2nd Munster Junior Endurance Performance Squad Camp
The 2nd Munster Junior Endurance Performance squad camp of the 2016/2017 season took place last weekend at the Banna Beach Hotel complex. There were 36 athletes in attendance and all were highly motivated and brought a great work ethic to the camp for the entire 3 days.
Friday morning saw the athletes arrive at Banna Beach and check into the houses and then go for an easy run followed by some hurdle mobility drills, mobility work and strides on the all weather pitch. The athletes then relaxed for a few hours utilising the pool facilities at Banna Beach. That afternoon squad athletes Charlie O Donovan and Darragh McElhinney gave an account of their experiences at the recent European XC Championships in Italy and took questions from the other athletes. Coach Steve Macklin then led a workshop on athlete accountability and ownership. In the evening the Munster “Jenga” Championships kicked off and the opening rounds played to see who would become the Jenga champion by Sunday.
Saturday morning the real work began for the group with various Tempo sessions on the beach & road followed by strides. There were 6 workout groups and all worked very well together showing great teamwork. Following the workouts the group headed back to the houses for recovery food before starting their recovery in the pool. Following this the athletes watched the Edinburgh International XC live on a big screen to cheers on the Irish athletes competing. With an afternoon to relax the athletes met at the all weather pitch again in the evening for core, hurdle mobility, glute/hip & balance work to finish off a great days training. That night the Jenga championships continued until the main man from Thurles Fred Crowley was crowned the champion after a titanic battle with Corkonian Jennifer Cotter.
Sunday morning it was time for some activation drills before embarking on the traditional long run which was followed by mobility drills & strides. Then it was clean up time and some relaxation time in the pool before the final workshop of the camp. Here coaches Steve Macklin & Collette O Riordan rounded off with a recap from the weekend and the key themes, with all athletes encouraged to take ownership of their own path in athletics and do the simple things right and consistently of long periods of time.
We the coaches would like to thank all the staff at Banna Beach Hotel, they were as always extremely helpful and friendly. We would also say a huge thank you to all the athletes who were highly motivated, in good form, respectful and well behaved for the entire weekend. A special thanks also to Pat Hogan, Steve Macklin, Collette O Riordan and Joan Hough for their support over the few days.