I just drove back to Winter Park after spending the weekend in Boulder hosting my second Long Distance Training camp. My long distance training camps are weekend camps with a very small number of campers. The idea is to immerse ourselves into triathlon training and lectures from sunrise to sundown.
In this camp I had campers from Florida, California, Arizona and Colorado. Although we had nice warm to hot weather, these guys thought it was rather cool here.
Saturday morning was by far the toughest day. I coached a swim workout including a nice 2000 yard main set. They did great. It is tough to swim long at altitude. We changed and rode roughly 80 miles including a 2000 feet climb during the first 20 miles. A few of the campers followed that with a short run. That was a nice long day. For some of these guys this was the longest ride of the year and for one of them the longest ride ever. A nice dinner and lectures occupied the rest of the day.
Sunday we started with a nice breakfast, a nutrition lecture and the long run. It was hot out there. I was sweating bullets. For this one we split to make sure all stayed aerobic and to make sure we all did our appropriate long run. Most went about an hour thirty but one guy went over 2 hours. After a lunch we went back to the pool for some stroke and video analysis. This time I got in the water and did my best imitation of perfect swimming. If I slow it down I can do a good imitation I think.
We finished with a nice dinner, a lecture on heart rate training and a Q&A session. Overall I think the camp went really well. Maybe some of the campers will post a comment here. A good time was had by all. I am already planning some camps for next year here in Winter Park. Come and visit. It is amazing.
From my end, this weekend culminates my long heavy training before I go down to Buffalo Springs and race the half Ironman there. Now I just have to taper, get my entire gear ready, tune my bike and try to relax. I just looked at the results for my age group at the Eagleman triathlon and the field there was really tough. A couple of old timers demolished the competition. The field at Buffalo Springs is not quite as strong but there are a few guys whose name I recognize including the age group winner from the past few years. But the race is still open so you never know who else will show.
My hamstring is doing much better too. Today there were a few times I did not even think about it. That is the right sign. A massage or a little more PT before the race and it may be 100% healed. I wish I was a little lighter before my first half, but it is what it is. We just have to roll the dice and see.