I was very fortunate to be invited to the Women's Endurance Talent ID Camp at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Other "new" talents that were invited: (left to Right) Ashley Anderson, Me(Carmen McNellis), Carol Hutton, Susannah Pratt, Megan Guarnier, Marissa Asplund, and Shelly Olds.

Day one: This was, for most of us, our first or second time on the track. Bikes with no brake, no gears, and worst of all fix gear (no coasting, you can't stop pedaling). Well, I guess you could stop pedalling but the outcome would not be so pretty. Luckily we all survived a really long morning on the track. We had lunch and then went on a great ride through the Garden of The Gods. Later that afternoon (evening) we had a presentation by USADA, nutrition discussion, and meet with a sport Psych. They sure kept us busy for the first day.



Day two: We started of the morning by completing a timed flying 2k on the Track. For you who have no idea what that first sentence was saying...We had to go as hard as we could around the track for 6 laps. The flying part means we didn't start for a standing position, we had speed going into it. We had a little more down time today, which was nice because my legs didn't feel that great from being on the track for 2.5 hours the previous day. Dirk Friel spoke to us about Training Peaks and then we were off to the track again for evening races. Every Tuesday and Thursday they have evening races at the Velodrome in Colorado Springs. Jim gave us the opportunity to race and I was glad we did because it was a blast. I came out with one win and 2 seconds. Not to bad for my first night of track racing.

Day 3: This morning we did some testing in the lab. Not much fun. I was pretty tired from the night before doing so many efforts. I was able to get in a quick needed nap. This afternoon we had beautiful weather and road a nice 3hr ride through the Air Force Academy. Now it is time for bed, more testing tomorrow!

We have two more days left so tune in for another update!