Germany update 1

Alright guys heres the first post from deustchland (I think thats how you spell it). Pardon me if there are some erorrs cause this german keyboard is slightly different then in the U.S.

Things are going well. The airplane rides were somewhat long but nothing to eventful happened and we arrived safely along with all of our luggage and bikes thankfully. After the shuttle over we ended up waiting around for about 3 hours cause we REALLY wanted a room that was nonsmoking. Chilled at a little cafe for a while, found the supermarket and a sweet spinning thing in a park. When we finally got a room we put our bikes together and headed out to ride to the accreditation site (or packet pickup.) bad idea.

It`s less then 2 miles as the crow flies to get there but we kept getting lost and it took us more then an hour and a half. Got our stuff with some pretty cool goodies and then headed back. Again not as easy as it looks. Another hour and a half saw me and Travis tour more of downtown Hamburg, lose each other for about 20 minutes, and finally end up back at the hotel. Yes I had a map but when everything is in German and streets change name like EVERY block it makes things rather difficult.

After that we went to the little mini-market to buy some bread, meat, cheese, and you know... other stuff. Then dinner before going to chill in the sauna and pool for a while. By 9 we had finally made it long enough to be able to hit the sack and I was asleep approximatelz 3 minutes after my head hit the pool

16 hours and 35 minutes later we woke up. Yes indeed, I rolled over to look at my watch and gasped when I saw it read 1:40!!!! We had a team meeting at 2 pm so we quickly got up, threw some pants on, then went downstairs to that. They covered a bunch of stuff then we got on the team bus to go over to the race site for a swim.

Now the water temperature here is about 17 degrees celcius. I´m not exactly sure what that equates to farhenheit but its COLD, believe me. Travis didn´t even have a wetsuit but he had called his mom and she said he could go buy one so he went over to do that. I swam for not very long then went to find Travis. We both went back to the bus and headed back to the hotel.

Dashing up to our rooms we changed into our parade shirts and ran back down to get on before the bus left for the opening ceremonies. Thanks to our fast transitions, we made it. A quick team picture at the site and we had plenty of time to get some dinner with a fellow triathlete we met doing the sprint race. Then some waiting around for the ceremony to begin where we got to meet with a bunch of other sprint athletes and take some pictures with teams from other countries.

The actual ceremony was somewhat dull and it started to rain while we were standing there. We cheered loud when they announced the U.S.A, listened to German folk songs, and watched the fireworks show, which was pretty cool.

I'm back at the hotel, Travis is going to run on the treadmill and swim in our little hotel pool and I'm about to follow him here shortly. So far it's been a lot of fun getting to meet and talk to people. Tomorrow we're going to go down to watch the Junior and U23 races and then come back for a little swim/bike workout. Hopefully we can wake up at a decent time ;). We've been taking lots of pictures and especially videos on Travis' camera so there will be plenty to see when we get back. G'night!

The Great Week

Wow, the last week or two have been absolutely jam packed. August 12th saw me and the family in Longmont, Colorado for the Junior ITU National Championship. I didn't have a great race. It's alright though, I had been sick two weeks before and hey- your in Colorado- how bad can it be? The race was fun though, getting to line up with about 60 of the fastest juniors in the country. Their were even a few guys from Canada and New Zealand. Because the Elites were racing that weekend as well I had some interesting run-ins with the pro athletes as well.

Like the time my coach and two other teammates from IconOne multisport that were there, walked into the hotel elevator to head down for dinner. I walked in, look up, and realized that I was standing in the elevator with Hunter Kemper! #1 in the world in 2005, 2 time Olympian, ON THE COVER OF THE WHEATIES BOX HUNTER KEMPER!!! Way cool. My friend/teammate kept poking at me and nodding in Kemper's direction as we rode down, I looked back and nodded at him that- "yes I knew who that was." He asked us if we were racing the next day and we replied in the affirmative, then we wished each other luck and went our separate ways.

I also discovered the my coach is good friends with Barb Lindquist, and that she was actually staying in the room right next to me. Its kinda weird to be eating the same breakfast foods as one of the greatest female triathletes in history.

After the race mess was over the family and I headed up to rocky mountain national park to do some camping. I got to do some sweet mountain climbs on the bike. Biking in Colorado is WAYYYY cooler and harder then biking in Texas. No wonder everyone goes there to train. Then we headed down to the Air Force Academy to spend a couple nights were we enjoyed rock climbing at Garden of the gods and I got to work on my mountain biking skill. The Academy was fun too getting to listen to my dad tell all the stories from when he was there. After a late start and a long drive we finally got home to Dallas at 3 am Friday morning. Oh well.

Saturday saw our house overrun with grandparents as they came for my Eagle Court of Honor. That night was definitely way cool as after so many years of watching others stand up there, take the Eagle oath, have that neckerchief placed on their neck, and the medal pinned over their hear, I finally got my turn to be honored with two of my best scout buddies. It was an awesome experience.

Now its back to training and preparing for worlds. I can't seem to kick my sinus infection as today finds me once again hacking up green goo and struggling to shake whatever stuff is clogging my ear, out. But it won't come. So be it. Nonetheless I'm looking forward to a good trip to Germany and some fun times there.

Opportunities

Wow a lot has happened since my last post. The most significant of which is the news that I will be representing the USA at the Sprint World Championships in Hamburg, Germany! It's a nondrafting sprint distance race held as part of the age group world championships. They just shortened the distance for the younger guys to race. It's different then the Junior ITU World Championships which is draft legal and will probably be MUCH more competitive. I'm pretty psyched nonetheless. Me and a buddy from San Antonio are going to be traveling together and will get to spend about a week there. The race is on September 2nd and we will get to watch all the other pro's, junior, age groupers, and the like race the whole weekend. It will be tight.

I'm leaving this Friday for Colorado to race the USAT Junior ITU Nationals. Should be interesting. I was waylaid with a sinus infection of some sorts last weekend and spent three days doing absolutely NOTHING. I've been on antibiotics and am getting better but my 5k I did this morning left much to be desired. Oh well. Just trying to get enough sleep and stay as healthy as possible. Looking forward to a good few weeks of training before Germany.