The second day in Charlotte, N.C., for members of the ASU track and field team featured a morning of hard work followed by an afternoon of recreation.

Morning workouts at the Irwin Belk Complex got the day started, and they were more intense than Monday's "dynamic" drills.  After leaving the hotel at about 11 a.m., the team proceeded to the complex and went through their normal warm-up routines, then began specific workouts for the different athletes in their varied disciplines.

Throwers Jacob McDonald, Tyler Orlando and Wade Goode took their first practice throws, the javelin for McDonald and Orlando and the discus for Goode.  The relay teams practiced their hand-offs, the heptathletes and jumpers practiced their run-ups, and the sprinters ran through their regular routines.  Brian Holik and Isidro Garcia took advantage of a break in practice to take some rather comical pictures of each other with the huge black bull statue that overlooks the complex.

Meanwhile, Tuesday also cost Orlando his new watch, which had apparently turned into a bad luck charm and has found a new home somewhere in the field next to the track.

"I almost wrecked getting to the airport on Monday," he said.  "Then, I got sat next to a lady with a very loud kid who crawled on me during the first flight.  Then, I got here and fell down on one of my first practice throws.  So, I threw the watch away, and then I threw good the rest of practice."

On the other side of the track, it was discovered that heptathlete Aisha "Ice" Adams' spikes don't like Gatorade nearly as much as she does.

"There was nothing to drink in our room, so I asked Ice if I could have a drink of her Gatorade," Celethia Byrd said.  "I put the top back on the Gatorade and put it on the counter.  She put it in her bag and she claims that I didn't close the top, and it spilled all over her spikes.  So, she had Gatorade spikes for long jump practice today."

Adams, though, begs to differ.

"Instead of twisting the top, she just set the top on the bottle," Adams said.  "I put it in my bag and the next thing you know, it spilled all over my spikes and Coach (Gary) Gabriel got all mad at me because I had Gatorade spikes.  Everybody was making fun of me."

"Yeah, Byrd tried to sabotage me," Adams joked.  "Then she tried to make me twist my ankle by moving my marker.  She's out to get me because she doesn't want me to do 4x100 hand-offs with her.  So, that's why she did all that stuff to me today."

The morning workout was followed by a quick trip to eat lunch, with the majority of the athletes opting for Subway sandwiches.  It was also revealed at Subway that several of the Rambelles have a particular affinity for cookies, especially the white chocolate-macadamia nut variety, as they just about emptied the cookie display case.

With a free afternoon, the athletes and coaches piled into their two vans and went in various directions for shopping and recreation.  Bass Pro Shop, a mall and TGI Friday's were the primary destinations.

Fun Facts

• 800-meter runner and long jumper Andria Nussey has some interesting symbols tattooed on her back that represent earth, wind, fire and water. She got them in August, so this is the first season she is sporting them on the track.

"It's a dead, pre-Spanish written language," she said.  "I saw it and thought it would be cool because it is asymmetrical, but it's also symmetrical to have one on each corner of my back.  I'm not really trying to make a statement.  I just saw them and liked them."

"When I run, though, I do feel energy coming from everything around me and I try to draw it in," she added.  "That is something I've been working on this year and it helps me collect my thoughts, get everything together and focus on the race.  I've been noticing it a little bit more this year."

• Rambelles Makayla Myers, Celethia Byrd and Kris Crockett also display tattoos on various body parts. But, Aisha Adams has no intention of getting inked.

"Byrd has tattoos, but she doesn't even notice that she has them anymore because she doesn't show them," Adams said.  "Plus, when I get old, I don't want to have a tattoo all hanging off me."

• Discus thrower Wade Goode also plays offensive line for the Rams football team and is continuing the tradition of ASU football players who have also had success in field events as he hopes to follow in the footsteps of national champions Kyle Freeman and Curry Dawson.

"Football practice is tougher than track practice is for throwers," he said.  "But, track and field, being more of an individual sport, is sometimes more rewarding when you win."

• If you ever have to caravan with the track and field team, don't try to follow Coach Dibbern and don't use Danny Meyer as your navigator. Those items are fairly self-explanatory. If not, ask any of the athletes about Dibbern's chauffeur skills - and ask Tom Nurre, Adams or Byrd about the scenery around northeast Charlotte.