Day 8 done

This is for Saturday may 25th

What an awesome day! We learned a tiny bit of drill this morning. Then cleaned up a lot of what we've already gotten. (128 sets and we have two more songs to go) 

At ensemble tonight we did a run through of the pre show and the opener. It is insane. Just the pre show is harder than anything I've ever done. Then the opener comes along and it's incredible how physically and mentally tough you have to be to get through it without having a tuba  crush your skull. The opener is really fast paced and exciting. The drill fits the music perfectly. The initial brass blast will rip the hair out of your nose.  It just gets more intense from there. 

Overall today was a lot of fun. I'll enjoy what tomorrow has to offer. 

This is how painful dci is. Your feet bleed through your shoes. 

(A can of spray paint exploded on me)

Day 8 dinner

Eating dinner with the guy who put the cube on his chin in last years show. 

Day 8 schedule

Day 7

Today was awesome. We learned a little bit of drill. The weather was perfect. High of 70 and windy. I didn't sweat at all today. The best part of it all was that I had newfound energy and all of my sore muscles decided to no longer hurt. I guess they got used to standing marching (running) for 13 hours a day. 

During the second block, we were putting music to the drill in the opener. After marching at 180 for a good hour, I felt a sharp pain from a muscle in my leg that I didn't know I had. I had to sit out for a while and we called Cora, our physical trainer, over to help me out. She had her assistant show me some stretches to help my hip flexer. After a series of intense leg stretches at all different angles, I was able to walk again. Shortly after I joined everyone again. I was happy when people asked me if I was okay. Such kind people here. I'm learning how to relate to all kinds of people. Day 7 done. Another one is coming tomorrow. And I'm excited. 

Sunset during ensemble tonight. Too bad we were staring into it while we were on the field. 

The moon was 180 degrees from the sunset. 

Day 7 schedule

Day 6 completed

Today I had fun! Our rehearsal technique is getting much better. We finished the opener drill !!!! It's so crazy! It was cloudy today so our skin got a chance to heal. The temperature was much cooler too. 

My tan is getting on. And I'm marching like a boss. The pain has gotten to a point where I don't feel it anymore which is relieving.  Tomorrow is another day and I'm excited for it. :)

Lol people sitting in the tiny bit of shade behind the tree. 

Day 6

It's lunch time ! We just finished the opener drill. It's insane. It finishes on set 92. It's practically running. 

Okay it's day 5

This is for Wednesday. I'm posting it 5 minutes into Thursday because they held our rehearsal longer. 

Well, we all got burned again today. Hahaha. I protected my face and shoulders with an Eskimo style shirt hat combo. But my stomach is a bit red. It'll turn into leather pretty soon. 

Also gettin that drum corps body! Insane amounts of movement every day. It's like running 15 miles every day. The best part about it is that we can chow down on as much food as we want because we burn it off in approximately 57 seconds of the opener drill. 

Holy hell the drill is hard. They instructed us on how to move the horns away from our faces so we don't lose teeth when we get hit. There's this one set where two blocks are running at each other. One forward. And one on a diagonal. Backwards. And the spaces are about 1.5 feet of clearance for each person on the passthroughs. I'm glad there aren't any tubas near me in that. 

We learned about 40 sets of drill today. That puts us at about set 85. And we aren't even done with the opener. 

I'm tired. And burnt. And I have to wake up early again. 

What day is it? 3?

Well I, like everyone else, put sunscreen on whenever I could. Everyone got toasted. Hahahahaha. Making more friends. We can play and march the entire pre show. It's spectacular. Our full volume exercise is also badass. Our brass circle is about 30 yards across. And with the full volume exercise, we triple the circumference of the circle so everyone is really spaced out. Then we play. As loud as possible. It's so loud  you can't even hear your thoughts. But! After that we run back into the original circle and play the exact same thing. It melts skin it's so loud. And by the end of the season, people will be throwing babies at us. 

We learned about 10 sets of the opener. The drill is mad hard. I'm so excited! A challenge!! 

Today it was 11 million degrees outside. And the sun was melting our already fire blasted skin. Yay. I honestly hated it. But then dinner came around and I took a shower and revived my spirits. Full ensemble was after dinner and we played on a nice field that was IN THE SHADE. =) it was really awesome, even though we weren't playing that great. But it's only the third day. Only 80 something days until finals:) 

Day 2 done

We know the whole pre show!!!!! And a few pages of the opener. It's hard to play a Fp whole note while marching 6 to 5s backwards at 220. Other than that, everything else is great !! Got burnt today, even though I applied sunblock every hour. Hahah oh well. Aloe is great stuff. 

 McDonald's after rehearsal!!!

Day 2 schedule

I labeled yesterday as day 2 but it was actually day 1 because the first day wasn't a full day. So this is day 2. More drill!!!!

Day 2

Today was a long day. The first full day at spring training. 

We had a 4 hour visual block this morning. For the first hour and a half, we had an intense cardio workout that left all of us crippled. After that we had basics until lunch. Lunch was great until it started raining. 

After lunch we went to the field for brass block. Matt Harloff warmed us up. And of course, we had to do circle drill at 200 during our warmup.  We've got a ways to go. It's hard stuff. After being "lightly" beaten, we split into sectionals and rehearsed the opener. It was great... Until we started tracking the opener. That was tiring. 

Dinner was amazing. We got to sit. I got to socialize with new people and make new friends. Too bad I don't remember their names.. 

After an hour break including dinner, we learned the drill to the pre show!!!! It was so much fun! All 28 pages to the pre show... Hahaha.  immaculata's entire show being 54 pages, crown is ridiculous in comparison. In the pre show I march 6 to 5s backwards at 200. Lol. It's like flutter stepping backwards with giant steps. 

Then it started getting dark. Then it started raining. But then we ended! And the pre show was done. Cool beans. 80 more days to go. 

Waiting in line for dinner. 

Little break during a trumpet sectional. 

Day 2- dinner

Day 2 - schedule