Trimarni 3-day Endurance camp recap

After wrapping up our 3-day advanced camp on Wednesday late afternoon, we were excited to welcome our next set of campers for the 3-day endurance camp. There was even some overlap at the Swamp Rabbit Inn so that the endurance campers could see the exhaustion - I mean excitement - on their faces as they enjoyed 4 Sidewall Pizzas as a "gift" from Karel and me. 

As for the endurance camp, this group was no less dedicated or determined compared to the advanced group. All seven athletes were prepared to put in some solid work, try new skills and stretch the comfort zone. We had a similar camp structure to the advanced camp with only a few modifications. 

Thursday
AM: 60 min pool swim 
Late morning: 2:30 bike workout followed by a 30 minute run. 

Friday
AM: 70 minute open water swim workout followed by a 60 minute hilly run workout
PM: 2-hour ride

Saturday
2:20-hour bike ride (with a 4.5 mile climb/descend) followed by a 80-min run workout. 

In total, our endurance campers completed just over 2 hours of swimming, almost 7 hours of cycling and almost 3 hours of running. This came out to around 12 hours of training in less than 72 hours. 

The ride/run/swim locations were similar to the advanced camp except for Friday - the PM ride was more skill focused and less hilly than the advanced camp.

With so much to gain at a training camp, here are a few camp lessons that you can apply to your solo training routine: 

• You are so much stronger and more capable than you think you are.
• When in doubt, you can dig deeper and exceed your expectations. 
• Don't forget your "whys" on your tough days or when you have a setback or when life is extremely stressful. 
• To better take care of others, you need to take care of yourself. 
• Be more kind and more patient with yourself - especially given current circumstances of your life. 
• Never stop learning. 
• Don't be afraid to try new things. 
• Be open to change. 
• Enhance your strengths. 
• Never stop working on your weaknesses. 
• Maximize your time spent training but don't forget to stop and enjoy the view. 
• Don't be paralyzed by your fears or the what ifs. 
• Don't be afraid to test yourself and push your mental and physical limits. 
• Provide yourself with a supportive, safe and fun training environment. 
• Surround yourself with energy-givers.

Here are a few pictures from the 3-day endurance training camp (in no particular order): 

Trimarni 3-day Advanced camp recap

Although our recent camp experience felt a little different with our new COVID-19 guidelines in place, the camp focus remained the same. With every Trimarni camp, we want to help our athletes stretch their comfort zone, practice new skills, improve terrain management, try new things, master sport nutrition, feel challenged and of course, have fun. With each camp being all about our campers, we have many opportunities to help our athletes improve their weaknesses and strengthen their strengths. Although every athlete loves to accumulate miles at a training camp, we feel it would be a diservice to our campers to only prescribe workouts. Instead, we have a tentative schedule as to what we will accomplish each day (and within each workout) but with education as a key component of our camps, we always adjust as we go along to ensure that each camper gets the most out of his/her Trimarni camp experience. 

Here's what our five advanced campers accomplished throughout their 3-day training camp: 

Monday
AM: 75-minute open water swim workout at Lake Jocassee followed by a 65 minute hilly run workout. 
PM: 2:30 bike workout (working on terrain management on a 4.5 mile loop that included a mix of descends, cornering, rolling hills, false flats and climbing. Total elevation gain throughout the ride ~2200 feet)

Tuesday
AM: 90-minute pool swim workout at the Westside aquatic center. 
Late morning: 4:10 bike (~4000 feet elevation gain) followed by a 30-minute run. 

Wednesday 
AM: 3-hour bike (~3000 feet elevation gain) with two 4.2 mile climbs/descends. Started at Tuxedo Park in NC. 
Followed by a 85-minute run workout on a packed gravel trail on Lake Summit road. 

Our campers finished camp feeling very accomplished and slightly (but not overly) exhausted. In total, our campers completed 9.5 hours of biking, almost 3 hours of swimming and almost 3 hours of running. A total of almost 16 hours of training (in 90+ degree temps) over 72 hours.

As it relates to training, we are still mindful not to overload our athletes as we don't want their immune systems to get taxed with a virus spreading quickly among the population. Although our campers completed a lot of training volume over 3 days, no workout was "too hard" for our athletes. More so, our athletes did an excellent job focusing on doing the small things well like listening to the body, fueling/hydrating smart and maximizing recovery between sessions.

While they were each challenged and tested, we designed the workouts so that everyone could perform well based on their current level of fitness. I prescribed fueling/hydration recommendations for every workout so our athletes were very prepared and well-fueled and hydrated for every session. We also carefully planned out each training session so that there were opportunities to refill bottles/nutrition to ensure that no athlete would have their health or performance compromised by underfueling/hydrating. 

In no particular order, here are some pictures from our recent 3-day Advanced Camp. 

It's time for camp!

When I was young, I loved going to summer camp. I still have so many unforgettable moments from my many camp experiences. As I grew older, my summer camp experiences were replaced by swimming......lots and lots of swimming. There were swim practices, swim meets and even swim camp (aka "hell week"). Regardless if I was attending summer camp to improve my life skills or attending swimming camp to improve my fitness, there are so many benefits of attending a camp:

• Trying new things
• Stepping out of the comfort zone
• Discovering new strengths
• Building friendships
• Discovering the value of hard work
• Learning to take healthy risks
• Setting goals
• Being responsible 
• Being attentive 
• Teamwork
• Learning
• Improving decision making skills
• Overcoming obstacles

Every time we plan a triathlon training camp, we look forward to providing our campers with all the benefits of a training camp, like improving fitness, learning new skills, breaking bad habits and making training fun, but also providing our athletes/campers with the opportunity to escape the day-to-day responsibilities, stressors, distractions and excuses so that they can put all energy, time and focus into training. By creating good habits at camp, there's a great chance that our campers/athletes will bring those habits back home to their familiar environment in order to make better, faster and bigger gains in fitness while keeping the body in good health. And above all, we want our athletes/campers to enjoy this sport for many years to come so we hope that our training camps remind our campers/athletes how much fun the sport of triathlon can be and why all that solo training is "worth it". 

Before I start my recap of camp, I'd like to send a HUGE thank you to the following companies who provide products for our campers at the 2018 Trimarni Greenville All-Levels Triathlon training camp.

• Amrita - bars
• Base Performance - bars and hydro
• Veronica's Health Crunch
• Mg12 - balm and roll on
• Clif Bar - blocks, Luna Rice bars, gels, hydration, recovery
• Pjuractive - anti-chaffing cream
• Klean - recovery protein, BCAA, hydration
• INFINIT - sport drink
• Carbo Rocket - half evil 333 and hydration

Also a big thank you to Canari for shipping our team kits in time for camp, Furman University for letting us use the pool and track, Sidewall pizza for our Friday camp pizza party, BOCO gear for helping us design the coolest backpacks ever and to Greenville, for providing us with the perfect triathlon playground for our training camps. 

Hello from Clermont, Florida!

Before starting our long trip down to Clermont, Florida, Karel and I got in a 3700 swim workout at Furman University to start our Monday morning. To be honest, we both had a lot on our mind so it was a little difficult to stay present but we got it done and both felt good with moving blood and getting our heart pumping before sitting in the car for the rest of the day.

After our swim, we went home to eat breakfast and then it was time to pack up the car. Since I had dropped off the cats at my mom's on Sunday evening, it was time to say 'see ya later' to my little golden nugget.

I dropped off Campy at his grandma's (1 mile away) while Karel was loading up my car and then we were off to Jacksonville, FL around 11:15am. While it's always hard to say good bye to furry child Campy, he is in great hands with my mom who loves him (almost) as much as I do and takes such great care of him. Plus, Campy has a bunch of furry friends in her neighborhood so he doesn't mind his home away from home as he can play with his furry buddies. 

Our first stop was Jacksonville, FL. We arrived around 5:30pm. Although it was a chilly gloomy day, with on and off light rain for our entire drive, we were entertained with triathlon podcasts for our entire drive and we switched off driving half way so that neither of us got too tight while sitting in the car.
We also made frequent stops to stretch our legs.

We stayed overnight with our athlete Joe and his wife Erica and baby son Weston (and doggy Reagan) which was nice to relax before making our way to Clermont on Tuesday.

Erica made us dinner, which was delicious! We had brown rice, curry lentils, roasted veggies and Naan (chicken for the meat eaters). It was so good to have a nice homecooked meal after our travels.
With Karel and I in the car all day, we had to get to some work emails in the evening but by 9:00pm, I was ready for bed.  Karel stayed up a little later to work on some stuff on the computer. 

Before getting too far out of Jax, we stopped at the AMAR European store to stock up on some European eats and treats. Since we spent 6 years living in Jacksonville before moving to Greenville, we are very familiar with the area (although it is expanding/changing every year). The European store is well worth visiting if you well, love European food. Karel found himself yumming over all the food so we stocked up on mineral water, chocolates, breads and so much more. 

When we arrived to Clermont, we checked into our Airbnb, which is located just a few blocks from Waterfront park and less than 1/2 mile from where our campers are staying in a Duplex (team house). It's rare for Karel and I to stay in a hotel when we travel and with so much stuff for camp, we need space and a kitchen. 

Karel and I needed to stretch our legs so we went for a (windy) ride around 3:30pm after we unloaded our car and got situated. 

It was nice to be back in Clermont and to ride on some familiar roads. We also used this ride as an opportunity to scope out the route for our Thursday bike workout for our campers on day 1 of camp. 

After our ride, we quickly cleaned up and headed out to the NTC to pick up our custom Canari Trimarni kits, which had just arrived to the Gear for Multisport store (we had them shipped there - thank you Kim and Kevin!).

After the NTC, we made a stop at Publix for groceries and by 6:30pm, we were back at our rental house, ready to eat dinner.

As for the rest of the evening.....from 7pm until 11pm, we were busy! 

Our kits look AMAZING!! 

Karel did inventory on our kit items and I packed sponsor swag bags. It's a lot of work to put together a camp but it's all worth it when we see our campers in action. 

So much stuff!!

2016 Clermont camp - race day

On the first day of camp, at our evening meeting, Karel talked to the campers about the purpose of camp. Our campers knew they were training with an intentional overload of stress and that they would be "racing" an Olympic distance triathlon on the last day of camp. But we emphasized that the race is not why they are at camp. We could not have them worried or overly focused about the race and we certainly did not want them to save their energy for Sunday.
With every camp workout having a specific purpose and placement, we knew with the right mindset, our campers would be impressive on race day - even after 3 days and over 12 hours of training.

At our team meeting on Saturday we all had a good laugh that on Sunday, we would have our shortest workout which was the Olympic distance race. With this, we also told our athletes to make sure they thank their body for being strong enough to tolerate so much training volume and intensity in 4 days.

Of course, we told them they had the excuse of "I just did a training camp" but we knew our campers would not use it. Even though our campers did not taper for the race, we still took the race seriously - we asked every camper to "race it" but with the understanding that they are going into the race tired.

Because it's very easy to put too many expectations and thoughts into the first race of the season, we love our Clermont camp for that reason - our athletes can wake up in the morning and not be stressed about goal times, overall place, watts, speeds or anything else that triathletes like to control on race day. Sure, it's great to have goals for race day but when we tell our athletes to have fun on race day and to practice everything that they learned in camp, this gives them a lot more freedom to not get stuck on the end result but to focus on great execution. 

-------------------------------
Karel and I woke up at 5am to leave at 6am for the race (just a block away). Karel made his coffee from his french press and we also had a coffee pot ready for the other Trimarni athletes staying in our townhome. After a pre-race meal and water, it was time to head to the race.

While riding our bikes to the race, I could  feel a little drizzle - I had checked the forecast and the rain wasn't suppose to start until 9am. 

Well, after we arrived to the race, the drizzle turned into a light rain shower.
I had made the decision to keep my run shoes covered in a bag (learned my lesson from Challenge Knoxville last year) but other than that, my transition area was laid out as normal and I stayed dry with our team under our team tent. 

We love our Xterra Wetsuits!
I absolutely love the fit and feel of my new Vengeance fullsuit. It was extremely comfortable, especially around the arms. 
After a few team pictures, we instructed our athletes to get in a good warm-up due to the previous three days of training so several of them got in the water whereas others stayed on dry land with old running shoes (we asked them to bring two pairs) and performed a serious of dynamic warm-ups and some jogging w/ pick ups.

The race started at 7:30am with the collegiate waves and I was up next (with several other Trimarni teammates) at 7:45am. 

It's always a different feeling being in open water (versus the pool), especially at the first race of the season. I swam aggressively to the first buoy to try to position myself near the front before settling into a good rhythm.
The sky was dark and the water was dark but there were plenty of buoys on the course to keep us going in the right direction.

Another great benefit of this race was dusting off some rust and practicing transitions. I rehearsed what I was going to do in T1 in my head as I was exiting the water (after getting my wetsuit stripped off by the volunteers) and I jogged to my bike, powered on my Garmin and then put on my socks (calf sleeves were on under my wetsuit), cycling shoes, helmet and sunglasses (well, I put on my Oakley's but then realized I didn't need them so I hung them on my tri suit top for a mile and then put them on).

Seeing that we had spent two workouts on the race course, I knew our athletes would feel really confident on the course, even with the rain (which had stopped by the time we got on the bike). We had a lot of discussions with our athletes on smart execution on hilly courses and with a few hills on this Olympic course, we knew our athletes would ride confidently.

With no expectations, I just rode strong. I had no power, speed or time goals but instead, I just focused on riding hard.

My legs felt strong, not fast, but strong and I had a lot of fun on the course. One of my favorite things about this race is seeing all of our campers and teammates out on the course. With 18 Trimarni athletes racing, we couldn't ask for a better environment to push hard and to support one another.





It's rare for me to finish the bike ahead of Karel so I welcomed the opportunity to be the first Sumbal out on the race course. 

I saw Karel twice and gave him a smile. He is always in race mode but he gave me a nod back. As for the other Trimarni athletes, there was a lot of cheering for one another which was awesome. 

Once again, with no expectations, I just ran. I was so excited to wear my new Brooks Pure Flow 5 in a race and wow, they felt amazing. I felt like I was running on my treadmill (which I love) as each step was light and springy.

I knew my legs wouldn't have much in a kick in them for two reasons - 1) no speed work in training yet this season due to building strength over the past 5 months 2) 3 days of leading a training camp takes a toll on the body.

I suppose that the word to describe my run was resilience. I didn't feel fast but I felt strong and steady. I know my body wished this was a half IM as I was just starting to feel like I was getting into a good rhythm by mile 5 but then again, I know my body was struggling to find that extra gear in this short distance race.
Mile 1: 7:10
Mile 2: 7:12
Mile 3: 7:15 (10 sec walk break to reset form)
Mile 4: 7:12
Mile 5: 7:17 (10 sec walk break to reset form)
Mile 6: 7:16
Mile .2: 7:07

I carried a hydration flask with 80 calories (1 scoop) Clif Hydration mixed with 8 ounce water and finished the flask by the end of the race. I had a sip every mile for a nice boost of sugar with sodium. I didn't grab any water at the aid stations.

It was fun to see all the other Trimarni athletes out on the  course and Karel and I could not have been more proud of our campers/athletes. Everyone was in race mode and no one was using their "I just did a training camp" excuse card. 

After I crossed the finish line, I went back out to cheer for Karel who was nearing the finish line. Once again, it was a nice change to be on the sidelines cheering for Karel as he is always finished way before me.

After Karel and I finished, we went out and cheered until every Trimarni athlete crossed the finish line. I will be sharing some race pictures of our campers in my next blog (Thank you Taylor for the great pics!). 

There was so much support among the Trimarni team and we loved having everyone out on the course, cheering for each other. 

You can just call us a pack of highlighters - we love our bold and bright kits. 

I absolutely love my bike - the fit, my new saddle, my super stiff and fast Alto Cycling Wheels. I'm so excited to race the Rev3 half Ironman in Knoxville in 7 weeks! 


A big congrats to Karel for winning the Male Master's division.
(Karel is coming to terms with getting older but he is still getting faster. This is his first race in his new 40-44 age group - he will turn 40 in September). 

I had fun racing with these fast ladies in the 30-34 age group!

We are so proud of our athletes/campers!

3-day training camp - check!
Olympic distance race - check!
Great attitudes - check!
Motivation to last the rest of the season  - check!

GREAT CLERMONT TRIATHLON RACE RESULTS:

Gary – 1st AG (65-69) - sprint distance

Maggie – 2:19 (Aquabike)

Lisa – 2:32:42 (1st AG 40-44)

Justine – 2:31:13

Stephanie – 2:43:21

Erin: 3:00:06

Heather – 3:26:45

JoAnn – 3:34:43 (despite having some back issues when starting the run, she pulled through and finished strong!)

Joe- 2:17.02 (3rd AG 30-34)

Wlad – 2:25:50 

Adam: 2:27.02

Carsten: 2:28.20

Rob: 2:38.44

James W: 2:47.36

Chris A: 2:53.24 (PR)

Jim N: 2:58.04

Ryan – Mechanical on the bike but excellent swim!

Keri – despite a little open water swim anxiety, she still swam strong!

Marni: 2:23.20 (3rd AG 30-34)

Karel: 2:10:32 (1st Male Masters, 7th overall)

2016 Trimarni Clermont Camp - day 3

We always tell our campers that day 3 of our training camps is the hardest - mentally and physically. However, our campers really surprised us in Clermont because they were actually really looking forward to a change of scenery on Saturday morning for the endurance ride as well as a brick run. We started day 1 and 2 of camp with a run workout so I think they were also looking forward to getting on the bike first thing in the morning.

We also let them sleep in on Saturday and we didn't start our ride until 7:30am. Every night, our campers went to bed earlier and earlier so just a good sign that they were recovering well from a day full of training.

Our campers also fueled exceptionally well for every workout and ate well throughout the day so I knew that poor fueling or unhealthy eating wouldn't be an issue for our campers.

The Saturday workout was endurance focused with a 3 hour ride followed by a 20 minute brick run.

We all rode to the Buckhill loop and instructed our athletes to ride in groups (we put them into groups of 4-5 of similar abilities) at an endurance effort - not easy but not hard. After 2 days of training, we knew they would be tired and a little fatigued but this accumulative training stress was planned and we wanted our campers to learn how to adjust efforts (and mindset) when training tired.
Our campers fueled very well before the long brick as well as during (and good hydrating) which was great because I had  no fears/worries about athletes bonking or complaining of being hangry and tired.
Every camper had a body that was energized and healthy!

I want to send a big thank you to Taylor (and Maggie) for providing SAG support on Saturday for our campers who needed any extra nutrition or hydration. Although it wasn't too hot out, it's always nice to have extra fuel just in case.
Plus it was nice to have our photographer Taylor on the course taking pictures of all our athletes.

After the 3 hour ride (our campers did 3-5 loops depending on fitness level) we all rode back to the team duplex house and everyone geared up for a 20-minute brick run.

We asked our campers to lay out their gear just like in a race (transition area) so that it would be a quick transition to the run.
We also asked our campers to wear their hydration belts for the brick run as it's just one of those things that you want to get comfortable wearing just like a race belt, hat or a watch. The more you wear it, the more comfortable it feels. Our campers had Clif Hydration in their belt flasks as I didn't want them to see the brick run as "only" running 20 minutes off the bike but instead, seeing the run as a continuation from the 3 hour bike workout and to understand that they still need fuel and hydration to delay fatigue even if "only" running 20 minutes.

We timed the weather perfectly as we all finished the run in the rain.
There's something so fun about running in the rain but it's even more fun when you have 16 of your fellow teammates running with you.

After the workout, our campers cleaned up and picked up their packets at Waterfront Park (1/2 mile from the team house) and then had the rest of the day OFF from training.

While Karel was performing a RETUL fit at our townhome during the afternoon, our campers rested and then starting preparing dinner around 4:30pm.

What a nice spread of food!!
This is how I like my campers to eat at camp!

While our campers were eating, Karel and I had a brief chat with our campers about race execution for Sunday and then we had a special guest speak to our group at 7pm.

I want to send a BIG thank you to Dr. G (Gloria) with Life With No Limits Coaching for speaking to our athletes for 75 minutes about Mental Toughness and the Champion Mindset.

Gloria gave her presentation via Skype and it was a very interactive and informative presentation. Gloria is a true professional with so much experience as a clinical sport psychologist. And as a former Trimarni athlete (we still coach her hubby Ken) and long time friend, I knew she was the perfect person to provide our team with the best info possible to help them improve their mental skills as athletes and human beings.

Thank you again Gloria for giving us all great tips and advice for developing a champion mindset. Our campers were able to bring so many new tools and tricks to race day after 3 days of training camp.

Stay tuned for day 4 of camp - race day!!!

2016 Trimarni Clermont camp - day 1

After a busy day on Wednesday, it was finally time to start our training camp... not-so-bright, but humid and early in the morning.

I was so lucky this year to find the perfect house for our campers - a Duplex just 1/2 mile from Waterfront Park (the race venue).
We love the idea of having all of our campers stay together as it promotes teamwork and it gives everyone an opportunity to really get to know their teammates. Although we do not force staying in the team house, this year, all of our campers wanted to stay in the team house which just showed me how much our athletes love the friendships and memories that are built during camp.

For the duplex rooming, the girls are upstairs and the boys are downstairs. We also have 3 athletes staying at the "coaches house".

We tend to have two themes at our training camps - a lot of training (the obvious) and a lot of education. We try to not let one overpower the other as it's so beneficial for every Trimarni athlete/camper to leave training camp with new tools, skills and knowledge but also a mindset that allows our campers to be more present in training. I find that during a training camp, our athletes recognize that the are capable of doing so much more with their body and mind due to the constant positive energy and support from one another. It's our hope that our campers can bring back the tools and focus for smarter training to assist in reaching performance goals.

For our first workout of the day (Thursday) we had a shake-out run on the schedule. We met our campers at the Duplex at 7am and by 7:15 we were down at Waterfront Park for our dynamic warm-up. We always stress the importance of a dynamic warm-up before training so we demonstrated a few of our favorite exercises. At camp, we make sure that our athletes are doing what we prescribe in their training as it's easy for our athletes (and any athlete) to be more focused on how much is accomplished in a workout rather than proper execution.

For the run workout, we had our campers run on the race course to get familiar with the route.
The workout was as followed:
1/2 mile jog warm-up
Dynamic stretching
10 min EZ jog
MS:
6 x 30 sec build to fast w/ 60 sec EZ

Cool down to house

We left our campers with enough time to refuel after the run workout and to get ready for our  9:30am Long Course Swim at the NTC. 

For many of our campers, this was their first long course swim in a long time (or ever) and first outdoor swim in a long time. We just love this pool. 

We try not to overwhelm our athletes with skill improvements when swimming but since swimming is so skill specific, having the opportunity to see our athletes swim is extremely valuable as it's easy to learn bad (inefficient) habits when you are a new swimmer. 

We did not take it easy on our campers for the swim and include a few very strong efforts in this workout.

MS: 4-6 x (100 STRONG, then 10 sec rest (grab buoy), then 200 active recovery swim. Rest 1 minute and repeat.)

After the 90-minute swim, our campers had a "long" break from 11am - 2:45pm to eat, rest, relax and think about their third workout  of the day. 

At 2:45pm, we met outside the team house (this is the team Duplex in the above pic) and Karel talked about the purpose of the workout and provided the team with the main set.

MS: 4-5 x (2 min build, 4 min strong) w/ 90 sec EZ

Our amazing photographer Taylor! 

We biked to the Oly race course and provided the team with one last talk before we sent each athlete off in TT order for the main set. We then regrouped and we all biked home together and covered the entire race course. 2 hours later, we were back home. 

Later in the evening we gathered the team for our nightly team talk/recap and I lectured about long run sport nutrition to ensure that our campers would know how to fuel and hydrate for the Friday long run and for future training and on race day.



Our campers enjoyed their team dinner (thank you Taylor for feeding our athletes!) and then it was lights out early for me and Karel.
I'm sure it was all laughs and chats for a while before their bedtime.