Track and Field Blogs - Magdalena Lewy-Boulet

One week to race day! I am feeling great, excited, and honored to be here. Currently I am staying in Dalian, China with the rest of the US Track and Field team. We are all very well taken care of here and I am getting all the rest I need. I get a nap every day and I go to bed at about 9:30. The country of China is on one time zone so the sun rises each morning at about 4:30am in Dalian. This means that I am up and ready to start the day no later than 6am. I have been training a lot during the late mornings to fully experience what it feels like to run in 85 degrees and 70% humidity. I am adjusting well to the conditions and am happy to have the chance to train here. The medical staff works around the clock on all of the athletes here, and last night I felt like I needed a massage, so walked in at 9 pm to have someone work on me.

Just being here among the most amazing athletes in the world is so inspirational, and to top it all off Lopez Lomong ( US 1500 meter runner) has been chosen to carry our Flag at the opening ceremonies. It simply doesn’t get better than that.

The other day a large group of us went to visit downtown Dalian. We had so much fun exploring different stores and having many of the Chinese following us the entire time we were shopping to make sure we were well protected. Most of the distance crew ended up searching coffee shops for a French press to make coffee. I brought my own Peet’s coffee from home because it tastes so good each day before taking off for my morning runs, but I too had to get a French press to make my coffee.

I am also looking forward to getting back to the Olympic Village, which in my brief observation is a small town. When I left San Francisco on the 31st of July, I first flew into Beijing, moved into my room at the Olympic Village on my birthday. The very next morning I left for training camp in Dalian with my track and field teammates. I had a chance to do a couple of short runs while at the Village and it was amazing. The sky was blue and the heat and humidity did not feel as challenging as I had imagined. Maybe all of the treadmill running did pay off after all. The apartments are very nice and I am excited to room with Blake Russell. (US marathoner) The cafeteria is huge and you meet athletes from all over the world and from every sport. The people of China have invested a lot of effort into making these the most memorable Olympic Games yet.

It is so inspirational for me to be around all of my teammates, as all of them are fired up to do their final training preparation before leaving for Beijing. I have been dreaming to toe the line of the Olympic marathon now for years and we are now in the final countdown. It will be an honor to put on the USA uniform the morning of August 17th and toe the line along with Blake, Deena and rest of the women from all over the world who have been working hard chasing their Olympic dream. My goal is leave it ALL on the course and have the race of my life. Until next time...

- Chewy