At least it’s 2 am in New York.  In Almeria, it’s 8 am, which means it’s time for fencers to start the day with a 5 mile run before breakfast.  Also before the temperature reaches 110 degrees in the shade. 

It’s hard to wake up at 1 in the morning, and on the first morning after arrival, your body still feels like it’s in New York, no matter what language the signs say.  But the coaches, none of whom are American by the way, feel that the United States fencers are soft and need some toughening up.  They are employing the modified Ukrainian method.  Modified only in the sense that there are no beatings with fists.  Otherwise, it’s the same.

The fencing venue looks to have been built for an Olympics, huge with tons of marble.  But no working air conditioning.  It gets incredibly hot in there, especially by the third practice of the day in the late afternoon.  The third practice lasts about 3 hours, or until someone passes out from heat exhaustion.  A few of us soft American parents try to remind the coaches that no child should die in this process.  They think we’re all wussies. 

For this week, they are fencing with the Ukrainian national team.  This isn’t the American national team, but just kid fencers who were good enough to get asked to come, so they are a bit outmatched.  Still, they are holding their own against the Ukrainians for the most part.  Mind you, the Ukrainian team is fresh when it starts fencing; the American kids have an hour workout in the heat before they start to bout.  Some of them look like they can’t stand up, they are so exhausted.  Still, they fence their hearts out.

Did I mention the food is awful?  I love Spanish food, but the food in the hotel is just miserable.  So it’s a good thing that the fencers are too tired to eat.  But then when sleep time rolls around, at 10 o’clock Almeria time (or 4 pm New York time), they can’t quite do it.  They toss and turn until about 4 am Almerica time (10 pm New York time), when they pass out.

But they are back up at  2 am New York time to run 5 miles the next morning.  These kids could argue, but they would rather do it, fight through the exhaustion and prove they are as tough as the Ukrainians. 

The real competition begins on Sunday.  We’re here early to get adjusted.  It’s taking quite a bit of adjustment.  If only they had better food.