Belly Update and First Track Practice

 

Here's the belly at 23 weeks 3 days. 

I'm back to coaching track again and this season is definitely different than any other track season because I'm carrying a football in my stomach. I must say it feels weird wearing my old track gear with a pregnant belly. I feel like a track star who got into trouble.

Today was our first practice and I was a little worried going into it. I have quite the hands-on coaching mentality and I usually do every workout, drill, etc. with my kids. This made me wonder, how on earth am I supposed to coach? I can't do abs anymore. I can't do any exercise while on my back. I can't exert myself and I can't sprint. I'm barely allowed to break a sweat. In addition to that we had over 200 kids sign up for track this year.

I'm happy to report that today's practice went very well. Since my belly isn't too huge I was able to demonstrate all of the sprinting drills thanks to a support belt that my sister-in-law gave me. I did however have to keep reminding myself to take it easy. My muscles remember how to do all the drills and they want to do them perfectly and quickly. I had to keep reminding my legs to not get carried away! I also had amazing returning athletes from last year who remembered every drill and could help demonstrate to the other athletes. 

It's going to be interesting changing up my coaching style but I think I'm up for the challenge.

Summing up summer: Norway and Sweden

I have been pretty bad about staying up to date on this blog but I am trying my best to catch up again. Bear with me :)

Sweden and Norway

Brett and I had the amazing opportunity to go to Sweden and Norway with Brett's parents June 18th -July 6th. It was my first time out of the country. I loved meeting all the new people, seeing the new sights, hearing a strange language, and learning about a completely different culture.

In Norway we visited the small town of Mo. Brett has relatives from there. It was a pretty scary drive (literally only 1 car fit on a road at at time and it was just winding around blind turns and into dark tunnel after tunnel), but this sight was worth the trip!


We went on a boat ride around Stockholm for almost 2 hours seeing beautiful architecture like this and learning all about he history of the city.


This was my favorite part of Stockholm, Gamla Stan, the older part of the city. It was such an amazing atmosphere.


This was a big field we passed on our way to catch our ferry to Norway. The colors are gorgeous.



Brett and me in Gamla Stan again. Aren't these little streets and buildings incredible?

We also competed in three track meets while we were there. They were so fun! The atmosphere was so intense and it was so strange listening to all officials speak in Swedish.


Brett and me at the Stockholm Olympic Stadium where they held the 1912 Olympics.






I matched my Seasons Best in the 100 at a meet that was completely JAM PACKED with fans. I couldn't believe how big track was over there!


We spent a lot of time visiting Brett's relatives and family friends. Everyone was so friendly and sweet. We loved our experience going there and hope we can go back again someday.


Fun little note:

The picture that we use with our Blog title was also from our Norway trip. It was taken at 11:45 pm! We were there in the summer so it was light from 3 am till Midnight everyday!

Brett Birkeland! ALL CONFERENCE IN DECATHLON!

Brett did it! He took THIRD PLACE! He made all conference as a Freshman, following two years of no training on his mission, and as a newlywed who's been commuting to BYU every day to make practices. I'd say it's quite the feat!

It was a pretty dramatic finish. He was going in to finals in fourth place and was lagging the Air Force guy in third by around 70 points... and second place Wyoming by 175 points. It also just so happened that Air Force's favorite event was the 1500. Gripes.... But Brett ran his heart out and managed to beat the guy in second by over 30 seconds!!!! He bumped Wyoming to fourth place and beat him by 3 points! You can't write this stuff!!! It was incredible.

He had a great overall two days in all of his events with All-time/ seasonal PRs in:
Long Jump
100 m Dash
110 Hurdles
Discus

He also had consistent solid performances in Pole Vault and High Jump.

We are SOOO Proud! Pictures to follow!

Conference Championships

Brett and I will both be competing at the Mountain West Conference Championships this week in Laramie Wyoming.


Brett is going in ranked 2nd in the Decathlon! Decathletes are pretty hard core, they compete in 10 events: 100, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400, 100 hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin, and the 1,500. It's a two day competition that will take place Wednesday and Thursday. It's a big deal that he is competing because his team only took 28 of their athletes. over 35 of their athletes qualified for Regionals!

On Friday Brett and I will be long jumping at the same time with 40 mph winds. Could be very interesting. :) Then I will be running the starting leg of the 4x100 relay on Saturday. I'm also the alternate for the 4x400.

I am so excited that we get to both go and share this experience together.

Also, I am sooo excited to see how Utah does! We have worked so hard to make this program what it is today. I am so proud of all of our Regional Qualifiers and the girls who work hard everyday to get better. It's sad for me that this may be my last meet as an NCAA athlete. I'm going to miss it, but I am also looking foward to the next phase of my life.

I'll post again after the meet to let everyone know how both of our teams do. :)

Feels like we are dating all over again...

So Brett and I have been lucky enough to have a lot of the same meets on our schedule this year.

The Good news:
We get to see each other compete and hang out a bit on a weekend when we would normally be apart.

Bad news:
We aren't allowed to stay together.

BYU will provide a room for an athlete and their spouse if the spouse comes along to the meet. The couple has to pay a little extra, but it is well worth it. Brett and I wanted to pursue this option at no cost to my team... but I was shot down. While the BYU coach thinks it would be best for Brett to have a good nights sleep in an environment as consistent as it would be if he were at home, the U unfortunately doesn't agree and finds it "unprofessional."



I guess sleeping with your husband is pretty unprofessional. I mean, staying in the same room with your spouse is tacky and lacks class. I can't imagine what all my teammates would think of me for sleeping with my husband. It's a good thing they don't know we share a room at home or else they'd really think less of me.

So, Brett and I go out and eat together after the competition, congratulate one another on a meet well done, and like the professional athletes we are, he bids me farewell at the door to my room... so we don't do anything a professional wouldn't do.