Track and Field Blogs - Ryan From Flotrack

If you saw the video from the other day then you know I've made it to Berlin and yes I'm counting down the days until Saturday! From the time I was in Monaco until now there's been some downtime in terms of track and field. There's about a two week break from racing as the athletes get to train a bit more and travel to Germany. I imagine the down time in competition is needed at this point in the season and it gives the athletes a nice chance to refresh a bit but the big show. I know for me the time away from the track was a good one. I got to head to southern France for two of my friends' wedding. We went sailing on the Mediterranean Sea, had a day at the beach, slept in a semi-abandoned railroad building, and hiked the Pyrenees Mountains. When I got back to Leuven it was getting a bit lonely with most of the athletes having gone home or to Berlin. I only had a few days to kill and relax before I hopped on the plane for Germany.

So here I am and I've got to do a little exploring. We are staying in a sweet location right at Potsdamer Platz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potsdamer_Platz) so its close to everything you could want! Shops, restaurants, casino, mall, historical sights, huge park (Tiergarten Park....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiergarten), and Lego Land. The park is awesome and the more I am in Europe the more I am amazed that some of the biggest cities have such awesome places to run. Imagine every big city in the US having easy access to a park, bigger than Central Park. I haven't been a ton a places yet but Berlin is quickly making it to the top of my list of favorite cities. At least where I am located I am amazed how clean everything is.

The first night I got in I was able to meet up with Leo Manzano, Shannon Rowbury, and Ryan Ponsonby (Leo's coach). They are staying in some apartments just a short walk away. They are in good spirits and seem ready for the coming week. The next afternoon I got to tour around briefly with Maggie Vessey. There is a really cool modern square with a ton of outdoor seating at the restaurants. We walked through the Holocaust Memorial (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_to_the_Murdered_Jews_of_Europe) which is a 3 minute walk from the hotel. There are free tours so I am going to get over there for that at some point. After walking around we hopped on the bus to the Athlete Hotel. We got there and I walked straight in with Maggie and there was no problem. I got to check out the athlete physio room and lounge. The hotel is a little ways off with not much around (what I'm getting at is that the athlete should be jealous of our location). But their hotel is also convention center so there is a lot going on inside. I saw Charles Clark, Trey Hardee, and Chelsea Johnson playing ping pong and was about to get in a doubles game. Instead I went to get my accreditation for the meet first and come back to play. I don't remember seeing any security when I walked in but after I picked up my stuff there was a ton and I got kicked out of the hotel! My pass didn't grant me access to the athlete hotel. So I got back on the bus....all public transportation is free is you have accreditation, its sweet! I ended up meeting Poncho (Ryan Ponsonby) for a late run at the Park. We got a bite to eat afterwards (great crepes with tomato, mozzarella and pesto!) and walked around before calling it a night.

Today hasn't been too eventful yet. Dan Huling, Kim Smith, and I watch a little Flight of the Conchords which I thought Kim would enjoy because of the Kiwi connection but somehow I got water thrown on me instead. I am going to hit up the Park for a run and then get some footage of the area for you.

I'll keep you posted on the happens until Saturday!

Ryan

P.S. We're going to have previews of competition for each day of competition from Justin Kopunek who writes some awesome stuff for us so check it out and stay up with whats going on during the Champs.