By Jamie MacDonald | Oct. 02, 2015, 12:31 p.m. (ET)

What are Team USA athletes — Olympians, Paralympians, hopefuls and more — up to when they're not competing? They're training. They're practicing. They're traveling to competitions and meets and games and tournaments. They're relaxing. They're getting engaged and married. They're taking hard-earned vacations. They're coping with the raw emotions that come from losing and winning. And they're sharing. Through the reach of social media, we're able to follow along on their often extraordinary journeys. We'll catch you up each week on what's "Red, White & Trending."


All Dressed Up, No Place To Go

When your career depends on the whims of weather, particularly stormy winter weather, not all the days are going to go as planned. So, sometimes, you just have to wait it out. Even if that means you're going to be in bed in full racing gear, from helmets to boots. Good times for alpine skiers Andrew Weibrecht and big Bryce Bennett, who made the best of a delayed training session in Chile.


Global State Of Mind

Olympic medalist fencer and New York City native Tim Morehouse wasn't far from home for this past weekend's Global Citizen Festival in Central Park, which featured politicians, activists and musical artists. And while Morehouse might have been able to hear the show from his apartment, he decided he'd go in person. Here's a sliver of the payoff:

@beyonce performing at the @thegpp #globalcitizen Festival! Amazing! #globalgoals

A video posted by Tim Morehouse (@timmorehouse) on

Congratulations are also in order for Morehouse, who will soon unveil …

2 Weeks until Tim Morehouse Fencing Club opens its doors for business on Monday, October 12 on the Upper West Side of...

Posted by Tim Morehouse on Monday, September 28, 2015


Dress Success

There are few substitutes in this world for a wonderful surprise, and we found Olympic gold medalist gymnast Shawn Johnson caught in the act of enjoying all that comes from the mere hint of what a wedding day might look like for her and fiancé Andrew East.

A few days later, SJ took over the San Jose Sharks' Instagram account during a day capped off by her dropping a ceremonial puck. It also included a shot that may briefly have concerned the ice crew in San Jose.

Don't worry I have this under control. - @shawnjohnson

A photo posted by San Jose Sharks (@sanjosesharks) on


Balancing Act

Air boards have made their way into a few timelines in recent months, notably Olympic champion Abby Wambach's during the run-up to the Women's World Cup, when a friends-and-family do-si-do earned more than 16,000 likes. But it took gymnast Josh Dixon, who most recently competed at the 2015 P&G Championships this past August in Indianapolis, to take a variation on the theme and turn it upside down.


Super, Super Moon Shots

Earlier this week, the moon made headlines, and Team USA's fleet of amateur astronomers — some more amateur than others, they would surely admit — turned their attention to the night sky.

Olympic gold medalist swimmer Matt Grevers, who at more than six-and-a-half feet tall, is closer to the moon than most, still opted for a telescope:

My girls checking out the eclipse tonight. #supermoon #superdogs #supershorttripod

A photo posted by Matt Grevers (@mgrevers) on

Olympic gold medalist figure skater and self-professed "looney girl" Kristi Yamaguchi:

Olympic skeleton hopeful Stephen Garbett, from the U.S. Olympic Training Center:

The #LunarEclipse is amazing in #LakePlacid #NY #Redmoon

A photo posted by Stephen Garbett (@garbett_usa) on

When you're hoping for a photo to capture a moment, it seems worth leaving the last word to Simon Dumont. Dumont, one of the most accomplished freeskiers in the world who tore the ACL in his left knee in an Olympic qualifying event to cut short his Olympic dreams, has proved that at least part of his next act will include photography.


Celestial Seasoning

The moon wasn't the only object in the solar system to make big news this week, but Mars also hit the headlines with a report of liquid water on the Red Planet. Leave it to the quick wits of multi-sport Paralympic star Oksana Masters to come up with one key consideration.


Potent Quotables

That's what Maryland does, Michael Phelps! The Olympic swimming legend is a noted Ravens fan, and while things haven't gone according to plan this season for the NFL team in Baltimore, Phelps remained optimistic heading in to Week 3. He also dropped a hashtag homage to Wedding Crashers.

Bill Murray is responsible for so many classic movie lines, including a beauty from Tootsie that Alexi Lalas went for:


Understatement Of The Year

Golf fans certainly know the ballad of Jordan Spieth's 2015, and Team USA fans may know it by the time Rio arrives. During a summer in which he turned 22 years old, Spieth simply went out and authored one of the best golf seasons in history. In the most pressure-packed tournaments of the year, the PGA Tour's majors, which feature the kind of pressure he might face should he represent the United States in Rio, Spieth won the Masters and U.S. Open events, finished tied for fourth at the British Open and second at the PGA Championship. He also managed to win $12,030,465 in prize money and a $10 million bonus for finishing first in the FedExCup standings.

That's $22 million. At the age of 22.

And to continue a theme of understated composure that marked nearly every move he made in the press this past season, he had an appropriately understated response to the successes and riches.


Team USA On Holiday

Gretchen Bleiler knows how to pick a vacation home. A month ago, the Olympic snowboarder spent some time in a tiny house outside Boulder. This week, she's in France, riding bikes through villages and staying in what looks like a one-of-a-kind countryside cottage (turns out there are three of them).

Two-time Olympic pentathlete Margaux Isaksen also enjoyed a trip to France, opting instead for the more urban setting of Paris. And the more iconic imagery of holding up La Tour Eiffel.

πŸ˜‚

A photo posted by Margaux Isaksen (@margauxisaksen) on

Olympic gold medalist Jamie Anderson mixed business with pleasure, first cruising the streets of Zermatt on a skateboard and then taking to higher vantage point to capture this priceless shot for the scrapbook:

The higher on the mountains I am the more connected I feel. πŸ™Œβ„οΈπŸŒ #switzerland

A photo posted by ΰ₯ Jamie Anderson ΰ₯ (@jamieanderson) on


15.5-Hour Tour, And Then Some

Perhaps there was a point — three or four (or 10) hours into the journey — when two-time Olympic luger Chris Mazdzer wondered about the wisdom of his decision to sign up for an adventure that included 24 miles and almost 10,000 feet in elevation. Not your average hike.

Mazdzer's next post took an entirely different perspective as he went from a mountaintop in New York to laying down on his back in Norway. But he didn't forget to make a list.


Steep Challenge

It comes with the ominous, one-word, uphill-battle moniker: The Incline. And it's no joke of a workout. In less than a mile's distance, the trail carved into the side of a mountain gains more than 2,000 feet of elevation in the already thin air of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Considering Colorado Springs is home to the United States Olympic Committee and a training center that hosts all manner of Team USA athletes, many luminaries have climbed the incline. Over the past week, there was even an Incline inclination toward mutual admiration society involving Olympic gymnast Jake Dalton and eight-time Olympic medalist Apolo Ohno.

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