But I still got pictures of my brother getting his medals. when a SOMO staff came to the same gym, and I knew it was time for me to go to work lol. I signed up to take pictures or help SOMO to take pictures with an fancy camera (and I really enjoyed it) It was so much fun taking pictures and using the zoom on the camera! After my shift, my family and I went to the Civic center and went through the SOMO store, healthy athletes. I wanted my uncle (Darion) to go through. So, we all went though. Jesse and I did an interview with the local TV station. So, that was cool. For dinner, they served us BBQ sandwich, chips, mash potatoes, green beans and a choice of cookie or a piece of cake. Another athlete leader and myself got some athletes to go to thee athlete input council. What is athlete input council, good question! It's where athletes can share what they liked and what they didn't like about that weekend (State competition) I've heard this year is the first year that we had that many athletes attend that council, so I was glad to hear that! The favorite part of state competition, is the DANCE! It was awesome, I got to see some of my friends and got to catch up with them! I danced with my teammates, and I really enjoyed seeing them smile! 

What did I like about this weekend? 

I liked that I believed in myself so I could make a 3 pointer basket, made some steals in basketball and seeing my friends. I recruited another athlete to go to ALPs (Athlete Leadership Programs) so I was happy about that and she also wants to go to Sports camp...SO that's a plus!!

What I didn't like about this weekend?

Well this isn't what I didn't like...this is mostly what I missed...I missed the music at the opening ceremonies, I missed seeing the athletes smiles and dancing.