Camp Day 4 started with letting the Juniors sleep a little. The van was loaded and made the 10 min drive over to the St. Petersburg waterfront to swim the 200/800 test set at NorthShore pool.
The staff at NorthShore was most accommodating and the group seemed to enjoy the crisp cool waters. Eckerd College has a campus pool but we quickly realized it was NOT a standard 25 yd or 25 meter pool and in order to do a true test set we had to go to plan B. NorthShore pool was without a doubt the best option.
The swim set was a 200 group dive start followed by 1 min rest then 800 best effort. This is a USAT benchmark swim test set that allows coaches to compare athletes swim ability in different regions. The 200 is an indication of "get out" speed while the 800 performed in a state of semi fatigue helps test endurance speed. The star of the swim test set today was Ethan S who clocked 2:00 for the 200 and 8:47 for the 800. Nice job Ethan. (Ethan's the tall on one the left)
A big way to go and congratulations also goes out to Jose B ( middle) for being the bike TT fastest time ( Day #2) and Anthony B ( far right) for clocking the fastest 3K time with 10:30 on Day #3.
One of the most popular event of the Florida camp has been the "adventure" race. Cyle set up the annual surprise adventure race which was hilarious to watch. This time instead of last years' swamp and kayaks he found a fun running path with some cross country elements and added open water swim and a playground obstacle. The Juniors were split in teams of three and instructed that at all times they must be attached. This meant holding hands, locking arms or even hand on shoulders when running. During the swim they were loosely tied to each other and swam about 400 yards before exiting and then having to navigate thru various obstacles while still tied together. It was fun to watch these young athletes work so well together and balance any limiters with strengths to get to the finish line as one.
At lunch today, it seems the sports nutrition talk the day before made an impression. Lunch plates had all the key food groups and were very colorful. After lunch, an afternoon nap/ down time was in order. The afternoons during camp have been pretty toasty so the classroom time in the A/C has been a welcome break. Today we covered topics of mental preparation for training and racing, discussed importance of having a training plan to strengthen limiters and solidify strengths.
The evening concluded with an easy open water swim at Pass-a-Grille beach followed with a cookout with the St. Pete Mad Dogs. The camp t-shirts arrived and were distributed and I must say this is one sharp looking group!!
