Altitude Training

So here we are….Flagstaff, AZ.  Since we arrived three days ago, the sun has been shining and the sky has been a cloudless blue every…single…day! Such a foreign concept coming from a Eugene winter.  There was a few feet of snow when we first arrived but already it is almost all melted.  I already have dark sunburnt sports bra lines on my back and I can’t help but love it.  Our ‘cribs’ are ‘pimped out’ with flat screens in every room, a huge Jacuzzi bathtub, a fully furnished kitchen, washer and dryer, and access to a recreation center with board games, hot tub, bean bag theatre, pool tables, and concession stand!  Its all a little step up from last year, I’d say. 

This year we have more people here too so we are all split up in four different condos.  I really love trips like this because I feel like I learn a lot in a very short amount of time.  Its one thing to go to practice everyday with these Olympians and amazing athletes but it’s a whole different thing to actually LIVE with them 24-7.  I really appreciate all the advice they give me but it’s always interesting to find out what they tell me to do and what they actually do on a regular basis themselves!  I am used to living on my own so I had a feeling that living with people was going to be tough, no matter who it was but its nice that there are different groups that naturally form and if I need to get away, I can always just take a walk.  So far, I have already gotten to catch up with people that I didn’t see on a regular basis in Eugene and it has been really fun! 

The other challenge for me is that in Eugene, I was starting to feel really confident about what I was doing and how in control I was of my training.  Being around other people with the same goals and different regimens makes me question things that I didn’t really think about before.  Because I still feel my routine ‘hiccups’ like this, I know that I still have room to grow as an athlete.  It might not be completely realistic but I think you have really made it when you can go through a transition like this without feeling any changes.  I know that I am going to gain SOOOOO much if I can just continue to roll like I have been the last few weeks in Eugene- letting things seem easy- not over reaching, overtraining, getting injured, or sick.  Come on Bridget keep it simple and don’t be STUPID!