Destination Italy!

We had an early start on Monday this week. The cruise docked at about 6 and we were off the boat and on the busses for the tours around Italy by 7am.  I went on the tour around the Cinque Terre region in the Italian Riviera. I got the opportunity to visit the Italian countryside and learn all about its amazing culture!

It was a blazing hot, but great fun. We hit the shops and toured the quaint little towns. I had to use some of my Spanish to try and communicate with some of the locals, but I got around all right.

We toured the Riviera and learned all about the special wineries that were terraced on the mountainsides by the ocean. All of the work had to be done by hand. The local farmers couldn’t use machinery since heavy machinery would damage the grapes. Now that’s tough labor and a good workout! One of the types of wine they made even takes 2 years before it is ready to be put on the shelves.  

By the end of the day I was exhausted, it was over 95 degrees with 90 percent humidity. The tour had taken us around the different towns and we visited the “lovers lane” that connected two of the towns that otherwise would have taken 1 hour and a half to get between. The site seeing was fantastic and Italy is one of the most beautiful countries I have ever seen! The waters were clear and the surroundings amazing!

We finished the day with a dinner on the porch with a great view of the sunset as we left port. Our next stop, Rome, should be fantastic! I will be visiting all of the usual sites and much more! I will make sure to take plenty of pictures!

Courtney Dumas

Strength Work

Strength work is very important for athlete's muscles. Strength work helps to prevent injuries as well as improve muscle capabilities. Today at the Alliance International Fencing Camp after our massive bladework and long day of epee fencing, we took 15-20 minutes to work on muscle strengthening activities. Below I have listed the exercises we worked on and their descriptions.

1) Squat Forward Jumps  X 15 (reps)
Go into a squat and jump forward and land softly on the heels. Slowly go back into a squat and immediately continue to the next hop forward.

2) Squat Backward Jumps X 15
Go into a squat and jump backward and land softly on your toes. Slowly go back into the squat and immediately continue to the next hop.

*After these two exercises you should feel really sore in your legs*


3) Wall Jumps 1 minute
Find a spot on the wall that is challenging to jump to and reach with your fingers. Jump up continuously, landing on your toes, for 1 minute straight. This exercise works the calf muscles.

4) Forward Crawls X 5
Start from bending to reach your toes with feet a little less than shoulder length apart. Crawl out to the push up distance and crawl backward staying low to the ground. Keep your legs straight during this exercise.

5) Caterpillars X 5
Start from bending to reach the toes position with the feet a little less than shoulder length apart. Hop forward on the hands 4 times to push up length distance and then hop back 4 times.

6) Push up Hops X 5
Get into the push up position with arms extended and feet a little less than shoulder length apart. Hop on hands and toes to the right 3 times, then back to the left 3 times.

7) Push up Circles 1 clockwise, 1 counter clockwise
With feet together, get into the push up position with extended arms. Walk your body with your hands clockwise in a full circle with the back straight. Then do the same counter clockwise.

8) Kick Turns 1 minute
Start by picking the right leg up into the air and kick up with the left leg so that you are now balanced on your right leg. Hop turn counter clockwise so that you are now balanced on the left leg. Continue the hopping and switching of legs. Works balance and coordination.

Victory and Defeat

Winning is great, but winning and improving are two totally different things. Victory is only improvement when we learn from our mistakes. That is why a positive attitude is so important in one's defeats. Defeats are not failures, they are only steps toward the greater goal and allow us to learn from our mistakes. Without mistakes we have no improvement and without improvement we can never get better.

Never be a sore winner and always be a good loser. Treat everyone with respect regardless of the outcome on the strip. Analyze bouts to improve your analysis skills.

Courtney Dumas

Sports Reads

Hey so I thought I would do a book review for all of you readers out there.

If you haven't already read or heard about Daniel Coyle's The Talent Code, then you are missing out. This is a great read for anyone out there and especially for kids and adults who want to build their skills in their passion-whether it be sports or the arts.

Coyle writes about talent and how to maximize the potential within every person. This groundbreaking work shows you how to grow talent by tapping into a recently discovered brain mechanism. He detail the steps needed to find the talent within you to succeed.

This work reminded me that if I put in the time and practice the right way, anything is possible. His book also reminded me that at some point everyone fails, but it's the people who get back up and dive back into the work without fear of failure that truly succeed. "The staggering babies embody the deepest truth about deep practice: to get good, it's helpful to be willing, or even enthusiastic, about being bad. Baby steps are the royal road to skill." (pg 94, The Talent Code).

In short, everyone should grab this book and on a quiet afternoon curl up and read it in the cool shade this summer! Happy reading!!!!

   -Courtney Dumas