A short break

After world championships the team was able to take a short break from scheduled practices and training. As soon as I got back from traveling the semester was starting up and I would be going back into full time classes. I decided that this would be a good time for me to get some classes done when training would be less rigorous. I spent some time at home with my family as well as visited quite a few friends in Boulder, CO.

 It was nice to be home and swim a little bit with the Master’s team at the Ridge rec center and do some Pilates classes at the Ken Caryl Ranch Community Center. It was also fun to catch up on my trail running around home with our chocolate lab Colt and ride a family friends horse Rebel! Shortly after I got back my roommate Jessica Long, a Paralympian in Swimming, was moving out and going to train back at home in Baltimore. This was sad to see her go but glad that I was able to build a friendship with an athlete that has been such an inspiration and positive influence in my life and while living at the Olympic Training Center.

I also made a trip up to the mountains to enjoy some of the fall weather and changing colors. My first stop was at my aunt’s place in Gypsum, CO,  a small town is just outside of Vail. This was a great place to go and relax as well as spend some time with my aunt Linda and uncle Larry. My aunt Linda is also a massage therapist so I was able to get a massage and some other treatments while I was there which was great. One day we drove to a small town outside of Carbondale, CO to go to a place called Avalanche Ranch. This ranch had a few small natural hot springs and lodges that people could stay in. It was so peaceful and the weather was beautiful. With all of the changing fall colors it was a wonderful way to relax and soak up the last bit of warm weather before winter!

After a few days with my aunt and uncle I drove to Steamboat to the family condo. Even though I wasn’t with anyone I was pretty busy with class work and was still nice to get out of town and be someplace new. I was able to go swimming and run around seeing how the town has changed and improved over the past few years. It was so nice to get back to Steamboat as well as get some peace and quiet.

Even with about 3 to 4 weeks off of scheduled training it seemed to fly by much too quickly. I was about half way through my courses when training started back up and we picked up again fairly quickly and at a high intensity. I was glad that I had been doing a little bit of running and swimming over the break to stay in shape. With the full time courses and working part time it was quite difficult since the training at this time was more than I expected it to be. I was committed to the classes though and just had to grit my teeth and keep at it. Even I can struggle with time management and procrastination from time to time. I was able to get through the courses with straight A’s and make the Dean’s list for the fourth time! It helped knowing that I would be going into part time courses for the next session which would be much more manageable with training and work.