Crazy Olympics schedule

So, I was just sending our Assistant Sports Editor Jim Seimas, who is fabulously manning the Sports desk while I’m in London, an email explaining why I had turned my story in late yesterday. Then I realized some of you might be interested in how a day in the life of an Olympics reporter goes.
So, this is my Thursday, the night before the Opening Ceremony:

Wake up at 9:30. Catch the 11 a.m. bus to the media center. Get there at 12:15. Get settled into my locker, do a little research on the weightlifter and boxers i am supposed to be covering.
Leave by 12:30 to catch a train to the boxing press conference. Get there at 1:15. I hoped to be back for the weightlifting press conference at 2 and a Olympics-related computer seminar at 3 and a swimming conference at 3:30, but boxing goes all the way until 3:30.
I get back to the press center at 4, catch the tail end of the swimming conference (Ryan Lochte is cute up close, and Missy Franklin is adorable), then go straight into a diving conference, where the girl I need isn’t there.
I bolt early but got to tech support because i can’t connect my phone to the internet at the press center. It takes an hour to figure out what’s wrong with it. Never really do figure it out, so i resort to using my computer.
Go to a gymnastics conference that is packed. Go to get something quick to eat at McDonald’s at the food mall nearby since I haven’t eaten since 10 am and it’s 8:30. McDonald’s is slooooooooow service, but the fries are good and I can get a latte or a shake with my meal deal.
Finally sit down to start writing at 9:30 or so. Finished the column by 10:30 and sent it to Tony to edit but forgot to post it when I caught the bus and got back to the dorm at midnight. Started writing my preview story, finished by 2:30, had Tony edit it and we posted it and photos by 3:30 a.m. London time.

It’s fun and worth it, but it’s also a heck of a lot of work.