Hendry muses on a typical day of an Olympian

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http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoe ... 3a8db0709a

Hendry muses on a typical day of an Olympian
Jason Warick, Saskatchewan News Network
Published: Thursday, August 14, 2008
Kelsie Hendry is the first Saskatoon woman in 28 years to make Canada's Olympic track and field team. She's scheduled to compete in the opening round of the pole vault Friday at 8:10 p.m. Saskatchewan time.
As she prepares for her Olympic debut, Hendry took time to answer a few questions by e-mail from Beijing.

The SP: Can you describe a typical day in Beijing for you?

Hendry: I've been getting up early, which is not really my style. I'm trying to get my body's clock ready to compete in the preliminary round, which starts at 10 a.m. I'll have to get up at 6 a.m. to make sure the body is firing properly.
I brush my teeth with bottled water, keep my mouth closed in the shower, then head off to breakfast.
The cafeteria is crazy; the food is great. Even Ronald McDonald made it into the village. (But I will not be hitting that up until the competition is over).
I usually do a morning training session and some stretching. After the workout, I go for lunch, hoping to run into my pals Kobe or Nadal (word on the street is they are at least eating in the village). Every second night, the Canadian team meets to watch highlights on a big screen. It gives the athletes a chance to see how one another performed . . . it's always motivating.
In the afternoon, I usually take a short nap, followed by a massage. Tough life, right??
For the rest of the day, I watch some of the Oly's on TV and just hang out. The day comes to a close with a little spooning with my roomy and an early bedtime. (OK, there is no spooning).

The SP: What are your teammates like?

Hendry: I'll tell you another thing I won't be eating besides Mac's -- a little thing called durian. I was introduced to this fruit in Singapore. When teammate Gary Reed was very eager to dish me up a big bowl, I knew something was up. I didn't actually taste the fruit after taking a whiff. I can't even describe this fruit; I am sure it is an acquired taste, but even the people in Singapore know it has a potent smell.
So to answer your question, my teammates want me to suffer. Nah, just kidding. Everyone on the team is really cool. It is a nice mix of people. I spend a lot of time with Angela Whyte, mostly because in addition to being a very cool roommate, she is a really good tap dancer.
Oh, there was a consensus that if I was to fight everyone on the team, maybe I could beat Megan Metcalfe, a distance runner who maybe weighs 100 pounds. Seriously though, the atmosphere is really positive -- lots of words of encouragement and some really accomplished athletes who are very humble and a pleasure to be around.

The SP: What's the strangest thing you've seen or done?

Hendry: Many of the bathrooms in China lack a toilet seat (although the one in our room has one). So it is always interesting with the aiming and the squatting; also, it's not a bad quad workout.

The SP: How do you stay focused amid the craziness at the Games?

Hendry: I have to make an effort to not to get caught up in the tempting junk food and touristy stuff. There will be time for that later. The key is just doing what you do at home.
Also, it helps to take a relaxed attitude toward the village life. It's busy here; there are always lineups and chaos. You can't let the little changes bother you, but if one more person butts in front of me in the food line, I'm going to bust a cap. I'm kidding.
But there are language barriers, so you have to be patient. Today, I pretty much had to cart my poles all over China; it wasn't really in the plan, but you just have to roll with the punches.