Spartan Camp

In August, two of the four weeks were spent doing running camps. The first was Spartan running camp, held in Shelby Forest State Park in Millington, TN. The Spartans rented out a group camp facility and split the week... boys the first half and girls the second half.

The group camp was perfect... except for the fact that the cabins had no air conditioning! The boys started out the week sleeping in cabins, but the heat index was up over 110 most of the time... This made for rather uncomfortable sleeping arrangements, so everyone carried their mattresses to the lodge for a giant slumber party! Sleeping in the air was much nicer... but there was a demon ice maker in the kitchen which kept dropping loud loads of ice every few hours and overflowing!

Each day we ran, did strength training, had recreation time, and finished the day with devotion.
The terrain for running was definitely challenging. Runners had a choice... uphill or downhill, but there was not really a flat option! Recreation activities included hiking, kickball, ultimate frisbee, and 4 square! Four square was a great way to beat the heat and play something competitive indoors.

Hiking a trail during recreation time

Strengthening the hips

Learning about race strategy

Devotion with Mr. Young

What a great group of guys!

The girls arrived on Wednesday for their half of the week. Menus and schedules were almost identical...However, the girls slept in the lodge right from the beginning!

The week was great for both groups, but I think it seemed to be particularly helpful for the girls... especially the varsity group. They really came together as a group and I could tell that they were in for a good, strong season.

Kendra, Danielle, Julie, Martha, Olivia, and Catherine

All of the girls worked hard during our runs and strength training...

And we had fun during recreation, too! The lifeguards entertained us showing off with their tricks, and we had a few tricks of our own!

The best part of the week was our special speaker... My high school coach came one evening to speak to the girls about a wide variety of running issues! Coach Campbell has been one of the most influential people in my life, and I am so thankful that I got to share him with my Spartan girls! He finished up his talk by entertaining the group with some photos of me and even an old home video of our team!