What an eventful week!
In France, it's common to have Training Camps called a "Stage" - where a club hosts training and everyone is welcome. This week was the first of two Stages hosted by my club - 2x2 hour trainings per day for five days.
I participated in my first Stage in February and it was brutal (lol). I only did the evening trainings (so 5 trainings, 5 days) and I barely survived. One training per day is a combination of Trampoline work and then conditioning with the National Team trainer.
After February's Stage, my goal was to make it through all of the trainings of the summer Stage - a test of how much my training volume has improved. I leave for Nationals in Canada next Friday, so for me it has been focused on routines and routine work, while everyone else gets a little more freedom.
This week has been one of the most challenging and rewarding weeks of my career. I've been struggling with my shins on and off the last few months, and I knew this amount of volume would have an impact. I have never focused so hard on recovery, listening to my body and trying so many things to work through it. It was certainly challenging, but incredible. I am very proud of the work I put in this week on equipment, but even more proud of the work I put into taking care of myself - mentally and physically. Oh, and I survived all 10 trainings.
At the beginning of the camp, the coaches made mention of a "challenge" at the end of the week - which honestly I figured I would sit out. This morning, at the first training of the day, they chose teams for the challenge and I realized that big boy me couldn't bail. The challenges were - two Double-Mini passes (one for a stuck landing and one for difficulty and execution), a 2-trick Trampoline routine (bonus points for something personally challenging to you), a 5-trick Trampoline routine, a synchro routine with someone on your team and a tumbling pass on the air track.
All week I have been very conscious of my training volume for my shins, and I have been wildly impressed how fast I have been able to recover in between sessions. The last few days for me have been focused on getting routines together which is truly my least favorite part of competition preparation - it's a lot of turns not succeeding, a lot of trial and error, and it challenges your conditioning having to jump high and get through a lot of routines in the beginning.
The last few days came together pretty good and I got over the preparation hump (thank god). I was shocked with how well I trained this morning - good height work and got through the parts of my routine quickly and consistently - especially given it was my ninth training in five days.
The "challenge" this afternoon turned out to be a total blast and I'm very grateful I did it. It felt like good competition prep - more pressure than just training but also with low stakes. I have loved getting to know my teammates better and more kids across the country that came to the camp this week.
And I'll say it again - I am most proud of the work I put in and how well I took care of myself - signs that you're growing and healing!
Here are a few videos from the last few days!
Now time for a day off tomorrow (prepping to come to Canada, really) and then it's onto week two!
TTYS,
RS