More People!!

Sembach, Germany –
This morning the number of USA triathletes at the Sembach base tripled in number! Most of the other team members flew into Frankfurt from the USA…now we’ve got an entire pool full of people instead of just one lane:).
While everyone was unpacking and adjusting to the new area, I continued on with my normal training schedule which consisted of a nice 90 minute bike ride. I was climbing a steep hill on a forest road (going very slowly) when two tiny German deer leaped across the road in front of me...it was the first ‘large’ wildlife that I’ve seen in the area.
I got back and ate a quick lunch before we loaded up two full vans of people for the pool. We drove to the little town of Winnweiler, about 15 minutes away, to swim in the beautiful outdoor 50 meter pool. They had diving boards and platforms, which I took full advantage of using before and after the practice:) We are heading there again today so I’ll take a photo because it’s a very pretty facility with bright blue water (which is NOT heated at all) and natural grassy stands on the hill beside the pool.
The commissary/grocery store is not open at all on Mondays and Tuesdays so yesterday I was scrounging through the remnants of food that I have to create an eatable and nutritious dinner. Good thing I have lots of experience from college and I can basically create an omelet from whatever I have in the fridge…and an egg or two, of course. I’ll be hiking (or catching a ride) up to the store later today to refill the fridge and cabinet.
I’ve been on a weird time schedule living on this base. Since we’ve been going to swim practice in the morning at 10am, I just wake up naturally around 9am. That means I’ve been going to sleep around midnight and I move everything later in the day to accommodate this schedule. Now that the rest of the team is here…we’ve got ‘team’ practice times scheduled out…so this morning I saw 7am for the first time in 2 WEEKS during a group run session on the trails. I guess its back to setting alarms and turning off the TV early to get on track for training. But it’s a good thing because my World Championship race is at 7:30am and I need to feel fast that early in the morning!