The Summer Training Camp

Ch.2 Before

*1 week before*
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Lilly's POV: "Mom I'm nervous to start summer training," I say as I eat a yogurt for breakfast. It is 6:30am and every summer my coach has a training classes. The first one is today right after skating practice. It is for figure skaters and gymnasts to get ahead, improve, and train more. Since we don't have school to worry about, I do her classes and also my days at the ice rink are longer too. More hours training at the rink. I am a figure skater. I have been skating since I was 5 and now I am 14. I will be going into 9th grade. I am among the best at my rink. My coach, Kim, has also taught gymnastics before so she is skilled and certified in both sports. Figure skaters and gymnasts both have endless days of training and their sports are demanding physically and mentally. Most people will never realize or even have what it takes to be an elite level athlete in either sports. Athletes in both sports can benefits from the same cross training and exercises so my coach is doing these classes for skaters and gymnasts. It's workouts for cardio, strength training, mental practice, ballet, and stretching. We have it 4 times a week. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Today is Monday, the first class and I am nervous to start. Some of the higher level skaters at my rink that take lessons from coach Kim also does the camp but other than them I won't know very many people. Especially the gymnasts. But I am also excited!
I get to the building the camp is in around 3:12 pm. Class starts at 3:15. I have been to this camp before but every year it's different. And there are new people. A lot of the people come back because coach Kim is a really nice person but at the same time she is a strict, hard core coach. That's what makes her the best.
I walk in the front doors. It's a big shop looking building. When you walk in, your in a little room they call the lobby. There is a long desk that the secretary checks people in at on your right. On the left there are chairs. Then when you walk through the door closest to the chairs it goes to the locker room. It's actually a very nice locker room. It's bigger than that lobby and there is brown carpet and long soft benches to sit on. Lockers take up one of the 4 walls to keep your stuff in and a huge mirror taking up another wall. There is a little bathroom in the corner. Another door leads to the main room where we workout and do everything. We call this room the Main room. It's huge. It's almost the size of a school gym. Maybe a little smaller than that. The walls are a light blue and the floor is hardwood. In the front is a huge mirror covering the whole wall so you can see everything. There is a ballet bar next to the mirror like it would be in a dance studio. Also in the front is a stereo. On the back wall there is a weight rack, dumbbells, box jump platforms, risers, and steps(the plastic long rectangles that you step on and off really quickly, it's hard to explain if you don't know). There is a rack that holds tons of yoga mats, stretching blocks, and exercise bands. When we do exercises on the floor we each usually grab 2 yoga mats so there is more cushion between us and the hard floor. In the far corner of the room there is a door to the outside which is the "backyard" of the shop and a huge fan. In the other corner there are water fountains, cups, and towels. And finally the last room from the Main room is the Cardio room. It looks like your typical gym. The walls are grey and have mirrors and it is lined with treadmills, stationary bikes, and ellipticals. There are some stair steppers, pull up bars, and a few other machines. We call this room the cardio room. Most of the time last year we did rotations in here so we used every machine. Then to get back to the lobby you have to walk through the Main room and then there is a door that leads to the lobby or the locker room.