Thursday 7/12/12:
Rest Day! Seriously…do we really have a day off in the
middle of The Games? Another first! Thanks goodness we
did…it was a day that was much needed for some sleeping in, good
fuel replacement and hydration. Each athlete had an interview
time scheduled with ESPN either on Tuesday or Thursday…mine was
Thursday late morning. I'm not gonna lie, it is quite the
trip to be called in to a room and interviewed knowing that you may
be seen on National TV…I felt famous!! With Miranda Oldroyd
throwing questions my way, Heber Cannon up in my grill with a
camera and Tyson Oldroyd (with a few others) watching to make sure
everything ran smooth…it was a pretty fun experience. Is this
what it's like for the pro football and baseball players we see
interviewed on TV? The interview was one of two
responsibilities for the day and once that was over it was time for
an ice bath, some mobility work and chillin before heading to the
track to test the GHD ball toss, sleds and 25ft rope climb in
cleats.
John Welbourn was the demonstrator for the sled. He's a
big dude…so to see him huffin' and puffin' after a few pushes left
most of the athletes with a little skepticism as to how this was
going to go down. Chatter filled the field amongst athletes
and coaches about the best strategy to approach the sled.
When it was my shot to test it, the sled was awkward and
heavy, but doable. The rope climb attempt in cleats was
comforting because it felt way more "grippy" than expected, but
definitely REALLY HIGH (25ft up + the height of the big crash
pad. DON'T LOOK DOWN!! The GHD ball toss practice was
all about figuring out what trajectory of the toss would be most
beneficial. We were told in the briefing of this event that
the final measurement was where the ball stopped rolling…different
than what I had practiced a few times at home. My
engineer-brained boyfriend told me a 45 degree release would be
best for distance (without accounting for the roll….so that was the
initial plan going into practice, but that changed with the
standard explanation). Turns out line drive or lower provided
the most power for the ball to roll the farthest…so that's what I
attempted to do. Following the practice…it was back to the
hotel.
First thing was hitting a stationary bike to loosen the legs up
a bit with a 10min spin and then a cool shower before grabbing some
grub. I was lucky enough to meet up with a lot of my family
and sit with them as I chowed down. I am so fortunate to have
so much support from my loved ones…aunts, uncles, grandparents,
cousins, parents, brothers, friends… so many people taking a trip
to Los Angeles for me…what an absolute honor!
(some of my
family...cousin Shawn, boyfriend Marcus, brother Jeremy,
boyfriend's parents Art and LaVonne, cousin Mandy, and
myself)
No problem falling asleep that night…lights out for the big
weekend ahead.