When Missy Franklin imagined her life as a professional swimmer, she couldn't have envisioned mornings like these.
In the predawn darkness on a recent Friday morning in a south Denver suburb, Franklin swam back and forth in a driving, drenching, bone-chilling rainstorm. In between sets, Franklin looked up at her longtime coach, Todd Schmitz, and uttered the most un-Missy-like of words.
"This is miserable," she said.
But she put her goggles back on and finished the 5,500-meter workout, her ninth and final pool workout of the week. Welcome to the not-so-glamorous part of Franklin's new life as a professional swimmer.