Sport Beans/NTTC Camp

February 8-11, 2007

Fairfield, CA

I walked into the Tangerine Room at the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield and what an amazing presentation! I met Mark, our team director and Stephanie from Jelly Belly. Then moved right along to meet some of my team mates who had arrived earlier. We proceeded to take head shots in our polo's and in our singlets and got a chance to talk with each other. The other half our team finally arrived after getting stuck in traffic and after more introductions it was time to head to our hotel and get ready for dinner.

We met downstairs at our hotel to have dinner with Stephanie and Deborah from Jelly Belly. What a great dinner it was too. After dinner we made plans for an early morning swim or run. I decided on the run! My room mate was Kathryne Bertine from Arizona. We had such a great time getting to know each other and chatting about everything under the sun. It's great to click with another female athlete with similar goals. Like I said, it was an early friday morning waking up at 5:30am to get a quick 45 minute run in on the treadmill in the small, stuffy fitness room of the hotel. Those two treadmill's were a hot comodity too!! Jenna & Mark Wendley

We got to the Jelly Belly factory at 8am and just in time for the factory tour!! I can't believe all that it takes to make a Jelly Belly! It was such an amazing thing to watch. How much time and energy is needed to produce this candy and also the Sport Beans. For those of you who don't know or haven't tried a Sport Bean, it's larger than a Jelly Belly and is fortified with electrolytes and vitamins. It tastes great and is used similarly to a gel. You must drink water with the Sport Beans and 14 beans are 100 calories. Our Factory Tour outfits!

Friday was such a busy day. After the tour of the factory, we had a nutrition talk by Dr. Liz Applegate followed by lunch; then a media talk by Tomi Holt. After a day at the Jelly Belly factory it was time to head back to the hotel, relax for a bit and then it was off to dinner.

Saturday morning was scheduled for more photo shoots, but because of the non-stop rain the entire weekend, it was cancelled. So, what do athletes do...train. Half of us decided to go for a run and the other half for a swim. I met 3 of my team mates down stairs in the lobby at 7am. Lauren, Alison, Kirk and myself left for a run in the cold drizzling rain. We had an idea of where to run, but pretty much made it up as we went along. Lauren and Alison ended up running for an hour and 20 minutes and Kirk and I continued on for another hour!! It was a bit longer than I had planned to do, but I had a great time. After having a huge breakfast Kirk and I headed to the YMCA for a swim. We had about an hour and a half and eventhough the workout was easy for Kirk, some of it was hard for me. It was nice though to have another person to swim with.

That afternoon Stephanie booked a Wine Tour for us in Napa. After the tour we headed to a nice Restaurant for dinner and met up with Rob (also from Jelly Belly) and his wife. What a dinner...I ate so much, I should I have been rolled out of the restaurant!

It was nice to sleep in on sunday! We met in the hotel restaurant for breakfast and then goodbye's. I drove home that afternoon thinking about the wonderful people I met and how excited I am to be a part of the Sport Beans/NTTC triathlon team!