Reporting from the Munich Airport Star Alliance Lounge

(I wrote this post two days ago when we were traveling to Korea...finally have a chance to get it online.)
I have departed Hamburg and I’m on my way to South Korea for the second part of this trip. There are quite a few stops in this leg…I think I will take-off and land four times before reaching my final destination…Jeju, S. Korea.
The lobby of the Grand Elysee Hotel was chaos this morning as hundreds of triathletes from all different nations were trying to get to the airport and go home. The few USAT athletes and staff that are continuing on to Korea were able to escape most of the madness because we booked a late afternoon flight. Sarah, Sarah, Nate, Cliff, Matt and I woke up for a morning group ride before packing our bikes. It was a bit underwhelming because the city is so big and crowded; we never made it out to some nice roads. Instead, we rode back and forth on a one mile stretch of road for about 40 minutes…it makes for good chatting:)!
Upon completion of our ride, we wiped down our bikes, dismantled them, loaded them in boxes, and rushed to make the breakfast buffet before it closed at 11am. Only on the last two days of this trip did everyone find out that the $22 buffet was actually included in our meal…my wallet would have liked to know that from day 1! After breakfast I threw all my scattered clothes and toiletries into my huge duffel bag and called it ‘packed’. I did keep the dirties separate from the cleans so that I can get a load of laundry going as soon as I arrive in Jeju:).
With determination and speed as a priority, we managed to grab a van after breakfast and get over to the pool for a ‘workout’ before heading to the airport. I think the six of us swam just over 3000 meters in less than 40 minutes…the locals in the pool were not so thrilled with our pace and the turbulence we created. We rushed back to the hotel to help load the bikes and bags into the van, we loaded ourselves into the seats, and made a b-line to the airport.
The 4:45pm flight from Hamburg to Munich was uneventful…I slept from take-off to landing so I can’t really tell you anything about the service! I checked in with Sarah Groff so we are going to be sitting together for the next flight…8 hours, through the night, in seats 45 G and H. It is much easier to sleep when you know the person sitting next you to…no elbow wrestling for the arm rest. The final destination of this flight is Busan, Korea (with a stop-over in Seoul…deplane, reboard, yeah…it sucks) at 5:15pm tomorrow afternoon. One more quick flight, a 30 minute hopper, from Busan and we arrive at the southernmost island of Korea…Jeju or Cheju.
Hello to everyone in the States…I miss my friends and family but I look forward to racing tough and representing my country well!