Tuesdays are our biggest days at ELITEAM. Every camper gets to climb to the sky in the Ropes Courses, as well as burn their quads in the Leg & Agility Routines. There were enough calories burned today to light up Manhattan. Luckily, it was Taco Tuesday so everyone refueled for tomorrow’s bike adventure.
Today I was out in the woods belaying “Haleigh’s Hit”. This is our most stressful Ropes element. The campers climb up a skinny 15 foot pole and slowly, gingerly stand on top of it. They must then make a leap of faith to jump out and grab a big red ball dangling from above. Now the big red ball doesn’t seem too bad from below, but when you get up there, it suddenly looks miles away. There was a lot of breathing, visualization, and nervous giggling going on, as one by one, they mustered up the nerve to jump. Taylor not only fought through nerves, but a severely twitching right leg. With two hands on her leg to stop the shaking, she would jump for the ball and then erupt in laughter, which was contagious!
Also in the woods is the Obstacle Course, which we’ll highlight during the Olympics on Saturday. Today was practice day and the award for best effort goes to the relay team of Sarah, Alina, and Haleigh. They were incredibly close to breaking the record despite the many crashes, slips, falls, and skidding that marred each of their attempts. Their determination was inspiring to the other teams.
New to ELITEAM this year is a session on Mobility and Stability taught by guest coach Dani Koch, who is the Head Women’s Coach and Fitness Director at GMVS. He put the campers through a great Dynamic Stretching routine and then focused on slowing everything down to teach precision with proper alignment. Half drill sargeant and half motivator, he taught the athletes exercises that will help them no matter sport they compete in, and in the process, I’m quite sure we’ll have some seriously sore glutes tomorrow!
After dinner we split the camp into three groups. One group headed for the kitchen to make Greek Yogurt Banana Bread. Another group hit the rock walls. The third was flipping tires, carrying sandbags and capturing the flag. It all ended with some yoga and a relaxation routine. It is 9:06pm and my dorm of boys is out cold. Tuesday’s rock.
