Trimarni Clermont Camp - Pre-camp recap

I absolutely LOVE our training camps. 

How can you not love the idea of checking out of life for a few days just to train, eat and sleep with your fellow teammates?

 I love the positive energy of our campers on the first day, eager to train, sleep and eat. I also love the looks I get around day 3 of the camp when our campers are tired, exhausted and sore. But above all, I love the friendships that are made between our athletes. There is so much hard work going on that it's hard to not give 100% when everyone is supporting one another. In a group environment, you have no choice but to soften the excuses and give your best effort even when you think you can't. It's simply incredible to see our athletes discover new limits, embrace new challenges and to support one another. 

I always have a few goals for our training camps and safety is on the top of that list. But another big goal is fun. I want my athletes to have a lot of fun while training because for many of our athletes, they train alone most of the time and balance a lot in life. I feel an easy way to accomplish this is to take care of my athletes as much as possible so that all they have to do is show up and train with their teammates. 

The behind the scene moments of putting together a training camp are not pretty.  Although I enjoy wearing multiple caps as a coach, sport RD and party planner (aka "camp organizer"), I have to say that I really appreciate all the work that race directors do so that us athletes, can just show up on race day and do what we love to do and that is to race.

When planning our camps, there are a lot of moving parts, a lot of logistics to contend with and a big lesson that I've learned is... never make an itinerary final - something will always come up. 
To say that I am excited for First Bourn to build their first facility in Asheville, NC is an understatement. I can not wait to have our camps in an all-inclusive facility that caters to athletes!! 

Thankfully, we hold our Clermont training camp at the NTC and my contact is super easy to work with in terms of reserving pool time, the track and conference rooms. For this camp, I also reserved two houses around 12 miles away from the NTC for our campers and organized roomates and sleeping arrangements. The houses (instead of hotels) were something that our campers requested last year after we sent out our camp feedback form so...they ask and they shall receive. 

Lastly, a huge highlight of our camps is the swag. We absolutely LOVE the Trimarni sponsors this season and we were so excited to see the Trimarni love from our sponsors with awesome swag for our campers. And we were also so thrilled that the Trimarni kits came in on time (thanks CANARI!!) so that our campers could sport their new gear at camp.
Thank you Trimarni sponsors for supporting the Trimarni team!
Clif Bar
Canari Cyclewear
Oakley and Oakley Women 
Veronica's Health Crunch
Run In 
First Bourn
TrainingPeaks
SOLESTAR
Challenge Family
TriBike Transport
Salem Professional Anesthesia Services
XTERRA Wetsuits

So, enough details...

After Karel and I did our morning workout on Tues (3800 yard swim) we packed up our car and my mom's car (who was joining us and serving the role as Campy babysitter and my second pair of hands) and off we went to Clermont, FL around 11am. 

9 hours later...palm trees and warmth!!! Campy was so pumped about his first training camp!

Campy loves road trips and although he spends half the time napping, he also loves looking out the windows, stopping at new pee-stops and being with his mommy and daddy. He is the best travel partner even though he doesn't say a word. 

Karel, my mom, Campy and I were staying at a condo near Waterfront Park thanks to my athlete Colleen who connected me with one of her friends who rents out his condo. After arriving to the condo shortly after 8:30pm, Karel and I headed a few miles down the road for a quick grocery shop at Publix. I don't think I've ever shopped for groceries at 9:30pm but we made it in and out in 15 minutes and had enough food to last us a few days. We were off to bed around 10:30pm.

The day before our camp is always a hectic day but since Karel and I give our total energy to our campers during camp, we made sure to spend a little energy on ourselves with a morning run...in the heat!! 

Campy watched for gecko's while I headed out for a 9 mile flat run along the water.  I was so happy to work on my triathlete tan-lines. Since this is my first triathlon season in Greenville, the past ten years in FL have left me with conversation-starting tan lines all over my body. 

Thank goodness I just got my new Nathan Fuel belt from my fav local run store Run In, which holds 20 ounces total of fluids! And it's pink - yay! My Oakley Women shades came in handy with the beautiful sun.

After I refueled and organized myself at the condo, I spent a few hours working for my nutrition athletes and around 2pm, my mom and I headed to the rental homes (2 blocks from one another) to place swag bags on the beds of my athletes.

Again - Thank you Sponsors!!!
(And a special thank you to Salt Stick for sending samples to our campers! We really appreciate you thinking of us and our electrolyte needs in the FL heat!) 

Xterra gave us wet suit hangers - so cool!
Clif Bar was our title nutrition sponsor and provided sport nutrition for our campers throughout the camp.
Oakley and Oakley Women provided hair ties and lanyards for the ladies and socks for the guys.
Veronica's Health Crunch provided her yummy crunch in individual bags
And Training Peaks gave our athletes awesome mesh bags.


Our campers also received their kits. Great job Karel and Canari - they look awesome this year!

While my mom and I were out for a few hours decorating the team homes and doing a little more grocery shopping for our first day of camp, Karel stayed busy back at the condo by assembling a few bikes for our campers who flew into town. It's an added bonus for our campers to have an in-house bike mechanic and sport RD throughout their entire camp.
Thank you Trimarni athlete Elizabeth for making our tummies happy with your homemade banana walnut bread!! I love being fueled by bread!

Stay tuned for the recap of the first day of Trimarni Clermont camp! 

If you are interested in a private camp for up to 8 of your training buddies in Greenville, SC, send me an email so we get things set-up for a fun, challenging, educational, skill-focused and nature-filled camp!

Trimarni Endurance Triathlon Training Camp!!!

TRIMARNI CAMP

Who didn't love camp growing up? 

Hanging out, meeting new people, changing up the normal routine (no parents!), enjoying food with friends and making a lot of memories to share with others when you returned home. 

When Karel and I discussed having a training camp, we both had two different ideas for our camp but with the same philosophy. 

TRAIN SMART

We repeatedly stress the importance of training smart in our training philosophy and we also abide by this thought as well.

Not only do we focus on quality training and removing the junk miles but we also do a lot of research, learn from great coaches and we believe in placing the least amount of stress on the body with the most physiological performance gains. 

There are so many ways that an athlete can train smart and we focus on those other areas to help take structured training to the next level. 

-Stress management
-Good sleep
-Mental skills/confidence
-Good form/drills/skills
-Immune system health
-Sport nutrition
-Daily nutrition
-Recovery
-Flexibility in a structured schedule
-Get stronger before getting faster before going longer
-Season planning (annual training plan)
-Strength training
-Massage/yoga/flexibility
-Teamwork
-Proper use of gadgets
-Quality equipment

-Periodized training 

Those are just a few of the many ways an athlete can train smart alongside following a balanced training plan that is focused on individual goals. 

So when I brainstormed about having a camp, I was really excited about helping others learn how to train smart and to discuss in detail, the many ways an athlete can train smart to train hard and then to recover harder. 

I was also excited about the hands on opportunity to be with athletes and to watch them use their body for swim, bike, run. Beyond analyzing every movement, I also wanted to talk about skills, form and drills. I also wanted to focus heavily on education (of course, my favorite - sport and daily nutrition). I wanted my campers to leave the camp with a new toolset of knowledge that allows for smarter training (and a more balanced lifestyle all together). If anything, clear up any confusion on how to train for endurance races because there is a lot of confusion when it comes to the smartest  and healthiest way. 

Lastly, I wanted my athletes to enjoy camp. To have as much fun as I do when I balance training with my everyday life (like so many others do) but without the responsibilities of "life". Just four days to train like a pro and be surrounded with like-minded individuals, great food and positive energy. 

Karel was on board with all my ideas but he also wanted to make sure athletes left the camp with four days of quality workouts that would boost fitness, motivation and confidence with swim, bike, run in the endurance triathlon distance. 

And together - we created our ideal itinerary for our training camp. 

Our camp is not for us. Our camp is for our campers. 

Karel and I are lucky that we both live the same lifestyle, we each have knowledge when it comes to specific areas  and can pick up and go and train wherever and whenever anytime (so long as Campy gives us the day off from work, which rarely happens). We both agreed that this camp was not about us training for 4 days with 15 athletes but instead, our 15 campers training for 4 days with us to give guidance, support, education and enthusiasm.  

So, after much planning, discussion, communication......

I proudly announce the first ever (but not last) Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition Endurance Triathlon Training Camp.

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!!!!!

Reserve your spot before the camp fills up!

Learn more here:

TRIMARNI CAMP 

(any questions, send me an email - Marni@trimarnicoach.com)

See you at Camp!
Your coaches, Marni and Karel Sumbal