Track and Field Blogs - Jenny Barringer

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 the experience for ourselves by going at the wrong time and being in a rush and without bringing anyone to kiss at the top haha. We also visited the Picasso museum and Musee d'Orsay. Museums are fun for me but they're not great for your feet. We did those early in the week because just 2 hours of walking around on a marble floor leaves your feet throbbing and never leads to an enjoyable run later on. We also visited two churches, St. Chappelle and Sacre Coeur, at the top of Montmatre. I think that's about it as far as major stops. Oh, I also saw the Arc de Triomphe. I think my favorite stop so far was Musee d'Orsay because I really liked the art there and I thought the building was beautiful. It's fun to see paintings that you recognize especially when you're like me and you haven't studied art and maybe don't fully appreciate all you might find in an art museum.

Tomorrow is race day. I'm really really excited about this one. The team is small and we're all racing for one another. The team score aspect is going to be especially fun and the way the meet is condensed is really going to make it an exciting event. The events all take place in just over 2 hours and so it's fast and I expect it will be a high-energy meet. I'm looking forward to being able to watch my USA teammates compete and feel like my effort is for more than myself. A great side note for those of you reading in Oviedo; Lauren Austin is here racing the 800 and maybe the 400 as well. It's exciting to be on a team with her again and I'm looking forward to running into her parents and her brother who joined her here in Paris. While you're looking up results make sure to find Lauren too, she's moved up to the 800 just in the last year and is making quite a debute!

I don't feel like I've ever gotten homesick or really anxious about being gone for so long but with only 3 days to go I'm looking forward to some of the simple things I miss about home. I'm looking forward to doing laundry and having a closet. I'm looking forward to seeing my roommates and my team. I miss normal American coffee (in a normal sized mug!) and peanut m&ms (Dax, I just ran out of the bag you gave me a few days ago). I'm REALLY looking forward to having a working phone again and REALLY can't wait to train with my Colorado team again.

Tomorrow's going to be exciting and I'm looking forward to really getting after it in my last steeple of the year. Until then I'm gonna keep things pretty low key and dive into some homework :(. Wish us luck; we're representing all of you back home!