Well everyone,
It was yet another weird night in track and field. We didn't get the sticks around the track in the USA 4x1's but we did get some medals in other events. The most important medal of the night was from our hometown boy DAVID PAYNE!!!! I saw him earlier in the day and told him to stay focus and be calm. I knew his day would come and things worked out for the best. I am so proud of him and happy that this 2008 Olympics was a success.
Let's give it up for none other than D Payne or better yet straight off the plane Dave! HAHA. Thanks to both the Cincinnati and UC community.....for all your support.
In terms of the relay, I will be stepping on the track and running first leg! Wish us luck.
See you all,
MW
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
The Olympics- You Never Know What Will Happen
Hey everyone,
I am still here in Beijing gearing up for the 4x400 meter relay. The races so far on the sprint side have been amazing and unpredictable. You think you already have an idea of who will win, but things end up working out totally different. I have seen World Records, amazing finishes and some disappointments! This 2008 Olympic Games has allowed me to further open my eyes to how hard it takes for one to excel. We athletes sacrifice a lot, put in hard training and our experiences can range from ups/downs. I am thankful for my gift that I have of running and will always cherish it and the memories. Well back to the fact that my Games experience isn't over. 4x400 relay is what ends it all for track and field.
As of today I do not know the order or details about who will run, but I will post once I know more information. The weather has been nice here with sunny skies and warm temperatures. Today is one of the weird days in which it is RAINING, and no not just a little but a lot. I woke up this morning and knew hat I had to head to breakfast in the rain. I put on my layers of rain gear and made the trip over to our dining hall. I made it and didn't get that wet. So let me tell you all more about the dining hall. It is a large building that can hold about 1000 individuals. At certain times during the day it is so crowded, I have definitely had the chance to encounter so many different countries that I didn't realize existed. I have also been doing a good job of "pin trading" and what that includes is taking your countries Olympic designed pins and trading with other countries. I have had so much fun doing this and the Chinese love to try and trade something else for a pin. It could be a small stuff animal, small key chain or even a panda pin. I traded with countries such as Germany, Jamaica, India, and China.
We now have one more addition to this trip, Uncle Scott arrived a couple of days before my first round of the 400 meters. I am so happy that he was able to make the long trip and hope he is enjoying himself. We have done a couple of interesting things such as, visiting the Great Wall and taking him to the Silk Market. The Great Wall was an amazing experience, it is so long. You could not walk the entire thing in one day it would take one walking 20-30 miles a day for maybe 4 months. Whew myself, Chris and Uncle Scott (Chris's uncle) walked a little portion of the wall. Some spots were very steep and you had to hold onto the railing or you would fall. At one point we had to let Chris do the hard work and climb to get us some good pictures. Well I guess I can't leave out what happened prior to actually giving our ticket to the attendent. I am not a big fan of heights, I usually do fine on roller coasters because I know what to expect. This was a shocker for me, I didn't know that we had to ride cable cars to get to the other side of the wall. I got inside the cable car and we headed up into the sky! I immediately broke into a huge sweat and sort of had a panic attack. The cable car was just a little round thing attached to a cable that went over the mountains. It went high into the sky with nothing below us and I immedialtely thought "Oh no we are going to tumble to the rocks" Chris came to my rescue, I closed my eyes and started to fan myself.
When we made it to the other side I was so relieved. I told myself that I wouldn't be riding it back.....but I guess I changed my mind once I found out that it took an hour to walk back.
Talk to you all soon
I am still here in Beijing gearing up for the 4x400 meter relay. The races so far on the sprint side have been amazing and unpredictable. You think you already have an idea of who will win, but things end up working out totally different. I have seen World Records, amazing finishes and some disappointments! This 2008 Olympic Games has allowed me to further open my eyes to how hard it takes for one to excel. We athletes sacrifice a lot, put in hard training and our experiences can range from ups/downs. I am thankful for my gift that I have of running and will always cherish it and the memories. Well back to the fact that my Games experience isn't over. 4x400 relay is what ends it all for track and field.
As of today I do not know the order or details about who will run, but I will post once I know more information. The weather has been nice here with sunny skies and warm temperatures. Today is one of the weird days in which it is RAINING, and no not just a little but a lot. I woke up this morning and knew hat I had to head to breakfast in the rain. I put on my layers of rain gear and made the trip over to our dining hall. I made it and didn't get that wet. So let me tell you all more about the dining hall. It is a large building that can hold about 1000 individuals. At certain times during the day it is so crowded, I have definitely had the chance to encounter so many different countries that I didn't realize existed. I have also been doing a good job of "pin trading" and what that includes is taking your countries Olympic designed pins and trading with other countries. I have had so much fun doing this and the Chinese love to try and trade something else for a pin. It could be a small stuff animal, small key chain or even a panda pin. I traded with countries such as Germany, Jamaica, India, and China.
We now have one more addition to this trip, Uncle Scott arrived a couple of days before my first round of the 400 meters. I am so happy that he was able to make the long trip and hope he is enjoying himself. We have done a couple of interesting things such as, visiting the Great Wall and taking him to the Silk Market. The Great Wall was an amazing experience, it is so long. You could not walk the entire thing in one day it would take one walking 20-30 miles a day for maybe 4 months. Whew myself, Chris and Uncle Scott (Chris's uncle) walked a little portion of the wall. Some spots were very steep and you had to hold onto the railing or you would fall. At one point we had to let Chris do the hard work and climb to get us some good pictures. Well I guess I can't leave out what happened prior to actually giving our ticket to the attendent. I am not a big fan of heights, I usually do fine on roller coasters because I know what to expect. This was a shocker for me, I didn't know that we had to ride cable cars to get to the other side of the wall. I got inside the cable car and we headed up into the sky! I immediately broke into a huge sweat and sort of had a panic attack. The cable car was just a little round thing attached to a cable that went over the mountains. It went high into the sky with nothing below us and I immedialtely thought "Oh no we are going to tumble to the rocks" Chris came to my rescue, I closed my eyes and started to fan myself.
When we made it to the other side I was so relieved. I told myself that I wouldn't be riding it back.....but I guess I changed my mind once I found out that it took an hour to walk back.
Talk to you all soon
Monday, August 18, 2008
I gave it my all......the 2nd Round (Women's 400)
Ni hao (Hello in Chinese)
I know so many of you have emailed me over the past days and stated how happy you are that track and field has started! Thanks again for all your emails and by the way I hope that you were able to catch a glimpse of Mike Phelps take home so many gold medals. Man, I don’t even know the guy but I am now his number one fan. How does he do it? He is an amazing little fish or big fish I should say! Even though I have not gone to any of the other venues I have enjoyed reading our little SPOTLIGHT NEWSLETTER that comes out each day. It alerts all the athletes to how everyone is doing. Great huh, the USOC (United States Olympic Committee) continues to do a great job taking care of the athletes.
The second round was scheduled to go off at 9:00pm so I decided to take a small nap earlier in the day. I would stick with the same routine and warm-up and get to the track ready to go. I felt really good and happy that I had got some of the track jitters out the way in the earlier round. All 3 Americans had advanced to the next round and I was thankful for that. We all were in different heats so now the goal was to place top two and make it to the final. This round would be a harsh round in which everyone would push their body to the limit. I was in lane 7 and needed to have a race like at the Trials, of course not with the weird finish, but a strong race. In these big meets you never know what to expect with lane draws except maybe in the final. So prior to going out to the stadium, Chris and I had to converse through a fence. Yes, long story but here it goes. Prior to the Olympic Games there is a coaching staff that is chosen for both the men and the women teams. As a sprinter I have a coach who represents the 400 meter group and we report to them at all times. Since all the athletes come from different places and backgrounds, we have our own personal coaches also. So imagine if every athletes coach could be on the warm up field during the Games, it could be a mad house..haha. Well anyway Chris did not have a credential to be on the warm-up track but we found a nice little spot by this fence that was slightly bent outside the warm-up track. This is how he watched me warm-up and how he gave me a good luck kiss and hug. Yes it was weird but we made it work.
I really wanted to do well this round, as the gun went off I pushed out of my blocks and ran the first curve. I headed into the 250 mark and felt as if I didn’t have the turnover that I usually would have at these point. What could be happening, I stayed calm and gave my all and still covered no ground. I saw my Olympic dream slipping away but nothing was coming from these legs. I crossed the line in 5th and was disappointed but decided to support my teammates and watched the other heats. Only one of the three fellow Americans made it into the final. I was happy for her that we had an American representation in the final and as I stepped off the track I thanked God for my blessings and held my head high.
Yes I didn’t make the final, but it wasn’t quite the end for me, because I still had a chance in the RELAY!! How many people have that opportunity? I was still an Olympian and nothing could change that. I am staying focused and getting myself ready for he 22nd and 23rd. Wish me luck.
I know so many of you have emailed me over the past days and stated how happy you are that track and field has started! Thanks again for all your emails and by the way I hope that you were able to catch a glimpse of Mike Phelps take home so many gold medals. Man, I don’t even know the guy but I am now his number one fan. How does he do it? He is an amazing little fish or big fish I should say! Even though I have not gone to any of the other venues I have enjoyed reading our little SPOTLIGHT NEWSLETTER that comes out each day. It alerts all the athletes to how everyone is doing. Great huh, the USOC (United States Olympic Committee) continues to do a great job taking care of the athletes.
The second round was scheduled to go off at 9:00pm so I decided to take a small nap earlier in the day. I would stick with the same routine and warm-up and get to the track ready to go. I felt really good and happy that I had got some of the track jitters out the way in the earlier round. All 3 Americans had advanced to the next round and I was thankful for that. We all were in different heats so now the goal was to place top two and make it to the final. This round would be a harsh round in which everyone would push their body to the limit. I was in lane 7 and needed to have a race like at the Trials, of course not with the weird finish, but a strong race. In these big meets you never know what to expect with lane draws except maybe in the final. So prior to going out to the stadium, Chris and I had to converse through a fence. Yes, long story but here it goes. Prior to the Olympic Games there is a coaching staff that is chosen for both the men and the women teams. As a sprinter I have a coach who represents the 400 meter group and we report to them at all times. Since all the athletes come from different places and backgrounds, we have our own personal coaches also. So imagine if every athletes coach could be on the warm up field during the Games, it could be a mad house..haha. Well anyway Chris did not have a credential to be on the warm-up track but we found a nice little spot by this fence that was slightly bent outside the warm-up track. This is how he watched me warm-up and how he gave me a good luck kiss and hug. Yes it was weird but we made it work.
I really wanted to do well this round, as the gun went off I pushed out of my blocks and ran the first curve. I headed into the 250 mark and felt as if I didn’t have the turnover that I usually would have at these point. What could be happening, I stayed calm and gave my all and still covered no ground. I saw my Olympic dream slipping away but nothing was coming from these legs. I crossed the line in 5th and was disappointed but decided to support my teammates and watched the other heats. Only one of the three fellow Americans made it into the final. I was happy for her that we had an American representation in the final and as I stepped off the track I thanked God for my blessings and held my head high.
Yes I didn’t make the final, but it wasn’t quite the end for me, because I still had a chance in the RELAY!! How many people have that opportunity? I was still an Olympian and nothing could change that. I am staying focused and getting myself ready for he 22nd and 23rd. Wish me luck.
My 1st Round in the Olympic Games (Women’s 400, lane 7)
Hey everyone,
I am so happy that I have been able to share my experiences with you all from the 2008 Olympic Games. You all are definitely great supporters and I appreciate all your prayers and best wishes. You all have helped tremendously in allowing me to stay focused and calm. Let’s start out with the first round of the women’s 400 meters which was in the morning session on the 16th at 12:30pm. I was so anxious to run and ready to get into the track stadium known as the Bird’s Nest, I didn’t know what to expect! I had already watched some events on T.V. and knew that the crowd would be there, I just didn’t realize how MANY PEOPLE WERE ACTUALLY IN THE STANDS!!! China was present in strong numbers and it was a sight to see when an American Flag flowed in a fans hand.
I had been working out a small kink in my right upper hip and quad, but was confident that I would be alright. Nothing big just a little sore spot. You know your body is never perfect, but we learn to deal with it and keep pushing forth. All of my practices had been going good and both Chris and I were confident with how the whole year had gone. The goal in the first round was to place top two in my heat so as to advance to the 2nd round. I talked with Jim the day before and he just assured me of what I needed to do. Wow my first Olympics…how would I do? I continued to say my prayers each night by asking the Lord to stay by my side, protect me, strengthen me and to allow me to do his will.
I was nervous I will admit, not doubting myself though but butterfly nervous like this is the OLYMPICS, Mary!!! I had come such a long way and I knew that my competitors were all thinking the same thing..going after a win. We would all want it, but whose day would it be? I finished 2nd in the heat and advance to the next day! I was relived but felt a little sluggish on the track. I quickly got a rub down from our trainers and took my 10 minute ice bath. One out of the way……more to come
I am so happy that I have been able to share my experiences with you all from the 2008 Olympic Games. You all are definitely great supporters and I appreciate all your prayers and best wishes. You all have helped tremendously in allowing me to stay focused and calm. Let’s start out with the first round of the women’s 400 meters which was in the morning session on the 16th at 12:30pm. I was so anxious to run and ready to get into the track stadium known as the Bird’s Nest, I didn’t know what to expect! I had already watched some events on T.V. and knew that the crowd would be there, I just didn’t realize how MANY PEOPLE WERE ACTUALLY IN THE STANDS!!! China was present in strong numbers and it was a sight to see when an American Flag flowed in a fans hand.
I had been working out a small kink in my right upper hip and quad, but was confident that I would be alright. Nothing big just a little sore spot. You know your body is never perfect, but we learn to deal with it and keep pushing forth. All of my practices had been going good and both Chris and I were confident with how the whole year had gone. The goal in the first round was to place top two in my heat so as to advance to the 2nd round. I talked with Jim the day before and he just assured me of what I needed to do. Wow my first Olympics…how would I do? I continued to say my prayers each night by asking the Lord to stay by my side, protect me, strengthen me and to allow me to do his will.
I was nervous I will admit, not doubting myself though but butterfly nervous like this is the OLYMPICS, Mary!!! I had come such a long way and I knew that my competitors were all thinking the same thing..going after a win. We would all want it, but whose day would it be? I finished 2nd in the heat and advance to the next day! I was relived but felt a little sluggish on the track. I quickly got a rub down from our trainers and took my 10 minute ice bath. One out of the way……more to come
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
