It's that the beginning of winter again, and many of the Crimson athletes, including myself, will be living the good life off in some tropical paradise during their "training" trips.

Before I have to listen to dozens of students complain about how easy the athletes' lives are and how many advantages they get, let me clarify a few things.

Many of the teams here at Harvard go on a training trip over part of the winter recess and there are a lot of misconceptions about those trips by the public at large.

True, many of the teams will be going to exotic, or quasi-exotic, locations for their trip, but this does not make it a vacation by any stretch of the imagination.

Let's take the men's swimming training trip as an example. Here is a typical day from our trip to Hawaii a few years back:

5:30 a.m.: We wake up and drive over to the pool where we are training, change into suits and get ready to get in the water.

6 to 8:30 a.m.: We train, generally with more intensity and for over longer distances than throughout the rest of the season.

8:30 to 9 a.m.: The team showers and heads back to the hotel, where they will prepare breakfast for themselves from the food bought at the local grocery store--this usually consists of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a candy bar.

9 a.m. to noon: Almost everyone will take a nap to recover from the workout and prepare for the afternoon session of training. This sleeping may be done on the beach, a veranda or next to the hotel pool, but for best sleeping results, most choose their beds.

Noon to 12:30 p.m.: Lunch is eaten. It too will most likely consist of a sandwich or candy bar, unless those with money to burn decide to head out for a meal in the local--and undoubtedly fine--eateries.

12:30 to 4 p.m.: Those of us that are conscientious students work on term papers or study for finals. Like nap taking, studying (if indeed the athlete needs to do so) can be done in locations other than the hotel room but, as we all know, lap tops and sand don't mix.

Studying is especially important if the team has traveled a lot in the fall and has competitions during reading period. Another important factor is that training does not cease during reading period or finals, so time during those periods is also limited.

4 to 4:30 p.m.: The team loads the vans and heads back to the pool, changes and prepares for evening practice.

4:30 to 6:30 p.m.: Training again, pretty much the same deal as the morning practice.

6:30 to 7:15 p.m.: Dry-land training, which includes weights, running, abdominals, medicine balls, and/or any of a variety of other exercises that tickle the fancy of the coaching staff.

7:30 to 8:30 p.m.: The team will find dinner somewhere.

8:30 to 10 p.m.: People watch television or venture out into the night life (although excessive fun in the forms of drinking and dancing--as examples--are prohibited or frowned upon).

10 p.m.: Time for bed.

Now, I don't want to seem like a whiner or anything, but this isn't terribly fun; it's certainly not the paradise it's cracked up to be. Of course, there are occasions when the team does do other activities like going to the beach or going to a luau.

The real kicker, for all of you still unconvinced, is that all of this is paid for by the athlete and is mandatory. So, we must pay for the hotel and flight and all that jazz, and we really don't do anything radically different from what we do all year.

Despite what the above may say, I don't hate the training trips, but I certainly do not enjoy them either. It is somewhere in the middle.

I did not write this because the athletes here at Harvard have it rough and we should all pity them. Not at all. There are advantages and disadvantages that come with playing a sport.

The training trip, however appealing it may sound, is not one of the advantages, though, and some (including myself during several of the trips I have taken) would even argue that it is a distinct disadvantage.

I do want to make sure that I do not have to hear from all of my friends who do not compete in varsity athletics about how easy I get it because I'll be living it up for a week or two over winter recess.