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Nov. 2, 2004
Hey Everyone!
So, each year, Stanford Women's Gymnastics spends an entire week workingout everywhere BUT the gym; a little something we like to call "CrossTraining Week." Although this week provides some great variation inexercise for us, it has become clear to me that the primary function ofCross Training Week is probably just to reveal how uncoordinated wegymnasts really are (when not on a 4-inch wide balance beam, of course!).We started off Monday by designating two teams. My team, composed ofJessica, Stacy, Tabitha, Alex, Liz, and myself, decided to call ourselves"Team Arnold" (the stipulation being that every time you say "TeamArnold", you MUST do your best Schwarzenegger voice impression completewith muscle poses). The other team, "Team Hard-as-the-Rockness" (yeah,what a weird, funny name, right? Natalie came up with it, so that explainsa lot!). Their team consisted of Natalie, Glyn, Stephanie, Lauren, andAimee. The winning team of the various activities we performed this weekearned us points, and the losing team at the end of the week had to cookdinner for the winners.
Monday's workout began with some tough fitness testing. Unfortunately formy group, Team Hard-as-the-Rockness dominated. Although Team Arnold hadsome incredible highlights, (Liz doing 38 V-Ups in 30 seconds, Stacypulling off 8 press-to-handstands in a row, and more!), we were unable tomatch the incredible athletic prowess of the Rockness (Nat held a 92 secondhandstand, while Steph posted a 23-inch vertical jump, just to name a few!). It's really incredible to be surrounded by such amazing competitors! Wefinished out Monday's training with weights and cardio. Needless to say,we were all ready for a nap afterward.
On Tuesday, we made our way to the Avery Aquatic Center for some swimmin',Glynnie's FAVORITE activity in the whole world! (Just kidding, Glynis NOT a fan of the water) The pool is truly where the‘gymnast-should-stick-with-gymnastics factor really comes into play. Iwon't go into great detail, but just imagine about a dozen drowninggerbils, and you'll have a pretty good idea of what we looked like, withthe exception of a few H20-lovers on the Cardinal gym squad. Evening upthe week's competition, Team Arnold conquered the swimming relays. Next,we trooped over to the football stadium for some running, races, sprints,and then (you guessed it) stadiums. Yikes. It was rough. That's all I haveto say.
Wednesday was a much-needed day of rest and Advil for us; those stadiumsreally killed me haha! Thursday, we were back in the weight room, pumpingsome iron and lookin’ large, heck yeah! We of Team Arnold were making ournamesake proud, for sure. We finished Thursday with some team cardio onthe bikes, then a little conditioning.
Friday, we got to finish out the week with a whole lot of fun. To startoff, each class dressed up in their coordinating Halloween costumes! Thecoaches dressed up as crayons; each a different color. The freshmen wereeach a different flavor of Tootsie Pops; so cute! Stacy and I (thesophomores) dressed up as cavewomen: yay for animal print fabric! Finally,the juniors were a fork, knife, and spoon; SO creative and clever! Afterlots of pictures, we played an awesome three innings of in-the-gymbaseball, in which Team Arnold came through with a Red Sox-inspired win,the final score being 12-6. A bit of open gym, a little more swimming, andCross Training Week came to a close. Team Hard-as-the-Rockness ended upwith the win. I'll be a good loser (just for today) and shout out a bigcongratulations to them! Everyone worked SO hard this week, and I know itwill pay off this season!
That's it from me for now. I hope everybody out there is having afantastic week! Happy Halloween, and GO CARD!
~Britt :-)