Thank goodness for teammates. They lift you up when you are down, they give you energy when you feel empty and they hold you accountable to putting in the work.
Day 3 of camp started at 7:30am. 4 hours of riding and 30 min of riding was the plan and our campers did not complain. We told everyone to get their mind in a good place because it is not that often that you can ride with others after 2 days of solid training (and 6 workouts accomplished) and have this amazing opportunity to be without day-to-day life stress and to just do what you love to do...which is use your active body.
The weather was perfect as it was overcast and not hot when we started our ride. I instructed all our athletes to bring 3 bottles of sport drink (at least 220 calories per bottle) and I had our Clif Bar products (blocks, bars, gels) available if athletes needed the extra calories in addition to relying on primarily liquid calories. Karel and I set-up two coolers of ice water (and a box of sport nutrition products) in our secret spot on the Buckhill loop for our athletes to refill bottles as needed for our 4 hour ride.
Karel picked a great bike course which included multiple loops on Buckhill and then one last climb on Sugarloaf Mountain. Our campers broke into groups, some larger than others, so that everyone could push each other. The ride was not an intense ride but far from conversational. With over 3000 feet of climbing, our campers really challenged themselves.
As we say with every Trimarni camp, day 3 is always the hardest, physically and mentally. Knowing that we would all be racing an Olympic Distance Triathlon Sunday was just another reason for the mind and body to want to "check-out" with the training scheduled for Saturday. But our campers were amazing - more than amazing they were awesome and outstanding!
Typically, after a few days of training, a good warm-up is in order. Whereas tired muscles are no fun to use when a long or intense workout is in order, if the body is well-fueled and well-hydrated and the mind is in a positive place, most athletes are only a warm-up away from a great workout. We used the first 45 minutes or so to keep the ride fairly easy and conversational until we hit the looped section of the course and then it was time to get serious.
Ok, so my serious includes a few pics of animals but other than that, I had my game face on.
It's not the same "mountain" I climb in Greenville but if the road isn't flat, you can call it what you want. Sugarloaf Mountain is not an easy climb but every one of our athletes got to the top and looked great while climbing!
All those heavy gear intervals over the past two months were paying off with our athletes as they all were able to pedal efficiently and stay relaxed while climbing.
What a beautiful "mountain" view.
Yay! Trimarni athletes looking strong and still smiling!
After an EZ spin back to the NTC where we met in the morning, our campers all went out for a 30 minute run (15 min out, 15 min back) with their liquid nutrition (fuel belt or hand held) for one last workout of the morning.
It was nearing 12:45pm so our athletes had 2 hours to shower, clean-up, get a recovery drink and eat a good meal before we all met at Waterfront Park for athlete check-in...and another workout.
After we all checked in for the race for the 32nd Annual Great Clermont Triathlon and picked up our packets, everyone changed into their swim gear and we headed into the water for a 20 minute open water swim.
There was talk about wetsuit legal or not so we advised our athletes to wear their wetsuit (if wetsuit legal) in order to practice wearing it in an early season race. The water temp was on the verge of being non-wetsuit legal for race day but on Saturday afternoon, it was very comfortable for us to wear speedsuits and swim suits.
One of the best suggestions that we can give to our athletes is to get to know their course before race day. By having the opportunity to bike on key sections of the bike course (or at least drive) ahead of the race, know the direction of bike in/out and run in/out and feeling the water to be mentally and physically (or clothing) prepared is all beneficial to boost confidence for race day. We find far too many athletes spend the 24 hours before a race worrying about things in and out of their control. The more you get to know your race course, the more comfortable and confident you will be on race day - and you will feel even more prepared.
There were a few buoys set-up from the half ironman race on Saturday morning so we did 2 loops (or 10 minutes) around two small buoys and then I broke everyone into groups of 5 (similar swim ability) to practice in-the-water starts (although at this race it was a land start) to simulate mass starts. Everyone swam around 5 minutes at a "best effort".
Campy was happy to join everyone at the race venue and I'm pretty sure he was just as exhausted as all our campers by Sunday. Vacationing is hard work when you are a 12 lb chihuahua/italian greyhound!
Campy was happy to join everyone at the race venue and I'm pretty sure he was just as exhausted as all our campers by Sunday. Vacationing is hard work when you are a 12 lb chihuahua/italian greyhound!
After our 20 minute-ish swim, we called it a day around 3:45pm and our campers went back to their houses to rest, eat and pack-up. After 3 days and over 12 hours of training completed, our athletes were in bed early for a good night of sleep before starting day 4 of camp....race day!