Well the Olympics are over for the swimmers. It was an incredible meet and I think it has changed most people’s ideas of what fast means. There was so much fast swimming in so many events it was definitely an unprecedented event. I’m really intrigued to find out how times in the next year or two will compare to these Olympics. I know that I have new expectations of my own after seeing what others are capable of. There usually is a little bit of a slump the year after the games for most people though. People put so much work into that meet that it can take some time to get back into the swing of things and most people will take a nice long break. I’m already nearing the tail end of my nice long break and thinking about how fast I can be in the future.

I have still been enjoying watching the Olympics post swimming. I really got excited for the American women’s beach volleyball team of May-Treanor and Walsh. They were really the class of the Olympics and were the first team to ever win two Olympic gold medals in a row. I watched most of their matches and cheered the whole way. What a dominating performance.

Last weekend I ran my first 5K in several months. It was pretty fun. Beth, Matt Owen and I drove to Winder, about 35 minutes away for the 8AM race. We were all thankful for the temperature that morning. It was about 70 degrees throughout the race. If it had been as hot during that race as it has been around here lately we would have been in significantly more pain. I was a couple minutes off my best time but as much as I could expect having not run in so long. I wound up getting second in my age group and Owen won his age group.

What I have been doing much more than anything else lately though has been sitting in front of the television. It is sort of ridiculous that I am an athlete and like watching Olympic sports but when the Olympics are on I become a couch potato. I also am getting really motivated to be better than I have ever been. Most of what I’ve watched has been swimming and it really makes me want to be better. I’ve also watched lots of other sports. Last night the women’s individual all around gymnastics was exciting with the Americans going 1-2. I have also seen some badminton, soccer, basketball, and both volleyball events. I’ve been really impressed with the play of the American beach volleyball teams, both male and female. I’ve just got to try to get off the couch and do more physical activity of my own.

Lately I’ve had a little bit of an urge to get back in swimming shape. Our pool is under construction though so there isn’t going to be any swimming until everything is fixed up. I’m not sure when that will be but I’m sure I can wait a little longer if I’ve already gone about 5 weeks. In the meantime I’ll continue to do some exercise outside the pool. I’ve been doing some push-ups and pull-ups, a few abs, even some tennis. I’m starting to get back on my bike this week too. The only problem with exercising outside is that it is extremely hot out. It doesn’t take long before the heat really takes it out of you.

I’m also pretty excited for the Olympics to start. It isn’t long now and I’ll be able to watch lots of my friends and teammates compete in the biggest event of their lives. There are lots of Bulldogs in Beijing and I’ll be cheering for them all to be better than they’ve ever been. Two of my training partners from my group will be competing. Sebastien Rouault has the 400 free and 1500 free and Troy Prinsloo has the 1500 also. Those guys have trained so well this whole year I know they are going to do well. Lets Go Dawgs!

Beth and I had a great time on our trip to go rafting and hiking. The first day we went down the Nantahala River in single person inflatable boats called duckies. The river was fairly tame until the very last rapid, which usually throws people from their boats. It was called Nantahala Falls. That is right where they take your picture. Beth and I held strong and stayed in our boats.

Right after the trip down the river and lunch, we discovered that we were right next to the Appalachian Trail. We found some walking sticks where we picked up the trail and hiked about an hour in. It was incredible to take in the sights on the trail. We saw a trickling waterfall, all sorts of wild mushrooms, and lots of butterflies. It inspired me to someday tackle a much bigger portion of the trail.

The second day saw much bigger rapids. We went down the Ocoee River. The Ocoee is where the kayak competition was held for the 1996 Olympics. We went down the Olympic run without falling out. Actually we didn’t fall out the whole river. I think our boat was the only one that didn’t have any people fall out. On the Ocoee you go down with a guide on a boat that holds 7 or 8 people. We had an experienced guide that hit the rapids just right every time. It was a blast. We want to do another trip in the future and go down the Chattooga River. That one ends with 5 class 5 rapids in a row. Beth has done the Chattooga before and really wants to take me down. We couldn’t do it on this trip because the entire weekend was booked solid. Next time we will have to plan that one further in advance.

Since trials I’ve been having some fun. I’ve been playing video games with friends, playing tennis, bike riding, and reading. It’s nice to be able to stay up late and sleep in for a change. I haven’t once woken up in time for morning practice. I wouldn’t have gone to practice if I had been up though. I have been thinking about swimming but I haven’t felt like I really needed to get in the pool yet.

One thing has happened with some stress. There was a terrible thunderstorm last week and my friend Matt Owen’s apartment building was struck by lightning. The building caught on fire and the fire spread quickly through the attic of the building. He lives on the first floor of the two-story building so that saved him from burning. There was plenty of smoke in his place though. He also had some damage from the power surge. His computer had a couple parts fry and his TV stopped working. He wound up having to stay with me for a couple days before they got running water back and the smoke smell went away.

This weekend we are going to have some excitement. Beth and I are going up to North Carolina to do some white water rafting. It has been a few years since Beth has done any and it has been at least 10 years since the last time I did. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we will have a fun ride down the river.

Our first full day in Omaha was exciting to say the least.  There was a terrible storm and a fire in our hotel.  We also saw a car accident and a woman hit by a car.  We also saw a new movie, WALL-E.

In the afternoon, right before I jumped in the pool, there was an announcement at the pool about a tornado warning and everyone had to get off the pool deck.  There was a really strong storm headed our way with 80-90 mile-per-hour winds.  The storm was so strong that it ripped large parts of the Qwest Center building right off.  We actually were wondering if they were going to be able to have a meet if the damage was too severe.  It turns out that the building will be fine though and the meet will go on as planned.

After the storm passed and we left the pool we were supposed to go to dinner on the other side of Omaha.  On the way we had to pass right through the path of the storm.  Power was out to most areas on the way out and the streetlights weren’t working.  This is probably what caused the car accident that we drove by.  Then a little later on there was a pedestrian in the middle of the road who was hit by a car.  We passed dozens of downed trees and several of them blocked roads, altering our route.  We finally got to a point where the police blocked off the road we were on and we couldn’t find a road that headed in the right direction that was clear.  At that point we figure that we just weren’t meant to head out that way.  So we headed back to downtown where out hotel is to eat.

After eating we walked back to our hotel to find fire trucks outside and everyone loitering outside the hotel.  It turned out that some water had gotten into the basement of the hotel and run into the circuit breaker causing it to smoke.  It was probably 45 minutes before we were allowed to return to the hotel.  In the meantime we watched as the bride and groom from the wedding party that was at to hotel at the time took pictures with the fire trucks.

What a crazy day.  Hopefully we have all our hiccups out of the way at this point and everything will go smoothly from here on out.  I’m getting ready to have my first race of the meet tomorrow morning, the 400 IM.  It is the event that I have been most looking forward to and I’m feeling pretty good.

Lately taper hasn’t been that much fun.  I have been in a little bit of a funk while my body tries to figure out what is going on and rebuilds itself.  It has been going on for a couple weeks and while I know that I’ve done the work and will be fine, it is frustrating to swim slower when getting rest.

That was until yesterday night and this morning.  I am finally starting to feel stronger and on top of the water again.  It makes swimming so much more fun when you feel decent and swim fast.  Swimming fast is the reason we do this sport in the first place.  So it is still another week of resting and feeling better before it’s really time to throw down.  The more practices I have feeling like today, the more I know that I will be in good shape when Trials start next weekend.

It is nice to finally start taper. I’m still doing some good work in the pool and I’m still pretty tired, but the difference in the amount of time spent at the pool is noticeable. Just having more time during the day is one of the great things about taper. While full yardage training is in swing it can feel like there’s never any time in the day. It seems like I get home from morning practice and its almost time to get ready to head back. It is also nice to swim faster on a regular basis. That is the reason most of us swim anyway…to go fast. That is the fun part. Even in the beginning of taper when I am still a little tired it’s cool to start swimming faster.

Other than that there isn’t really too much going on around here. I went to see Kung Fu Panda with Beth the other day and thought it was pretty good. There were only about 6 total people in the theater since it was a matinee in the middle of the week and that made it even more enjoyable. It was easy to spread about and get comfortable. There is just something about Jack Black that makes us laugh whether in human or panda form.

I am on my way to Omaha for the Swimvitational Grand Prix meet this weekend. I’m looking forward to the meet and seeing the Olympic Trials venue. I’m only doing a few events since it is only a few weeks until Trials. I never do a full order of events within a month from a shave meet. I just want to get a little racing done. I will be doing the 200 Free, 200 Fly, and 1500 Free. The 1500 is plenty of racing by itself, but I haven’t done one long course in a few months so I want to get one done before I taper.

I will also be closely watching the Charlotte Grand Prix meet this weekend while I am up in Nebraska. My teammates from Georgia will be there as well as my club team from Florida including my little sister, Melanie. I’m hoping that everyone does well enough to be confidant leading into the next few weeks.

This week was the last week at full yardage before taper. It seemed to take forever. It didn’t really help that I had recurring knots in my shoulder. But I swam through it and did some good swimming. Probably the highlight of the week was Saturday morning. Our distance group challenged the main group to a 400 medley relay. I was the flier on the relay and went 55.9, which is the same time I went at the Santa Clara meet the other week. So not only was I happy that I swam fast, but I was really glad that we beat the main group relay. There was a lot of trash talking for a couple days leading up to the race so everyone really went for it and we wound up just barely beating them. The really hard part was that we had to race 10 x 50 off the blocks after that. Needless to say, there was a ton of lactic acid build-up that day.

This coming week should be fun. We are just barely starting to taper a little and I’m going to the Omaha Swimvitational. I’m looking forward to the last tune-up meet before Trials. It will also be a good opportunity to see the Trials venue ahead of time. The only part that isn’t great is that my team won’t be there with me. They will be in Charlotte at that Grand Prix meet. So I’m pretty much the scout for Omaha come this weekend.