WOMEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS JOURNAL: Women's team not satisfied but highly motivated
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by Jenna Pavlik,
Women's Team USA members and training partners Jenna Pavlik, Sara Fulp Allen and Kelsey Campbell (left to right) will provide a journal about the U.S. Women's Team at the 2009 World Championships
Friday, September 25
by Jenna Pavlik
I think it is fair to say that no one on the women's team is going home satisfied. Today Ali and Adeline wrestled great, but it was not enough for a medal. Ali had a tough first round match, and dropped a decision to a multiple time world champion from Bulgaria. Adeline wrestled great in her first senior world championships, and fell just short of a medal. Overall, we had three wrestlers take fifth place and the team finished in sixth place. The girls wrestled their hearts out. Unfortunately, we were on the losing side of a few close calls. We are not here to make excuses, however, and plan to work even harder the next three years to regain our place at the top.
The trip was a great learning experience for both the wrestlers and the training partners. We all know we have a lot of work to do in the upcoming years, but are excited and ready for the challenge. There is a lot of young blood in the resident program and on the national team that is eager to learn and hungry to win. These characteristics are crucial for a program that is aiming for improvement.
The team would like to thank the support staff for all their efforts. Coaches Terry, Izzy, Keith and Kevin dedicated countless hours and effort into making us better wrestlers. Our team leader, Kim Martori, did an excellent job with planning and encouraging. The medical staff (athletic trainer Carrie, and chiropractors Rosie and Kristen) kept the girls on the mat and feeling good. USA wrestling did a great job organizing everything and supporting us 110%. Mitch Hull had a full time job keeping things in line over in our "gated community"/8 mile, depending on how you look at it. We would also like to thank everyone back home who was following online and cheering us on.
I doubt I will miss the trailer park (okay, maybe just a little) but I will never forget the memories made and friendships strengthened throughout this trip. We truly bonded as a team and I am confident that teamwork and loyalty will help us to push each other to become better wrestlers. This dangerous group is full of talent and will be making waves for a long time. We are not satisfied, and will not be until we are at the top of the team race.
Thursday, Sept. 24
by Sara Fulp-Allen
Today was an emotional roller coaster for the entire women's world team. With three awesome wrestlers entered in the tournament today, we all were excited and nervous for the opportunities the day may present. The morning started off for everyone around 11 am, when the training partners left their trailers to meet the three competitors in the warm up area. Everyone felt solid and in their zones. While others were warming up, some chose to get workouts on their own and helped keep the atmosphere intense.
In the stands at the start of the tournament, many fans and spectators were finding seats and preparing to watch. I was surprised to see so many people and fans, especially the non wrestlers that came to support the athletes from the nearby Scandinavian and European countries. They were loud and excited for the matches to begin.
In the first round of competition, all three of our athletes were victorious. Elena dominated her opponent from Tunisia, and both Deanna and Tatiana had solid wins. In the second round, our US women gave us more of a scare. Elena and Tatiana beat their opponents after wrestling into the third and final periods, and Deanna fought a close match with Azerbaijan. At this point, we could feel that the competition was getting heavy and that every point would make a difference in the next round. As Tatiana had a bye in the first round, she was already further ahead on the bracket. Her semi final match was very close, coming down to a challenge and review, but it did not fall in our favor. Elena also had a difficult match against Russia and did not pull through the quarter finals.
By the end of the night, after two bronze medal matches and a lot of calls not going our way, we still have not collected any medals. Although we are all feeling positive about the experience and ready to make improvements and strides in our personal athletic careers, we know that everyone was not happy with their results. It's been a long day and there are still more women weights to be wrestled. Everyone will be going to bed tonight with positive hopes in mind as two more very talented women will step onto the platform tomorrow.
On a lighter side, experiences in the trailer park have been interesting. Denmark has yet to fail at giving us every element of the weather, including random 15 minute rain showers throughout the entire day. They are always extremely heavy during the night, and continue to wake me up. In addition, the Greco-Roman training partners have recently moved into what Mitch Hull calls the 'gated community', and have yet to fail at keeping the US teams from getting sleep with their trailer beatings in the middle of the night. Tonight will not be any quieter with the addition of a local band that will be playing at the nearby trailer bistro throughout the night. Oh well, I guess we can sleep on the plane.
Wednesday, September 23
by Kelsey Campbell
Day one of women's competition was definitely not a slow one.
After seeing all of the freestyle guys wrestling, especially Jake and Trevel win medals, we were all ready and excited for the women's competition to begin.
At this point, all the girls were at different places. Some competed today, while some weighed in this morning, and still others had another day to compete. my respect for the coaches, though already high, has grown significantly. They have really been all things to all people. Our team leader, Kim Martori, has done a phenomenal job with just being there to assist the coaches and athletes, making sure rides are taken care of, and I am sure, a multitude of things none of us see that takes place behind the scenes.
Some of the girls that did not need to weigh in today had a separate workout this morning with wrestling partners, while 55kg, 59kg, and 63kg had their weigh in. After some close calls, so far, everyone has weighed in accordingly.
I got to warm up with Clarissa. I have learned a lot from her this trip. Training with someone who has done as much as she has, it is definitely an upward call to always have that game face on. Even this morning, she prepared for the competition with so much fight. It is awesome. And her opening match really showed that. The same was true for Jessica. She wrestled today like I have never seen her wrestle. As we have all experienced at some point, the results were not what either of them wanted. Regardless, I am extremely proud of both of them and cannot wait to see what we can all accomplish as Team USA in the years to come.
After the competition finished, a lot of the girls were still pretty scattered. Some wanted to get away from the venue, and headed to the store. I was pretty exhausted from a hard workout and the warm-up, so I finally got a chance to be immobile for a little while.
Tomorrow, Tatiana, Deanna and Elena will compete. The final day of women's competition will include Adeline and Ali - otherwise known as "Team A."
Another day of competition comes to a close and overall, I have just learned so much: to always be ready, always have that game face on, and always be open-minded. Until next time!
Tuesday, September 22
by Jenna Pavlik
Two of the girls weighed in today and are ready to rumble. Chun opens her tournament up with a wrestler from Singapore while Jess has the Vietnamese to start things off.
The rest of the team had a workout right after weigh-ins. Some of the girls went through Izzy's "weight cut workout" while others opted to wrestle or run the weight off. Ali and I got some good folkstyle goes in before heading over to watch day two of the freestyle competition.
It was neat to be in the bleachers through the day with all the other fans for the U-S-A cheers. The arena is very crowd friendly, with its low ceiling and metal bleachers. You can really make some noise in there.
Things are pretty relaxed in the campground, or "8-mile" as the freestyle guys affectionately like to call it. We have made it our home for the time being, and have even elected Silent H as the mayor. There is a block party at night where we all sit around and tell wrestling stories.
It got a little cold out there one night, so we decided to put up a tent that attached to the camper to host the block parties in. We worked a good part of the afternoon on it and it was comfy hanging out in there last night. We joked that it was the equivalent of the USA house at the Olympics. Unfortunately, the winds and rain we got last night were a little much for it, and we woke up to a pile of tarp and poles. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.
The Greco training partners arrived tonight so we are doing some USA bonding, whether we want to or not, as there are over 30 people and all their stuff in our 10 campers.
Tomorrow's schedule includes a workout at 9 for the girls not wrestling tomorrow, then weigh-ins for Tatiana, Deanna and Elena at 11:30 and then Clarissa and Jess begin their quest for gold at 1, and both will be wrestling in the finals around 7:30 pm Denmark time.
Tuesday, September 22
by National Women's Coach Terry Steiner
Today Clarissa Chun and Jessica Medina weigh-in, tomorrow they
compete and Tatiana Padilla, Deanna Rix, and Elena Pirozhkova weigh-in.
We are about 1.5 hours out of weigh-ins all is well. It has been a morning of running around getting people places to workout, pickup
groceries and getting the training partners a workout. The world team staff has done a great job with the team and all of the duties.
Ok - so weigh-Ins are over Clarissa and Jessica are rehydrating and refueling as I write this email. Everyone else is at the hotel resting or doing whatever it is they do to relax.
The rest of the day is also busy. It is 1:20 pm here right now at 3:00 some will workout then at 6:00 others will workout.
As I was saying - we will watch video tonight after everyone is tucked in and resting so that we can start the say with a game plan ready to win. Both girls looked relaxed.
Clarissa will face Tambunan from Singapore first match with notables Lee from Korea and Oorzhak from Russia on her side
Jessica will face Tran from Vietnam first match with Hong from China and Mattson on her side as well as Englehardt from Germany, Kai from Japan, and Bakatyuk from Kazakhstan also in her half bracket.
Coaches Wilson, Black, Tomeo and Izzy have done a great job getting these athletes ready - we have had great camps! It is time to put it all to use - the girls have been great, wonderful attitudes, great work ethics and open minds. The process has been smooth and I expect we are ready to battle to get to our expectations. As a coach that's all you can ask for.
It is a cold day in Denmark today windy and I would guess about 45. It was raining this morning now that has stopped but the winds have picked up.
So I have learned a lot about Denmark. It is amazing the people you meet while waiting for the girls to finish working out. I think the Americans are very well respected around the world especially in Denmark. Maybe not liked but respected. Today Hin, a guy at the health club filled me in on the medical/ insurance system. Je could not understand why Obama is having a hard time with getting health care reform passed in the US.
It turns out Denmark has been known for there clothing but that is slowly changing because of outsourcing to China. Suprise, suprise! Now Denmark is getting more into the technology side of things. Denmark is a very expensive place to live and visit.
For now, over and out!
Carry On!
Monday, September 21
by Sara Fulp-Allen
Today marks the first day of competition and only two days until the women begin. Since we had just arrived the previous night, not much of the venue had been explored from the women's team point of view. As a training partner, I am staying in a camping trailer behind the training and competition arenas which have electricity but no water. For bathrooms, you have a choice between walking 100 meters to the port-a-potties or 400 meters to the training facility bathrooms. The trailers are cozy and warm for the most part, but as athletes with many suitcases there is not much space to move around.
The World Team met up with us in the morning for an 11 am work out. There are two separate arenas for training and they are all constantly packed with athletes, so finding an open mat is always a challenge. Each athlete catered to their individuals needs because some will be weighing-in tomorrow morning while others still have technique to polish up and other things to focus on.
After the morning workout, everyone showered and ate some lunch. The "restaurant" is located in the venue next to the competition arena and a very spacious room. At the beginning of the meal, there are 2-3 buffet lines of food, with many different types of salads, meats, and rice, supplemented by fruit and cheese. The tournament staff has put together very well rounded international choices that many different types of athletes can feel comfortable with.
While the World Team headed back to the Best Western Hotel about 3 miles down the road to rest, a few of us training partners got to experience a little of the men's freestyle tournament during the afternoon. Although the arena seems small, it is very intense and exciting. For the countries like Iran, the huge fan base creates such a noisy atmosphere that there never is a dull moment. After enjoying a few hours of freestyle matches, we all headed out of the arena and back to our trailers to rest before the evening workout.
In order to prepare the group for upcoming weigh-ins, the team played a game of 'butt-ball', with one team comprised of the training partners and the other comprised of the world team. After 30 minutes, everyone was free to finish the work out as they needed, either running or wrestling. Although not very eventful, the mood is getting more serious and the team is getting ready to start following their personal plans to prepare themselves for action.
Sunday, September 20
by Kelsey Campbell
The women's team is now in Herning, Denmark, after a day of much travel. We left our first training sight at 10 a.m., a few of us pretty exhausted after a late night of laundry and packing. The chiropractor of the first leg of the trip left us with a box of muffins as a parting gift, and we set off for the airport.
Of course, even that did not go as planned. We had learned earlier from the men's freestyle team that since our flight from Germany to Denmark was not technically "international" the way we understood it (with luggage allowances, etc), we would be charged 400 euro for every second bag. We all had two bags, so instead of emptying out our life savings, Terry rented a van. He, Erin, Izzy and Carrie drove the van of excess luggage about 8 hours to Herning. Keith lead the rest of us.
We had two flights with a quick layover in between. We landed in Herning, where a huge bus awaited to escort us to the venue. It is pretty impressive. We checked in upon arrival, receiving whatever credentials we would need. After eating in the dining area, the World Team was taken to the hotel they are staying at.
Mitch Hull gave the training partners a tour of the arena. I was a little nervous about where we would be staying - we had heard some stories. But it is actually a really nice set-up. Behind the practice area is a large expanse of property that is now covered with campers that the training partners, and even some of the full teams from other countries, are staying. The showers and bathrooms are located about a two minute walk from our campers, right inside the practice area.
The atmosphere is different now. As each day goes, the necessary steps are taken for the World Team members to be fully prepared, fresh, and ready for the day of competition. Since we are split up from them, it is also been a different experience for the training partners as well. We are learning from the team and the coaches, becoming familiar with an elite level competition and gleaning what we can from all we observe.
Overall, a day of relocation. Until next time!
Saturday, September 19
By Jenna Pavlik
Camp is winding down now, as the focus has shifted to weight control and mental preparation. This morning we had another one of our friendly game days. We started out with four teams for basketball and played a little round robin tournament. After that is when the fun began. After a short debate, we arranged ourselves into two teams for an indoor soccer game. The first few minutes were pretty action packed with a goal by each team right off the bat. From there, the defense took over and neither team allowed another goal. Tatiana and Kelsey were tearing it up on defense for our team.
Neither team was willing to settle for a tie, so the game went into sudden death, which is when it really got interesting. The game got pretty intense as neither team was giving anything. The game was finally won by our team on a perfectly designed, beautifully placed cross pass at just the right level for me to bicycle kick it into the goal…. Oh wait, that was my dream last night. In the real game, a poor clear through the middle of the field on their part led to a soft lob trickling through their goalies fingers for the goal and the victory. Hey, it may not have been pretty, but it got the job done. That is exactly what the girls are prepared to do in a few days… get the job done and come home with the hardware.
After the game, Terry made two more trips to the store (I think he convinces girls they need to go to the store just so he has an excuse to visit the bakery there). We then had lunch and took a train ride for an afternoon of shopping and sightseeing. We all had a nice afternoon touring the shops in Heidleberg. At the end of the route, there was a castle at the top of a long steep incline. When we reached this point, some chose to get a leg workout and check out what the castle had to offer, while others chose to turn around and flex their shopping muscles. Chun and I decided to go up and see the city from the castle. The views were definitely worth the climb, as we looked out over the city, the river and the mountainside beside it. I have seen some spectacular views on trips and this one is right up near the top.
The team met back up after a few hours and Izzy took the World team back to the hotel to relax, while the other coaches took the training partners, trainer and chiropractor out to dinner. At dinner, Terry kept complaining that we were ruining his "girly figure" by not helping him eat all the junk food he ordered. The dinner ended with a nice happy birthday desert and chant for Michaela (Happy 20th).
This is where the trip got a little interesting. Just like the basketball game was a warm-up for the soccer fun, the afternoon was just a warm-up for the evening ahead. We had a nice dinner and then made the trek back to the castle to see the skyline of the city at night. We were also serenaded by a large outdoor classical concert that was going on in the middle of town. After that, we began the never-ending journey back to the hotel.
We took a street trolley to the train station and bought tickets to Schifferstadt. We thought the town was small, but apparently, it is big enough for two train stops, and the one we wanted was Schifferstadt South. We got off at the Schifferstadt stop and looked around but nothing looked familiar, so we got back on and went to the next stop. The train stopped momentarily and the doors opened long enough to let Sara and Michaela out. All we could do was laugh as we rode to the next station without them. Apparently, they got a good laugh out of it too. Once there, we had to wait 20 minutes for the next train back, and the jokes really started to flow. At least we got a good ab workout from all the laughing.
We caught the next train back and collected our lost members, and continued back to Schifferstadt. Once there, a young man tells us it is only a ten or fifteen minute walk to the other train station, so we begin the walk. About five minutes later, this same young man catches up to us and informs us that he has told us the wrong directions to the train station. He asks to take one of us in his car to show the way and then he will bring them back to guide the rest of us. We are reluctant to let another member of our group branch out on his or her own, but we nominate Terry to go since we really have no other choice. Apparently, all that time Terry spent giving tours of the town paid off because he recognized the area about a mile from where we were. We still were not close to the hotel, but at least it is somewhat familiar ground.
To make an even longer story semi-short, the ten or fifteen minute walk turned into almost an hour ordeal. When we made the trip to Heidleberg in the morning, we had the guidance of a friend of Jess Medina who now lives in Germany . She helped us make it there in less than an hour total. Our journey back took over three hours total. In the end, everyone made it back and all we lost was one muffin that the chiropractor had bought everyone for breakfast the next morning. We were in good company, had some good laughs and have lots of memories and stories to tell, so I would say it was all worth it.
Friday, September 18th
by Sara Fulp-Allen
The day started out on a positive note. For the majority of the group, waking up this morning was harder than the previous days. There were less people at breakfast and many were feeling the soreness and fatigue from the two previous days of hard practices. When we all gathered around the coaches in the wrestling room, we found out that we would be having a lighter morning followed by two matches in the evening session. We warmed up, exchanged massages, and engaged in some sprinting and jogging to end the hour of training. Many of the athletes stayed behind to play some soccer, sit in the sauna, or work on some technique. We all left the room feeling like the soreness and fatigue was starting to get worked out of our systems.
That afternoon half of the group walked to town to explore the area. They ended up having lunch at a local restaurant and returned right before the afternoon practice started. For the rest of us who stayed behind, some took naps, played board games, and browsed the internet.
The evening training session was full of fight and determination. Each world team member wrestled two matches and was matched according to their needs. This way, coaches were able to focus on the athlete's needs and instruct them in whatever they need to do to be fully prepared for next week. It was a very positive practice for everyone.
Dinner was different tonight than any of the previous nights. We were served lightly battered and fried white fish with buttered rice as opposed to the usual chicken and French fries. During dinner, a college friend of Jessica Medina's who has been living, working, and studying in Germany, met up with us. From the restaurant we decided to go to the nearby town of Speyer, to search for spaghetti ice cream.
In the US before I left, it was recommended that I find spaghetti ice cream while I was in Germany, which is a novelty that does not taste like it sounds. In Germany, ice cream (traditionally vanilla) is put through a noodle press that makes the vanilla ice cream look like spaghetti noodles and then topped with strawberry sauce. At the café that I bought my spaghetti ice cream at, I also received whipped cream and coconut sprinkles on the top and bottom of the dessert. It was more of an ice cream Sunday than just a simple dessert.
Tomorrow a fun day is in plan. As we taper down our training, we will get a cardio workout done in the morning and set off for Mannhiem after lunch. We have all been looking forward to taking photos, shopping, and experiencing a little more of Germany before we head off to Denmark on Sunday!
Thursday, September 17
by Kelsey Campbell
It is day four of the women's acclimation camp in Germany, and we are beginning to get a feel for things. The time difference is still throwing some of us off, but we are still getting in great workouts, pushing through and focusing. Today, for example, we did the most live wrestling that we have done all week. The morning workout included some good, intense drilling, clearing ties, and par terre on both top and bottom. This was followed by live situations rounds. Usually, when we wrestle from specific situations, this will include one wrestler starting with a single or double leg, a front headlock, or any other number of positions. Sometimes the focus is for the offensive person, and other times it is for the defensive wrestler. And for the most part, we are working at this point on areas that will help the World Team be best prepared for next week's competition.
Our second workout was equally as focused. Coach Tomeo took us through a good warm-up, with some sporadic change of pace. We partnered and went a minute working our best attacks. This continued a total of two goes each girl. We followed that up with a six minute continuous match, then four minutes, and finally two minutes. After the cool down, each of us finished how we needed. I worked with Clarissa, while Keith critiqued some of her technique. Some of the other wrestling partners worked on technique as well. And of course, the daily sauna go, to loosen up muscles, pair with ice for whatever injury, and to get a good sweat going.
Of course, if all I had to talk about were workouts, this blog would be pretty dry.
Dinner was rough. There were no french fries, which I have come to discover are always amazing overseas. Coach Tomeo and Clarissa continued their debate with Ali over the phrase "tuna fish." According to Erin and Clarissa, saying "tuna" is sufficient. Ali begs to differ. But I think Ali's right on this one. I mean, they think it's weird that I say "bbq" instead of "barbecue." I think they have it all wrong.
We decided to go to the store once again today. I kept hearing talk about "Magnum." Clarissa and Erin both have fond memories of Magnum. It wasn't until I finally gave in and bought a Magnum white chocolate. If you have never tried it, you must. But only the Magnum in the ice cream section. Apparently they make other things. A European delight.
On the ride back from the store, through the hustle and bustle, Deanna and Tatiana found themselves discussing school. This made for great entertainment for all passengers involved. It was also then that our miracle-maker chiropractor Rosie Mane, saw the entertaining side of Tatiana. Seriously, a trip would not be a trip without her.
As I was writing this blog, somehow Clarissa, Erin, Tatiana, Adeline, Carrie, and Coach Steiner, ended up in one room. So of course, I pulled out the epilator. Now, Erin had a bad epilating experience, so she was quite adamant about not trying it. Clarissa epilated Carrie's hand, while Terry stood, watching with wide eyes. Then it was his turn. He slowly brought the pink and white tool to the top of his wrist and viola! Terry now has the smoothest wrist of probably any wrestling coach.
There you have, day four a success. Until next time - aufwiedersehen!
Wednesday, September 16
by Jenna Pavlik
We have had three good workouts since the last blog. Last night we had a hard drilling session that included feet and par-terre work. Some of us went in for a sauna session later in the evening to get that last bit of jet lag out. This morning we had a workout on the track, where we had many spectators from the local elementary school. We started out with a mile run, and then worked into moving our opponent, getting and clearing ties, hand fighting, "push-push" (Coach Izzy's term) and some light sparring. This was followed by another mile run and then we finished up with some body weight lifting exercises. Our evening workout tonight was similar to last nights and our group ended with a few two-minute execution goes.
After the morning workout, we decided to give Terry a chance to redeem himself with a trip to the store. His navigational skills have improved, and he was even confident to take a different route home. His driving skills, however, are still a little questionable. At one point of the journey, Jess asked what would happen if Terry was pulled over to which he replied, "It's all good, I have my international drivers license." Upon further questioning we learned he simply had to fill out the paper work for this… a driving test may have helped. Maybe he should stick to using his feet to get around because after lunch some of us were talking about the run, which Tatiana finished first. Terry was boasting that he could still beat her in a run and it was hard for her to admit the truth to this, but she validated it by saying Terry only beat her because he had "old man speed!" That is a new one for me. I have heard of old man strength but old man speed??? We all got a good laugh out of that one
After dinner last night, Coach Izzy, Erin Tomeo and I took a walk around the town a bit and spotted a bowling alley. We went in to check it out and found something that kind of resembled bowling in the USA. The lanes, balls and pins are much smaller and the game is played at a faster pace. Everyone there was dressed in athletic attire and several had worked up quite a sweat. I referred to it as cardio bowling. The pins are arranged with three pins in the center column, two pins in each column outside that and one pin in the outside column, so it resembles an oblong diamond. The pins are attached to strings and after each roll the pins are reset. Each bowler has two or three balls so play is continuous, with only one bowler per lane. I have a decent bowling game back home, but I would be interested to see how I do here.
We have two live practices tomorrow and there is talk of getting together for a "friendly" game of UNO, mafia or catch phrase tonight. I have yet to play a "friendly" game with this group, so I am sure Kelsey will have plenty to write about tomorrow. Until then… Einen guten Tag.
Tuesday, September 15
by Sara Fulp-Allen
After waking up at 7:30 a.m., some of the team met downstairs in the breakfast room to eat. When I mean some, I really mean only a few. Most of the team slept in without knowledge of the time and woke up later, closer to 11 am, asking if they had missed breakfast. They did miss breakfast.
At 11 a.m., Coach Terry Steiner organized a trip to the grocery store, where some people were going to pick up some snacks and supplies. Terry was given the keys to a van, and directions on how to get to the grocery store and back. After finally figuring how to get the manual van into reverse, we set out on our two-mile adventure.
The way there went smoothly, but the journey home turned out to be much longer than two miles. We took an accidental tour of the little town, while being honked at by the slowly increasing line of German cars behind us. Terry finally sped up, drove around the "round about," taking us back to the grocery store where we had started. From there we tried again and found our way back to the hotel.
Monday, September 14
by Kelsey Campbell
We are now officially in Spofoebruchsal, Germany, and we are off to a good start. After landing in Frankfurt, we headed to our first location, which was about an hour drive, where the acclimation would begin. By the time we arrived at the training center, most of us were pretty exhausted. Coach Steiner and Coach Izzy gave us a couple hours to unwind and relax, before dinner.
That is when the fun began.
Christoph Ewald, one of the German freestyle wrestlers, guided us to the restaurant where we would be eating dinner. I am not sure why, but the women's team always manages to have memorable food experiences to start things off. Had we known that the entire menu was completely in German, we might have asked Christoph to stay. Let's just say we learned a few things about the German menu. Schinkin, in fact, is not "chicken." It is actually swine. Jenna wanted to live on the edge, so she ordered cordoun bleu, which ended up resembling a large sausage link. Clarissa, Erin, our awesome trainer Carrie Harmon, and I wanted to keep things simple. So we ordered a "hacksteak," which we thought translated to a "cheeseburger." And it kind of was. Except, it did not have a bun. And the cheese was in the middle of the beef patty. And the cheese was a Feta surprise.
Of course, Tatiana had us all entertained from the get-go. We will have more about that later. Keith and I are once again at war. I will keep you all up to date on the "Kelsey defeats/dominates Keith" status, regularly. I would call them battles, except, I do not recall ever losing. More on that later.
After dinner, we headed back to the training center to prepare for a good, post-flight workout, which included some drilling, sparring and sauna. However, it was during this workout that we determined that we are, in fact, ready to challenge the U.S. Volleyball Team. Let's just say this: if digging were an Olympic sport, we would be gold medalists. Especially Jessica and Jenna, who is quote, "the real deal."
After a couple of good goes in the sauna, it was nice to shower and kick back with the girls. It is starting out as a good experience, preparing for the World Championships, and learning to better prepare ourselves for big competition. Until next time-aufwiedersehen!
Sunday, September 13
by Jenna Pavlik
Greetings and thanks for reading. Let me start out by saying training partners Kelsey Campbell, Sara Fulp-Allen and I (Jenna Pavlik) will be tag teaming the blog duty. I hope that you will enjoy the different viewpoints of the trip and the world team members can focus on the job at hand: bringing home seven gold medals.
I am sending this as the women's world team, training partners, and coaches arrive in Germany for the acclimation/final tune up camp before heading to Denmark for the World Championships. World team members include Clarissa Chun, Jess Medina, Tatiana Padilla, Deanna Rix, Elena Pirozhkova, Adeline Gray and Ali Bernard. The training partners on the trip are Campbell, Fulp-Allen, Pavlik, Michaela Hutchinson, Whitney Condor, Erin Tomeo, and Schuyler Brown. The coaches leading the crew are Terry Steiner, Coach Izzy and Keith Wilson.
We are coming straight off a three-week training camp in Colorado Springs. The camp was intense and the girls are ready to rumble. It was great to have most of the national team in camp to push each other and help get the World team ready. Camp included a good mix of technique and live sessions. The technique sessions allowed time for individual areas for each member of the team, as well as areas the whole team needs to focus on. Live practices included short situation goes, live matches, and everything in between. The work is done and we are looking strong mentally and physically.
We had the luxury of a straight flight from Denver to Frankfurt, Germany. We are a little disappointed we did not get to tour any airports on long layovers, but I am sure there will be time for those on future trips.
The flight was fairly uneventful, as most of us watched the following movies in various orders: "The Hangover", "My Life in Ruins" and "Hannah Montana: The Movie". Coach Izzy had seen the Hannah Montana movie several times already, so he opted for laps around the cabin instead. Elena also fit in a Russian/English show on tigers, which apparently was not edited and included some nudity, which caught the other girls' attention. Erin Tomeo was the lucky one who fell asleep first, so we had a little fun with her (Erin, if you are reading this, we will show you pictures later ;))
We landed in Frankfurt after a ten-hour flight and had a scenic hour-long drive to where we are staying and training. The hotel is quaint and has a nice open field out back where we will probably enjoy a game tonight to get rid of the jet lag before bed. The training facilities are right across the street from the hotel. Our driver told us Germany's military athletes also use the facilities. Things are pretty quiet around here right now, which is perfect for training and napping, which I am about to partake in. Until next time…
Friday, September 25
by Jenna Pavlik
I think it is fair to say that no one on the women's team is going home satisfied. Today Ali and Adeline wrestled great, but it was not enough for a medal. Ali had a tough first round match, and dropped a decision to a multiple time world champion from Bulgaria. Adeline wrestled great in her first senior world championships, and fell just short of a medal. Overall, we had three wrestlers take fifth place and the team finished in sixth place. The girls wrestled their hearts out. Unfortunately, we were on the losing side of a few close calls. We are not here to make excuses, however, and plan to work even harder the next three years to regain our place at the top.
The trip was a great learning experience for both the wrestlers and the training partners. We all know we have a lot of work to do in the upcoming years, but are excited and ready for the challenge. There is a lot of young blood in the resident program and on the national team that is eager to learn and hungry to win. These characteristics are crucial for a program that is aiming for improvement.
The team would like to thank the support staff for all their efforts. Coaches Terry, Izzy, Keith and Kevin dedicated countless hours and effort into making us better wrestlers. Our team leader, Kim Martori, did an excellent job with planning and encouraging. The medical staff (athletic trainer Carrie, and chiropractors Rosie and Kristen) kept the girls on the mat and feeling good. USA wrestling did a great job organizing everything and supporting us 110%. Mitch Hull had a full time job keeping things in line over in our "gated community"/8 mile, depending on how you look at it. We would also like to thank everyone back home who was following online and cheering us on.
I doubt I will miss the trailer park (okay, maybe just a little) but I will never forget the memories made and friendships strengthened throughout this trip. We truly bonded as a team and I am confident that teamwork and loyalty will help us to push each other to become better wrestlers. This dangerous group is full of talent and will be making waves for a long time. We are not satisfied, and will not be until we are at the top of the team race.
Thursday, Sept. 24
by Sara Fulp-Allen
Today was an emotional roller coaster for the entire women's world team. With three awesome wrestlers entered in the tournament today, we all were excited and nervous for the opportunities the day may present. The morning started off for everyone around 11 am, when the training partners left their trailers to meet the three competitors in the warm up area. Everyone felt solid and in their zones. While others were warming up, some chose to get workouts on their own and helped keep the atmosphere intense.
In the stands at the start of the tournament, many fans and spectators were finding seats and preparing to watch. I was surprised to see so many people and fans, especially the non wrestlers that came to support the athletes from the nearby Scandinavian and European countries. They were loud and excited for the matches to begin.
In the first round of competition, all three of our athletes were victorious. Elena dominated her opponent from Tunisia, and both Deanna and Tatiana had solid wins. In the second round, our US women gave us more of a scare. Elena and Tatiana beat their opponents after wrestling into the third and final periods, and Deanna fought a close match with Azerbaijan. At this point, we could feel that the competition was getting heavy and that every point would make a difference in the next round. As Tatiana had a bye in the first round, she was already further ahead on the bracket. Her semi final match was very close, coming down to a challenge and review, but it did not fall in our favor. Elena also had a difficult match against Russia and did not pull through the quarter finals.
By the end of the night, after two bronze medal matches and a lot of calls not going our way, we still have not collected any medals. Although we are all feeling positive about the experience and ready to make improvements and strides in our personal athletic careers, we know that everyone was not happy with their results. It's been a long day and there are still more women weights to be wrestled. Everyone will be going to bed tonight with positive hopes in mind as two more very talented women will step onto the platform tomorrow.
On a lighter side, experiences in the trailer park have been interesting. Denmark has yet to fail at giving us every element of the weather, including random 15 minute rain showers throughout the entire day. They are always extremely heavy during the night, and continue to wake me up. In addition, the Greco-Roman training partners have recently moved into what Mitch Hull calls the 'gated community', and have yet to fail at keeping the US teams from getting sleep with their trailer beatings in the middle of the night. Tonight will not be any quieter with the addition of a local band that will be playing at the nearby trailer bistro throughout the night. Oh well, I guess we can sleep on the plane.
Wednesday, September 23
by Kelsey Campbell
Day one of women's competition was definitely not a slow one.
After seeing all of the freestyle guys wrestling, especially Jake and Trevel win medals, we were all ready and excited for the women's competition to begin.
At this point, all the girls were at different places. Some competed today, while some weighed in this morning, and still others had another day to compete. my respect for the coaches, though already high, has grown significantly. They have really been all things to all people. Our team leader, Kim Martori, has done a phenomenal job with just being there to assist the coaches and athletes, making sure rides are taken care of, and I am sure, a multitude of things none of us see that takes place behind the scenes.
Some of the girls that did not need to weigh in today had a separate workout this morning with wrestling partners, while 55kg, 59kg, and 63kg had their weigh in. After some close calls, so far, everyone has weighed in accordingly.
I got to warm up with Clarissa. I have learned a lot from her this trip. Training with someone who has done as much as she has, it is definitely an upward call to always have that game face on. Even this morning, she prepared for the competition with so much fight. It is awesome. And her opening match really showed that. The same was true for Jessica. She wrestled today like I have never seen her wrestle. As we have all experienced at some point, the results were not what either of them wanted. Regardless, I am extremely proud of both of them and cannot wait to see what we can all accomplish as Team USA in the years to come.
After the competition finished, a lot of the girls were still pretty scattered. Some wanted to get away from the venue, and headed to the store. I was pretty exhausted from a hard workout and the warm-up, so I finally got a chance to be immobile for a little while.
Tomorrow, Tatiana, Deanna and Elena will compete. The final day of women's competition will include Adeline and Ali - otherwise known as "Team A."
Another day of competition comes to a close and overall, I have just learned so much: to always be ready, always have that game face on, and always be open-minded. Until next time!
Tuesday, September 22
by Jenna Pavlik
Two of the girls weighed in today and are ready to rumble. Chun opens her tournament up with a wrestler from Singapore while Jess has the Vietnamese to start things off.
The rest of the team had a workout right after weigh-ins. Some of the girls went through Izzy's "weight cut workout" while others opted to wrestle or run the weight off. Ali and I got some good folkstyle goes in before heading over to watch day two of the freestyle competition.
It was neat to be in the bleachers through the day with all the other fans for the U-S-A cheers. The arena is very crowd friendly, with its low ceiling and metal bleachers. You can really make some noise in there.
Things are pretty relaxed in the campground, or "8-mile" as the freestyle guys affectionately like to call it. We have made it our home for the time being, and have even elected Silent H as the mayor. There is a block party at night where we all sit around and tell wrestling stories.
It got a little cold out there one night, so we decided to put up a tent that attached to the camper to host the block parties in. We worked a good part of the afternoon on it and it was comfy hanging out in there last night. We joked that it was the equivalent of the USA house at the Olympics. Unfortunately, the winds and rain we got last night were a little much for it, and we woke up to a pile of tarp and poles. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.
The Greco training partners arrived tonight so we are doing some USA bonding, whether we want to or not, as there are over 30 people and all their stuff in our 10 campers.
Tomorrow's schedule includes a workout at 9 for the girls not wrestling tomorrow, then weigh-ins for Tatiana, Deanna and Elena at 11:30 and then Clarissa and Jess begin their quest for gold at 1, and both will be wrestling in the finals around 7:30 pm Denmark time.
Tuesday, September 22
by National Women's Coach Terry Steiner
Today Clarissa Chun and Jessica Medina weigh-in, tomorrow they
compete and Tatiana Padilla, Deanna Rix, and Elena Pirozhkova weigh-in.
We are about 1.5 hours out of weigh-ins all is well. It has been a morning of running around getting people places to workout, pickup
groceries and getting the training partners a workout. The world team staff has done a great job with the team and all of the duties.
Ok - so weigh-Ins are over Clarissa and Jessica are rehydrating and refueling as I write this email. Everyone else is at the hotel resting or doing whatever it is they do to relax.
The rest of the day is also busy. It is 1:20 pm here right now at 3:00 some will workout then at 6:00 others will workout.
As I was saying - we will watch video tonight after everyone is tucked in and resting so that we can start the say with a game plan ready to win. Both girls looked relaxed.
Clarissa will face Tambunan from Singapore first match with notables Lee from Korea and Oorzhak from Russia on her side
Jessica will face Tran from Vietnam first match with Hong from China and Mattson on her side as well as Englehardt from Germany, Kai from Japan, and Bakatyuk from Kazakhstan also in her half bracket.
Coaches Wilson, Black, Tomeo and Izzy have done a great job getting these athletes ready - we have had great camps! It is time to put it all to use - the girls have been great, wonderful attitudes, great work ethics and open minds. The process has been smooth and I expect we are ready to battle to get to our expectations. As a coach that's all you can ask for.
It is a cold day in Denmark today windy and I would guess about 45. It was raining this morning now that has stopped but the winds have picked up.
So I have learned a lot about Denmark. It is amazing the people you meet while waiting for the girls to finish working out. I think the Americans are very well respected around the world especially in Denmark. Maybe not liked but respected. Today Hin, a guy at the health club filled me in on the medical/ insurance system. Je could not understand why Obama is having a hard time with getting health care reform passed in the US.
It turns out Denmark has been known for there clothing but that is slowly changing because of outsourcing to China. Suprise, suprise! Now Denmark is getting more into the technology side of things. Denmark is a very expensive place to live and visit.
For now, over and out!
Carry On!
Monday, September 21
by Sara Fulp-Allen
Today marks the first day of competition and only two days until the women begin. Since we had just arrived the previous night, not much of the venue had been explored from the women's team point of view. As a training partner, I am staying in a camping trailer behind the training and competition arenas which have electricity but no water. For bathrooms, you have a choice between walking 100 meters to the port-a-potties or 400 meters to the training facility bathrooms. The trailers are cozy and warm for the most part, but as athletes with many suitcases there is not much space to move around.
The World Team met up with us in the morning for an 11 am work out. There are two separate arenas for training and they are all constantly packed with athletes, so finding an open mat is always a challenge. Each athlete catered to their individuals needs because some will be weighing-in tomorrow morning while others still have technique to polish up and other things to focus on.
After the morning workout, everyone showered and ate some lunch. The "restaurant" is located in the venue next to the competition arena and a very spacious room. At the beginning of the meal, there are 2-3 buffet lines of food, with many different types of salads, meats, and rice, supplemented by fruit and cheese. The tournament staff has put together very well rounded international choices that many different types of athletes can feel comfortable with.
While the World Team headed back to the Best Western Hotel about 3 miles down the road to rest, a few of us training partners got to experience a little of the men's freestyle tournament during the afternoon. Although the arena seems small, it is very intense and exciting. For the countries like Iran, the huge fan base creates such a noisy atmosphere that there never is a dull moment. After enjoying a few hours of freestyle matches, we all headed out of the arena and back to our trailers to rest before the evening workout.
In order to prepare the group for upcoming weigh-ins, the team played a game of 'butt-ball', with one team comprised of the training partners and the other comprised of the world team. After 30 minutes, everyone was free to finish the work out as they needed, either running or wrestling. Although not very eventful, the mood is getting more serious and the team is getting ready to start following their personal plans to prepare themselves for action.
Sunday, September 20
by Kelsey Campbell
The women's team is now in Herning, Denmark, after a day of much travel. We left our first training sight at 10 a.m., a few of us pretty exhausted after a late night of laundry and packing. The chiropractor of the first leg of the trip left us with a box of muffins as a parting gift, and we set off for the airport.
Of course, even that did not go as planned. We had learned earlier from the men's freestyle team that since our flight from Germany to Denmark was not technically "international" the way we understood it (with luggage allowances, etc), we would be charged 400 euro for every second bag. We all had two bags, so instead of emptying out our life savings, Terry rented a van. He, Erin, Izzy and Carrie drove the van of excess luggage about 8 hours to Herning. Keith lead the rest of us.
We had two flights with a quick layover in between. We landed in Herning, where a huge bus awaited to escort us to the venue. It is pretty impressive. We checked in upon arrival, receiving whatever credentials we would need. After eating in the dining area, the World Team was taken to the hotel they are staying at.
Mitch Hull gave the training partners a tour of the arena. I was a little nervous about where we would be staying - we had heard some stories. But it is actually a really nice set-up. Behind the practice area is a large expanse of property that is now covered with campers that the training partners, and even some of the full teams from other countries, are staying. The showers and bathrooms are located about a two minute walk from our campers, right inside the practice area.
The atmosphere is different now. As each day goes, the necessary steps are taken for the World Team members to be fully prepared, fresh, and ready for the day of competition. Since we are split up from them, it is also been a different experience for the training partners as well. We are learning from the team and the coaches, becoming familiar with an elite level competition and gleaning what we can from all we observe.
Overall, a day of relocation. Until next time!
Saturday, September 19
By Jenna Pavlik
Camp is winding down now, as the focus has shifted to weight control and mental preparation. This morning we had another one of our friendly game days. We started out with four teams for basketball and played a little round robin tournament. After that is when the fun began. After a short debate, we arranged ourselves into two teams for an indoor soccer game. The first few minutes were pretty action packed with a goal by each team right off the bat. From there, the defense took over and neither team allowed another goal. Tatiana and Kelsey were tearing it up on defense for our team.
Neither team was willing to settle for a tie, so the game went into sudden death, which is when it really got interesting. The game got pretty intense as neither team was giving anything. The game was finally won by our team on a perfectly designed, beautifully placed cross pass at just the right level for me to bicycle kick it into the goal…. Oh wait, that was my dream last night. In the real game, a poor clear through the middle of the field on their part led to a soft lob trickling through their goalies fingers for the goal and the victory. Hey, it may not have been pretty, but it got the job done. That is exactly what the girls are prepared to do in a few days… get the job done and come home with the hardware.
After the game, Terry made two more trips to the store (I think he convinces girls they need to go to the store just so he has an excuse to visit the bakery there). We then had lunch and took a train ride for an afternoon of shopping and sightseeing. We all had a nice afternoon touring the shops in Heidleberg. At the end of the route, there was a castle at the top of a long steep incline. When we reached this point, some chose to get a leg workout and check out what the castle had to offer, while others chose to turn around and flex their shopping muscles. Chun and I decided to go up and see the city from the castle. The views were definitely worth the climb, as we looked out over the city, the river and the mountainside beside it. I have seen some spectacular views on trips and this one is right up near the top.
The team met back up after a few hours and Izzy took the World team back to the hotel to relax, while the other coaches took the training partners, trainer and chiropractor out to dinner. At dinner, Terry kept complaining that we were ruining his "girly figure" by not helping him eat all the junk food he ordered. The dinner ended with a nice happy birthday desert and chant for Michaela (Happy 20th).
This is where the trip got a little interesting. Just like the basketball game was a warm-up for the soccer fun, the afternoon was just a warm-up for the evening ahead. We had a nice dinner and then made the trek back to the castle to see the skyline of the city at night. We were also serenaded by a large outdoor classical concert that was going on in the middle of town. After that, we began the never-ending journey back to the hotel.
We took a street trolley to the train station and bought tickets to Schifferstadt. We thought the town was small, but apparently, it is big enough for two train stops, and the one we wanted was Schifferstadt South. We got off at the Schifferstadt stop and looked around but nothing looked familiar, so we got back on and went to the next stop. The train stopped momentarily and the doors opened long enough to let Sara and Michaela out. All we could do was laugh as we rode to the next station without them. Apparently, they got a good laugh out of it too. Once there, we had to wait 20 minutes for the next train back, and the jokes really started to flow. At least we got a good ab workout from all the laughing.
We caught the next train back and collected our lost members, and continued back to Schifferstadt. Once there, a young man tells us it is only a ten or fifteen minute walk to the other train station, so we begin the walk. About five minutes later, this same young man catches up to us and informs us that he has told us the wrong directions to the train station. He asks to take one of us in his car to show the way and then he will bring them back to guide the rest of us. We are reluctant to let another member of our group branch out on his or her own, but we nominate Terry to go since we really have no other choice. Apparently, all that time Terry spent giving tours of the town paid off because he recognized the area about a mile from where we were. We still were not close to the hotel, but at least it is somewhat familiar ground.
To make an even longer story semi-short, the ten or fifteen minute walk turned into almost an hour ordeal. When we made the trip to Heidleberg in the morning, we had the guidance of a friend of Jess Medina who now lives in Germany . She helped us make it there in less than an hour total. Our journey back took over three hours total. In the end, everyone made it back and all we lost was one muffin that the chiropractor had bought everyone for breakfast the next morning. We were in good company, had some good laughs and have lots of memories and stories to tell, so I would say it was all worth it.
Friday, September 18th
by Sara Fulp-Allen
The day started out on a positive note. For the majority of the group, waking up this morning was harder than the previous days. There were less people at breakfast and many were feeling the soreness and fatigue from the two previous days of hard practices. When we all gathered around the coaches in the wrestling room, we found out that we would be having a lighter morning followed by two matches in the evening session. We warmed up, exchanged massages, and engaged in some sprinting and jogging to end the hour of training. Many of the athletes stayed behind to play some soccer, sit in the sauna, or work on some technique. We all left the room feeling like the soreness and fatigue was starting to get worked out of our systems.
That afternoon half of the group walked to town to explore the area. They ended up having lunch at a local restaurant and returned right before the afternoon practice started. For the rest of us who stayed behind, some took naps, played board games, and browsed the internet.
The evening training session was full of fight and determination. Each world team member wrestled two matches and was matched according to their needs. This way, coaches were able to focus on the athlete's needs and instruct them in whatever they need to do to be fully prepared for next week. It was a very positive practice for everyone.
Dinner was different tonight than any of the previous nights. We were served lightly battered and fried white fish with buttered rice as opposed to the usual chicken and French fries. During dinner, a college friend of Jessica Medina's who has been living, working, and studying in Germany, met up with us. From the restaurant we decided to go to the nearby town of Speyer, to search for spaghetti ice cream.
In the US before I left, it was recommended that I find spaghetti ice cream while I was in Germany, which is a novelty that does not taste like it sounds. In Germany, ice cream (traditionally vanilla) is put through a noodle press that makes the vanilla ice cream look like spaghetti noodles and then topped with strawberry sauce. At the café that I bought my spaghetti ice cream at, I also received whipped cream and coconut sprinkles on the top and bottom of the dessert. It was more of an ice cream Sunday than just a simple dessert.
Tomorrow a fun day is in plan. As we taper down our training, we will get a cardio workout done in the morning and set off for Mannhiem after lunch. We have all been looking forward to taking photos, shopping, and experiencing a little more of Germany before we head off to Denmark on Sunday!
Thursday, September 17
by Kelsey Campbell
It is day four of the women's acclimation camp in Germany, and we are beginning to get a feel for things. The time difference is still throwing some of us off, but we are still getting in great workouts, pushing through and focusing. Today, for example, we did the most live wrestling that we have done all week. The morning workout included some good, intense drilling, clearing ties, and par terre on both top and bottom. This was followed by live situations rounds. Usually, when we wrestle from specific situations, this will include one wrestler starting with a single or double leg, a front headlock, or any other number of positions. Sometimes the focus is for the offensive person, and other times it is for the defensive wrestler. And for the most part, we are working at this point on areas that will help the World Team be best prepared for next week's competition.
Our second workout was equally as focused. Coach Tomeo took us through a good warm-up, with some sporadic change of pace. We partnered and went a minute working our best attacks. This continued a total of two goes each girl. We followed that up with a six minute continuous match, then four minutes, and finally two minutes. After the cool down, each of us finished how we needed. I worked with Clarissa, while Keith critiqued some of her technique. Some of the other wrestling partners worked on technique as well. And of course, the daily sauna go, to loosen up muscles, pair with ice for whatever injury, and to get a good sweat going.
Of course, if all I had to talk about were workouts, this blog would be pretty dry.
Dinner was rough. There were no french fries, which I have come to discover are always amazing overseas. Coach Tomeo and Clarissa continued their debate with Ali over the phrase "tuna fish." According to Erin and Clarissa, saying "tuna" is sufficient. Ali begs to differ. But I think Ali's right on this one. I mean, they think it's weird that I say "bbq" instead of "barbecue." I think they have it all wrong.
We decided to go to the store once again today. I kept hearing talk about "Magnum." Clarissa and Erin both have fond memories of Magnum. It wasn't until I finally gave in and bought a Magnum white chocolate. If you have never tried it, you must. But only the Magnum in the ice cream section. Apparently they make other things. A European delight.
On the ride back from the store, through the hustle and bustle, Deanna and Tatiana found themselves discussing school. This made for great entertainment for all passengers involved. It was also then that our miracle-maker chiropractor Rosie Mane, saw the entertaining side of Tatiana. Seriously, a trip would not be a trip without her.
As I was writing this blog, somehow Clarissa, Erin, Tatiana, Adeline, Carrie, and Coach Steiner, ended up in one room. So of course, I pulled out the epilator. Now, Erin had a bad epilating experience, so she was quite adamant about not trying it. Clarissa epilated Carrie's hand, while Terry stood, watching with wide eyes. Then it was his turn. He slowly brought the pink and white tool to the top of his wrist and viola! Terry now has the smoothest wrist of probably any wrestling coach.
There you have, day four a success. Until next time - aufwiedersehen!
Wednesday, September 16
by Jenna Pavlik
We have had three good workouts since the last blog. Last night we had a hard drilling session that included feet and par-terre work. Some of us went in for a sauna session later in the evening to get that last bit of jet lag out. This morning we had a workout on the track, where we had many spectators from the local elementary school. We started out with a mile run, and then worked into moving our opponent, getting and clearing ties, hand fighting, "push-push" (Coach Izzy's term) and some light sparring. This was followed by another mile run and then we finished up with some body weight lifting exercises. Our evening workout tonight was similar to last nights and our group ended with a few two-minute execution goes.
After the morning workout, we decided to give Terry a chance to redeem himself with a trip to the store. His navigational skills have improved, and he was even confident to take a different route home. His driving skills, however, are still a little questionable. At one point of the journey, Jess asked what would happen if Terry was pulled over to which he replied, "It's all good, I have my international drivers license." Upon further questioning we learned he simply had to fill out the paper work for this… a driving test may have helped. Maybe he should stick to using his feet to get around because after lunch some of us were talking about the run, which Tatiana finished first. Terry was boasting that he could still beat her in a run and it was hard for her to admit the truth to this, but she validated it by saying Terry only beat her because he had "old man speed!" That is a new one for me. I have heard of old man strength but old man speed??? We all got a good laugh out of that one
After dinner last night, Coach Izzy, Erin Tomeo and I took a walk around the town a bit and spotted a bowling alley. We went in to check it out and found something that kind of resembled bowling in the USA. The lanes, balls and pins are much smaller and the game is played at a faster pace. Everyone there was dressed in athletic attire and several had worked up quite a sweat. I referred to it as cardio bowling. The pins are arranged with three pins in the center column, two pins in each column outside that and one pin in the outside column, so it resembles an oblong diamond. The pins are attached to strings and after each roll the pins are reset. Each bowler has two or three balls so play is continuous, with only one bowler per lane. I have a decent bowling game back home, but I would be interested to see how I do here.
We have two live practices tomorrow and there is talk of getting together for a "friendly" game of UNO, mafia or catch phrase tonight. I have yet to play a "friendly" game with this group, so I am sure Kelsey will have plenty to write about tomorrow. Until then… Einen guten Tag.
Tuesday, September 15
by Sara Fulp-Allen
After waking up at 7:30 a.m., some of the team met downstairs in the breakfast room to eat. When I mean some, I really mean only a few. Most of the team slept in without knowledge of the time and woke up later, closer to 11 am, asking if they had missed breakfast. They did miss breakfast.
At 11 a.m., Coach Terry Steiner organized a trip to the grocery store, where some people were going to pick up some snacks and supplies. Terry was given the keys to a van, and directions on how to get to the grocery store and back. After finally figuring how to get the manual van into reverse, we set out on our two-mile adventure.
The way there went smoothly, but the journey home turned out to be much longer than two miles. We took an accidental tour of the little town, while being honked at by the slowly increasing line of German cars behind us. Terry finally sped up, drove around the "round about," taking us back to the grocery store where we had started. From there we tried again and found our way back to the hotel.
Monday, September 14
by Kelsey Campbell
We are now officially in Spofoebruchsal, Germany, and we are off to a good start. After landing in Frankfurt, we headed to our first location, which was about an hour drive, where the acclimation would begin. By the time we arrived at the training center, most of us were pretty exhausted. Coach Steiner and Coach Izzy gave us a couple hours to unwind and relax, before dinner.
That is when the fun began.
Christoph Ewald, one of the German freestyle wrestlers, guided us to the restaurant where we would be eating dinner. I am not sure why, but the women's team always manages to have memorable food experiences to start things off. Had we known that the entire menu was completely in German, we might have asked Christoph to stay. Let's just say we learned a few things about the German menu. Schinkin, in fact, is not "chicken." It is actually swine. Jenna wanted to live on the edge, so she ordered cordoun bleu, which ended up resembling a large sausage link. Clarissa, Erin, our awesome trainer Carrie Harmon, and I wanted to keep things simple. So we ordered a "hacksteak," which we thought translated to a "cheeseburger." And it kind of was. Except, it did not have a bun. And the cheese was in the middle of the beef patty. And the cheese was a Feta surprise.
Of course, Tatiana had us all entertained from the get-go. We will have more about that later. Keith and I are once again at war. I will keep you all up to date on the "Kelsey defeats/dominates Keith" status, regularly. I would call them battles, except, I do not recall ever losing. More on that later.
After dinner, we headed back to the training center to prepare for a good, post-flight workout, which included some drilling, sparring and sauna. However, it was during this workout that we determined that we are, in fact, ready to challenge the U.S. Volleyball Team. Let's just say this: if digging were an Olympic sport, we would be gold medalists. Especially Jessica and Jenna, who is quote, "the real deal."
After a couple of good goes in the sauna, it was nice to shower and kick back with the girls. It is starting out as a good experience, preparing for the World Championships, and learning to better prepare ourselves for big competition. Until next time-aufwiedersehen!
Sunday, September 13
by Jenna Pavlik
Greetings and thanks for reading. Let me start out by saying training partners Kelsey Campbell, Sara Fulp-Allen and I (Jenna Pavlik) will be tag teaming the blog duty. I hope that you will enjoy the different viewpoints of the trip and the world team members can focus on the job at hand: bringing home seven gold medals.
I am sending this as the women's world team, training partners, and coaches arrive in Germany for the acclimation/final tune up camp before heading to Denmark for the World Championships. World team members include Clarissa Chun, Jess Medina, Tatiana Padilla, Deanna Rix, Elena Pirozhkova, Adeline Gray and Ali Bernard. The training partners on the trip are Campbell, Fulp-Allen, Pavlik, Michaela Hutchinson, Whitney Condor, Erin Tomeo, and Schuyler Brown. The coaches leading the crew are Terry Steiner, Coach Izzy and Keith Wilson.
We are coming straight off a three-week training camp in Colorado Springs. The camp was intense and the girls are ready to rumble. It was great to have most of the national team in camp to push each other and help get the World team ready. Camp included a good mix of technique and live sessions. The technique sessions allowed time for individual areas for each member of the team, as well as areas the whole team needs to focus on. Live practices included short situation goes, live matches, and everything in between. The work is done and we are looking strong mentally and physically.
We had the luxury of a straight flight from Denver to Frankfurt, Germany. We are a little disappointed we did not get to tour any airports on long layovers, but I am sure there will be time for those on future trips.
The flight was fairly uneventful, as most of us watched the following movies in various orders: "The Hangover", "My Life in Ruins" and "Hannah Montana: The Movie". Coach Izzy had seen the Hannah Montana movie several times already, so he opted for laps around the cabin instead. Elena also fit in a Russian/English show on tigers, which apparently was not edited and included some nudity, which caught the other girls' attention. Erin Tomeo was the lucky one who fell asleep first, so we had a little fun with her (Erin, if you are reading this, we will show you pictures later ;))
We landed in Frankfurt after a ten-hour flight and had a scenic hour-long drive to where we are staying and training. The hotel is quaint and has a nice open field out back where we will probably enjoy a game tonight to get rid of the jet lag before bed. The training facilities are right across the street from the hotel. Our driver told us Germany's military athletes also use the facilities. Things are pretty quiet around here right now, which is perfect for training and napping, which I am about to partake in. Until next time…
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