Abbey Santoro Summer Training Blog

Summer Training Blog Week 1




Monday 7/10/17

Today, we had a seven-mile negative split run. Most of my teammates had already left for Lutz Camp in Flagstaff, Arizona, which starts tomorrow, so I ran by myself for the majority of the run. My splits were 8:17, 7:59, 7:37, 7:24, 7:05, 6:49, and 6:24. Overall, I felt really good today and was able to push the pace, especially the last mile. After everyone finished running, we stretched and did strides.

Total miles: 7



Tuesday 7/11/17

This morning I got up at 4:30 in order to get to the airport in time for my 7 AM flight to Phoenix. After getting off in Phoenix, I had a connecting flight to Flagstaff. Once everyone got situated in their dorms at Northern Arizona University, we divided into two teams and then headed out for an easy five-mile run to get used to the altitude. After the run, we ate dinner and then played two games of ultimate. My team, "Turnip," won both games. After our victory, we headed to the showers and then hit the sack.

Total miles: 5



Wednesday 7/12/17

Today, we woke up at 6:15 AM to head down to the dining hall to eat breakfast. Once we all finished, we headed back to the dorm to load up for the run. We drove to Woody Mountain trail for our run this morning, where we ran 6 miles and really focused on speeding up for the last two. After the run, a few of the girls played cards and then headed out to eat lunch. After lunch, we had a strength workout with Hypo 2 and then a Q&A session with Craig Lutz and Stephanie Bruce from NAZ Elite on the topic of self-care. Once we got back to the dorms, we had some down time before our second run, which was 4 miles. When we were done running, we hit up the dining hall for dinner and then headed over to the rec center to swim and have our second round of team competition. We swam kickboard relays and unfortunately team "Brussel" won that round; however, team Turnip came back and got the dub with a win in the diving competition. Team Turnip is currently leading 21-12. We have no doubt we will continue to dominate the rest of the week.

Total miles: 10



Thursday 7/13/17

This morning we woke up at 6:15 again and headed down to breakfast before our run. After eating, my teammates slathered me with sunscreen so I wouldn't get sunburned, and then we headed out to Buffalo Park for our run. We did a two-mile warm-up, some stretches, and two two-mile loops. We finished off with a couple hill runs and then a two-mile cooldown. Later, we dined on the finest food the NAU cafeteria has to offer and then had a Q&A session with Craig Lutz, Ben Rosario, Meg Bellino, and our camp counselors, all about college. We then headed out to a field close to our dorm to do some drills and strides just to keep the blood flowing. After dinner, we played a couple rounds of knockout and team Brussels took the lead, but the night ended with a two-point lead for the Turnips.

Total miles: 8

Friday 7/14/17

Today's run was at Hart Prairie Trail. It was a long and gravely road with even longer hills. Needless to say, today was not my favorite run. We did six miles very slowly because we have a 2k race tomorrow. After running we ate lunch and then went to another strength session with Hypo 2 where we focused on mobility. Following strength, we had a Q&A with NAZ Elite Coach Ben Rosario, Craig Lutz, and Scott Fauble over the importance of race day mentality. After that we went back to the dorms and chilled for a little bit before leaving for our second run of the day, which was just two miles. Later, we had another team competition, which included three games of sand volleyball. Brussels won one game, and Turnips won the other two. We pretty much sealed the deal going into the last day of team competition.

Total miles: 8


Saturday 7/15/17

This morning we all woke up and walked to the dining hall to eat a little breakfast before the 2K race. After eating, we loaded everything into the van and then jogged over to the field we would be running on. Once we got there, we warmed up on the course so that we were familiar with it and then finished with whatever stretches we wanted to do. We put on our race bibs -- which coordinated with the team that we were on -- and then headed to the starting line. This was my first time running a 2K, and I will have to say I am not the biggest fan of the distance. I didn't feel the best during the race but knew I had to do my best in order to score points for team Turnip. Shoutout to fellow Turnip team member Ryan Shumaker from Grapevine and Brussel Isabel Van Camp (Keller) for being the first boy and girl to finish! After the race, all the girls did a mile cooldown and then waited to find out that the Turnips had won the race and were crowned team champions! Later that day, we went on a hike (where I got a horrible sunburn on my back) and walked through downtown Flagstaff before heading back to the dorms to eat dinner, pack up, and play some sand volleyball. This was my second year going to Lutz Camp in Flagstaff, and it has been a great experience for my teammates and me both times! I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a challenging summer running camp and the experience of running at altitude! Thanks to Craig and Beth Lutz and all of the camp counselors who helped make camp a great experience for all of us!

Total miles: 4


Sunday 7/16/17

Today was the last day of camp, and I had to get up at 5:40 AM to get to the airport for my flight to Phoenix out of Flagstaff. I got dropped off at the airport and got on my flight to Phoenix and then eventually got on my connecting flight back home to DFW. Tomorrow, I am leaving again to fly to Madison, Wisconsin, for the University of Wisconsin Cross Country Camp of Champions. So basically today I'm getting home and unpacking everything, washing it, and then repacking. I'm taking my day off today to allow my body to adjust before I fly out to Wisconsin tomorrow.

Total miles: 0