September 9, 2008 (Frisco, CO) – The U.S. Disabled Cross Country Team took part in some fun and innovative training near the home of Head Coach Jon Kreamelmeyer in Frisco, CO. “In my opinion I felt it was one of the best dryland camps we’ve ever had,” Kreamelmeyer said. “It was a pretty diverse experience for everybody and we covered a lot of territory. I was really happy with it.”

“It was a great camp,” Disabled Program Director Sandy Metzger added. “Jon worked hard to do many innovative activities at the camp.”

According to Metzger, mornings are spent on Lake Dillon in kayaks. “The water is like glass in the morning and is a great upper body workout for the athletes without the pounding of rollerskiing,” Metzger said. “But, we have been roller skiing on the Dam Road and we have also been going out to the Williams Fork area to rollerski.”

Other team training included yoga, which was taught by Coach Ian Garner’s mother Demi in Kreamelmeyer’s backyard. “We had two yoga sessions for the Team where Demi worked on breathing techniques with the athletes and basic yoga moves,” Metzger said.

“The benefits of yoga are being able to calm the mind a little bit and then physical well-being,” Kreamelmeyer said. “Demi really patterned the sessions around the idea of spinal chord injuries and people in wheel chairs. All of the positions were well thought out and I really enjoyed it.”

The team also worked with a sport psychologist from Denver University for part of the time at camp, which Kreamelmeyer said was beneficial for the team as a whole.

“I firmly believe that sport psychology is something that you need to have access to on a regular basis,” Kreamelmeyer said. “It was beneficial in the sense that we were actually able to discuss our issues and be very honest without judgment.”

The Disabled Cross Country Team will reconvene in Park City, UT in November for sport science testing before kicking off their season in Anchorage, AK at the end of summer.