Hallisey qualified for the 1998 Nagano Olympics as well as the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City where she competed in the 3,000-meter relay and placed fifth and seventh, respectively. In addition to the relay team, Caroline also competed in the 500-meter and 1,000-meter races in the 2002 Games.

She credits her parents as being some of the biggest influences in her career. “They supported me through this whole adventure and have never pressured me into making any choices I was not happy with.

“They have never pushed me, but were there when I needed them. They allowed me to keep the sport fun," Hallisey stated.

By the way, each parent is involved in the sport - her mother is a competitor's steward and her father referees and keeps score at events.

The 24-year-old, who is a former resident of the Colorado Springs Olympic Training Center, describes what it’s like to be an avid horseback rider, student, work part-time and train for the 2006 Torino Games.

6:30 a.m. – Rise and shine. “I normally wake up around this time to start my day.”

7 a.m. – Breakfast. “I usually eat breakfast that consists of yogurt, cereal and some juice.”

8 a.m. – “Depending on the day, I sometimes work out right after breakfast. My workouts consist of cardio and weights. In my weight workouts, I will work 80% on my legs and core and about 20% of upper body. With cardio it is usually either biking or running and occasionally I’ll go hiking.”

10 a.m. – 1 p.m. – “This is when I have free time. I work at 24-hour Fitness, go to school, do equipment maintenance that consists of sharpening my skates and checking the rock and bend of my blades, and I’ll do some homework too.

“I am an environmental studies major focusing on natural disasters. I attend school at the University of Colorado at Boulder and I’m taking nine hours and go there twice a week. Any free time I have is spent with my horse in the mountains.”

1 p.m. – Lunch in the OTC Athlete Center. "This is the most common time that I eat lunch. I’ll have a sandwich and some fruit.”

2 p.m. – “Right now my afternoons are full with skating, or other workouts, working at 24-hour Fitness and doing homework.

“When I’m training for the Olympics I will limit my work and school time to almost nonexistent so that I can focus more on my training and recovery. It is mostly my recovery time that I compromise when I am not training for an Olympics. Also, I have a different schedule for peaking since our major competitions come earlier on an Olympic year by about a month and a half.”

6 p.m. – Workout. “Usually I’ll be doing a spin class at this time. Sometimes I’ll go in the mornings to spin, but only if I don’t have ice time. If I’m not doing a spin class then my workouts are done before 6 p.m. I’ll do a high-endurance workout such as a hard run, cycling or other activity that you can do for an extended period of time. I try to push myself past my comfort zone for as long as I can. It is a really good workout for mental toughness.

“However, often times, this is when I eat dinner. Sometimes it will be a little later, it just depends on if I am working. I’ll usually eat pasta and will try to eat some meat and veggies too.”

10 p.m. – Bedtime.

“Although I’m not currently living at the Colorado Springs Training Center, I’m about to close on my house at the end of the month, I did live there from 1997-2004. It is a great facility and the athlete services center and all the facilities on campus make training very easy to accomplish. Having sports med on campus is also a big plus.”