As of the fall season a year ago, the varsity cross country team went on a trip to Incline Village, Nevada, to participate in their annual altitude camp.
With cross country solely focused on the athletes running long distances, this camp prepares the team, as training in high altitude improves the runners’ oxygen flow and endurance. This is important for the runners to gain as cross country is all about stamina and endurance, and it is a skill that the runners need to adapt to.
Additionally, this camp not only boosts the runners’ confidence but improves their overall performance in competition.
Junior Autumn Deetz-Rodriguez talks about her experience after attending her second altitude camp.
“It was good team bonding for the team, and we all had a lot of fun getting to know each other better, especially the two sophomores who came with us,” said Deetz-Rodriguez. “We run two times a day and we went up there for four days this year, and each run is different than the last one. There [are] several hard runs, and then there [are] shakeout runs in the afternoon.”
With hours of running at a high altitude, the team faces heavy workouts through the Tahoe & Nevada mountains. With the camp consisting of a lot of running and hard work by the athletes, making time for recovery is very important, if less important than the training itself.
While training is the central part of the camp, team bonding is also important. It is an essential part of creating new relationships and friendships on the team. Captains can uplift and encourage other teammates on runs and activities.
Captain Lauren Zerella talks about her experience as a captain and how her role is influenced in the altitude camp.
“I really enjoyed the altitude camp … I feel like it was beneficial for us to get more mileage at higher altitude,” said Zerella. “I do … want to always support my teammates because I feel like in the past all the upperclassmen have always supported me and helped me through difficult runs … We [also] went out to dinner to an Italian restaurant in Incline village, and we also had two separate rooms…but each night, one room cooked [when] weren’t at a restaurant, so my room made pasta, and the other room made stir fry.”
This camp is certainly no walk in the park, and the team will surely be ready to go for future meets as the altitude camp has strengthened their stamina and built team camaraderie.