2010: Year in Review

I can't believe 2010 is almost over. I know people say that all the time, and sure I've said that too in years past, but it seems like the older I get, the more the years just fly by. Can anybody that's really old attest to that? As I close out 2010 I'd like to make note of all the significant occurrences that happened this last year, both good and didn't seem so good at the time. As we all know, life is about the journey, so here's where mine has been in the last 365 days...

PERSONAL

*Bomb Squad is still going strong. I know people think it's cheesy and lame that we call ourselves that (you're right, by the way), but we aren't putting it to rest any time soon. Even when you think that you have the best friends in the world at age 14, it hardly ever stays that way and I find myself incredibly blessed by the way our friendship has grown and maintained over the years. I've added a couple other people to my very inner circle, and suffice to say I am hands down positive I have the best friends in the world.


*I've started--and ended--two romantic relationships over the past year. I don't know if I'm quite ready to put meaning to that, but it is what it is. I have faith God knows what he's doing and he's going to blow my socks off. Plus, I've grown a lot and learned a lot and I'm a better potential partner because of it. Someone out there is gonna be lucky. ;)

*My sister has finally come to terms with the fact that I'm better looking and funnier than her. Oh...and that she will never beat me at words with friends. You can't run from reality forever.


*At about this time last year, I made a few specific resolutions that were tied to my faith and the spiritual side of my life. I made a commitment to read my bible daily, tithe an actual 10%, begin attending a bible study, and start helping others. I can see the difference it's made in me and I'm happy I stuck with those resolutions.


PROFESSIONAL

*I coached myself. At the beginning of last year I was so confused as to what I should do and where I should go, but I ended up trusting in my own ability and talent and made the best of the situation right where I was at. I'm happy I did it, I'm happy with what I achieved, and I know there isn't much I can't do if I put my mind to it. Not too shabby, coach Bri.

*I still don't have a sponsor. It irks me because I know that I have achieved enough to deserve one, but then again, the word "deserve" is so relative. The upside to this is that I get to wear gold shorts and fun socks. (obviously I'm trying to look at the bright side.)



*I haven't learned to be consistent. I know that I have it in me to be great, but before that can happen, I need to learn how to be consistently good. There were some definite bright spots this season, but there were also many lows that didn't have to happen. I got injured, yea, but I also just flat out didn't perform when I could have/should have. Overall this season I give myself a B-. My brightest spots were Indoor Nationals (indoor personal best and top 2 to make the world team), New York Diamond League (traveling back from a disappointing Europe stint where I jumped terrible, and winning New York by just changing my mindset), and Outdoor Nationals (placing top 3 with a personal best, all while jumping on a muscle I tore before the comp started). The low points was pretty much the whole second half of the outdoor season, but mainly the Diamond League final and Continental Cup. Bleh!





Lately I have felt that my life is playing tricks on me, and all the sudden I have been feeling a little lost and confused, and I think that's why I'm happy the New Year is here. I realize it's only a day...nothing about your circumstances change from December 31st to January 1st, but it's a nice time to get yourself to regroup and refocus on your goals and aspirations that lie ahead. I expect big things in this next year and I want to know that I
am ready to embrace all that is in store for me. 2010 was good...but I want 2011 to be better!

To Blog or Not to Blog...

They say it takes 21 days before something to become habit forming, but I've never seen any data on how long it takes to fall out of the habit of doing something you used to do regularly.

I used to blog on the regular. In fact, I used to think in blog form. Life would happen and I'd immediately think about it in terms of a blog post, complete with all my witty remarks. If I achieved something, I'd be sure to let my cyber friends know, and if I was struggling I'd share that too...because no story is complete if the lows aren't mentioned. Plateaus are booooring. But it seems I've fizzled out a bit. Now, life happens and I think of how I can share it in 140 characters or less. (mom, that means Twitter.).

So now, after 3 1/2 years of sharing a good portion of my life on the web, I'm struggling to decide if I have anything left to share. There is nothing worse then having a blog that is irregular. It's not good for the folks who read, who come to expect and look forward to your completely random and narcissistic ramblings, and it's not good for the writer, because not blogging regularly makes actually sitting down to write a blog really hard. Nothing seems quite worth it or important enough to share.

So before I enter 2011 I feel like i should make a decision. Either blog for 21 days straight and making blogging a habit again, or say farewell to what has been a great outlet to share my story and show the world a little piece of Bri they might not have known otherwise. I'm asking for thoughts and insight because I've always felt like blogging was about the community. Otherwise, let's face it--I could be writing in my diary and do whatever I please.

Maybe i have become boring and repetitive...let's face it, for 8 months out of the year my life is quite dull. There's only so many ways to tell you how excruciatingly awful taking an ice bath is. And unfortunately, my dating life has once again found it's way to ground zero, so no exciting news on that front either. I already know there are those folks who think I'm completely self-absorbed and think My life is far more fabulous than it really is. Those folks love to comment for some reason. This is your chance.

If I do stop, I will write a proper goodbye post (this ain't it!)... And if not, I'm counting on some help to inspire me in the coming year. For now, feel free to share your thoughts. We can come to a decision together...

Maxed Out

In training last week we maxed out in the weight room. Basically what that means for all you non-meatheads is we test to see where our strength levels are at by lifting heavy amounts of weight until we find our 1 rep max. The thing about it is, you usually can't tell whether or not you can lift anymore until you fail. That's what happened to me in the bench press. I gradually increased to a heavy weight (for me) picked the weight up off the rack, held it up above my head and took a few deep breaths, then lowered it down to my chest. When I went to transition the weight off my chest and push it back up, it got stuck and it wasn't going anywhere. That's when my spotter steps in and helps me lift the weight back up so it doesn't crush me.

That's my metephor for life right now.

I feel as if I'm laying down on the bench with this tremendous weight above my head and I'm just holding it up there because I can already tell that it's too much for me to lift. If I lower it down at this point and time it will crush me. I know it's heavy. i can feel it. And right now while it's at arms distance I feel like I can manage by just holding it there. So that's what I'm doing. I'm holding it up and taking deep breaths, all while trying to figure out a way to keep it from crushing me. Sooner or later I know I'm going to have to deal with it. But right now it's a matter of whether or not it comes crashing down or I somehow find the strength to lower it down on my own and then push it back up and off of me. I need to tap in to a strength that I don't know if I have or not.

I am a strong person, both physically and emotionally. But we all have our limits. And I hate failing. I hate when I feel like something has got the best of me. After that day in the weight room I knew that next time I maxed out I would not fail at that same weight. I'd work hard to get stronger because I believed I should be lifting more than that. I suppose this will be the same way. Maybe it gets the best of me and maybe I'm not able to handle it, but after it's over I will find a way to be stronger the next time around.

I have my spotters. Even though they can't make the hurt go away or stop the pain from coming, the people that truly do love and care about me will do what they can to help. I'm grateful for at least that because my arms are trembling and I don't know how much longer I can hold this up...

My Navy Seals Experience

My experience at the Navy Seals yesterday was incredible. It was harder than I imagined and more motivational than I could have hoped for. If you don’t know a Navy Seal, you should try and meet one. These people are truly something special, and it’s not because they possess something more than you or I do, but they’ve trained themselves to dig so far deep inside themselves, that they don’t believe in the impossible. The fact that that is possible for virtually anyone, is what they tried to impart to us. Being on the athletic field and on the battlefield is basically the same mentality. (Besides the idea you could die, of course.) The way they train to prepare for war and to know that they’re prepared for any situation they might find themselves in, is to learn how to get past the uncomfortable. It’s training your mind to understand that how you might feel is not important, it’s finding a way to accomplish the task you have in front of you. Excuses are simply reasons why you fail. If you rid your mind of excuses why you can’t do something, then you allow yourself to find a way to get it done.

AHHH!! I love it.

All the speeches and videos we watched when we arrived had me pumped up and eager to face what we had in store for the day. But before we even got outside to get started, we had pushups. That’s when I knew we were in trouble. My arms were shaking before we even did one. We all got down in pushup position and then he started in on a monologue that wouldn’t end. No knees allowed…back has to stay straight…and finally we had to start…then stop…then start…then start from the beginning because we weren’t in unison…and finally, “recover”. Now we can get started. The sad part was my arms already felt like jello.


We started on the obstacle course. Walls to climb over, barbed wire to climb under, ropes to climb up, swing on, and shimmy across. The works. It was so upper body intensive that I felt like I wouldn’t be able to grasp a pencil half way through. But no one cared. At one point I went to swing on a rope and land on top of a beam and I was so out of it I smacked into the beam and ended up on my back on the ground. That’s when I knew I needed to focus. Mind over matter. Because nobody cared that my forearms were the size of Popeye’s or that I’d just created the bruise the size of Texas on my shin. At the end of it though, after you’ve finished and can “Hoo-rah O course”, you feel a great sense of accomplishment. You’re happy that there was no way over the wall except for over it and no girl rope to climb.

After that though, things got ugly. They got ugly, and wet, and dirty, and miserable. It was about 60 degrees out yesterday, which is still a little chilly when you’re dry. But where is the fun in that? After it was all said and done I think we jumped in the ocean about six times. You had to be wet from head to toe. I tried to dodge this and at first just went shoulder to toe because…you know…my hair, but I quickly got sent back in the ocean. After we emerged from the ocean, we rolled in the sand, bear clawed back to the ocean, then slithered in the sand some more. My fatigues were heavy and wet and falling off me, but it didn’t matter. I was shivering and miserable, but nobody cared. In fact, they kept yelling that in your ear. “Nobody cares that you’re uncomfortable! Who gives a s#it that you’re wet and covered in sand! We could care less about your feelings! How you feel doesn’t matter!” And sooner or later, you got it…sort of. You were going to be totally out of your comfort zone and you had to find a way to be okay with it. How you felt had nothing to do with whether or not you were going to accomplish something and you had to disassociate the two really quick.



Then we were put in teams and there were logs to carry on your shoulder and boats to carry on your head. And run with. And lunge with. And squat with. And do sit ups with. And of course pushups. There was always pushups. That whole process was trying because I’m not used to teamwork. But it made you rely on people and you knew that they were relying on you. When you are part of a team you can’t quit and let other people down because it gets hard for you. It’s just as hard for them. They’re over there with snot running out of their nose, grunting and trying to keep the log from slipping, how can I slack because I feel uncomfortable?


I’d love to explain in detail the entire day, but it’s hard for words to do it justice. I’m hoping that next week I can share a video so you can get a better idea of the experience. But as crappy as my body feels today and all the new bruises and scrapes I acquired, the pounds of sand I had to try and wash out of my hair, and the hypothermia I’m sure I experienced (okay, so I’m dramatic), I’m glad I did it.

Working Hard

I’ve always been the type of person who gives my best. That is…unless it was time to practice. In years past, I was not what you would call a “practice person.” In my mind, I didn’t quite see the correlation. When it came time to be competitive in competition, then I’m your (wo)man. But putting yourself through pain and torture when it didn’t count for the W just wasn’t really my thing. Believe me, I was complaining about practice far before Allen Iverson ever did.

In fact, this was how I became a jumper in the first place. Back in high school I thought the sprinters workouts were a little too hard. I realized that if I said I wanted to do both long and triple jump, I could do a little more bounding and a little less repeat 200’s. Done. I tried this same strategy in college early on in my career when I tried telling my coach I didn’t think I was really a 200 meter runner, that maybe I was more cut out for the shorter distances. I’d try anything to try and cut down on those speed endurance workouts. Unfortunately being a Pac-10 and National Champion in the 200 meters blew that theory out of the water and I had to find a way to deal with the pain of the workouts I dreaded most. But that didn’t mean I wouldn’t whine about them. Tie my shoes to buy more time in between intervals. Hide in the bathroom and pretend I was sick.

So imagine my own surprise when this Saturday, when I had the day OFF, I find myself out at the track running repeat 200’s when I didn’t have to. I just decided I’d help a friend get through a workout that is much easier doing with another person and in the process I could help my own fitness. Who am I???

Granted, I know doing extra workouts isn’t always the smart answer or the best way to improve, but it is indicative of how I’ve grown over the years. I started out in this sport relying solely on my athletic talents and my ability to out compete anyone I came across. And while I still believe that there is absolutely no substitute for having the “eye of the tiger”, I also know that hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. I have the talent but I’m also going to work hard. Harder than I ever have.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m a long jumper and short sprinter for a reason. I’m smart about the events I decided to be talented in. ☺

An Open Letter...

Dear Person who found my Ipad on the plane:

I’m writing this letter to you in hopes that you have come across my prized possession and for some reason or another, also happen to stumble across this blog. Perhaps you see my name and decide to google it. (Since I do this regularly, I know that this blog will be one of the first links to pop up.)

I just want you to know that I adore my Ipad 3G. Ask anyone. It has been attached to me like an additional appendage ever since I got it as a gift six months ago. It’s one of those additions to your life where, after having it for a certain period of time you think back in awe at how you ever survived without it. You’ve probably heard all the hype about it and wanted to see what it was all about. I get it. An Ipad doesn’t seem as personal as, say, a blackberry. It doesn’t seem as important as someone’s laptop. So perhaps that’s why you weren’t inclined to turn it in right away once you stumbled upon it in the seat pocket of the airplane. In fact, when I called the airline to inquire if anyone had turned it in, the lady kind of chuckled to herself once I mentioned what I was missing. It was a sort of good luck with that one type of chuckle. I almost got the sense she didn’t even want to put down the phone and check as it was obviously going to be a waste of her time. Unless the pope happened to be on the flight from Las Vegas to Denver and sat in the same seat I had just vacated, my chances were slim.

I know that. And yet I’ve called back to the airport three times since then, both in Vegas and Denver. Unfortunately the same guy keeps answering the phone in Denver and he knows me by now. I’m the Ipad girl. The last time he took down my number and gave me the don’t call us, we’ll call you… speech. I just don’t think he understood the urgency of it all. I have 20 people waiting for my next move on words with friends. I’m not able to lay in bed and watch the latest episode of Modern Family before I go to sleep. I have nowhere to go to look at all the websites I view on the web, from news to entertainment and everything in between, in one easy flip-able magazine format. (shout out to Flipboard…download that app if you haven’t already!) And can you just imagine the immense amount of boredom I will face when I travel from here on out?

So that’s why I’m reaching out to you here. Sure, it’s a stretch but crazier things have happened. I won’t be mad that you borrowed it for a few days because I can understand why you might want to. It truly is an awesome little gadget. But I would be so grateful if you returned it that I might even give you a reward. So if this is you (or if you know anyone who suddenly has an Ipad and also just flew Southwest), please hit me up. I am also not averse to meeting new friends who have an Ipad 3G they are looking to get rid of.

Sincerely,
Brianna Glenn
Ipad aficionado

Pictures from Puerto Rico

The crew...


My first night in PR and this is what we had for dinner!!


Friendly critter that was a guest at the property.


Are you wondering why it's so dark in the picture?! Because we were up BEFORE THE SUN! Poor kids, training at this hour is some sort of cruel punishment.


We thought we were headed to the track to teach track athletes and then these guys lined up...by height...with no track experience whatsoever. But they were great!



obviously I'm just trying to be a good example...you would NEVER catch me at the front of the pack during a jog.


My fellow track athlete, Chelsea, and I who flawlessly demonstrated drills with me.



Lead by doing...since i couldn't lead by talking.







Showing the boxers our warm-up...


The track clinic kids...obviously I was demonstrating long jump from the look of my leg!