The Opening Ceremonies, and subsequent celebration, lasted well into the night last night so I decided to sleep in today and get my run in later. So after getting up and getting breakfast I headed out for the CoSport will-call center to pick up my tickets. The process was easy and only took about a half hour and I left with my 1 Olympic ticket in hand.
After I had gotten that taken care of, I set off to explore a bit of the city. I started at the National Mall because I was told that the Cycling Road Race had started there. But once I arrived I found out that it had already started and the cyclists were well into the countryside, however, I was told that they would be back in the city around 3:00 in the afternoon so I decided to kill some time and see some sights in the area.
I began at the National Gallery and adjacent courtyard where I saw the statues commemorating old Kings and the four famous Lions that guard the pillar monument in the front. From there I headed along the river til I reached St. Margaret's Church, Big Ben, and the Parliament building. I elected to not pay to go into any of the buildings but I did take a bunch of photos and spend some time watching all the people and events that were going on in the area.
From there I headed to the famous Harrod's department store which is the largest and most extravagant department store in all of Britain. It has 5 floors and everything you can think of from a Grocery Store, Candy Shops, Handbags, Fine Jewelry, clothes, and more. I wound up buying a new pair of Nike running shorts that have already become my favorite pair to run in.
Just outside of Harrod's, the Olympic cycling course was set up so I hung out for an hour and waited to see the cyclists come by, about 2 kilometers from the finish. I passed most of the time talking to a Canadian woman next to me who was in London with the Canadian Swimming and Rowing teams as the sport nutritionist. So she had a lot of insights about both the Canadian and U.S. Olympic teams and what it's like to be working with the athletes everyday. Eventually the cyclists came by, led by Vino of Kazakhstan who would go on to win the Gold Medal. He would be followed by Uran of Columbia who took Silver and Kristoff of Norway who barely edged out the American Taylor Phinney.
I finished the day with a nice 7.5 mile run around the canal and up and through the campus of the London College. The weather was perfect and I got to try out my new running shorts too!
After I had gotten that taken care of, I set off to explore a bit of the city. I started at the National Mall because I was told that the Cycling Road Race had started there. But once I arrived I found out that it had already started and the cyclists were well into the countryside, however, I was told that they would be back in the city around 3:00 in the afternoon so I decided to kill some time and see some sights in the area.
I began at the National Gallery and adjacent courtyard where I saw the statues commemorating old Kings and the four famous Lions that guard the pillar monument in the front. From there I headed along the river til I reached St. Margaret's Church, Big Ben, and the Parliament building. I elected to not pay to go into any of the buildings but I did take a bunch of photos and spend some time watching all the people and events that were going on in the area.
From there I headed to the famous Harrod's department store which is the largest and most extravagant department store in all of Britain. It has 5 floors and everything you can think of from a Grocery Store, Candy Shops, Handbags, Fine Jewelry, clothes, and more. I wound up buying a new pair of Nike running shorts that have already become my favorite pair to run in.
Just outside of Harrod's, the Olympic cycling course was set up so I hung out for an hour and waited to see the cyclists come by, about 2 kilometers from the finish. I passed most of the time talking to a Canadian woman next to me who was in London with the Canadian Swimming and Rowing teams as the sport nutritionist. So she had a lot of insights about both the Canadian and U.S. Olympic teams and what it's like to be working with the athletes everyday. Eventually the cyclists came by, led by Vino of Kazakhstan who would go on to win the Gold Medal. He would be followed by Uran of Columbia who took Silver and Kristoff of Norway who barely edged out the American Taylor Phinney.
I finished the day with a nice 7.5 mile run around the canal and up and through the campus of the London College. The weather was perfect and I got to try out my new running shorts too!