'24 Gravel Skills Camp Recap

 

On Friday at noon, we welcomed six athletes to Greenwood, SC for a 3-day gravel camp. Our good friend Alvi was also present as he helped us out throughout the weekend.

Gravel riding is not like riding on the road. Sure, you are on a bike that feels similar to a road bike but the skills needed for off road are more similar to mountain biking than road riding.

Friday was a true skills session. We only covered 13 miles in four hours but the campers learned a lot. Heavy feet/light hands, body bike separation, and body position were repeated and ingrained into our campers with many opportunities to practice. We sectioned specific areas of the Southeast Gravel Greenwood course. Prior to the camp, our campers completed a questionnaire so that we could better understand what our campers wanted to work on. Here were their responses:

-Descending
-Riding on loose chunky gravel

-Riding on single track

-Riding in rain and mud
-Cornering 
-Not crashing/falling 
-Riding in a group
-What is rideable vs. not rideable
-Quickly dismounting

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On Saturday, our campers put their new and improved skills to the test at the Southeast Gravel Greenwood Event. We love this race venue and knew it would make for a great race to included in our gravel camp. It rained throughout the night and throughout the race, which made for a very muddy and dirty day of racing. But our campers had their new skill sets to apply to the unfavorable conditions. We are happy to report that all of our campers finished the race (5 completed the 44 mile and 1 completed the 74 mile) and nobody experienced any significant issues during the race (no major crashes or accidents). One of our campers, Leigh-Ann even made it on the podium and placed 7th female overall in the short course!

After we all got cleaned up and scrubbed all the gravel off our bodies, it was time for our pizza party and race discussion. We got pizza for everyone from The Mill House (it was delicious) and we spent some time talking about the race - what went well and areas that still need to be worked on. 

I booked the cutest Airbnb which happened to be on a farm. I never pass up an opportunity to stay close to farm animals. 

On Sunday, we had one last opportunity to work on skills and to get in a bit more off road riding. We met by the Long Cane Horse Trail/Fel Hunt Campground at 9am. It was chilly in the morning (40s) but we warmed up quickly. We rode for 24 miles (~2 hours) and it was a great opportunity to shake off the soreness from the race and to also continue to work on more skills. Because the conditions were different than on Saturday, we had the opportunity to work on a few different features, like peanut butter mud. 

We've been putting on training camps for the past 10 years and over the years, we have realized how many triathletes lack basic bike handling skills. And I can attest as I was one of those athletes! I was one of the many triathletes who were indoor fit with poor bike handling skills. 

Can you relate?
You spent countless hours on the indoor bike trainer (or on familiar roads) and your power is where you want it to be but because you lack basic bike handling skills, you constantly perform below your bike fitness abilities on race day.

🚲 You feel uncomfortable approaching or passing athletes.

🚲You waste energy in and out of corners because you are not confident at taking a corner at speed.

🚲You don’t feel confident grabbing or rotating bottles and taking in nutrition.

🚲You get a lot of anxiety when it comes to descending.

🚲You worry about tight u-turns.

🚲You are constantly afraid of your surroundings and have a fear of crashing.

🚲You don’t know how to safely stop on demand.

🚲You were never taught how to use your gears (outside of the big chainring) for hilly/rolling terrain.

And the list goes on.

These aren’t “racing” skills. These aren’t professional skills. These are basic, fundamental, critical bike handling skills that will keep you safe on the road.

We enjoyed working with our campers at our recent gravel skills camp as they became more aware of the proper bike handling skills needed for a variety of off-road terrain conditions. And the great thing is that they can now ride even better on the road. 

If you are interested in taking your bike fitness to the next level so you can ride faster and safer, we are offering three more training camp opportunities for triathletes.

⭐Early Season Triathlon Camp - April 26-28th (Greenville, SC)

⭐Off-Road Triathlon Skills Camp and off-road triathlon - May 3rd-4th (Whitewater Center, NC)

⭐Long Distance Triathlon Camp - July 12-14th (Greenville, SC. Perfect for anyone who has a hilly long distance triathlon on their summer/fall race schedule).

3-day Bike Skills Climbing Camp

 

I consider myself to be a good cyclist. But it wasn't always this way.

There was a time - not too long ago - that I was terrified to ride my bike on any type of road that resembled going downhill. I would squeeze my brakes and feel so unstable and this caused me to absolutely dread going downhill. Although I could have avoided going downhill by selecting races and routes that were flat, the problem was that I love climbing. And when it came to tight turns, switchbacks or roads where I couldn't see what was coming next, I would find myself frozen with fear, often with tears in my eyes. Pretty much, if the road wasn't going up or it was flat, I was freaking out. 

When we moved from Jacksonville, FL. to Greenville, SC. I had no choice but to work on my bike handling skills. I was an experienced triathlete with really poor bike handling skills and this showed on our challenging terrain that is littered with punchy climbs, twists, turns and steep downhills. 

With Karel having a lifetime of cycling/bike mechanic/bike racing experience, he worried about my safety - and joy for bike riding in this beautiful cycling playground - if I didn't improve my bike handling skills. 

Over several years, I gradually saw my skills improving. By watching Karel, I improved tremendously. I'd watch when he changed his gears, how he was shifting his weight to turn and how he was moving his body to descend. Although he would often be out of my sight on the downhills, simply being with him meant I was riding on roads that were slightly out of my comfort zone. There were many times when I would stop and cry because I was so scared but overtime, I found myself improving. 

Learning new skills is incredibly scary but if you keep doing what's familiar, you'll never improve. More so, if you try something for the first time but you haven't learned the right skills to perform that skill safely, you may find yourself feeling "out of control" and thus, going back to old/bad habits..or crashing. 

Thinking back to my personal journey of being a scared and fearful cyclist who could never showcase my fitness because of my lack of skills to becoming strong, confident and comfortable on any type of bike, I want to make sure that other triathletes/cyclists can experience a similar joy and confidence for riding. 

When it comes to teaching bike skills, Karel has the cycling experience and I have the ability to understand what triathletes fear/worry about when it comes to riding in certain situations. This combo has allowed us both to help so many athletes get stronger, faster and more confident on the bike - all by learning proper skills and better terrain management. 

The convenience of the indoor bike trainer has created a false sense of confidence with regard to feeling prepared for race day - especially among triathletes who ride triathlon (or TT) bikes. It's easy to build fitness indoors but it's impossible to improve bike handling and terrain management skills. The moment you begin to climb a steep hill, descend or take a tight corner (or u-turn), your FTP is of little benefit.

As a coach and athlete, I know there are far too many athletes who experience great anxiety, stress, worry and fear when it comes to riding outside. I also see a lot of athletes perform below their athletic potential because they lack basic, fundamental bike handling skills and terrain management awareness. There are many experienced triathletes who have very inexperienced bike handling skills.

Just because you can push a lot of watts on the indoor trainer, this doesn't mean you are exceptional at riding your bike outside. I know triathletes love to obsess over power numbers and miles ridden and spend money on carbon upgrades, dual-sided power meters and race wheels but if you want to ride stronger, faster, smarter and safer, you owe it to yourself to invest in your skills.

We just finished our 3-day bike skills climbing camp and these ladies learned so much. It was incredible to see how quickly they improved their skills and how easily it was to transfer those 'parking lot' skills to real world conditions. 

On day 1 we focused on the following skills: 
-Clipping in (not scooting the bike but actually starting pedaling from a stationary position). 
-Sudden/panic stopping
-Cornering
-Balancing - shifting the weight off the saddle for better stability
-U-Turns 

After the morning session, we had a break and then went out to real world conditions. With so many terrain options for us in our cycling playground, we went to the quiet roads by Paris Mountain and practiced the skills that we taught in the morning. We really focused on riding corners at fast speeds (tight corners and sweeping turns).

For many athletes, you probably know how to clip in and out, make a u-turn and how to stop. But if you don't know how to do these simple skills on hills, when going fast or suddenly, this can become a threat to your safety. Additionally, because all of these skills require that you get out of the saddle and shift your weight, it'll be very difficult to perform other skills like getting out of the saddle or cornering. 

We spent some time on this tight switchback to work on corning at high speeds.

On day 2 we focused on the following skills: 
-Getting out of the saddle/climbing
-Stopping on a steep downhill. 
-Starting on a steep uphill. 
-Learning how to use a CO2 (it's not uncommon for cyclists to have a Co2 and not know how to use it). 

After the morning session, we had a break and then went out to apply these skills to real world conditions. This afternoon session brought a few fears (and tears). This was the session that I struggled with the most - descending on steep downhills. This change in gravity can be very uncomfortable and the normal response is to squeeze the breaks to avoid "crashing" or experiencing "speed wobbles." But to ride downhill safely, a lot of things need to happen from how you position your body, how you position your pedals, when you break (and how much)...and staying relaxed. We started off on rolling hills and then transitioned to a much steeper hill. The hill we selected was a "safe" hill in that there were no turns and once you got to the bottom you carried that momentum back up the next hill. We were so proud of everyone applying new skills and overcoming fears. 

On day 3, we put it all together and spent almost 2 hours on Paris Mountain (a ~2.3 mile climb). We went up for ~10 minutes, then descended down. We did this a few times. We then moved a little further up. Although the climb was a great workout and they could practice their climbing skills and changing gears, the ability to descend several times - on the same road - brought a lot of confidence. At the very end of the session, everyone climbed to the top and then descended down the mountain. 

We hope that this camp gets you excited for all the skills that you lack (or need improvement) as learning proper bike handling skills can make for a fun, safe and confident riding experience - no matter your fitness level or racing experience. Never settle - there's always room to get better. 

Trimarni skills camp - Day 4

After the brick on day 3 of camp, our campers had a few hours to chill before our traditional camp pizza party + Q&A. Karel did two bike fits before the pizza party and I was able to get some work done during that time. 

We ordered pizza from Sidewall Pizza in Travelers Rest and as always, it was so good. There's something special about sharing yums with others, after several days of exhausting training. We shared our pizza party with a few goats and of course, Campy. 

After everyone was finished eating, we spent the next hour answering questions from our campers and sharing a strength that we felt each camper had shown us throughout camp. It was a great way to end day 3 of camp. 

Day 4 of camp is tough - mentally and physically. You are tired and your mind begins to drift back to normal life responsibilities. This is why I feel a training camp is so good for athletes as it forces you to overcome so many physical and mental struggles. Whereas in your home environment you may give up, not show up or make excuses, these things never happen in a group training environment.

Originally we had planned a transition (run-bike-run, etc.) workout but we woke up to rain and decided to change the plan to only a run workout. Although the workout was "only" a little under an hour, it included ~1200 feet of elevation. We had our campers run on a 0.67 loop that included a little bit of everything as it relates to terrain changes. We love this loop and use it often at our campers for it provides our campers an opportunity to work on different styles of terrain management. It's not an easy loop but it's one that makes you feel very accomplished. 

After the run workout, our campers had about 1-hour to refuel before the last workout of camp. We saved the best for last for we didn't take it easy on our campers with a 1-hour swim workout. 

The swim started off with a long warm-up to loosen out from the run and then, for the main set, there was a lot of head-up swimming (to work on strength and open water skills) going into fast efforts. It was a really tough workout but our campers did amazingly well. Again, there's something special about being in a group environment where you don't let yourself make excuses and you gain positive energy from those around you. 

After the workout we did a few sets of open water swim drills and then finish off with relays. Wow - our campers were working HARD for the relays. Talk about being aggressive and showing competitive spirit! 

This was such a great group of campers. Thank you athletes for investing into this group training experience and for letting us fill your brain with lots of new tips, tricks and strategies to enhance your triathlon journey. An extra special thank you to Al for assisting on course throughout camp and for Joey for the pictures and great SAG support. 

I'd like to send a HUGE thank you to the following companies who played an important role in our skills camp. Thank you thank you for the Trimarni support!!

Carolina Triathlon - bike assembly for BikeFlights
Run In - Providing great service to our athletes
Mg12 - Provided recovery cream (discount Trimarni)
Carborocket - Provided bike and run nutrition (discount Trimarni)
Infinit Nutrition - Provided bike nutrition (discount Trimarnicoach)
Naked Running Band - Provided samples of bands for athletes to try on/use (discount Trimarni15)
Veronica's Health Crunch - Provided delicious crunch (discount Trimarni2018)
PR Lotion - Provided pre-workout sample packets (discount TEAMTrimarni20)
Breakthrough nutrition - Provided bike and run nutrition (discount TRIMARNI)
Zealious - Provided sunscreen and chamois cream samples (discount ZupTRIMARNI19)
Clif Bar - Provided bars, bloks and hydration
Swamp Rabbit Lodge - Providing a great place for camper lodging!

2019 Trimarni Skills Camp - Day 3

Day 3 of camp started around 8:30am. Although we like to start/finish all of our rides at the lodge, we had our campers drive ~20 minutes north to Hotel Domestique for a more steady climb in the Watershed. Karel and I planned a route that would take our campers about 2.5 hours (including a hill time trial at the end of the ride) and followed up the ride with a 15 minute brick run. The ride included ~5400 feet of elevation gained and the run included about 500 feet.

It's a common theme that our terrain is very hilly. It's technical, punchy, rough and challenging. Greenville forces you to become a strong and skillful cyclist. However, we also have something incredible special where we live....bike-friendly roads.

As you may have noticed, we don't have shoulders where we live. While it would be a great addition to our roads, I never feel unsafe when I ride. Sure, there's always a rude driver out there but the cars literally share the road with us. It's rare for a car to honk at us out of frustration. Most of the time cars patiently sit behind us, waiting for the safest time to pass. 

As I was scrolling through the pictures that Joey took, this picture (above) captured my attention for it speaks loudly about the type of roads that we ride on. While this is a very cyclist-busy road, the car provides plenty of room to pass our group. It's a pleasure to ride somewhere where you are treated with respect and not viewed as a nuisance. 

We are so lucky to have so many quite, safe and beautiful roads to ride on. Even if we do a lot of climbing and our road conditions are far from ideal, I could not ask for a better place to hold a Trimarni camp than in Greenville, SC.

Despite tired legs and lots of climbing, our campers did exceptionally well managing our terrain. They applied everything that they learned over the past 2.5 days and maintained great mental toughness during the climbs and great confidence on the descends. Everyone worked well together, supporting one another so that no one was too fast or too slow.

Here are a few pictures from our Saturday ride on day three of camp. 

2019 Trimarni Skills camp - Day 2

Day two of camp started at 9am with a planned 90-minute swim at Furman. Although the campers were a tad tired from day one, everyone was in great spirits. However, nearing 60 minutes of the swim workout, a few campers started coughing. Apparently, the chemicals got out of whack due to a damaged pipe so we had to call the swim workout short. As part of our coaching philosophy, health over performance. We couldn't have our campers risking their health just for 30 more minutes of swimming. Even though the swim workout was cut short, our campers still got in a good morning session of swimming, with a little extra rest before the bike workout. 

After the swim, our campers had time to eat before their brick workout - which would take the remainder of the day. Around 12:45pm we all met at the lodge and discussed the focus of the bike workout, the type of terrain that they would be riding on, the brick run workout and other tips and suggestions for the afternoon session. Our campers were provided fueling suggestions for all the workouts and thanks to many amazing sport nutrition companies (NBS, Clif, Infinit, Carborocket), our campers had plenty of sport nutrition to use throughout camp. We also feel it's important for our campers to try new products at camp to see what works/doesn't work for future training sessions and racing. 

The lodge now has farm animals - which makes for lots of smiles throughout camp!

We divided into two groups (with a coach in each group) to help keep everyone organized so that no one felt too slow (or too fast). It took us about 50 minutes to get to the start of the loop for the bike workout and then it was time to start the workout. 

 

Karel went over the bike workout and then we let our campers go on their own so that everyone could focus on their own effort. Karel, Joe and I were able to spend time with small groups and ride one on one with several of the campers throughout each 4.5 mile loop.

Although the loop only has 3 right turns, we marked the route with pink arrows (Thanks Al for taping the road!) just to make sure no one got lost. This is one of our favorite routes for camps as the course has a little of everything as it relates to changing terrain. There are some longer climbs and fast descends, along with some punchy hills. Most of all, there are some great views of the mountains!

After the bike workout, we made our way back to the lodge, with a quick detour to say hi to "Mr. Llama" (aka Doogie) - who loves it when people stop by to see him. 

After 2.5 hours of riding (and ~3700 feet of elevation gained), it was time for the brick run. The run workout was as follows:

5 min EZ, form focused running
MS: 3x's
3 min strong, 2 min FBRF (fatigue based running form)
Then:
10-15 minutes form focused running

The weather turned out to be amazingly warm, which made for a "hot" brick run for our campers (mid 70's!) on the Swamp Rabbit Trail. We had our campers run back and forth on the same stretch of the trail so that they could support one another and cheer each other on (something you don't get when you train alone).

Our campers did an exceptional job "doing things well" with pacing, terrain management and nutrition. There were no GI issues, bonking, cramping or fatige issues throughout the bike/run session, which made me super happy to see how well our campers were fueling/hydrating.

After a full day of training, our campers were ready for a solid meal and a good night of sleep in route to a "long" bike (and brick run) on Day 3 of camp.

2019 Trimarni Skills camp - Day 1

We are so happy to report that our first camp of 2019 was a big success! Our campers stayed safe, everyone worked amazingly well together, the weather was absolutely perfect, comfort zones were stretched, hills (lots of them) were climbed and our campers left camp with new tools to apply to training and racing.

Although our campers have a lot of fun at camp, we've never had a camper return home, wishing that they would have done more training. With years of experience, we've learned how to provide the perfect mix of education, challenge and fun to remind our campers that the sport of triathlon is a lot of fun, but to improve, you must be willing to try new things and there's always something more to improve upon - which is not always easy (mentally and physically).

With our first official day of camp on Thursday, our 15 campers had the opportunity to loosen out from travel with a 60-minute social spin. There's never an easy ride here in Greenville so our campers still did ~1000 feet of climbing during the "easy" spin. We use this ride as an opportunity to get to know our campers (specifically athletes that we've never met in person or new campers), see their skills and familiarize the athletes with our terrain (which is not easy). This ride also helps campers shake out (or spin out) some nerves for the upcoming training load.

On Thursday morning, we planned a hill focused run workout for our campers. The weather was crisp, in the mid 40's, which made for perfect running weather for our athletes. Karel and I accompanied our athletes on our road bikes as it was easy for us to quickly move through the group to provide feedback and encouragement. We had our running shoes on so it was easy for us to get off our bikes and run with our campers.

Our campers ran to the Furman campus (from the Swamp Rabbit Lodge - camp house) alongside the Swamp Rabbit Trail and then around the lake to the big "hill" on the backside of the lack. After the warm-up, the main set included 4 loops focusing on good uphill and downhill running technique, bounding to activate the posterior chain and reset running (which we call FBRF - Fatigue Based Running Form, the best form you can hold while fatigued). Although a tough workout for day 1 of camp, our campers did incredibly well and really challenged themselves up and down the hill. Everyone worked well together, supporting one another. After the workout, our campers ran back to the lodge. Total run distance was around 7-7.5 miles and nearly 1500 feet elevation gained.

Here are a few pics from the run, thanks to our amazing photographer/SAG Joey:

After the run, our campers had a short break to refuel and recover. We typically pack the day with workouts but there's always time between sessions to optimize recovery with refueling and short rest. Most of the time, our campers get around two hours between sessions for any more, they may get too tired and any less, there's not a lot of time to eat and digest food. Although our campers have the option to stay anywhere they like, most of our campers choose the Swamp Rabbit Lodge, which serves as our camp "house". Although close quarters for everyone, it's a great opportunity to connect with others, share the entire experience together, eat (and split grocery costs) together and it just makes it easy to have a home base for starting/finishing workouts.

Around 11am, it was time for our next session of the day which was a bike workout. With tired legs, we all rode out to the start of our course which provided a nice mix of variable terrain to work on bike handling skills. We had a bit of everything, a tight switchback, long rolling hills, steady climbs, false flats, u-turns and punchy hills. The course was clover shaped so our athletes were able to get familiar with the course and then repeat it a few times on their own. Karel, Joe and I were able to rode individually with every camper to provide one-on-one help. The ride was a little over 2 hours and included about 3700 feet of elevation gain.

Here are a few pics from the bike workout:

Throughout the training sessions, there's always stops for education and questions, so that our campers can combine the learning with the doing. After the ride, our campers had another short break before the afternoon swim session.

At 3pm, our campers met us in front of the PAC in Furman for a discussion on swim technique. The weather was beautiful so we chose to do our educational session outside, under the warm sun. At 3:30pm, it was time for a 90-minute swim. Although our campers "only" covered about 2500-3200 yards during this time, we spent a good chunk of the workout breaking down the phases of the stroke with specific swim drills to emphasize what you should "feel" in the water.

After the swim workout, day one was officially complete of workouts! In the evening, around 7pm, we had a Q&A session with our campers at the lodge and discussed the next days workouts. Campy always enjoys these sessions as he gets plenty of butt rubs from the campers.

Athletes often ask how Karel and I fit in our training during our camps and the answer is, we don't. Camps are mentally and physically exhausting for us so aside from riding with our campers, we don't do any of our own training throughout camp. And that's ok for camps are extremely rewarding for us and we don't mind stepping away from our own training needs for a few days to be 100% attentive and energetic for our campers.

2019 Trimarni skills camp - 3 slots left!

In case you didn't hear.....it's MARCH!! Am I the only one that feels like January is twelve weeks long and then boom, it's the spring??

We are just a few weeks away from our first camp of 2019 which means triathlon season is coming soon!! 

I've lost count of how many group camps we have put on over the past seven years but the group camp experience is something we look forward to every year. While they are stressful and time-consuming to plan, it's always a rewarding and special experience when we see our campers in action, supporting one another and stepping out of their comfort zone and into their courage zone.

We only have a few slots (3) left for our March Skills camp so don't miss out on this incredible opportunity to train outside in a group setting (especially if you've been training indoors), improve your swim/bike/run skills, learn valuable information to apply to your training and racing and stretch your comfort zone as you prepare for your first triathlon race of 2019. Oh yeah, we also have pretty cool swag for our campers. What triathlete doesn't love swag??

When most of your training is done by yourself, you can certainly focus on your own journey. But, as a result, your training environment becomes very controlled and familiar. Bad habits can develop and you may find yourself struggling to step out of what's comfortable and "easy". 

A group camp also brings out the best in you. You are less likely to make excuses and you give a lot more than you think you would ever be capable of giving. 

Whereas many training camps focus on accumulating miles, we believe in a nice mix of training, education and skill development. Ultimately, our goal at our camps is to help our athletes explore their true physical and mental capabilities with education, application and real-world training experiences. 

Although we have a lot of fun at our camps, we spend a lot of time on posture, running form, swim technique, terrain management, up and downhill running, bike handling skills, descending, cornering or terrain management – all things that may be new, unfamiliar, uneasy/uncomfortable or rarely practiced. 

Lastly, a group training camp also provides you with the opportunity to experience what it is like to train when you are rested (good sleep), fueled (good eating) and present (mentally strong). It is important to us that our campers return to their home environment with a better understanding of how important good sleep, proper fueling, nutrient timing and application of sport nutrition, alongside better mental strength, can assist in athletic development and optimal health.  Imagine what you could do with a body that is well rested, well fueled and mentally focused without distractions??

A training camp is a big investment, requiring time away from work/family but what you get in return is an inspiring, education, fun, challenging, memorable and life-changing experience.

To learn more and to register for a Trimarni camp, click this link. 

Photos taken by our amazing camp SAG and photographer Joey Mock.

2017 Trimarni Greenville Skills Camp wrap-up

Well, that's a wrap! With our first Greenville skills camp behind us, we wanted to take an opportunity to share with you the highlights of the camp. 

Day 1 swim skills:
We met our eight campers at Furman University (Physical Activities Center - PAC) outside the building and then proceeding inside to a large classroom for a meet and greet, followed by a 90-minute discussion on swimming. We designed this skills camp to be a small, intimate and personalized camp to ensure that every camper was able to get one on one attention with lots of opportunities for questions.

Swimming topics discussed included:

• Pool versus open water swimming 
• Importance of body posture, alignment and propulsion as an open water swimmer
• Framework of an effective swim workout
• Tips to improve swimming as a triathlete and common swimming mistakes by triathletes
• Detailed discussion of the phases of a swim stroke - catch, pull, exit, recovery
• How to breath when swimming
• Discussion of pool toys and importance of swimming with toys versus swimming with drills - ankle strap, fins, buoy, snorkel, fins
• Open water tips 

After the discussion, it was time for our campers to get into the water for a 90-minute skill focused swim, followed by a "main set" to put all the skills to good use.

Here are some pictures from our first skills session, taken by Joey, who was our support throughout camp.

Day 1: Run skills
Following our swim skills session, it was time to head down the road to Poinsett Park for a run skills session. We had our campers get warmed up with a 1/2 mile EZ jog. We then started our run skills discussion on the following topics:

• Posture and form
• How to reduce risk for injury in running
• How to improve running efficiency
• Tips for food form running
• Running drills
• Busting some running myths: Shoe types, running styles, strength, stride rate/length
• Up and downhill running tips

After our run skills session, we gave our athletes a workout to put everything together. 

Here are some pictures from our run skills session. 

Day 1 Bike skills: After a 2 hour break for food/recovery, it was time for our last session of the day - which was the one I was most looking forward to as I know how much triathletes need to work on bike handling skills. 

Karel did a phenomenal job working with our athletes on their bike handling skills and we had a variety of drills to practice in a safe parking lot at Trailblazer park. 

Knowing that many triathletes are afraid on the bike, and tend to spend a lot of emotional energy while riding, we spent a full hour working on bike handling skills so that our campers could ride more relaxed and confident on two wheels. 

A few reasons why triathletes should work on bike skills: 

• To feel safe and confident on all types of terrain and conditions 
• To ride comfortably around other riders
• To be able to to safely pass other people and dodge obstacles in the road 
• To improve safety and safety of those around you. 

Many crashes can be avoided with experience, skills and mental preparation. 

After helping our athletes learn how to sit properly on the bike while learning how to stay relaxed, it was time to work on some drills! 

• Practice changing gears while riding – small ring to big ring, etc.
• Anticipate stopping quickly and unclipping quickly. 
• Hand skills – right turn, left turn, slowing/stopping, signal something on the road, grabbing bottles, rotating bottles
• Look behind you and keep the bike in a straight line
• U-turns – left, right
• Figure 8’s
• Standing up

After our drill session, it was time to take the bike riding to real conditions. We all rode 5 miles down the road to a safe and quiet location with a steep hill to practice climbing and descending. 

Here are some pictures from our bike skills session:

And what camp would be complete without a pic with Mr. Llama!

Day 2: For our second day of camp, we all met at Hotel Domestique for a 2.5 hour ride followed by a 20-minute run.

Karel first discussed a few terrain management tips for riding on the hills as well as why we want to learn how to stretch our available cadence to help ride more efficiently (rather than shifting to the smallest gear to "save your legs"). To apply this information, Karel gave the group a main set that we could ride with our campers to help with some one on one work.
We all rode together to the base of the Watershed and performed the main set on the watershed (up for each interval and then down for recovery)

MS 3x's:
9 minutes Z2 as 3 minutes 75rpm, 3 minutes 65 rpm, 3 minutes 55 rpm.
Then ride back down for recovery

6 minutes Z2/3 as 55-65rpm

Then ride back down for recovery

4 minutes Z3 as 45-55rpm

After the ride, we all rode back to the hotel for a quick transition to the run. We had our campers run a 20-minute hilly run to show them that even though they did a lot of mechanical work on the bike, they saved their cardio system for the run. Everyone did amazingly well and gave 100% for the entire 3 hour brick. 

Day 2 nutrition/training talk: 

After a few hours of recovery, we all met downtown Greenville for a 2-hour Q&A talk at Falls Park before dinner at Trio Brick Oven. This was a great opportunity for our campers to ask us questions and to talk about the application of sport nutrition for triathletes. Our campers asked great questions!

Day 3: Transition work
It's very common that triathletes put a lot of time into training but neglect the importance of having a plan and practicing the plan for a quick, effective and smooth transition. Because transitions can cause a lot of anxiety, stress and time, we want to practice transitions and to think of them as "free" time in your overall triathlon time. In other words, you don't have to be fit and trained to have a quick transition.

We gave our campers a few transition tips and then for their final workout, they had several opportunities to practice transitions.

We started with a run around a cement track, followed by transitioning to the bike. We set up a little course which included a mount line, a 2 mile bike course (with a descend and hill on this bike loop) and a run course that led to the track. Our campers had to set up their gear similar to a race and we even had a transition rack for them to practice their entire transition.

Our campers did a total of 8 transitions (run, bike, run, bike, run, bike, run, bike, run). Of course, knowing that transitions are never smooth, we made sure that "stuff" happened to our campers in transition - like another cyclist getting in your way on the mount line or your helmet getting knocked off your bike and one of your  shoes moving to another athlete's transition area. We made sure to think of all transition scenarios so that our campers could practice, practice, practice to build confidence for race day. 

What a successful camp! We could not be more proud of our campers who invested a lot to improve swim/bike/run skills. We overloaded their heads with information and they had a lot of one on one help. We have no doubt that our campers built a lot of confidence from camp and will feel more prepared for upcoming training and racing. 

And to finish off camp - awards for all of the campers!

What an inspiring group of athletes! Best of luck this season! 

We would also like to give a big thank you to the Trimarni sponsors and affiliates who continue to support the Trimarni team and camps:

-Run In - for helping us with all of our running needs
-New Wave Swim Buoy - for keeping us safe and seen in the open water
-Mg12 - for helping our muscles stay relaxed
-Clif Bar - for quality ingredients in quality sport nutrition
-Cheribundi - for providing a safe, natural and delicious way to reduce inflammation
-Veronica's Health Crunch - for the most delicious hand made crunch - ever!
-Infinit - for customizable sport nutrition
-Levelen - for helping us optimize our hydration needs through sweat testing
-Hot Shot - for keeping Karel cramp-free!
-Solestar - for maximum stability, better power transmission
-Boco Gear - for helping us race in style
-Canari - for the most comfortable, functional and stylish gear

-Xterra - for the fastest wetsuit ever (so fast, Karel is now beating me in the swim!)
-Alto cycling - for enginnering the fastest race wheels
-Swamp Rabbit Inn and Lodge - for keeping our campers happy with perfect lodging options
-Salem Anesthesia - for your Trimarni support

The 2017 Trimarni Triathlon Skills Camp is finally here!

When I started the sport of triathlon back in 2006, I was extremely dedicated to training my body to prepare for the sports of swimming, biking and running. I was obsessed with accomplishing specific workouts, at a certain pace/speed, while tracking my progress through completed distance/time. If I was swimming, biking or running faster than before, I thought I was improving. If I could cover more distance than a previous workout, I thought I was improving. With improvements, I thought I was becoming a "better" triathlete.

Eventually, I realized that this was a false sense of security of my athletic worthiness. While I did improve my fitness, it was only a matter of time before I found myself injured. My body was struggling. But like many athletes, when I was able to train again, I kept doing the same things over and over, hoping for a different result.

Although triathlon success continued to come my way through hard work and determination, I felt like I was always working so much harder than I should be working. While my work ethic and motivation was high, I never felt like I was making those big performance improvements to match my big dedication to training.

Something was missing. 

When we moved from Jacksonville, FL to Greenville, SC in May 2014, I found myself training on a very  new terrain. The terrain was challenging. Very challenging. At times, it scared me. I would often tell Karel "there's no way I can train here!"

With Ironman Austria and Ironman Wisconsin on my race schedule during the summer of 2014, I knew I had to face my fears and get outside and train. It was noticeable to me that my body was getting stronger and more resilient due to the new training stressors (hills), but I had no idea that with every workout, I was forced to improve my skills - whether I liked it or not. For the first time ever, I was focusing more on form, skills and perceived effort (and safety) than miles, pace, heart rate and power. I wasn't able to "zone out" and just bike or run but instead, I had to constantly stay present in what I was doing with my body. With every hill, turn and bump in the road, I finally understood the importance of having great biking and running skills to help me perform to my true athletic capabilities. 

Needless to say, when I went to Ironman Austria, I shocked myself with a huge Ironman PR - without changing my training, I was riding stronger than ever. Twelve weeks later, I went on to qualify for Kona (with Karel) at Ironman Wisconsin. With it being my second time racing on the IMWI course, I felt SO much more prepared for the challenging bike terrain, not to mention feeling more resilient on the run.

It was evident that improving my skills was the key to unlocking some untapped fitness in my body!

Without a doubt, moving near the mountains has been the missing link to my training. It's also made training SO much more fun. As you probably know, I absolutely love training in Greenville, SC. Although I am racing faster, stronger and smarter than ever before, I contribute so much of my physical improvements to improving my swim/bike/run skills.

I have the skills to swim better in open water thanks to lake swimming.
I have the skills to bike better thanks to our rolling hills, steep mountains, punchy climbs, bumpy roads, sharp turns and fast descends.
I have the skills to run better thanks to lots of hills to climb and to descend on.

Although I was forced to improve my skills so that I could train safe, happy and effectively in my new training environment, I knew that if Karel and I could bring other triathletes to our triathlon playground, they could also have the chance to embrace fears and to build confidence in order to perform better in training and on race day. Above all, improved skills brings more enjoyment for the sport of triathlon.

This was a long time coming but we are so excited that finally, we have our first skills camp here in Greenville, SC. Starting tomorrow, for 2.5 days, we will provide our campers with a lot of information, education and hands-on work to make triathlon training/racing more productive, effective, safe and fun.

Trimarni Greenville Skills Camp Info (and a free camp entry giveaway!)

In case you haven't heard, we have a little gem of a triathlon training playground here in Greenville. 

Although it's no longer a well kept secret as I am no stranger to sharing pictures of us training in and around the mountains, surrounded by nature, the Greenville community embraces cycling and physical activity. People love riding bikes in Greenville, we have a number of beautiful state parks and hiking trials and the Swamp Rabbit Trail is perfect for active families for walking, running and biking. 

We have an award winning (dog-friendly) downtown and Falls Park is absolutely breathtaking. When you come to Greenville, you will experience amazing mountain views, delicious farm-to-table restaurants and very friendly people. And we have Mr. Lama - a lama who loves cyclists and selfies. 

We have received many requests over the past few years regarding the need for a skills camp. We listened to you and responded with our first ever Greenville triathlon skills camp this May. 

Greenville Skills Camp

Quick Facts

Location: Greenville, SC 

Type of camp: Skill-focused triathlon camp

Length of camp: 2.5 days

Dates: May 26-28th

Cost: $350 (price increase on 2/26 to $440)

When triathletes hear skills camp, they may think "beginner" camp. Sure, athletes who are new to the sport of triathlon will greatly benefit from attending a skills camp. But from our experience as coaches, we have discovered that many experienced triathletes and those who have been in the sport for many, many years have created bad habits over the years, have neglected the importance of fine-tuning skills as fitness progresses and/or have not kept up with current trends and strategies to train smarter.

Skill areas that we commonly focus on at our camps include:

Swimming technique, open water skills, bike handling skills (climbing, descending, cornering, riding safely in a group, anticipating terrain changes), bike pacing, running skills (climbing hills, running downhills, proper form, running off the bike tips), running execution off the bike, triathlon training and racing tips, how to use gadgets properly, mental skills training, equipment choices (where to spend your money), sport nutrition and daily nutrition. 

Our Greenville skills camp is designed to provide triathletes of all fitness levels with hands-on opportunities to develop the basic and most necessary skills to experience success, improve overall safety and health and to build confidence in the sport of triathlon. Our goal is to help triathletes break bad habits and integrate new swim, bike and run skills into current triathlon training in order to reduce risk for injury/health issues, to improve your fitness and to improve your confidence as a developing triathlete.

If you want to get faster, stronger and better as a triathlete, it's important to become more skillful as a triathlete. 

From our experience in working with athletes of all levels, every triathlete has A LOT of room for improvement. Instead of training harder or adding more intensity or volume to your training in order to get faster, we want to help triathletes learn how to train and race smarter. 

By improving your triathlon skills in a safe, supportive and educational environment with two experienced triathlon coaches, you can train more confidently, reduce risk for injury by improving economy, feel safer as a cyclist on the road, and finally experience those big performance gains that you have been working so hard to achieve. 

To learn more or to sign-up, click HERE.

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For the triathletes who live in and around the Greenville area, in conjunction with the Trek Store South Carolina, we are going to give away a scholarship to our May skills camp. The winner will not only receive a free ($350) entry into our skills camp but also a Bontrager road bike helmet and training kit. 

In order to be eligible to win:

• You must be a member of the Trek Women South Carolina group.
• Attend at least two rides or events from the group from now until May. 
• Follow TriMarni and the Trek Store on Facebook. 

Content entries are open NOW by filling out this Google Form and will close on March 1st. Winners will be notified by March 6. 
If you are in the area, come join us on Thursday February 23rd from 6:30-8pm at the Trek Store South Carolina for ladies night. I will be speaking about nutrition and there will be other presenters and activities to improve your knowledge, safety and fun on two wheels.

For more info on the Trek ladies night: Click HERE.

For more info on our camps: Click HERE