New computer, new running trail, and the Olympics are just FOUR DAYS AWAY!!!

Today was a great day.  First, I went to Saint Mary's to pick up my new work computer.  I got a MacBook laptop!  I have never been a Mac girl other than when I had to use Macs for my undergraduate Journalism classes, but Karl convinced me that a Mac was the way to go.  I always watch him use the handy gadgets on his MacBook Pro, and I'm always envious of how fast his laptop is compared to my Dell....so I went for the Mac this time and so far I am extremely pleased with the decision.

The second great thing about my day is that I ran on the Lafayette-Moraga Regional Trail.  It is a beautiful trail for runners, hikers, bikers, and horses.  I ran four miles today and

 am looking forward to running on it many more times since it is just across the road from the Saint Mary's campus.  I'm running the US Half Marathon in San Francisco in November, so with this trail just outside my office door, I have no reason not to be in shape for the race.  (I didn't take this picture myself, I took it from the trail website).

Finally, the OLYMPICS are just FOUR DAYS AWAY!!!  I can barely contain my excitement.  I just visited the USA Today website to read the latest Olympic news, and it seems that one of our female U.S. swimmers tested positive for a banned substance and there is a lot of controversy over the replacement swimmer because three other swimmers deserve to compete instead of the replacement.  In GYMNASTICS news (the most important news, in my opinion!) you probably already heard that Paul Hamm, the 2004 Olympic champion, is out with a broken finger and will not compete.  In his place will be Raj Bhavsar, and I must say I am sooo happy that Raj finally gets the chance to compete in the Olympics.  After barely missing out on making the team in '04 he decided to train four more years for the chance to compete in '08.  This was his last opportunity so it's great to hear he will be able to fulfill his dream.  On the women's side, Chellsie Memmel, probably the third best woman on the team, just injured her ankle.  She is still planning to compete at this point though.  The biggest news, and most frustrating to me, is that three of the Chinese gymnasts on the women's team are under suspicion of falsifying information on their birthdates.  Basically the rules state that you must turn 16 during the Olympics calendar year in order to compete...well it seems as though these Chinese gymnasts suddenly switched their birthdays to one year earlier than what they have listed in past competitions.  It really makes me angry when athletes and/or coaches, national federations, etc. try to cheat in order to get ahead.  If these girls are really only 15, as previous records show, they need to wait until 2012 for their chance at Olympic glory.   I can't place all the blame on the gymnasts though, as I'm sure their coaches and the Chinese government are the true criminals here.  I'm sure I'll be writing a lot more about my thoughts on the Olympics, and especially gymnastics, throughout the coming weeks so get ready! :)

Well, that's all for now.  Have a great week!!!