Given the “key to the door” in Flagstaff, David Swallow celebrated a 21st birthday to remember, the polished midfielder succumbing to physical exhaustion as the players ran out their toughest conditioning session.

“Yeah I turned 21 today, but there are probably a few places I’d rather be,” laughed Swallow.

Meeting on the athletics track at the University of Arizona, the players were made to complete 4x 400ms, followed immediately by 300m sprints, with many feeling the burn in their legs in the early stages of training.

Pushed to breaking point, GC SUNS strength and conditioning coach Mark Ladbrook told SUNS TV, from a psychological point of view, it didn’t get much tougher than Tuesday’s training session.

“Certainly today was definitely the hardest running session we’ve done on the camp so far, just the combination of altitude with the components of the training session,” he said.

“It was a very high lactic session.”

While spirits have remained high for the majority of the camp, Swallow said much of that had to do with the players getting around each other on a day by day basis.

“It’s a battle to physically get up each day, and I guess mentally be able to push through as well given the unique difficult of training at altitude and being a long way from home,” Swallow said.

“(But) I guess you’re able to push through, because you know everyone is going through the same pain, and that certainly helps you get through it.”

Over the Christmas break we will be revisiting some of the highlights from the 2XU High Performance Training Camp in Arizona.