My Future February Travels

I think I might have failed to mention that I have bought a plane ticket to Tuscaloosa, Alabama to watch Dustin and the Gators swim at the SEC Conference meet! Has this escaped my blogging so far? Shocking…well then, let me catch up!
As soon as I knew that the second triathlon Olympic Trials race was moved to Tuscaloosa (the same place where the SECs are being held), I knew that I had a ‘double reason’ to attend the meet: watch Dustin swim in his final SECs and tour the Trials course long before the race. Now, all I needed was a way to get there…and driving across four states with my parents was NEVER an option!
It occurred to me that sometime in February I would also need to get out to COS and pick up my new Blue RC8 bike for the 2008 season…it’s never too soon, only too late, to start training on the bike I plan on racing with:). So here was a third reason to book a ticket as soon as possible (actually: as soon as the price drops to a reasonable amount). Lately, multi-destination trips are my new ‘thing’ on the united.com website…they let you plug in as many destinations as your little heart desires and then you have the option of picking each flight. I rarely let someone else (ie: a person on the phone in Bangladesh) choose my flights and if I have to converse with another human being, I will have already reserved the exact itinerary that I desire and they just log in and charge it to my account!
So, back to my ticket purchase…on February 14th (yes, it’s Valentine’s Day) I am flying form Orlando to Colorado Springs. I can’t wait to see the OTC, check on my room, sleep in my big bed, eat in the cafeteria, visit my friends, go out on the town, etc! I will be freezing my butt off in COS until February 20th when I fly down to Birmingham (the closest airport to Tuscaloosa).
Pause here in the detailed review of my ticket itinerary and side track to another story…the fourth reason that I have for this trip!! (I know, I can’t believe it either:)!
When I was in Tennessee last weekend, I was invited to Tuscaloosa from February 22-24th to work with a junior and collegiate triathlon camp that was taking place on the race course. Ironic that I already had a plane ticket, huh?! Of course I said “YES” to the opportunity to work with the junior, collegiate, and developing athletes…the chance that my plane ticket might be reimbursed had nothing to do with my enthusiasm!
So here I am, arriving in Tuscaloosa on Wednesday, February 20th…my parents are going to pick me up from the airport as they arrive in town…to watch the first night of SEC relays before crashing on the floor of my parent’s hotel room. I will only be sleeping uncomfortably for one night because another perk from working with the camp is a FREE hotel room for the whole weekend! Thursday is the first full day of events at the pool and I will be cheering in the stands as much as possible…as of right now, Dustin’s individual event on this day is undecided (either the 200IM or 500Free).
The camp itinerary is filled from Friday afternoon until mid-day on Sunday. Somewhere in there we will be swimming at the race venue, cycling on the race course, and running along the race trail. I will be talking to the juniors and the college kids (together or separately…undecided right now) and always available to answer questions, demonstrate a technique or just be helpful in any way! I have asked that I be allowed to escape the camp on Saturday night to go watch the last session of the swim meet…I can’t miss my last opportunity to see Dustin swm the 1650Free (okay, or the 200Fly, but let’s be realistic here:) and see the final results of the team scores.
Sunday, February 24th, will be a bit hectic with my 11:40am flight to Orlando. I haven’t determined yet what my mode of transportation will be back to the BHM airport…if my parents are driving me back, we will probably depart early…but if the camp has airport transport, I will be able to attend all the morning camp activities!
So there you have it, my February trip in a nutshell (albeit, a very large nutshell:)!