Hi, my name is Bryce Seymour and I am a senior at Hagerty High School. Last year I attended and ran for Circle Christian and this year I am looking forward to going back to where I started my freshman year. Rejoining a team with such dedicated and gifted athletes is very exciting. Several of them were at Warrior Camp this last week and made the top ten on the “Graduation Run”. So Congrats to them and all of you that have worked hard all summer.
It is hard to believe that summer is almost over. I was fortunate enough to spend forty days in Colorado this summer. I attended Team Prep USA’s RMXC camp. I can honestly say it was one of the best experiences of my life. The camp took place in Crested Butte, Colorado. For twenty of the days I stayed in dorms with approximately 100 other athletes and the other twenty days were spent in condos with a small group of about 20 other runners from around the country. It was great being around other runners day in and day out that are dedicated and extremely hard working for such an extended period of time. From the many different things we did over the forty days I had a few favorites. The Fourth of July was one of them. Every year we decorate the bus with streamers, paint and a ton of other items. We also decorate ourselves with paint and make shirts. Then in the small town of Crested Butte we participate in their annual parade and have so much fun. After the parade there are pie eating contest, music and a whole bunch of different activities prior to the start of the fireworks. It is just a fun and exciting day! This year we made banners for Emma Coburn, an Olympic Team Qualifier in the steeplechase, who is from Crested Butte and who attended Team Prep USA when she was in High School. Emma made it to the Olympic finals. Go Emma! Emma also came by camp after the Olympic Qualifiers and spent some time with all of us.
My summer training has been pretty intense. I have been running mainly at 9,500 ft. altitude and higher with athletes who push the limits with every run. I made sure to take full advantage of the “easy run” days. Generally we ran twice a day; morning shakeouts and a main afternoon run. Every afternoon run is followed by “icing” in a local creek or lake. Try doing that in Florida! Crested Butte has some of the most amazing trails in the country. We did a variety of different ones and it was great being pushed by other runners every day. We did many long runs and tempos that tested our limits. One of my favorite runs was the Dyke trail. This trail is a straight up climb of 6 miles. It is a beautiful nature trail that most people horseback up. At the end there is a huge glacier lake to ice in. Everyone who ran it this year did fantastic. The staff and counselors add great insight to the sport. We learned valuable eating habits, racing strategies and other aspects that will carry forward throughout our lives.
With the start of the 2012 Cross Country season less than a month away I am glad to be back in Florida and able to get some quality runs in with my team and adjust to the heat and humidity. After being in arid weather for so long I am happy to say I did not miss the humidity. My first two runs back have had me looking like I just stepped out of the shower, a sweat shower.I hope all of you have had a great summer of training and look forward to this year as much as I do. I would like to make a shout out to Flrunners for allowing me to do this throughout the season.
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