Saturday, August 2, 2008

Training Camp Fun

So we went to the training facility here in Dalian and it is quite nice.   I will also include some pics of the hotel where we are staying.  Finally, here at the hotel, USATF has set up an athletes' lounge area, including plenty of games, ping pong, bowling, and movie nights.  I just got into a heated match with my teammate Sharifa, who is on the staff, as we battled Wallace and Shani, and then Batman and Sanya.  Needless to say, they didn't like losing.  I guess that's what makes them great athletes, just not great ping pong players.

These guys are stationed every 100 meters around the complex:
A view over the golf course to the ocean.  There's about 1000 fishing boats on the water.  There is a 9 hole course here that I'm considering checking out.  Now I can say that I have hit a golf ball into the ocean on multiple continents!


This is the entrance gate to the practice track:



This is a shot of the practice track.  It's set near these mountains that are quite pretty.  The training facilities are a little rustic, or spartan, depending on how you want to phrase it.  They have everything that we need and that is all that matters!

Shani getting a little work done by Justin.  I think she was crying at this point.

After getting worked on and feeling much better:

This is a picture of Kenta's tattoo.  I thought it was pretty awesome as it incorporated both of the Olympic teams that he has made:


Thats all for now.  Still trying to get adjusted to the time differences.  The sun comes up super early here, so it's even tougher sleeping in.  Got up at 5:15 this morning.  





1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hey,Mikey,

Looks like you're having a great and interesting time....We love reading your daily blogs - keep it up. Ya never know - you might have a future career in journalism!

We keep looking for you on ESPN but no sighting yet.

NY is fun but miss you and look forward to planning a weekend with you in Boston in September.

XX MOM, DAD and Jules