Temple University Athletics
Sarah Dalrymple
Field Hockey's Sarah Dalrymple Writes Her Final Blog from the U.S. Olympic Training Center
7.23.10 | Field Hockey
CHULA VISTA, Calif. - Temple field hockey senior Sarah Dalrymple has been staying at the United States Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif., with the U.S. National Team. Dalrymple has been blogging for owlsports.com, and now sends her final blog as she prepares to come home.
Greetings!
Unfortunately, this is going to be my last blog from the Training Center in California because I'm flying back to to East Coast tonight! By far, this week has been the most intense week since I've been here. Every day this week we've had at least two sessions as a team. On Monday we had morning practice, lifting, and a run in the afternoon. I really enjoyed practice because the major focus was shooting. The team broke into 5 groups that rotated through different shooting stations for the full length of practice. While the team focused on shooting, I focused on my footwork, specifically working to ensure that my feet are set while a shot is taken. This has been my major focus throughout these three weeks. Our lifting session following that afternoon's practice was not completely foreign; we actually did a lot of the same types of exercises we do at Temple with the strength and conditioning coaches.
On Tuesday we had practices at 8:00am and then again at 1:30pm. The morning session again focused predominately on shooting. Our afternoon sessions include an hour of running with our lifting coach and then scrimmaging. The running usually consists of shorter sprints and agility exercises.
This brings me to yesterday and our workout with the Navy SEALs. I was a little nervous for this, largely because I didn't know what to expect. We arrived to the SEALs training center and started unloading; my van was last to arrive and I was the last one out. I was still climbing out of the van when I looked up to find my teammates sprinting away on the sand. It was at this point that I realized I had no idea what I was getting myself into. From start to finish, the training session lasted approximately three hours. The day started with the obstacle course containing nine different challenges: crawling under barbed wire, climbing up a rope, swinging on a rope to land and stand on a platform, lowering yourself upside down across a rope, walking across moving logs, climbing up a wall, weaving in and out of metal bars horizontally, making your way across parallel bars at an incline, and climbing up a wall with a rope. We were split into 4 different groups. While we waited for our group members to complete each task we were either doing push ups, sit ups, or wall sits. After the obstacle course we SPRINTED over to the logs. Each group had a log that was about 10 feet long. Together we had to do sit ups with this on our chest as well as squats and lunges with the log hoisted on our shoulders. In between each set we had to sprint up a hill of soft sand, dive into the ocean water, sprint back to the sand, cover our entire body in sand by rolling around (including hair and face), then sprint up the hill and back down to our log in under a minute. We did about 7 sets of these. After this we then went down by the water and did some sprints, including a 50 yard sprint with one of our group members thrown across our shoulder. This was definitely one of, if not the most, difficult workouts I have ever been through. At the same time, it was probably one of the most motivating.
At one point during the SEALs training session my teammate was struggling with push ups. Noticing her struggle, an Officer approached her, to which she responded "I'm trying!" In a calm voice, he replied "In the second half of the Olympic gold medal game, are you going to turn to your teammate and say 'I'm sorry, but I'm trying?'" In that moment I realized that we are not that different from the Navy SEALs; we both represent our country and both rely on the strength of its team for success. Regardless of your team name, you need to respect and appreciate who you're representing. I can honestly say that was no way I could have completed the obstacle course without another one of my teammates. The same is true for field hockey; there is no way that even the most highly skilled individual could beat a team 11 v 1. Again, success is contingent upon the effort of the team.
The opportunity to train with the Navy SEALs has made me very excited to return to the east coast. I'm extremely excited to share with my teammates all of the different strategies and skills that I've learned from training in California. As I prepare to enter my fifth and final preseason with Temple, I can honestly say that I have never been more excited to start training. With this I conclude my blog for this training series at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, CA. I have been so incredibly grateful for this experience and, while I was only here for three weeks, the impact it has had on me will last much, much longer. Thank you for reading, and please check out our fall schedule. I look forward to seeing you at our games! Go OWLS!
-Sarah Dalrymple
Greetings!
Unfortunately, this is going to be my last blog from the Training Center in California because I'm flying back to to East Coast tonight! By far, this week has been the most intense week since I've been here. Every day this week we've had at least two sessions as a team. On Monday we had morning practice, lifting, and a run in the afternoon. I really enjoyed practice because the major focus was shooting. The team broke into 5 groups that rotated through different shooting stations for the full length of practice. While the team focused on shooting, I focused on my footwork, specifically working to ensure that my feet are set while a shot is taken. This has been my major focus throughout these three weeks. Our lifting session following that afternoon's practice was not completely foreign; we actually did a lot of the same types of exercises we do at Temple with the strength and conditioning coaches.
On Tuesday we had practices at 8:00am and then again at 1:30pm. The morning session again focused predominately on shooting. Our afternoon sessions include an hour of running with our lifting coach and then scrimmaging. The running usually consists of shorter sprints and agility exercises.
This brings me to yesterday and our workout with the Navy SEALs. I was a little nervous for this, largely because I didn't know what to expect. We arrived to the SEALs training center and started unloading; my van was last to arrive and I was the last one out. I was still climbing out of the van when I looked up to find my teammates sprinting away on the sand. It was at this point that I realized I had no idea what I was getting myself into. From start to finish, the training session lasted approximately three hours. The day started with the obstacle course containing nine different challenges: crawling under barbed wire, climbing up a rope, swinging on a rope to land and stand on a platform, lowering yourself upside down across a rope, walking across moving logs, climbing up a wall, weaving in and out of metal bars horizontally, making your way across parallel bars at an incline, and climbing up a wall with a rope. We were split into 4 different groups. While we waited for our group members to complete each task we were either doing push ups, sit ups, or wall sits. After the obstacle course we SPRINTED over to the logs. Each group had a log that was about 10 feet long. Together we had to do sit ups with this on our chest as well as squats and lunges with the log hoisted on our shoulders. In between each set we had to sprint up a hill of soft sand, dive into the ocean water, sprint back to the sand, cover our entire body in sand by rolling around (including hair and face), then sprint up the hill and back down to our log in under a minute. We did about 7 sets of these. After this we then went down by the water and did some sprints, including a 50 yard sprint with one of our group members thrown across our shoulder. This was definitely one of, if not the most, difficult workouts I have ever been through. At the same time, it was probably one of the most motivating.
At one point during the SEALs training session my teammate was struggling with push ups. Noticing her struggle, an Officer approached her, to which she responded "I'm trying!" In a calm voice, he replied "In the second half of the Olympic gold medal game, are you going to turn to your teammate and say 'I'm sorry, but I'm trying?'" In that moment I realized that we are not that different from the Navy SEALs; we both represent our country and both rely on the strength of its team for success. Regardless of your team name, you need to respect and appreciate who you're representing. I can honestly say that was no way I could have completed the obstacle course without another one of my teammates. The same is true for field hockey; there is no way that even the most highly skilled individual could beat a team 11 v 1. Again, success is contingent upon the effort of the team.
The opportunity to train with the Navy SEALs has made me very excited to return to the east coast. I'm extremely excited to share with my teammates all of the different strategies and skills that I've learned from training in California. As I prepare to enter my fifth and final preseason with Temple, I can honestly say that I have never been more excited to start training. With this I conclude my blog for this training series at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, CA. I have been so incredibly grateful for this experience and, while I was only here for three weeks, the impact it has had on me will last much, much longer. Thank you for reading, and please check out our fall schedule. I look forward to seeing you at our games! Go OWLS!
-Sarah Dalrymple
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