After a late night last night it took a little bit more effort to get up and going this morning, but I was glad I did! Before I went downstairs for breakfast this morning I was able to call my mom and she sounded so happy I thought she was going to cry. Once I finished talking to my mom and eating breakfast we headed off to a Australian Rules Football training session or practice. On the journey to the practice facility I took my first subway ride!
Now I know all of you are wondering what Australian Rules Football is and I wish I could explain it to you through this blog, but you may need to do some extra research. This sport is VERY popular in Australia and is sort of a mixture between rugby and soccer. I still haven't figured everything out, but I am learning more about it everyday! The teams practice we got to watch is called Essendon (the first N is silent) which is luckily a team we will get to see play in the AFL game we are going to watch on Saturday night.
During this practice we were able to ask the head coach questions, meet their strength training coach (who was a woman) and tour their training facility. Throughout this program we are required to gather information for our final research project which is due after we return to the states. I chose to do my topic on injury prevention and today I was able to ask the head coach and strength training coach many questions about how they train to prompt injury prevention. The head coach said that when many of the younger players (19-22 years) come into the league they promote core strength training especially of the abdominals and gluts. According to him there have been many studies that those who lack glut and core strength tend to acquire more injuries in the long run. The strength training coach also mentioned that they focus more on bilateral strength (strength on both sides on the body) rather than unilateral. Before we left the practice facility I was able to purchase a scarf to sport at the AFL game on Sat. night! Once we got back to the city from the practice fields we found a Mexican restaurant to eat at for lunch. Don't worry it is nothing like Mexican food in Texas, so I am definitely coming back to the states! After lunch myself and a few others went on a GORGEOUS run through the city for about an hour and fifteen minutes. I got a lot of beautiful pictures from it. I then got back and cleaned up and went to dinner with some girls and then me and Katie went to the Eureka Skydeck, which is the tallest building in Australia. It has the top floor open like the Sears tower in Chicago and we were able to take really nice night pictures of the city.
I am able to upload WAY more pictures on Facebook, so try and take a look there! Tomorrow I will give you an update on some Australian lingo!
Miss You All!
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