Olympic Games Day 9

We are back in London!! It feels so good to be back. Although Dublin was great, it's nice to be back in the Olympic hype. We had another 6 am flight, so this morning I was once again in a delirious half-asleep state. Cate's flight was later in the morning so we had to say bye to her when we left. Unfortunately she cannot stay in the village with us and is at a hotel close to the pool. I wish she could experience the village life with us...it's tough being the alternate because you go through all the same training as the duet but you don't get to go through the Olympics in the same way. Cate's been a trooper though and always staying positive and finding the good in everything. We will see her tomorrow though when we go to the University of East London's high performance center.

We got to the village around 10 am, had a short break and headed to the competition pool for music time. The morning session was short and went pretty well. Usually after traveling (and especially after not getting quality sleep) my body feels stiff and tired, but today it felt great! My back hasn't been too bad either (knock on wood) and the only thing that's bothering me is my adductor, but I am keeping it under control. During the morning practice I was having some equipment malfunctions. The strap on one of my ankle weights ripped the other day so I borrowed one of Cate's weights. Hers was in pretty bad condition though...the material on one side had holes in it so the small rocks inside were slowly falling out. When I was wearing the weight today I kept seeing the rocks fall to the bottom of the pool and scratch my ankle as we were practicing. It was kind of a struggle, but during our lunch break I got a sewing kit from the USOC and fixed my own pair. So it's all good for now! Let's hope they can last for the next few days.

Our second practice was in the practice pool. Again, we shared our music time with Canada. At the end when we were swimming through our free program the whole team cheered for us throughout our entire swim. It was so nice so have someone cheer us on. We aren't training with the team anymore, so we usually swim through in silence, which is fine, but hearing screams of encouragement definitely helps when you feel like you are going to pass out. Even though Canada is our competition, I like that they have good sportsmanship and can cheer us on.

After practice we got to meet with Holly for physical therapy. She made a trek from her hotel to work with us and I'm very thankful for that because she knows my body and my injury well and knows how to keep me in one piece. Plus she's great to talk to in general. Holly is the best :)

Ok that's it for today! Gotta catch up on some sleep now!

Until tomorrow,
MK