Trimarni endurance camp reflections - day 4

When an athlete lacks mental toughness, it's easy to give up, give in or give less. We see this a lot when athletes train alone.

But in a group setting, athletes are willing to do just a little bit more than what they would do alone.
Regardless of talent, a mentally tough athlete has what it takes to get through a tough workout.

Day 4 of camp was all about attitude and every camper brought a great mindset to the last day of training at camp.

After three challenging, exhausting and long days of training, our campers arrived to Lake Jocassee around 8:30am for one last workout. A 1-hour open water swim workout followed by a 90-minute hilly run.

At Trimarni, we have a special group of athletes. We feel incredibly lucky that our athletes/campers bring great can-do attitudes to every workout as this fosters a positive, ego-free, supportive environment. When you feel good about yourself, you think, act and train in a way that is good for everyone. 

Instead of doing things the way that they have always been done, our campers opened their minds to new ways of training over all 4.5 day of camp. 

Instead of simply asking our campers to swim for 60 minutes, we gave them a swim workout. There were no excuses or reasons for not being able to do the swim workout but instead, everyone gave their best effort - even though we could see the exhaustion in their eyes.

And this is why a group training camp is so beneficial. When you think you don't have it in you, others bring the best out of you. 

It's always amazing to see how a group environment provides an immediate source of energy. Our campers were extremely mentally strong and welcomed the opportunity to challenge and push themselves beyond their comfort zone. 

With a beautiful backdrop to our open water swim, we all gathered in the water after a dynamic warm-up to start the open water swim workout.

Warm-up:
10 minutes out, 10 minutes back - easy swimming
Then 10 minutes out (easy), 10 minutes back build effort.

Pre-set:
4 x (10 strokes fast, 10 strokes easy, 20 strokes fast, 20 strokes easy, 30 strokes fast, 30 strokes easy), 

Main set 3x's
~150-200 yards out (Joey was our "buoy" in the kayak)
#1: Endurance effort, 85%
#2: Build to strong
#3: Strong

The water was a little choppy and the open water swim workout was not easy on the last day of camp but our athletes did not complain. Knowing that the open water environment is not familiar for most athletes, we encouraged our campers to not get frustrated and fight the water but instead, focus on good swimming technique, with great confidence. 

After the swim, we got ready for the run. At Lake Jocassee, there are no flat roads so we told our campers that this would be a very hilly run (about 250-300 feet of climbing for every 30 minutes of running). With the very last workout of the 4.5 day camp being a long run, we wanted to add some specificity to the run to keep our campers focused and engaged.

Although we had covered a lot of miles on the bike, we purposely did not overload our campers with running miles to ensure that we could minimize the fatigue and tissue breakdown throughout camp. This approach makes for quality training and to reduce risk for injury as our campers could keep good form during every run. Additionally, at our camps, every camper is required to bring sport nutrition/fluids with them when running, for all run workouts - either in a hydration belt or backpack. This keeps our athletes "healthy" when accumulating training stress and makes for productive training sessions and quick recovery.

Run workout
90 minutes as 3 x 30 minutes
15 minutes out, 15 minutes back on rolling terrain

Loop 1: Conversational pace, smooth and easy
Loop 2: Steady effort
Loop 3: Strong effort

We had our campers loop back at the picnic tables where additional sport nutrition/water was available for refilling flasks. Our campers treated this workout like a race so the nutrition stops were quick, just like at an aid station (or special needs) on race day.

It was so awesome to see our athletes work together. Although some athletes opted to run alone, there was no shortage of cheers and high fives from the athletes on the run course. Plus, our photographer Joey captured some great pics of us running! Here are a few pics of our campers in action.

Joe and Karel

Justine

Celeste

Heidi and Kevin

Thomas

Me and Justine

Elizabeth, Danielle and Sandra

Tim and Meredith

Jim 

Pat

Michaela 

Katja and Kathleen 

Stephanie 

Although the camp experience is just as exhausting for us coaches as it is for our campers, we absolutely love putting on training camps, especially in beautiful Greenville, SC. It's incredible to see our campers stretch their physical limits, step outside a comfort zone, embrace fear and bond with like-minded individuals. Our job is extremely rewarding and we love helping athletes develop fitness and skills to improve athletic capabilities, while having fun and maintaining pure enjoyment for the sport of triathlon.

Total camp stats:
2.5 hours of swimming 
12-14 hours of cycling
2.5-3 hours of running
Over 17 hours of training in 4.5 days!
And over 14,000 feet of elevation gain on the bike and over 1000 feet on the long run!

Every camp reminds us how much we love the sport of triathlon and why this sport is so special.

Inspiring people doing incredible things with the human body.
Stretching comfort zones, pushing limits and overcoming fear.

You will never know what you are capable of achieving until you try.

Thank you campers for making our 2017 Trimarni endurance camp extra special! 

And a special thanks to Joey for being our SAG/photographer and assistant coach Joe for your watchful eye, great mechanic skills and support. Also thank you to Thomas for being our"route guide" so that we could spend more one on one time with our campers. 
And thank you to the following companies who provided swag to our campers: 
XTERRA WETSUITS - wetsuit bag and hanger
cheribundi - refuel
Veronica's Health Crunch - yummy crunch
Mg12 - The Power of Magnesium - magne sport balm, roll on and salts
BOCO Gear - camp hats
OOBE - camp shirts
TeamHOTSHOT - Hot Shot 'drink'
CLIF Bar - Sport nutrition
Infinit Nutrition - Bike nutrition
Beauty Counter - sunscreen 

Trimarni Greenville camp - Day 3 recap

As much as our campers love the entire 4-day camp experience, after day 2, our campers tend to move a little slower, talk a little less and take a bit longer to warm-up. But that's ok - it's all part of the overloading process and it's much easier to suffer with friend/teammates. 

We knew that our campers would be moving slow after the last two days of camp and Karel and I wanted to change up the scenery so that our campers did have to go into day 3 workouts with a "just get through it" mindset. 

We are big proponents of changing up the scenery in our own training, especially when it comes to the final push before an endurance race. When training on the same roads all the time, we often need a mental boost to help keep us entertained to get out the door and to have quality workouts. It's no fun to just check off workouts to get them done so a new place to train can often be a welcomed reboot for the system. 

Just an hour drive away from the lodge, we knew that Lake Jocassee would be the perfect venue for day 3 of our camp. We planned a morning full of swimming and running, followed by a picnic at the lake. Talk about a great way to train and recover!

We divided into two groups with my friend Tricia (SAG support) leading one swim group and I lead the other swim group. We divided up into similar swim abilities for 2 x 15 min out and back segments, swimming parallel to the shore and toward the mountains. 

I was very grateful to a friend (Meredith) for letting me borrow her Safe Swimmer Float. Karel and I will be ordering ours soon as I highly recommend that swimmers who swim in open water (ex. lakes/rivers/oceans) use the swimmer float. Even for experienced swimmers, it is nice to have an orange target for a boat so you are seen but also it is really beneficial for other swimmers to use for spotting and it can be good for resting in the open water. 

After the first out and back, we picked up the pace with a few harder segments followed by easy segments for the next 15 minutes and then steady back to shore. 

It's not that often that triathletes can swim an hour without resting on a wall so this was one beneficial swim for everyone. 

Great picture Elizabeth! Love the water at Lake Jocassee!

Trimarni photographer Taylor and Trimarni athlete Jim checking out the views. 

Since we asked our campers to swim in normal triathlon attire, it was a quick transition before we started a dynamic warm-up before the long run. 

Trimarni camp took over the picnic area - triathletes do not pack light!

Thanks to Clif Bar and Veronica's Health Crunch - our campers were well fueled and energized throughout camp. 

Our campers loved the new energy food packets from Clif Bar, especially the banana mango with coconut. So refreshing!! 

We made sure to spend a little time warming up as we had a long run planned for our campers on very challenging terrain. Did we mention that Lake Jocassee is hilly....like 500 feet of climbing for every 30 minutes of running, hilly?

Like what goes up.....

Keeps going up!!!!

We gave our campers the option of doing 3 x 30 min (out and back 15 minutes) for half IM athletes or 4 x 30 min (out and back 15 minutes) for Ironman athletes.
Either 90 minutes or 2 hours of running with walk breaks as needed within each loop (we suggested every mile). It was cloudy and on the cooler side compared to our long ride the day prior but we still required all athletes to carry hydration for 30 minutes of running and adequate calories and to stop to refill bottles every 30 minutes. 

We asked our campers to run by feel - very conversational pace but the last segment should be the strongest - with the last 5-15 minutes as a "best" effort. This required our campers to hold back and to not obsess about pace (which is easy to do when you are accumulating around 2000 feet of elevation gain in a 2 hour run!)

I ran with Trimarni athletes Joe and Adam who are training for IM Lake Placid so it was nice to give them some tips and suggestions as we were running. Plus - they really kept the run entertaining.

Karel provide course "support" on his mountain bike

Justine and Kate looking strong!

Jim and Elizabeth are refueling thanks to Mother Earth. 

There are some things that Karel and I can not plan for at our camps. We love seeing how friendships are made throughout camps, how every camper brings out something good in another camper and how fitness improves after camp.
What Karel and I witnessed on day 3 of camp was incredibly amazing. As Joe, Adam and I were finishing the last 15 minutes of our run, we didn't see anyone else out running. We assumed everyone was done for the day since we had all started at the same time. But as we were running back to finish our last segment, we saw the rest of the campers still running. It was so awesome to see that not one camper gave up during the long run on day 3.

Everyone gave a best effort at the end and Karel was there on his bike cheering for each camper to dig super deep. It was really incredible and I think we will carry that special moment of determination by our campers to our upcoming races. 

After the run it was time for a recovery soak in the lake. Oh it felt SO good to rest the legs. 

After we relaxed, it was time to eat!! 

We had chips, delicious homemade bread from Trimarni athlete Sara Ran Away with the Spoon, pretzels, deli meat, cheese, watermelon, oranges, apples, water and orange juice.
Everyone started with a recovery drink (thanks to Clif bar) and then it was time to enjoy some real food!

My mom came with Campy a bit before we finished the run and he enjoyed a bit of relaxing at the lake in his comfy chair in the shade. 

Around early afternoon, as the clouds began to get a bit darker, we all cleaned up and headed back home. What a great day 3!!!

Around 6pm, we all enjoyed a delicious dinner from SideWall Pizza and a nutrient filled salad at the lodge and it was nice to relax with our campers over dinner, before our last day of camp. 

Yum...pizza!!!!!

In case you couldn't guess, pizza is a Trimarni camp must-have meal!!

Thanks Elizabeth for this shot. Even Campy enjoyed winding down in the evening with the campers. 

We just love how friendships are made at camp - Trimarni athlete Jim and Taryn talking after dinner. 

And of course, there are lots of laughs and inside jokes at Trimarni camp. 

It was early to bed for our campers (and Trimarni camp doggies) before day 4 of camp.

One more day to make memories, to push hard and to discover new capabilities! 

Stay tuned for my last recap of the Trimarni Greenville camp!
Thanks again to Elizabeth and Taylor for all of the amazing pictures!!