Track and Field Blogs - Jenny Barringer

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 went to the car rental. We got a car and drove just outside of Paris to a small hotel. We checked in and changed clothes and went on a 45 min. run at 9pm. After the run we crashed for the night and then I woke up at 7am for an 11 mile fartlek. Back on the road. We then drove aprox. 4 hours (the scenic route... yes, on purpose) to Leuven, Belgium arriving at about 5pm.

Whew, quite a trip huh?

To answer the questions about adjusting to the time and dealing with the travel: This trip the traveling has been very long but not too tedious until the drive from Paris to Leuven. Most of it has been long plane trips where a few good movies and a good nap can do the trick. Less the risk of getting sick, flying is so easy because you just sit there and you get water and food and don't have to worry about directions. Driving is more stressful to me. You have to know where you're going and manage language barriers and either find or sacrifice meals on your own. The time change however has been very easy this go-around. As we continue to fly West it seems that have one very long day without ever flying overnight has been the key. We get to our final destination very tired and just in time to go to bed. We don't fly overnight and then have to stay up all day. So far I've been able to travel, sleep, and then wake up the next morning to my alarm and feel like it's 7am. I think the really big time jumps are almost so overwhelming and different that I've coped better than if it was just 4 hour or 6 hours different.

So now we're in Leuven training for about a week and on Sunday I'll head back into Paris in prep. for the DecaNation. So far I really like Leuven. After a place as different as Osaka I think I would be pleased with any place where people drive on the right-hand side of the road and the temperature is below 80. On that note- it's amazing how disconcerting it is to lose simple daily norms such as the normal traffic flow when crossing a street. It really turns your world upside-down to have it so very different. Also, it's quite chilly here. Correction, it's cold. It's in the mid 60s during the day and I'm usually fine with a light jacket but after Osaka's heat it just feels that much colder. Also, when we got here I was really expecting French. I took quite a few years of French through highschool and then continued for a year in college. I'm far from conversational anymore but at least I'm comfortable with the language. Anyway, I was pretty confident in France and then we got here to Leuven and everyone speaks Flemish! Maybe I'm the only one surprised but it was for sure very different than I expected.

There is so much I want to share about Osaka before I totally leave it and focus on Europe. I would like to explain some of the process of racing and going through call-rooms and getting to the line. I also wanna share about the best trip of all- the monkey park! I'll try to write more regularly again and as I tell about my experiences here I'll try to slip in some stories about Osaka that have been left out.

It's getting late here and I have a track session in the morning. I'll fill everyone in on how it goes.