"So, Why are you Training in Dalian?"

So I get off of the plane in Dalian and go collect my bags.  I am heading out of the baggage area and there is a woman with a American Track and Field sign there to greet me.  As I get closer I realize that there is an American man standing right behind her with a video camera.  As I get even closer I realize that he is filming me!  I walk up to the lady and tell her who I am and she proceeds to lead me to the car that is waiting to take me to the resort.  As we walk, the man starts to ask me why the Americans are training in Dalian instead of Beijing.  He then asks if it is because of the pollution.  That was the first time that I've been able to say "No comment" and it was great.  The other people there to greet me proceeded to shoo him away and then the lady asks me who that man was, as if I knew him.  Crazy!  The funniest part about this is that I was going to post something this morning about how beautiful it was in Beijing this morning, titled: Where's the Smog?  You be the judge:

This is from my hotel room this morning.  Looks pretty clear to me.  I wish I could say the same about Dalian.  Visibility seems to be about 500 feet, but I could be wrong.  Hope everyone is doing well.  Shani gets in this afternoon with quite a few of the other athletes, including Kenta Bell, an athlete that I worked with at Florida for a bit and helped during the Trials.  Dan Pfaff, my mentor at Florida arrives tomorrow so it will be good to see all of these guys.  Just so everyone has a visual, this is Dan:

Finally, Carrie Lane will be arriving in Beijing on the 6th.  She is the throws coach at UVA and has been working with Adam Nelson for the past two years.  She'll be my traveling partner as well:

Should be fun!