Dearest Friends,

This entry finds me on a plane from Zurich, Switzerland, to San Francisco, after being away for about three weeks. The trip started out with a stop in Chicago to do a speaking appearance with The Hartford, followed by a quick stop off in Manchester, England, for the Paralympic World Cup track meet, followed by 2 weeks in Switzerland for the Swiss Series of Wheelchair Racing, which consisted of two track meets and a marathon. All in all, it’s been totally rockin,’ but most certainly an experience of piling one thing ….after the next… after the next. After being overwhelmed and inundated by dairy products in Switzerland for the past 14 days and hearing the melodic *dinging* of cowbells as we pushed past sprawling green pastures during training, my mind continues to rehearse a certain Saturday Night Live skit in which Will Ferrell is requested to provide – in accompaniment to “Don’t Fear the Reaper,” - more cowbell. Give me more! More racing! More cowbell! One track meet down – on to the next! And the next! And the next!

Here’s a quick summary of how it went.

Visa Paralympic World Cup (Manchester, UK): This was my first competition back on my Harness Gloves (a substantial equipment change I made after Boston), and all in all, I was…I’d say….moderate to fair on this one. I came out of a three week stretch of distance/volume training and was feeling that I had taken a hit on my speed and a bit flat in my final sprints. I ended up with 4th in both the 800 and 1500 (these were the only events offered as it was an invitational.

Swiss Series, Track (Muttenz and Ibach, Switzerland): Totally awesome. I ran the 800, 1500, and 5000 at both events and highlights included taking 2nd in the 1500 at Ibach and, on the same day, 3rd in the 5000 while also running a time that set a new world record. In the 5000, I worked with four other women in a tactical yet FAST race that was 11 minutes and 29 seconds of pure excitement and speed. My teammate, Amanda McGrory, won the race and therefore now has the world record. Pretty awesome. Needless to say, this record will likely be challenged at subsequent meets this summer and, of course, at the Paralymic Games in September.

Swiss Series, Marathon (Sempach, Switzerland): Started out totally awesome, ended a bit weak. I think I was straight up tired! I had a very, very strong first 18 miles of this race when suddenly some back cramping, a bit of indigestion, and (largely due to the indigestion and not being able to take in adequate fluids) finally, a big ol’ bonk at somewhere within mile 17-18. I still ended up with fourth, in a time of 1:45, which is actually pretty great, so overall I’d say a success…but it hurt.

Other highlights included:
-Outrageously yummy Swiss breakfast every morning – fresh yogurt, muesli, nice European coffee, fruit….wow….
-Great teammates and time to get to know them – all the better for the serious together time we’ll have in Japan/Beijing.
-Celebrating my 28th birthday in Switzerland. I love my birthday. It was a good one.
-Picking out special bars of chocolate from the selection of about 150 choices at the Notwill grocery store.
-Fondue overdose the night after Muttenz.
-Sitting in my little hotel room and learning that a Visa commercial, featuring a person with the initials CB, is likely to air on NBC prime time this coming week …. Oh life keeps getting more and more fairy-tale-like.
-Essentially, feeling like I was at summer camp in the Swiss countryside for two weeks. Gimme lederhosen! Gimme an accordion and pigtails! Gimme Swiss Miss!

Mooooooore cowbell.