Tuesdays at ELITEAM are full days. Everyone gets to experience the ropes courses as well as a killer Leg Routine and Agility exercises. And although the rain started to fall around 3pm, we hardly felt it in the woods and the campers kept on pushing higher and higher in the trees.
Zack went rogue on us (with my permission) and climbed the Word Cup element like no one ever has. He started on the Incline Log and ended up ringing the bell on the Tightrope Traverse. Halfway through he wanted to cut it short, but he kept at it and finished strong with a jump off the log!
Christian, Andy, Paul and Natasha all were able to jump and grab hold of the Big Ball hanging on Haleigh's Hit, which is very hard to do. Although it took a couple of tries, they managed to put a death grip on the ball and hang there triumphantly. We decided to move it higher for the later group and only Zack at 6'1" was able to snatch it.
The Vertical Playpen is the highest element and most of the campers were able to wrestle their way onto the swinging log at 45 feet up. In celebration, most spontaneously break into dance. It’s a great sight.
On the field and in the gym the rest of the crew was working hard with leg routines, slalom courses and all kinds of jumping. As Ted Ligety states in the ELITEAM Notebook, his favorite exercises involve jumping for power. Well, Ted would have been proud of the Eliteam campers today. They were giving it their all, doing backwards tuck jumps uphill, covering 50 yards at a stretch. I could hear the groans of exertion from the woods.
The agility SL, as always, was a big hit. The campers especially love to see Coach Andrew go full bore. I heard one of the kids say, “Andrew, please go 100%. It’s so awesome!”
After a dinner of chicken, pasta and peas, we split into three groups – one went to the kitchen to bake granola bars; one was in the gym climbing the rock walls; and the other was outside in the rain playing capture the flag.
I was belaying the rock wall and there was some heavy sweating going on up there. Logan was somehow able get his body over the overhang after a number of tries. When he got back down to the gym floor, he could hardly move his hands they were so worked and tired. Meaghan had her sights set on conquering the middle wall, but was unable to reach the top despite two 15 minute grinds. I bet she will be there again Thursday trying to get through it.
In the kitchen, Chad along with his assistant, “Toddette” explained the power bar recipe and ingredients to the cooking crew. I am told all went smoothly there. We’ll get to try the bars tomorrow. After cooking, they had an exciting game of Eliteam Pictionary. Girls vs Boys. For a brief moment, it turned into charades in desperation. Apparently the kids were not familiar with the word “Bonk.”
Lastly, we ended with a Yoga and Relaxation session. It was quite a sight with all 45 campers and 4 counselors holding a warrior pose in complete silence. At the end, we did some relaxation exercises and I was blown away at how well they did. This is one of my favorite parts of Eliteam. 45 campers, completely relaxed and quiet, lying on their backs, eyes closed and "in the zone" for TEN MINUTES! Completely quiet! This is a skill that they can take with them to their competitions and utilize when things get a little stressful.
Mtn Biking tomorrow at Catamount. It will probably rain which will make it even more fun. Then Dancing and Soccer in the afternoon!
