Track and Field Blogs - Jenny Barringer

Hey all, Just a quick final post before this whole thing is all over and I'm back in Boulder. I'm didn't stay one day too short or one day too long. I'm ready for it all to be over but happy for each day with its own adventures and lessons. Last night a few remaining USATF team members walked to the dining hall together for a final dinner. We were such a small group! Then, just when Billy and I thought the trip was getting way too long and were really longing for that beautiful Boulder Valley, we ran into… more »

Hey all, Well, just like last year I'm here in Asia for my birthday. I'm not really sure if I get to count it as my birthday quite yet because I still have four hours to go before it's really the 23rd of Aug. on the East Coast. Better yet, how about we start my birthday last night at 12am here in Beijing and let it go until 12am tomorrow night in Boulder. That would give me a 38 hour day to celebrate :). The past few days I've not done as much crazy rush-around sight seeing as I might… more »

Ni-hao, The morning after my 2am recap of my race I woke up at 6:30 bright-eyed and ready to make the trek over to BNU where my coach has been staying. I caught a bus an hour later and bounced in my seat like a 5-year-old anxious for the warm welcome of a proud coach. My expectations were met when I saw Mark in the lobby and he was indeed very happy with my race and with my whole season. We communed over breakfast before he caught his Chicago-bound plane later in the afternoon. More importantly, Mark was Buffalo-bound. His… more »

I walked into that stadium tonight and it was like the whole world showed up to watch our final. I had to smile because I felt like I was being introduced to the planet. There's really no way you can prepare yourself for the significance of the race I was about to begin. And surprisingly, it wasn't the pressure but rather the presence that hit me. I didn't feel expectations, I felt millions of eyes. Millions of eyes focused on a line of skinny, strong, serious women staring down nine lanes of imminent pain. What kept me sane was that… more »

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! All of the love and support from around the USA (and beyond) has been so touching and encouraging. WE have made it to the final on Sunday. Myself along with the investment of so so so many other people. The race was crazy to say the least. There were several messy pile-ups and I'm really blessed to have made it though 99% unscathed. I'm off to catch a nap. Rest and recovery so I can rock on Sunday. I'm also so happy for and proud of Anna for making it through to the final… more »

It's the day before my prelim and I don't know what the next few days will bring. I will update you up until now but I make no promises about getting a blog up between now and after my final. It's time to be totally selfish about my time. Yesterday was a pretty big day. I ran early and later, did a walk-through of the transportation to the official warm-up track and did actually get to go onto and see the warm-up track and the call rooms. No big surprises. The track is nice and located just meters outside of… more »

There is an illness sweeping the Olympic Village. It manifests itslef most clearly in the dining areas and international zones. It causes people to jingle as they walk and randomly stop other pedestrians with a tarret-like outberst of "pins? pins?" Really though, pin trading in the Olympic Village has been a fun new experience and can easily sweep one into obsession. When we arrived at team processing every athlete received pins for our event area along with some pins from USATF. Also, in many sponsor gift bags there would be included an Olympic themed pin. I remember getting pins when… more »

It feels like that past few days here at the Village have gone by quickly and have been full of... well, .... a lot of the same. This is one of the few times when a lot of the same is nothing to complain about! Billy and I have been waking up in the mornings to catch a bus to the USA training facility at Beijing Normal University. If you're going to compete in the Olympics, make the USA team! USATF and the USOC have done everything in their power to make our lives comfortable and convenient. The track that… more »

Hey Everyone, This is going to have to be a quick one. My computer availability has been compromised for a day or two but I wanted to sneak in a quick post. Last night was quite an event. I'm so glad that I went and participated in the Opening Ceremonies. Between transportation, staging, marching, and the end of the ceremony it's about a 6 hour commitment for the athletes. But it was so worth it! I think the best way for me to describe my experience being a part of it all is that I felt like a stargazer... in… more »

I was listening to a mix of music this afternoon and on it is Jack Johnson's "Breakdown." Recently that song strikes a chord with me. The lyrics talk about a train rushing through town and how he needs "this old train to break down" so he can take a look around. I kind of feel like this entire experience of being at the training camp (which wasn't mandatory) and being in the Olympics is a bit like that speeding train. The scenery is so beautiful and it's a thrilling experience but it's all rushing by. If only time could just… more »

I want to take a moment to talk about diet and eating routine especially because I've had quite a few posts, e-mails, and general questions about it. I want to preface this with reminding you all that what I'm going to share is based on my own personal experience and opinions. I have found that if you asked five different athletes about diet you would probably get seven different answers. Actually, this is good timing for this question because just yesterday I woke up to a breakfast of pepto :(. That's not at all to suggest that the food isn't… more »

Heyo, I finally have some half-way interesting and funny stories for all of you, along with some answers to your questions. Dalian, while beautiful, isn't the most exciting place on earth (besides being the US training center!!!) and so I've been concerned about boring all of you back home. Your curiosities help me know what you want to hear about though so, ... here we go. Yesterday afternoon we all went out on a little shopping excursion. The team drove a little way into the downtown city with the typical army of escorts and security. Don't worry though, we didn't… more »

Days of travel are finally moving out of my legs and today's track session was a sweet confirmation. My coach, Wetmore, got in last night and so that means I was back on the track this morning. With a spring in my step and Mark's thumb on the watch, I put in some good intervals in hot weather. The morning began again at 5:30am when I woke up after a solid 8 or 9 hours of sleep. Sleep and fluids are the most important prescription for recovery. So, I entertained myself again until breakfast and then met with Mark to… more »

Good morning everyone (for me at least), It's early here and when I originally wrote this blog it was even earlier... but I think I accidently deleted it or something... oh well. So, speaking of time, it's about 9am here on Aug. 2nd while it's almost 7pm the day before in Boulder. If anyone in the states wants to know if tomorrow is going to be a good day, just send me an e-mail and I'll let you know ;). The excitement of where I am and what I'm embarking on is enough to warp time. But, that in addition… more »

Good morning everyone! (for me anyway) It's 6:20am Aug. 2nd I'm just beginning the 5th day of my adventure and it feels like I've been traveling for a month but at the same time I almost remember having left just yesterday. The excitement helps warp the time but for this trip no help was needed. I've changed so many time zones and traveled through too many nights to know what day it is sometimes, much less what time it is! But now I'm finally settled in Dalian along with many other teammates. We'll stay here for a week before Opening… more »

I'm not really catching up as much as the whole trip and season is starting to catch up to me. I lifted in the weight room for the first time this Tuesday in probably 3 months. I found myself in a world of pain. You know it's bad when you go hands-first to ease yourself into a chair. I'm still putting in good milage on the running front but it's nothing like the milage on the school front. I'm just going to face it, I'm so far behind. I've got all kinds of reading to catch up with. Only a… more »

When I walked up to my door late Sunday night there was a "Welcome Home" poster up on the door and the three greatest roommates in the world (which happen to be mine) were up waiting to welcome me back to Boulder. I woke up the next morning (as you read in the last post) pretty early and started getting things done. I have since then met all of my professors (finally) and am, like a mad woman, trying to catch up with school work. I did a chunk while I was away, but I still missed a lot.
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Wow, it's just before 8am in Boulder, Colorado and I just finished getting the last load of laundry into the washer. My bag is unpacked and back in the basement closet with numerous tags heralding its journey still clinging to the straps. Twenty-four days, twenty-five thousand miles, and all of the unpacking took a mere hour and twenty-five minutes.

Running really did take me around the world this time. My trip began on a "short" flight from Denver to San Francisco followed by the flight to Japan. A layover in South Korea served as intermission between… more »

I have only a few minutes to write so I'll fill in more details later...

I raced yesterday in the DecaNation and won my very first international event in a USA jersey. I set a pr of 9:33 chasing down the French woman in her own stadium the last 100 meters. It was an exciting finish. I couldn't have imagined a better outcome to this long and crazy trip. I can't wait to get home and let everyone in on the rest of the stories

Now I'm off to a long run. I'm going… more »

In the past week or so that I've been here I've done some tourism. It has all been a lot of fun and I won't spend a lot of time explaining it all but I'll tell you what I've seen. Heather and I went to the tower of course and stood in line for too long to pay too much to see too little. We were there in the middle of the day when I was concerned about getting back in time to run. So, while the tower can be very enchanting and romantic I think we might have squashed… more »

Bonjour!

I know I've been missing in action the past few days with action being the key word. Things haven't slowed down but internet has been a little more challenging here and therefore, no blogs :(. So, I apologize to those of you that keep e-mailing me wanting me to write again I assure you, je pense de vous tous le temps!

I took French for four years in high school and continued for a few semesters in college. That has made this experience in France much easier at times than my travels in… more »

I wanted to take the chance to explain a little bit about racing at the World Championships. I feel like I could write a novel about the experience of one race morning at a meet of this level. I know some of my posts are already pretty long but this one might take the cake.

The hotel that we stayed at this championship was very close to the competition track but Osaka is a very congested industrial city, so despite the actual distance (which, I believe was about 4 miles as a crow flies) it took our… more »

Yesterday was a fun day. Heather and I both got up early to find the track and do my workout. Mark had decided to do something a little different and let me decide what my workout would be. I had to run it by him, of course, but it was a lot of fun having to be in charge of my own training for a day. He gave me the goal of the workout and then let my imagination take over ?. I decided on 5x600 at race pace over barriers with 200m recovery. Then, 2x300 sub race pace over… more »

I'm back connected to the internet. Hooray! Heather and I left the hotel in Osaka at about 6am on the morning of the 28th. Between all of the time changes and the traveling it has somehow now become the 30th and I'm finally settled in Leuven, Belgium. I'll explain a bit of the journey. Heather and I took off from the hotel in a taxi and caught a flight on Korean Air to Seoul, South Korea. We had a layover there (2 hours I think?) and then flew to Paris, France. When we got in we went through customs and… more »

12:00pm
So, I haven't written in a few days and I'm sure that makes me look like I'm pouting. I promise that's not the case. Yes, I'm disappointed that I didn't make the final... very disappointed. Not just because I didn't make it rather because I know I could have and maybe should have. I really didn't intend on coming to Osaka and walking away saying "Oh well, it was a good experience." I really wanted to contribute to the team and do as well as possible.

Now, the best way to do that is… more »

8:40pm
It's the evening of the 24th here and that means there's just one night of sleep between me and the most prestigious race of my life so far. Not to worry though, the hard work has been done and because of that all I need to do is what I'm capable of in order to execute a respectable performance. You have to be one of the best to even make it this far and that fact alone gives me confidence going into this prelim.

Despite all of this though... I'm still nervous as anything.… more »

I'm just ending my 21st birthday and everyone back at home is just beginning it :). I'm writing a little bit later today because I had a little chance to celebrate.

Starting from the beginning: I woke up this morning to run with Heather. It was the most industrial run I've ever been on in my life!!! I think it took us 25 minutes to run the first 12. We ran in downtown Osaka and it was madness. I only had to run 5 miles easy so I thought going to the track would be kind… more »

10:00PM

First, Track stuff. I got out to the track today (finally) to do a workout. It was about a thousand degrees and the sun was beating down like a hammer to an anvil. After I warmed up I ran 4x300 at race pace and then finished up with a few more at sub-racepace. It was a great pre-race sharpening exercise and I felt really good. I was able to keep my recovery very limited between intervals so that indicated to me that the heat wasn't getting to me much. When I finished I did some… more »

9:05 am
Yesterday morning I woke up early again for a really easy 6 miles. I swear it was a lot more comfortable weather but then some people think we're just getting used to it. I ended up exploring a little bit on my run and found myself in some really packed apartment-like neighborhoods. I was there around 7am so the streets between the houses were packed with young kids walking to school (I'm assuming). They all had identical Nike soccer bags, which was kind of intersting, instead of backpacks. They also were dressed to a t. All of… more »

7:05pm

I woke up earlier this morning to run in hopes that I might beat the heat a little. No such luck. I got on the path by about 7am and I think it was already in the high 80s. I ran 6.5 miles doing my usual 10 min. out, 10 back, water stop and then back out again. It seems kind of silly but it's worth it to get the much needed water breaks. 6.5 miles, strides, cool. Totaled about 7.5 to 8 for the morning.

Now onto the actual interesting stuff :).… more »

10:45pm
Ok, I'm starting this planning on it being short because I'm tired... we'll see how it goes.

I woke up at 7 and waited for Heather to show up to hang out for my morning run. By the time I got out to do it the heat index was up to 98 and it felt like it. I had a long run scheduled for today but considering the conditions we made some compromises. I ran steady for 45 minutes and then finished off the last 30 minutes pretty easy. I ran back and forth from… more »

I made it into Osaka today. After 13 hours of flying and who knows how much actual time of traveling, Heather (CU's assistant coach traveling with me) and I headed out for a 6 mile run. The hotel here is huge and I'm staying on the 38th floor. The view is amazing, overlooking the water and parts of the city, but my ears pop in the elevator ever time I take it, so there are trade-offs :).

I ran on a bike bath just outside the hotel. I saw quite a few guys out there while… more »