Track and Field Blogs - Ryan From Flotrack

I finally have a few minutes to sit around where I am not feeling like I am falling asleep. The first day and a half was tough on the body getting used to the time change. I learned after the trip last year how important it was to get on a good schedule right when you get overseas. I got in on Thursday and kept myself up all day after only sleeping maybe 2 hours on the whole trip over here (23 hr total from door to door).

Right when I got to Oslo we were greeted by some workers from the Bislett Games who gave us some food and a train ticket. On my flight was Jamaal Torrence (USA) and Renny Quow (Trinidad), both 400 meter guys, so we made our way to the hotel. Its pretty crazy how much you feel like star when you go to these meets. Right when we got to the hotel there were fans waiting outside for autographs. I passed on my chance and see them off to Renny. I swear, ever time I came out of the hotel the same dude came up to me asking for my signature and I was always disappointment telling him I was not an athlete. Maybe I should just take advantage of the chance next time ;)

The meet had volunteers taking athletes to the practice track which was 10 minutes from the hotel. My driver, Poffen, told me it was in a "sleeping village", kinda like a suburb or what we may say was part of "Greater Oslo". It was hot! I guess uncharacteristic of the area being around 30C (not sure in F....85??). I roamed around and ended up finding some hilly trails that kicked my a**, I hadn't run since the Friday of USAs. By the end I was tired, dehydrated, and hungry. Luckily for me I had about 45 minutes left at lunch. So back at the hotel I had my first "athlete meal". Not seeing a lot of these athletes much being in the states most of the year, its crazy to look around the room to see Asafa, Carolina, Bekele , Defar, Gregson and the Aussies, and many more just sitting around getting some food. The first couple meals I just grabbed some food and took off, but the spread was nice and buffet style.

I got out of the room so I wouldn't be tempted to take a nap and pass out for the rest of the day. I check out the killer view of Oslo from the 34th floor of the Radison which was really cool. The had some nice couches up there so I was all set for a while until one of the employees told me the restaurant area was closed. I went down to the lobby to hop on the computer. The lobby is filled with athletes, meet officials, agents, etc... Everyone seems to be wheeling and dealing, having conversations about contracts, upcoming meets, and whatever else needs a good talking. Some of those intense talks kept me from falling asleep so I was thankful.

Dinner was much of the same as lunch but just more athletes and agents around. After I ate I decided to trek around Oslo. The city was real chill, a relaxed vibe. I was taking some video and pics to document the trip was had walked a ways before realizing I had no idea what time it was. I looked at my watch, it was 10PM! The reason it was so surprising was because the sun was still out! I'll try to post some pics/vids so you can see. It was past 11 when I got back and the sun was just setting. I didn't have any trouble sleeping though. For anyone that knows me, you know I don't sleep a lot....averaging 6 hours would be too generous. However, I sleep over 9 hours without even realizing. It was definitely needed, but my morning was pretty sluggish. But it was time to get ready for Bislett Games.

I took a car shuttle over to the meet with Oscar Pistorious, who you have probably heard of because is the double amputee athlete that was trying to get clear to run and was going through battles as to whether or not his "blades" were advantageous on the track. He was a super cool guy and he told me about a boating accident that happened in February which has set his season back quite a bit. He set a season's best at Bislett though, 47.18 I think. I also sat with Acunt Bobocel, a 22-year old Romanian steepler (PR 9:30). She was real nice but I felt bad later in the day as she was well off her PR running 9:42, but to her defense, while they were warming up there was a big storm that rolled in and the meet move the women's steeple to the last event to keep the other events on schedule. So she had a 3 hour delay.

I got to the stadium, didn't really know where I was supposed to or not supposed to be so I just started walking about. I saw Chaunte Howard (US high jump champ) and we were talking about the season. She said she wanted to jump well in Oslo because it had never gone well there. I thought I may be distracting her, but after she told me she sometimes warms up to early and then watching her tie her season best of 1.98m.....I thought I should take some credit for her performance as I helped push back that warmup.

This was only the second international meet I had been to, and first one in a year. I know we do this a lot, going to meets, but man I felt like I'd never done it before for some reason. When you're in the mixed zone with other media, sometimes you feel there is a type of flow and you kinda get in the groove. It didn't happen here, maybe a little towards the end. Its just funny too, going from NCAAs a couple weeks ago to yesterday looking to the left and seeing Bekele stretching literally 6 inches away. I thought he was going to use my shoulder for support.

The meet ended up being great. The women's 400 was awesome with a world leading 49.23 and seeing how much they love Sanya Richards overseas. It was cool to see ND Tour Guide, Thomas Chamney, run a big PB after just finding out he was in the meet 3 days prior. I got to watch Bekele finish up in 53 like it was no problem, standard. It was short, quick, and entertaining.....something we have a challenge of doing in the US.

This is getting long so I'll end it here. I'm sitting in a plane heading to Amsterdam. I will stay there for the night with some college friends I haven't seen in a couple years before heading to Leuven tomorrow. I am excited to get there and drop some things off because I have 7 weeks worth of stuff. Monday I head to Lausanne for the next IAAF meet, should be another good one. I'll keep you posted....

To those in the state....Happy 4th of July!! Wish I was there for some fireworks, but I'll try to enjoy myself over here ;)

Ryan