Given the recent weather in New England, it’s fair to say that we picked a great time to travel to North Carolina. I am not trying to rub it in, but the weather for most of this morning’s training session was spectacular. The skies were clear, the wind was calm and the sun seemed itching to jump the gun and declare the Vernal Equinox. Though some clouds rolled in and the breeze picked up toward the end of the session, all in all it was a great morning to be outside.

Coming off a decisive 2-0 victory Saturday night over the Charlotte Eagles, the Revs looked to turn the page to Wednesday’s matchup with Duke and get back after it following a day off Sunday. The Revolution welcomed a guest player in for the day’s session - Brad Rusin, a defender for the Carolina RailHawks joined the team for the day and was welcomed in traditional Rev style. While the team is running the backpedal warm-up laps, one veteran player will kneel behind him in stride like a barrel, so the newbie falls over backwards. Big tree fell hard today, as Rusin stands a stout 6-4. Everyone got a good laugh out of it and it’s a way to break the ice and let the guest know he is welcome.

Jog and stretch was followed by one-on-one soccer tennis, a game every player loves and a game the coaches have fun with as well - mixing it up in the game and having some good-natured fun at the players’ expense. Darrius Barnes made it through soccer tennis before continued rehab on his quad - a good sign he is on his way back. Pat Phelan missed most of training with an undisclosed illness and Kevin Alston opted for some light cardio Monday after irritating his hamstring in the scrimmage Saturday night.

Taylor Twellman continued with cardio and calisthenics from the sideline and even got some ball work in before the day was done. Edgaras Jankauskas remained sidelined today with a calf injury with Mauricio Castro, who is still nursing an ankle.

Assistant Coach Stephen Myles split the teams up into three groups, had the rookies drag a net down to play half-field 7 vs. 7 with the third team working cardio. Each session lasted about seven minutes, with each team playing one another on the field and getting some cardio in on the field.

The last drill was crossing and finishing followed by team stretch. Only one more tune-up day left before another scrimmage and only five training sessions total remaining before the Revolution packs up for the West Coast and a date with the LA Galaxy. The weather has cooperated so far and we’ll see if we can bring some back with us when we return Sunday - on the first day of spring.