There is some Massive Updating in this Blog!

Lots to update everyone about. My life has major-ly taken a turn to the BUSY!
I’ve blogged about the T3 Coaching job…I’m waiting for Denny (my coach) to get some free time to explain the computer program to me. He’s been busy the last few days helping his wife pack up to move to Germany for 2 years. She is in the armed services and has to be stationed overseas for a while. The good news is…we might be staying with her during our time in Europe for races next year! More about the “Europe Trip” when it approaches:)! Check out the site (my coaching bio will be up soon): http://www.t3coaching.com/
I’ve also blogged about my volunteer coaching position at Colorado College. I’ve been to one swim practice so far (on Wednesday). The team is at their first meet this weekend, I’m not sure where! I’ll be back on the pool deck on Tuesday morning. The web-site is: http://www.coloradocollege.edu/athletics/varsity_sports/swimdiving/ Eventually I should show up on the ‘Coaches’ page!
An update on the snow blog…it snowed A LOT & all day on Monday! I had the genius idea to go to the top of Cheyenne Mountain in the snow and try to mountain bike. It would have been a better idea to go cross country skiing for all the success I had on my bike…it was a ton of fun though for a girl from Florida to go biking in 8-10 inches of snow. I didn’t get very far on the bike because I kept stopping to have a snowball fight!
The good news is: the swimming pool is in-doors here…we don’t have to do the “parka drop and run” like in Florida on cold days. When we had to start swim practice in the out-door pool…we stand on deck huddled in our parka…when we get the first set we yank the parkas off, drop them on the fence and run full speed into the water! So swimming is the easiest in cold weather…biking and running are a different story. Running short runs on the treadmill is okay and biking for about an hour on the trainers is okay…it’s just bad when I have to put on 4 layers of clothes to head outside for workouts:)! Since I need to stay acclimated to warm weather for the Cancun race in 2 weeks, I have to wear EXTRA clothes, even when training inside…I love to sweat…hahaha.
A few weeks ago my mom suggested I write to the organizers of the IronKids Triathlon series. We had heard earlier in the year that the races were all canceled for the year…then she heard they were back on. I wrote to some friends who were involved with the races and asked them if they could put me to use in any way at the races. I got a great response…they wanted me to come to some of the races as the USAT representative. In the end, out of the 6 races on the calendar in October, November, and December, I am going to be at the Clermont, Florida race and the National Champs in Tempe, Arizona. I think I will be talking to the kids on the day before the race and then doing the awards stuff on race day.
To imagine what this means to me, let me explain a bit. One of the years that I was an IronKids national champion…I got my award from Janet Evans, World Record Holder & Olympic Gold Medalist swimmer! I think the shoes that I’m filling are a bit big on me!!!:) I am so proud to see that the IronKids series is continuing because that is definitely where I found my love of triathlons. I hope that things go well this year and maybe I can work with them again next year a bit more. Check out IronKids here: http://www.ironkids.com/
The Golden Goggles are an awards show for USA Swimming. It was started last year after the Olympics as a red-carpet event in the Hammerstein Ballroom ballroom in New York City. This year will be the 2nd annual, a bit less formal, still in the ballroom in NYC…and the entire 2005 World Championship team was invited. I am making this point because the Open Water team was included! I’m flying to NYC in the morning on Monday, November 14th…the awards show is that night in the Ballroom. It is formal attire but not black-tie and each athlete sits at a separate table…it’s sorta a fundraiser for USA Swimming so the rest of the seats are for sale to swimming supporters and fans. Each USA Swimming athlete gets to bring a guest…Dustin is flying up to NYC from Gainesville to go with me! We get to spend half a day in NYC on Tuesday and we have flights back home around 5pm. Check out the press release here and vote for the awards (VOTE for CHIP as the Breakout Performer of the Year…he was on my Open Water team at World Champs!): http://www.usaswimming.org/USASWeb/ViewNewsArticle.aspx?TabId=0&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en-US&ItemId=860&mid=45
WOW…now that you’re updated on A LOT of the things that I’ve got on my plate now…I should also say that training is going great. I’ve got one last triathlon this season…it’s getting closer to October 30th, race day! I’m flying down to Cancun on Thursday, October 27th, racing on the 30th and flying back to Colorado Springs on the 31st. This week has been a very intense training week…I’m looking forward to finishing it up tomorrow. Denny has given us Sunday completely OFF…it should be a relaxing…but wait, it’s not going to be!!!
The Hilton Hotel Renovations of the rooms at the Olympic Training Center are taking place this month. It’s a great thing…we are getting some amazing things. I’ll start with the FULL size, Serta, pillow-top, box-springs beds that we are all getting! This will be the biggest bed that I’ve ever had…twin size all my life! We are also getting 4 new lamps, all our walls re-painted, really nice sheets and a down comforter for the bed, a radio-alarm clock, and a new shower curtain with a rod that curves out-ward so that we have more room in the bathtubs!! It’s all pretty sweet…except for the stuff I have to do to make my room ready to be painted. Since I moved in here…I have covered my walls with photos, quotes, flags, and race posters. I had to peel them all down and then move EVERYTHING into the center of the room so the painters can do their thing! I’ve got SO much stuff in this room it’s going to be a LOT of work! But, since I’ve seen what the finished rooms look like, I know that it’s going to be worth every moment! I’ll have some photos up of the new set-up after October 19th when my room is scheduled to be completed!