Finally... a day of rest!

I finished my last heavy workout yesterday. I'm not allowed to give numbers but it was a very good day. I have done all the hard work and now it is time to rest and get ready to compete. As of now there is only an A session for my weight class which is great news. There are only 10 women and no Chinese girl entered in my weight class. Again, great news.

The opening ceremonies will be at 8:08 p.m. on 08/08/08. You'll have to check the local channels for when they will show it. Beijing is 15 hours ahead of Seattle. I compete on the 10th at 3:30 p.m. Beijing time.

So today was a wonderful R&R day full of bowling on the Wii, watching movies, Trivial Pursuit and yummy food. We left the Athletes Village at 10:30 a.m. and spent the entire day at the University where the USOC has created the best "home away from home" ever. It is just a great place to relax away from the energy and excitement of the Village. Although the Village is amazing it is nice to have a change of scenery now and then.

I had the opportunity to see the Women's gymnastics team and I had my picture with the Head Olympic Coach Martha Karoli. That was pretty cool. I will download that soon. It is such a great experience and I 'm really glad to be able to share it with all of you. Thank you for all of your posts. It is so good to hear from everyone.

Tomorrow we get to see the venue. I'm so excited! Only one more week!

Day 6 All work and some play!

One of the many inspiring displays at the Athletes Village!


Carissa and I decided to jump in the ring. She has super human strength... I didn't have a chance!

I couldn't stop laughing! I don't think I'd make a very good boxer!

Day 3/4 photos

These are the mascots for the Olympics. I wish I could bring one home.




Here is the Village. They are basically condos. Very nice condos!

Anyone need to use the potty?

Cheryl giving us a ride to training. : ) What a sweet girl!

Day 2 photos

Going through customs in Beijing. Man, was I happy to get off the plane after 12.5 hours!



Here's the ladies on the bus. Me, Carissa Gump in the middle and Natalie Woolfolk on the right. Cheryl was missing in action. : )

The Olympic Village security is tight. It is an amazing place! The media was there to greet us.

The cafeteria is HUGE! Although it isn't very full right now it will be in the next few days. The food is great! All the different types of food you can imagine!

Day 1 photos

Here we we are at San Jose State University with our shopping carts collecting the Team USA outifitting by Nike and Ralph Lauren. Talk about amazing stuff! Proud to be wearing red, white and blue!

Arnold stopped by to welcome the athletes. He chatted with us for quite some time. He was pleased to hear that my hubby Dan was a Republican! :)

I'm in Beijing

Friday I flew to San Francisco where I met up with the rest of the U.S. women weightlifters and a few other sports like rowing, judo, boxing, cayak/canoeing and archery for outfitting and credentialing. It was like Christmas in July, we received so much we had to send half of it home. The Govenator dropped in and Natalie, Carissa and I had a nice chat about lifting and then had our picture taken with him. I spoke a little politics with him talking about my hubby Dan being up for re-election. He was happy to hear he was Republican. Ha, ha, ha!

The flight was around 12.5 hours from San Fran, it was a pretty decent flight. I slept for 5-6 hours in the beginning and then stayed up the rest of the flight. I had no problem staying up last night but have struggled a bit tonight to stay awake. Thank goodness for the free internet cafe at the Village here so I can stay awake!

We arrived at 2:30 p.m., by the time we arrived at the Athletes Village it was around 5:30 p.m. Since it was Sunday there was little traffic. Beijing looks amazing. It looks very clean and much more modern than I expected. The Village is top notch. From what I hear it is the nicest Village ever. The rooms are like condos with 3 rooms and a common area. It feels more like a mini-resort. There is airconditioning which is great. I got my first view of the Birdsnest where the opening ceremonies will be.

We trained at Beijing Normal University (BNU) which is set up with a great facility with all brand new equipment and platforms. Training went very well today especially considering I just got off a plane less than 24 hours before. I snatched 75 kilos/2, 77.5 kilos/2, 80 kilos/2, 77.5 kilos/1, 80 kilos/1, 82.5 kilos/1. They don't have the 1 kilo, 2 kilo or .5 kilo plates so we had to make due. The sports medicine is very nice. They have Doctors, Chiropractors, Trainers and massge therapist on site both at the venue and the Village. My favorite part was the cold plunge. My teeth chattered for an hour in 90 degree weather. I enjoyed being cold for the first time since we got here.

So far the expereince is awesome. John, my coach is here too which makes it that much better. It is such an honor to represent the U.S.A!

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