The distance group accompanied with a few of sprinters set off to Tobago for the 2016 training camp. With much of the group not ever seeing Tobago, it was pure excitement to see what the trip would have in store. With about 18 hours of travelling, we had finally made it in Tobago, just in time to witness the first sunrise. The first day was an off day, it gave us time to settle into the nature of things. Having figured out our rooms, we went for a 30 minute shake out run. While on the shake out run, we saw a majority of our neighbourhood, but the most thrilling part was the beach we had ran past. Later on the day, we went to the corner store, which was where we were able to get anything we needed for the duration of the trip. Then we were able to head to the beach, which by far was the most euphoric part of the trip.
On our first weekend there, we were able to experience an Island meet. The meet consisted of athletes from the Caribbean Islands. The weekend was a successful weekend for the Caltaf athletes, and gave us a chance to talk to the athletes from the island. It was great being the International athletes from Canada and hearing our names announced on the Speakers. We did very well in the competition with some great Personal Bests (PB’s) to start our summer of outdoor meets. We also got to bring home quite a few trophies!!
When Monday came, it was time to hit the track for training. Our days would consist of getting up around 6:30 am to leave for the track at 7:30 am; completing a track and a medicine ball workout before the warmest part of the day struck. Near noon, or 1:00 pm we would complete our second workout, which was usually our physio band workout. Since we had a couple of hours to spare, we would either rest or head to the beach before we did our last run of the day.
Three days into our trip, we all experienced our first Caribbean Sunday School that was just a ten minute walk away! The night was filled with lights, dancing, and steel drum bands. Teammates got up and danced on the dance floor showing off their “dance skills”. This event was attended by tourists from all the neighbouring communities. It was interesting to see all the different nationalities of people in our region. Common thing… they all loved the music and to dance.
A few days later we got the chance to go on a boat excursion. The excursion started off with a tour around the Caribbean Sea, spotting out different types of plants, coral, and fish in our glass bottomed boat! Afterwards we got to go snorkeling to view all the creatures in the water like turtles, stingrays, and tiny fish. To end the boating trip we docked at an island for a barbeque and limbo a couple rounds of limbo. On our way home from the island, we got to dock in the middle of the ocean to take a few more pictures and get our last glimpse of the beautiful view. There was actually a beach in the middle of the sea and we got to build a pyramid on the sand surrounded by water!
On our last Sunday, we went to our last Sunday school. Since it was Easter Sunday the streets were set up for big festivals. Around 9pm the music began to play, food trucks were out and ready for the people; making it the perfect last night.
Spring Training Camp is our chance to get a jump start on our outdoor training, but it always turns out to be way more than that. Here is where we get to truly bond with our teammates and establish lifelong friendships. We get to see a new environment and sometimes even a different way of life. If you are lucky enough to get the invite to attend camp, it is a once in a lifetime experience in many ways. Thank you Caltaf coaches for making this possible.
