Monday October 06 2008
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Hosting and Development by:
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Puerto Rico Hammer Camp
by Glenn McAtee
The camp in Puerto Rico was excellent!
I arrived at 11pm local time to the airport in San Juan on the Saturday and
was greeted by a tourism official sent to meet me. She directed me to the
waiting area where I met up with some of the vaulters and hurdlers from
Ontario who had lost bags on their way from Miami. After a 2 hour delay, we
began the 60 minute drive to the Albergue Olimpico in Salinas. About 10 min
from the Albergue the driver fell asleep and hit the guard rail (going about
130kms/hour) that separated us from a 50m cliff. He awoke and just about put us
into the ditch on the other side! We finally made it to the site and checked
in. Into bed about 3 am.
Sunday was a rest day and a chance to get oriented to the climate. The three
biggest shocks were the heat, the food and the long hours. The temperature
was usually 28-35c with high humidity. After living in the South for so long
I am used to the heat, but many of the other Canadian suffered. The food was
good quality and healthy, but I for one was not used to rice and beans for
lunch and dinner. The wakeup call came each morning at about6:30 am from our
neighbors from St. Kitts who began each day with reggae music on loud. The
6:30 quiet time was a compromise from the 5am they are used to I was told.
Apparently everyone in the Carribean rises early.
Training began monday. The general schedule for the day was as follows:
7am wake up and eat breakfast
7:45 training for the elite throwers (55m men and 47m women)
9:00 meeting for the whole camp
9:45 training for the novice and intermediate throwers
12 lunch
1 training for the elite throwers
2:30 training for the novice and intermediate throwers
4 classroom for everyone
5 lifting
6:30 dinner
8 classroom (video and q and a)
10 lights out
we kept this basic schedule for the first 4 days then had a bit of a break on
friday to get ready for the meet on Sat.
The meet results were:
1) Guillermo Guzman (MEXICO) 64,12m
2) John Stoikos (CANADA) 63,80m
3) Glenn McAtee (CANADA) 59,12m
1) Dawn Ellerbe (USA) 61,82m
2) Caroline Wittrin (CANADA) 58m
3) Violetta Guzman (MEXICO) 51m
There were also a number of personal bests by the novice and intermediate
throwers. For some, this was their first meet and so they got a chance to put
into pratise the new info from the camp.
The head clinician was Dr. Larry Judge from the University of Wyoming. He was
the coach at South Carolina when John Stoikos and I attended and he coached us until
he left for Wyoming last summer. He is coach to Dawn Ellerbe who holds the
American record in the weight (21,70m) and the hammer (64,50m). He is a
highly sought after clinician and speaker both in the US and abroad.
After the meet, the Puerto Ricans hosted a roast pig party which was an
excellent social occasion. After the meal we went back to San Juan so we
could shop and sight see.
If you have news or information that you would like to share, use our submissions form or contact Larry Steinke.
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