Track and Field Blogs - Jenny Barringer

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 wear "USA" gear, so I'm sure nobody knew we were Americans! :). We entered the mall with a mandatory 2:40 hours to kill. Upon initial scan of the premises we realized this was going to be quite a task. I'm not really a shopping kind of person anyway so the thought of killing three hours in a small four-story department store kind of killed my moral from the get-go. We solved our issue of potential boredom by planning on exiting the back of the store and venturing off on our own down the streets. After initially not even being allowed to leave (by the Chinese police) we finally came to some sort of agreement and began on our way. It wasn't more than a block or so when we realized our little group of Buffalos had been flanked by plain-dressed security people. It was kind of funny being followed around like that especially because they made every effort to not appear like they were with us. When we turned around they would read signs and look at items to purchase. My little group kind of felt for them... this job can't be that exhilarating; so we made their lives easy and didn't try to lose them. The security here is really tight. I have mixed feelings about it all. I know there's no way I could get hurt becuase there are so many eyes on me but at the same time, should I be concerned if these measures are necessary? The Chinese are doing an excellent job though and have made it very clear that our safety is absolutely their number one priority.

Later in the evening Billy and I talked Mark into going bowling with us. It was a ton of fun... kind of. I got killed! There was this sweet young Chinese man who was there to wait on us while we bowled (a little strange) and halfway through my game he presented me with an extra-light bowling ball of my very own. I was pretty pathetic and apparently not even a language barrier was going to save me from that. I didn't even break 100... not even close.

So, this is getting long (like all of my posts! sorry!) but I want to take a minute to begin answering some questions. FIRST, I want to mention the oh-so-obvious tape-job on my right ankle. I think I mentioned in my first blog that the morning that Billy and I left Colorado we had been on the track for a 6am workout. We both did some barrier work along with intervals. My right leg is typically my landing leg on the water jumps and so for an extra precaution I just had a compression wrap on it for the flight. Any time you go on extended international flights your feet and legs tend to swell anyway and since there were probably little micro-tears in my leg from the workout I wanted to be extra prudent. So... rest assured my dears, all is well :).

Second, I do not currently have a roommate in Dalian. I am scheduled to room with Nicole Teter but she doesn't arrive to the camp until later this week. In the village I'll be rooming with Shalane. I'm really happy about both set-ups. Shalane and I traveled out here together (as you can see in Leo's photos) and I'm looking forward to rooming with her in the village.

Last, yes, there are some fellowship services held here several times a week. Honestly, I haven't been to one yet because they've coincided with my training but I am so so happy that my church in Boulder has been putting our Sunday services online for some time now. Whenever I'm on the road I really enjoy continuing to learn from our pastor Gene and am comforted by familiar voices. It's also good to keep up because I chat with my roomies about service when I'm gone. (whom I miss dearly!)

That's all for now.... that was super long. I'll try to be more concise and I'll get to more questions tomorrow. Think of this like your weekend long run. Maybe I'll throw in some shorter specificity later on in the week :)