As the pressure towards the Olympic Games builds for London-bound athletes, the USA team training camp in Birmingham has a surprisingly laid back feel to it. The members of Team USA are just days away from the biggest competitions of their lives, yet on the surface the atmosphere surrounding the group isn't all that different from a summer track camp.

The vibe around practice on Monday morning was nothing different than you would find on any high school or college track. Athletes casually strolled through the tunnel of Alexander Stadium and began their warm up routines. For some, like Alysia Montano, the day consisted of a workout – 200 meter repeats for U.S. 800 meter champion. Others were coming off a hard session the day before and simply had a shakeout followed by a weight session.

The group of Olympians casually chatted with teammates and coaches between drills and repeats as if it was just another practice, seemingly unfazed by the fact the Opening Ceremonies would kick off the Games in just days. Men's assistant sprint coach Mike Holloway provided small nuggets of wisdom on block starts to the finely tuned sprinters while head women's coach Amy Deem shouted out encouragement as her athletes completed intervals.

When not training, athletes are lounging around the hotel, darting in and out of the lobby doing their best to avoid pesky members of the media like myself. In the game room they dueled one another in ping pong and video games with the same intensity they bring to the track. From what we hear Doc Patton and Wallace Spearmon are the reigning table tennis masters.

The camp counselors, a.k.a. USA Track & Field, arranged a wide variety of activities for the campers to partake in. The city of Birmingham hooked the team up with tickets to see opening day of The Dark Knight Rises as well as to witness internationally renown jazz artist Wynton Marsalis. Music fanatic and 4x400 team member Manteo Mitchell even had the chance to meet Marsalis backstage after the show and picked his brain on the intricacies of the music much like a young runner would approach Mitchell for tips on training.

U.S. team members were given the treatment of Hollywood stars on Sunday as they were the guests of honor at the UK premiere of the Dr. Seuss classic The Lorax. Athletes strutted the orange carpet and posed for pictures with the voice behind the Lorax himself, Danny Devito.

Some may think off the track camp activities distract athletes from the ultimate goal of success in London. In my view these are good distractions. Rather than surfing the web in their hotel rooms where they ultimately navigate their way to the malicious and confidence destroying message boards, the activities not only provide opportunities to experience the culture of Birmingham but also give them the chance to get their minds away from the pressure of the Olympics. In the end, that's a good thing.

(Photos courtesy of USATF)

The team hanging with Danny Devito


Doc Patton getting his groove on


Julie Culley & Jesse Williams looking like bosses on the orange carpet