Five Reasons Why You Should Go to Training Camp

We're in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina at present...halfway through a week-long, intensive training camp. Since Sunday, we've been on the water twice a day - we're exhausted; we come close to puking several times daily; our lats, shoulders, abs, legs, backs are screaming even when we're sitting still - and yet we can't wait for the next round. Why is this such an important and welcome ritual for us? I was discussing the whole concept of camp with A this week... we discussed the cons (it's expensive, it's intensive, you're using vacation time (if you're lucky enough to have any or a job that gives you some), it's far away... etc). Could the same stuff be accomplished closer to home? In two days rather than six? Could you give the same amount of intensity at a day camp rather than an overnight away camp he asked? So I took his questions, pondered a while and decided that for any team that is serious about getting results on a world stage - camp is critical. Here's why:

1. Focus
At camp, there are no distractions. Sure your back hurts and, once you lower your groaning self into the hot swirling waters between paddling sessions, you don't want your jaunts in the hot tub to end, but there is nothing between you and improvement while you are here. You paddle when you're hungry, tired, sunburned, sick, aching, bleeding, blistered... and these are the times when you can really improve. If 20 of you can paddle through all of that - your team will be stronger, faster, closer to the gold.

2. Bonding
There is nothing like 7 days spent 24/7 with one another to bring you closer. When you eat, sleep, cook, play, work, laugh, console, cry, and more with one another in close quarters, you gain insight into individual personalities, including your own, and see what makes the team hum and roll. You begin to care for your team mates deeply - you massage each others' knots between sets; you pick up on subtleties in their expressions; you realize you love these people so fiercely that you would put yourself in harm's way for them. But the camraderie is just a bonus... what makes this bonding so crucial is that it becomes a precusor to #3. Without bonding, you can't have....

3. Unity
One of the first exercises coach had us do this week was get our rhythm going, and paddle with our eyes closed. This isn't a new concept, but it's incredibly effective. When you have 20 people completely connected with one another, with the movement of the boat, with the water - shutting off one of the senses deepens the sensation. Yes amateur teams can do this quite successfully, but when you get a team with THIS much experience... WOW. You can feel the whoosh whoosh of the paddles striking the water as much as you can hear it - perhaps even more so. You anticipate that push and glide. You can predict where it comes next. You hear a call for a pickup, or a stronger push - and you can respond in unison, as one big powerful machine because you have unity. You are no longer an individual - you are a component of a bigger, better, single unit. It's goosebump-crazy-good!

4. Inspiration
If 19 other people can do it - so can you. If you can do it, so can 19 other people. You lead by example and follow your leader(s). In the group - you all push one another beyond your limits, your perceived capabilities... there is no room for "I can't". In fact, "can't" gets removed from your vocabulary, from your consciousness.

5. Fun
Remember when you used to go out for recess and play with your friends? How you would swing on the monkey bars and try things you saw your mates doing? How you would play tag, and kick ball and get all sweaty and dirty with them? How you would come back inside all grass-stained, muddy, sticky and HAPPY? Camp is recess for grownups. It's good for the heart and soul as much as for your technique and form. You can't be a good athlete if all you have is a healthy body - you have to have the  mind to go with it. And fun is often the last thing on our list of considerations as we get older. But at camp we can leave our grownup woes behind - forget the bills and the to do lists and the stresses of our daily adult lives. Go regress, have fun, restart your happy!