A is for August

A is for Ack!

A is for Already?! Anxiety! Angst! AAAaaaaaaaah!

A is also for About time! Awesome! Alright!

Yep, it's starting to seem pretty real all of a sudden. I woke up this morning and somehow it was August. When did that happen? August means the Olympics are here. "Ack!" That was my first thought, quickly followed by "Yikes, I need to pack."

I leave in three days and I don't have my act together at all. I need to train some more and get some more rest and stretch and lift some weights and pack and and and... breath. Wheh. I flipped from panic mode to focused mode: "It's August! About time. Alright, let's go to the Olympics!"

Tomorrow morning is my last long, hard workout – 30km at race pace – and then I'll slowly start to back down the volume. The first half of next week will be a lot of traveling, waiting around and traveling some more, so that's almost like training. At least it puts a certain stress on the body and mind. Rest and hydration and relaxation become even more important.

Aug. 4. It's funny because Monday is BIG DEPARTURE DAY (oooooh, scary Jaws music), but I'm only going to San Francisco. After I get there, I'll get in an afternoon workout and visit with friends. Tuesday is a speed workout in the morning and then USOC Team processing at San Jose State. More waiting around. Processing will take all afternoon and part of the evening. Relax. Then I leave fairly early Wednesday for SFO, wait around at the airport for hours, and take a direct flight from SFO to Beijing. Arrive into Beijing, more waiting in the airport, customs, transfer to Olympic Village, etc. Right now it all seems very orderly and straightforward. Come back in a few days for complete details. Hah.

NBC has just posted their Olympics broadcast schedule. They claim that the 50k racewalk will be covered LIVE from 11pm (Aug. 21) to 9am (Aug. 22) on the USA Network. That's 10 hours of coverage and I thought my race was only going to last four hours. What does NBC know that I don't? Uh-oh.

But I can't figure out how it will be live if my race starts at 7:30AM Beijing time; that's 4:30PM on Aug. 21 in San Diego. Anyone? If you're on the west coast, add 15 hours to get the local time in Beijing. East coast, just add 12 hours. Local time, temperature and more in Beijing.