This is the kind of stuff that sets Red Bull apart as a sponsor and shapes some of the best athletes in the world.
Today I head to Orlando, FL for a different kind of training camp. I’ve been invited by the Red Bull Performance Division to make an appearance at their annual wakeboard performance camp. No, I’ve never stepped onto a wakeboard and have no intention of changing sports. My reason for being there is to share my experience as an athlete with some of the best in the world. Per Ludstam from Red Bull asked me to come out and talk about how I train, what kind of dedication it takes to be the best and how I’ve managed to stay at the top of my game for so long. Most of these wakeboard athletes started competing in their teens or earlier and just did what came naturally. Red Bull is taking them to the next level with trampoline sessions, nutrition education, lactate threshold testing, strength training and mental training. In addition to sharing some of my motivation and commitment tips, I’ll also get the chance to take them on two bike rides and give them a taste of what it’s like to do some threshold and above threshold training. These athletes don’t have the intention of becoming cyclists, but my goal is to give them a bit of a cardio thrashing and provide them with a couple of key workouts that they can use to bring their fitness to the next level. They are on the water for about 7 minutes at a time during competition and sometimes they’ll do two or three sessions per day in competition. Being able to train and push their lactic threshold level will allow them to stay calm and focused during competition.
The list of athletes I’ll be meeting is sort of a who’s who in wakeboarding including legends like Parks Bonifay and Dallas Friday and fast rising rookies like Adam Errington. This group holds multiple X-Games, Nationals and World titles. I’m guessing they’ve never trained with someone like me. One of my favorite parts of being a Red Bull athlete is meeting pros from other sports and how much Red Bull encourages athlete mingling from different worlds. I’m super excited to meet these athletes, see how they perform and hopefully give them a little bit of information to take home and add into training. If they get a little humbled and taste blood during some of the bike intervals, that would be OK too!
Here’s a video of last year’s Red Bull Wakeboard Performance Camp and you can see some of the players who will be back for more this year.
Here are the athletes I’ll be trying to whup into shape!
-Parks Bonafaye
-JD Webb
-Dallas Friday
-Adam Errington
-Raphael Derome (CAN)
-Steel Lafferty
-Brian Grubb
-Alexis Thompson (Golf) Alexi is at the camp to share her experience as well and take the wakeboard athletes golfing! That probably won’t hurt as much as riding with me.
