The sun is shining and the players are running – that about sums up pre-season life at Visy Park.
The Christmas break may be looming, but that hasn't stopped Carlton players from putting in the hard yards on Monday.
Big-bodied midfielder Tom Bell says the day's focus has been on – yep you guessed it – running.
"Today's session was a lot of game-based running,” Bell said.
"So we've been doing a lot of skill work, which includes a lot of skill-based running and game-style running."
Season 2014 was his most consistent season to date and in July he was rewarded for his efforts with a two year contract extension to keep him with Carlton until at least the end of 2016.
Hailing from Brisbane, Bell is looking forward to returning home to Queensland to spend Christmas with his family.
But for now the 23-year-old remains focused on building his fitness base as much as possible before the break.
"For the rest of the week, we've got a lighter session tomorrow and then some testing leading up to Christmas," Bell said.
"I'm really looking forward to that – it should be a good week, I'm really enjoying it so far. Looking forward to the Chrissy break and having some time off with the family."
And in the world of pre-season training, who is the fairest of them all?
"I think this pre-season Dylan Buckley has been really good,” Bell said.
"I think his leadership skills have really stepped up at the moment. Out of the new guys I think Tom Fields was quite impressive today."
