JET LAG to the N^th Degree!!!!

It has been 6 days since I returned to the OTC in Colorado Springs after my trip to Japan…I STILL have MAJOR jet lag! It is incredible! I can’t believe how bad I feel when I get up in the morning…it takes all my effort to just get out of bed and start my day when all I really want to do is go back to sleep. It must have been a really long time since my last trip over 5 time zones…because I can NOT remember feeling this bad…I guess my last trip was to South Africa and Dubai in November but the trip back to the USA was to the West and the saying is that traveling to the East is the worst…I have to believe whoever came up with that saying:)!
On Friday morning I woke up feeling the best I have since returning...but then I managed to screw all that up last night by staying up until 1 am (I have a really good reason for doing that). In Beijing, China the World Cup race was going on and the live broadcast of the race was from 11pm-1am last night…how could I possibly NOT stay up to cheer on my girls!? Jasmine had a great swim and bike…she was in the chase pack and looking great but didn’t have a strong run (probably b/c of all the HILLS on the bike!) and Jenna also had an OK race! Our Elite men and women also had great races…Hunter won gold in the men’s and Shelia won silver in the women’s.
The best thing about this week has been its focus on recovery…all my practices have been easy (and that’s a good thing because I could barely do the easy ones!) and I have spent most of the time taking naps and catching up on little things. I’ve been shopping a few times as a reward for having a good World Champs (gotta reward yourself(!) and also shopping for Birthday things for Jasmine…she turns 20 on the day after she gets back from China (I have to guess that she’s NOT going to be feeling like celebrating too much!)
On another positive note from World Champs…One of the qualifying criteria for the Bronze National Triathlon Team is a top 10 finish in the U23 World Champs. The National Teams are gold, silver, and bronze…gold requiring the highest/best results in the world and providing the most about of funding…but as a member of the Bronze team I am now getting a little bit of funding from USA Triathlon to travel to races next year! It will help out with traveling to the big World Cup races that I have to start racing to get REAL international experience. At the end of October, I am going to Cancun, Mexico for my first World Cup race…it will be my last race for the year but it is another great course for me (FLAT, FLAT, FLAT) and Barb Lindquist and I will be working together at the front! More on this race later…now I’ve got about 6 weeks to go back into serious training and get ready to race with the BIG girls! That starts with a 2.5 hour ride that I need to get ready for…of course all I feel like doing now is taking a nap…I’ll keep you posted on which desire wins(!