TOMORROW IS THE BIG DAY: THE NATURE ISLAND CHALLENGE STARTS!

'The only impossible journey is the one you never begin'

The Nature Island Challenge starts next week and our team couldn't be more excited. We've worked so hard this semester at training, conditioning, and becoming a well-rounded team and we're excited to have our hard work pay off.

Here is what our last week of training has included:

Running Complete Loops of the Tomato-Junction-Champ Hill (7-8-9 full loops)

Joining the Ross University Boot Camp team for beach training

Thanks to the amazing Boot Camp group for kicking our butts on Friday beach training. What a great group to train with!   These medical students work hard at school and work out hard!

Easter Half-Marathon with Professor Aidi Yin

Running with Dr. Yin was so inspiring as she is such a motivational runner and encouraged us to do our best! Who would have thought at the beginning of training that we would have been running a half marathon for our long run at the end? We've come a long way!

Since this was the week that we tapered our conditioning, we decided to do some cross-training with paddle boarding at sunset. We feel very fortunate to live in such a beautiful place where this is possible!

We are truly blessed to have Dominica as our temporary home. We have been very lucky to enjoy these breathtaking views while training
     

Yoga session with Campus Life Yoga by the wonderful yogi Trudy Prevost 

Our team was lucky enough to do a team yoga session with Trudy Prevost on the lower seaside deck on campus. She teaches free yoga classes to all Ross students and families on Tuesday from 4-6pm, Thursdays 4-6pm, and Saturday mornings 9am-1:30pm. She led us through some great poses for keeping us limber for all of the trail runs ahead of us. Thank you Trudy!

Team Radio Interview at Kairi FM in Roseau

Great experience talking with DJ Halo Boy and sharing our excitement about the race!

                                         

Lunch at Anchorage Hotel with our Sponsors Anchorage Group of Companies

Anchorage Group of Companies, leaded by the strong and smart sisters Yvonne and Carla Armour, have been by our side on every step of  our training journey. We are so grateful for their support. As you can see, Carla is very strong and is giving us her support during our team photo!

Nature Island Challenge Information:

We are six teams competing in The Nature Island Challenge (NIC3.0). The other teams competing in this race are Trinidad (white), two teams from Germany (green and red), another American team (blue), and a team from Barbados (yellow). We are looking forward to meeting everyone!

Race Schedule:
We'll be transported to meet and greet the rest of the team at Fort Young Hotel tomorrow where we will be lodged for the rest of the week. We'll be leaving every day at 6:45am, running the segments of the Waitukubuli Trail and completing Mini Challenges during the trail run. Each day our team will also be competing in the Major Challenge of the day. We will be taking photos during our runs to showcase the natural beauty of Dominica and participating in cultural challenges as well. All the activities will be judged as part of the competition for points.

Monday, April 13th-Orientation Day
Tuesday, April 14th-Segments 1 and 2 (12.6 miles/20.28 kilometers)
Wednesday, April 15th-Segment 5 (9.82 miles/15.8 kilometers)
Thursday, April 16th-Segment 4 (8.55 miles/12.15 kilometers)
Friday, April 17th-Segments 6 and 7 (8.54 miles/13.74 km)

IMPORTANT NEWS
ATTENTION To all of our island-based supporters



On Friday, April 17th we have our last Major Challenge and it will be at Purple Turtle Beach in Portsmouth starting around 2:00pm (aprox time, we'll keep you updated). Grab some lunch at Purple Turtle and come cheer us on!

Keep updated by following the official page of the race The Nature Island Challenge on facebook and @nichallenge on instagram.
LIKE the picture where our team ‪#‎NICUSAOrance‬ appears. EVERY 'like' COUNTS TOWARD THE RACE points for our daily challenges. We appreciate your help.

We want to thank all of our friends, family, supporters, and The Anchorage Group of Companies for all of your support and making this race possible!

'Sweating is the cologne of accomplishments'

2 Weeks til the big dance

“There is no secret routine, there is no magical number of reps and sets. What there is, is confidence, belief, hard work on a consistent basis, and a desire to succeed.

-Steve Justa

As we get closer to the race we are able to look back and see how far we have come since our training commenced.  We all knew we would be pushing ourselves to the max but had no idea what that actually looked like.  If you were to tell any of  us 10 weeks ago what we would accomplish or what our training would be now, I’m not sure any of us would believe it. We have never completed two workouts that were the exact same. Each workout is always harder than the last in intensity and always pushes us to our max.

We started our hills training by sprinting up a segment of Banana trail. We continue to increase the intensity of our hills sprints and have even incorporated Banana Trail into our short distance cardio. It is tough, but a realistic representation of what we will be running for the race.

Data for Banana Trail 

Banana Trail rooftop-view from base where we complete hill sprints training

Wade, Dan standing on Banana Trail hill-about half way to the summit 

Summit of Banana Trail

The switch from flat sprints to beach flat sprints has been a fun way to kick up the intensity of the workout and enjoy the ocean at the same time. Ironically, we train next to our sponsor owned Le Flambeau Restaurant and Beach Bar, as well as their Picard Beach Cottages. Do not let the scenery fool you. This is an intense workout.

Le Flambeau Restaurant and Beach Bar

Beach Sprints-Pier

Picard Beach Cottages

Our long distance cardio has finally reached the maximum distance we will be facing during the race. This week we will run 12 miles. We have covered a long distance in a short amount of time. We are very proud of each other as a team.

Along the way we have posted a lot of the cool stuff we encounter-here’s one more photo for good measure.

This week we got our long-awaited gear for the race. Our gear includes: shoes, shirts (not pictured: pullovers), wristbands, camelback, headband, protein bars and misc. first aid supplies. Huge shout out to our OUR SPONSORS: ANCHORAGE GROUP OF COMPANIES for making all of this happen. We are so excited with our new gear and we really appreciate all you have done for us.

Shoes

Gear

Our amazing sponsors, Anchorage Group of Companies, made us models in their diving promotion. The flyer below was in Meadowlands Exposition Center at Secaucus New Jersey this past week and we are very proud to be the faces of Dominica representing Team USA.
We recommend to all our friends and family to book their vacations and adventure activities with Anchorage. They have all types of vacation packages and fun activities. Check them out http://www.anchoragehotel.dm/

As previously stated, we try to do as many things together as we can. This week we made it to Mero Beach, Freshwater Lake and Titou Gorge. This island has so much to offer. There is always more to explore.

Mero Beach

Freshwater Lake

Titou Gorge

This whole experience continues to get better and better each day. None of us had any idea what to expect coming into this but had high hopes. We are happy to say that our greatest expectations have been shattered and our friendships and abilities have been strengthened. We get more excited as the race gets closer. We cannot wait to give it our all.

Dan Schreier

3 Weeks til the big dance

"We are what we repeatedly do, Excellence then, is not an act, but a Habit."
                                                                                            -Aristotle

     As we inch ever closer to race day, we also inch closer to our maximum effort and ability. With the race only a couple of weeks away, we find ourselves peering into our own skill set and figuring out who we are and what we are here to accomplish. Each member brings their own experiences, skills, training habits, and internal drive and fire to the table, which makes us scarily dangerous to the other competitors in the race. After training for this long and seeing how far we have come physically as well as mentally, it's truly an accomplishment. But we don't settle for previous accomplishments.  The Challenge won't be won by our hopes, dreams, and previous accomplishments. The Challenge will be won in the jungle with our blood, sweat, and good old American muscle (and Ecuadorian). We have trained our minds and our bodies will follow. Our minds will carry our bodies when our limbs are too weak. 

    We have continued to be relentless in our training efforts and have refused to back down from the challenges each new day brings. When the bell tolls, we answer the call and hit the ground running as a team towards the goal. Alone, we are but a single person, but together, we are a team. A team that supports, coaches, and pushes each member to bring their VERY BEST to the table day in and day out.

"If you only settle for your very best, You will be amazed what you can accomplish."
                                                                   -Vince Lombardi- "Go Pack"

    So, where do we go from here? Well, there's only one way to go, and that is up. That can be thought of figuratively or actually in our case. We run hills, and we run hills, and we run hills. Why you ask?  "Because the legs feed the wolf." Whether it's hill sprint intervals, distance running, or pure insanity on our part. We Run Hills! (I wish this is big enough to see the crazy altitude)

This is some data pulled from one of our previous hill interval training segments

Sunday Run-Day for 10.5 miles this week

Friday Night beach runs have become a family favorite for us. It's a great way to see a beautiful sunset, recap the week, get a rocker of a workout in, and prepare for the weekend training to come. Plus, how many people get to say they did this?

Along with our training as a team, we also coach, lead, and participate in other training around the campus and town. Meche (above middle) lead a Zumba class for a group of women last week, that was a huge hit and a ton of fun for everyone involved. 

Intramural football has become a team effort as well, with cheerleaders and future stars of all ages.

Kate has been enjoying the waves as well as the trials and tribulations of surfing the last couple of weeks. She bends but she doesn't break. The other teams better hit harder than the waves if they want to keep her down.

With only a few precious weeks left before the competition, we continue to find our strengths and weaknesses as a whole. We continue to work strongly together in all aspects of training and have formed a bond that only teammates have the privilege of experiencing. Not just with training and all of its demands, but with everyday life and everything the world throws at us and will continue to throw at us in the future.  

Wade Axelson