Day 14 - Sunday 6 December
Our final full day here in Flagstaff and we were given the day off ahead of one last hitout in the morning before we head home mid afternoon. It's been a great trip, very beneficial, we've all worked very hard and I'm certainly ready to leave. Early start tomorrow so an early night for me. This is my final blog entry, thanks for following the trip with me.
Day 13 - Saturday 5 December
We headed to the outdoor fields at NAU for training today and had a pretty tough session. It was close to freezing so all of the boys were rugged up, but after a while we built up a decent sweat and it wasn't so bad. We then had lunch at the NAU student dining hall before heading to the Skydome for weights. Tonight the whole group went out for teppanyaki so my new liking for Japanese continues.
Day 12 - Friday 4 December
On day 12 we had the option of either doing a cross training session at the local gym or doing a 12-kilometre trek around the base of Mt Humphrey. I opted for the hike, and it was solid, particularly given there was a lot of snow and rock to deal with. Went out for dinner tonight with Sharrod and Dawesy and we had Japanese, which was very nice. I had sashimi for the first time - wasn't sure how I'd cope with raw fish, but it was good, and I'll be having more of it when I return to Melbourne.
Day 11 - Thursday 3 December
It's fair to say a lot of the boys woke up pretty sore after the Grand Canyon hike. We headed to the outdoor fields at NAU for a light training session, just to get the legs going. It was really cold, not much more than zero celsius, so it took a while to get going. We then headed to the Skydome for weights and a core session. Only four days to go now...
Day 10 - Wednesday 2 December
We met in the hotel lobby at 6:15am to leave for the Grand Canyon, and arrived back at the hotel at about 6pm. The bus ride to the Canyon from Flagstaff took about 90 minutes and the hike itself took about six hours. Going down wasn't too bad and we had the chance to take in the impressive scenery, but once the ascent began, it got really tough, and all the boys were pretty stuffed at the end. Many of the guys ran for much of the ascent which was impressive. Overall I reckon we'll all sleep pretty well tonight and rest up for training tomorrow.
Day 9 - Tuesday 1 DecemberWe had our first full session on the outdoor synthetic fields at NAU and we were lucky because the weather was pretty good. It was probably 10 degrees and sunny. Most of the boys were feeling good after yesterday's day off, and big Darren Jolly has been training really well and is fit. I had a big dinner at the NAU dining hall because we have the Grand
Canyon hike tomorrow which should take a bit of effort.
Day 8 - Monday 30 November
Day off! It's been a full on the trip so far so to have the chance to sleep and relax was great, I think most of the boys needed it with a week remaining. I jut tried to take it easy today and recharge the batteries. We'll be back into training tomorrow.
Day 7 - Sunday 29 November
Another big day in Flagstaff, thankfully we have a day off tomorrow, and we need it. I think most of the boys will sleep a fair bit. After training in the Skydome today we broke off into small groups and had to complete a set of activities, which were tough but good for teamwork. Luke Ball was in my team, and he's settled in well, which is good. Given Flagstaff was covered in snow today we did some serious snowball fighting on the way to lunch and I nailed a few of the boys, including Heater and Reidy, which was quite funny.
Day 6 - Saturday 28 November
Today the group hiked to the summit of Mt Humphrey, which is about 4000 metres above sea level. It was really cold today, and temperatures at the summit got to as low as -20 celsius, so it was a big challenge for the boys, but everyone got through, which was good. It snowed tonight, so Flagstaff is now covered, a gentle reminder that we're a long way from sunny Melbourne.
Day 5 - Friday 27 November
We headed to the Skydome for another session, and again it was really solid. After some weights in the afternoon, we had some spare time and then a few of the young boys headed out to an Italian restaurant just near our hotel. Just like everywhere in America the meals are always huge, which gives us plenty to work off at training.
Day 4 - Thursday 26 November
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! It's a big American holiday today and the NAU campus is like a ghost town with all the students having a long weekend. After a few really tough days of training we had a lighter skills session at the Skydome, followed by weights in the afternoon. Beamsy won the goal kicking comp at the end of training.
We celebrated Thanksgiving by having turkey for lunch and dinner - it was good but no more turkey for me for a while. The next few days are going to be big so we've been given a sleep in until 8:30am tomorrow - I'll have to make the most of it.
Day 3 - Wednesday 25 November
Today we went on a 12 kilometre run through the hills near Mt Humphrey and it was very solid. The terrain was uneven and steep in places, and there was a fair bit of snow making it quite slippery. With Thanksgiving on tomorrow many of the NAU students have seemingly gone home and the university is quiet, and we weren't too pleased to find the university dining hall had very few options when we arrived for dinner. I was keen for a big dinner, I'll just have to wait for tomorrow.
Day 2 - Tuesday 24 November
After getting up at 7am to do our testing, we headed to the Skydome for the first full day of training, and it was pretty tough. Lots of running, and you definitely notice the altitude, it’s much harder to breathe. It was certainly one of the hardest running sessions I’ve done. We then did weights and went back to the hotel for some recovery. It was only about 5 degrees today so it’s really cold, it certainly won’t be warm when we trek to the top of Mt Humphrey in a few days.
Day 1 - Monday 23 November
Welcome to my Arizona blog. It was a long trip from Melbourne to Flagstaff via LA and Phoenix, but we finally arrived this afternoon. We went for a bit of a run on the soccer ground, then headed to dinner at the university dining room. I’m rooming with Beamsy, so that should be interesting. I need some sleep with a full day of training tomorrow.
