This all came together perfectly from an athlete standpoint and balancing life perspective. We were suppose to leave and help setup camp Friday evening after a 3+ hour drive, my athlete mentality had us leaving after I train which was not beneficial to anyone else but myself. It all came together as Casey Williams advised me to skip this bench day since the previous one was a wreck which saved many hardships later on in the early weekend.
The trip started off without a hitch and we made it there with plenty of time for me to help set up shop and realize how much out of my comfort zone I was. Now let me start by saying camping itself does not put me out of my comfort zone, the majority of the people around can influence this which is what happened. I was a city boy smack dab in the middle of a good ole country party on the river. There were a couple of variables that made me stick out like a sore thumb which made the experience fun yet awkward that I will share
For starters, I was the boyfriend of a country girl who everyone knew which made me unfamiliar territory. It did not aid me that I was unable to eat some of the amazing food that these gifted cooks had to offer because I am roughly five weeks out from competition. That concept was understood by some and "blank stared" at by others. Many people looked at me as though I was a different species since the diet has been pretty clean the past several weeks. I fit the part of a strength athlete which many have not run into, this lead to interesting conversation's and not so interesting comments when the younger crowd got drunk, "HOW MUCH YOU BENCH", "CAN YOU FLEX FOR US?".
all in all the vacation was good, my body needed the break and the paddling of the river helped with active recovery for sure! I would definitely suggest everyone try something like this and with a crowd of like minded people it is bound to be a blast. May I suggest doing this while not on a regimented phase of nutrition for athletes to enjoy in the drinking, food, and partying!