Our first official day of camp started around 7am with a kitchen full of campers. There were a lot of happy and excited faces, fueling for a long day of training. At 8:15am, we carpooled to the National Training Center for the first workout of the day.
After a dryland mobility session, our campers jumped into the perfectly clear water of the NTC pool to start their 90-minute long course swim workout.
The workout was a mix of drills (sculling, fist progression and single arm) which then progressed into the main set which was a mix of open-water skills and strength/power. We finished the workout with a "race" - two by two in a lane and every camper finished the workout exhausted and accomplished. It was a great start to the day and the weather was amazing.
After the athletes were finished, our camp helper/athlete Alvi and I did our own swim workout (2200) while Karel and coach Joe confirmed our bike course for our afternoon workout.
Yay - outdoor swimming!!
I can't express how amazing it has been to have an in-house cook at the camp house. With nearly 20 campers all staying in one house, it's been so nice to have several kitchens, all stocked with food and a camp menu with all lunch/dinner meals prepared in advance.
At 1:15pm, we drove a few miles down the road to Lake Louisa State Park for our bike/run workout. It was a very warm afternoon so I instructed all our campers to stay well fueled and hydrated throughout the workout. Thankfully we have a lot of sport nutrition products -from a variety of great companies - for our campers to use throughout camp.
We selected a 2-mile stretch of road that included a mix of rollers and different wind directions for the workout. While our stretch of road was only 4 miles total (out and back), we spent nearly 2 hours doing specific cadence and effort intervals and no one got bored. The quiet road was perfect for our campers to focus on their efforts and for us coaches to spend time with each camper.
Did I mention it was hot and sunny?!?!
After the bike, it was time for the run workout. Our campers did a solid run off the bike - which was not easy considering that it was nearing 90 degrees outside.
We stuck to our schedule and finished the first day of camp at 5pm and dinner was ready by 6pm. We all yummed over tacos and then finished the evening with our daily chat with coaches/campers.
