I’ve had an incredibly busy and exhausting past couple weeks. Especially the last 2 weeks or so. Don’t get me wrong though…I’m not complaining. I figure if a small business owner isn’t overworked at least some of the time during the start-up phase of a new venture then things probably aren’t going too well. All told, I went 23 straight days working at Athletic Lab with an average workday over this time period being a little over 13 hours. Here’s a quick rundown of what’s been going on for all those following this venture:

  • Mon-Wed: Training, training, training; learned that our biggest competitor in the area will be going bankrupt very soon; met with several employees of said business to consider a future place at Athletic Lab (with existing clients in tow).
  • Thursday: Meet with out-of-town TPI professional to discuss his potential future employment as manager of our Golf Player Development program….something I’ve been working on but haven’t had time to really get off the ground.
  • Friday: Training, training, training; the biggest competitor in the area that I mentioned earlier closes doors and files for bankruptcy; I proceed to mount a full-frontal multi-day attempt to pick up some of their members by posting flyers on their door hourly (since other competitors childishly take down all but their own).
  • Saturday: Morning practice with HPC Elite training group; make training plans for all correspondence trained athletes, catch up on email, do editorial duties for Journal of Sport Science; work on own research project.
  • Sunday: Stop by just-closed competitor to post signs and flyers and talk with disgruntled former members in need of a gym; hand out flyers at a local road race; move pole vault mat in to Athletic Lab; late night private training session; Board of Directors meeting for Pole Flyers which lasts til 10pm and finalizes their move in to Athletic Lab. Pole Flyers is the Pole Vault club I’ve been working with since I arrived in the area who had been leasing space at the gym that shut down.
  • Monday: Organize sponsorship of 2 local road races; develop print media for marketing at these road races; training, training, training.
  • Wednesday: Training from 8am to 9pm; Pole Flyers has their first practice at Athletic Lab from 6:30-9….setting record for most athletes in our facility at one time.
  • Friday: Normal training schedule; plus late night training session with a visiting elite sprinter who’s come to the Triangle for the weekend.
  • Saturday: Morning practice with HPC Elite training group; give presentation at the Pitcher’s Boot Camp in Apex, NC; hand out flyers at NC State High School Soccer championship til 6pm; make training plans for all correspondence trained athletes.
  • Sunday: Early morning practice with visiting elite sprinter; Pole Flyers practice til 2:30; attempted (and failed) installation of in-ground pole vault box in Athletic Lab; clean up of attempted installation (concrete dust EVERYWHERE) that lasts til late in to the night.
  • Tuesday: Meet contractor to knock down wall at Athletic Lab to expand our sprint track; normal training sessions; develop marketing materials for Vype magazine and also Fire and Rescue teams in the area.
  • Wednesday: Clients from 8am-6:30 pm with not a single time slot free, even for lunch. That’s the first time we’ve been that busy at Athletic Lab. Some time during that time period, we received an unsolicited call from one of the local professional sports teams. Very exciting and I’m meeting with the head coach of the team on Monday….hopefully to set up training for the team.
  • Thursday: And on the 24th day I rested and gave thanks for my family and all that’s good in my life.