Heading back to Tejas

Tomorrow I will be leaving Wisconsin and heading back to Austin, Texas. I must say I am a bit sad about leaving. My time here in Wisconsin has been wonderful. This break has been filled with great memories of spending time with my family and friends, playing in the huge amount of snow we had, snowboarding, cooking and getting a chance to just kick back and relax. I realize we must always return back to reality but it is still sad to leave all this behind me.

My training will begin abruptly when I return back to Austin. I get in late Sunday night and will be getting up by 6:20am on Monday morning to go swim. I have never shied away from work, sacrifice or training...however, this doesn't mean I like it. I completely understand that the work I have put in has taken me above and beyond where I could have ever been without it. There is still a bit of nervousness inside me about going back for winter training. This will be my sixth year training with Eddie and Kris at Texas...I know what winter training entails. We will swim two hours every morning and night. On top of this we will do weights three days a week. The difference in this training is that the coaches realize there is nothing else we are doing except training...they absolutely kill us every workout and every set.

Let me take a minute and clarify something.... I don't see this blog as a forum for me to complain. This is not its purpose in any way, shape or form. I want this to be a place where ya'll can get some insight into what I'm feeling and what my life is like as a professional athlete.

My point is that although I have been to the Olympics and have been fortunate enough to have had some success in my career, I am still as human as anyone else. I guess there will be times in all of our lives when we feel intimidated or even a bit apprehensive about things. Right now I think I am just dreading the dead tiredness, pain, and mental stress I'm about to be put into.

I have found the best thing to do in life is take things one step at a time. When I return to Austin and start training, I will think about the practice at hand...not the number of hard practices that are still to come. This mentality puts me in a better position to focus on the work I will be doing at that given time. There will be updates throughout winter training...check back soon!