Over 4 days, our campers accumulated:
- 3.5 hours of swimming (pool and open water)
- Over 10 hours of cycling (and over 9,000 feet elevation gain)
- Around 4 hours of running
- Almost 18 hours of training
As an athlete, you can gain a lot in a group training camp. You discover strengths that you didn't know that you have. You push yourself a lot more than you do when you train alone. You put yourself in new situations and scenarios and you find yourself more willing to stretch your comfort zone.
Day 1- 90-minute technique focused swim - Camp gives athletes the chance to slow down and focus on the small details. We design our camps so that day 1 is always focused on technique and skills. During this swim, athletes were able to focus on a variety of drills (with pool tools like snorkel, kickboard, fins, paddles, buoy) and then apply each drill to normal swimming. This was helpful to identify which drill(s) were most effective to better (normal) swimming.
- 80-minute strength based run workout - A common reply after this run workout was "I can't believe how much we ran." The athletes accumulated a lot of elevation and distance in this 80-minute run workout, which included 5 loops of a 1.8 mile rolling hill course. We like to do small loops at our camps so that no one feels too fast or too slow. This allows everyone to focus on their own effort and we can keep everyone close together. We can also provide feedback to each camper and everyone can support one another. The first loop was a recon/warm up that we all ran together and the next 4 loops were strong on the rollers and then reset by the lake.
- 2-hour bike skills session - We are big proponents of bike handling skills. Most triathletes struggle with basic cycling skills like suddent stopping, cornering, u-turns and standing out of the saddle. Taking time to work on bike handling skills should be a priority on a weekly basis. We consider this "playtime" on the bike. Not only will mastering basic bike skills improve safety when riding outside but it also helps with faster and more confident riding. It's hard to know what to practice (and if you are doing things correctly) if you've never been taught basic bike handling skills. For this session, we helped athletes work through basic skills like suddent stopping, cornering and getting out of the saddle and then we applied those skills to real world conditions. We went to a road that had a turn after a downhill so everyone could practice taking a turn (cornering) at a high speed. We then went to a very steep downhill so athletes could practice their body position while descending. We would never take an athlete on a steep downhill without first teaching basics like sudden braking and body position while descending. Whenever you try a new skill, there can be fears and worries by doing something for the first time. A camp is a great place to try something new when you are surrounded by supportive athletes and coaches.
Thank you The Feed and Run In for providing swag for our campers.
Day 2
- 60-minute swim workout - This swim was all about pacing. We started off with a warmup and then prescribed the kickboard tap drill, which helped most of the campers on day 1. Swimming with others can be extremely helpful when it comes to pushing yourself and staying on track. It's easy to get distracted and as a result, you may find yourself adjusting the prescribed set (and time intervals) when you are alone. Plus, when everyone in your lane is doing the same set, everyone keeps one another accountable to the planned workout.
- 3 hour bike + 25 minute run - After a 2 hour break for refueling, we met at North Greenville University around noon for the afternoon session. The bike workout was "aero bar" focused, which is rare for us in Greenville due to our hilly terrain. But we found the perfect 23-mile route of rollers that allowed the campers to complete most of the miles in their aerobars. The first loop was a recon (we split into two groups, Karel leading one group and me leading the other) and then we had everyone ride their own steady effort for ~14 miles and finish with 8 minutes strong. This required focus, pacing, good fueling/hydration and a present mindset. We were thankful to have Kaley, Ruthanne and Meredith at this workout to help keep everyone together (and safe).
- After the ride it was time for a run with specific intervals. The run course that we selected for the main set wasn't more than a mile but it included a short steep hill, which provided some variety to the terrain. After a 5 min warm-up, we did the main set on the out and back course, which was 4x3 min steady, 2 min reset (20 min main set). It was great to see all the athletes working hard and staying committed to the main set.
- In the evening, we had our typical camp pizza party with food from D'Als. It was great to chat with our campers in a non-training setting.
4.5 hour ride + 45 minute run 
We dedicated the run to former Trimarni nutrition and coached athlete and team member Sara Bard who lost her courageous battle with cancer in August. Today was her memorial service and we ran a mile in her honor.
Day 4
- Day 3 of camp is always hard for campers as everyone is carrying around a lot of residual fatigue. This is why there is great power of a training camp. When you are part of a group training camp, you continue to show up despite the tiredness and soreness. We planned 3 "mountain" passes for our long ride, which was ~63-miles. The first climb was the Watershed (7 miles, ~900 feet elevation gain). Then Hogback mountain (4.3 miles, ~1300 feet). The last was Saluda Grade (7.7 miles, ~1300 feet). And with each climb came the opportunity to practice descending.
Although this ride didn't have a big amount of miles, this ride had 6000+ feet of elevation gain. For some of our campers, this was the most elevation that they have ever climbed before. Descending was also new and unfamiliar., especially on switchbacks. But everyone arrived with a can-do attitude and showed their mental and physical strength and toughness. There was a lot of teamwork and support and everyone paid attention to keep the group organized and safe. Our sag support Kaley was incredible as she carried the extra nutrition/bottles in the cooler so that athletes could refill along the route at our designated stops. It's easy to train on familiar roads but it can be scary to ride somewhere new. Camp gives you new tools and experiences to make you a more well-rounded athlete. - After the ride, we did a long brick run. While we could have prescribed a short run after a hard, long bike, we wanted to take advantage of this opportunity for our athletes to hold one another accountable to running the entire 45 minutes off the bike. Despite tired and sore legs, everyone completed the duration of the run around North Greenville University athletic complex. We let everyone run wherever they wanted so that each person could focus on what they needed to do to find good form and rhythm off the bike. As with all our camps, we always prescribe good fueling/hydration so everyone runs with a hydration pack/belt.
We dedicated the run to former Trimarni nutrition and coached athlete and team member Sara Bard who lost her courageous battle with cancer in August. Today was her memorial service and we ran a mile in her honor.
- 45-minute open water swim - We really lucked out with great weather throughout camp. The only time it rained was during our open water swim. It was raining when we drove to the lake (and arrived to the lake). Not ideal for a workout. It would have been easy to skip the swim due to the bad weather but camp gives us the excuse to show up even when conditions are not ideal. We kept with a 200 yard course (out and then back) to keep everyone together and the main set was 6 x 200's build 1-3, 4-6. Everyone worked hard during this swim and had a great workout. Open water swimming is a necessary part of being a triathlete but sadly, most triathletes don't swim in the open water enough before race day. Open water swimming can bring on a lot of panic and anxiety so the more experience, the better.
- 90-minute run. After 3 days of training, athletes were tired. But there was one workout left before the end of camp. We started off with a 40 minute run on a hard packed gravel road around lake summit and then did 4 x 3+ min strong hill repeaters. Originally we were only going to do 3 but camp means that everyone always has a little more in them to do one more interval. This was not an easy run but no one complained and all athletes supported and cheered on one another.
