Track and Field Blogs - Jen Rhines

Greetings from all of us in Kobe, Japan! By all of us I mean Terrence, Deena, Andrew (Flotrack 800m Champion – in case you missed it) and myself. We left Europe on August 9th and have been training here in Kobe, Japan for over a week now. The travel was great timing for me since I had a sub par race in Stockholm, Sweden on August 7. It was nice to leave Europe behind (for now) and the bad race was forgotten as soon as I stepped off the plane in Japan. My tolerance for the heat and humidity from growing up on the east coast has finally come in handy and my workouts have been going really well since I have been here.

During our time here in Kobe we have managed to take a few trips around the neighboring areas to keep ourselves entertained. We had an authentic Kobe Steak lunch in the heart of the city the other day and it definitely lived up to all of the hype! It was better than anything IÂ’ve ever had at MortonsÂ’s or Ruths Chris back in the US. We also went to an Outlet shopping village on Saturday that was located right on the coast. It was nice to feel the ocean breeze and watch the boats while we went in and out from shop to shop. The village had a great adidas outlet store that kept me entertained for quite a while. And of course, it had a Starbucks! There is nothing like a recognizable sign like Starbucks to remind me of home. It has been since June that I have been back in California so it is nice to get a little taste of the US every once in a while to keep my focus on track as well as keeping Terrence from getting totally bored with all the waiting around until Worlds.

IÂ’m looking forward to heading to the US Athlete Village hotel in Osaka tomorrow and joining the rest of our teammates. IÂ’ll check in again soon!

Jen

P.S. – I miss my dog Bella.