Beijing, China.....It's really over

It's that time,

I hate to have to say bye to China and all the volunteers who helped out and made the Olympics a success. It was great, the weather stayed nice and the pollution was not at all a problem. Beijing was a very beautiful city to visit and I will admit I enjoyed taking photos with the locals. They enjoyed encountering the Americans and when they took a photo I noticed they would always put up the peace sign. That was something I had not seen in a while. But I wish you all were able to be there.

After the relay we had so many reporters to talk with. It was amazing how we all still held up after just running. Ha so many reporters complemented us on the fact that we didn't even look like we had run because our hair was in place and we had on make up. Our little secret...prior to the awards cermony we are able to change our clothes to the medal stand gear and fix ourselves up. We ended the night going to talk with NBC and we did our interview rooftop with the Bird's Nest behind us. It was definitely a pretty sight.

The next day I went to visit Chris at BNU where he was staying. He had this weird look and I asked him what was wrong. His response was that he was sad.....sad because the Olympics were over. I was shocked at first but then it hit me too, everyone in the building was packing up. The dining hall was serving the last meal of the day and had a lot of things packed and ready to go. Track and Field was the event to end out the Olympics and now what we worked hard for was OVER. Only the memories shall live on! What would we do now? What would we work toward. Our biggest event of the year and what everyone talked about...was done. Chris and I walked to his room and I helped him pack his bag. We looked at each other and both said, "Job well done", and walked into the elevator.

The Olympics come once every four years, but will be present in my life everyday because of my medal. Please pass along my story to anyone who doubts that they can make it in life, get to their dream or look toward the future. Because remember if I had given up....this would not have happened for me. Strive for your dreams and you will reach your goal.

4x400 METER RELAY GOLD.....WE DID IT!!!

Hello everyone,

Yes it happened Team USA took home first a gold medal in the women's 4x4 and then also gold in the men's 4x4 relay. It was a pleasure to see the USA Team end on such a good note. After some earlier disappointments on the track, we had been put down by the media stating that we weren't having a good Olympics. But in reality we were having an awesome Olympic Games with the women's side taking home the most medals since 1996. Who would have thought that was the case!

My experience here has definitely been the highlight of my life. I accomplished my dream of prticipating in the Olympics and bringing home a medal. I totally enjoyed the nervous feelings and runner's high that one would get and I know that I will continue to train for the next 4 years for 2012. I guess once your in one olympics it gets addicting and pushes you to want to do more.

That night as we all prepared to walk out to the track we knew that we had a game plan, we weren't going home empty handed. We were on the same team, and we would come together to make the USA proud. The previous night for the 4x400 relay prelim we were going to run myself to Natasha to Monique to DeeDee, but 10 minutes before we realized that DeeDee couldn't go. That is why you always want to have your whole team including alternates warm up and be ready to go. The coaches let us know the new order Mary, Monique, Natasha and Sanya. We were all sad that former Olympian DeeDee was unable to run due to her existing knee problem, but we still had her support and prayed as the team headed out. We ran the prelim and set up the team for the final...which I will now get too!!!!

The stadium was so packed and which had our adrenaline running...we were ready. I had the job again of leading Team USA with first leg. I patiently waited as the starter announced for us to get in the blocks...it was Time, Time to dream, Time to start...uhhh does that line sound familiar. Your right the opening line to the Home Depot Commercial. Interesting how things work out...I didn't know that I would be first leg when I shot the commercial. Our competitiors included the teams from Russia, Jamaica and Great Britain. I heard the gun and knew that I had to keep my team in position. I held my leg down and stayed in good position....I was able to hand off before some of the other girls who had made it to the 400 meter final. I was able to hand the baton to Allyson. She ran a great leg passing the Jamaican and handed off to Monique. Monique held the lead but was passed by the Russian in the last 70 meters and she still stayed strong and handed off to Sanya. There was no giving up between Sanya and the Russian. We crossed the line first in the fastest time in 15 years. We did it.

It was a wonderful feeling and we immediately embraced and thanked the Lord. I could not have asked for better teammates. They are all great and talented girls. I am happy to have made history wih them and look forward to more relays together.

513 Gets a Medal......Beijing Baby

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

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