Shock N’ Roll

By Michael Gargiulo

 

Our “Homemade Hurdles” video   (showing me practicing the hurdles) has drawn a lot of response, even though most of it is from people who are now convinced I’ll never be able to jump over real 36″ high hurdles. Let me just say, I’m determined to prove you all wrong!! (I don’t know how,  but I am determined)

 

I had a bit of a breakthrough yesterday in my “Iron Man- Navy SEAL -Crouching Tiger- Hidden Dragon” training routine. I went for my weekly physical therapy session to deal with some chronic back problems  (always good when one is taking up pole vaulting), and they hooked me up to the machine that delivers electric stimulation to your back and neck muscles. It feels a little like you’re getting a slight electric shock but after ten minutes of that, I really felt better, and after another half hour of stretching, weights, and massage, I was a new man!  I got back home and flew through my daily 2.5 mile run in record time. I know speed is going to be the key ingredient to getting over the hurdles as well as for the high jump and the pole vault so hopefully I’ll be able to keep this pace up.

 

One other positive development: I weighed in yesterday at 178—4 lbs down from last saturday..5 lbs to go until I  reach my gold medal target of 173.

 

Training will be interrupted today by the bad weather, but I’ll try to do some kind of workout indoors and not just lay around watching TV while cradling a bucket of Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia ice cream.

Chuck Scarborough On Becoming A Fencer

I must say, watching Michael Garguilo’s training video yesterday was truly inspirational. Did you see how he flawlessly cleared that hobbyhorse, mop bucket and succession of foot-high orange cones in a single sprint? Did you notice his focus and concentration, his look of grim determination, as he conquered the self-imposed obstacles stretching out in front him? I saw the awakening of Michael’s inner Olympian, the beginnings of a high hurdle knee-tuck and a metronomic rhythm in his step only the most highly-trained athletes have mastered.

It was so inspiring, that I began my training for fencing by going online and finding a competitive fencing video. Don’t ever do that if you’re considering the sport and, are, shall we say, “mature”. Olympic-caliber fencers are blindingly fast, with lightning reflexes and the agility of a ballet dancer. The bouts seem to generally end in the blink of an eye, and in that blink the viewer has missed whatever it was that caused one fencer to rip off his protective mask and issue a victory howl, while the other collapses in abject defeat.

However, despite that dose of reality, I intend to press on, remember all the cool moves I made as d’Artagnan at age eight with a wooden sword, lard on some actual instruction, and become very dangerous. En garde!

Homemade Hurdles

By Michael Gargiulo

 

Today, on my second training day, I decided I wanted to get a preview of what the hurdles would be like, so I assembled my own very unofficial set! (4 traffic cones, a child’s see saw and a paint bucket) ( We videotaped this as well which you can watch.)

 

 

I went down to a nearby school in Westchester where they have a have a track and laid them out.

 

 

Then I did a lap on  the track, approaching the hurdles at speed. Let’s just say I thought I looked pretty good until I saw the videotape……not only was my hurdling about 2 feet too low, but I had the loping gait of a giraffe….plus I couldn’t get the timing right so that my last step before the hurdle was on my left foot, the one I want to push off on for the hurdle….so that’s one event that will need work.

 

 

On the upside, I wasn’t as exhausted after my run today, so that’s good.

 

Tomorrow, a different venue: training along the East river by Stuyvesant Town.

 

 

Enjoy the video and I’ll check back soon.

 

more about “untitled“, posted with vodpod

 

Michael Gargiulo: Training With Extra Baggage

I stepped on the scale before my first training session today and got a little surprise.  I was 182 pounds!  ….which means I now have to tear off 9 lbs ( instead of the expected 6 lbs) to get down to 173 and hope of a pole vault that’s measured in feet instead of inches. Got to cut down on the cannolis.

 

The next “sticky wicket”, as the Brits say, was the weather. It’s probably not advisable to start training for an Olympic event when it’s 96 degrees outside but I didn’t want to let the days go by waiting for it to cool, so I set out on a 3 mile run. It wasn’t that bad, but when I attempted to do 100 push ups afterward, I only finished 20 ! That’s got to improve.
 

Tomorrow, I’m going to make a video of some homemade training tools I’ve created for one event, the hurdles…..we’ll get it posted as soon as possible and I hope you’ll enjoy it……watch and learn!

Darlene Rodriguez Recalls Her Taekwondo Roots

Here we go….or in my case, here I go…embarking on yet another adventure that I have no business trying, except this time it involves me getting a kick in the behind.  Literally.

 

Now I was raised in New York City so I’m pretty familiar with the old schoolyard beat down, (getting one, not giving one) but this is different…this will be me, with a PROFESSIONAL opening up a can of…

 

My mother, who voted THREE times by the way, reminded me that I am familiar with martial arts.  “Don’t you remember baby, you took Taekwondo in high school? You could jump up and kick your foot way up over your head!”  Yes Ma, and I back then I could eat a cheeseburger deluxe at 3am with no problem, but doing either today would probably put me in the hospital.  But I did recall my Taekwondo days, I remembered the white “gi” that I wore, and the “kata” forms I learned in the “dojo”.  Now I’m hearing that those are all Karate terms, not Taekwondo. Okay then.

 

The truth is, Taekwondo is a beautiful sport to watch.  It can be traced back to ancient Korea with some Chinese influences and to see the Olympians that will compete in Beijing is incredible.  Their discipline, skill and strength is nothing short of inspirational.  

 

Again, here I go…the viewers want me to try this, so I will and it will be a blast.

Janice Huff: From Cheerleading to Gymnastics

I must have been sitting in a hot bath, or standing on asphalt in the 90 degree heat, when I chose gymnastics as one of my Olympic sports for the WNBC challenge…Now, I was a cheerleader in high school, so I can do a split (at least, I still THINK I can), and a cartwheel or two, and I was a member of the Gymnastics Club, but I was never EVER a true gymnast!

 

But I do love watching the sport…As a matter of fact, I think gymnastics is probably my favorite spectator Olympic event!…I remember the days of Nadia Comaneci (yes, I go that far back!) in the 1976 Montreal Games…She was the first gymnast to score a perfect 10.0 ever in the sport, and she won 5 gold medals…She was one of the first to bring such popularity to gymnastics!

 

I’m really excited about training for Team 4 New York, and I’d like thank all of you for voting for gymnastics as my “sport”…It should be lots of fun, or funny, depending on what happens on the balance beam…I just pray it isn’t too painful!…Go Team!!!

 

Who will help Janice train for this event?

 

Both Janice Huff and David Ushery will be trained by  Peter Kormann, an Olympic star  who now teaches in New York City.

 

Check out Nadia performing on the beam at the 1976 Olympics.

 

 

Michael Gargiulo Gets Ready To Run And Jump

When I got to work at 3:15 am this morning, the first thing I did was to check what you chose for my Team 4NY challenge…and I was thrilled to find that the winner was the Track and Field (pole vaulting, hurdles, and high jump)!  Taking part in the Olympics has been a dream of mine ever since I was 12 years old, watching the ‘72 games from Munich.  I may not be going to Beijing, but I’m going to treat the next few weeks as my own Olympic experience.

 

Let’s run down my events:

 

Hurdles: I wanted to do this because Edwin Moses is a favorite of mine. He won Gold and Bronze medals in the 400 meter hurdles in 3 Olympics (Montreal ‘76, L.A. ‘84, and Seoul ‘88), while winning 122 consecutive races. I think I’ll be OK for the running part….I’m a little concerned about the actual “hurdling”.  Each hurdle is 36 inches high!  I’m guessing my plan to carry a step ladder with me won’t be approved.

 

 

High Jump:

 

I’ve actually tried this …once …in high school….thirty years ago.    I remember at the time thinking this would be a really fun event to master because it involves jumping and landing on a huge mat. The world record is nearly 8ft!  It’s a hard event  because there’s nothing but your own athletic ability to propel you off the ground, and like most men my age, I’m vertically challenged.

 

Pole Vault:

 

I’d be lying if I didn’t say, I’m a little apprehensive about this. I’m going to run down a track…attempt to plant a fiberglass pole in the right spot..then push myself, basically upside down,  across the bar, maybe 10 feet off the ground….at which point I’ve got to swing myself around so that I land on the mat on my back.  Much can go wrong. ..but once again, this is an event I’ve always dreamed of trying. I think the key here will be to forget my fear and just go for it.

 

 

I’m looking forward to meeting my coach to prepare me for my events. In the meantime, I’m going to start training. I think since all these events involve jumping, I’ve got to do my best to have less Michael to lift.  I’m going to start running this weekend with the goal losing  5 lbs, so I can compete at about 173.. (my weight as a JV  football lineman at Xavier HS). Also, I’m going to have to build up my upper body strength if I ever want to do the pole vault successfully so I’m going to try and do 100 push ups a day, and some other weight training.   Wish me luck and I’ll keep you updated on my progress!!!

 

Check out this great video of Olympic star  Edwin Moses:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Results!

Six anchors were asked to pick two of their favorite Olympic sports. Then viewers voted on WNBC.com and selected which sport they should try. Here are the results:

1. Chuck Scarborough:  Fencing

2. David Ushery: Trampoline

3. Darlene Rodriguez:  Taekwondo

4. Len Berman: Badminton

5. Janice Huff: Gymnastics

6. Michael Gargiulo: Track and Field-Pole Vault, Hurdles

Their stories will air on News 4 New York in early August. Stay tuned to this blog and to News 4 New York for the latest as these anchors put down their pens and papers to meet their Olympic Challenge.

Kevin Han: An Olympic Badminton Champion

Len Berman remembers covering one of New York City's top badminton players as he prepares for this Olympic event.