Some mornings I wake up and I can't even believe it.

I get out of bed and I look at the workout my coach - Chris Schaalo - has planned for me that day. Right now, my workouts can be found in a new google doc he made after I qualified to Carson. It's called "Beers Games."

Each morning when I open the doc and read the word "Games," I smile.

For so long, I was almost embarrassed to admit that I was "training for the Games." Lots of people are "training for the Games." But every time I open that doc, I remember that I really am training for the Games.

And I have to say, "training for the Games" has been the most fun part of my year.

Seeing as I don't really have any performance pressures or even expectations at the Games, I've really able to enjoy this time to increase my volume and gain fitness and actually appreciate every minute of it. Training for the Open is a bit dull. Training for Regionals is a bit stressful. But training for the Games is fun!

I swam periodically all year, but I've been more committed to my swimming these days as I know there's a good chance I'll be jumping into the ocean or a pool in California. And for the first time in my life, I feel I've actually made some small gains in my running with the twice a week running intervals Chris has made me do. And on top of this, I've done some things, tried some skills, I never would have bothered trying before (I sure hope triple unders don't rear their ugly head in four weeks):

I've been on a bike a couple times, something I hadn't done since 1999 (if a bike comes up, I might run and hide).

And I've been working hard on my freestanding HSPU:

And because I'll be competing against multiple former NCAA gymnasts as well as "The Entire Swedish National Gymnastics Team," as Mike Warkentin described the European Regional, I've dabbled with some box jump, back flip tricks:

On top of this - lots of lifting, squatting, gymnastics of all sorts, sprinting, jumping. Everyday is different, as it should be!

Next up: A few previous Games workouts this weekend (Cinco 1, 2009 Final Chipper, Double Helen etc...), and then a trip to Kelowna the following week for some sprinting, some open water swimming and stand-up paddle boarding!