Embrace Sports 04/10/14 Arrival at ‘party camp’.

Saturday 4th October

We got up early to catch our flight and had the usual curious glances and questions from other travellers who were intrigued by our ‘large suitcases’. After we had checked in, we had a bit of time to wait before our flight, so we went in search of breakfast, and some water for the flight.

When we got to Faro, we met Alan waiting for us at the coffee bar. Marcus, a runner from Stubbington Green (a club near to where we train), was also there waiting. Soon Ian and Jan arrived, so we headed over to the minibus where Alan had to do a bit of rearranging to get our cases in. Ian and jan sat in the front with Alan, so we had a bit of time to get to know Marcus and to compare notes on local races that we are all familiar with.

When we got to Giramar Apartments, several people had already arrived, including the Bristol crew (Sally, Georgie and Darren), as well as Keith, Ruth, Holly and Amie.

After we had had some time to have lunch and unpack, we went out for a short run. Previously, this has always been ‘the lighthouse run’, but this time we were told that it would be a ‘discovery run’ that would take us down into Lagos.

By the time we got back, some of the others had arrived. We knew that the last group would arrive quite late, so we were told that we would eat dinner without them.

After showering and changing we went back over to the main ‘club house’ where dinner had been prepared: penne bolognaise for most people and ragu for the vegetarians with a lovely side salad. Neil gave the briefing, explaining what would happen the next day, whilst Alan, and Jen handed around some delicious garlic bread.

We also had a chance to look at the schedule for the week. Some of the sessions we had done on a previous camp, but others were new to us, however, the basic format was the same: a tough session in the morning, followed by a shorter (5k/30mins) recovery session in the afternoon.

Just as we were finishing dinner, Andy arrived with the last of the group: Sam, Lou, Rach and Rache (our flatmate). Apparently, Gaby’s flight was going to Lisbon and so she wouldn’t arrive until much later. Some of the others were enjoying the wine and beer, but I knew it would be an early start and a tough session the next day, so I decided not to stay up too late.

A new initiative for this camp was the introduction of a photoboard to help with learning everyone’s names. I certainly found it helpful as I always struggle to remember what people are called!

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