London hopeful Tim Morehouse takes us through a turbo-charged training day.
Tim Morehouse's London Games have been a long time coming. “As soon as Beijing’s closing ceremonies happened, I was already in the midst of planning and preparing for 2012,” says the 2008 fencing silver medalist. The 34-year-old, who competes today in the team event after being eliminated in the individual quarterfinals, lives and trains in New York City, where he and his teammates have been on a rigorous schedule. “We train five days a week, usually between five and seven hours a day. That includes conditioning, fencing sports psychology, video work and cardiovascular work." When he's not preparing for competition, Morehouse is on a quest to make fencing more accessible with his Fencing-In-The-Schools foundation; a nationwide school program that introduces the sport into under-privileged areas. There have been hours, weeks and years that went into these Games; Morehouse gave us a snapshot of a single day:
8am:
"Wake up to an alarm clock and an excited dog. Throw on some sweat pants and a t-shirt and take my dog, a French Bulldog named Louie, for his morning walk. I also stop for coffee, since I am not a morning person and am usually half-awake as I head out the door.”
8:30am:
"Have breakfast. For the past two years BistroMD has been feeding me as part of training for the [Games]. They are home delivered gourmet meals. I start the day with an omelet with vegetables."
9am:
"Head out the door for first practice of the day."
9:30–11:30am:
“I start off with a 30-minute warm-up, which includes jogging with my ipod until I get sweaty. Then I do a series of exercises with a medicine ball until my muscles are activated and my heart rate is up. Once I'm warmed up, I do an hour of footwork, which is similar to a dancer. Footwork is everything to a fencer. We do both individual and group footwork exercises. We move in different sequences that we might use during an actual match. Final portion of the practice consists of drills. We isolate certain areas that need improvement or that we want to work on and focus on it.”
11:30am:
"Protein shake and snack of Sabra hummus with celery and carrot sticks."
2pm:
"Protein shake, hummus and celery sticks, lunch of grilled fish and vegetables."
3pm–6pm:
“Go to my second fencing practice at Manhattan Fencing Center. I start off with a 40-minute one-on-one lesson with my coach, Yury Gelman. Then I train with my teammates Daryl Homer and James Williams. We do six to eight practice matches, additional footwork and a series of drills and technical blade work.”
7pm:
“Dinner with my fiancé Rachael Kun. We have a BistoMD chicken with vegetables, some hummus and vegetables. After dinner, I like to use a roller stick on my legs to help with recovery, while also icing my knees. For fun, I check out some TV on DVR, including my favorite shows Mad Men and Game of Thrones.
11pm:
"Sleep"