NPR - Day 2 - F.T.D.

Pat Tyson getting the morning groups ready to run. Look at that studs in the background.

Day two started with a firm knock on my door at 6:30 AM. I awoke went to the bathroom splashed some water on my face to wake me a little more. I returned back to the room, got dressed for a morning shake out run. I grabbed a bite out of a clif bar and took some swigs from my water bottle before heading down to the track to meet with the campers.Once at the track we regrouped into our training groups. The groups then head off for a 20, 30, or 40 minute run. We ran for 40 minutes which was a little over 5 miles, the pace was brisk but not too fast as we have a workout in the afternoon.

After the run the kids are free to stretch, stride and do some drills. Then they are to shower and get ready for breakfast at 8:15 AM. The food for breakfast is the basics, cereal, milk, yogurt, and some fruit. They also have some stations for pancakes, waffles, bacon, sausage, and some egg sandwiches.

Breakfast ends at 9:15 and the kids move to the lecture hall for a seminar. This morning the lecture is from Pat Tyson, Steve McChesney and Bill Dellinger. They are talking to the camp about the 5 Principles of Oregon. Those guys were kind enough to let us in on the secret training that has been working at the University of Oregon since the early 1950's.

Moderation

Injury and burnout are the two biggest problems that any runner experiences. The most common cause is over training. It is better to under train than over train as a runner. "Less is more!"

Progression

This is when you make gradual changes in your training. This is where runners learn to increase mileage early in their training and gradually work toward interval training as the program progresses along.

Adaptability

Is learning to change in situations that are not ideal, but definitely common amongst training programs. Any circumstances that may affect your training like weather or your personal health for example.

Variation

Always change your training. At times you made need to concentrate on speed, endurance, hills and location of your training. By varying your workouts you can stay mentally fresher and strengthen your body.

Callusing

Doing things in your training that will make you mentally and physically tougher. You must be prepared to race in whatever condition you may encounter.

Pat Tyson continued the seminar by walking everyone outside to the nearest field. Here he showed the campers a quick yoga routine and core routine. It was one of the toughest things I have ever done. I felt like I was going to vomit, it was so freaking intense.

Here I am trying out one of the posses during the yoga session.

After the yoga and core, Steve McCee got on the mic and gave a quick speech about all this leads to what he likes to call FTD - Fight the Demons. Basically the demons represent the negative that you may encounter in your life for your training and schoolwork. These come in all forms, from friends wanting to go to the mall instead of running or your mental demons of 'do the core or don't do the core', just to name a few examples.

Then we were dismissed to lunch. If you thought the last two meals sounded good then this lunch wont disappoint either. I cant even remember everything that was on the menu but it started with a loaded salad bar, then moved to appetizers, entrees and desserts as the line progressed. So much food to try and not enough stomach space to try it all!

Lunch had some relaxation time and then some team wiffle ball. The wiffle lasted over the course of 2 days and since I am typing to you a day after day 2 I will let you in on the spoiler. My team finished 2nd in the tournament losing a sudden death bat off in the championship game. It came down to who could hit it the ball the furthest on one pitch. Sad to say that we lost that.

The Boys waiting for the afternoon workout to start.

Wiffle ball merged into the afternoon workout. The workout that the Men of Oregon laid out for the campers was a staple that they used in the 70's. It was a 2:30/1:00 fartlek session. It went 2 minutes 30 seconds hard, then 1 minute of jogging, then 1 minute harder and finished with 2 minutes jogging. We were to repeat the workout over the 5k course, most groups got in 4-6 sets of the workout. They also threw in a 10 minute warm up and however long of a cool down.

After the workout was finished we had an hour of downtime before dinner would start. Most went back to the room to shower and relax. From dinner, which was delicious again, we went to a seminar where there was more talk of FTD and that lead into a chat on Steve Prefontaine and his legacy. The evening wound down with a viewing of Fire on the Track, a documentary on the life of Pre. It was great because many of the speakers in the video are the men that are running this camp.

My head hit the pillow at 10:30 PM to get my body rested and ready for the next day.