Balaton to Beijing!

After waiting so long for August to arrive, my final week
here in Hungary
has flown by! Training has been really good and the weather has been fantastic,
helping us prepare for the high temperatures and humidity in Beijing.

After training in Szolnok on Saturday morning, Nikki, Jen,
Michele and I loaded our little hire car and headed for Lake
Balaton, SW of Budapest, for a relaxing, team bonding and
building weekend. It was by far the highlight to this year’s European
tour, racing aside.

We found a
house in a quaint village, Balatonfured, not far from the lake. The house was
kitted out with satellite TV, DVD player, fake leather couches, washing machine
(essential of course) and a room for each of us. We spent the weekend swimming,
watching DVD’s, reading, sleeping, eating, laughing and completely unwinding –
it was fantastic!!

We had an
awesome run on Monday morning before heading back to Budapest. We climbed quite high up and had
lovely views over the lake.

I couldn’t
have asked for a better way to end my stay in Hungary. I feel on top of the world
and ready for the excitement and challenge of the Olympics! I left
Hungary at 9h55 Tuesday morning, had a seven-hour layover in Istanbul airport,
before flying to Dubai and then on to Beijing. An epic to say the least! 

I am due to arrive in Beijing
at 15h20 on Wednesday the 6^th of August, so that would be 9h20 South
African time. Hopefully the time change won’t have too much of an effect
and I can continue with my preparations as planned.

 We
move into the village on arrival and for the rest, I will keep you posted…